News

Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Services is suspending evictions this holiday season. No one will be kicked out of foreclosed homes for which PNC is the investor.

“We hope this suspension provides families who are experiencing financial hardship some stability over the holiday season,” said PNC Mortgage CEO Saiyid Naqvi. 

The company is not releasing details on how many families this could impact but PNC spokesperson Fred Solomon said it could be a substantial number given that PNC holds mortgages “from coast to coast.”

Woodland Hills math teacher Justin Aion uses young adult novels in the classroom and enjoys genre fiction in his downtime. Lately he's been reading:

David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas

State Senator Wayne Fontana (D-Allegheny) assures he is not against the Voter ID law, but does have some ideas for improvement. In a letter to Governor Tom Corbett, he suggests state offices serve as intermediaries to make the process of obtaining a valid voter ID easier.

The state’s Auditor General-elect has joined Democratic colleagues in protesting the governor’s effort to put a private company in charge of the Pennsylvania Lottery. Eugene DePasquale said Thursday he won’t make a habit of speaking out about issues before he’s sworn in next month as the state’s top fiscal watchdog, but he said he felt compelled to raise his concerns since the deadline is fast approaching for the state to close a deal to privatize the Lottery.

“We should be able to take the time to make sure it’s a good deal for everyone, not just one company,” said DePasquale.

The head of the Salvation Army’s worship and service center in Latrobe is planning a bell ringing endurance test. Lt. Ray Knous will pick up the familiar red kettle and bell Tuesday morning and he wont stop his fund raising effort for the next 30 hours.

Knous will start ringing at 9:00 AM at the Latrobe Wal-Mart on Route 30. He hopes to not only raise some spare change but also to promote the mission of The Salvation Army and elevate awareness for The Red Kettle Campaign. 

So much for Ben Roethlisberger's triumphant return. Ditto the notion the Pittsburgh Steelers had finally turned the corner.

Rhythm disrupted by a relentless San Diego pass rush, Roethlisberger struggled early and the Steelers never recovered in a listless — not to mention perplexing — 34-24 loss on Sunday.

"We got whupped," Pittsburgh linebacker Larry Foote said.

All 67 Pennsylvania counties have certified their vote totals from the Nov. 6 election.

The totals reported Friday by state elections officials show 5,742,040 Pennsylvanians cast ballots for president.

Democrat Barack Obama received 2,990,274 votes, or 52 percent, while Republican Mitt Romney claimed 2,680,434, or 47 percent. The Libertarian and Green party candidates each received less than 1 percent of the vote.

The musket toted by West Virginia University's Mountaineer isn't just a prop — it's a bona fide weapon, and mascot Jonathan Kimble demonstrated that when he brought down a black bear with it in the woods.

Now WVU has ordered Kimble to stop using his university-issued weapon on hunting trips after a video of this week's kill was posted online. He says hunting with the gun is a Mountaineer mascot tradition.

Chemotherapy after surgery for a recurrence of breast cancer leads to higher survival rates, and higher rates of disease-free survival. That’s according to a new study by researchers from Allegheny General Hospital and the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project.

An initial diagnosis of breast cancer can lead to either a lumpectomy plus radiation, or a mastectomy. The typical treatment for a recurrence of breast cancer affecting the same area was surgery, without chemotherapy.

PennDOT is to finish work by the end of next week on the Fancourt Bridge that carries ramps from Fort Duquesne Boulevard to I-376 over the 10th Street Bypass in downtown Pittsburgh.  

But there will be additional restrictions next week before the span reopens.  The ramp connecting  the 10th Street Bypass to westbound I-376 (outbound Fort Pitt Bridge/Parkway West) will be closed December 10-15 to replace an approach slab on the Fancourt Bridge and reconstruct the bypass roadway along the retaining walls.

For one weekend every December, the Commonwealth experiences a great migration of its political insiders to New York City for a slew of parties and fundraisers.  But the annual gathering known as the Pennsylvania Society isn’t the clandestine meeting of elites some make it out to be.  

Democratic strategist Larry Ceisler, who hosts one of the weekend’s many soirees, argues for the party as a great political equalizer. 

He said the 114th annual gathering is actually an exercise in good government, because of the accessibility of elected officials. 

