Julia Felton stories, Page 3
Kennywood kept Steel Curtain closure secret to bolster sales, lawsuit says
A New Kensington man is suing Kennywood, contending the West Mifflin amusement park withheld information about a seasonlong closure of its flagship attraction to bolster its season pass sales. Kennywood officials last week announced the Steel Curtain roller coaster would not open in the 2024 season, disappointing riders and leaving...
Morning Roundup: 1 stabbed in Beltzhoover; police collecting old medications
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Tuesday, April 23: Man stabbed in Pittsburgh’s Beltzhoover neighborhood A man was stabbed early Tuesday morning inside a residence in Pittsburgh’s Beltzhoover neighborhood. Pittsburgh police were called to the 100 block of Climax Street just before 2:30 a.m. Officers...
Pittsburgh City Council’s private meetings raise questions about Sunshine Law compliance
For years, Pittsburgh City Council members have gathered behind closed doors to talk in private about public policy. No one keeps a log of who attends. No minutes are maintained of what is said. And council members, desperate to ensure they don’t have too many people present, sometimes duck out...
Affordable housing in Pittsburgh clears hurdle with City Council vote
Pittsburgh City Council has just made it easier to build townhomes and row houses, a step that supporters say will boost the city’s affordable housing stock. The move came Monday in a unanimous vote approving a zoning change to expand where attached housing can be built in the city. Attached...
New Castle police investigating fatal shooting
New Castle police are investigating a fatal shooting that left one man dead Sunday. Police were dispatched to the area of East Moody Avenue and Carlisle Street for reports of gunshots Sunday, officials said. Officers found a parked Green Chevrolet Tahoe at the scene with a man dead in the...
Morning Roundup: Mon Wharf reopens; West Mifflin man arrested in connection to Larimer shooting
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Monday, April 22: Mon Wharf reopens The Mon Wharf parking lot is reopening Monday after it closed due to flooding, according to the Pittsburgh Parking Authority. Parking will be available on the Wood Street and Stanwix Street sides of...
Police file charges against man who brought gun to Allegheny County Jail
Allegheny County Police have filed charges against a man they said brought a loaded handgun into the Allegheny County Jail on Saturday. According to county police, a Swissvale officer transported Dayvonne Jackson, 21, to the jail around 9:40 a.m. Jackson had been arrested for defiant trespass in Braddock Hills. While...
2 Pittsburgh women to face trial in shooting death of teen in Wilkinsburg
Two women charged in the shooting death last month of a 16-year-old boy in Wilkinsburg were held for trial Friday following a preliminary hearing in Pittsburgh Municipal Court. Kira Jackson, 23, and Alicia Johnson, 23, are charged with homicide and other offenses in the death of Kevin Wilson on March...
The Monongahela Incline is open again
The Monongahela Incline reopened Friday, six weeks after it was closed for repairs to its electrical system. Pittsburgh Regional Transit closed the nation’s oldest such incline on March 5, when a pair of resistors failed. That issue caused the brakes to engage when they weren’t supposed to, according to the...
Churchill land once destined for Amazon warehouse up for auction
The former George Westinghouse Research and Technology Park in Churchill is being sold at auction. The property was once going to house an Amazon warehouse, but the company scrapped those plans in March 2022.The warehouse plan drew ire and a court challenge from some community members who fought against the...
Tiny houses make big impact out west, emerge as possible fix for Pittsburgh homeless crisis
Pittsburgh politicians are looking west for ways to fix the city’s homeless crisis, hoping to mimic a small but successful solution far from Pennsylvania’s borders. Inspired by an initiative launched in Colorado, some Pittsburgh City Council members are pushing for tiny houses — pint-sized, private structures where homeless people can...
URA taps last of $9M federal fund to boost Downtown Pittsburgh affordable housing
Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority board on Thursday approved millions of dollars to help developers convert empty Downtown buildings into affordable housing. The move came amid persistent concerns about how Downtown has rebounded since the covid-19 pandemic and widespread shifts to remote work that left many offices empty. By authorizing $4.8...
Pittsburgh lauds Steelers’ Cameron Heyward, NFL Man of the Year, for serving city ‘with distinction’
Pittsburgh Steelers star Cameron Heyward was recognized Wednesday by city leaders after he won the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award, considered the league’s highest honor. Appearing during a City Council meeting Downtown, Mayor Ed Gainey said he wanted to recognize the towering defensive lineman for “serving Pittsburgh...
