This Spring, André Kimo Stone Guess will begin the task of setting up The August Wilson Center for African American Culture as the top African-American cultural institution in the world. As the August Wilson Center’s new president, Guess, who will start his position April 16, said this goal is well within reach.

ANDRE KIMO STONE GUESS

“My vision for the August Wilson Center is it can and will be the preeminent institution for African-American culture in the world,” Guess said. “I’ve been fortunate to travel all around the world and there’s really nothing like it in the world. It’s everything in one that deals with African-American culture.”

For the second time, Jordan Miles, who was allegedly beaten severely by plain-clothes police during an arrest Jan. 12, must wait to defend himself on charges of aggravated assault and resisting arrest.

Miles attorney, Kerry Lewis, argued against the second delay granted by District Judge Oscar Petite Feb. 18, saying the charges should be dismissed. A Jan. 21 hearing was also postponed when officers Richard Ewing, Michael Saldutte and David Sisak did not appear.

JORDAN MILES

Prosecutors requested the delay due to an ongoing FBI investigation into Miles claim that the officers beat him during his arrest.

Philadelphia-Former Commonwealth Court Judge Doris Smith-Ribner announced her candidacy for Lieutenant Governor.

Smith-Ribner has spent more than two decades as a statewide appeals court judge dealing with matters that touch upon every aspect of local and state government.

DORIS SMITH-RIBNER

She upheld campaign finance laws that limit the amount of political contributions in local elections; she ordered state agencies to disclose public records under the state’s Right to Know Law; she ordered the Philadelphia School District to provide full-day kindergarten that gave thousands of public school students a better chance to succeed in school; she upheld the right of ex-offenders to vote in Pennsylvania; she decided countless cases that dealt with the rights of the injured and unemployed workers; and she decided numerous cases under laws that cover zoning, environmental protection, labor relations, state and local elections and public officials’ conduct in office.

Construction will soon commence on a 31-home community in the Manchester neighborhood of the North Side. The Columbus Square development will see its first five homes completed sometime during the summer.

THE MANCHESTER TEAM —Front: Betty Jane, left, and Arthur Ralph. Standing, from left: Earl Coleman, Virginia Barnes, Linda Nelson, Brenda Moye, Stanley Lowe and Jerome Jackson.

“The conversion of a former Manchester industrial property to residential use is the result of a true public private partnership,” said Mark Schneider, a principal project developer for Fourth River Development. “Funding secured from the (Urban Redevelopment Authority), the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Allegheny County’s Community Infrastructure Tourism Fund and the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, together with PNC Bank’s financing of a model unity, enabled Columbus Square to move to the construction stage.”