Tom Davidson stories, Page 13
Revamped Bakery Square in Pittsburgh includes 4 new restaurants
Comfort food, Asian cuisine, fresh pasta and burgers will be cooked up at the new Bakery Square food hall, slated to open in May. Galley Bakery Square is being developed by the same company that launched Smallman Galley in Pittsburgh’s Strip District in 2015. The new East End location has...
Allegheny County launches program to provide rent, utility relief
Allegheny County residents struggling to pay rent or utility bills can apply for help through a program that launched Monday. The program is a cooperative effort by the county, the City of Pittsburgh, Action Housing and Dollar Energy. It will distribute nearly $36 million in federal coronavirus appropriations to help...
$26 million will fund Pittsburgh home ownership programVideo
Pittsburgh officials have long discussed using affordable housing programs and a land bank to make home ownership a possibility for more residents and to transform blighted neighborhoods. On Wednesday, the city announced that $26 million will be invested in those programs by its Urban Redevelopment Authority through a new program,...
Peduto: Federal relief package will avoid city layoffs, replenish reserve fundVideo
Pittsburgh will be able to avoid layoffs of more than 600 employees and should be able to rebuild a $120 million financial cushion it lost because of the coronavirus pandemic when President Joe Biden signs covid-19 relief legislation, which cleared its final congressional hurdle Wednesday afternoon. “I’ll be reassured when...
Allegheny County joins Pittsburgh in passing law mandating paid sick leave
Allegheny County businesses with more than 25 employees will be required to provide paid sick leave under legislation county council approved Tuesday. “I believe this is the right thing to do,” council President Pat Catena said before the measure passed by a 10-4 vote. The bill was sent to county...
Peduto to face 3 challengers in Pittsburgh mayoral race, Will Parker out
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto will likely face a challenge from three other Democratic candidates in his bid for a third and final term as leader of the city. Peduto, along with a slew of other candidates seeking municipal, school board, judicial and Allegheny County council seats, filed nominating petitions Tuesday...
Pittsburgh Controller’s Office signs on to end use of racially derogatory acronym in annual reports
Following guidance from its national professional association, the Pittsburgh Controller’s Office will no longer use “CAFR” as shorthand for “comprehensive annual financial reports.” The long-standing acronym sounds like “Kaffir,” an offensive term used by Apartheid-era South Africans for the Blacks who live there. The Government Finance Officers Association, the trade...
Pittsburgh officials add their support to national $15 minimum wage
Pittsburgh City Council is formally asking federal and state officials to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour. The action, passed unanimously by council Tuesday, is symbolic, and has been taken before. But council members said they did so to stand up for more than 2,000 home care workers...
Pittsburgh working to iron out eviction ban enforcement as challenge proceeds
A moratorium on evictions in Pittsburgh during the coronavirus pandemic went into effect Friday as a group representing landlords in the region sued the city, alleging local officials aren’t allowed to enact the ban under state law. City officials are moving forward with enforcing the ordinance, according to Councilwoman Deb...
Pittsburgh officials seek proposals to develop former Beltzhoover ElementaryVideo
Pittsburgh officials and a community group are seeking a developer partner to renovate the historic Beltzhoover Elementary School into senior housing and a community center. It’s a project more than three years in the making led by city Councilman Bruce Kraus, who represents the neighborhood, and the Beltzhoover Consensus Group...
Pittsburgh moves to cloud-based services powered by Google
Pittsburgh officials say they will save money and better service employees and residents by using cloud-based technology from Google for its computer programs. The city announced a new four-year deal with Google Cloud to power its information technology platforms for about $4 million. The deal was approved in December by...
Allegheny County Dems endorse Ed Gainey in Pittsburgh mayoral race
Ed Gainey won the endorsement of the Allegheny County Democratic Committee in his challenge to Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, becoming the first Black Pittsburgh mayoral candidate to earn the party’s endorsement. Peduto didn’t compete for the committee’s formal support, which was announced after a meeting Sunday. Gainey, 51, a five-term...
Mayor Bill Peduto, challenger Tony Moreno agree to run civil campaign; Ed Gainey silent on issue
Pittsburgh mayoral candidate Tony Moreno took to Facebook with a challenge Thursday, asking his competitors to be civil, during the campaign. Moreno, 51, of Brighton Heights is a retired Pittsburgh police officer. He’s running against incumbent Mayor Bill Peduto, 56, of Point Breeze and five-term state Rep. Ed Gainey, 51,...
