#thomas washington

[smoothiefreak]

Well are we doing this now that Elon Musk has fully lost his damn mind (and billions of dollars owned by multiple banking institutions that stupidly lent him money for this absolutely doomed endeavor?)??

Cause it’s been a while. Hi!

[chambvrs-am]

This post is dedicated to the greatest CEO Disney never had: Mr. Thomas Washington creator of the blackest film ever…IYKYK. ✊🏾

[retropopcult]

"No Reply at All" is a song by British band Genesis, released as the lead single in the US from their 1981 album Abacab.

The song, like lead singer Phil Collins' solo track "I Missed Again" (recorded at around the same time), makes prominent use of a horn section, arranged by Tom Tom 84 (i.e. Thomas Washington, horn arranger for Earth, Wind & Fire) and played by that band's wind players, credited on the song as "EWF Horns". 

The single reached the U.S. Top 30 in the fall of 1981, spending 18 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, longer than most of their hits which reached the Top 10 over the years.

[olvaheiner]

[annmarcaida-blog]

Deus ex Machina (Poem by Thomas Washington)

she arcs across his evening,

a brilliant bolt of lightning.

a milky bolt of silk; a sword.

(a filly’s colt, he might sing…

but nay: a neigh gets in the way.

he watches her in silence.)

his filthy coat was never gay.

he doesn’t know what pride is.

doesn’t assume she’ll swoop—

if so, won’t settle long beside him—

if settled, then he hid near well—

ignored, he thinks, if sighted.

she turns and hurdles earthward,

so he makes space for her form.

he squints against the dazzle, and

she spits out bits of storm.

a tossing mane, a glossy cast,

silver hooves, a horn—

he gasps (as only horses can)

and kneels within the corn;

this gentle whicker whispers,

missing clean that unicorn…

or she heard it, as do victors

on the field their war has torn;

might dismiss such with an absent nod.

forget it by the morn’.

-the filly’s body language tells

of legends therein born;

gives testament to heavens rent;

slips messages, and beckons glimpse…

peripheral and hesitant,

he lifts his head (per second: inch)—

abruptly, she’s aloft again—

his gut screams, he collects his strength—

he springs, knowing the wretchedness

of those who cannot test the wind—

but leaps, but leaps, but stretches with

a limb—some limbic next-of-kin—

oh air! -oh, there she crests the length—

an errant thought, invested in—

he feels a tautness, pressing skin—

a peel, a rawness—restlessness—

the field: it falls!?—she sets a quick…

pursued, now, by a Pegasus.

*****************************************************************************************

 -Dedication: I chase you yet, yearling to yearling. thomas the younger.

Ann says: Deus ex Machina is Latin for “God from the machine.” This refers to a convention, in Greek tragedies, of lowering god or goddess characters onto the stage via mechanical means. This made it appear as if they had flown down from the heavens.

Copyright 2013 by Thomas Washington.  His first publication, a collection of three short stories, can be purchased here.

Image: de.flashscreen.com

[pittsburghzones-blog]

Penn Hills School Board may decide tonight on hiring private firm

By Zak Koeske

Transit workers for the Penn Hills School District hoped they would learn Monday if they still will have jobs next school year, but the school board did not decide whether it will keep its workers or hire a private carrier to transport students.

The board, however, has since scheduled a special meeting for 7 p.m. today to discuss and possibly take action on the matter.

In November, the district sent a letter to transit workers saying it was considering selling its bus fleet and outsourcing transportation services to a private carrier when the transit workers' current contract expires June 30. The change would be an effort to cut costs as the district faces a $3.9 million budget deficit for next school year.

Lori Krapf, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1552, which represents the district's 93 bus drivers, bus aides and mechanics, said she has given speeches supporting contract renewal for district transportation workers at each of the past six school board meetings.

"We've gotten up and pleaded. We've gotten up and explained everything," Mrs. Krapf said. "And it falls on deaf ears. ... They're not listening to our screaming. Or pleading. Or rationalization. They don't hear any of it."

