Julia Burdelski stories, Page 21
Christopher Columbus statue in Schenley Park now uncovered as legal battle drags on
Pittsburgh officials are allowing a controversial statue of Christopher Columbus to remain mostly uncovered as a lawsuit over the monument’s future stretches into its fifth year. The controversial monument that stands in Schenley Park was wrapped in plastic in October 2020 as it became the center of a legal battle...
$55M project will turn historic Pittsburgh government building into affordable housing
A historic former government office building in Downtown Pittsburgh is on track to be turned into affordable housing as part of a $55 million project. The 200 Ross Street site — formerly known as the John P. Robin Civic Building — will be revitalized to include 68 apartments, community space...
Troy Hill Fire House to become office space after cafe, market fell through
After plans to convert Pittsburgh’s historic Troy Hill Fire House into a taphouse, market and cafe fell through, the building is now set to be converted into commercial office space. The redevelopment will include efforts to preserve and restore historic elements of the building, said Chad Chalmers, co-founder of local...
Developer interested in revitalizing former steel mill site in Lawrenceville
A New York-based developer is entering negotiations with the Urban Redevelopment Authority to buy and revitalize a former steel mill brownfield in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood. Golden East Investors is looking to develop a 14.2-acre property on 62nd Street into two separate high-bay structures. The $20 million project also would include...
Ex-Pittsburgh building inspector gets probation, avoids prison in bribery case
A former Pittsburgh building inspector will not go to prison after pleading guilty in federal court to accepting bribes. U.S. District Court Judge Mark Hornak on Wednesday sentenced Walter Eiseman, 59, to 18 months of probation and 90 days of home confinement. Eiseman also must pay a $1,500 fine and...
Pittsburgh councilman pitches selling Municipal Courts Building to Allegheny County for $9M
A Pittsburgh councilman wants to sell the Municipal Courts Building to Allegheny County for $9 million to save the city the costs of upkeep and utilities at the Downtown facility. Councilman Anthony Coghill, D-Beechview, introduced legislation Tuesday that would instruct the city to scrap its existing lease agreement with the...
Allegheny County launches new respiratory virus dashboard
The Allegheny County Health Department on Monday announced a new respiratory virus dashboard where people can find data on covid-19, influenza and RSV. The new tool replaces the county’s prior covid-19 infections dashboard. The interactive platform includes data on reported infections, emergency department visits, hospitalizations and deaths related to the...
New apartment complex in Uptown to aid homeless
Pittsburgh-based nonprofit Bethlehem Haven on Wednesday broke ground on an Uptown site that will provide affordable housing to the homeless. Dubbed Uptown Flats, the four-story building will include 34 apartments, various services to support residents and administrative offices for Bethlehem Haven, which offers housing and other support to homeless people....
Pittsburgh approves $1M outlay for 2026 NFL Draft
Pittsburgh will pay $1 million to support the 2026 NFL Draft, which the city will host. City Council on Tuesday unanimously voted to spend the money despite initial criticism from some members that Mayor Ed Gainey committed taxpayer dollars without first seeking their approval. The vote also commits the city...
Gainey proposes $657M budget for 2025 with spending cuts, no tax hikes
The City of Pittsburgh’s preliminary 2025 budget released Monday by Mayor Ed Gainey would hold the line on taxes, cut spending and scale back plans to pump up the police force. The proposed operating budget of just under $657 million slices about $29 million, or 4.2%, from this year’s projected...
Urban oasis: Farms sprout in Pittsburgh’s food deserts
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Urban oasis: Farms sprout in Pittsburgh’s food deserts
Ebony Lunsford-Evans would like nothing more than to spend all day tending her crops and chickens. “I spend a lot of my time out here,” the woman known to some as Farmer Girl Eb said on a recent August morning, gesturing at the farm she runs in Pittsburgh’s Sheraden neighborhood....
Feeding the masses: Tarentum urban farm provides more than food to borough residents
Tarentum is far smaller than Pittsburgh, but the appetite for urban farming to help the poor is just as big. In this Alle-Kiski Valley community of just over 4,000 people, a small community garden launched in 2015 is today feeding low-income residents and others who struggle to find food in...
