Pittsburgh category, Page 35
Onetime rivals Gainey, O’Connor meet in mayor’s office as transition begins
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey on Thursday welcomed his soon-to-be successor into his Grant Street office Thursday, the first step in a transition of power as Corey O’Connor prepares to take over the city’s highest office in January. O’Connor defeated Gainey in the Democratic primary in May after a divisive race...
Former VP Mike Pence reflects on faith and civility at Duquesne University
Long before Mike Pence became one of the country’s most prominent evangelical Christians, he grew up Catholic and even served as an altar boy in his native Indiana. The former vice president was on decidedly friendly territory Thursday when he spoke at Duquesne University, the largest Catholic university in Western...
3 held for trial in attack, sexual assault on fellow Allegheny County Jail inmate
Three men incarcerated at the Allegheny County Jail — two of them accused killers — are facing trial on charges they beat up and sexually assaulted a fourth inmate inside his cell in September while hunting for drugs. Jayshon Martin, 21; Damon Peters, 22; and Jewel Woods, 28; all of...
Heinz History Center acquires archives of Pittsburgh-born historian David McCullough
The Senator John Heinz History Center has acquired the archives of one of the nation’s most beloved historians, Pittsburgh native David McCullough. “There would be no Heinz History Center without David McCullough,” Andy Masich, president and CEO of the history center, said in a statement Thursday announcing the acquisition. “It’s...
Fighting food insecurity the goal of Light Up Night, Pittsburgh’s holiday season
As Pittsburgh prepares to kick off its holiday season, organizers are shining a brighter light on the issue of food insecurity. This year’s Highmark Light Up Night and Peoples Gas Holiday Market will place a special emphasis on supporting the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, which is facing heightened demand...
Terrelle Pryor, ex-NFL player and Jeannette standout, sued over South Side crash
Former Jeannette football star and NFL player Terrelle Pryor is being sued in Allegheny County for negligence after three women said he crashed into their vehicle on Pittsburgh’s South Side this spring, seriously injuring them. Two separate lawsuits were filed on Oct. 22 in Common Pleas Court. Plaintiffs Thea Brown...
Pittsburgh Mayor-elect O’Connor taps 1st key picks for his administration
Two days after being elected Pittsburgh’s next mayor, Corey O’Connor on Thursday named his first picks for his incoming administration. He will appoint Dan Gilman as chief of staff and nominate Sheldon Williams as the director of the Department of Public Safety. Gilman, who served as chief of staff to...
5 key bills O’Connor championed as a Pittsburgh councilman
Pittsburgh Mayor-elect Corey O’Connor will step into the city’s highest office in January. But he’s no newcomer to City Hall. O’Connor previously spent more than a decade on Pittsburgh City Council before moving to his current post as Allegheny County controller. Some of O’Connor’s most notable bills came in response...
Officials identify body found in burned Sheraden building
The body of a man found in a fire-damaged building in Pittsburgh’s Sheraden neighborhood Sunday afternoon has been identified. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office on Wednesday reported the deceased to be Moussa Traore, 73, of Sheraden. The fire started just after midnight Saturday in the building in the 700...
CMU researchers find selfish traits in cutting-edge AI
Artificial intelligence can be oh so human. New research from Carnegie Mellon University shows AI systems meant to mimic human reasoning have selfish tendencies, compared to simpler models. Teacher-student duo Hirokazu Shirado, an associate professor at the university’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute, and doctoral candidate Yuxuan Li released their findings last...
Problems and promise: Pittsburgh Mayor-elect O’Connor inherits good, bad and ugly
Coming off a resounding election win Tuesday night, Corey O’Connor tempered his victory speech with a dose of reality. “The road that we will travel is long and steeply uphill,” Pittsburgh’s mayor-elect warned a jubilant crowd of supporters. Come January, O’Connor acknowledged, he will take over a city facing serious...
Developer proposes Strip District apartments, grocery store on site of departing produce wholesaler
A proposed development in Pittsburgh’s Strip District follows a familiar pattern of replacing the neighborhood’s legacy industry, wholesale produce, with modern apartments and shops. New York City-based Midwood Investment and Development wants to take one of the Strip District’s last produce warehouses, tear it down and turn it into a...