Richard Liberto, district director of business affairs, said the district would recoup about $1 million from selling its buses, but he declined to elaborate on the amount of money that outsourcing transit workers would save the district.

"There's a lot of factors that are in place now that were not in place five or 10 years ago, such as the rising cost of PSERS," Mr. Liberto said, referring to the Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System, which manages the pension system for educational employees in the state.

Mr. Liberto also cited rising health care costs and the growing cost to replace buses.

"It's just becoming to the point where it's just too expensive to operate," he said.

He confirmed that the district has received proposals from two bus lines -- First Student of Cincinnati and Durham School Services of Warrenville, Ill. ---- but he declined to offer bid amounts.

Mrs. Krapf said productive negotiations have not taken place between the union and the district in months, and transit workers just want an answer on whether their jobs are going to be eliminated.

Over the past two months, bus drivers repeatedly have petitioned the board to vote on the matter.

At a meeting last week between union leaders and the district's legal counsel, Mrs. Krapf said she asked that the school board vote Monday on the matter.

Monday's agenda did not include a resolution to vote on the transit workers' contract. At the request of school board candidate Erin Vecchio, board member Joseph Bailey made a motion to add the transit worker issue to the agenda, but his motion failed to receive a majority of votes.

"What's the problem with taking a vote and telling us that we're out the door?" bus driver Gary Krapf, who is married to Mrs. Krapf, asked during an impassioned speech to the school board Monday. "Twenty-five years I've worked here and I'd like to know today if I got a job tomorrow morning," he said.

Mr. Liberto declined to comment on negotiations but said they were being held in good faith and had been delayed by prior travel commitments and the Easter holiday.

At school board meetings, some parents have expressed concern about entrusting their children to contracted drivers who don't know their youngsters and who are not familiar with the area. Eighty percent of Penn Hills' unionized transit workers live in the district.

"As a mother of two daughters who ride the bus, we have the best bus drivers we could ask for," school board candidate Denise Graham-Shealey said at a board meeting last month.

Nancy Buckner, a Penn Hills parent, said she appreciates the Penn Hills bus drivers because they know the children's names, wait for kids who are running late and coordinate with other drivers to swing by and pick up children who miss the bus.

"[The school board] has no clue how we bend over backwards and take care of these schools and these kids," said Bob Dasta, a Penn Hills bus driver for 27 years. "You're not going to get a private carrier to be that dedicated."

Mr. Liberto said that parents need not be worried about safety and quality because the district stipulated in its requests for proposals to the private carriers that they must hire Penn Hills drivers.

But some current drivers have said they wouldn't work for a contracted carrier because it would mean taking a pay cut of about 30 percent and losing benefits, sick days and seniority.

Mr. Dasta said if the district hired a private contractor, it would have no control over costs in the future.

Mr. Liberto countered that by contracting out, the school district would have more control over costs than it currently has.

"Actually, we have more control over our contracted price than we do over our own internal price because we have no control over what health care is going to do and we have no control over what the state does with PSERS," he said. "But we could and will control the cost of the contractor's price because, No. 1, we can always go out and put another [request for proposals] out, and, No. 2, we can always tell them that if they want to continue with our business here that they need to take a freeze just like we've done with everybody else."

[pittsburghzones-blog]

