Jamie Martines stories, Page 12
Round Hill Park spray pad closed after high levels of bacteria found
The Round Hill Park spray pad in Elizabeth Township will be closed through Monday because tests showed high levels of bacteria in the water, the Allegheny County Health Department said Friday. “Out of an abundance of caution, the spray pad is closed for additional water treatment and cleansing,” a statement...
Judge David Cashman resigns from Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board
Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Judge David Cashman resigned from the Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board following two heated board meetings this week. Cashman served on the board for about seven years and was serving as its chairman. “I appreciate the accomplishments that we have achieved in reducing the...
Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board meeting cut short after disruption, 2 citedVideo
The Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board meeting was cut short Thursday after two people were removed by sheriff’s deputies and cited for disrupting the meeting. Ciora Thomas, executive director of the Pittsburgh-based advocacy group SisTersPGH and Christian Carter, a community organizer from East Liberty, were both led out of the...
U.S. Steel settlement agreement met with praise, criticism
Mon Valley residents, environmental advocates and elected officials packed the Clairton Municipal Building on Tuesday for a standing room-only public hearing hosted by the Allegheny County Health Department to gather feedback on a draft settlement agreement between the health department and U.S. Steel. The draft settlement, announced in late June,...
How 3 new Allegheny County Democrats are shaking up the party’s old guard
About two months after Bethany Hallam pulled off a stunning upset in the Democratic primary for an at-large seat on Allegheny County Council, she celebrated with the supporters who helped her defeat 20-year incumbent John DeFazio. “Nothing compares to when you really know you put everything you had on the...
Progressive Democrat Hallam got personal in Allegheny County Council primary campaign
When Bethany Hallam set out to campaign for a seat on Allegheny County Council, she didn’t expect people to be interested in her personal life. “At times it was hard because I wanted people to be focused on the issues I was talking about,” said Hallam, a Democrat from Ross...
Karen Hacker reflects on tenure as Allegheny County Health Department director
After six years of working to rebuild the Allegheny County Health Department, Dr. Karen Hacker departs with the hope that the county is better equipped to continue work in areas like air quality, combating the opioid crisis and studying health inequities among residents. “I do feel that I’m leaving the...
John Kunco reaches plea deal keeping him out of prison in child sex abuse case
The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office in a plea deal Thursday dropped several child sex assault charges against a man awaiting a retrial on an unrelated rape conviction. John Kunco, 54, a former Harrison resident who most recently lived in McKees Rocks, pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of indecent...
Allegheny County Board of Health approves $300K for asthma study, $90K for trees
Doctors and researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health and UPMC Children’s Hospital received a $300,000 grant from the Allegheny County Clean Air Fund to create a registry tracking pediatric asthma. The Allegheny County Board of Health approved the disbursement from the nearly $12 million fund at...
After ‘person of color’ quip, Rep. Mike Kelly clarifies: ‘We’re all created equal’
U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Butler, is defending comments he made to a reporter Tuesday, in the wake of President Trump’s tweets telling four congresswomen of color to “go back” to where they came from. “You know, they talk about people of color. I’m a person of color. I’m white,” Kelly...
Clean air petition signed by 6,000 Allegheny County residents
Anna Dekleva and her family moved to Pittsburgh a year ago encouraged by its “most livable city” reputation. Then she discovered the city’s poor air quality. “We are very happy here, except that we’re concerned about making a long-term future here given that we know people who have had issues...
Senior ConnectCard now available at more locations for free public transit
Seniors living in Allegheny County can now apply for the Senior Citizen ConnectCard at seven more locations throughout Pittsburgh and neighboring municipalities. Like the blue and yellow Senior Transit identification cards, the new Senior Citizen ConnectCards allow seniors to travel on public transit for free. Legislative offices in Pittsburgh’s Hill...
2020 hopefuls using Pittsburgh as early campaign backdrop
From old steel mills to sleek technology parks, the Pittsburgh region likely has the backdrop presidential candidates are looking for as they pitch their platforms to the nation’s voters, according to political strategists. Western Pennsylvania’s large populations of veterans, seniors, union workers and students could give aspiring presidential candidates an...
