the almanac N O V E M B E R 3, 2024
SOUTH HILLS COMMUNITY NEWS
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LITTLE HANDS SEND HELP TO SURVIVORS OF HURRICANES PAGE A3 PHOTOS: ELEANOR BAILEY/THE ALMANAC
Dignitaries and Montour Trail Council members cut the ribbon, officially opening the new portion of the trail that runs from Stewart Road to Wood Street in South Park Township.
‘Milestone moment’ Montour Trail closes last gap
TITLE QUESTS BEGIN FOR UPPER ST. CLAIR AND PETERS TOWNSHIP PAGE B1
By Eleanor Bailey Almanac Sports Editor ebailey@thealmanac.net
South Park Township Board of Supervisors Chairman Edward Snee dubbed the Montour Trail Stewart-to-Wood Section a “hidden secret,” but Diane and Rusty Kerin of Finleyville discovered the gem before its grand opening on Thursday. They had been using the stretch of trail that closely follows Piney Fork Creek along Brownsville Road for about a month. “Wonderful,” Diane said. “It’s off the road and it’s quiet,” added Rusty. Avid walkers, the Kerins trek about three miles and enjoy the convenience the new stretch provides because they “don’t have to drive out and go all the way up to the other part” of the trail. “It’s great to have this,” both said. According to Paul McKeown, the completion of the trail from Stewart Road to Wood Street in South Park Township was a long time coming. The Upper St. Clair resident has been with the organization since 1992. He serves as the president of the South Hills Friends of the Montour Trail. “It’s great to finally get this last little piece completed,” he said. “It’s a real milestone moment. A pivotal moment,” added Julian Wolfe. A longtime cyclist and Upper St. Clair resident, Wolfe is president of the Montour Trail Council (MTC). In recognition, the MTC celebrated with an official grand opening celebration that included a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the 36.6mile trail marker. The opening of the section closes the last trail gap between Library and the western part of Jefferson Hills Borough. It eliminates the last on-road section of trail
Phillip Torrez, Julian Wolfe and Dave Oyler pose at one of the new entrances to the Montour Trail in South Park. The trail council held an official grand opening ceremony for the 1.5-mile segment that enables users to access 40 continuous miles of off-road travel without encountering motorized vehicles.
between mile marker 0 (zero) in Moon Township and the Green Man tunnel. “We are filling in the last gap in a section that is now 40 miles of continuous off-road trail,” Wolfe said. Trail users now can also ride from South Park westward to the Arrowhead Trail in Peters Township and continue on to Coraopolis without venturing onto roads used for vehicular travel.
“It’s the last link in the chain,” said project manager David Oyler. “For years, you had to get off the trail and ride on the road. Now, you can go from Mile 0 to Mile 39.5 without getting off the trails.” A cyclist who rides two to three times a week, Walter Prescotz recalls those harrowing times riding alongside traffic. Because he
FILMMAKER’S VISIT AIMS TO DRAW AWARENESS TO SPINAL DISEASE PAGE B3 What’s happening, B3 Real estate transactions, A6 Classifieds, B4-6
SEE TRAIL PAGE A2
Fading fossil fuel Coal use diminishing over time Editor’s note: This is the fifth in a series of stories reflecting on 20 years of gas drilling in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
By Rick Shrum
For the Observer-Reporter rshrum@observer-reporter.com
Gabrielle Bovard of South Fayette talks with Kelly Clarkson about the Random Note Project and her efforts to spread encouragement through random notes.
SF woman shares Random Note Project on Kelly Clarkson Show By Karen Mansfield Staff writer
kmansfield@observer-reporter.com
A South Fayette woman’s efforts to make the world a nicer place will be featured when she makes a guest appearance on the Kelly Clarkson Show today. For 23 years, Gabrielle Bovard has taped random notes of encouragement to telephone poles, on parking meters, in restaurants and parks, and tucked them into library
books in the greater Pittsburgh area and beyond in order to brighten people’s days. On Oct. 28, Bovard, who in 2021 launched @randomnoteproject.com on Instagram, appeared on the show to talk about the Random Note Project and the work she does. The invitation from Clarkson’s show came in September, and she flew to New York City on Oct. 2 to tape the episode. Bovard was delighted when a producer unexpect-
edly reached out to her, and happy with the opportunity to share the mission of Random Note Project. “A producer from the Kelly Clarkson Show said Pilot Pen is one of the show’s sponsors, and so they were looking for women who are using pen and paper to do something positive for the world, to show that you can make a difference with just a pen and paper,” said Bovard. SEE NOTE PAGE A2
Coal is surviving, but it has an environmental black eye. This bountiful underground resource, the major source of energy in the United States until the 1950s, is no longer the coveted power generator it once was. It is a fossil fuel that, when burned, yields emissions into the air that can contribute to respiratory illnesses. Burning it also produces carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that can accelerate global warming. The black rock was recently bypassed on the U.S. energy grid by two clean, sustainable sources. Solar and wind power in June leapfrogged coal in electricity generation, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. But the source that probably has had the largest impact on coal’s decline is natural gas, which is affordable, readily
KAREN MANSFIELD/OBSERVER-REPORTER
H side longwall shearer operator Chad McKenzie is pictured.
available and perhaps inexhaustibly abundant. Natural gas likewise emits carbon dioxide, but according to EIA’s website, “is a relatively clean-burning fossil fuel.” And in gas-rich Southwestern Pennsylvania, it seems to be everywhere. The successful drilling of Renz Well in Mt. Pleasant
Township in 2004 kick started what is generally referred to as the shale revolution. The Marcellus Shale is the second-largest natural gas field in the world, extending from New York State west to Kentucky and south to Virginia. SEE COAL PAGE A2