Pittsburgh category, Page 71
2 charged in vandalism of Jewish buildings in Squirrel Hill
Federal authorities on Wednesday charged two people with hate crime-related offenses in connection with vandalism at Jewish institutions in Squirrel Hill. Mohamad Hamad, 23, of Coraopolis, and Talya A. Lubit, 24, of Pittsburgh, are charged with conspiracy and defacing or damaging religious property, according to a criminal complaint. Hamad was...
North Huntingdon family sues UPMC Children’s over treatment of son, mother
A North Huntingdon woman is suing UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, claiming doctors performed unnecessary surgery on her son and staff concocted criminal allegations against her when she complained about the boy’s treatment. The woman, Dawn Lewandowski, was found not guilty of disorderly conduct and harassment Monday in Allegheny County...
Acting Pittsburgh police Chief Ragland wants to be a steady hand, not a ‘superhero’
After working in the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police for more than three decades, Christopher Ragland this week said he’s hoping to provide steady leadership and bolster recruitment as he steps into the role of acting chief during a turbulent time for the force. Ragland takes the helm of an understaffed...
‘In the dark’: Pittsburgh council rips Gainey cabinet over secret deal with Scirotto
Pittsburgh City Council members were livid Tuesday after learning that three top aides to Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey knew about a secret deal to allow police Chief Larry Scirotto to return to refereeing college basketball after a year on the job but said nothing. The chief last week announced his...
Pittsburgh puts early end to $1.8M annual tax break for Squirrel Hill property
A blighted piece of land in the city’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood will return to the tax rolls nearly a decade earlier than expected. The property, an old slag heap that overlooks the Parkway East near the Squirrel Hill Tunnel, had a 20-year tax break to spur development. But that will...
Pittsburgh to spend $600K on 11 public restrooms throughout city
Mobile bathrooms will be popping up throughout Downtown Pittsburgh and other parts of the city over the next two years. City Council on Tuesday unanimously agreed to allocate $600,000 in federal covid-19 relief money to bring 11 public restrooms to areas where bathrooms are hard to find. The city will...
Audit blasts city for ‘mismanagement’ of payments for Phipps’ steam usage
The City of Pittsburgh failed to collect more than $800,000 from Phipps Conservatory, the botanical garden complex in Oakland, as part of a longstanding utility reimbursement agreement, according to an audit released Tuesday by Controller Rachael Heisler. Phipps, a nonprofit, has since paid the city the bulk of that sum....
Seafood restaurant, bar in the works to replace Park Bruges in Highland Park
A new seafood restaurant and bar will replace Park Bruges on Bryant Street in Highland Park in the new year. “We’re hoping to close in January on the deal, maybe use the month of February to change things up,” said Angela Earley, who will take over the space. Earley, co-owner...
Pittsburgh halts discounted vacant land sales program
Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday voted to halt a program that allows property owners to buy vacant city-owned properties for a steep discount. The Side Yard Sale Program allows property owners to purchase certain vacant, city-owned parcels that sit adjacent to their own for $200. But City Council on Tuesday...
Pittsburgh council wants answers about Scirotto’s referee deal with Gainey
Pittsburgh City Council will try today to uncover details about how lame-duck police Chief Larry Scirotto struck a secretive deal with Mayor Ed Gainey to return to part-time college basketball refereeing while also running the city’s police force. Council is expected to question Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt and Acting...
Pitt plans to spend $14.5M to tame ‘Cardiac Hill’
Anyone who’s climbed “Cardiac Hill” for a basketball game or class at the University of Pittsburgh will tell you — perhaps after catching their breath — that having an upper and lower campus can be taxing. That’s why Western Pennsylvania’s largest university is prepared to spend $14.5 million to make...
Doug Emhoff warns Pittsburgh that antisemitism will get worse if Trump is electedVideo
Second gentleman Doug Emhoff warned Pittsburgh Jews that former President Donald Trump and his movement will inflame antisemitism to a fever pitch if Trump is elected president. Emhoff, who is Jewish, is the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president. He spoke for 20 minutes in...
UPMC Western Psych nurses ratify contract, averting threatened strike
Nurses at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital will be the first in UPMC to have a minimum hourly pay rate over $40 under a new three-year contract, union officials say. A tentative agreement between UPMC and SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania was reached Thursday, said Marah McDonald, a nurse and member of the...