Pittsburgh floodwaters crest at highest levels since 2005, 10th Street Bypass reopens
As rain drenched Southwestern Pennsylvania this week, Pittsburgh’s rivers reached their highest levels in nearly two decades. The Pittsburgh area saw 72 hours of heavy precipitation, which dropped more rain over three days than the region had seen in all of March, Lee Hendricks, a meteorologist with the National Weather...
Pitt trustees vote to buy historic property, endorse 5-year plan
University of Pittsburgh trustees voted Thursday to create a new headquarters building for one of its schools, buy a historic site in Oakland and endorse a five-year strategic plan. Meeting at the university’s Oakland campus, trustees approved plans to make a building currently under construction at Fifth Avenue and Halket...
With $31.6M in hand from controversial bond issue, URA details plans for affordable housing in Pittsburgh
Months after Pittsburgh City Council, operating on limited information, approved a $31.6 million bond issue for affordable housing, members finally got some details Wednesday about how the money will be spent by the Urban Redevelopment Authority. The head of the URA, which issued the bonds, sent council information showing that...
30 archers, 108 deer, 9,440 meals later, Pittsburgh proclaims pilot culling program a success
Pittsburgh could expand its deer hunting program after more than 100 deer were culled in a pilot program, Mayor Ed Gainey’s office said Wednesday. The city launched a limited archery hunting program from Sept. 30 through Jan. 27 to manage the city’s white-tailed deer populations in Frick and Riverview parks....
Pittsburgh land bank board to expand with new seats for city school district, Allegheny County
Pittsburgh Public Schools and Allegheny County will now have a voice in deciding what Pittsburgh does with blighted properties. City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved expanding the board of Pittsburgh’s land bank to 11 members from nine. The school district and county will each get an appointment to the board....
Pittsburgh targets more tax-exempt properties, including 61 owned by UPMC
Pittsburgh is challenging the tax-exempt status of more than 100 properties as part of its review of sites exempted from property taxes, Mayor Ed Gainey said Wednesday. Sixty-one properties — more than half of the 104 properties the city will challenge this year — are owned by UPMC. Also included...
Electric current on Squirrel Hill bridge killed dog, officials say
An electric current on the Murray Avenue Bridge killed a pet dog in January, a consultant hired by the City of Pittsburgh said in findings released on Monday. The city plans to implement a new system for investigating similar concerns and will perform inspections on its lighting system in the...
Pittsburgh reinstates limited spay and neuter program for feral cats
Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday approved a contract for spay and neuter services for the city’s feral cats, but the troubled program itself remains on hold. The city in February abruptly halted its spay and neuter services. Officials cited concerns that suburban pet owners were faking their address to make...
PennEnvironment limited study shows compliance with Pittsburgh bag ban, but also gaps
A limited study of 50 Pittsburgh businesses revealed that most are complying with the city’s ban on plastic bags, though restaurants seem to be slower to conform than retailers. The PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center, an environmental advocacy group, randomly visited businesses throughout the city to investigate which retailers and...
Credit rating agencies bullish on Pittsburgh’s $62M bond issue, deem outlook ‘stable’
Two credit rating agencies declared that Pittsburgh’s financial outlook is “stable,” officials announced Tuesday, even as some city leaders have raised alarms about the city’s finances. The city received AA- ratings from S&P Global and Fitch. Mayor Ed Gainey said the administration was “proactive in our work to have a...
Pittsburgh council gripes about Gainey but passes his housing plan
Members of Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday renewed their complaints that Mayor Ed Gainey’s administration didn’t communicate with them about a plan to spend $8 million in federal funds meant to address homelessness and affordable housing. Council ultimately approved the spending plan, despite pleas from exasperated council members for better...
Pittsburgh closing Downtown homeless encampment
Pittsburgh officials are tearing down a Downtown homeless encampment amid concerns that the people living there are living in dangerous conditions. People living at the homeless camp along Fort Pitt Boulevard near Grant Street will have to leave by 5 p.m. Wednesday, said Emily Bourne, a spokeswoman for the city’s...
