"My Homewood," like the rest of the Post-Gazette's Web site, is changing. In the near future, you will be able to post your comments, and have them appear immediately. I am excited about the prospect of you folks being able to communicate with each other more directly and freely, because I have some very smart readers.

Just wanted to let you folks know that's coming.

Here's a video from the 2nd annual Day of Black Male Solidarity.

Have a good weekend!

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Some Homewood students participating in a training program that combines arts and entrepreneurship will present their work in an exhibit this evening at the Homewood Carnegie Library.

"Postcards From Homewood" is a project conducted by The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship and The Manchester Craftsmen's Guild. The artwork on these postcards includes design and photography by students from Homewood. Packages of 10 cards will be sold, with proceeds benefitting the students and the library.

The program is teaching the students, from Faison Middle School, digital photography alongside such topics as business plan and marketing. I had the pleasure of hosting the students for a tour of the PG last week, and found them delightful. If you can make it to the Library this evening, between 5 and 7 p.m., please do.

While you're there, from 5:30 to 7 p.m., you'll be able to enjoy this month's free "Jazz on the Steps" concert sponsored by the Jazz Workshop Inc. Tonight's guest artists are the Dwayne Dolphin Quartet.

Go, enjoy some jazz, buy some postcards, encourage some kids to make money with art.

From the inbox:

Once again, I think you have hit on such an important topic for everyone - Wills & Estates!

While I do live in the city, my work has me involved with rural folks (who are often low-income, like many city-dwellers). One of the biggest issues my department faces is what happens when a death occurs.

So very often, we run into folks that either don't have a will or whose family didn't have the will probated. It can be a complicated process to have a will probated, but it is far less complicated that what a family has to do to pass property on through the states' intestancy laws.

Everybody should have a will! Everybody should tell someone in their family they have one. And everyone should look into having their deceased loved one's estates probated!

All too often I have to inform folks that the one item of value (and it might not have had value way back when, but it does today) their loved one owned has been lost to a tax sale. Because if no one is paying the taxes, it will go up for sale (some counties are quicker than others, but eventually, they all do it.) This goes for the type of property I work with and it goes for homes here in the city.

This is a message I can't stress enough.

Thanks for getting the word out. -- Kelli J., Lawrenceville

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Real Estate Watch

Four transactions reported this week by RealSTATs, totalling just over $15,000. Any of you folks buy anything yet? Me neither, but I'm starting to look. Why should guys from suburban Philly (see second transaction) have all the fun?

7102 Apple Avenue, for $1,675, by sheriff's deed.

7102 Apple Avenue, for $10,800

8522 Dersam St., for $1,743, by sheriff's deed.

7116 Mt. Vernon (no picture available), for $1,506, by sheriff's deed.

Did you notice that the first two transactions are for the same property?

That means that we have three properties listed here, and all three appear to be foreclosures. It would be interesting, and possibly instructive, to know the stories behind those foreclosures.

According to State Rep. Joe Preston (D-East Liberty), the story behind many of the foreclosures in our community can be summed up in four words:

"We don't have wills." By "we," he means black folks in and around Pittsburgh. For some reason, too many of us never get a will done. Do you have a will? Vote in this poll

I spoke with a reader Friday who is living with that reality, trying to figure out what to do concerning the house that she grew up in. It's empty now, but the county's records still say that it belongs to two family members who are both deceased, neither of whom had wills.

She wants to prevent it from becoming a haven for crackheads and God knows who else. She's doing title searches and checking for liens, and wants to gain possession before squatters do.

"When I rode past it it almost killed me," she said. "It's a heartbraking thing to see it go."

I could only recommend consulting with a lawyer, but so far, I'm not optimistic. I asked Rep. Preston once about probate, the legal process for disbursing a person's estate when they die without a will.

I asked him, "How does probate work?" And he answered,

"It doesn't."

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Does anyone remember the curfew that the city of Pittsburgh established a few years back for young people?

I had forgotten about it, and in fact, I thought it had been rescinded, until I saw this.

This puts a new perspective on the matter of youth being out late. It means that, whether they are looking for trouble or not (and again, I don't believe they are), they are breaking the law.

I bet that most of them don't even realize that. Worse, I bet that most of their parents don't realize that they are allowing their children to break the law.

Just a thought. Have a good weekend, everyone.

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While driving to work this morning, I noticed that a car for sale at a dealership that I pass on the way had a price marked on it of $28,000+, and I thought to myself, "That's five houses in Homewood."

Or more -- this week's report from RealSTATs lists the following sales in the 13th Ward:

7048 Fletcher Way, for $1,500

7015 Mt. Vernon St., for $2,851, by sheriff's deed.

From the Inbox

Thanks for that tip; I hope that some young people get the word. Or for that matter, some adults who could use a job.

I agree that the kids who are out late are not necessarily looking for trouble. My concern is that being out late may make it easier for trouble to find them.

Also, I am concerned that they may form the habit of idleness - again, I encourage anyone here who knows of summer job opportunities to share what they know.

I don't believe that hanging out on street corners around midnight creates unity among our youth. But I'd like to hear from them. Any high-schoolers out there? Let us know what you think.

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The monthly meeting of the Brother to Brother community forum happens tomorrow, same time, same location: 9 a.m. for breakfast, 10 a.m. - noon for the discussion.

Tomorrow's meeting will focus on planning an event scheduled for the following Saturday, June 21 - the 2nd Annual Day of Black Male Solidarity. The first DBMS drew some 400 men for a rally and march that began Downtown and moved up to Freedom Corner on the Hill. Next week's event will begin a rally at the Homewood Gazebo, the corner of Homewood and Frankstown Avenues, followed by workshops in nearby churches.

The best way to get more info is to show up at the B2B meeting tomorrow, at the Community Empowerment Association, 7143 Fleury Way, at the rear of the old Rite-Aid building.

The second best way is to call the CEA at 412-371-3689.

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