Pittsburgh's Bureau of Police is reporting a high number of arrests and citations made by its "South Side Saturation Detail," which has patrolled the busy nightlife corridor of East Carson Street each Friday and Saturday night since mid-January.
Now that construction has begun on a low-rise apartment building for seniors in Homewood, the Pittsburgh City Councilman who represents the neighborhood has rezoned the community's business district to accommodate three or four additional apartment buildings.
The U.S. House Committee on Veterans Affairs held a hearing today on the Legionnaire’s outbreak at the VA’s Pittsburgh hospital in Oakland between June 2011 and last November.
Steve Schira, Chairman and CEO of Liquitech, Inc, which manufactures copper ionization systems, testified his employees saw Veterans Affairs staff fabricating copper ionization data before the recent outbreak.
Liquitech staff provided advice to the hospital regarding its water treatment.
Response to Governor Tom Corbett’s 2012-2013 budget proposal is coming in from all corners of Pennsylvania today. The budget contains good news from some special interest groups and not-so-good news for others. And of course there are the usual partisan responses.
Carnegie Mellon University has selected the Director of the National Science Foundation to be its next president. Dr. Subra Suresh will take over the post July 1, 2013 after Dr. Jared L. Cohon ends his 16-year tenure.
"I am truly honored to have the opportunity to lead Carnegie Mellon University as its ninth president," said Suresh in a statement released by the university. “I look forward to working with the CMU community to further our global impact."
An ambitious budget proposal released Tuesday by Gov. Tom Corbett would boost Pennsylvania's core state government spending by nearly 3 percent while increasing support for public schools, cutting business taxes and counting on the Legislature to adopt long-term changes to public pensions.
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett laid out a budget Tuesday that would boost core state government spending by nearly three percent. It would most notably increase support for public schools, cut business taxes and call for long-term changes to public pensions.
The full budget presentation as submitted can be read below.
Some state lawmakers are prodding the governor to announce a final decision on whether he’ll agree to expand Medicaid, the government-run health insurance program for the poor.
Gov. Corbett’s office wouldn’t comment on whether the budget address will include a final decision on whether to expand Medicaid, but Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi said Monday he doesn’t think such an announcement is likely.
“We’re still trying to get more information from the federal government over the full costs and reimbursement and terms of expansion,” he said.
Former federal prosecutor Geoff Moulton has been tapped by Attorney General Kathleen Kane to lead an investigation into the handling of the Jerry Sandusky child abuse case. Moulton signed on with Kane’s office last week, said a spokeswoman, and his first day on the job was Monday.
In addition to Moulton’s 8 years’ cumulative experience in a U.S. attorney’s office, he prepared the U.S. Treasury report reviewing the failed government raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.
The Allegheny County Jail Collaborative has instituted programs and systems to reduce the number of former inmates who commit new crimes and return to jail. Yesterday, we looked at how addiction and criminal thinking contribute to recidivism. Today we look at the role the family can play in motivating an inmate to turn around his or her life.
Pittsburgh residents who live a significant distance from grocery stores or farmers' markets are being encouraged to apply to grow fruits and vegetables on a nearby city-owned lot in their neighborhood. Volunteers will work side-by-side with Pittsburgh’s Green Team on vacant properties to create, design and plant produce.
Community garden stewards will be responsible for maintenance, weeding, harvesting and distribution throughout the season.
One in ten Pennsylvanians is African American, yet blacks account for about 50% of state residents afflicted with AIDS.
As part of an effort to raise awareness of AIDS and HIV in the black community, State Representative Jake Wheatley (D-Allegheny County) has introduced a resolution proclaiming February 7th as Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.
The day is part of a national movement to get members of the black population tested and educated about the disease’s prevention.
In its annual report to parents, the Pittsburgh Public School District said that on average, reading and math scores in all types of schools fell in 2012 with the worst scores going to the district’s four high schools where 50.5 percent of all students scored “proficient” in reading and just 36.1 percent hit the “proficient” mark in math.
The report has been posted on the district’s website and will be mailed out to all parents in March.
