Laurels & lances: Shelter and support
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Laurel: To having a plan. It was almost a year ago that the Second Avenue Commons shelter opened in Pittsburgh, providing an option for homeless residents to stay warm and protected from the elements. Within days, Allegheny County announced the facility had hit capacity.
The obvious need made it concerning when the county closed the Smithfield Street shelter in June. There has been no information about reopening the shelter that was used as an overnight winter location.
So it is a good thing that county officials say they are increasing the number of available beds for the homeless. There is a definite need, as the number of people dealing with a lack of housing has been growing for years.
A May survey put the county’s homeless population around 900, with about 150 having no shelter. Those numbers have grown since 2022, when there were about 880 homeless individuals, 105 of whom were unsheltered. The real red flag there is the percentages. Total homeless numbers went up less than 2.5%. Unsheltered rose by more than 42%.
But while increasing the number of available beds is good, there still has to be follow-through. There is a lack of detail in the county’s announcement. Yes, an emergency plan is in place, but there were no answers to questions about the emergency shelter.
Lance: To dispute and decision. On Monday, a federal court ruled that a Philadelphia-area police union can keep flying a police-supporting flag.
The court case in question came when Springfield leaders protested the black and gray version of the American flag with one blue stripe, which has come to be known as the “thin blue line” flag. It has also become a de facto symbol of the Blue Lives Matter movement — and as such a counterpoint to Black Lives Matter. Because of that, the municipality called it a symbol of “discontent and distrust,” evoking offense and racism. Police disagreed.
Now U.S. District Judge Karen Marston agrees, saying the “the First Amendment protects speech even when it is considered offensive.”
The issue here isn’t that police support their flag; of course they do. It isn’t that municipal leaders are taking an opposite stance.
It’s that local municipal leaders and law enforcement cannot resolve differences over something as simple as a piece of colored cloth. It’s a bad commentary when you think of how many life-and-death and livelihood issues the two should be collaborating to address.