Julia Burdelski stories, Page 25
Pittsburgh council creates new fund for festivals … but without any money
Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a fund to support festivals and events that were disrupted by the covid-19 pandemic — but they don’t have any money for it. Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith, D-West End, last month introduced legislation to create a fund from the city’s allotment of federal pandemic...
Pittsburgh councilwoman pushes to end pot testing for medical marijuana card holders
A Pittsburgh councilwoman wants to ban employment discrimination for people with medical marijuana cards. Legislation introduced Tuesday by Councilwoman Barb Warwick, D-Greenfield, would make medical marijuana cardholders a protected class. The bill would ban almost all employers in the city from testing prospective employees and current workers for cannabis use...
Tim McNulty, ex-reporter, Peduto and Penguins spokesman, dies at 54 after cancer battle
Tim McNulty, a former Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter who went on to serve as a spokesman for Mayor Bill Peduto and then the Pittsburgh Penguins, died Friday at his North Side home after a long battle with cancer. He was 54. City Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith plans to introduce legislation Tuesday to...
9 months after Hamas attack on Israel, rally in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood calls for release
Alon Ohel, one of more than 100 people captured by Hamas during an Oct. 7 attack on Israel, remains a hostage nine months later. He was taken by Hamas at the Nova music festival, an outdoor dance party near the Gaza border. Jeff Finkelstein, CEO of the Jewish Federation of...
Pittsburgh opening 6 cooling centers as temperatures climb Monday, Tuesday
Pittsburgh will open six cooling centers Monday and Tuesday as temperatures are expected to climb above 90 degrees. The cooling centers will be open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., city officials said. The cooling centers will be available at Healthy Active Living Community Center sites throughout the city: •...
1 injured in Stowe Township shooting
A man is in critical condition after a shooting in Stowe Township Saturday, according to Allegheny County police. First responders were alerted to a shooting in the 600 block of Broadway Avenue after 4 p.m. Saturday. Responders found a man shot inside a second floor apartment. The victim was taken...
New Kensington man, ‘a friend to everyone,’ found slain; former roommate charged with murder
David Risher is remembered as a trusting person with a love of fishing. He was “a friend to everyone he encountered,” said his sister, Brenda Lee Johnson. Risher, 58, of New Kensington was found dead early Saturday morning in his home after Johnson reported him missing on Friday. Police charged...
Plans for Pittsburgh festival fund move forward but lack key element: money
Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday voted to move ahead with a plan to create a fund to support arts and cultural events that were impacted by the covid-19 pandemic — but they don’t seem to have any money for it. Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith, D-West End, last month introduced legislation to...
Pittsburgh finds way to avoid forfeiting nearly $9M in federal covid relief funds
Working against a ticking clock that gives the city only six months to put under contract all remaining federal covid-19 relief dollars, Pittsburgh officials are changing funding streams for projects that might be too slow for the federal government’s looming deadlines. The goal, Director of the Office of Management and...
Staff concerns at Highland Park pool spurred new chaperone policy
Twelve-year-old Miracel Eaton excitedly urged her mother toward the entrance to Pittsburgh’s Highland Park pool on a sunny Thursday afternoon. Tamra Eaton, 55, of Highland Park, said she would’ve tagged along with her daughter for a pool day anyway, but a new rule at the site now requires all kids...
City hasn’t paid Pittsburgh Juneteenth organizer, leaving him fuming at Gainey
Weeks after Pittsburgh City Council authorized a $125,000 payment to a popular Juneteenth event organizer, the city still has not paid him a dime — and it’s unclear if it ever will. William “B” Marshall was set to receive money from the city’s fund of federal covid-19 relief dollars to...
Pittsburgh clears way for UPMC Presby work to resume after permit flap
Pittsburgh officials on Wednesday approved an electrical permit for construction of the UPMC Presbyterian hospital tower, a city spokeswoman said, after some work was halted last week. A Pittsburgh inspector last week found the project did not have all the necessary permits, according to Maria Montaño, a spokesperson for Mayor...
Pittsburgh OKs Lawrenceville apartment complex despite aesthetic concerns
Mel Ngami skewered the renderings of a proposed apartment complex in Lawrenceville, calling them “very strongly depressing.” Peter Quintanilla, his colleague on the Pittsburgh Planning Commission, panned the design as a large box that “looks too flat.” Despite the commissioners’ misgivings about the looks of the planned 5-story apartment building...
Pittsburgh council’s Charland trashes unwieldy city system for garbage citations
Pittsburgh Councilperson Bob Charland wants to make it easier to cite people who leave trash on their property. Charland, D-South Side, on Tuesday introduced legislation that would allow city inspectors to issue citations and fines for people who leave garbage on their property, improperly store garbage cans or leave garbage...
Kids 15 and younger need adult supervision at Highland Park pool
Children ages 15 and younger will need to be accompanied by an adult to enter Pittsburgh’s Highland Park pool this summer, a city spokesperson said Monday. The rule that kids must be supervised by someone who is at least 21 years old is not in effect at any other city...
Parks Conservancy revitalizing Riverview Park’s Valley Refuge Shelter
One of Pittsburgh’s most popular and historic park shelters is set to get an upgrade next summer. The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy is spearheading an effort to revitalize Riverview Park’s Valley Refuge Shelter and improve accessibility at the site. The shelter is one of the most popular in the city, with...
Long-delayed Pittsburgh park projects cause frustration
Carol Hardeman said she’s frustrated that the promised park projects in Pittsburgh’s Hill District neighborhood still haven’t started, years after residents hoped they would be done. Hardeman, who serves as executive director of the Hill District Consensus Group, said the lengthy delays to projects that were supposed to improve a...
Pittsburgh parks and recreation director paid contractor in credit card scandal, records show
Pittsburgh Parks and Recreation Director Kathryn Vargas was aware that a controversial contractor had previously been fired from a different role with the city before she hired him and paid him with a municipal credit card in violation of city policies, according to documents TribLive obtained Friday. Dozens of emails...
Progress on Pennsylvania bridges could falter without money, report says
The condition of Pennsylvania’s bridges has improved in recent years, according to a new report, but that progress could be reversed without additional funding. TRIP, a Washington, D.C.-based national transportation research nonprofit, on Thursday released a study that commended the progress the commonwealth has made in repairing and maintaining its...
Pittsburgh has 1 plumber and its city-run drinking fountains are out
Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday rushed to pass legislation that will allow the city to contract with more plumbers who can help turn on drinking fountains, maintain public bathrooms and handle other plumbing work that currently falls to the city’s sole plumber. The city this year budgeted money for three...