Pittsburgh SWAT responds to midday shooting in Hill District
Pittsburgh police’s SWAT team was called Wednesday afternoon to the city’s Hill District neighborhood after a midday shooting in a public housing development. A woman was shot in the leg in the 2500 block of Bedford Avenue, near the Bedford Dwellings complex, police said online. First responders said she was...
In nod to his father, Pittsburgh Mayor-elect O’Connor hits the streets to thank voters
Twenty years ago, Bob O’Connor crafted a sign that read “Thank you Pittsburgh” and held it up during morning rush hour to show his appreciation for the voters who helped him achieve his lifelong dream of becoming mayor. On Wednesday, his son Corey O’Connor carried on the legacy. Standing on...
Democrats coast to apparent victory in 3 Pittsburgh City Council races
Democrats made a clean sweep Tuesday night across three contested Pittsburgh City Council races, handily defeating their Republican opponents. Voters in the city’s West End neighborhoods, choosing a new council member for the first time since 2010 with the pending retirement of Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith, stuck with what they knew....
O’Connor defeats Moreno in Pittsburgh mayor’s race
Democrat Corey O’Connor took the stage before hundreds of supporters at a South Side union hall an hour after polls closed Tuesday night and declared victory in his race for Pittsburgh mayor. “I am humbled and inspired by the great honor and privilege of serving as your next mayor,” O’Connor...
Pitt lab launches $42M project to merge latest in wheelchair, robotic arm tech
A laboratory in Pittsburgh’s Bakery Square is poised to make the next breakthrough in wheelchairs, a mostly stagnant industry with huge quality of life implications for millions of disabled Americans. Researchers at the Human Engineering Research Laboratories, a collaboration between the University of Pittsburgh and the U.S. Department of Veterans...
Commercial Street in Pittsburgh to close for Parkway East bridge construction
Commercial Street in Pittsburgh’s Swisshelm Park neighborhood will be closed for roughly two months during construction of a new Parkway East bridge that will span over the street. The road will close to motorists on Nov. 17, and remain closed through Jan. 30, as part of the $95 million I-376...
Through the years: Dick Cheney’s visits to Western Pa.
Western Pennsylvania has seen many appearances from former Vice President Dick Cheney over the years. Cheney, who served as as defense chief under President George H.W. Bush and then as vice president under Bush’s son, George W. Bush, died Monday at age 84. During the early 2000s, he made several...
Police rescue trafficked Louisiana runaway, 13, from North Side basement
A phone call about a missing teen near Baton Rouge, La., led an investigation involving authorities in three states to the basement of a Pittsburgh home last week, where the 13-year-old runaway was found hidden in a sheet-covered box. Police on Friday arrested Ki-Shawn Crumity, 26, of the city’s Brighton...
Allegheny County announces winter shelter program for homeless
As temperatures drop, Allegheny County has announced its winter shelter plan for the homeless community. The Allegheny County Department of Human Services said Monday that the plan will be in effect from Nov. 15 through April 30. On Nov. 15, the county will open a winter shelter — which will...
Effects of SNAP cuts are wide-reaching
Madison Shtur lined the shelves of her pay-what-you-can thrift store in Jeannette on Thursday, Oct. 30 with the latest shipment of groceries from the Westmoreland Food Bank. It wasn’t enough. A shipment from the food bank typically lasts about three weeks on Shtur’s shelves. But last week’s shipment lasted just...
Carnegie Mellon president launches advisory board to review student mental health, well-being
A new advisory board at Carnegie Mellon University will evaluate students’ mental well-being and their academic experience. President Farnam Jahanian announced the university will roll out a President’s Advisory Board on Student Well-Being, Mental Health and the Academic Experience. Jahanian, in a letter to campus, said the board will review...
Retrial in killing of North Hills honors student ends with 1st-degree murder conviction
A jury on Monday found a Pittsburgh man guilty of first-degree murder for killing a North Hills honors student outside his family’s restaurant in the Strip District. Howard Hawkins, 50, who was also convicted of carrying a firearm without a license, will be sentenced Jan. 30 by Allegheny County Common...
Man suffers knife wounds during fight in Marshall-Shadeland
A man is in stable condition after being slashed on the jaw and back with a knife during a fight in Pittsburgh’s Marshall-Shadeland neighborhood in the early hours of Sunday morning. Police were called to the 2600 block of California Avenue around 12:45 a.m. Police said several individuals who’d begun...
