Bob Bauder stories, Page 9
Pittsburgh council gives preliminary approval for $50 million in borrowing
Pittsburgh City Council on Wednesday advanced legislation that would authorize a $50 million bond issuance for capital improvements this year, but members voiced concerns about spending it in a timely fashion. About $53 million is left over from bonds issued in 2017 and 2019, according to the city budget office....
Pittsburgh Council scraps plan to split park tax money evenly among council districts
Pittsburgh City Council on Wednesday scrapped a proposal to split revenue from a controversial parks tax evenly each year among the city’s nine council districts. Council unanimously amended legislation sponsored by Council members Anthony Coghill and Deb Gross in the wake of growing concerns from other members about equitable distribution...
Mother of Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto dies at 92
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto’s mother died Wednesday morning, the mayor said. Eva Maria (Zarroli) Peduto was 92 and lived in Scott Township. “This morning I lost the most inspirational person of my life, my mom,” Peduto posted to his Twitter account shortly before 8 p.m. This morning I lost the...
Pittsburgh better prepared for massive snow storms than during 2010 Snowmageddon
Western Pennsylvania was a disaster zone 10 years ago. An epic storm dubbed “Snowmageddon” dumped more than a foot of heavy wet snow across the region overnight, and it kept coming. Before it was over on Feb. 6, 2010, Snowmageddon had become the second largest snowstorm in Pittsburgh history with...
Pittsburgh, UPMC providing free lifesaving trainingVideo
Minutes matter when it comes to saving a life during a catastrophic medical emergency. That’s why Pittsburgh and UPMC are partnering on a free program designed to educate the public on lifesaving techniques people can use in the minutes before medical help arrives. “Having the public be there when somebody...
Pittsburgh prepping public safety personnel to identify signs of coronavirus
Pittsburgh Public Safety officials are taking steps to ensure that first responders are prepared in the event of a local outbreak of the deadly coronavirus. Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich said Thursday he is more concerned about Allegheny County’s increasing flu deaths this year, but stressed that city paramedics, firefighters...
PWSA gets $65 million low-interest loan to replace aging water mains
The Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority on Wednesday approved a $65 million low-interest loan for the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority that will pay for the first phase of a $326 million water main replacement program, officials said. Over the next five years, PWSA plans to replace aging water mains, starting...
Foundation grant will provide academic coaches for Pittsburgh Promise studentsVideo
The Richard King Mellon Foundation will provide grants totaling $3.9 million to hire and train academic coaches for underachieving students at three Pittsburgh high schools, Community College of Allegheny County and Carlow University, officials announced Wednesday. Saleem Ghubril, executive director of the Pittsburgh Promise college scholarship program, said the organization...
Pittsburgh audit turns up problems with fund used to pay for umpires in city parks
Pittsburgh Controller Michael Lamb has placed a hold on a money going into an account that pays for umpires and other officials and expenses during city sports league games. Lamb said the Parks and Recreation Department in 2019 had an informal agreement with the Pittsburgh Sports Officials, an organization that...
Pittsburgh receives foundation grant for purchase of specialized street sweeper
The Richard King Mellon Foundation is giving Pittsburgh $187,000 to purchase a specialized street sweeper for the maintenance of stormwater-absorbing pavement. Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday authorized acceptance of the foundation grant. The money will be used to purchase the sweeper that will initially be used for cleaning a bicycle...
Pittsburgh planning aid for sister city of Wuhan, China, stricken with coronavirus
Pittsburgh is planning a care package for its sister city of Wuhan, China, ground zero for the deadly coronavirus that’s so far killed at least 80 people in China, Mayor Bill Peduto said Monday. The disease has sickened nearly 3,000 people, almost all in China. About a dozen other countries...
Peduto pitches gondola connecting the Strip, Hill District, Oakland
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said he plans to transform the city’s Parking Authority into a “mobility authority” that would promote and invest in all modes of transportation, including gondolas, marinas and autonomous vehicles within the city’s borders. Peduto, who appeared Monday on a panel of experts discussing Pittsburgh’s potential for...
