Penguins reach land-use deal with Black church
PITTSBURGH — More than 60 years ago, a historic Black church was forced to give up its sanctuary — and compensated for what it says was a fraction of the value — to an urban renewal project that wiped out the heart of an African American neighborhood known as the Hill District.
Now, Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church is poised to recoup some of that loss and reclaim a spot near its former home. It has reached an agreement with the Pittsburgh Penguins, who now hold development rights to the site near its arena, for the church to use a 1.5-acre parcel that it envisions utilizing for housing and other revenue-generating development.
The agreement came after years of public calls and demonstrations by the church, which has described its efforts as seeking reparations. The church battle is a microcosm of a larger one over the legacy of the 1950s project, in which leaders in the Black community have long sought redress from the powers that be in Pittsburgh’s political, business and sports realms.
The Penguins didn’t come into existence until 1967, playing first in one arena in the former neighborhood and now in a newer one nearby. But Kevin Acklin, president of business operations for the Penguins, said the team is “recognizing our role here as a steward” of the property and its legacy.
“Mistakes that were made 70 years ago, we can’t fix them, but we can do what we can today for a better future, for restorative justice,” Acklin said.
He hopes the agreement, and the larger efforts to remake the site, can serve as a model for other U.S. cities with the wounds of similar mid-20th-century urban renewal projects.
“We have the ability to do good and work with a group of people and a church that’s trying to do good,” Acklin said, adding a biblical aphorism: “To whom much is given, much is expected.”
The announcement was scheduled for Friday at an outdoor setting on the former arena site, preceded by a worship service, underscoring the role of faith as a motivating and organizing source for Bethel’s efforts.
“Mistakes that were made 70 years ago, we can’t fix them, but we can do what we can today for a better future, for restorative justice.”
Penguins president of business operations Kevin Acklin
The aptly named Hill District, which rises steeply to the east of the city’s central business district, became a hub for Black culture in the 20th century, renowned for its jazz clubs and other touchstones portrayed in many of the plays of acclaimed dramatist August Wilson.
Bethel AME had a prominent role in that community. Founded around 1808 and considered Pittsburgh’s oldest Black church, it was active from its earliest years in childhood education and civil rights. It opened a large brick church in 1906 in the Lower Hill District, with rounded arches and a prominent tower, home to 3,000 members at its peak.
But in the 1950s, public officials from the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh declared much of the Lower Hill to be blighted. It oversaw demolition of about 1,300 buildings across 95 acres, displacing over 8,000 people, more than 400 business and multiple houses of worship — although not a mostly white Catholic church, as Bethel members have noted.
Bethel leaders fought the church’s demolition unsuccessfully, ultimately receiving $240,000 for a property that had been valued at $745,000. The Rev. Dale Snyder, pastor of Bethel, has said that in the racial and political climate of the time, the church had little power to obtain fair compensation.
A crosstown highway, civic arena and some housing were built in the former neighborhood, but other planned structures never materialized. The result was a concrete and asphalt gash between the downtown and the Hill District, which continues to struggle economically.
Under agreements with public authorities, the Penguins have development rights to 28 acres of the former arena site. A 26-story mixed-use building is on the rise, and a small urban park has opened, with other projects on the drawing board.
Bethel, meanwhile, now worships further up in the Hill District. Its more modest, modern sanctuary is bathed in the light of stained-glass windows, telling stories of the Bible and honoring Methodist stalwarts such as AME pioneer Richard Allen.
Among those planning to attend Friday’s announcement is Bishop Kurt Kusserow of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He is among the faith leaders who have supported Bethel in its efforts for reparations. The relationship grew out of a Lutheran-AME dialogue that was rooted in tragedy — the 2015 racist massacre of nine attendees of a Bible study at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
When ELCA leaders learned that the killer had been a member of one of its churches, they called for members of their predominantly white denomination to build ties with AME churches.
“As we learned more about white privilege and all of that reality in our country,” Kusserow said, “it was our responsibility to use that privilege in any possible way to accompany what the AME church was seeking in terms of reparations.”
Acklin said the 1.5-acre site is larger than the 13,000-square-foot property that Bethel formerly owned and which has been designated for other uses. He sees the agreement as part of larger efforts to work with the Hill District community to restore its former connections to downtown.
In 2014, all the major parties involved — which include the city, county and two public authorities — agreed to a plan intended to include Hill District stakeholders. But the long process has required vigilance to ensure the new developments benefit the neighborhood, said Marimba Milliones, president of Hill Community Development Corp.