Pittsburgh councilmen vote to spend $1M on NFL Draft despite criticism of Gainey
Two Pittsburgh lawmakers, unhappy that the mayor pledged $1 million in city money to the 2026 NFL Draft without first securing City Council approval, softened their stance Wednesday and joined their colleagues in voting unanimously for the funding. Over the last week, council members Anthony Coghill, D-Beechview, and Bob Charland,...
Appeals court rules Washington County must notify mail-in voters of ballot errors
The Washington County Board of Elections must notify voters of mail-in ballot errors so they can vote provisionally, a Pennsylvania appellate court panel ruled Tuesday. The decision upheld a lower court ruling that a policy barring election workers from notifying voters about mail-in ballot errors was unconstitutional. “We do not...
Pittsburgh city hall press room renamed after the late Tim McNulty, reporter and Peduto spokesman
The press room in Downtown Pittsburgh’s City-County Building will be renamed in honor of Tim McNulty, a former Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter who later served as a spokesperson for former Mayor Bill Peduto and the Pittsburgh Penguins. McNulty, of Pittsburgh’s North Side, died in July after battling cancer. He was 54....
Pittsburgh approves $500K payment to end Fern Hollow Bridge collapse lawsuit
Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday voted to approve a $500,000 payment to the victims of the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse. Mayor Ed Gainey’s administration this month announced intentions to resolve the lawsuit that has been unfolding in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court for more than two years. Eight people were...
Pittsburgh bans employers from testing most medical marijuana card holders
If you smoke pot, have a medical marijuana card and work in Pittsburgh, your boss can no longer test you for cannabis in most cases. City Council on Tuesday unanimously voted to ban employers from testing most workers or prospective employees with state-issued medical marijuana cards. The rule includes several...
UPMC Western Psych nurses warn staffing shortages degrading patient care
Nurses and local officials warned Monday of the dangers of low staffing, high turnover and closed beds at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital in Pittsburgh amid what they described as a dire mental health crisis afflicting the nation. Several dozen Western Psych workers represented by the SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania union raised...
Pittsburgh councilmen accuse Gainey of dodging questions on $1M NFL Draft pledge
Two Pittsburgh councilmen are demanding answers from Mayor Ed Gainey’s office about his pledge to spend $1 million of city money on supporting the NFL Draft when the high-profile event comes to the city in 2026. “Nobody is filling us in on the situation,” Councilman Anthony Coghill, D-Beechview, told TribLive...
50 archers to start limited deer hunt Saturday in 5 Pittsburgh parks
A limited deer hunting season will begin this weekend in several Pittsburgh parks. It’s open only to 50 pre-selected archers who had to undergo background checks and archery accuracy tests. Hunting will begin Saturday in the city’s Frick, Riverview, Schenley, Emerald View and Highland parks. The controlled deer cull is...
Bill to ban testing Pittsburgh workers with medical marijuana cards now excludes labor unions
A proposal to bar Pittsburgh employers from conducting cannabis testing on workers or prospective employees who hold medical marijuana cards will exclude labor unions. The amendment was pushed through without the support of the bill’s sponsor, City Councilwoman Barb Warwick, D-Greenfield. Warwick in July proposed a measure that would ban...
Pittsburgh politicians rip mayor’s pledge to spend $1M on 2026 NFL Draft
Some Pittsburgh City Council members are criticizing Mayor Ed Gainey for pledging to spend $1 million in taxpayer money to support the 2026 NFL Draft in a city already on precarious financial footing. “That is just irresponsible,” said Councilman Anthony Coghill, D-Beechview. “It seems like a lot of money.” They...
Pittsburgh councilman urges closure of South Side bar after fight injures sergeant
A Pittsburgh city councilman called for closure of a South Side bar after a fight over the weekend left a police sergeant with a gruesome leg injury. Oddballs on the 1500 block of East Carson Street became the scene of a melee early Saturday morning, leaving Pittsburgh Sgt. Andrew Robinson,...
Pittsburgh council rejects proposal for animal shelter study
Pittsburgh City Council rejected a proposal on Tuesday for a feasibility study on creating a city-run animal shelter In an unusually divisive move, council members split five to four on a final vote on legislation that would’ve paid nearly $50,000 to Arlington, Texas-based Shelter Planners of America to determine whether...
