Laurels & lances: Painting heads and butting heads
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Laurel: To getting a head. No, not “ahead.” As of Wednesday, a longtime landmark has been reunited with its top.
The statue stands outside Lug Nutz auto shop on Route 119 in Greensburg. It has experienced identity issues over the years, donning different appearances. For a while, the burly 20-foot-tall figure was even dressed as a Pittsburgh Steelers football player.
But along with replacing the head that has been missing in action for a decade or so, mural artist Raphael Pantalone of Crabtree also has given the statue back his roots. He is now garbed in his original outfit — the blue jeans and red work shirt of a lumberjack. His fiberglass head sports a corresponding rugged beard.
“People are glad to see it’s finally getting done,” said Lug Nutz owner Brian Baughman.
Lance: To more squabbling. It seems like just yesterday that Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald was vetoing a bill from county council.
Actually, it was last week, when the council tried to create a new chief assessment officer position that it would appoint to calculate the Allegheny County property tax ratios. Right now, the work is done by an officer appointed by the executive.
Fitzgerald, who has five months left in office, wants to keep it that way. On July 20, he vetoed the bill. That prompted response from council President Pat Cateno, D-Carnegie, who said he introduced the legislation because he believed Fitzgerald’s appointee was unqualified and led to a “fiasco” and subsequent court intervention.
Will council try to override the veto? Not clear yet. It might try, but with a 9-6 vote on the bill, someone would have to flip, and that’s not certain. However, council did override Fitzgerald’s veto on the minimum wage for county employees in June, so anything is possible.
What is almost certain is that this won’t be the last battle between Fitzgerald and council before the end of Fitzgerald’s term.