Julia Felton stories

Pam Steimer was working two jobs when she was priced out of her Pittsburgh apartment 18 months ago. She moved into a hotel while she searched for a new place to live. But rent prices were “out of my reach,” she said, and often required deposits equal to about three...

Pittsburgh is finally catching up on fixing its ailing bridges. More than two years after the collapse of the Fern Hollow Bridge exposed dire problems with upkeep of the city’s spans, a new infrastructure commission assured City Council on Wednesday that the kind of basic maintenance needed to prevent a...

Two recent fires that damaged the former Beltzhoover Elementary School were likely arson, according to Pittsburgh City Councilman Bob Charland. Fires broke out Tuesday night and Saturday morning at the historic school on Cedarhurst Street in Pittsburgh’s Beltzhoover neighborhood. The building is currently vacant, but a project is underway to...

When the covid-19 pandemic struck, local event organizers like Dena Stanley were left scrambling to find ways to keep their celebrations alive. Stanley, co-founder of Pittsburgh Pride Group, said the organization couldn’t put its annual Pride parade and festival together during the pandemic because of a lack of funding. The...

Pittsburgh’s deer-hunting program will expand this year to five parks, more archers and the possible use of professional sharpshooters. It will also cost more money. City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a contract of up to roughly $99,000 with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help oversee this year’s deer...

Pittsburgh will open 15 swimming pools this season, with the city’s remaining three — Homewood, Ream in Mt. Washington and Sheraden — closed for repairs and renovations. The city’s 10-week pool season will start on Saturday, June 15, officials said. Specific pool hours and aquatics programming details have not yet...

Isaiah Trumbull, co-president of Obama Academy’s graduating class, said a recent restoration project that breathed new life into a World War I memorial on the school’s East Liberty campus provided an opportunity for reflection. Trumbull said the project inspired him to learn about some of the more than 500 people...

Two weeks ago, Pittsburgh City Council balked on paying a $1,200 credit card charge linked to a contractor scandal. On Wednesday, council members changed their minds and voted 7-1 to approve the payment even as an investigation continues into the circumstances surrounding the controversial charge. Council initially halted the payment...

Pittsburgh City Council President R. Daniel Lavelle on Wednesday defended council’s decision to hold two closed-doors meetings next week despite concerns from legal experts and good-government advocates who say such sessions should be open to the public. Lavelle, D-Hill District, said at least one of the off-limits sessions scheduled for...

An expansion of Pittsburgh’s deer hunting program will bring limited archery into additional parks, and the city might bring in U.S. Department of Agriculture sharpshooters in some areas. The city last year launched a limited archery pilot program in Frick and Riverview parks. Thirty archers culled 108 deer and donated...

Pittsburgh has figured out a way to defuse a controversy over dueling Juneteenth celebrations: Give money to both. The city is now poised to help fund two separate Juneteenth events next month after a longtime event organizer last week condemned Mayor Ed Gainey’s administration for initially proposing to steer cash...

A citywide master plan meant to guide Pittsburgh for the next 20 years has faced criticism for being nonbinding, too expensive — and vague. On Tuesday, a top city official rendered that last complaint moot by providing details about the $6 million project to the city’s Planning Commission. The master...

Pittsburgh City Council has scheduled two closed-door meetings next week despite concerns from legal experts and good government advocates that such private sessions might flout the spirit of Pennsylvania’s open-meetings law. The two private meetings for next Wednesday mark the first such closed-doors sessions — or briefings, as council calls...

Meredith Peterson looks at parks differently from most. As executive director of the Down Syndrome Association of Pittsburgh and the mother of a 16-year-old daughter with Down Syndrome, she knows that many people outside the disability community don’t realize how inaccessible parks can be to some. Something as simple as...

Scoring the 2026 NFL draft is a major win for Pittsburgh and will likely be the biggest event the city has ever hosted, enthusiastic local leaders said at a formal announcement Thursday at Acrisure Stadium. Officials touted the three-day celebration as an opportunity to attract visitors, bolster the local economy...

The longtime organizer of Pittsburgh’s most well-known Juneteenth festival harshly condemned Mayor Ed Gainey on Wednesday after learning that the city will not fund his event but will instead pay for a separate celebration of the federal holiday by a different promoter. The move marks a shift by Pittsburgh, which...

Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens said it has a deal to buy the long-vacant Irish Centre site in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood. The conservatory said this week that it will use the 4-acre site — tentatively dubbed the Phipps Program Staging Center — to host its Homegrown Edible Garden Program...

Pittsburgh Public Schools announced it will transition students and staff to remote learning Tuesday and Wednesday at more than half its schools because of hot weather. Thirty-nine facilities that lack air conditioning will be closed as the district triggers its extreme heat protocol. Teachers will conduct classes over Microsoft Teams....

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey’s administration refused Friday to cooperate with the city’s independent fiscal watchdog in her probe of questionable payments to a contractor. The decision to withhold records from Controller Rachael Heisler caps a week of controversy for the administration, which acknowledged that it would discipline employees for violating...

One person was killed and another injured in a shooting early Friday morning in Pittsburgh’s Duquesne Heights neighborhood, according to public safety officials. First responders were dispatched to the 200 block of Plymouth Street just before 4 a.m. after a resident called reported a man she didn’t know had knocked...

Touted as a “one-of-a-kind fusion of nature, community and craft brews,” the inaugural Parks on Tap Tour is set to hit Pittsburgh parks this summer. The event marks a new collaboration between the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and Lawrenceville-based Eleventh Hour Brewing. The brewery will donate a portion of proceeds from...

Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Friday, May 17: Hopewell Area school bus driver suspended after alleged gun incident A Hopewell Area School District bus driver was suspended after he was accused of bringing a gun on a school bus while transporting students. Superintendent Jeff...

Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Thursday, May 16: $3 million lottery ticket sold in Pittsburgh A winning Mega Million lottery ticket worth $3 million was sold in Pittsburgh. Kuhn’s Market along Banksville Road will receive a $10,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket, Pennsylvania...

Pittsburgh City Council on Wednesday refused to authorize a controversial $1,200 payment to a former city employee for his work as a contractor amid widening concerns over the use of city credit cards. Council voted unanimously to not approve the payment to Mario Ashkar following warnings by Controller Rachael Heisler...

A deadly shooting Tuesday afternoon in New Castle may have been spurred by a noise complaint, according to New Castle Police. Officials said officers were dispatched to a report of shots fired along East Washington Street at 4:17 p.m. Officers found an adult man, who has not yet been identified,...