Julia Burdelski stories, Page 19
Pittsburgh Planning Commission approves apartments at Hazelwood Green
Pittsburgh’s Planning Commission on Tuesday approved a new 50-unit apartment complex at the Hazelwood Green development in the city’s Hazelwood neighborhood. The five-story building will designate half of its units as affordable housing for low-income residents. Thirteen apartments are to be set aside for single parents seeking housing while pursuing...
Pittsburgh council mulls referendum to bar sale of water, sewer systems to private entities
Pittsburgh voters may be asked to vote in May on whether the city should be restricted from leasing or selling its water and sewer systems to private entities. Legislation introduced Tuesday to City Council would pose the question to voters as a ballot referendum, which a majority would need to...
Gainey rejects Pittsburgh cooperation with ICE amid immigration crackdown
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey on Monday said his administration would not work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. His comments during an appearance in Harrisburg come amid heightened concerns from the local immigrant community about ICE raids. President Donald Trump has issued quotas for the immigration enforcement agency to ramp...
2050 look-ahead: Developments in Pittsburgh driven by tech hubs, housing demands
Editor’s note: One-fourth of the way through this century, TribLive is looking ahead to the next 25 years, using the events of the past 25 as a roadmap of what possibly is to come. This installment of the occasional series looks at Pittsburgh. Where mills once sat along the Monongahela...
Kids learn communication, problem solving, value of hard work through New Kensington program
Kim Louis told the kids gathered at United Presbyterian Church of New Kensington to pretend they were on a tropical island, somewhere green and warm. Then imagine an impending snowstorm threatened to wreak havoc on that island. Snowplows, Louis told the kids, would be key to clearing the snow. But...
Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership unveils plan to revitalize Golden Triangle
The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership this week outlined a three-year strategic plan to revitalize the city’s Golden Triangle and realize a vision of a Downtown teeming with new residents and an array of businesses. The nonprofit wants to make the neighborhood cleaner, safer and more vibrant as part of its ongoing...
Effort to block Pittsburgh from doing business with Israel spurs City Council backlash
Pittsburgh City Council members want voters to make it official that the city cannot discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin or association with foreign nations when it conducts business. A measure to seek a referendum on the matter comes after a pro-Palestinian group last year sought to...
Pittsburgh councilman seeks more candor in wake of Scirotto refereeing fiasco
A Pittsburgh councilman wants people appointed to run city departments and bureaus to answer council’s questions under oath. The move by Councilman Anthony Coghill, D-Beechview, comes after council learned that Larry Scirotto, the city’s former police chief, was less than candid during public questioning about whether he would continue to...
Gainey claims progress with Highmark on payments to Pittsburgh, but skeptics abound
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey on Tuesday announced that Highmark, one of the largest nonprofits operating in the city, is willing to make financial contributions to the city — but only if other major nonprofits pay up, too. In a statement, Gainey portrayed Highmark as taking a significant step forward to...
3 Democrats, 1 Republican vie to replace Pittsburgh Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith
Pittsburgh’s West End neighborhoods this year will elect a new City Council member for the first time since 2010, as Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith is poised to retire at the end of her term. Three Democrats and a Republican are running to replace her as the council member for District 2,...
New safety measures coming to Oakland’s Terrace Street after fatal wrecks
In response to a string of crashes that killed pedestrians in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood, the city and the University of Pittsburgh are implementing new safety measures along the Terrace Street corridor. Jessie Maroney, 37, of South Park, was killed in a hit-and-run crash crossing at Darragh and Terrace streets in...
Pittsburgh Parking Authority lifts residency requirement for some employees
The Pittsburgh Parking Authority on Thursday eliminated a requirement that its garage attendants and enforcement officers live within the city in an effort to bolster recruitment and retention as the authority struggles to maintain its staffing levels. Those workers still are required to reside within Allegheny County. Candidates who live...
Woodland Hills School District names new superintendent
Woodland Hills School District’s school board on Wednesday voted to appoint Joe Maluchnik as the district’s next superintendent. He’ll replace Dan Castagna, who in departed in October after being hired as superintendent of Chartiers Valley School District. Maluchnik for the last four years has led the nearby Wilkinsburg School District....
