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Pittsburgh, Allegheny County experience critical shortage of public housing

Nearly 23,000 people live in limbo as they wait for public housing in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County.

The shortage of low-income housing is so bad that, for the first time in 17 years, Pittsburgh’s city housing authority recently closed the waitlist for the majority of its properties.

By Halle Stockton | PublicSource | June 9, 2013

Photo by Halle Stockton / PublicSource

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What happens when a ‘green’ college considers fracking?

Just 90 miles north of Pittsburgh, Allegheny College, a private, liberal-arts college, has won national awards for green initiatives, gets all its electricity from wind generation and has a goal of carbon neutrality by 2020.

Now, the school touted in the Princeton Review’s guide to green colleges as a leader of environmental friendliness, is talking about leasing land for fracking.

By Natasha Khan | PublicSource | May 26, 2013

Photo by Natasha Khan / PublicSource

(2 of 8)

A ‘social welfare’ group that nobody knows

Pennsylvanians for Accountability runs television ads that accuse Gov. Tom Corbett of playing a shell game with the state.

But what game is the Pittsburgh advocacy group itself playing? It refuses to name its officers and directors. It conceals its funders. It uses a mail drop for an address.

By Bill Heltzel | PublicSource | May 16, 2013

A still from an advertisment paid for by Pennsylvanians for Accountability

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Gas Rush Stories: Openness and transparency about Marcellus Shale

As a news organization, PublicSource has a special interest in the way public records in Pennsylvania are made available under the Right-to-Know law. We've written about it numerous times. Here, in a video by Kirsi Jansa, experts at a public forum held by the Freedom of Information Coalition discuss getting information on Marcellus Shale drilling.

By Kirsi Jansa | Gas Rush Stories | May 16, 2013

A still from the video by Kirsi Jansa.

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‘E Block:’ Inside the state’s oldest prison

Scrawled on the whitewashed walls of cells at Pittsburgh's Western Penitentiary, photographer Mark Perrott found raw words that told the stories of former prisoners of E Block.

By Emily DeMarco | PublicSource | May 9, 2013

Photo by Mark Perrott

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The Pittsburgh area has light rail — but can you find it?

The Hillcrest light-rail stop is not easy to find.

There is no sign at either entrance. Tucked between two hills in Bethel Park, it’s barely visible from nearby roads. The closest landmark is a Walgreens.

By Emily DeMarco | PublicSource | May 1, 2013

Photo by Emily DeMarco / PublicSource

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After guns and grenades, PA veterans claims delayed

Dan Blevins, 29, of Carnegie is one of more than 10,000 veterans in Pennsylvania who has been waiting more than a year for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to rule on disability claims.

By Bill Heltzel | PublicSource | April 28, 2013

Photo by Alexandra Kanik/PublicSource

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UPDATE: Petition signers urge whistleblower bill’s sponsor to kill bill

Nearly 800 people in Pennsylvania have signed a petition against proposed Pennsylvania House Bill 683, which would criminalize taking photos, video or recording audio on farmlands.

The petition urges state Rep. Gary Haluska, D-Cambria, the bill’s primary sponsor, to kill the bill.

By Natasha Khan | PublicSource | April 25, 2013

Photo by Walt Stoneburner / flickr

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Featured Content

Pittsburgh, Allegheny County experience critical shortage of public housing

By Halle Stockton | PublicSource | June 9, 2013

Nearly 23,000 people live in limbo as they wait for public housing in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County.

The shortage of low-income housing is so bad that, for the first time in 17 years, Pittsburgh’s city housing authority recently closed its waitlist.
What happens when a 'green' college considers fracking?

By Natasha Khan | PublicSource | May 26, 2013

Just 90 miles north of Pittsburgh, Allegheny College, a private, liberal-arts college, has won national awards for green initiatives, gets all its electricity from wind generation and has a goal of carbon neutrality by 2020.

Now, the school touted in the Princeton Review’s guide to green colleges as a leader of environmental friendliness, is talking about leasing land for fracking.
Update: Hearing will examine secretive Pittsburgh nonprofit

By Bill Heltzel | PublicSource | May 23, 2013

A state lawmaker has scheduled a public hearing to examine the legality of a secretive Pittsburgh nonprofit group that has been running television ads critical of Gov. Tom Corbett.

“Clearly, they are trying to influence the outcome of elections,” said state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Cranberry, about Pennsylvanians for Accountability. “The law requires if they make these kinds of expenditures they have to report that.”
A ‘social welfare’ group that nobody knows

By Bill Heltzel | PublicSource | May 16, 2013

Pennsylvanians for Accountability runs television ads that accuse Gov. Tom Corbett of playing a shell game with the state.

