the almanac F E B R U A RY 2, 2025
SOUTH HILLS COMMUNITY NEWS
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‘Everything under the sun’ BRAD HUNDT/OBSERVER-REPORTER
Erik Porter, a project manager with PennDOT, discusses a project that would add traffic signals and turn lanes to Washington Pike at the intersections of Boyce and Alpine roads at a meeting Tuesday.
Lighting the way South Fayette Washington Pike improvements topic at meeting By Brad Hundt Staff writer
bhundt@observer-reporter.com
Folks gather at the window of a holiday display at Kaufmann’s in the 1950s.
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF BETHEL PARK HISTORICAL SOCIETY
History Center archivist revisits Kaufmann’s Department Store days By Paul Paterra Staff writer
ppaterra@observer-reporter.com
The former Kaufmann’s Department Store in downtown Pittsburgh conjures up a plethora of fond memories, ranging from the landmark clock to its entertaining window displays. The beloved department store was the topic of a program, “The History of Kaufmann’s Department Store, Everything Under the Sun,” presented last month by Robert Stakeley, archivist for the Senator John Heinz History Center. The lecture, underwritten by the Rotary Club of Upper St. Clair-Bethel Park Breakfast Club, was held at the Bethel Park Historical Society’s Schoolhouse Arts and History Center, and proved to be one of the most popular offerings to date. Stakeley said a large number of items from the store were donated to the history center in 2002, and his job as an archivist was to catalog each piece. He said he thought he knew everything about Kaufmann’s but quickly realized that was not the case.
“I went through every single box, every single folder, every single photograph,” Stakeley recalled. “No sooner do I get into that collection that I find that I basically knew nothing about Kaufmann’s.” Kaufmann’s Department Store was founded by four brothers – Jacob, Isaac, Henry and Morris – all of whom immigrated from Germany. Jacob was the first to come to Pittsburgh in 1868 at the age of 19. “Imagine you at 18 to 19 years of age, going across the pond or the ocean to another country and never coming back to your home, or never seeing your parents again,” Stakeley said. “This was the beginning of the story of Kaufmann’s.” Isaac, 18, followed a year later, and the pair went to work selling wares such as buttons, thread, cloth and ribbon. “They were not silver-spooned,” Stakeley said. “They probably have some kind of relative or distant family network here in Pittsburgh. They were not here lying on the beach,
UPPER ST. CLAIR — Altogether, about 15,000 vehicles travel every day through a stretch of Washington Pike in South Fayette Township that passes by Alpine Road and a tricky intersection with Boyce Road. In a couple of years, those drivers could be encountering traffic signals at both Alpine and Boyce roads, according to proposed road improvements outlined by officials at a public meeting at the Upper St. Clair Community and Recreation Center Tuesday night. Officials with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) say the addition of the traffic signals will help relieve congestion on the busy road and improve safety. The $4.8 million project will also include left- turn lanes at Washington Pike at Boyce and Alpine roads, and a left-turn lane at the Boyce Road approach to Washington Pike. How badly are the improvements needed? According to PennDOT it has been graded “F” for what it calls its “level of service and operational efficiencies.” “This has been in the works for a long time,” said Jim Prisk, a transportation engineer with the firm McCormick Taylor Inc., which is working with PennDOT on the project. “We’ve talked about this for a long time.” SEE PIKE PAGE A2
SEE STORE PAGE A2 Kaufmann’s Department Store in Pittsburgh in 1968
Owners get tax boost on oil, gas royalties By Rick Shrum
For the Observer-Reporter rshrum@observer-reporter.com
Tax time is ahead, and Pennsylvania landowners with oil and gas rights can look forward to a new deduction. State Senate Bill 654, enacted last July, makes a depletion allowance available to more than 250,000 of these landowners when they report inPennsylvania landowners receiving oil and gas royalties come from their 2024 oil and are eligible to make a depletion allowance on their state gas royalties on their Pennsyltax returns. vania returns.
BETHEL PARK Popular brewery celebrates anniversary PAGE A4 What’s happening, B3
It is a 15% deduction on royalties accumulated over the year, a tax cut that did not exist previously on Pennsylvania returns. That figure matches the percentage that royalties owners are able to deduct on federal filings as well. This new legislation aligned state and federal law, permitting Pennsylvania taxpayers to use percentage depletion. “The 15% has existed on the federal return for as long as I can remember,” said Jackie Root, membership director of
SPORTS South Fayette boys basketball making noise PAGE B1 Real estate transactions, A6
the Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Landowner Alliance, an organization she described as “the only voice for landowners in the state.” If, for example, a landowner receives $10,000 in oil and gas royalties over a calendar year, he or she now can deduct $1,500 from their federal AND Pennsylvania tax returns. This deduction applies to oil and gas wells and other natural deposits and mines, including ores and minerals.
Some eligible landowners, however, may not be aware, or are minimally aware, of this legislation. It was passed nearly seven months ago, apparently somewhat under the radar. When contacted by the Observer-Reporter, a Washington County landowner who has collected oil and gas royalties for many years said he knew nothing about the new law. SEE BOOST PAGE A2
SIGHTS & SOUNDS Bach choir to honor Black History Month PAGE B3 Classifieds, B4