Joined by Allegheny County Council members John Defazio, Jim Burns, Rich Fitzgerald and Bill Robinson, County Executive Dan Onorato said the county would appeal a plan ordered by Common Pleas Judge Stanton R. Wettick Jr. that calls for all properties to be reassessed by 2014.

“Every homeowner in the state is just a lawsuit away from a tax increase,” he said. “This is a statewide issue, and Common Pleas judges shouldn’t be dictating assessment policy.”

Farmers market

NOV. 19—The Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture will host the Market Square Farmers Market at 10 a.m. at Gateway Center Plaza, Commonwealth Place, Downtown. Area farmers will have more than 50 varieties of produce, pastas and smoked meats. PASA is a nonprofit organization that seeks to transform agriculture and food systems in Pennsylvania in a way that makes farmers more viable, improves the land and restores the health and well-being of citizens.

African-American men in their early 30s have been found to be twice as likely to have prison records than bachelor degrees. It has also been found that only three out of 100 Black students who enter kindergarten will graduate from college.

These were some of the many startling facts presented at the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh State of Black Pittsburgh Nov. 6. In this year’s address, given by President and CEO Esther Bush, the scope was narrowed to focus on the state of Black men in Pittsburgh.

Q & A—From left: Roland Martin and panelists James Harrell, Esther Bush, Tony Mitchell, Larry Hailsham and Wendell Freeland answer questions from the audience.

“We need more doctors and fewer caskets, more lawyers and fewer criminals more educators and less dropouts,” Bush said. “Today we all must work together to restore Black men to their rightful place of dignity in our society.”

Throughout her speech, Bush used many statistics to highlight the dire state of Black men in the areas of employment and education. She also focused on high incarceration rates and the absence of Black men in many families.