Democratic presidential hopeful Gillibrand touts health-care policies in Pittsburgh
Presidential hopeful Kirsten Gillibrand kicked off her “Trump Broken Promises” bus tour in Pittsburgh on Thursday, meeting with health care workers at the Hilton Garden Inn in Oakland to present her policies against rising health care prices and to support union workers. “I will make sure that workers’ rights are...
Presidential hopeful Kirsten Gillibrand to campaign in Pittsburgh
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand will bring her presidential campaign to Pittsburgh on Thursday. Gillibrand, a Democrat from New York who has served in the U.S. Senate since 2009, is scheduled to meet with health care workers to discuss the rising cost of prescription drugs, according to a statement from the...
National Science Foundation awards $10 million to fund new Pittsburgh supercomputer
There’s going to be a new genome-parsing, poker-playing supercomputer in town. The National Science Foundation awarded a $10 million grant to fund the construction of a new supercomputer at the Monroeville-based Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, a joint research facility run by Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, according to...
Allegheny County Health Department to hold public hearing on U.S. Steel settlement
The Allegheny County Health Department will hold a public hearing July 30 at the Clairton Municipal Building to receive public comments on a draft settlement agreement reached with U.S. Steel over pollution violations at the Clairton Coke Works. As part of the settlement, U.S. Steel agreed to pay $2.7 million...
Pa. Senate Republicans issue letter to Lt. Gov. Fetterman over Senate floor chaos
State Senate Republicans issued a letter to Lt. Gov. John Fetterman Tuesday expressing “grave concerns” over what they described as his “dereliction of duty and defiance as the presiding officer of the Senate.” Signed by all 28 Republicans in the state Senate, the letter refers to chaos — shouting, name...
U.S. Steel to pay $2.7 million in fines over Clairton violations
U.S. Steel will pay $2.7 million in fines from the Allegheny County Health Department related to 2018 air pollution violations at the Clairton Coke Works facility, according to a settlement agreement announced by both parties Friday. The draft settlement agreement addresses 2018 and early 2019 enforcement orders, as well as...
Pennsylvania group to keep pushing for independent redistricting commission
Pennsylvania advocates for redistricting reform will keep pushing for an independent commission to oversee the process in light of Thursday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision to keep courts out of state efforts to address gerrymandering. The high court’s conservative majority decided in a 5-4 ruling that partisan gerrymandering — drawing congressional...
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman expects to move forward after Senate dispute
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman said he isn’t harboring any ill will over the chaotic scene that unfolded Wednesday while he was presiding over the state Senate. “I don’t take any of this personally,” he told the Tribune-Review on Thursday ahead of an expected vote on the state budget. Shouting, name-calling...
New Rivers Casino sportsbook to boast 2 50-foot-long TV screens
Rivers Casino on Thursday unveiled renderings of an expanded, permanent sportsbook planned for the North Shore casino. The $5 million construction project is expected to open this fall, according to a statement from Rivers. The casino opened the temporary sportsbook in December, offering legal bets on sports including football, baseball,...
Consumer alert lifted for Strip District food hall Smallman Galley
A consumer alert was lifted Friday for the Strip District food hall Smallman Galley, according to an Allegheny County Health Department report. The alert was issued earlier this week after an inspection found that food was being handled at unsafe temperatures. An inspector also found “extensive” mouse droppings in food...
5-mile Parkway East closure begins tonight
More closures are on the horizon for the Parkway East starting Friday as crews work on expansion dam replacement, guide rail improvements, approach slab repairs, line painting and drainage, PennDOT announced Wednesday. The outbound Parkway East will be closed between the Forbes Avenue/Oakland off ramp (Exit 72A) and the Edgewood/Swissvale...
Allegheny County public defender to challenge DA Zappala in election
Longtime Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. could face a new challenger this fall. Allegheny County public defender Lisa Middleman announced Monday that she’s launching a campaign for district attorney. She plans to appear on the November ballot as an independent. “I’ve seen the racist, classist, criminal justice...
