Week in review: Outdoor dining, Juneteenth, climbing covid cases

Here are some of the top stories from the week of June 21:

• Pittsburgh restaurants can expand outdoor seating into some streets.

Touting small businesses as the lifeblood of the city, the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership said it will allow restaurants and bars to expand outdoor dining seating into some streets. Changes are expected to begin in July and impact more than 70 businesses, some near Sixth Street, Strawberry Way, Penn Avenue and Market Square.

The spaces will be marked with signs and barricades, where necessary.

• Carnegie Museums reopening with timed tickets.

When Carnegie Museums open Monday, there will be a timed ticketing system to limit crowds.

Guests will have to wear masks and follow directional signs to control social distancing.

• Pittsburgh council aims to make Juneteenth a city holiday.

Juneteenth could become an annual holiday thanks to Pittsburgh City Council’s request to Mayor Bill Peduto.

Council wants to declare June 19 — a commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States — as an annual holiday beginning next year.

• Pirates will use PNC Park for spring training.

Play ball. The Pittsburgh Pirates will report to PNC Park on July 1 for spring training, according to a new contract between the Players Association and Major League Baseball.

A 60-game schedule will begin around July 23 and be played without spectators.

Teams will play 10 games against each of its four division rivals and four games against each of the clubs in the corresponding division in the other league.

• Covid-19 cases climbing.

Allegheny County reported nearly 150 new covid-19 cases early this week, and Westmoreland saw numbers increasing similarly.

Health officials in Allegheny County said 45 new cases reported on two days this week were the highest daily totals reported in nearly two months.

Westmoreland saw increases in the double-digits on several days as well.