Nomination deadline

APRIL 23—The deadline for The New Pittsburgh Courier’s “50 Women of Excellence” Nominations is  5 p.m. This is your chance to select Pittsburgh’s powerbrokers in the arts, business, politics, non-profits, law, sports, philanthropy, health care, education and media. Nominations are welcome from individuals, businesses, professional/fraternal groups or neighborhood and community organizations. Nominations must be mailed or hand delivered to the New Pittsburgh Courier, Attn.: 50 Women of Excellence, 315 E. Carson Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15219; faxed to 412-481-1360; or e-mailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by the close of business and must include your name, telephone number and, in 200 words or less, explain how the metro Pittsburgh resident of your choice has made significant contributions in their field of expertise. For more information, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Last week U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisa Pupo Lenihan ruled that a state law allowing for faster firings of management-level school employees was unconstitutional. Though this decision could have future implications, it came as a direct result of a lawsuit filed by Dwight Mosley, Ph.D., in November 2007.

DWIGHT MOSLEY

Mosley, a graduate of Westinghouse High School and the University of Dayton where he earned his bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D., was fired from his position as the director of recruiting and staffing with the Pittsburgh Public School District Aug. 23, 2007. He filed a lawsuit against the district on the grounds he did not receive due process when he was terminated.

After being terminated from Farrell Area School District as the high school principal in July 2008, it has been found that Lee V. McFerren was unjustly fired and the school board did not have sufficient evidence for his termination.

LEE McFERREN

On April 8, Judge Mary Hannah Leavitt of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, wrote and filed a majority opinion on behalf of herself and judges Keith B. Quigley and Renée Cohn Jubelirer that states, “…The district’s evidence did not prove that it had a ‘valid cause’ to discharge McFerren. Accordingly, the secretary’s decision is reversed.”

McFerren declined to discuss the opinion and his feelings, but did refer the New Pittsburgh Courier to his lawyer.

Polls that show him trailing in his race to unseat U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter don’t matter to U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, nor do the polls saying he’d lose to Republican candidate Pat Toomey if he somehow managed to defeat Specter in the May primary election. What matters, he says, is integrity.

OPPORTUNITY OR OPPORTUNIST—That, says U.S. Senate candidate Joe Sestak, is the choice Democratic primary voters face between him and incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter.

“There is an absolute lack of trust in politicians by the public and Arlen Specter epitomizes that lack of trust,” Sestak told the New Pittsburgh Courier editorial board. “He’s shown time and again, he’ll do anything to keep his job. I think you should stand or fall on your convictions, which is why I’m not running to keep my congressional seat.”