Garfield homicide

Early Tuesday morning, Zone Five police officers responded to a call of a male being shot at the corner of North Atlantic and Columbo streets in the Garfield section of Pittsburgh.

Anthony Rivers, 26, was found dead at the scene from a gunshot wound to the back of his head. Detectives said that Rivers had been robbed and shot. They are looking for two Black men as their suspects.

Police have yet to arrest any suspects, but are asking that anyone with information to call the Pittsburgh Homicide Squad at 412-323-7161.

Chain closes local stores

A department store retail chain that brought stores to Pittsburgh two years ago, filed Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection on Monday.

Boscov’s Department store, which opened in the former Kaufmann’s locations when Macy’s Department store purchased it, will close two locations in the area, the Monroeville and South Hills Village Mall ones. The retail chain has 48 stores and is planning to close 10 of them. They have locations in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Virginia.

The two local Boscov’s locations currently employ approximately 300 employees.

Energy efficient homes

A partnership between three entities has brought a new housing development that provides affordable, energy efficient homes for owners with low and moderate incomes.

A partnership between the Urban Redevelopment Authority, Pittsburgh Housing Development Corp. and the Hazelwood Initiative created the Hazelwood Homes Development. The development is a $1.5 million project that consists of four new town homes and two single-family homes. It also received an Energy Star Certification. It is the first development completed by the Pittsburgh Development Corp. to receive this type of status.

“We have always encouraged developers to build as efficiently as possible, but this project was a pilot of our new policy requiring Energy Star certification in order to receive URA financing,” Matt Smuts, sustainable design coordinator, URA said in a press release. “This new policy is the first step in challenging the way we and our partners build.”

Earlier this year, the Urban Redevelopment Authority established a new rule that states that any housing project receiving funding from them has to become Energy Star Certified. To be certified, the home must meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations.

The homes include effective insulation, high-performance windows, airtight construction and ducts, efficient heating and cooling systems and energy efficient products, like lighting fixtures, ventilation equipment and appliances.

Homes in the new development will cost between $129,000 and $135,000. There will be deferred mortgages available.

For more information on the homes, call Judith Hanley of the Hanley Agency at 412-722-7900.

Exchange students

The nonprofit organization Youth For Understanding, which is one of the oldest and largest high school exchange programs in the world, is asking for Host Families to donate their time and open their homes to foreign exchange students from more than 60 countries for the 2008-2009 school year.

The goal of the program is to prepare young people to be responsible for opportunities in an ever-changing, interdependent world.

The program allows for foreign exchange students to come to the United States and live with an American family for about 90 days.

For more information about the program and what it takes to be a host family, call Theresa Nowak toll free at 866-493-8872.

Family night

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and his wife have announced that they will host the city’s first “Family Night” at Schenley Park at Flagstaff Hill Aug. 10 at 6:30 p.m.

There will be a free movie, arts and crafts, fire trucks, storytellers and light refreshments before the Citiparks’ “Cinema In The Park.”

“Erin and I are extending a personal invitation to every family living in the city of Pittsburgh to discover many of the city’s most popular activities in one convenient location,” said Ravenstahl, in a press release. “On this special night, kids can climb aboard a fire truck, express their creativity by visiting the Citiparks Roving Art Cart, learn about nature at the Frick Environmental Center touch table and much, much more.”

This event is open to all city of Pittsburgh families. For more information, visit www.pgh.gov.