Julia Felton stories, Page 37
Man charged with abuse of corpse for driving McCandless woman’s body around after fentanyl overdose, leaving body in car
McCandless Police have charged a Richland man with abuse of a corpse, accusing him of driving a vehicle around Pittsburgh that contained the body of a McCandless woman who suffered a fatal overdose and leaving the vehicle outside her apartment building without telling anyone she was inside. Patrick W. McCurry,...
Parkway East billboard features faces of people killed by fentanyl to raise awareness about drug’s danger
A billboard along the Parkway East a few miles east of Pittsburgh shows the faces of 92 people with a tragic connection. All of them died of fentanyl poisoning. “The fentanyl crisis is only getting worse in our country, and it’s not getting the coverage it needs to educate people,...
Pittsburgh eyes homelessness solutions, including tiny houses
Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday introduced legislation in an attempt to find immediate solutions to Pittsburgh’s homelessness issues, including a proposal to build tiny houses on city-owned land. The measure, sponsored by Council President Theresa Kail-Smith and Councilwoman Deb Gross, classified homelessness in the city as a “public health emergency”...
Assistant taking over temporarily as Pittsburgh’s city clerk leaves; council hires new staff for budget office
Pittsburgh City Council officials last week announced that City Clerk Brenda Pree was departing from city council, Assistant Clerk Kim Clark-Baskin would serve as acting clerk and they had hired new leaders for the City Council Budget Office. Pree has accepted an offer to serve as the city clerk of...
Driver’s license scanners could help reduce problems on Pittsburgh’s South Side, DA says
Bars on Pittsburgh’s South Side could start checking patrons’ driver’s licenses — not just to make sure they’re old enough to drink, but also to see if they’ve caused problems at other bars in the neighborhood. In a meeting with South Side bar owners Tuesday, District Attorney Stephen Zappala said...
Pittsburgh Regional Transit looking to add stations to East Busway
Pittsburgh Regional Transit on Thursday said it plans to add stations along the East Busway and redesign its Wilkinsburg Station. The “Building on the East Busway” project will include planning for three new stations along the busway — Baum-Centre, Larimer and Brushton. The initiative will include work to develop a...
Pittsburgh pilot program to offer low-income residents free transportation
Pittsburgh is launching a pilot program to provide 50 low-income residents with free transportation to work. “Having access to affordable and reliable transportation is critical in helping families across our city find a pathway to prosperity,” Mayor Ed Gainey said. The yearlong Guaranteed Basic Mobility pilot program will give participants...
Pittsburgh leaders look for ways to fight homelessness
Pittsburgh leaders are looking to combat what they say is a growing problem with homelessness in the city. City Council President Theresa Kail Smith, D-Westwood, said she encountered the problem first-hand a few months ago in Mt. Washington, where people were staying in Fireman’s Parklet at Shiloh Street and Virginia...
Pa. lawmakers tout increased state, federal funding to fight climate change
State and federal efforts to fight climate change could also create tens of thousands of jobs and lower energy bills in Western Pennsylvania, two Democratic lawmakers said Tuesday. The federal Inflation Reduction Act, which President Biden was expected to sign into law on Tuesday, will allocate $370 billion to fight...
No injuries reported in Brentwood house fire Sunday morning
No one was hurt in a house fire reported in Brentwood on Sunday morning. Responders were called to the fire on the 300 block of Marylea Avenue around 8:15 a.m., an Allegheny County 911 dispatcher said. The cause of the fire is unknown, the dispatcher said. She did not have...
Precautionary water advisory lifted for 265 Rostraver Township customers
A precautionary water advisory impacting 265 Rostraver customers was lifted Sunday morning, according to the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County. The customers are again able to use their water normally. Affected customers were notified on Friday of a problem with their drinking water. As a precaution, officials advised those customers...
Drag queen bingo fundraiser in Brackenridge benefits Creighton man who recently beat cancer
A drag queen bingo event held at the Brackenridge American Legion on Saturday raised money for a local man who recently beat cancer. Kevin Coudriet, of Creighton, East Deer said he was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer in early April. Two Mondays ago, he learned he had beaten it....
