DEVELOP PGH
The Edgar Thomson Steel Works, photographed in January 2020. (Photo by Ryan Loew/PublicSource)

Develop PGH Bulletins: Bid to frack on Edgar Thomson site goes to court

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Develop PGH Bulletins updates you on the Pittsburgh region's economy, including close coverage of the Urban Redevelopment Authority, City Planning Commission and other important agencies. Please check back frequently, sign up for the Develop PGH newsletter and email rich@publicsource.org with questions, tips or story ideas. 11/25/20: Edgar Thomson drilling fight moving to court
A New Mexico company’s bid to frack on U.S. Steel’s land in North Versailles and East Pittsburgh is now in court following a Tuesday appeal filing. Merrion Oil & Gas spent millions preparing to drill on the Edgar Thomson Works site, and the East Pittsburgh Zoning Hearing Board has misinterpreted that borough’s code, according to the company’s Notice of Land Use Appeal filed in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. The timeline: In December 2017, East Pittsburgh council voted to approve Merrion’s zoning application to conduct drilling-related activities on a sliver of the borough’s land.

DEVELOP PGH
A rendering of the proposed Uptown Tech building, slated for the corner of Jumonville Street and the Boulevard of the Allies, presented to Pittsburgh's City Planning Commission on Sept. 29, 2020.

October Develop PGH Bulletins: Uptown Tech proposal gets commission’s OK

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Develop PGH Bulletins updates you on the Pittsburgh region's economy, including close coverage of the Urban Redevelopment Authority, City Planning Commission and other important agencies. Please check back frequently, sign up for the Develop PGH newsletter and email rich@publicsource.org with questions, tips or story ideas. 10/27/20: Talks on the Hill lead to approval of tech plan
Citing last-minute negotiations between a developer and the Hill Community Development Corp., the City Planning Commission approved the conversion of an abandoned industrial laundry facility into tech and office space. The Uptown Tech project, on Jumonville Street and the Boulevard of the Allies, didn’t get a vote from the commission four weeks ago, after the Hill CDC complained that developer Westrise Capital had not addressed community concerns. This time, attorney Robert Lampl, representing Westrise, said minority- and women-owned business participation in the building conversion would amount to 27% to 42% of the project.

MENTAL HEALTH
Outside of the Allegheny County Jail building

‘It almost broke me.’ How the pandemic is straining mental health at Allegheny County Jail.

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No personal visitors, hardly any time for inmates outside of their cells and chronic vacancies in mental health and health staff raise concerns that the mental health of Allegheny County Jail [ACJ] inmates is deteriorating, according to inmates recently incarcerated there, family members of current inmates, advocates and current and former ACJ staff.  

COVID-19
A brown haired toddler with a tracheotomy wears a hospital gown covered in panda bears as he sits on a hospital bed.

COVID-19 could kill my toddler. Stay home for him and others with underlying health conditions.

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By necessity, I have to pay very close attention to what is going on in the world of infectious disease as the parent of a medically complex child. In the weeks leading up to COVID-19 reaching pandemic status, I began to circle the wagons, knowing that despite whatever measures were taken, we were going to have to go back into isolation. 

affordable housing
Terri Ward, treasurer of the Bernice Crawley Highrise Tenant Council, reached out to PublicSource about her building's bed bug problems. (Photo by Tom Lisi/PublicSource)

Bed bugs at Glen Hazel senior community stir new resident frustrations

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There were bed bugs at the Glen Hazel subsidized housing facility, but the two organizations responsible for ongoing renovations gave conflicting accounts on if the infestation halted construction. Some residents reached out to PublicSource about the issue, and they were on the same page. “The contractors aren’t allowed to work in the mess, but we’re allowed to live in the mess,” said Ralphina Coleman, a resident of the Bernice Crawley high-rise in Glen Hazel, a small neighborhood south of Hazelwood. The bed bugs are the latest in a list of frustrations this year that residents felt at the high-rise for seniors and people with disabilities. Michelle Sandidge, chief community affairs officer for the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh [HACP], said no construction stopped at the building.