Domestic violence happens everywhere – college campuses, big cities and suburban townships. But rural victims of partner abuse face a unique set of barriers. Rural areas often lack the public transportation, law enforcement, and shelter and housing resources to help them leave abusive relationships behind.

The president of the group Preservation Pittsburgh says he's learned a valuable lesson from the protracted battle over the demolition of the Civic Arena -- a lesson he'll put into practice for upcoming conflicts over historic building preservation.

With just days to go before leaving office, Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner is taking one last swipe at the way school districts pay cyber charter schools to educate their students.

Using an audit of the state’s largest cyber charter school, PA Cyber, Wagner chastised the PA Secretary of Education and the state legislature for not limiting the amount of money that must be sent to the charter school.

An Essential Pittsburgh public forum on maintaining our architectural heritage while cultivating new and sustainable development, recorded at the Community Broadcast Center on the South Side Wednesday November 28, 2012. Hear the audio and view the slide shows presented at the forum to the right and below.

Historic Preservation and Renovation in Pittsburgh

Gov. Corbett campaigned for office on a promise. But now he says it’s come back to bite him – and his legislative agenda. He’s sworn off the kind of grants that used to grease squeaky wheels in the state House and Senate.

They’re known as WAMs, short for “walking around money,” and they’ve been the subject of criticism that lawmakers request them from the governor to buy political support in their districts.

In a recent interview with reporters last week, Corbett acknowledged how effective they can be...

More Pennsylvanians complained about their utility service in 2011 than complained in 2010. However, the majority of them had a pleasant experience working with the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to resolve their problems.

Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala toured the African painted dog exhibit at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium Thursday.  He and the zoo have decided to remove the observation deck at the exhibit.

The platform in question is the one from which 2-year-old Maddox Derkosh fell last month. The boy, who had vision issues, leaned forward and fell into the exhibit after his mother lifted him onto a wooden rail overlooking the dogs' enclosure. Zappala announced last week the boy’s mother won't be prosecuted, calling the incident a "tragic accident."

Eating at the opera might seem to be incongruous, but for years, Pittsburgh Opera’s Resident Artists have entertained audiences during their December Brown Bag concert.

Debra Bell, Marketing Director for the Opera, said the concerts have been going on for a long time. 

The U.S. Post Office is gearing up for its busiest day of the year as Pittsburghers get ready to mail Christmas cards, gifts, pictures, and even fruit cakes.

USPS spokesman Tad Kelley said they’ve seen a 13% increase in shipping this year along with their usual holiday season uptick.  He links that increase to the Priority Mail Flat Rate option where customers can send whatever they can fit into a Post Office provided box.  The package finds its destination in 2-3 days.

But the real rush is coming Monday.

<strong> UPDATED 4:15pm 12/06/12 <strong/>

The “D” concourse at Pittsburgh International Airport was closed for a few hours this morning as the Allegheny County bomb squad and county fire marshal investigated a suspicious package.

Airport spokesperson Joann Jenny said the Airport Authority received an emergency call at 7:30 Thursday morning that there was smoke around gate D80. 

It's a tricky bit of business to set a millage rate in any circumstance, according to one Allegheny County Council Member, but the county's court-ordered property reassessment has injected even more guesswork into the process for 2013.

On Tuesday, County Council approved a $799 million operating budget with a millage rate of 4.73. Council reduced the millage rate nearly 17 percent from the current level of 5.69 based on a web of estimates and projections tied to the reassessment. 

The state is on-track to complete its current fiscal year with a surplus. But it’s the coming budget year Governor Corbett’s budget secretary is worried about.

Set aside, for a moment, the fact that the commonwealth has no clue what will happen with the so-called fiscal cliff. Budget Secretary Charles Zogby said at his mid-year budget briefing that he’s still expecting to get less federal funding.

At a public hearing before Allegheny County Council on Wednesday night, scores of residents thronged the County Courthouse to testify that they believe UPMC should no longer be considered exempt from property taxes.

UPMC was there to contest that notion, reminding Council that it performs millions of dollars worth of charity work each year and employs 36,000 residents of Allegheny County alone.

The large regional health system would have to pay out tens of millions of dollars to 21 local taxing bodies if the property tax exemption were to be lifted.

Just about halfway through his first term in office, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett could be getting a challenge for reelection--from within his own party.