News

To celebrate Pittsburgh's rich history of rich foods, visitors to the first Hometown-Homegrown event will be treated to a taste of the city's culinary passion. Presented by the Heinz History Center and GoodTaste! Pittsburgh, the food expo will serve up samples from the best of the best in western Pennsylvania.

Prior to beginning a second day of deliberations the jury in the child sexual abuse trial of Jerry Sandusky reheard testimony of two witnesses.

It was like a read-through of a play, with one of the prosecutors reading for witness Mike McQueary, and then the lead defense attorney reading for another witness, Doctor Jonathan Dranov, who contradicted some of McQueary's testimony.

The testimony concerned allegations Sandusky assaulted a boy, dubbed "Victim Two" in the Penn State locker room showers.

Bill Day walks onto a platform at the Fayette Energy Facility. It's a vast warehouse-type building that's about five or six stories tall. There's actually a building in the building. Inside sits a turbine engine, the heart of the power plant.

"Yeah, it is similar to a jet engine design. It's just much, much larger," says Day.

Day is the plant operations manager. He's been here since Duke Energy opened the facility near Masontown, Pennsylvania in 2003. He walks across the plant and points to the so called "power block."

What used to be an abandoned BP gas station in Pittsburgh's Larimer neighborhood at the corner of Larimer Avenue and East Liberty Boulevard is now the Environment and Energy Community Outreach (EECO) Center.

Republican state lawmakers are working to ease the transition of seventh and eighth graders from financially-distressed Duquesne City School District to neighboring East Allegheny and West Mifflin Area School Districts this fall, but they're doing so through a bill that strips almost all say from the local district and places power in the hands of the state.

If no Congressional action is taken, the interest rate on subsidized Stafford Student Loans will double from 3.4% to 6.8% on July 1. A group including Pennsylvania students, parents, and the Pennsylvania Public Interest Research Group (PennPIRG), a non-profit, non-partisan, public interest advocacy organization, are calling on Pennsylvania Senators Bob Casey and Pat Toomey to take action to keep interest rates where they are now.

Members of the Dutch Cycling Embassy are in Pittsburgh for a couple of days to examine the Forbes and Fifth corridors in Oakland, and to offer insight into how the roadways could be made more bicycle-friendly.

"It's a tough challenge, you have to be honest, because the car culture here is much more dominant than it is in Europe, but at the same time there are very promising developments. The trends for cycling in the U.S. are going up," said Tom Godefrooij, senior policy advisor for the Dutch Cycling Embassy.

The jury now has the case.

Closing arguments were presented today in the child sexual abuse trial of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

Prosecutors say the jurors can't forget about the 10 boys the former Penn State assistant football coach is accused of abusing. Senior Deputy Attorney General Joe McGettigan told the jury in his closing argument Thursday not to be distracted by defense conspiracy theories as they decide whether Sandusky sexually abused boys he met through a charity he founded.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 16.3% of Americans and 12.2% of Pennsylvanians were without health insurance in 2010. The report, "Dying For Coverage," just released by Families USA, indicates 745 Pennsylvania residents died prematurely in the same year because they did not have proper health care coverage, with approximately 14 dying per week.

Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA, said people may feel discouraged to seek help when looking at their financial situations.

The chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh said the arrest of an Ohio man marks "significant progress" as federal authorities continue to investigate a series of bomb internet threats that disrupted campus life for several weeks earlier this year.

Mark Nordenberg said in a statement that the threats were a "source of anxiety" for Pitt students and employees and "interfered with the work of one of the region's most important institutions."

While the state House considers legislation to change the way cyber schools and independent charter schools in the commonwealth get their money, Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner said taxpayers are overpaying for the alternative education style, big time.

"Pennsylvania presently spends at least $360 million annually more than it should on charter and cyber charter school funding," Wagner said.

Every year, around 10,400 children are diagnosed with cancer, and thanks to one health care group's approach to care, the large majority of them will survive the disease. The group is applying the same methods to improving the long-term behavioral outcomes of kids who undergo treatment.

"Meet Bob!"

The Saionji family, leaders of the Goi Peace Foundation in Tokyo, Japan, spent the first part of the week at Manchester Bidwell Corporation in Pittsburgh. Hiroo and Masami Saionji were joined by their daughter, Yuka, and came to the city after Manchester Bidwell CEO Bill Strickland visited Japan last year. The Saionjis took him on a tour of tsunami-ravaged areas.