The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership’s volunteer program increased dramatically in 2012. The group links the growth to a grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation that facilitated staffing and the purchase of supplies.
President and CEO Jeremy Waldrup said the number of volunteers increased by 860%, and the number of hours volunteered went up 332%.
What does it take to make successful Pennsylvania students? Money, for one thing, said the keynote speaker at a forum held at Robert Morris University Monday. Ron Cowell, president of the Educational Policy and Leadership Center, said the Corbett administration's $900 million slash to educational funding for the 2011-12 school year influenced the chances of a student succeeding.
Officials at the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and Amtrak are in talks about the future of the Pennsylvanian – that’s the route from Pittsburgh to New York, which also makes stops in Harrisburg and Philadelphia. The train currently runs once a day each way. Amtrak is paying the $5.7 million to operate the route, but the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 forces Amtrak to transfer the cost of certain routes to the state. As a result, PennDOT will have to foot the bill starting in October 2013.
Pittsburgh's three rivers remain heavily tainted with metals, harmful chemical compounds, pathogens, and silt, according to a report released last week by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
Some of the most common sources of pollution are abandoned mines, as well as the "urban runoff" that results from a lack of vegetation along the riverbanks. Both of these are known to suppress aquatic life. The Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers are all experiencing problems from mine drainage and runoff.
Pennsylvania Governor Corbett said Friday he won’t propose a funding cut for state-supported and owned colleges and universities next fiscal year.
The governor’s announcement comes with strings attached: the schools will receive level funding, but they’ve promised to keep tuition hikes as low as possible. Last year, when lawmakers worked a similar deal with colleges and universities, the rule was to keep hikes within the rate of inflation – about three percent.
Despite earning a $431,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to study semiconductors, Duquesne University associate chemistry professor Dr. Jennifer Aitken has no delusion that her research team will find the next important synthetic material to hit the markets.
"The odds are that we won't find the next best material," said Aitken. "More people fail than will succeed."
For the first time, PennDOT is conducting an inventory of all the bridges in Pennsylvania. Previously, the agency was only required to keep a log of any state or locally owned bridge more than 20 feet in length.
PennDOT spokesperson, Erin Waters-Trasatt, said only numbers and not conditions would be reported. “This initiative is taking a bridge and local road inventory. It is not assessing or inspecting these roads and bridges,” Waters-Trasatt said.
Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Forest Hills) likes page-turning crime dramas and thrillers with a political bent. He has a unique vantage point on novels set in Washington, which — as it turns out — are more true to life than you might think.
Visitors will soon be able to mosey about in one of the greenest buildings in the world, the Center for Sustainable Landscapes (CSL) at Phipps Conservatory.
Starting February 12, general admission will include access to the research and education facility situated behind Phipps' glasshouse gardens. Any Phipps visitor will be able to simply walk about and read up on the building's environmentally-friendly features.
With support and rehabilitation in every aspect of their lives, some people have been able to build new lives and avoid going through a revolving door at the jail. It's not easy, and it takes a lot of resources: GED and job training; interview skills; drug and alcohol addiction treatment; cognitive behavioral therapy to identify and modify "criminal thinking" and "risk thoughts"; parenting classes and interaction with family specialists; and services for a year after release.
For more than 40 years, Leon Panetta has split his life on two coasts: his home in California and his work in Washington, D.C. It's a career that included 16 years in Congress, stints as White House chief of staff for President Clinton, and as the head of the CIA and the Pentagon under President Obama.
As Panetta prepares to leave his job as defense secretary, he sat down with Rachel Martin, host of Weekend Edition Sunday, to talk about his years in Washington and serving in the Obama administration.
The plight of Pennsylvania's public schools will dominate many of the Legislature's debates this spring as the politics of education grows increasingly volatile.
It'll start with Gov. Tom Corbett releasing his budget proposal Tuesday.
Corbett has left open the possibility that he'll propose more aid for public schools. School districts continue to struggle a year after Republicans pushed through deep reductions in state support.
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