PublicSource | News for a better Pittsburgh (https://www.publicsource.org/author/brian-conway/)
“We seek greater transparency and dialogue in the CMU community about how our university’s work is connected to that of the U.S. military and what the implications are of these connections.”
This week, ownership of the more than 90-year-old Hollywood Theater in Dormont will change hands. The new owner is promising a new marquee and grand screen drape as well as updated programming and “showmanship” to enhance the movie-going experience.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority [URA] board voted unanimously Thursday to transfer 555 acres of the Hays Woods property to the City of Pittsburgh for the creation of a permanent city park, while retaining about 89 acres of the property for future development.
It was on June 7, 2016, that Mayor Bill Peduto announced the purchase of the Hays Woods property for $5 million. “Gift of 660 acres by Pittsburgh Development Group II to create largest park in the City,” the press release read. Now, a year and five months later, plans for Hays Woods are beginning to emerge.
In January, the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority began the daunting task of cataloging the material of its 70,933 service lines to determine how many are made of lead. To date, they've inspected nearly 1,750 lines across the city, and some city residents are beginning to receive their results in the mail.
Block by block, home after home, a crew of three contractors walks slowly, stopping every few feet to plant a small pink flag into the ground. The flags mark the lids to curb boxes, which provide underground access to the service lines carrying water to each home. Since January, when curb box inspections began in earnest, the crew has been seeking the answer to a simple, yet critical question: How many lead service lines are there in Pittsburgh? Though the lead test results released Tuesday by the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority do not exceed the federal action limit, the question must still be answered. For one, the 90th-percentile result of 15 ppb is the threshold.
We still don’t have an answer to the most critical question: What health effects could have come from the illegal switch to cheaper corrosion control treatment?