Pittsburgh parks rank 15th nationally, research says
Pittsburgh parks have placed 15th out of 100 on the annual 2025 ParkScore Index, which is conducted by the national nonprofit Trust for Public Land. The ranking matches Pittsburgh’s all-time high on the list in 2020, and is two spots above its rank last year of 17th place. Will Klein,...
Inaugural Jim Roddey Leadership Awards honor 2 people who Roddey selected himself
Ethan E. Nicholas kept his promise. He learned that from someone who knew about doing what you say you’re going to do — Jim Roddey, the first Allegheny County executive and civic leader. In latter years of Roddey’s life, Nicholas told him that he wanted to create a leadership award...
Part 2: Richland History Group continues tale of Massey Harbison’s 1792 trek to escape captivity
Editor’s note: This is Part 2 of a two-part series on Massey Harbison by the Richland History Group. Part 1 appeared in the May edition of the Pine Creek Journal and is available online. Last month’s Part 1 of 22-year-old Massey Harbison’s agonizing, six-day, 70-mile journey through the Pine and...
Leechburg Area School Board results: Lovelace, Stewart, Brady and Reinke win both party noms
It appears that two incumbents will be joined by two former school directors on Leechburg Area School Board in December. According to Armstrong County Office of Elections and Westmoreland County Office of Elections unofficial election results, Darius Lovelace, 73, Candi Stewart, 68, Neill Brady, 76, Danielle Reinke, 44, won both...
12 candidates secure nominations to run for Allegheny County Common Pleas bench
Twelve candidates secured nominations Tuesday to run for eight seats on Allegheny County’s Court of Common Pleas in November’s general election. In Tuesday’s primary, 22 candidates sought nominations to run in November, with six people cross-listed on both the Republican and Democratic tickets and the remaining 16 running solely as...
Pittsburgh voters approve series of ballot referendums
Pittsburgh voters on Tuesday supported a series of ballot referendums that will determine whether the city can discriminate in its business dealings, prohibit the use of the Home Rule Charter amendment process to add rules that conflict with federal or state laws, and bar the city from selling or leasing...
Pecarchik wins over GOP incumbent in Westmoreland register of wills primary
Westmoreland County Republicans Tuesday nominated former acting Register of Wills Katie Pecarchik to serve an abbreviated two-year term to head the office, apparently ending the short tenure of her replacement. Pecarchik, 57, of Hempfield defeated incumbent Jon Wian, who was endorsed by the GOP committee, and Kimberly Horrell, a former...
Ackerman upsets Carson to win GOP primary for Westmoreland coroner
Former Westmoreland County Deputy Coroner John Ackerman was poised to upset first-term incumbent Coroner Tim Carson in Tuesday’s Republican primary. With 294 of 306 precincts reporting, Ackerman had 53% and a nearly 1,700 vote edge over Carson, who received more than 46%. All results are unofficial until certified by the...
Toney, DiCarolis win New Kensington Democratic council primary
Unofficial results from a three-person race for two Democratic Party nominations on New Kensington Council showed Phillip Toney and Nicholas DiCarolis coming out on top. With 100% of precincts reporting results and most write-in votes tallied, Toney had collected 36.8% of the votes counted, DiCarolis had 33.6% and challenger Randi...
Stoltz, Logan win Lower Burrell Council primary
David Stoltz and Carley Logan appeared to be the top two vote-getters in a three-person race for the Republican nomination for seats on Lower Burrell Council. With 100% of precincts reporting results and most write-in votes tallied, Stoltz had collected 38.2% of the GOP votes counted, Logan had 36% and...
Rossi leads GOP field, Kozar tops Democratic ballot in Greater Latrobe School Board race
Yelayna Rossi led the balloting for four Greater Latrobe School Board seats, with all of the 20 precincts reporting in Tuesday’s Republican primary. Rossi, who is the daughter of local state Rep. Leslie Rossi and is a 2020 Greater Latrobe graduate, received just over 18% of the votes from among...
Norwin slate leads in nominations for 4 school board seats
A slate of four Norwin School Board candidates promising to end the panel’s political battles was leading in the race to win the nominations of both political parties for four seats on the board, according to the results from Tuesday’s primary. With all 32 Westmoreland County precincts reporting, Rob Bunovich...