Penn Hills School District welcomes new superintendent

By Zak Koeske The Penn Hills School District held a public meet and greet event Wednesday night at Linton Middle School to introduce its new superintendent, Thomas Washington. If parents and students weren’t familiar with Mr. Washington at the beginning of the night, they sure were by the end of it. He laid it all on the table. Literally. After giving a 20-minute power point and video presentation that outlined his philosophies on leadership, Mr. Washington brought out his baggage, set it down and asked the audience to reach in and air it out for everyone to see. His baggage, a CCAC tote bag to be specific, contained items of personal significance to Mr. Washington – a picture of his family, a notebook stuffed with thank you letters from former students and their parents, a book on closing the academic achievement gap and an iPad, just to name a few things. The items were pulled from the bag, one-by-one, after which Mr. Washington said a few short words about the significance of each. The exercise revealed him to be a devoutly religious family man with a passion for serving others through education. It was Mr. Washington’s way of showing members of the school community that he was relatable, not an unapproachable autocrat. “I think it’s important that you understand who Tom Washington is, the person, “he said, cautioning the audience to be gentle with him. “Because the education and all that stuff really doesn’t matter if I’m not a good individual and I’m not a good leader.” Mr. Washington’s presentation centered on his desire to always put the children’s needs first and to work with the entire school community to build a vision for the future. “I strongly believe that when we build a vision together that it will go a lot further, as opposed to Tom Washington walking in the door and saying, ‘Hey. I know what you need and this is the vision,’ ” he said during the presentation.  “That’s not how I function, just not how I was made.” Bonnie Sweeney, the mother of two high school aged sons in the district and a member of the high school PTA, said she was awed with Mr. Washington’s presentation. “I have been in some meetings with Mr. Washington before this and I was very much impressed,” Sweeney said. “But tonight he won my heart.” Sweeney spoke optimistically of Mr. Washington’s ability to provide the leadership that the school district needs to succeed in the future. Mr. Washington, who was appointed superintendent in December following the retirement of former superintendent Joseph Carroll, comes from the Bethlehem Area School District in eastern Pennsylvania where he was the assistant superintendent for human resources.

[pittsburghzones-blog]

Pyrite remediation on site of new Penn Hills High School will cost school district

By Zak Koeske Penn Hills School Board approved two change order payments totaling nearly $267,000 Monday to cover previously unforeseen construction work on the township’s new high school building. Most of the money, which comes out of a $2.4 million project contingency fund, will go to Wheels Mechanical, the project’s plumbing contractor, to perform pyrite remediation. The sulfide mineral, which was not tested for prior to construction, was discovered during the excavation process. Undisturbed and underneath the ground, pyrite doesn’t pose a problem. But when exposed to water or air, chemical reactions can occur that cause the oxidized pyrite to expand and inflict damage to structures built directly overhead. Mike Prioletta, the project executive from Turner Construction charged with managing the project, conceded that this won’t be the last time money will need to be taken from the contingency fund to pay for pyrite remediation on the project. He called it an ongoing process and estimated that the total cost of pyrite remediation will approach $800,000 by project’s end. “We’ve been putting exhaustive hours into monitoring this work, assuring that the public, the school project, the school district is not overpaying for these things,” Mr. Prioletta said. “Yeah, it’s a shame that money has to be spent for things that are unforeseen under the ground, but that’s what happens when you do construction projects.” Mr. Prioletta did, however, report that the pyrite remediation won’t affect the construction timeline. The new high school is still expected to be finished by early January 2013. Dan Schauble, a geotechnical engineer involved with the project, said that once remediated, he didn’t expect any pyrite-related problems down the road.  But he offered no guarantees, saying it was impossible to definitively eliminate the possibility that something could happen over time. “What we’re doing is an exercise in risk management,” Schauble said. “The protocols we’re putting in place are intended to limit [pyrite oxidation] from occurring. You’re not going to take pyrite off the site. It’s here. It’s a naturally occurring substance. It’s been here long before the high school was ever thought of and it’ll be here long after. It’s a matter of mitigating the risk to the greatest extent possible.” Although the reassurances offered by Mr. Prioletta and Mr. Schauble satisfied the board, who approved the project change orders unanimously, numerous residents voiced their concerns over the costs and the lack of a guarantee that the pyrite wouldn’t alter the building’s infrastructure in the future. An event to welcome Thomas Washington, the district’s new superintendent, will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. tonight at Linton Middle School. Superintendent Washington, who was previously employed as the assistant superintendent for human resources in the Bethlehem Area School District in eastern Pennsylvania, was appointed by the board in December.