Tom Davidson stories, Page 14

As Pennsylvania officials on Monday celebrated the first vaccinations of health care workers against covid-19 , Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine reiterated warnings this is the first step in a long road to the end of the pandemic. “Today is just a great day, when we start immunizing people,”...

As coronavirus relief negotiations languish in Congress, Gov. Tom Wolf and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday there is a dire need to pass a package sooner rather than later to ensure an economic recovery from the pandemic. “It’s disgraceful, disgraceful that right now in the midst of the...

A former warehouse that until July had been a Sears Outlet in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood is poised to become the latest local “last mile” facility for Amazon deliveries. The site, at 27 51st St., was initially being developed by Spear Street Capital to lure a tech-based tenant, according to Lauren...

The latest snag in the delayed project to redevelop the former Civic Arena site in Pittsburgh’s Lower Hill District shouldn’t impact plans to start construction on the site next year, Pittsburgh Penguins Vice President and General Counsel Kevin Acklin said Thursday. “This is a technicality related to the interruptions all...

Plans for a downsize Target that will be located in the iconic Kaufmann’s building Downtown are set for a January hearing before the Pittsburgh Planning Commission. Christine Mondor, the commission’s chairwoman, said Target presented the plans for review and a hearing is set for next month. The commission doesn’t comment...

On the heels of a Pittsburgh City Council meeting where dozens of residents called for drastic reductions to the $111 million in spending proposed for police in the 2021 budget, the local arm of a Harrisburg-based think tank released a report Wednesday that recommends the city rework its spending priorities....

On the first Saturday in March, people might have a tough time reaching Marc Cherna. It’s the first day Cherna, who will be 70 by then, won’t be the leader of Allegheny County Human Services department. “After 39 years of dealing with crisis after crisis, it will be good to...

Pittsburgh City Council members listened for about two hours Tuesday as some three dozen speakers criticized the city’s 2021 budget proposal, asked for a 50% cut in the police department’s budget and wanted to see increased spending on social service programs. Most of the 45 people who signed up to...

The 30 people who provided testimony Monday during a virtual budget hearing focused on eliminating police, safety and security items from the 2021 Pittsburgh Public Schools budget. The district spends just over 1% of its budget on school safety measures like police and security guards. In 2021, the school safety...

Pittsburgh officials have spent a lot of time and money repairing landslides on Mt. Washington, which attracts millions of visitors annually for its dazzling view of Downtown. On Monday, city officials announced they have received nearly $10 million in federal grant money to make repairs and drainage upgrades to fix...

Pittsburgh Public Schools doesn’t intend to increase taxes to support its 2021 budget. But the $668.5 million spending plan includes a $32 million deficit that needs to be addressed, Superintendent Anthony Hamlet said in a statement. “We recognize the need to take steps to increase our revenue to the extent...

Pittsburgh is among 94 cities across the country and four in Pennsylvania that earned a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign’s 2020 index ranking on LGBTQ inclusion. “We have continued to make strides toward being a more inclusive and welcoming city,” Mayor Bill Peduto said in a statement. “We...

Forty percent of Allegheny County’s nearly 30,000 covid-19 cases came in November. The case numbers increased despite Health Director Dr. Debra Bogen’s “stern warning” two weeks ago for people to avoid large Thanksgiving gatherings. Her announcement piggybacked on a statewide halt to alcohol sales at bars and restaurants on the...

Without $1.2 million in federal coronavirus funding announced Wednesday by Allegheny County officials, providing shelter and services to the county’s homeless population would be tougher. “We would not be in the best situation,” Cynthia Shields, assistant director of the county Department of Human Services Office of Community Services, said. “If...

About 10% of the City of Pittsburgh’s workforce is off work because they are quarantining for possible covid-19 exposure, the city announced Wednesday. That amounts to about 330 of the city’s 3,300-person workforce. A smaller but unspecified number of workers are off because they’ve tested positive for covid. The workers...

Pittsburgh Planning Commission members aren’t saying what they think of a revised design at the site of a former cold storage warehouse in Pittsburgh’s Strip District. New York-based JMC Holdings paid $8.1 million for the former Wholey’s cold storage warehouse at 1501 Penn Ave. in 2018. The windowless building was...

The personnel cuts that will be needed July 1 if further federal pandemic relief funds aren’t approved “may prove to be untenable,” Pittsburgh Council Budget Director Bill Urbanic told council members Thursday. The city needs an infusion of at least $26 million by then to avoid making the cuts, which...

More than 60% of the people who serve on civic boards and commissions in Pittsburgh are female. “That is exceptional. We absolutely commend Mayor (Bill) Peduto for that progress,” United Women’s Empowerment President and CEO Wendy Doyle said. But it isn’t good enough, Peduto said. The mayor’s office announced Tuesday...

Pittsburgh Public Works Director Mike Gable is retiring. “There comes a time when it’s time to retire and this is it,” Gable, 65, of Morningside, said. The retirement is effective Jan. 8, 2021. Aside from a short stint as an Allegheny County employee about 10 years ago, Gable has worked...