New Florence cheers as voters OK alcohol sales
New Florence residents voted Tuesday to approve alcohol sales in the borough. According to unofficial results, 64% of residents voted in favor of a referendum to reverse laws from the 1930s that banned beer and liquor sales in the small borough of 640. New Florence council President Jason Beatty, one...
Hempfield incumbent leads GOP field for 2 supervisor nominations
One Republican incumbent and one new candidate were the leaders among five GOP candidates seeking nominations for two seats on Hempfield’s board of supervisors, according to results from Tuesday’s primary. With all precincts reporting, incumbent Doug Weimer, 55, a Norwin teacher seeking his fifth term on the board, led all...
Madonna-Emmerling, Adams earn Democratic nominations for Allegheny County Council
A pair of Democrats looking to replace incumbents on Allegheny County Council won convincingly Tuesday night in the only two contested primary races for council. In District 1, Moon’s Kathleen Madonna-Emmerling collected 76.1% of the votes counted as of 11 p.m. compared to 23.5% for Carl Villella of Moon, according...
North Huntingdon bike rodeo postponed
A Bike Safety Rodeo set for May 21 at Oak Hollow Park in North Huntingdon will be rescheduled to May 29 because of rain that is expected to hit the region. From 5 to 7 p.m., volunteers will help children learn essential biking skills on a specially designed course. Participants...
O’Connor knocks off incumbent Gainey in Pittsburgh’s Democratic mayoral primary; Moreno gets GOP nod
Corey O’Connor knocked off incumbent Mayor Ed Gainey in Pittsburgh’s Democratic mayoral primary Tuesday night, while former police officer Tony Moreno secured the GOP nomination. O’Connor, 40, emerged to deliver his victory speech at Nova Place on the city’s North Side around 10:30 p.m., with he and his wife triumphantly...
2025 Western Pennsylvania primary election results roundup
The polls closed at 8 p.m. for primary election day in Western Pennsylvania. The biggest race in the area was for Pittsburgh mayor with the Democrat and Republican primaries being competitive. The state Department of Elections has updated numbers: * Pittsburgh city races results are posted here. * Allegheny County...
Election Day sees sparse turnout across Western Pa.
Donna Cline has been voting at Gilpin Township Fire Department polling place at 99 Fire Hall Road for nearly 30 years. “This is the community I live in, and I wanted to make sure that we preserve our community for our next generation,” said Cline, 63, of Gilpin. Fewer than...
Penn Hills School District’s Innovation Institute to implement community ideas
Penn Hills School District officials have named the 2025-26 cohort for the newest program offered by the district. The district’s Innovation Institute announced the launch of its fellowship cohort and ambassador program May 13. The initiative aims to elevate learning experiences by evaluating and implementing ideas for improvement submitted from...
South Side sushi bar evacuated, man hospitalized, after chemical scareVideo
An automated sushi bar in the South Side Works appears to be open after two cleaning chemicals were mixed, potentially exposing more than a dozen people to chlorine gas, Pittsburgh police said. The man who mixed the chemicals was treated at a hospital. No one else was injured, police said....
Etna authorities call for vigilance, ask for cooperation as thieves target unlocked vehicles
Despite the arrest of an Etna man on May 19, borough officials are urging residents to secure their vehicles and valuables as thefts from unlocked vehicles continue in Etna and its surrounding communities. Thefts were happening as recently as the night of May 19 in other areas, Etna Mayor Robert...
Groups ask Innamorato to explain chief public defender’s firing
Two advocacy groups are seeking a meeting with Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato about the “apparent lack of due process” for Lena Bryan-Henderson, the former chief public defender who was fired last week following a monthlong human resources investigation. Bryan-Henderson, the first Black woman to hold the post, “was not...
Liberty Avenue project seeks to perk up key Downtown Pittsburgh corridor
Liberty Avenue needs a new identity. That was the message of the 13th annual Downtown Neighbors Alliance awards dinner Monday at the Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh. To develop that new identity, DNA is launching the Liberty Avenue Project, working with the city and state to improve a key Downtown corridor. “The...
‘Profits over people’: 2 nursing homes guilty of fraud ordered to pay $15M
Two Pittsburgh-area nursing home companies must pay more than $15 million in restitution for health care fraud, a federal judge ordered on Tuesday. In December 2023, a jury found the companies — Comprehensive Healthcare Management Services LLC and Mt. Lebanon Operations LLC — guilty in U.S. District Court of making...