But what game is the Pittsburgh advocacy group itself playing? It refuses to name its officers and directors. It conceals its funders. It uses a mail drop for an address.
Gas Rush Stories: Openness and transparency about Marcellus Shale

By Kirsi Jansa | Gas Rush Stories | May 16, 2013

As a news organization, PublicSource has a special interest in the way public records in Pennsylvania are made available under the Right-to-Know law. We've written about it numerous times. Here, in a video by Kirsi Jansa, experts at a public forum held by the Freedom of Information Coalition discuss getting information on Marcellus Shale drilling.
‘E Block:’ Inside the state’s oldest prison

By Emily DeMarco | PublicSource | May 9, 2013

Scrawled on the whitewashed walls of cells at Pittsburgh's Western Penitentiary, photographer Mark Perrott found raw words that told the stories of former prisoners of E Block.
The Pittsburgh area has light rail — but can you find it?

By Emily DeMarco | PublicSource | May 1, 2013

The Hillcrest light-rail stop is not easy to find.

There is no sign at either entrance. Tucked between two hills in Bethel Park, it’s barely visible from nearby roads. The closest landmark is a Walgreens.
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The light-rail system: An interactive graphic

By Emily DeMarco and Alexandra Kanik | PublicSource | May 1, 2013

Explore our interactive graphic of the light-rail system. Toggle between the Red and Blue lines, the Free Fare Zone and the Port Authority of Allegheny County's system map.
article-sidebar

Voices of the light rail

By Emily DeMarco | PublicSource | May 1, 2013

What did riders have to say about the light-rail system? Hear from the people PublicSource met at the stops.

Investigations

Coming Home PA

After guns and grenades, PA veterans claims delayed

By Bill Heltzel | PublicSource | April 28, 2013

Dan Blevins, 29, of Carnegie is one of more than 10,000 veterans in Pennsylvania who has been waiting more than a year for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to rule on disability claims.
UPDATE: Petition signers urge whistleblower bill’s sponsor to kill bill

By Natasha Khan | PublicSource | April 25, 2013

Nearly 800 people in Pennsylvania have signed a petition against proposed Pennsylvania House Bill 683, which would criminalize taking photos, video or recording audio on farmlands.

The petition urges state Rep. Gary Haluska, D-Cambria, the bill’s primary sponsor, to kill the bill.
The Right to Know, or the Right to No?

By Leah Samuel | PublicSource | April 21, 2013

After getting a parking ticket at Pittsburgh International Airport, a driver requested a copy of the Allegheny Police Department’s report of the incident. The department didn’t respond.

A parent asked the Ligonier Valley School District for documents detailing planned teacher layoffs. The school district said it had no such documents.
Former coach with troubled past works with teens again

By Bill Heltzel | PublicSource | April 7, 2013

Through all the chaos and sorrow that swept through Joplin, Mo., after a devastating tornado in 2011, one man stood out.

David Scott Zimmerman of O’Hara near Pittsburgh consoled teens on Facebook, shipped free T-shirts to boys who needed clothing, and prodded a family to form a youth group in honor of their son, who died in the storm.
PA investigates former teacher 14 years after charges

By Bill Heltzel | PublicSource | April 13, 2013

Fourteen years after a Vincentian Academy coach and teacher was forced to resign over allegations of sexual misconduct with basketball players, the Pennsylvania Department of Education is questioning former athletes who played for him.
Bill would limit whistleblower activities on PA farms

By Natasha Khan | PublicSource | March 21, 2013

A recently proposed Pennsylvania bill would make it a crime to photograph, videotape or audiotape activities on farms without the permission of the owner. The bill would limit information to the public about food safety, animal cruelty and environmental issues, according to its critics.
Old diesel equipment still spewing soot into Pittsburgh's air

By Emily DeMarco | PublicSource | March 7, 2013

Morry Feldman downs two horse pills with breakfast. Then, he uses four different sprays. Two puffs into the mouth. Two into the nose. Repeat at dinner.

Feldman, 59, has severe asthma and allergies. And Pittsburgh is among the worst places he could live or work because of the region’s poor air quality.
Lottery losers

By Leah Samuel | PublicSource | Feb. 25, 2013

When Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane ruled that Gov. Tom Corbett’s contract for private management of the state lottery was illegal, proponents of privatization shot back that Kane’s decision meant a loss of an additional $50 million for senior services.