Julia Felton stories, Page 9

Lewis Playground in Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood is slated to see more than $500,000 in improvements. Pittsburgh City Council voted Monday to reallocate money that had been budgeted for the now-scrapped Mon-Oakland Connector project to use at the park instead. Councilwoman Barb Warwick, D-Greenfield, said the playground is in poor condition and...

Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority has approved a $10 million spending plan for the city’s trust fund supporting affordable housing. The Housing Opportunity Fund budget for next year, which now awaits City Council approval, includes $2 million for the URA’s Rental Gap Program. The program provides loans to nonprofit developers to...

Pittsburgh City Council on Monday approved an institutional master plan that lays out Allegheny General Hospital’s development goals over the next decade. Under the 10-year plan, all patient rooms at the North Side hospital will be converted to private rooms. The plan indicates the hospital also is considering constructing new...

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey said in his annual budget address Monday that his administration is focused on trying to improve core city services and making the city safer and more welcoming for residents. The mayor’s proposed budget for 2024 includes no tax increase and no cuts for staffing or “critical...

Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority is providing $3.6 million in loans to support a handful of affordable housing projects that will preserve 170 apartments. The money is coming from the URA’s Housing Preservation Program, which the authority launched in April with $8.9 million in pandemic relief money. Of the loans approved...

Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority is providing a $1.6 million loan to developers who want to build a six-story apartment building in South Oakland that caters to low-income LGBTQ+ seniors. The Oakland Pride development on Forbes Avenue, approved in September by the Planning Commission, will have 48 apartments, all of them...

Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority is providing $2.8 million in grant money to a nonprofit that wants to develop affordable housing in neighborhoods where housing prices have soared in recent years. The grant, approved by the URA’s board on Thursday, will go to City of Bridges Community Land Trust. The nonprofit...

Pittsburgh police are looking to open a new substation in Downtown next year. The new site at 439 Wood St. would replace the existing Zone 2 substation at 604 Liberty Ave., according to public safety officials. Legislation introduced to City Council this week would authorize a $590,150, five-year agreement with...

Much of the attention during Tuesday’s election in Allegheny County focused on high-profile races for county executive and district attorney. Democrat Sara Innamorato won a hotly contested race against Republican Joe Rockey to become the first female elected to be Allegheny County executive. She will replace Rich Fitzgerald, who has...

Pittsburgh City Council incumbents running for reelection Tuesday cruised to easy victories, and two newcomers won seats replacing outgoing councilmen, according to unofficial results. Council members Bobby Wilson, D-North Side, and Barb Warwick, D-Greenfield, did not face Republican challengers in their reelection bids, while Deb Gross, D-Highland Park, collected 79.4%...

Lewis Playground in Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood neighborhood could see improvements as City Council is considering a proposal that would provide over $500,000 to improve the park. Councilwoman Barb Warwick, D-Greenfield, sponsored legislation that would take money from the scrapped portion of the Mon-Oakland connector project and reallocate it for the park....

Pittsburgh City Council is poised to approve a 10-year institutional master plan for Allegheny General Hospital. This comes after council members in September heard mixed opinions from North Side residents about the plan, which includes potential developments on the hospital’s site. The master plan lays out a plan to convert...

Pittsburgh officials and artists on Friday unveiled new art installations at the Fern Hollow Bridge in Frick Park. Pittsburgh-based artists John Peña and Carin Mincemoyer designed artwork on the span and under the bridge at Tranquil Trail, respectively. The new Fern Hollow Bridge was built less than a year after...

Pittsburgh officials plan to tear down a homeless encampment Downtown next week, a city spokesperson confirmed Friday. City outreach workers have given “credible offers of housing” to everyone living at the encampment along First Avenue, said Maria Montaño, a spokesperson for Mayor Ed Gainey. Officials are “hopeful” everyone living in...

Pittsburgh’s Housing Opportunity Fund advisory board on Thursday voted to support a proposed $10 million spending plan, though members acknowledged there’s more need than the money can address. “It’s infinite need and limited funding,” board member Adrienne Walnoha said ahead of the board’s vote Thursday. The proposed spending plan for...

Questions persist about how Pittsburgh officials should allocate the money collected through its parks tax. The 0.5-mill tax — or $50 per $100,000 of a property’s assessed value — was first collected in 2021 after it was narrowly approved by voters in a 2019 ballot referendum. The tax is meant...

Pittsburgh’s Office of Community Health and Safety has responded to more than 3,000 incidents citywide since its 2021 launch, according to information presented to City Council. The office is tasked with addressing various community needs, including mental and behavioral health crises, overdose incidents and homelessness, said Assistant Director Camila Alarcon....

Pittsburgh officials said they’re eyeing ways to cut back on waste, be more environmentally friendly and prepare for potential impacts of climate change as part of the city’s Climate Action Plan. Flore Marion, the city’s energy advisor, said the city’s sustainability and resilience team are working to combat climate change...

Pittsburgh’s Planning Commission on Tuesday approved The Andy Warhol Museum’s new $45 million entertainment venue in the city’s North Shore. The 57,776-square-foot entertainment venue on Sandusky Street is slated to include a first-floor concert venue with standing room for up to 1,000 people. Plans presented to the commission also showed...

Pittsburgh’s controversial smart loading zone program is set to be revamped after some local residents and business owners expressed confusion and frustration over the new initiative. The smart loading zones, marked with purple-painted curbs and matching signs, were meant to make it easier for delivery drivers to get in and...

Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday approved a $1 million program that aims to help people who have overdosed. The Post Overdose Support Team — or POST — pilot program is set to act as a secondary response that will provide additional support once EMS has responded to an overdose. The...

Work is scheduled to start Monday on a project to build stone fish reefs along the Monongahela River near Elizabeth, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This is the first of five segments of a $2.4 million contract that will install fish reefs at various sites along on...

A proposed zoning amendment aims to make it easier to open child care businesses in Pittsburgh’s residential areas. Council members Bobby Wilson, D-North Side, and Deb Gross, D-Highland Park, introduced legislation Tuesday that would allow for child care facilities within neighborhoods zoned for single-family residential uses. It also would eliminate...

A local group aiming to transition to cleaner energy plans to begin using wind energy from an Ohio-based wind farm, officials announced Friday. The Western Pennsylvania Energy Consortium — which includes Pittsburgh and dozens of other municipalities, nonprofits and public benefit organizations — purchases electricity in bulk from renewable sources,...

Pittsburgh officials are planning to increase rates and hours of metered parking in the city’s Lawrenceville neighborhood and use the extra cash for transportation-related projects in the community. City Council on Tuesday approved legislation that creates a new mobility enhancement district in the neighborhood. It allows the city to charge...