The Pittsburgh area is trying to do what it can for victims of hurricane Katrina. There were several agencies all geared up for a plane-load of evacuees all set to come to Pittsburgh. But for some reason, they now aren’t coming. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article makes it sound like the plane was all ready to take off for Pittsburgh when the change was made. It doesn’t tell where they went instead, or why they are no longer Pittsburgh bound. For now, they just aren’t coming

Beds were ready, hotlines were jammed and donations were pouring in to local agencies ready to assist Gulf Coast hurricane victims expected to relocate to the Pittsburgh area today. But no evacuees showed up, and the one question no officials could answer was whether anyone was coming at all….

Pittsburgh was expecting one planeload of evacuees and Philadelphia expected two. By this afternoon, [Pennsylvania Governor] Rendell said, Philadelphia had received 35 displaced Gulf Coast residents and a dog.

I don’t think the people refused to come because of the smoke and grime of Pittsburgh’s long closed steel mills. Like a lot of other problems with helping the people in this disaster, it must just be a bureaucratic mixup of some sort.

But interestingly, it seems that the Pittsburgh area is doing what it can to make the Louisiana residents feel at home if they ever do come: they are releasing (and then catching) alligators in the Allegheny River.

TARENTUM, Pa. — Crocus, a 2-foot pet alligator, escaped from his backyard enclosure, but was captured by a girl who used what she learned on a nature TV program.

Nicki Hilliard and several friends saw the animal swimming in the Allegheny River.

Note: Tarentum is a (rather long) stone’s throw away from the Knilram.org’s world wide headquarters.

Strange that I found this article in the Chicago newspaper rather than the local news. It tells you something about our local news if this strange story didn’t make it in the papers here.