Deselected: My time on the jury pool in the Tree of Life shooting showed why juries are so homogeneous
This week, a jury in a downtown Pittsburgh courtroom began hearing testimony in the trial of the man charged in the 2018 killing of 11 congregants of the Tree of Life-Or L’Simcha, Dor Hadash and New Light congregations. Artist Andrea Shockling was in the jury pool, and for two months had to weigh how service…
In the Allegheny Valley, after a century of coal power, the towers have toppled
Two towering smokestacks presided over Springdale and Cheswick boroughs for years. But on Friday, at 8 a.m. sharp, explosives placed in hundreds of small holes drilled into each chimney detonated, and the two towers came clattering to the ground in a cloud of dust and rubble that echoed the end of coal generation in Allegheny…
After a decade spent talking about mental health in schools, I felt like giving up. Instead, I’m giving more.
Ten years ago, I nervously held a piece of paper in my hands as I stood in front of a classroom of no more than 20 students at Brashear High School in Pittsburgh. I was about to publicly share, for the first time, my story of battling and living with mental illness. My heart was…
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Signals from songbirds: How feathered migrants help scientists save local ecosystems
The magnolia warbler travels as many as 2,000 miles, high above the Gulf of Mexico and across the United States, before arriving in Canada’s boreal forest to breed. On a morning in May, one of the tiny yellow songbirds found…
Are Spin scooters a helpful way to get around or a public safety issue?
The Spin scooter reporting system relies on users who have a problem, such as an accident that causes injury, tapping a button (an exclamation point in the corner of the screen) on the app. Lawrence Chertik died before reporting his…
Pittsburgh’s mayor asked for expert advice on homelessness. Here’s what the mayor — and you — should know
Increasing homelessness in Pittsburgh brings challenges, but experts offer potential strategies in the fight for affordable housing and systemic change.
Allegheny County closing Downtown shelter on Smithfield Street
The shelter’s operator previously expressed willingness to keep it open. “This shelter is filling a need,” said Jon Colburn, the church’s parish administrator. “If people are here by choice then it’s gotta be pretty bleak for their other options.”
Primary maps show suburbs are split — and will sway Allegheny County politics
Turnout in Tuesday’s primary was 26%, vs. 16% turnout in 2019. In the race for Allegheny County executive, Democrat Sara Innamorato now faces Republican Joe Rockey. His vote total was 48% higher than the lone candidate in the 2019 GOP…
We, the youth, mapped our feelings as we lived our lives in Homewood. The city must do better for our neighborhood.
As the Youth Research Advisory Board of the SPIN (Space and People In Neighborhoods) Project, we probed quality of life in our neighborhood by exploring the links between violence, support and stress in spaces and later investigating who owns the…
Updated: Mon Valley libraries get $3.8 million for ‘transformative’ changes
The Allegheny Regional Asset District will grant $3.8 million to five Mon Valley libraries, the first grants made through its Transformative Community Library Fund. The fund, meant to address the needs of libraries serving low-income communities, has a $5 million…
At Pittsburgh schools, teacher pay surged, but some building operations staff made even more
PublicSource’s second annual review of earnings of Pittsburgh Public Schools employees shows a workforce in which overtime and supplemental pay drove big pay bumps and that still lacks the diversity of the student body.
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After progressive wins, Allegheny County’s norm of government, labor and business harmony could be a lame duck
A decades-old Allegheny County coalition between government, business and labor could look different after this year’s elections.
Sara Innamorato the victor in Democratic primary for Allegheny County executive
State Rep. Sara Innamorato, a 37-year-old Lawrenceville Democrat who burst onto the political scene in 2018, won a crowded and contentious Democratic primary for Allegheny County executive, signaling a leftward turn for the county government with longtime Executive Rich Fitzgerald exiting in January after the maximum three terms. Her win is a new high water…
Updated: Developer wins OK for riverfront project in Strip District
The proposal would transform Strip District industrial land into 750 residential units along with retail space and amenities.
Primary Election Day: Polls closed after campaign that could redirect Allegheny County
Expensive primary campaigns for Allegheny County and Pittsburgh offices ended today.
Criminal defense on the cheap? Allegheny County inching toward fix for cut-rate court-appointed lawyer system
Criminal defendants in the county who can’t afford private attorneys, known as indigent defendants, often find their fates in the hands of lawyers who get paid based on caps set in 2006. Depending on the attorney appointed to their case, a defendant could face outcomes ranging from dropped charges to a life-altering felony sentence.
New study bolsters case for PA to join Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
Pennsylvania could speed its pace cutting carbon emissions, raise new revenue and boost the state’s use of renewable fuels by completing its planned enrollment in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, an agreement by 12 states to curb emissions from power plants, according to a new analysis. The study, published this week by energy specialists at…
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