America’s best weekly
Highland Park Tennis Club a success SEE BILL NEAL, PAGE A4
Pittsburgh Courier NEW
www.newpittsburghcourier.com Vol. 114 No. 38 Two Sections
SEPTEMBER 20-26, 2023
thenewpittsburghcourier $1.00 Published Weekly
SHUMAN CENTER WILL REOPEN Some welcome the news; others, not so
by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer
The Shuman Juvenile Detention Center, closed since September 2021, is reopening. And while that’s good news for some elected officials and some Allegheny County residents, there’s a caveat. Shuman is not meant to be a place where juvenile offenders don’t get, or aren’t offered, help. It’s not meant to be a place where teens come in, get shipped out, and come right back. Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, basically angry that it closed in the first place, was adamant about the recidivism issue. “We also have to understand that in Shuman Center, we have to talk about practices that’s going to help them not come back to Shuman,” the mayor said on Friday, Sept. 15. He said it’s important that Shuman “has the type of resources, or they can get the juveniles the type of resources they’ll need so this is not a revolving door. We want these kids to grow up and live productive lives.” About an hour before Mayor Gainey took questions in Downtown for a press conference on an unrelated topic, the news broke about the Allegheny County Common Pleas
Court signing an agreement with Latrobe-based Adelphoi to provide juvenile detention services, which includes the reopening and operating of Shuman. In a release, the Court said that Adelphoi “has provided services to Allegheny County youth and families for over 40 years. The organization embraces a model of trauma-informed care which will be a centerpiece of the center’s services.” Why did Shuman close in the first place? The center had undergone a number of licensing issues, particularly due to a number of violations, including a heroin overdose at the center. Some of those housed at the center had been able to escape on a number of occasions, in addition to thefts and an incident where a juvenile was left at the center’s infirmary alone. It was the Pa. Department of Human Services that recommended and ultimately revoked Shuman’s license to operate as a juvenile detention facility. “The licensing at the facility has been an ongoing issue,” said Allegheny County Manager William D. McKain, in a statement from Aug. 23, 2021. “Over the last six years, we have SEE SHUMAN CENTER A7
PITTSBURGH MAYOR ED GAINEY IS IN FAVOR OF THE REOPENING OF SHUMAN JUVENILE DETENTION CENTER, BUT HE DOES NOT WANT OFFENDERS TO END UP BACK IN SHUMAN. (PHOTO BY ROB TAYLOR JR.)
‘One pathway to the promise’ Clairton Superintendent, others going all-in on renovations to historic football stadium by Genea L. Webb For New Pittsburgh Courier
For lifelong Clairton resident and Clairton Bears receiver Donte Wright, 17, the prospect of a renovated football stadium is bittersweet. “I love this project for us because I feel, as a community, we needed this,” he told the New Pittsburgh Courier. “Whenever it rains, it usually gets muddy and messy so this would really be a good move for us. But to me it’s kind of sad because growing up here in Clairton and playing on the field my whole entire life and now my senior season it’s like, the stadium is going away and this is the last time the game is going to be played on this field. It’s time for me to make
an impact. This is the last season we will be playing on this field, and I will be playing, so why not go out with a bang.” On Aug. 18, the Clairton Bears Academic and Athletic Association (CBAAA) and the Clairton City School District announced they have launched a fourprong approach to upgrading the decades-old Neil C. Brown Stadium including new turf on the football field, a new stadium entrance, new locker rooms and restrooms and bleachers. “We need some things for kids to do in town and we’ve always done well with football and all these kids are our future, so if there’s anything we ever had to do in the city of SEE CLAIRTON A6
Pittsburgh Courier NEW
To subscribe, call 412-481-8302 ext. 136
SUPERINTENDENT OF CLAIRTON SCHOOLS, DR. TAMARA ALLEN-THOMAS. (PHOTO BY J.L. MARTELLO)