PublicSource (https://www.publicsource.org/author/halle-stockton/)
We believe Dr. Blasey because when women bravely come forward, they are often blamed. They are accused of wearing the wrong thing, of being in the wrong place, of asking for it. Victims are also accused of lying. Yet evidence shows that only 2 to 10 percent of rape reports are false accusations, a rate that matches reporting of other types of crimes.
Dear readers,
We’re thrilled to share with you some good news. So far this year, PublicSource reporters have taken home 16 awards from local, state and regional journalism contests. In addition, the national Education Writers Association recognized PublicSource reporters Mary Niederberger and Jeffrey Benzing as finalists for their stories on disproportionate treatment and challenges for black girls in the Pittsburgh region as part of our “I am a black girl and…” series. Journalism professionals selected PublicSource for the following honors:
A Regional Edward R. Murrow Award for our continuing coverage of Pittsburgh’s crisis with lead in the water. The region in which we claimed the award spans Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey.
As housing prices and rents rise in the Pittsburgh region, some residents face an additional hurdle — they're often denied housing they can afford.
Update (June 27, 2018): The Allegheny County District Attorney's Office charged East Pittsburgh Police officer Michael Rosfeld with criminal homicide in Antwon Rose Jr.'s death. His bail was set for $250,000 by a magisterial district judge. The DA's office said in a statement that they believe setting bail was "improper" because statute indicates that anyone charged with a crime that could result in life in prison is not entitled to bail. However, DA spokesman Mike Manko said the office does "not plan on contesting it at this time." PublicSource reporter Jeffrey Benzing live-tweeted the DA's press conference on Wednesday morning.
We — the children of parents who at one point made the difficult decision to leave our home countries due to crime, poverty and abuse — are humans and we have a voice.
I moved to Pittsburgh from Germany about a year ago as the wife of a science nomad. For my husband, coming here meant giving his career a real boost. For me, it meant a range of limitations that I think no adult should be subjected to.
Jackie Smith, Ashley Cox, Dan Kubis, Rachel Brown, Adam Clark… The list read before the City of Pittsburgh Planning Commission on Tuesday afternoon included the names of almost 1,300 people who wrote letters to the commission, opposing the development plan proposed by LG Realty for the former site of Penn Plaza Apartments. After more than four hours, the commission voted to approve design plans for the $150 million development in East Liberty. One year following the controversial demolition of Penn Plaza and after six months of mediation between the community and developers, LG Realty presented plans to put commercial retail space, a park and several office buildings at the former site of affordable housing. About 30 to 40 people spoke at the meeting, some of them in support of the project. A few of them took their three minutes of time at the podium to read the names of the people who submitted letters opposing the Pennley Park South Redevelopment Plan.
When my 6-year-old grandson told me he didn’t like the African-American girl in a book about diverse children because she was ‘too dark,’ I felt like the protagonist in the French film “Amélie” when she transformed into water and dropped into a huge puddle on the floor. I was devastated — shocked, angry, surprised and, most importantly, stumped.
Using the state’s Right-to-Know Law, designed to enable citizens to access public records, PublicSource filed requests for emails by providing names of city employees, keywords and a time period to enable the city to locate the public records. The city has repeatedly denied the requests, arguing that they’re too vague.