Highland Park restaurant to close
Park Bruges on Bryant Street in Highland Park will close its doors for good in the coming months. The announcement was posted on the French-inspired bistro restaurant’s Facebook page Monday, saying a new restaurant concept will take its place. “While a hard decision for us, it was made easier by...
Community, worshippers continue to ‘heal together’ on anniversary of Pittsburgh synagogue shooting
If kindness can counteract one incalculable act of hate, that spirit was alive in Pittsburgh’s Jewish community Sunday, six years after the worst antisemitic attack in U.S. history claimed 11 people in a Squirrel Hill synagogue. Even before an evening ceremony honoring victims of the Tree of Life mass shooting...
The Home Stretch: Here’s the election news for Oct. 27
Campaigning is in overdrive, even on a Sunday, as we enter the last full week until Election Day. Here’s what’s going on with the race to the White House. Where is everyone? Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president, will hold a rally at Madison Square Garden in...
Biden marks anniversary of Tree of Life synagogue attack that killed 11
PITTSBURGH — President Joe Biden on Saturday marked the sixth anniversary of a gunman’s deadly attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue and called out what he called an “appalling surge of antisemitism” amid the war in Gaza. The 2018 attack claimed the lives of 11 worshippers from Dor Hadash, New Light...
Mark Cuban stumps for Kamala Harris’ economic agenda, says Trump’s will increase inflation
Billionaire and Pittsburgh native Mark Cuban knows a bit about starting and growing businesses, but he first learned about being broke, eating condiment sandwiches and scraping by to keep a fledgling enterprise going. Speaking to a room of small business owners and entrepreneurs Saturday in East Liberty, Cuban, 66, used...
Biden rallies Pittsburgh’s union base to support Harris
President Joe Biden returned to Pittsburgh on Saturday, rallying and canvassing with building trades workers, selling Vice President Kamala Harris as a continuation of his pro-labor policies and the best hope to improve wages and union rights into the future. Biden rallied Saturday afternoon with about 100 members of the...
Pitt graduate student workers to vote next month on whether to unionize
Graduate student workers at the University of Pittsburgh will vote in a state-supervised election next month on whether to join the United Steelworkers, the union already representing faulty and staff there. The election Nov. 18, 19 and 21 involves 2,000 teaching, research and other graduate assistants. It will be overseen...
Preeti’s Pitt homicide case ends with mistrial
The trial for a Pittsburgh man accused of killing a North Hills honors student at a Strip District restaurant ended in a mistrial on Thursday after a police officer referenced the defendant’s previous criminal record. A new trial date for Howard Hawkins is scheduled for Jan. 13 before Allegheny County...
Poplawski, on death row for killing 3 Pittsburgh cops, raises new questions about jury’s conduct
Richard Poplawski, convicted of killing three Pittsburgh police officers 15 years ago, claimed in a recent court filing that the jurors who sentenced him to death may have been unduly influenced during a field trip they took during an off day in the trial. Poplawski, 38, is asking an Allegheny...
Pittsburgh police Chief Scirotto to step down amid refereeing controversy
Pittsburgh police Chief Larry Scirotto is resigning Nov. 1, capping more than a week of controversy over his decision to return to part-time refereeing at NCAA basketball games. Scirotto sent an email just after 10 a.m. Friday to the 751-member Pittsburgh Bureau of Police notifying the force of his decision....
‘We can do big things’: Shapiro unveils $600M makeover for Downtown Pittsburgh
Buoyed by nearly $600 million of investments, a new plan for Downtown Pittsburgh unveiled Friday by Gov. Josh Shapiro includes nearly 1,000 new housing units, improvements to public spaces in the Golden Triangle and increased public safety efforts. “To have a strong and vibrant commonwealth of Pennsylvania, you have to...
Morning Roundup: Political signs targeted by vandals; North Strabane police seek robbery suspect
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Friday, Oct. 25: Political signs targeted by vandals A home in Lawrence County was vandalized, with suspects spray painting the word “Trump” in the driveway, according to TribLive news partner WTAE. Signs on the lawn and porch at the...
