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Republican state Rep. Randy Vulakovich easily defeated Democrat Sharon Brown in a special election for the North Hills state Senate seat once held by Jane Orie. He will serve out the two years remaining on the term.

Vulakovich grabbed 12,065 votes to Brown's 4,704 with 169 write-in votes being cast. Independent Don Bindas was running a write-in campaign.

The housing market in southwestern Pennsylvania was more robust this July than it was one year prior.

A report from the West Penn Multi-List compared July 2011 with July 2012. This year, 21 percent more homes were sold and the average home sale price increased by nearly 12 percent in thirteen counties of southwestern Pennsylvania.

However, WPML President Ron Croushore said the number of houses put on the market for sale increased only slightly over last July.

On the third full day of deliberations in Jordan Miles' civil suit against three Pittsburgh Police officers, the jury was ushered back into the courtroom. Judge Gary L. Lancaster addressed the group, which is having trouble reaching a unanimous decision.

Lancaster ordered the jury to go back into deliberations and said if they couldn't reach a unanimous decision the case would be left open and decided at another time. He added the trial and jury selection process wouldn't change.

Pittsburgh's e-billboards will be regulated on brightness, size, and advertising frequency, despite Lamar Advertising's legal efforts to halt a city ordinance. Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Judge Joseph James has upheld the ordinance, and a local activist group is pleased.

One of two boards that oversee Pittsburgh's budget gathered input Tuesday on the city's pension obligations, and heard the common refrain that the real answer lies in pension reform at the state level.

City budget director Scott Kunka opened the discussion before the Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority (ICA) by noting that even if the city added all $10 million dollars expected from gaming revenues to its annual $60 million pension payment, it would only make a small blip in in the amount of money in the account 30 years from now.

Pittsburgh has been ranked as the 10th best city for "Successful Aging" for seniors ages 65-79, according to the Milken Institute's analysis of 100 cities in the nation.

This is the first year the California-based non-profit ranked cities on a successful aging index based on 78 factors, but it has been rating cities on "Best Performance" for a decade.

Marvin Hamlisch, who composed or arranged the scores for dozens of movies including "The Sting" and the Broadway smash "A Chorus Line," has died in Los Angeles. He was 68.

Hamlisch collapsed and died Monday after a brief illness, his publicist Ken Sunshine said, citing the family. Other details were not released.

Pennsylvania's shale boom has drill rigs popping up all over rural parts of the state. Pipeline projects, truck traffic, and hotel construction have followed. Now, industry plans to build large-scale natural gas processing plants. Some question how those projects might impact air quality.

Start-up companies might have a new place to turn for seed money if a state lawmaker has his way.

State Senator John Blake (D-Lackawanna) has proposed the "Innovate in Pennsylvania Program," which he says would provide a predictable source of funding for early stage venture capital investment.

Blake wants to auction off future tax credits and then use that pool of money to invest in start-ups. The senator says $140 would be made available to start-up businesses through the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority.

The first report of human cases of West Nile Virus (WNV) in 2012 has been reported by the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The announcement comes as the Allegheny County Health Department steps up its mosquito spraying in several city neighborhoods.

A Franklin County woman was hospitalized with meningitis and is currently recovering and a woman from Lancaster County was diagnosed with West Nile Fever and is also recuperating. Both of their illnesses were directly related to WNV.

For nearly two years the Allegheny 365 Committee has been working to create a completely accessible county in regard to services, facilities, and jobs. Its work has culminated in a report issued to County Executive Rich Fitzgerald. The main recommendation is that the county create an office of employment accessibility and inclusion. That office would, among other things, provide a single point of contact for those seeking employment, employers and the county.

A professor at Millersville University in Lancaster is examining the public health effects of Olympic Games on host cities.

Dr. Jeffrey Wimer is traveling to past, present, and future Olympic sites to determine whether the residents of host cities see long-term benefits from the games. He said he hopes to publish a report within six months.

The David L. Lawrence Convention Center is used to attracting a wide variety of visitors, but the facility is now preparing to welcome a special type of guest: Monarch butterflies.

Convention Center general manager Mark Leahy said the newly certified "Monarch waystation" on the roof of the building is equipped with all the plants necessary to feed the butterflies as they make their way south to Mexico or California.

With the Pittsburgh skyline in the background, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl presented a "key to the city" to Tess Lojacono to kick off her business career in the city. Lojacono was the winner of the "Experienced Dreamers" contest, which awarded one baby boomer-generation entrepreneur $100,000 to start their own business in the city.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has reduced premiums for MSI, or Mine Subsidence Insurance.

The MSI premium for a residence has been reduced 15% and for a non-residence 50%, in order to match residential rates. Residential rates are now about 55¢ for every $1,000 of coverage. That's $55 for $100,000 in coverage, which lasts one year and is annually renewable.

Amanda Witman, spokesperson for the DEP, said anyone living in an underground coal or clay mining region should consider obtaining MSI.

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have received initial federal grants to create three-dimensional structures of the liver and arthritic joint system from human cells.

BikeFest, the annual riding event, began on Sunday and pedals through August 19. More than 80 bicycling events take place in that time — everything from trail rides and kids' rides, to advanced races and moonlight meanderings.

Bruce Woods, head of the Major Taylor Cycling Club in Pittsburgh, said he understands if some cyclists are nervous in light of the recent biking deaths in the headlines. He recommended those that are worried about their safety stick to side streets and ride in groups.

Pittsburgh Marathon Race Director Patrice Matamoros's reading interests range from philosophical ruminations on running to a certain popular "hardcore Harlequin romance" franchise you may have heard of…

She recommends:

E.L. James, Fifty Shades of Grey

Three candidates are competing in a special election Tuesday to serve out the last two years of the term of former state Senator Jane Orie of McCandless Township.

A significantly different kind of art festival is coming to Pittsburgh this fall after making appearances in New York, Boston, Detroit and other major cities. The Figment Art Festival from October 6-7 in Allegheny Commons on the North Shore will focus on visitors interacting with the art.

The Figment Art Festival will not have vendors or sell anything, including admission tickets. Everything is free and open to the public.

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has quarantined all hardwood firewood and wood chips after the emerald ash borer beetle was discovered in six additional counties to the 22 already experiencing problems. No firewood will be allowed in or out of Pennsylvania without proper inspection and certification.

The beetles were recently found in Bucks, Franklin, Jefferson, Perry, Snyder, and Venango counties. Other counties in the state that have experienced infestations include Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Indiana, Lawrence, Mercer, Somerset, Washington, and Westmoreland.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett is playing it close to the vest when it comes to what he is willing to do to help the Port Authority of Allegheny County stave off massive service cuts. PAT is set to eliminate 46 of its 102 routes and lay off more than 400 union and non-union employees in an effort to fill a $65 million budget deficit.

Each year, 1,400 children are born in Allegheny County that Children's Home & Lemieux Family Center CEO Pam Schandwald says will need skilled nursing care every day of their entire life. Until a law was passed in Pennsylvania this year, those "medically fragile children" were no longer able to get the care at Prescribed Pediatric Extended Care Centers like the Children's Home after their 9th birthday.

Today, Governor Tom Corbett ceremonially signed HB 1960 at the children's home upping that to the age of 21.

Land and water activities will highlight the 14th Annual Regatta at Lake Arthur this Saturday and Sunday, August 4-5 at Moraine State Park.

Pittsburgh Public Schools already has a plan in place to address the racial achievement gap. A new plan, released Friday, builds upon that. The "Equity: Getting to All" report finds the district is doing many of the things that should lead to improvements in student achievement and to improvements in schools.