Law firm excited to take over iconic Pittsburgh billboard
Law firm Pond Lehocky is hoping to make itself better known to Pittsburghers, taking over a massive billboard overlooking the city from atop Mount Washington. The new ad replaced Iron City Beer on the well-known billboard earlier this week. “We see it as an honor to have our name on...
Rubio vows to prioritize freeing Oakmont teacher from Russian prison
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio on Wednesday vowed to prioritize the release of Marc Fogel, an Oakmont history teacher who has been detained by Russia since bringing a small amount of legally prescribed medical marijuana into the country in 2021. Rubio’s comments came during a nomination hearing before the U.S. Senate....
Pittsburgh Planning Commission supports tiny houses for homeless
More than a year after the concept was first introduced, zoning changes that would pave the way for Pittsburgh to build tiny houses and other temporary managed communities for the homeless is advancing. Pittsburgh’s Planning Commission on Tuesday unanimously supported a zoning bill that would allow for interim housing. That...
O’Connor vows to support families, children if elected Pittsburgh mayor
Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor, campaigning to be Pittsburgh’s mayor, stood in front of Cowley Recreation Center in Troy Hill Tuesday, pointing out the broken windows and boarded-up doors. City officials had hoped to use federal covid-19 relief money to fund improvements to the center. That hasn’t happened. If he’s...
Iron City Beer ad removed from billboard atop Mount Washington
The Iron City Beer advertisement on Mount Washington no longer hovers over Pittsburgh. The sign — visible from many points throughout the city, including Point State Park — was taken down Monday. According to Pittsburgh Brewing Company, Iron City Beer used the prominent billboard from 1938 till the mid-1950s. The...
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg tours Pittsburgh International Airport’s new landside terminal
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Friday toured the new terminal under construction at Pittsburgh International Airport, touting the work President Joe Biden’s administration has done to support such infrastructure improvements nationwide. “It was important for us to have Pittsburgh be one of the last places I travel to in...
Phipps Conservatory’s cafe, catering workers fear for their jobs amid vendor switch
Meredith Raubaugh doesn’t know what she’ll do for work after her gig as a catering server and cafe cashier at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens ends next week. She and about 30 others who work in the the Pittsburgh conservatory’s cafe and catering departments are expected to lose their jobs...
Sam DeMarco leaving Allegheny County Council for role in Sen. Dave McCormick’s office
Sam DeMarco is leaving his posts as an at-large Allegheny County councilman and chair of the Republican Committee of Allegheny County for a position in newly elected U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick’s office. DeMarco told TribLive he will serve as Southwest Regional director for McCormick’s office. In that position, DeMarco will...
Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak quietly steers Pittsburgh through high-stakes decisions
In late December, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey mugged for the cameras Downtown and pumped the hands of City Council members as he basked in the passage of his 2025 budget. Hanging back in the mayor’s shadow, avoiding reporters and seeking no credit, stood the man most responsible for engineering the...
Pittsburgh police confident First Night will be safe event
Pittsburgh Acting Police Chief Chris Ragland says the city’s annual New Year’s Eve celebration will be safe, with dozens of officers patrolling the Downtown event. The Highmark First Night Pittsburgh celebration — which includes a parade, music, fireworks and other entertainment — is hosted by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust each...
Pittsburgh police kill man during standoff in Allentown
Pittsburgh police fatally shot a 45-year-old man early Friday morning after he fired at police during a standoff along East Warrington Avenue in the city’s Allentown neighborhood, Allegheny County Police said. The victim was identified as Mark Coleman by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner Office. Allegheny County Police homicide detectives...
Pittsburgh Public Schools board raids reserve fund to close 2025 budget deficit
The Pittsburgh Public Schools board on Wednesday approved a 2025 spending plan that includes no tax increase but relies on the district’s financial reserves to balance the budget. The nearly $775 million budget will draw about $28 million from the district’s reserve fund to fill in the gap between projected...
