Bob Bauder stories, Page 21
After decades, Produce Terminal on the cusp of redevelopment
Efforts to save and redevelop the Strip District’s iconic Produce Terminal stretch back decades. The long, low building stretching along Smallman Street was the heart of the wholesale business at the center of the thriving Pittsburgh neighborhood in the 1920s when it was built. The city bought the building in...
Peduto lauded by anti-violence groups for gun ban legislation
Gina Pelusi of Upper St. Clair lost her mother, Ruth Ann, about five years ago to a man who shot her after she answered a knock on her door at her Virginia home. Valerie Dixon of East Liberty lost her son, Robert, in 2001 to a man who shot him...
Pittsburgh, PWSA to end 25-year financial arrangement
Pittsburgh and its water authority are poised to end a relationship that provided millions of gallons of free water to city entities each year, supplied the city with an annual payment of more than $7 million and required the authority to subsidize water rates for thousands of residents. The agreement,...
Some Pitt students remain displaced after apartment garage fire
The University of Pittsburgh is offering housing in a residence hall to students displaced Sunday after a fire in a parking garage at the SkyVue Apartments in Oakland. Pitt spokesman Kevin Zwick said the university opened a residence hall to students who have nowhere to stay and advises them to...
Republicans win write-ins, will run for two Allegheny County offices in November
Two Republican candidates for Allegheny County offices pulled off successful primary write-in campaigns to challenge Controller Chelsa Wagner and County Councilman John Palmiere, both Democrats, in the November election, according to the county elections office. Brooke Nadonley, 42, of Mt. Washington received 1,887 write-in votes in her campaign for county...
Peduto seeks city pension fund divestment in gas, guns and private prisons
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto wants city pension fund overseers to pull investments from companies dealing in fossil fuels, firearms and for-profit prisons, a strategy financial experts say could weaken the funds and result in lower annual returns. Peduto last week penned a letter to the Comprehensive Municipal Trust Fund board...
Pittsburgh council approves $410,000 self-driving education grant
Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday authorized acceptance of a grant that has drawn criticism from some residents over the use self-driving vehicles in the city. The $410,000 grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is aimed at educating residents about autonomous vehicles. Residents and local activists lined...
Peduto to honor Dick’s Sporting Goods CEO for gun safety efforts
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto on Tuesday evening will honor the CEO of Coraopolis-based Dick’s Sporting Goods with a leadership award for promoting firearms safety. Peduto and Farooq Kathwari, CEO of Ethan Allen, will present Edward Stack with a Maverick in Leadership Award from the Yale Mayors College and CEO Summit....
Pittsburgh considers naming golf course clubhouse after Arnold Palmer
Pittsburgh is poised to christen new facilities at the Bob O’Connor Golf Course in Schenley Park after Latrobe golf legend Arnold Palmer. Pittsburgh Councilman Corey O’Connor, son of the late mayor for whom the course is named, introduced a resolution Tuesday that would name the clubhouse and learning center after...
Pittsburgh deploys more than 1,000 ‘smart’ trash cans
Pittsburgh boasts the region’s smartest garbage cans. The city has more than 1,000 “smart” trash cans equipped with sensors to gauge garbage volume and send a wireless signal to the city’s Department of Public Works when they’re full. Pittsburgh hopes the new trash cans will cut in half the amount...
Pittsburgh debates parking lot on property donated 144 years ago
The Pittsburgh Ballet Theater is seeking to renew a lease on Strip District property dubbed Denny Park that was donated to Pittsburgh nearly 150 years ago to create a public square. City Council and the Mayor’s Office are now wrangling over the lease, which expires in 2025 and could be...
Pittsburgh safety project to address speeding in Mt. Washington
Pittsburgh is doing $80,000 worth of work at the intersection of Woodruff and Merrimac streets in Mt. Washington after finding that most drivers speed along the streets. The city’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure collected traffic speed and volume data in 2018 and found that 94% of drivers on Woodruff...
Old Yingling mansion in Wilkinsburg renovated into the Sleeping Octopus
Nicole Santella wasn’t impressed when her husband first showed her the rundown Yingling mansion in Wilkinsburg. The 30-plus room house on Wood Street had served over the years as Wilkinsburg’s hospital, a convalescent home and a personal care facility. It was abandoned for two years and a wreck when Santella...
