HEALTH
Lead levels up again in Pittsburgh, according to most recent data
|
Lead levels in Pittsburgh are up again, according to the latest round of water testing by the Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority.
MONEY & POLITICS
How voter registration rolls in Southwestern PA have changed since 2014
|
The Southwestern Pennsylvania counties included in the analysis are: Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland.
Pittsburgh's lead problem
Test results show lead levels falling in Pittsburgh amid questions over PWSA’s future
|
The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority [PWSA], plagued with an ongoing lead crisis, may finally have lead levels under control. New data, independently analyzed by PublicSource and verified by the state Department of Environmental Protection [DEP] on Wednesday, show that lead levels in Pittsburgh’s drinking water are going down, a sign that the authority’s efforts could be paying off. Lead test data collected from Pittsburgh homes between January and June show lead levels have fallen to 10 parts per billion [ppb], a significant drop from the last round of testing. Between July and December last year, the same tests produced lead levels of 21 ppb. While it’s not safe to consume any amount of lead, a known neurotoxin, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sets an “action limit” of 15 ppb, which the state DEP follows.
MONEY & POLITICS
City of Pittsburgh’s IT is too scattered, too custom and scantily documented, an audit showed. What is the city doing about it?
|
The Deloitte report and interviews with current and former officials reveal a department struggling to keep the city’s IT running on a day-to-day basis while trying to modernize their operations.
PublicSource Investigation
Is Pittsburgh prepared for a cyberattack? The city stays mum on report that found numerous flaws.
|
The City of Pittsburgh doesn't want to talk about its cybersecurity. Its top tech official is staying tight-lipped, saying the stakes are too high to say much publicly.
DATA
Find out how much Pennsylvania paid state employees in 2017. Take our quiz.
|
At times, government may seem like a black hole with little transparency on how your tax dollars are being spent. That’s why shedding light on how the state of Pennsylvania spends your money is a top priority of ours. As we have been since 2014, PublicSource requested and is publishing data on the salaries that state government employees earned in 2017. All told, those figures account for several billion dollars of taxpayer money. Our data includes the agency an employee works for, when they were hired, their annual salary and the overtime they earned.
DATA
Find out how much Allegheny County paid its staff in 2017. Take our quiz.
|
While you may be spending a third of your budget on housing or paying off debt, Allegheny County spends about a third of its budget on employee salaries. In 2017, 35 percent of the county’s operating budget went to paychecks. That line item, however, did not include health insurance or other benefits workers receive. PublicSource publishes data on the employee salaries from Allegheny County, the City of Pittsburgh and the state of Pennsylvania each year because we think residents should see how their tax dollars are spent. We've been reporting on salaries since 2014.
DATA
Find out how much the City of Pittsburgh paid its staff in 2017. Take our quiz.
|
This year, we’re breaking down the data with a twist: This quiz is a fun way to learn how your tax dollars are spent.
PublicSource Investigation
How the Pittsburgh police bureau’s work with an IT company escaped city oversight for more than a decade
|
Some members of city council struggle to recall B-Three Solutions or what the company has done for the city. B-Three has been commissioned to build the police bureau’s flagship data system and several related projects along with programs for the Department of Finance and the Department of Permits, Licenses and Inspections. The city has paid B-Three about $4.3 million since late 2009.
PublicSource Investigation
Pittsburgh police bureau’s work with a technology company sparked FBI, city investigations and a whistleblower lawsuit
|
Two city agencies are investigating allegations of wrongdoing between Pittsburgh police and city employees with a software vendor the city has paid at least $4.3 million.
