Federal Community Development Bloc Grants were designed during the Carter administration as a mechanism to revitalize depressed urban neighborhoods. Increasingly, however, cities like Pittsburgh used the funds to pay salaries for administrators, buy equipment or pave roads—and rarely roads in the qualifying neighborhoods.

Now Pittsburgh councilman Rev. Rickey Burgess has had enough. He has introduced legislation that would require the grant funds to be allocated and used as intended.

I love going to the movies, don’t you? According to The Nielsen Co., African-Americans patronize movie theaters an average of seven times a year (which has trended down slightly over the past two years).

The general population attends an average of eight times a year, and Hispanics attend approximately 11 times annually. In spite of the recession and the rising costs of movie night (and matinees), box office business is booming; as 2009 was a record year for gross ticket sales.

Let me tell you why you pack power whenever you hit your local movie house—and I know these things because I work for Nielsen, and we not only track television viewing habits, but we measure consumer trends and behavior around the world as well. Nielsen partners with Rentrak Corp. for accurate box office performance data.

Spring brings a mix of beauty through color and fragrances that linger from the flowers of the season. Nestled in the business district of Verona, Blossoms of Verona Floral and Gift Shop, the signs of spring last all year. From roses, and carnations, to lilies and daisies, this gift shop offers its customers flowers filling the trends of all seasons.

In the floral business for three years, owner Cathy Horne says her floral designs are a way of self-expression and her way of helping people. “I like to see the joy on people’s faces when they see their arrangements for the first time,” she said.

SOMETHING FOR ALL OCCASIONS —At Blossoms of Verona Floral and Gift Shop, owner Cathy Horne offers such unique items as a diaper cake.

A designer of silk flower arrangements for more than 20 years, Horne points out that transforming from a hobby to a full-fledged florist came by happen­stance. Formerly working in the classified department of a newspaper, she said a lady called to list her floral business for sale. After taking all her information, Horne said the lady offered it to her. Still astonished to this day, she said she dismissed the thought until one day when she was in the Forest Hills area where the shop was located. “I couldn’t find it but while turning to leave there it was. I toured the establishment and later showed my husband and the rest is history,” she said.

The paradox of singles and money is—the good thing is that everything falls on you and the bad thing is that everything falls on you. When you’re single you have the luxury of spending, saving and investing money when, where and how you want to. You are independent, self-reliant and self-sufficient. You don’t have the nagging money fights that many couples have about money. The downside of being single is that the income, decisions and responsibilities associated with spending, saving and investing money starts and stops with you. There’s no one to fall back on in the event you lost your job or source of income. There’s no nagging partner who will challenge you and force you to rethink certain money decisions that oftentimes lead to mistakes. As a result when you’re single, you have to be twice as smart, twice as cautious, and twice as responsible than the average couple with money.