Pittsburgh category, Page 399
Pittsburgh cuts without pandemic relief would be ‘disastrous,’ council members told
The personnel cuts that will be needed July 1 if further federal pandemic relief funds aren’t approved “may prove to be untenable,” Pittsburgh Council Budget Director Bill Urbanic told council members Thursday. The city needs an infusion of at least $26 million by then to avoid making the cuts, which...
Workshops will help women interested in serving on Pittsburgh’s civic boards
More than 60% of the people who serve on civic boards and commissions in Pittsburgh are female. “That is exceptional. We absolutely commend Mayor (Bill) Peduto for that progress,” United Women’s Empowerment President and CEO Wendy Doyle said. But it isn’t good enough, Peduto said. The mayor’s office announced Tuesday...
Streets closed in Oakland to repair water main break
Several streets in the Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood are shut down this morning because of a water main break. The break was reported about 4 a.m. along South Bouquet Street, according to the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority. The road is shut down between Sennott and Joncaire streets so crews can...
Police: Beltzhoover man sprays police dog with stain remover before South Side arrest
A Beltzhoover man ran from the site of a shooting on Pittsburgh’s South Side, forced his way into a family’s basement and sprayed a police dog with fabric stain remover before he was arrested Tuesday night, officials said. Deonte Donald Kidd, 26 was charged with criminal trespass, resisting arrest and...
Sunnyside public school closes after 2nd staffer tests positive for covid
Pittsburgh Public School’s Sunnyside campus in the city’s Stanton Heights neighborhood will close for the next two weeks after a second staffer tested positive for covid-19, officials said Wednesday. The employee at the Stanton Avenue school — which enrolls pre-schoolers through eighth-graders — was last at the Sunnyside building on...
Convicted felon obsessed with Nazis sentenced to 2 1/2 years in federal prison
A convicted felon who authorities say has an obsession with Nazis and mass shootings was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in federal prison for having guns when he wasn’t allowed to, federal officials said. Dennis Alan Riggs, 51, of Pittsburgh’s Troy Hill neighborhood, previously pleaded guilty to one count of...
Report outlines struggles of Pittsburgh Public Schools’ tech distribution during pandemic
A report shared Wednesday by City Controller Michael Lamb lends more detail into how devices and internet are being provided in Pittsburgh Public Schools amid online learning. The controller’s audit report reflects the results of an investigation requested by the school board following an August meeting. According to the report,...
Tom Hanks, Billy Porter, Joanne Rogers join honorary Tree of Life cabinet
Award-winning actors Tom Hanks and Billy Porter, along with Joanne Rogers, the wife of legendary children’s TV host Fred Rogers, will serve as honorary cabinet members for the Tree of Life Congregation in its efforts to establish a new home. Hanks, Porter and Rogers are joining elected officials and business...
PWSA pleads guilty to violating Clean Water Act, pumping sludge into Allegheny RiverVideo
For seven years, employees and supervisors at the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority dumped sludge into the Allegheny River from the Aspinwall treatment facility, violating the Clean Water Act and sending plumes of rust-colored chemicals into the river, U.S. Attorney Scott Brady said Wednesday. The authority pleaded guilty to eight...
Kennywood introduces chaperone policy for guests under 18
Kennywood Park announced a chaperone policy beginning with the opening of the 2021 season. Anyone under 18 years of age who enters after 4 p.m. must be accompanied by someone 21 or older, who is also a paying customer. In the past few years there have been incidents — from...
Pittsburgh’s Mattress Factory sues insurer over pandemic closure claim
The Mattress Factory museum in Pittsburgh filed a federal lawsuit against its insurer last week, alleging that the company refused to cover the museum’s “catastrophic losses” caused by the covid-19 pandemic. To date, the complaint said, the contemporary art museum on the North Side has lost more than $600,000. “The...
Pitt chosen to lead NIH trials in covid-19 care for patients with blood clots
One of the many ways in which covid-19 wreaks havoc on the human body is by helping to cause abnormal blood clotting. A new study supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) suggests that SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes covid-19, seems to release mysterious antibodies that mistakenly attack the...
