Jamie Martines stories, Page 7
Handful of babies born in region on Leap Day, share rare birthdayVideo
You could say she’s 1 in 1,461 — the odds of being born on Leap Day. Nyla Allen, at 7 lbs. 5 oz., was one of seven babies to be born at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital on Feb. 29, also known as Leap Day, as of early afternoon Saturday. “She’s perfectly...
Allegheny County Board of Elections facing lawsuit over voter rolls
An Indiana-based law firm is suing Allegheny County in federal court for allegedly failing to maintain its voter rolls. The Public Interest Legal Foundation — which is led by J. Christian Adams, a former member of President Donald Trump’s now defunct commission to investigate voter fraud — filed the lawsuit...
Disinformation and hacking could threaten 2020 elections, former U.S. attorney warns
Threats to elections in the United States and democracy as we know it are a given in the age of the internet, said David Hickton, founding director of the University of Pittsburgh Institute for Cyber Law, Policy and Security. The good news: There’s something we can do about it, he...
Medical technology brings better precision, more treatment to the Alle-Kiski ValleyVideo
A surgeon sits at an arcade game-like console, his mask-covered face buried in the viewfinder as his hands squeeze, twist and turn handles below. Feet away, a four-armed robot equipped with tiny surgical tools pokes and prods a patient laying on the operating table undergoing a hernia surgery, transmitting a...
Allegheny County Democratic Committee chair responds to criticism over endorsements
Allegheny County Democratic Committee Chair Eileen Kelly convened a closed-door press conference Wednesday to respond to criticism over the committee’s slate of endorsements, which were voted on and released Sunday. Kelly, along with Pittsburgh City Councilman Anthony Coghill, who serves as the 19th Ward Democratic Committee Chair, defended the county...
Allegheny County Democratic Committee favors moderates over progressives in primary endorsements
Allegheny County Democratic Committee members voted Sunday to endorse moderate Democrats over their progressive opponents, signaling that party insiders could be leaning more conservative as the April 2020 primary approaches. But some political observers said that endorsement might not reflect what the broader swath of Democratic and independent voters are...
UPMC, Paris Cleaners settle with 6 families of fungal infection victims
UPMC and its linen supplier, Paris Cleaners Inc., have finalized a settlement agreement with six plaintiffs in a yearslong lawsuit in connection with a fatal mold crisis in 2014 and 2015 that prompted a federal investigation. Documents filed with the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on Tuesday indicate that...
Allegheny County to roll out $400K marketing campaign ahead of new voting system, laws
Allegheny County will spend $400,000 on a marketing campaign to familiarize the county’s 900,000 registered voters about the new voting system, procedures and laws ahead of the 2020 primary and general elections. “This is the largest marketing effort that we’ve ever undertaken,” Kevin Evanto, chief marketing officer for Allegheny County,...
Allegheny County Council votes to ban conversion therapy
Allegheny County Council voted Tuesday to ban the practice of conversion therapy in the county. Conversion therapy is a widely discredited practice used to attempt to change a person’s feelings of same-sex attraction or to change their gender identity. Council voted 13-2 in favor of the ordinance, which was introduced...
State Rep. Summer Lee, a former ‘insurgent,’ faces Democratic challenger backed by establishment
It’s been nearly two years since Summer Lee surprised Allegheny County Democrats by beating longtime incumbent Paul Costa for the District 34 state House seat. A member of the Democratic Socialists of America, Lee built her campaign on a platform of progressive issues: advocating for a $15 minimum wage, opposing...
Proposed fee on Allegheny County real estate filings could help fight blight
Allegheny County could adopt a program to help flight blight and demolish vacant buildings around the county. An ordinance scheduled to be introduced Tuesday by District 9 Councilman Bob Macey, D-West Mifflin, would create a $15 fee to be applied to deed and mortgage recording transactions. Revenue generated from that...
U.S. Steel, Allegheny County finalize Clairton Coke Works emissions settlement
The Allegheny County Health Department and U.S. Steel have finalized the terms of a June 2019 settlement agreement that required improvements at the Clairton Coke Works and created a Community Benefit Trust, the health department announced Monday. The final agreement includes naming Pittsburgh-based Smithfield Trust Company as the administrator of...