Pittsburgh company lands $79 million contract for NASA lunar deliveries
NASA on Friday announced a $79.5 million contract with a Pittsburgh-based company to deliver payloads of scientific and high-tech research equipment to the moon in 2021. Astrobotic Technology Inc., founded a decade ago out of Carnegie Mellon University and headquartered at 25th and Liberty in the Strip District, will deliver...
Woman moves into ‘dream home’ thanks to $5,000 from Pittsburgh housing fund
Natalie Perko needed help with a down payment and closing costs to afford her dream home in Pittsburgh’s Brighton Heights neighborhood. She found it through the Pittsburgh Housing Opportunity Fund, a $10 million pot of money the city sets aside each year to help low-wage earners afford housing within city...
Pittsburgh Police officer honored for founding chess club for kidsVideo
Officer David Shifren is known as “the professor” by his comrades in the Pittsburgh Police Bureau. A native of Brooklyn, he is a graduate of University of Pittsburgh’s master of fine arts program. He’s taught creative writing at Pitt, and currently teaches a film-appreciation at Pitt for older adults. He...
EPA waives summer gasoline blend requirement for Allegheny County
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday temporarily waived Allegheny County’s summer fuel requirement — which typically results in higher prices at the pump — because of a damaged pipeline supplying Western Pennsylvania. The EPA is close to repealing the rule requiring a summer gasoline blend but agreed to waive...
Port Authority proposes high-tech fare system
The Port Authority of Allegheny County is poised to offer a mobile ticketing application that would allow riders to pay fares through smart phones. Under the system, customers could purchase a ticket or pass using a credit card, Apple Pay or Google Pay through their phone and then immediately use...
Pittsburgh set to disburse $10M for affordable housing
Pittsburgh City Council on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to a plan for distributing $10 million in 2019 from an affordable housing fund. The Urban Redevelopment Authority, which administers the fund, has recommended that the money be divided into six programs this year, including rental assistance, subsidies to help with a...
Self-driving education grant runs into opposition at Pittsburgh City Council
Pittsburgh City Council will likely authorize acceptance of a $410,000 grant aimed at educating residents on the use of autonomous vehicles in the city, but members plan to provide amendments for how that should be done. Council in a preliminary vote Wednesday agreed to accept the money disbursed over three...
Pittsburgh Hilltop Urban Farm announces summer camp registration
Pittsburgh’s Hilltop Urban Farm is hosting free summer camps in 2019 where kids can learn about nutrition, cooking, growing food, local food systems and Western Pennsylvania ecology. Children from the Pittsburgh neighborhoods of St. Clair, Arlington, Arlington Heights, Carrick, Allentown, South Side Slopes, Knoxville, Beltzhoover, Mt. Washington, and Bon Air...
Artwork on Downtown parking garage is a who’s who of famous Pittsburghers
Pittsburgh has collaborated with the owners of a Stanwix Street building to transform nine stories of the facade into a virtual who’s who of famous Pittsburghers. The public art piece dubbed “We Are Pittsburgh” consists of 20 banners with the pixelated images of well known personalities such as Andrew Carnegie,...
Pittsburgh warns of traffic delays during construction on Broadway Avenue
Drivers should expect traffic delays along Broadway Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Beechview neighborhood starting on Wednesday while a construction crew replaces concrete slabs and curbs, according to the Mayor’s Office. A crew from Sharpsburg-based Cilenti Construction Co. will be working from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday in the...
Portion of Pittsburgh’s Smallman Street to remain closed for 3 weeks
The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority estimates it will take another three weeks to fix a burst water main and complete street restoration on Smallman Street in the city’s Strip District. Smallman Street will remain closed between 14th and 17th streets while work is ongoing, PWSA officials said Friday. A...
Residents oppose Steelers’ request for sign on Heinz Field seating
Five Pittsburgh residents lined up Thursday in opposition to the Steelers’ request to create a sign in the end zone seating at Heinz Field, complaining it would detract from the city’s landmark hilltop vistas and architectural ambiance. Representatives of PSSI Stadium LLC, a team affiliate, appeared before the Pittsburgh Zoning...