“When we’re talking about addressing a historic wrong, it has to be for the entire site,” Milliones said. “The return of this land [to Bethel] is important, and we should celebrate it, but we have to keep our eyes on the broader development as we celebrate because the whole site is entangled in questions of morality and questions of good urban development and equity.”
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David Purdum
Members of Congress sent a letter to Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred on Friday, expressing concern over a “new integrity crisis” facing American sports and asking for answers about the alleged betting scheme that led to the recent indictments of two Cleveland Guardians pitchers.
Members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, which oversees professional sports, called the allegations against Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz “markedly more serious” than other recent betting incidents in baseball. Federal prosecutors on Sunday indicted Clase and Ortiz and accused them of rigging individual pitches over multiple games so gambling associates could profit on wagers.
Sens. Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell, who lead the committee, questioned why Clase’s alleged actions, which began in May 2023, were not discovered for two years. They contrasted the case with that of former major leaguer Tucupita Marcano, who was banned in 2024 for betting on baseball.
“How did MLB catch Marcano and ban him for life but failed to notice Clase allegedly rigging pitches for two years?” the letter states. “The integrity of the game is paramount. MLB has every interest in ensuring baseball is free from influence and manipulation. … But in light of these recent developments, MLB must clearly demonstrate how it is meeting its responsibility to safeguard America’s pastime.”
The committee members asked when and how MLB was made aware of the alleged activity by Clase and Ortiz and for documentation detailing the league’s betting policies and details of any other betting-related investigations since Jan. 1, 2020. The committee requested the information and documentation by Dec. 5.
ESPN has reached out to MLB for comment. On Monday, MLB announced that its sportsbook partners had agreed to place a $200 limit on all bets involving individual pitches and prohibit such wagers from being included in parlays. The measures were taken to reduce the amount that could be won from pitch-level bets and therefore decrease the incentive of manipulation.
The same committee sent a letter to the NBA in October, asking for information related to that league’s handling of the alleged betting scandal that led to the indictments of Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, former player and coach Damon Jones and Miami Heat veteran guard Terry Rozier.
“An isolated incident of game rigging might be dismissed as an aberration, but the emergence of manipulation across multiple leagues suggests a deeper, systemic vulnerability,” the committee wrote. “These developments warrant thorough scrutiny by Congress before misconduct issues become more widespread.”
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Michael Rothstein
Testimony in the wrongful death lawsuit against the Los Angeles Angels underscores the difficulties team attorneys face convincing the jury they were unaware of addiction concerns before employee Eric Kay provided a fentanyl-laced pill that killed pitcher Tyler Skaggs in 2019.
The court case, now entering its sixth week, continues to focus on the team’s handling of Kay’s drug addiction treatment and whether officials did enough to protect Skaggs as Kay’s behavior became increasingly strange, causing Kay’s wife and some Angels employees to raise questions of drug abuse.
Kay was present in Skaggs’ hotel room the night he overdosed on alcohol and opioids, less than a month after Kay returned to work from a drug addiction treatment program. In Kay’s 2022 criminal trial, witnesses testified that Kay distributed pills to other players.
The team doctor testified last week that he prescribed more than 600 opioid pills to Kay over several years before learning how addictive the pills could be.
Contradictory testimony by current and former Angels representatives has sharpened scrutiny about what the Angels knew — and whether officials relayed concerns about Kay to Major League Baseball. Among the trial’s key elements in the past two weeks:
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Deborah Johnston, the Angels vice president of human resources, testified Monday that the team worked with MLB to address Kay’s addiction, despite her own deposition and previous testimony by other Angels officials saying they had no knowledge of any such coordination.
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MLB sent a statement to ESPN denying any knowledge of or involvement in Kay’s treatment. In front of the judge after jurors left the courtroom on Wednesday, the Skaggs family attorneys accused Johnston of committing perjury, a serious allegation. Angels attorneys immediately denied the perjury accusation.
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Angels officials testified they believed Kay’s problems came from prescribed medication to address mental health issues, while clubhouse employees testified they either witnessed or believed Kay had a problem with drugs.
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Angels officials testified they believed Kay suffered from bipolar disorder even though Kay’s medical records when he entered rehabilitation in April 2019 showed no record of medication to treat bipolar disorder. Kay’s ex-wife, Camela, testified she was not aware of a bipolar diagnosis.
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The team doctor, Craig Milhouse, testified that he prescribed Kay 600 pills of the opioids Norco and Vicodin over a 44-month period between 2009 and 2013.
