Julia Felton stories, Page 36
Pittsburgh launches online tool to share budget information
Pittsburgh officials on Wednesday launched a new online tool that aims to encourage residents to learn more about the city’s budget. The online tool allows residents to find information about the budget process and where money goes. City officials touted the initiative as a way to increase transparency and awareness...
Pittsburgh secures funding to boost DUI enforcement, which is about half what it was 5 years ago
Pittsburgh police are making about half the DUI arrests they did just five years ago, but a state grant could help the bureau ramp up enforcement, officials said Wednesday. A $174,000 grant from PennDOT’s Highway Safety Division will help pay for overtime for officers to work DUI checkpoints and patrols,...
Kimberly Clark-Baskin sworn in as Pittsburgh’s city clerk
Pittsburgh City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to appoint Kimberly Clark-Baskin as city clerk. Clark-Baskin, a former assistant city clerk, has served as acting clerk since her predecessor Brenda Pree left the post last month. “I look forward to continuing to work with you all and paving a new lane for...
URA sells Larimer property to Steel City Squash to build new recreation, education facility
Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority Board has voted to sell land in the city’s Larimer neighborhood to a local nonprofit that will build a recreation and education center on the site. The board unanimously voted to sell the property on Larimer Avenue to Steel City Squash, a nonprofit that launched in...
Pittsburgh Public Schools, city pledge to provide students with more jobs, internships
Students participating in the Career and Technical Education program at Pittsburgh Public Schools will have increased access to job shadowing, paid internships and jobs, city and school officials announced Friday. A partnership between the city, the school district and local corporate partners aims to prepare students for the workforce and...
URA considers program to provide up to $90K for some Pittsburgh home buyers
The Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh is eyeing a partnership with the Housing Authority of the City Pittsburgh that could provide up to $90,000 to first-time low-income homebuyers in the city. Dubbed OwnPGH, the program is an effort to help low-income residents afford to buy houses in Pittsburgh. The money...
Pittsburgh URA announces new businesses helped, including cafe, event planning company, smoothie bar
The Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh on Thursday announced that its first URA Ventures Pilot has closed on its first batch of Main Street investments, including a cafe, an event planning company and a pressed juice and smoothie bar. The program, which the URA announced in March, aims to encourage...
Sports and Exhibition Authority announces new executive director
Aaron Waller, a former vice president of the Washington Commanders football team, will serve as executive director of the Sports and Exhibition Authority, officials announced Thursday. The hiring follows a national search to replace former executive director Mary Conturo, who announced in January that she would leave the post. The...
Crafton woman on road to recovery after Myrtle Beach shark attack
Karren Sites was enjoying her first full day of vacation on Myrtle Beach with her family on Aug. 15 when the unthinkable occurred. “I was in the water, maybe up to my hips,” Sites, 55, of Crafton told the Tribune-Review on Wednesday. “I felt a sharp, intense pain on my...
Chatham University president to leave position
David Finegold, the president of Chatham University, announced Wednesday that he plans to leave the post at the end of the academic year. Finegold, the university’s 19th president, has served as the school’s president since 2016. A scholar and educational innovator who dedicated his career to educational reform, Finegold worked...
Alphabet Trail and Tales returns to Frick Park after 2-year hiatus
Alphabet Trail and Tales, touted as Western Pennsylvania’s largest read aloud event, returns to Blue Slide Playground in Pittsburgh’s Frick Park this Saturday. “We are super excited to be back in Frick Park this year for this annual early and elementary literacy day of fun,” said Kathryn Vargas, director of...
Planning Commission approves plan to link 2 historic Pittsburgh buildings
Pittsburgh’s Planning Commission on Tuesday approved a plan to link two historic buildings in the city’s Central Business District. The plan is to connect the structure commonly known as the Skinny Building on Forbes Avenue and the Roberts Building on Wood Street. Both buildings will see restoration work, and a...
Proposed zoning changes would make it easier to convert unused Downtown office space into housing
Pittsburgh’s Planning Commission is considering zoning changes to make it easier to convert unused Downtown office space into residential units. City officials have dedicated $2.1 million in American Rescue Plan funding to a $9 million pilot program to breathe new life into buildings left largely empty since the pandemic spurred...
