CHRISTMAS TREE PICKUP Waste Management will pick up trees at curbside on Saturday, January 12 and Saturday, January 19. Please have your tree at the curb the night before either collection date. Because the trees are going straight into the chipper, they need to be stripped of all lights, tinsel and other decorations, and cannot be in plastic bags. You can also put your tree out with your trash for regular pickup.

ST. CLAIR IS SAFEST The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit healthcare ratings organization, awarded St. Clair Hospital an “A” for its commitment to keeping patients safe and meeting the highest safety standards in the country. St. Clair has received an A rating for 13 consecutive years, placing St. Clair among the top hospitals in the country for patient safety.
The peer-reviewed rating process uses 27 measures of safety data, such as preventing medical errors, infections and other harms. Leapfrog rates more than 2,600 hospitals twice a year, using the letter grades A,B,C, D and F.

SUBSTITUTE CROSSING GUARDS NEEDED The Mt. Lebanon Police Department needs School Crossing Guards. 2.5 to 4 – hour shifts at various times throughout the day beginning at 7 a.m. and ending at 4 p.m. Must have a High School Diploma or GED, transportation and valid driver’s license. Will need to pass background clearance. Applications are available at the Mt. Lebanon Municipal Building (710 Washington Road) or Public Safety Building (555 Washington Road) weekdays 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. or online. Return applications to: Sharon Kroner Public Safety Center Traffic Services Unit 555 Washington Road. Pittsburgh, PA 15228.

HAIKU UPTOWN

WINTER
thick blanket of snow
snuggling the flowerbeds
with a winter wrap
—Jan Allison

Ease the sting of winter with poetry. Sometime this winter, when the Washington Road planters are devoid of greenery, they will be adorned with nature-based haikus. Mt. Lebanon High School studentsand their teachers are working on the project.

“This is a pop-up initiative to add inspiration and a splash of color to the Uptown planters during the winter,” says Commercial Districts Manager Eric Milliron, who borrowed the idea from similar projects in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco.

“It’s also a great partnership among the municipality, the high school and the Mt. Lebanon Partnership to engage youth in the Uptown district,” he says.

The haikus must be three lines only and focus on nature, but they do not necessarily have to adhere to the strict Japanese format of five syllables (above) in the first and last lines and seven in the second.

The haikus will come down in the spring when the planters are being seeded and prepared for planting.

“I view this as a pilot,” says Milliron. “If it’s successful and well received. I would like to do this every year.”