The crux of the case is whether the Angels knew Kay was abusing drugs and providing them to players, including Skaggs while working in his official capacity. Kay is serving 22 years in federal prison for providing the drug that killed Skaggs in a Texas hotel room on July 1, 2019. The team contends he and Skaggs were acting privately in their off time when the overdose occurred.
The plaintiffs claim the Angels put Skaggs in harm’s way by continuing to employ Kay when his behavior showed warning signs of drug abuse. Angels officials say they are not responsible for Skaggs’ death, were not aware of his drug use and that it was Skaggs’ reckless decision to mix alcohol with illicit drugs that killed him. Officials also testified they were not aware Kay was providing drugs to players when Skaggs died.
The Skaggs family is seeking $118 million in estimated lost wages, in addition to potential punitive damages.
Johnston testified last week that the franchise had worked with MLB to get Kay help for his drug addiction. It’s the first time an Angels official suggested MLB was informed of Kay’s problem — a major bone of contention on the question of team responsibility.
Johnston said that when the Angels investigate potential use of illegal substances on team property, one option is immediate termination, depending on the findings. “Another option is to work with MLB, as we did in this case, and with our physician, Dr. [Erik] Abell,” she stated. Abell was the team’s liaison with MLB for such issues.
Johnston also testified that Kay was drug-tested under MLB’s policies, not those of the Angels.
In a text-messaged statement to ESPN about the perjury accusation, Angels’ attorney Todd Theodora wrote: “The accusation that Ms. Johnston committed perjury is completely false and defamatory. Her testimony was truthful based on several text messages she was recently shown demonstrating that Dr. Abell was treating Eric Kay.”
He added that Johnston “did not make any statements about whether Dr. Abell reported this further to MLB.”
An MLB spokesperson denied the league knew of Kay’s drug use or was involved with Kay’s treatment.
In separate weekend comments to ESPN, Theodora and lead plaintiffs attorney Rusty Hardin argued about the perjury issue, with Theodora characterizing the absence of a ruling by the judge on the accusation as a win for his side, while Hardin insisted that no ruling means the issue remains alive — including plaintiffs’ efforts to get MLB testimony.
California-based civil attorney Geoffrey Hickey told ESPN that perjury can only be proven if Johnston “willingly and knowingly” made a false statement under oath. Hickey said Hardin has a “good-faith argument,” but he doesn’t think Johnston’s statements rise to the level of perjury.
Johnston testified in a September pretrial deposition that no one had reported Kay’s drug use to MLB. She explained Monday she “learned additional information” about the Angels’ communications with MLB after giving her deposition. She said she couldn’t remember the exact document where she learned the information.
Kay’s immediate superior, Tim Mead, and the Angels’ traveling secretary, Tom Taylor, testified earlier in the trial that Abell worked with Kay but made no mention of reporting his case to MLB.
Team doctor Milhouse testified that he believed Abell, the team’s sports psychologist, was the liaison to MLB for such an issue. MLB documents state that player drug issues were subject to investigation and disciplinary follow-up by the office of the MLB commissioner.
While Angels officials testified they never saw Kay take illicit drugs, former clubhouse attendant Kris Constanti testified that Kay told him he was taking Norco. Another ex-clubhouse attendant, Vince Willet, testified he saw Kay crush and then snort a pill in the Angels’ clubhouse kitchen during spring training.
Former clubhouse manager Keith Tarter testified that he suspected Kay was using drugs and that Kay told him in 2019 he was concerned because his supply of Suboxone, a drug to treat opioid dependence, was running out. Tarter said he never saw Kay actually use drugs.
Milhouse testified he didn’t learn about the true addictive nature of opioids until 2014 or 2015. He stopped prescribing them for Kay in 2013.
Camela Kay testified that after her ex-husband had a breakdown at Yankees Stadium the same year, he stated in front of Taylor and Mead he was taking five Vicodin a day. Taylor denied it, and Mead said he didn’t recall the conversation. Milhouse also said that during 2009-2013, he typically only prescribed opioids on a short-term basis and that he had put other patients on similar treatment regimens and quantities as Kay. Milhouse testified that he considered the use of opioids five times a day to be an addiction.
The trial continues in Orange County Superior Court this week, with the witness schedule including Skaggs’ widow, Carli, and mother, Debbie Hetman.
Two jurors have already been excused — leaving two alternates for the remainder of the case, which is slated to go to the jury in mid-December.
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