Police say 2 men shot in Homewood South
Two men were shot early Saturday morning in Pittsburgh’s Homewood South neighborhood, according to public safety officials. A ShotSpotter alert in the 7200 block of Formosa Way alerted officers to nine shots being fired just before 4:30 a.m. Officers from Pittsburgh’s Zone 5 located a crime scene there, but no...
Overnight fire damages New Kensington home
A fire broke out in a New Kensington home early Saturday morning. No one was home when the fire started after midnight at a house on Freeport Street, said homeowner Phillipene Orr. “The fire appears to have started on the stove top,” New Kensington Fire Chief Ed Saliba Jr. said,...
About $15,000 worth of equipment stolen from Ingomar Volunteer Fire Company substation recovered
About $15,000 worth of equipment that had been stolen from Ingomar Volunteer Fire Company over the weekend has been recovered. The equipment had been taken from the fire department’s substation on Perry Highway in Wexford Flats, said Fire Chief Gregory Quatchak. It’s unclear exactly when the theft occurred, Quatchak said,...
Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire to hold inaugural Girls Fire Camp
Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire is hosting its first Girls Fire Camp this month. Open to girls ages 15 to 18, the event aims to help young women kickstart their careers as firefighters or community leaders, Pittsburgh officials said. Participants will learn from experienced women in the field what it takes...
Pittsburgh picks 4 artists to create art installations in Homewood Park
Pittsburgh officials have selected four artists to create permanent art installations in Homewood Park as part of the city’s Homewood Park Improvement Project. The Department of City Planning’s Public Art and Civic Design Planning division selected Camerin “Camo” Nesbit, Juliana Jones, Mikael Owunna and Najja Moon to create the artwork....
$500K dedicated for scholarship program for Pittsburgh housing authority residents
The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh said affiliated nonprofits have dedicated more than $500,000 over four years to help students living in HACP housing with college tuition. HACP’s nonprofit affiliate Clean Slate E3 and its partner organization NEED are offering scholarships to 23 new recipients and nine returning...
North Allegheny graduates launch changemaking guide
Two recent North Allegheny graduates teamed up with other young adults to craft a changemaking guide book that aims to provide resources and tips to other young people looking to make changes in their communities. The final product is an 85-page book titled “From the Ground Up: A Guide to...
Pittsburgh City Council solicitor to advise council on legal matters, separate of city’s law department
Pittsburgh City Council on Thursday formally introduced Daniel Friedson as council’s first council solicitor. With over 20 years of experience, Friedson will advise council on legal matters. City Council last fall decided to hire its own solicitor. Council had previously relied on the legal advice of the city’s law department,...
Pittsburgh City Council staffs new Office of Public Engagement
Pittsburgh City Council has hired four people to run its newly formed Office of Public Engagement. The new office will work to improve communication and give residents more of a voice in City Council decisions that impact their communities, officials said. “City Council created the office … to effectively connect...
‘Never covid’: Some people have managed to avoid contracting covid-19, but their numbers are dwindling
Jordan Berkes is a member of a shrinking fraternity — he’s never contracted covid-19. For two and a half years, the Shaler resident has managed to dodge the virus, its numerous variants and the occasional surge of cases. As the latest wave of covid — the omicron subvariant known as...
Pittsburgh’s Skinny Building, Roberts Building could be connected with new structure
Two historic buildings in Pittsburgh’s Central Business District could be linked by a third structure. Pittsburgh’s Planning Commission on Tuesday heard a proposal that called for renovations to what is commonly known as the Skinny Building on Forbes Avenue and the Roberts Building on Wood Street. The buildings would be...
Allegheny County’s emergency rental assistance program ending this month
Allegheny County’s emergency rental assistance program is coming to an end at the end of the month, officials said. The program aimed to prevent evictions during the covid-19 pandemic by helping people who were economically affected by it. As of July 18, the program had provided $117.9 million in rent...
$1.1M project to improve sidewalks in Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood
A section of Irvine Street in the city’s Hazelwood neighborhood is receiving new sidewalks and curbs in a $1.1 million project that began Monday, city officials said. The section of road, between Greenfield and Hazelwood avenues, is just under a mile long. The project will replace sidewalks that are in...
