Julia Burdelski stories, Page 2

The Pittsburgh Land Bank wants to strike an agreement that would make it easier to buy tax-delinquent properties for conversion to other uses including affordable housing and community gardens. The land bank is looking for the city, school district and county to sign off on a deal that would let...

A pair of audits from the Pittsburgh and Allegheny County controllers on Wednesday recommended increased staffing for the county’s 911 call center, more focus on tracking emergency response times and improvements to programs that ensure first responders’ well-being. “While funding and operational challenges exist in each of our respective governments,...

A group of 60 advanced practitioners has voted to join hundreds of nurses at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital in forming a union. The advanced practitioners — including certified registered nurse practitioners, neonatal nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives and other positions — voted to join SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, following about 800 nurses...

Drivers speeding through red lights in parts of Pittsburgh will soon receive tickets through an automated camera system to be installed this winter at several intersections. “This will change the way people drive in the city,” Councilman Bobby Wilson, D-North Side, said Tuesday, adding the new system is meant to...

Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday unanimously voted to provide about $1.7 million in grants to community groups combating gun violence, despite concerns raised last week by one councilman about how officials picked the recipients. Councilman Bobby Wilson, D-North Side, questioned why the grants didn’t go to the applicants who ranked...

Pennsylvania officials this week authorized eligible people to get a covid-19 vaccine without a prescription. The state said the change took effect immediately. But, as of Friday afternoon, patients hoping to get the vaccines at CVS locations were still being told they needed a doctor’s order. CVS has about 500...

A Pittsburgh councilman is upset that some community groups are being bypassed for city grants to fund anti-violence programs in favor of others he says might be less deserving. Councilman Bobby Wilson, D-North Side, is blaming the Gainey administration for what he views as an opaque award system that doesn’t...

Pittsburgh pet owners will again be able to apply for free spay and neuter surgeries for cats and dogs. City officials in February 2024 abruptly halted to the free spay and neuter program, raising concerns that suburban pet owners were abusing the program by using fake Pittsburgh addresses to get...

Pittsburgh Steelers fans will see a slew of Acrisure Stadium upgrades, new food options and technology improvements ahead of the upcoming NFL season. The enhancements come before Pittsburgh hosts the 2026 NFL Draft in April. The weekend-long event is expected to bring hundreds of thousands of football fans to the...

Jackson Clark laughed with delight as a tan-colored goat chased him through a petting zoo in Northmoreland Park, trying to get the bottle in his hand. He was one of thousands of people who flocked to Northmoreland Park for the annual Labor United Celebration, a two-day festival that featured everything...

A community group on Thursday raised environmental concerns about the Esplanade development, a $740 million project that aims to transform a brownfield in Pittsburgh’s Chateau neighborhood into a vibrant entertainment district. Manchester Neighbors, representing a group of residents, opposes the project. In a report released Thursday, the group highlighted environmental...

Pittsburgh City Council on Wednesday in a preliminary vote unanimously supported a measure that would allow for tiny houses and other temporary communities for homeless. The proposal, first pitched in November 2023, aims to provide safe, dignified spaces for homeless people who may be wary of living on the streets...

Pittsburgh is moving ahead with an effort to crack down on motorists running red lights. Pittsburgh City Council last year authorized the use of automated red light enforcement, technology that would use cameras to ticket drivers who don’t stop at red lights without requiring officers to monitor the intersections. Legislation...

Allegheny County officials are expecting to send mail-in ballots for the upcoming general election in the beginning of October, officials said. David Voye, manager of the county’s Division of Elections, said there are no major changes expected for mail-in ballots. Officials are beginning ballot preparations this week, he told the...

A new art contest is looking to draw additional interest in Pittsburgh’s Garbage Olympics. The Garbage Olympics — an annual litter pickup event that pits neighborhoods against one another to compete to see which community can clean up the most trash — takes place Sept. 13, a Saturday. The inaugural...

An ongoing effort to revitalize Pittsburgh’s Market Square is on track to be finished before the city hosts the NFL Draft next year. The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership on Monday said the project — which will limit vehicle traffic and add greenery, lighting, seating and a canopy where people can gather...

An environmental group on Thursday called for stricter pollution monitoring at steelmaking facilities like U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works, a longtime polluter and site of an explosion last week that killed two workers. A report from the Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Integrity Project documented potentially dangerous levels of pollutants at steel...

On Friday, Pittsburgh Controller Rachael Heisler left her Grant Street office, hopped in her vehicle and took a field trip to the city’s maintenance garage in the Strip District. She was being blamed for delays in trash collection and wanted to see for herself what all the fuss was about....

Animal Friends is offering Pittsburgh pet owners free spay and neuter services after the city scaled back a similar program. The Ohio Township-based nonprofit on Thursday announced the “Short Term Fix” spay and neuter program, which will provide free spay and neuter surgeries to dogs and cats owned by Pittsburgh...

The ShotSpotter gunshot detection system has helped Pittsburgh police respond to shootings more quickly but has not led to a surge in arrests or any significant decrease in gun-related incidents, according to a report this week from the city’s controller. Pittsburgh first launched a ShotSpotter pilot program in a 3-square-mile...

UPMC must allow nurses working at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital to hold a union election, the regional National Labor Relations Board ruled Friday. Nurses at the Oakland hospital in May announced they wanted to unionize, calling for better staff-to-patient ratios, higher pay and more transparency from UPMC. About 1,000 nurses will...

The Gainey administration on Thursday blamed Pittsburgh’s controller for delays in garbage collection, leading to a squabble on Grant Street over why trash isn’t being picked up in some parts of the city. Olga George, a spokesperson for Mayor Ed Gainey, accused Controller Rachael Heisler of not paying the city’s...

Here are some of the latest news items happening this morning, Friday, Aug. 1: Man shot in Homewood West Pittsburgh police are investigating after a man was shot early Friday morning in a Pittsburgh home. An adult man was shot in the back in a house in the 1400 block...

Pittsburgh’s fiscal watchdog on Thursday recommended that City Council make more transparent — but not eliminate — controversial private meetings its members occasionally hold to discuss public business. The suggestion came in a performance audit released by Controller Rachael Heisler, which also recommended that council develop better policies to track...