Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Even The Union Has Given Up On Iron City

A timely update on the Luke-and-beer story from the Trib, which gets credit for raising the issue but misses the story.

I suppose the headline ("Iron City Brewing Co. may find home in Latrobe") is accurate, in the "monkeys might fly out of my butt" sense (skip to 1:30), but the Trib's "story" is vapor fashioned from the desperate hopes of a union that has been the football in a politicians-as-Charlie-Brown, management-as-Lucy charade for years.

The real news is that even the union has apparently acknowledged "last call" for brewing on Liberty Avenue. The city gave millions in public dollars to questionable Iron City management recently, and the state put at least a half-million into the Latrobe facility, but the cold truth is that neither facility is likely to be producing beer next year.

When is someone going to ask the mayor, his chief of staff and the water authority to explain their conduct with respect to Iron City Brewing? Is the city going to pursue repayment of Iron City subsidies that were conditioned on maintaining or increasing employment? Is the state going to hold the owners in Latrobe accountable?

The questions are rhetorical; don't expect to see any of them on the Propositions Board, because taking bets on sure things is something only elected officials would do.

P.S. The photographs depict suggestions for anyone desiring a beer brewed in Pittsburgh. If you want a photograph of beer from Rochester, call the mayor's office.

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