Faith and community leaders in the region are calling on the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center not to thwart unionization of its employees. They claim the health system is currently violating workers' rights. They held a demonstration outside UPMC Shadyside Wednesday afternoon.

Reverend David Thornton, pastor of the Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church, said the goal is to press UPMC to work towards justice and equity for its workers.

City Council President Darlene Harris said she is investigating whether the city could legally challenge the tax-exempt status of large nonprofits in Pittsburgh.

If organizations like Highmark, UPMC and city universities don't measure up to state nonprofit criteria, Pittsburgh could stand to gain tens of millions of dollars more in revenue from real estate and payroll taxes that are currently waived.

In Pittsburgh, it's rare that heat reaches a point of danger, but the Allegheny County Health Department is advising the public to be sure to stay cool and hydrated during the next several days because the temperature will be reaching 90º F and above.

Health Department Director Ronald Voorhees said certain people, such as the elderly, those with heart and lung conditions, or others engaging in outdoor activity, may be especially prone to heat exhaustion or stroke.

Court is adjourned for the day in the child sexual molestation trial of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. The defense rested its case Wednesday morning without calling Sandusky to the witness stand. Judge John Cleland said that closing arguments will be presented Thursday.

The main defense witness on Wednesday was Dr. Jonathan Dranov. The physician said he spoke to then-graduate assistant Mike McQueary the night McQueary said he spotted Sandusky in a football facility shower assaulting a boy.

The leading Democrat on the state House Liquor Control Committee said it's time to talk about modernization and not privatization when it comes to the commonwealth's liquor and beer sales.

House Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny) has conceded the privatization issue is off the table until at least the fall because he doesn't have enough votes. Speaking with reporters as a budget meeting between Governor Tom Corbett and legislative leaders broke up, Turzai said legislators need to focus now on passage of a state budget.

People who have undergone weight-loss surgery have a greater chance of developing alcohol disorders, according to new research released by University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. This is the first study conducted that directly links these procedures and alcoholism.

Patients from ten hospitals across the United States participated in the study. About 70% underwent RYGB, a type of bariatric surgery, while 25% had laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding, and the remaining 5% were treated with one of three less popular surgeries.

Act 122, or the Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP) law, passed in December 2011, was to have been enforced today, but providers have received some additional time to comply. TRAP requires surgical abortion clinics to abide by the same regulations as freestanding surgical centers. If they failed to do so by June 19, either they were given a temporary license or could not operate.

How much should a state pay to create jobs? Many people are asking that question, as Governor Corbett calls on legislators to pass a $1.65 billion tax break aimed at Royal Dutch Shell.

StateImpact Pennsylvania traveled to Beaver County, to find out how the proposal is playing in the community where Shell is considering building a major chemical processing plant.

Allegheny County is investing $500,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding to facilitate the redevelopment of the former Cuda building in Braddock. The funding will go toward interior and exterior improvements to stabilize the building and prepare it for occupancy.

"What's happening is we're taking a derelict structure that's been empty now for about a quarter of a century and we're introducing an entire food pavilion, if you will, in a town that doesn't have a restaurant," said Braddock Mayor John Fetterman.

The state Senate may soon take up a bill to overhaul the commonwealth's wiretapping law, but critics say the scope of the proposal is too broad.

The bill that passed the House would allow the recording of conversations when someone believes the tape would provide evidence of a serious crime. Supporters say the new measure will keep up with technology like cell phones or video messaging.

Recordings are currently prohibited without the consent of all parties. Representative Ron Marsico (R-Dauphin) sponsored the bill. He said as things stand, criminals have an advantage.

A motion from Duquesne University to withdraw from a union election has been rejected by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). An agreement between Duquesne and the United Steelworkers (USW) was reached three weeks ago regarding the election by adjunct faculty members, but the university has since declared it is outside of the NLRB's jurisdiction, claiming religious exemption.

USW spokesman Jeff Cech said the union recognizes Duquesne's religious affiliation, but it is not a significant aspect of the school's role in the election.

A psychologist testifying for the defense in the Jerry Sandusky trial says the former Penn State assistant football coach has a personality disorder characterized by excessive emotionality and attention seeking.

Elliot Atkins told jurors that he interviewed Sandusky for six hours before diagnosing the defendant with "histrionic personality disorder." Atkins says people with the disorder often interact with people in inappropriately seductive ways and don't feel comfortable unless they're the center of attention.