Pittsburgh officials look to clean up communities, break records at this year’s ‘Garbage Olympics’
Pittsburgh officials say they are expecting this year’s sixth annual Garbage Olympics to break records when it’s held later this month. The first citywide cleanup event held in 2017 drew just five teams. Last year’s event attracted 46 teams with over 620 volunteers who collected nearly 1,200 bags of trash,...
Pittsburgh City Council to explore ways to expand affordable housing options
Pittsburgh City Council voted Tuesday to explore whether accessory dwelling units such as attic, basement and garage apartments or secondary housing structures on existing properties could combat what council sees as an affordable housing crisis in the city. The legislation, sponsored by Councilwoman Deb Gross, requires Mayor Ed Gainey’s administration...
Pittsburgh City Council looks for ways to boost availability of affordable housing
Pittsburgh City Council is looking to expand the availability of accessory dwelling units such as attic, basement and garage apartments and secondary structures built on existing properties — all in an effort to combat what it sees as an affordable housing crisis. Legislation introduced last week by Councilwoman Deb Gross...
Swindell Bridge on Pittsburgh’s North Side to reopen to traffic
Pittsburgh officials announced that Swindell Bridge in Pittsburgh’s North Side was reopening to all traffic Thursday. The bridge was closed on July 1 because of debris falling from the underside of the span. The bridge connects Northview Heights with Perry South over Interstate 279. Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure...
Police academy classes could help address Pittsburgh police staffing concerns
After some Pittsburgh City Council members raised concerns Wednesday about the dwindling number of officers in the city’s police bureau, Mayor Ed Gainey announced two new police academy classes are planned. The Pittsburgh Bureau of Police now has 852 officers, according to Public Safety spokeswoman Cara Cruz. She said the...
Pittsburgh mourns victims, celebrates survivors in recovery on International Overdose Awareness Day
As nearly two dozen organizations gathered Wednesday at the City-County Building in Downtown to mark International Overdose Awareness Day, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey noted that overdoses killed 719 people in Allegheny County last year. “That is almost two people we lost a day,” Gainey said. “These were our neighbors, our...
Pittsburgh City Controller Michael Lamb will not seek reelection
Pittsburgh City Controller Michael Lamb announced Wednesday that he will not seek reelection next year. “I think it is important to make this announcement now to give anyone considering a run for City Controller the time to make a thoughtful decision and mount a strong campaign,” he said, adding that...
Pittsburgh donates $92K worth of used computer equipment to Wilkinsburg nonprofit
The city of Pittsburgh donated more than $92,000 worth of computer equipment to a Wilkinsburg nonprofit that will refurbish and reuse them in an effort to bridge the digital divide. The city this month donated 324 desktop monitors, 74 laptops, 427 monitors, 243 keyboards and 170 mice to Computer Reach,...
Some Oakland residents upset about trash as Pitt students move in
As University of Pittsburgh students move in to their off-campus housing, some Oakland residents are concerned about trash dumped on sidewalks and front lawns. The university says it works to ensure students are acting as good neighbors. Some Oakland residents seem to disagree. “August is always particularly challenging in Oakland,”...
Dr. Oz to host town hall in Monroeville
Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Pennsylvania Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, is hosting a town hall event in Monroeville tonight. Called the “Dose of Reality Town Hall,” Oz will be at Premier Automation in Monroeville. The event is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. Oz, a celebrity heart surgeon, is running...
Woodland Hills struggles with dress code policies as classes begin
A plan to ban Crocs and ripped pants was put on hold at Woodland Hills High School after administrators reconsidered dress code policies in the first days of the new school year. After students returned to school Wednesday, high school principals Shelly Manns and Berchman Grinage said in a letter...
Pitt to partner with Massachusetts company at biomanufacturing center in Hazelwood
A major biomanufacturing partnership is coming to Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood Green development. The University of Pittsburgh on Thursday announced a 30-year partnership that will bring Massachusetts-based ElevateBio to the university’s Pitt BioForge Biomanufacturing Center at Hazelwood Green. Officials said the partnership will bolster the development of innovative cell and gene therapies....
