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Please save the date for OPDC's 35th Anniversary Celebration: An Evening of Oakland Storytelling. The event will take place on Friday, June 12, 2015 at the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children.  Click on the image for flyer and more info.
The City of Pittsburgh is seeking public input on an action plan for transit improvements and community development in the corridor between Downtown and neighborhoods east.
Two public meetings are set for next week. They are:
  • Tuesday, May 5, 2015 Uptown/Downtown, Noon – 2:00 p.m., Duquesne University, Power Center Ballroom 1015 Forbes Avenue
  • Wednesday, May 6, 2015 Oakland, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m., William Pitt Student Union, 3959 Fifth Avenue
At these upcoming public meetings, the City of Pittsburgh will provide an overview of coordinated planning efforts in the corridor along Fifth and Forbes avenues, including Downtown, Uptown, Oakland, and other East End neighborhoods. This will involve a review of ongoing planning for transit improvements, including bus rapid transit (BRT), and upcoming planning for an EcoInnovation District in the Uptown neighborhood.
Overview
The City of Pittsburgh is actively recruiting volunteers for our first ever semi-annual city-wide bicyclist/pedestrian count! We are looking for people to count bicyclists and pedestrians at one location for a 2-hour time period on Thursday, May 7 and/or Saturday, May 9. Grab some friends and help us Count Pittsburgh! 
Bicycle Pedestrian Count
Mandatory Training Session: Wednesday, May 6, 6 – 7 pm, Downtown Pittsburgh
Actual counting timeslots:
  • Timeslot A: Thursday, May 7, 7 – 9 am
  • Timeslot B: Thursday, May 7, 4 – 6 pm
  • Timeslot C: Saturday, May 9, 10 am – 12 pm
Locations
Coming soon

The Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation has extended the dealine for their 2015 scholarship application to Friday, May 15, 2015.  The scholarship program is for students who attend all Pittsburgh Public Schools and districts in outlying areas, including Allegheny County. The Foundation awards a maximum of 20 scholarships to students for the upcoming academic year.  A minimum of three scholarships are awarded to students from Pittsburgh Public Schools. High school seniors are chosen based on their academic achievement, community service, and participation in school activities.

Each Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation Scholarship is valued at $1,500 for the first year of a student’s college career. An additional $1,000 may be awarded for the student’s second year of college if a 3.0 GPA is maintained and a minimum of 24 credit hours are earned.

To view the application for the 2015 Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation Scholarship, please click here

Hard copies of scholarship applications are also available at, but not limited to, Jeron X. Grayson Community Center, Hill District Library, Hill House Association, Consensus Group, Thelma Lovette YMCA.

For information about the Foundation and other scholarships, please click here.

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Accessible bathrooms available at: Forbes Tower, 3600 Forbes Ave., 3rd Floor
As a kick off to the Oakland For All initiative, the Ramp Crawl event also coincides with the National Council on Disability's annual meeting in Pittsburgh.
We hope that you will join us for this fun, positive experience that is intended to provide an opportunity for everyone to become more engaged in the discussion about the importance of ensuring "Accessibility for All".
Suggested donation of $20 goes toward providing businesses with technical assistance and the on-going advancement of the Oakland For All, Beyond Accessible initiative – a project that seeks to make Oakland a model community for accessibility.
3407 Forbes Avenue – Proposed Campus Advantage Development (next to Arby's)
Campus Advantage, a national student rental housing management company, is proposing to build a 13-story, 137-unit student housing building. Attached are some rough designs and details the developer shared with us.
They are on the ZBA agenda for April 23, 2015 at 9:20 pm. 
?THE CORRECTED TIME IS 9:20 AM, not PM.

South Oakland Neighborhood Group (SONG)

SouthOaklandPgh.org
GENERIC PUPPY DOG PET PETS PUPPIES DOGS Dog wardens will canvass homes in Allegheny County through the week of April 20 to ensure all dog owners have current licenses and rabies vaccinations for their dogs.
Under Pennsylvania law, all dogs three months or older must be licensed by Jan. 1 of each year.
The fee is $6.50 for each spayed or neutered dog and $8.50 for other dogs. Older adults and persons with disabilities may purchase a license for $4.50 for spayed or neutered dogs and $6.50 for others.

Violators can be cited with a maximum fine of $300 per violation plus court costs.

PennDOT reminds its customers that they can take advantage of two voluntary, potentially life-saving programs designed to aid Pennsylvanians in emergency situations – the Yellow Dot and Emergency Contact Information programs.

Participants in the Yellow Dot program enter their emergency contact, medical contact and medical information on forms inside a Yellow Dot folder and then place the folder in their vehicle’s glove compartment. Participants then place a Yellow Dot sticker on their vehicle’s rear window. This sticker alerts emergency responders to check a vehicle’s glove compartment for the folder, helping emergency responders provide specific care to participants after a crash.

The Emergency Contact Information program offers Pennsylvania driver’s license and PennDOT-issued ID holders the opportunity to log into a secure database and list two emergency contacts. Customers can update the information as needed, but only law enforcement officials can view their information in the system. In the event of an emergency, law enforcement can use the participant’s ID to find their emergency contact information.While the Yellow Dot program is utilized only in vehicle crashes, the Emergency Contact Information program is usable in other emergencies as well as crashes.

To learn more about the Yellow Dot program or to sign up for a program folder visit www.YellowDot.pa.gov.

To sign up for the Emergency Contact Information program, visit www.dmv.state.pa.us and click on the program icon.

Next Oakwatch meeting is Wednesday, April 15 at 6pm at the Oakland Career Center. In addition to our standard updates, the new Zone 4 Commander, Daniel Herrmann, is planning to attend and introduce himself. The University of Pittsburgh's Student Government Board President Graeme Meyer will also join to speak on student-community relations.
Oakwatch meeting minutes can be found online at opdc.org/oakwatch