Lead levels in Pittsburgh water drop below federal thresholdVideo
Lead levels in Pittsburgh’s water system dipped below a federal threshold for a first time since the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority early last year began adding a lead inhibitor, according to the latest test results released on Friday. Samples collected between July and December from 168 customers that have...
Should Pennsylvanians worry about deadly coronavirus?
Health officials say Pennsylvanians have little to fear so far from a deadly respiratory illness spreading across Southeast Asia. The coronavirus, which presents itself with symptoms similar to a common cold or the flu, has killed at least 18 people, mainly in China, and has sickened people in Taiwan, Japan,...
Should Pennsylvanians worry about deadly coronavirus?
Health officials say Pennsylvanians have little to fear so far from a deadly respiratory illness spreading across Southeast Asia. The coronavirus, which presents itself with symptoms similar to a common cold or the flu, has so far killed 18 people, mainly in China, and has sickened people in Taiwan, Japan,...
Pittsburgh spending $2.6 million on landslide repairs
Pittsburgh officials on Wednesday announced the start of work on two landslides threatening streets in the West End and Squirrel Hill and said construction was progressing on two others in the North Side and Oakland. The four landslides are costing the city an estimated $2.6 million. Karina Ricks, executive director...
PNC Park undergoing $1.9M seat rehab ahead of 2020 Pirates seasonVideo
As the Pirates gear up for the annual PiratesFest event this weekend, workers are preparing PNC Park for the upcoming season with a $1.9 million seating rehab. The Sports & Exhibition Authority of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, which owns the stadium, last year approved the replacement of bottoms, backs and...
Pittsburgh council postpones vote on ‘hateful activities’ bill
Pittsburgh City Council postponed a vote Wednesday as it sought a legal opinion from the city’s solicitor on legislation proposed by Councilman Ricky Burgess that would prohibit “hateful activities” by city employees. Burgess and council President Theresa Kail-Smith said that since the legislation was introduced last week, they have heard...
PWSA lifts boil advisory for several Pittsburgh neighborhoods
The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority on Wednesday lifted a boil water advisory issued earlier this week for several West End neighborhoods after a water main break. PWSA reported that two rounds of water quality testing turned up no evidence of contamination. Residents of Crafton Heights, Elliott, Esplen, Ridgemont and...
Pittsburgh council proposes control of funding generated by parks tax
Revenue from Pittsburgh’s controversial parks tax would be split evenly each year among the city’s nine council districts for park improvements under legislation proposed Tuesday by two city council members. The legislation sponsored by Anthony Coghill and Deb Gross received mixed reviews as other council members voiced concerns about an...
Crane used to pull bus out of sinkhole to cost Pittsburgh $88,000
Pittsburgh officials said it could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for repairs and other costs associated with the giant sinkhole that opened up in October at 10th and Penn avenues in Downtown and swallowed the back end of a Port Authority bus. It is going to cost...
Pittsburgh was a sanctuary city 150 years ago. Now racism is a public health crisis
Pittsburgh is a city of contradictions when it comes to race relations. In its infancy, Pittsburgh was a hotbed of abolitionism, and residents provided safe harbor to blacks fleeing slavery in the South. Yet 150 years later, a report on racial disparity in the city prompted two city councilmen to...
New leadership at Peoples Gas vows company will remain unchanged
Peoples Gas will essentially remain unchanged under the new ownership of an eastern Pennsylvania water and sewer company, the head of water company said Friday. The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission on Thursday approved the sale of Peoples to Bryn Mawr-based Aqua America Inc. for $4.3 billion. Christopher Franklin, Aqua’s chairman...
Michael Lamb scores endorsement of Philadelphia mayor for state auditor general race
Pittsburgh Controller Michael Lamb, a Democratic candidate this year for Pennsylvania auditor general, scored a major pledge of support this week with an endorsement from Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney. Lamb, 57, of Mt. Washington, who has been campaigning across Pennsylvania since announcing his candidacy late last year, said gaining the...
Pittsburgh police union disputes city’s early contract offer
The Pittsburgh police union turned down a contract offer from the city that would have provided officers higher raises than what they received through an arbitration panel’s award released last week, according to a letter obtained Thursday by the Tribune-Review. Robert Swartzwelder, president of Fraternal Order of Police Fort Pitt...
