Tom Davidson stories, Page 10

Pittsburgh’s Citizen Police Review Board was given expanded powers to audit the city’s police bureau when voters passed a referendum last year. This week, city Controller Michael Lamb released an audit of the board itself, the first outside scrutiny of the board since it was created in 1997. “As the...

Get a covid vaccine. Win $1 million. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced Wednesday that the state will award five vaccinated adult residents $1 million as an incentive to get more people vaccinated. About half of Ohio’s 8.4 million adults have at least one dose of a covid-19 vaccination. Two weeks...

With federal funding from American Rescue Plan set to be distributed to state and local governments, the leaders of Pittsburgh’s city government and school system outlined this week the processes by which the money may be allocated. The city of Pittsburgh is set to receive about $355 million, while the...

Allegheny County and Pittsburgh voters will be asked to decide separate criminal justice issues on ballot questions in the May 18 primary. If approved, the ballot questions would ban Pittsburgh police from serving warrants without announcing themselves, and the use of solitary confinement would be restricted at Allegheny County Jail....

Pittsburgh’s mayoral race pits two political insiders, the incumbent and a longtime state representative, against two outsiders, a retired cop and an Ivy League-educated math tutor/ride-hailing driver. Talk of equity and reform unite the men, but each have different approaches to the subject. The May 18 Democratic primary likely decides...

Pittsburgh’s Black community is shrinking and some who remain in the city say they are fed up with generations of neglect by city officials, systematic racism and development projects that have caused departures. Between 2014 and 2018, U.S. Census data shows, Pittsburgh’s Black population dropped by about 10% — or...

Election clerks are still needed in six municipalities and three of Pittsburgh’s wards, but most positions at polling places are filled and workers have been trained, Allegheny County Administrative Services Deputy Director Jessica Garofolo told the elections board Tuesday. Allegheny County Councilman Sam DeMarco said Tuesday he is concerned that...

The development of the former Civic Arena site in the Lower Hill District cleared another hurdle in approvals for its $1 billion plan. But it took more than five hours of testimony Tuesday at the Pittsburgh Planning Commission before the vote to approve the first phase of the project. It...

Pittsburgh City Council will be considering legislation to restrict single-use plastic bags under a resolution introduced Tuesday by Councilwoman Erika Strassburger. “It’s not the kind of product that should be used once and then thrown away,” Strassburger said. “If we’re truly going to have a circular economy, we have to...

The Pittsburgh Planning Commission on Tuesday will consider approving plans for the first phase of development of the former Civic Arena site in the city’s Hill District. The plans are centered on a 24-story, $200 million office tower that will be the new headquarters for FNB Corp. Construction on the...

A former Penn Plaza resident who was displaced when the East Liberty apartment building was razed in 2017 is part of a group seeking acknowledgement from Pittsburgh leaders that Black people are leaving the city in large numbers. “This is an injustice,” said Randall Taylor, who now lives in Homewood...

Pittsburgh’s finance department “made a mistake” when it didn’t include tax discounts or abatements on thousands of tax bills this year, city Finance Director Douglas Anderson said Thursday. “The mistake was made,” Anderson said. It means several thousand taxpayers in Pittsburgh who use programs like the Homestead exemption or the...

A divided Allegheny County Council on Tuesday approved creating an independent police review board. The board won’t be created until 2022 and it will only have jurisdiction over Allegheny County Police Department. Other municipalities with police departments in the county can opt-in to the board’s oversight, but that move would...

As FNB Corp. and the Pittsburgh Penguins work to redevelop the former Civic Arena site that will be anchored by a new FNB headquarters, the company Tuesday announced $7 million in other investments to improve the neighborhood. A new $5 million gap lending program will provide loans of up to...

Finding ways to get motorists to slow down on residential streets has been a longtime issue in Pittsburgh. City council members Tuesday took action to lobby for more authority to decrease speed limits in some neighborhoods. It’s something they’re not allowed to do under state law. “We know that slower...

Pittsburgh’s LGBTQIA+ business owners will be able to register on the city’s online procurement platform and will gain access to business development and trainings under legislation introduced Tuesday by city council members Erika Strassburger and Bruce Kraus. “This bill represents one more step in our march toward equity here in...

Allegheny County residents will again have input about creating an independent police review board. But council may have already approved the legislation if the meeting is even held. “This is a very important issue that establishes a newly created board and I believe every resident that wants to be heard...

Pittsburgh’s leaders and its largest steel company are committing to become carbon neutral by 2050. Mayor Bill Peduto used Earth Day, marked Thursday, to issue an executive order that commits the city to 12 initiatives designed to achieve the goal of eliminating carbon dioxide emissions. The order came the day...

As Michael Keaton prepares to reprise his role as Batman in an upcoming movie, the Pittsburgh-area native also is a partner in a business venture that could create more than 300 jobs in the region. Keaton, a Robinson native, is partnering with Emsworth developer Craig Rippole and Nexii Building Solutions,...

There are many questions, but few definitive answers about exactly how much federal stimulus money the city of Pittsburgh will receive and how it can be spent. City council members Wednesday asked council Budget Director Bill Urbanic and Kevin Pawlos, director of the city’s Office of Management and Budget, a...

Nobody likes paying taxes. But after they’re paid, it’s easier if the check clears quickly so one can forget about them (until the next time they’re due). In Pittsburgh, that hasn’t been the case. There’s a six- to eight-week backlog processing real estate and parks tax payments, according to a...

Hill District residents and others who want one of the thousands of jobs when construction starts on the redevelopment of the former Civic Arena site will soon have a resource to seek employment. The Lower Hill First Source Employment Opportunity Center will open in mid-May at the Hill House, 1835...