Jones aka Chicken is 22 and his brother Cherry aka Young Meez is 20. These young men are making waves on the hip-hop scene in Pittsburgh and across the country. There music is a combination of conscious music with a mainstream appeal. Even though they have the production company together with Blair, they are solo artists.

CHICKEN AND YOUNG MEEZ

With only a few months left before its one-year anniversary, the August Wilson Center for African American Culture is experiencing some serious economic struggles. In order to right the sinking ship, the Center plans to cut its 2011 budget by 25 percent.

AWC TEAM—From left: Andre Kimo Stone Guess, Aaron Walton, Nancy Washington and Oliver Byrd.

“The potential here is to be the preeminent institution. We’re going to do that by being inclusive. The hard part is done; we’re sitting in the building,” said Executive Director Andre Kimo Stone Guess. “If it weren’t built no one would do it today because on the other side of this recession no one would do it.”

The laundry list of problems has included construction costs that totaled $43 million, close to $7 million over the initial budget and last year’s state budget catastrophe that delayed the release of state funding.

MARSEILLE, France (AP)—Hospital authorities say Grammy-winning singer Al Jarreau will stay hospitalized in the French city of Marseille for three or four more days.

The Marseille Hospital Authority said July 25 that Jarreau is getting better and in good spirits but will stay in La Timone hospital for monitoring.

ON THE MEND—Al Jarreau, seven-time Grammy Award winner, performs during a concert at Festival Jazz des Cinq Continents in Marseille, southern France, July 21.

Jarreau’s manager, Joe Gordon, says he will undergo tests in Marseille and “hopes to resume his tour at the end of the coming week.”

The 70-year-old Jarreau was hospitalized in the Alps July 23 after suffering breathing problems in the mountains that forced him to cancel several concerts. He was moved to Marseille by helicopter Saturday.

A lot of people said it couldn’t be done. But that’s always the case when people who have the vision, faith, desire and courage to try turning their dreams into reality face those who gave up on their own dreams long ago.

Well, one walk down Liberty Avenue will show you that it could be done—that it was done.

GROUNDBREAKERS— From left: Oliver Byrd, Yvonne Cook, Valerie McDonald Roberts and Sala Udin receive Founders Awards at the August Wilson Center, July 13.

“We’re looking at moving from a local to a regional to a national to an international perspective, to make this the preeminent African-American cultural center, for African-American culture and arts, in the world,” said Aaron Walton, the new chair for the August Wilson Center for African-American Culture, prior to the honors cere­mony. Walton is also the retired senior vice president of corporate affairs for Highmark, Inc. and one of the many people who was there “in the early days” of the center’s development.