New legislation consideration

AP—Pittsburgh City Council is considering a packet of legislation that would force business owners to pay a prevailing wage and make their buildings and vehicles environmentally friendly if they receive public subsidies to build them. Unions have lobbied city council to pass such rules.

Council President Doug Shield introduced a bill requiring janitors, kitchen workers and grocery employees to be paid a prevailing wage of $11 an hour, instead of the $7.25, in any business built with public funds. The bill could affect a Target store and a grocery store planned for two of the city’s poorer neighborhoods. Councilman Bill Peduto says he’ll introduce a similar bill requiring businesses that get public money to use “green” technologies later this week.

Thanksgiving dinner

NOV. 26—The Gateway Clipper Fleet will host their Thanksgiving Day Dinner Cruise at 3 p.m. at 350 W. Station Square Dr., Station Square. Celebrate Thanksgiving with this 2-1/2-hour cruise along Pittsburgh’s three rivers while enjoying a turkey buffet with all the trimmings. There will also be a Holiday Captain’s Dinner Cruise Nov. 28 at 6:30 p.m. This cruise features a delicious dinner buffet and live entertainment performing seasonal songs all while sailing the beautiful three rivers. For more information, call 412-355-7980.

When Jahmiah Guillory entered his senior year, his grade point average was 1.7. Then during an assembly at Oliver High School, he learned about the Pittsburgh Promise, a program that helps pay for college for any Pittsburgh Public School student graduating with a 2.25 average.

“At that time it was just mathematically possible for me to do that,” he told the audience at the Nov. 12 Graduate Pittsburgh Summit on reducing dropouts at the YWCA. “But I would have had to get 4.0s, four quarters in a row—well, I did. Now I’m at Penn State studying petroleum and gas engineering. I expect I’ll have about a 3.6 for my first semester grade.”

SALUTING SUCCESS— Pittsburgh Promise Executive Director Saleem Ghubril congratulates Jahmiah Guillory, now at Penn State, for achieving two consecutive 4.0 GPA semesters in his senior year to qualify for the Promise scholarship.

During his keynote speech, Pittsburgh Promise Executive Director Saleem Ghubril asked Guillory to address the audience because he exemplifies what the Promise hopes to achieve. Guillory, who grew up with seven siblings and a single mother in Northview Heights, is now the first in his family to attend college.