Use of inmate funds at Allegheny County Jail questioned
The Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board has formed a subcommittee to examine how funds generated by the inmate commissary are used to support jail programs and facilities. The Inmate Welfare Fund is intended to benefit the education and welfare of inmates, but recent requests for disbursements from the fund have...
Allegheny County Council to gather more feedback on police review board proposal
Allegheny County Council will resume efforts to gather feedback from the public, law enforcement experts and other stakeholders — including municipal officials, police chiefs and grassroots organizations — regarding legislation to form a countywide police review board. The council Public Safety Committee, chaired by Liv Bennett, D-Northview Heights, met Tuesday...
Federal booze tax cut critical to Western Pa. brewery, distillery growth
Local craft distillers and brewers are toasting the renewal of a federal tax relief bill that they say will help their small businesses continue to grow. But some worry that celebration could be short-lived. The Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act was first passed in 2017. It cut the...
Legal sports betting hasn’t slowed bookies, office pools, survey finds
Millions more people will place legal bets on the Super Bowl this year as sanctioned sports gambling spreads across the United States, but the proliferation of sportsbooks and wagering apps hasn’t slowed illegal activity. About 26 million Americans will wager about $6.8 billion on the Super Bowl this year, according...
U.S. Steel outlines ‘strategic’ upgrades to Mon Valley plants
Planning has started and permitting is underway for more than $1.2 billion worth of projects planned for U.S. Steel’s Mon Valley Works facilities in Braddock, Clairton and West Mifflin, Mon Valley Works General Manager Kurt Barshick said Tuesday. Barshick, along with U.S. Steel engineers and project managers, met with community...
Social Security numbers exposed on Allegheny County website
Hundreds of Social Security numbers could be contained in unredacted documents housed on the Allegheny County Civil Courts public website. The Tribune-Review located federal tax lien documents filed each year from 1997 to 2010 that display unredacted tax identification numbers. In many cases, they are an individual’s Social Security number....
Residents ramp up calls for public transportation in A-K Valley communities
Alle-Kiski Valley communities are lobbying the Allegheny County Port Authority to extend a bus route that would connect residents to local shopping and business hubs. Led by the community group Building Block of Natrona, the petition asks the Port Authority to extend the 1 Freeport Road bus route from the...
Bar Louie gastrobar chain files for bankruptcy
Bar Louie, a national gastrobar chain with two locations in the Pittsburgh area, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the company announced Monday. The two local Bar Louie locations are at The Waterfront in Homestead and on the North Shore between PNC Park and Heinz Field. Both of those locations,...
U.S. Steel to hold info sessions about Clairton, Braddock plant upgrades
U.S. Steel will host two information sessions this week to preview how a $1.2 billion investment in its Mon Valley Works facilities will move forward, the company announced Monday. Two identical sessions will be held Tuesday, Jan. 28 and Wednesday, Jan. 29 at 6 p.m. at the U.S. Steel training...
SWAT use on the rise in Pittsburgh, across Western Pa.
As the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police has used its SWAT team more in recent years, critics are questioning whether that’s improving public safety. City officials say the department is taking precautions to keep situations from escalating, which protects officers and the public. “We understand that a SWAT callout can be...
Dreams of Hope awarded $35K to support arts programs
Pittsburgh-based nonprofit Dreams of Hope will receive funding, public relations and volunteer support as a Citizens Bank Champion in Action. The award includes $35,000 to fund the nonprofit’s programs, which work with queer and allied youth interested in the arts, including theater, poetry, spoken word, music and dance, according to...
Allegheny County Council to revisit civilian police review board proposal
Allegheny County Council once again will review an ordinance to create a county-wide civilian police review board. DeWitt Walton, a Democrat from the Hill District representing District 10, reintroduced the ordinance at Tuesday’s council meeting. “The obligation of council is to provide equity, and justice, for all residents of the...
State Rep. Adam Ravenstahl challenged by progressive attorney Emily Kinkead
Pittsburgh attorney Emily Kinkead will join a wave of progressive Democrats who in recent years have challenged establishment incumbents in Allegheny County’s Democratic Party. Kinkead will take on sitting state Rep. Adam Ravenstahl for the District 20 seat in the April 28 Democratic primary. Ravenstahl, the brother of former Pittsburgh...