Carnegie Science Center unveils latest model for its miniature railroadVideo
Dr. Earl Douglas Childs recalled visiting the Carnegie Science Center’s Miniature Railroad & Village as a young boy, when it was located at the Buhl Planetarium. The trains mesmerized him. On Tuesday, the grown man was drawn to something else. The miniature model of his childhood home was unveiled at...
Police: 1 killed, 1 injured after being shot in Pittsburgh’s Hill District
One person was shot and killed and a second person was injured Tuesday morning in the city’s Hill District. Police and medics responded to 911 calls about a shooting and a ShotSpotter alert in the 2500 block of Bedford Avenue at about 11 a.m., Pittsburgh Public Safety spokesman Maurice Matthews...
Community partners to broadcast free Wi-Fi for schoolchildren from top of Cathedral of Learning
Students in New Kensington, Coraopolis and Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood will soon have access to free, at-home internet. Four community partners — Meta Mesh Wireless Communities, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh and the Keystone Initiative for Network-based Research (KINBER) — have formed Every1online, a program to provide high-speed internet...
About 100 Pittsburgh police officers in quarantine over covid-19 concerns
At least 100 Pittsburgh police officers are in quarantine because of possible covid-19 exposures, and one Public Safety employee has been hospitalized, officials said Tuesday. Nine officers, nine firefighters and three EMS employees are currently positive for the virus, spokesman Chris Togneri said in a statement. He said others –...
‘Marshall Plan for Middle America’ calls for billions to be spent to help Western Pa. go greenVideo
More than a year ago, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto called for a massive investment in middle America the likes of which hasn’t been seen in recent memory. He testified before the U.S. Senate Democrats’ Special Committee on the Climate Crisis and called for what he called a “Marshall Plan for...
Steelers stars distribute holiday meals to area families
Thanksgiving is over a week away but Steelers defensive tackle Cam Heyward and center Maurkice Pouncey are distributing holiday meals to area families in need this week. On Tuesday and Wednesday, a total of 400 families will receive holiday meals through a partnership between the Steelers and the Greater Pittsburgh...
Mike Gable, Pittsburgh’s director of public works, set to retire
Pittsburgh Public Works Director Mike Gable is retiring. “There comes a time when it’s time to retire and this is it,” Gable, 65, of Morningside, said. The retirement is effective Jan. 8, 2021. Aside from a short stint as an Allegheny County employee about 10 years ago, Gable has worked...
2 Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh schools temporarily closing
Two Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh schools are temporarily closing as coronavirus cases continue to spike across the state. Northside Catholic Assumption Academy, located in Brighton Heights, will close for one day after a person associated with the school tested positive for covid-19, officials said. According to Rosanne Kwiatkowski, Northside Catholic...
Pittsburgh man charged with illegally selling endangered, invasive fish
A Pittsburgh man faces federal criminal charges of selling endangered Asian fish, as well as invasive snakehead fish. Anthony Nguyen, 48, who investigators say also is known as JoJo Nguyen and Jackie Lee, faces charges of interstate trafficking in illegally possessed or transported fish and creating a false record filed...
Penn State students leave campus on Friday; some decline free coronavirus tests
Penn State University will close all of its schools to in-person instruction after Friday, and students at its Upper Burrell campus are rolling with those changes. Penn State has been offering in-person and virtual classes since the beginning of the fall semester. However, the rising number of coronavirus cases caused...
Pittsburgh Opera holding ‘online Holiday Bazaar’ in lieu of in-person gala
The Pittsburgh Opera was hoping to have one of its festive in-person fundraising galas this fall, but coronavirus made it impossible. However, the Opera still needed to come up with a way to raise money to support its acclaimed Resident Artists program. So, next month, it will hold what it’s...
Highmark CEO pay climbs to $8.15M, triple what he made in 2016
Highmark Health CEO David Holmberg’s total compensation last year was $8.15 million — more than triple what the nonprofit health system executive made four years ago, newly filed Internal Revenue Service records show. Holmberg’s salary and related compensation increased by about $660,000 in 2019, marking an 8.8% pay hike from...
Downtown Pittsburgh tree-lighting goes virtual
A virtual tree-lighting ceremony will take the place of Pittsburgh’s Light Up Night on Friday, as officials hope to bring cheer to holiday season that will look much different than ever before. “Until we can gather again, we’re all adapting to this new medium,” Mayor Bill Peduto said. The city’s...