Strip District’s former Produce Terminal welcomes new tenantsVideo
Visitors to Pittsburgh’s Strip District can now buy plants, candles and locally-made crafts, take golf lessons and shop at a liquor store at the landmark former Produce Terminal on Smallman Street. The sprawling, low-slung building is familiar to anyone who’s eaten a fry-filled sandwich at Primanti’s original location on nearby...
Pittsburgh floats bonds for capital projects as it awaits federal pandemic relief money
About $17 million in street improvements, $10 million to reduce traffic congestion and $4.5 million to repair landslides are among the projects that will be funded with about $46.6 million in bonds Pittsburgh is floating this week. The price of the bonds was locked in on Tuesday at a 2.5%...
Ed Gainey announces $130K in fundraising as incumbent Peduto gains support from teachers union
Pittsburgh mayoral candidate Ed Gainey has raised more than $130,000 since January, his campaign announced Wednesday. The money, which totals $134,286, , comes from 764 contributors from every ZIP code in the city. It was made public in advance of his filing with the Pittsburgh Ethics Hearing Board, where the...
Eviction ban passed by Pittsburgh City Council
Pittsburgh City Council moved forward Tuesday with a temporary ban on evictions during the emergency created by the coronavirus pandemic. The legislation, spearheaded by Councilwoman Deb Gross, with support from Mayor Bill Peduto’s administration, and several city activists, was unanimously approved, but only after extensive discussion among council members. They...
Candidate’s old tweets touting Trump spur more turmoil among Democrats in Pittsburgh mayoral race
Old social media posts by Pittsburgh mayoral candidate Tony Moreno that support former President Donald Trump were condemned by the city’s Democratic Committee chairman less than a week before the party announces its slate of endorsed candidates. Moreno, 51, a retired city police officer from Brighton Heights, is one of...
Ed Gainey campaign chief, Pittsburgh political activist nearly come to blows at political event
Pittsburgh mayoral candidate Ed Gainey’s campaign manager and a Democratic activist who is critical of Gainey nearly came to blows during a dispute Saturday at a Duquesne Heights union hall parking lot. The activist, Kierran Young, 28, of Stanton Heights, said he is considering whether to pursue criminal charges after...
Pittsburgh officials advance plan for new steam heating system
For more than a century, many of Pittsburgh’s office buildings in the Golden Triangle have been kept warm using steam heat generated at a North Shore factory that is conveyed Downtown. But the Pittsburgh Allegheny County Thermal (PACT) system is old, failing and beyond repair, Mayor Bill Peduto said last...
Citywide eviction moratorium proposal nears adoption by Pittsburgh Council
Pittsburgh City Council members said Wednesday they are committed to enacting a citywide eviction moratorium when they meet next week. Until then, council members will work with other city officials and Mayor Bill Peduto’s administration to craft a law that temporarily protects people facing eviction, along with providing a way...
Remember when alligators roamed the city? Pittsburgh council members haven’t forgotten
Before the coronavirus pandemic took over the worldwide zeitgeist, there was the season of the loose crocodilian in Pittsburgh. Alligators, crocodiles and the like aren’t native to these parts because of the harsh wintry weather, but they’re kept as pets by some people. In May and June 2019, authorities responded...
Ed Gainey floats plan to resume battle with UPMC as mayoral candidates tout endorsements
State Rep. Ed Gainey, who’s running for Pittsburgh mayor in May’s Democratic primary, released an economic policy agenda that would renew Pittsburgh’s legal challenge to UPMC’s nonprofit status in an attempt to collect more city and school district taxes. “City investments and strong unions gave previous generations of Pittsburghers an...
Pittsburgh maintains strong credit rating, though agencies offer split outlooks
Although the coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll on city finances, two bond rating companies have kept the city’s credit rating at AA- as Pittsburgh is set to float a $55 million bond for capital projects next month. “As the ratings agencies noted, the city’s strong fiscal oversight the past...
Officials moving forward with ban on evictions in Pittsburgh during covid pandemic
Pittsburgh City Council members are moving forward with legislation to prevent evictions in the city during the covid-19 pandemic. At its committee hearing on Wednesday, council will further discuss the ordinance that puts into place a moratorium on evictions as long as the city’s pandemic emergency is in place. It...
