WESA

A question on the ballot will ask whether they want to lift county charter restrictions on how council is staffed and resourced. Voters could make it possible for members to receive taxpayer-funded health coverage and other benefits, and to open district offices.

Four legislators petitioned the state Supreme Court asking it to delay the effect of a ruling it made earlier. The court had determined that skill games — which are similar to slot machines but can be found almost everywhere except casinos — were illegal.

A leader in the Democratic National Committee, state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, is calling on Western Pennsylvania House member Aaron Bernstine to step down in the wake of a news report that Bernstine referred to Kenyatta with homophobic slurs during an argument with union leaders.

Gov. Shapiro’s administration sought to “modernize” the state’s public health regulations in the midst of a recent measles outbreak. But the GOP bristled at the proposed rules, arguing that they represented a potential return to the kind of mandates and controls that followed the COVID-19 pandemic.

As energy bills continue to rise, organizers said going solar can help people save. The group buying power of Solar United Neighbors’s Switch Together Greater Pittsburgh program means solar installers can offer rooftop energy systems at a 15 to 20% discount.

It all started with three strands of hair, shut for decades in a hand-edited version of the bible. But 15 years later, they’ve led to a new book that offers the best evidence yet that Thomas Jefferson fathered children with Sally Hemings, a woman he enslaved.

Philadelphia-area Democrats are pushing for more information about the operations of Moshannon Valley Processing Center, the largest immigrant detention center in the Northeast, as its current contract has been approved for an extension.

Bills in the state House and Senate propose new standards for 15 commercial appliances and household water fixtures; they include commercial ovens, fryers, and dishwashers, as well as gas fireplaces, toilets, and shower heads.

Last season included archery-controlled hunts in Frick, Schenley, Highland, Riverview, Emerald View, Hays Woods, McKinley, and Southside Parks, as well as Seldom Seen and Hazelwood Greenways. This year the program will add Sheraden Park and Spring Hill/Garden Greenway.

In late August, the U.S. Forest Service proposed rescinding the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which prohibits new road building and logging in certain areas of national forests.

Liz Berlin remembers the moment it became clear what the music industry expected of her. It was 1996, and Berlin was the lone woman in a famous rock band: Rusted Root, the Pittsburgh-based worldbeat group that rose to international fame with its single “Send Me On My Way.”

A Jefferson County woman with measles has died, according to the county coroner’s office. The death is the state’s third tied to the measles outbreak this year. Pennsylvania’s outbreak has exploded to become the largest in the country with cases nearing 680 as of late last week.

Allegheny County is overhauling how it handles substance use disorder. The county’s new “Recovery Partnership Plan” shifts the plan from short-term to long-term rehab to treat addiction like the chronic condition it is.

Confluence Theater of Pittsburgh is the name of Pittsburgh’s newest theater company — the result of the merger of two of its oldest troupes. The group announced the name Monday, about a month after the formal merger of Pittsburgh Public Theater and the Pittsburgh CLO.

With the cost of ground beef at an all time high, Trump is allowing 300,000 metric tons of lean beef trimmings to enter the United States over the next three months, at a reduced tariff rate, and sold at 25% below market prices.

“I had my son here. I’m not leaving. I’m not saying I won’t ever leave, but I don’t want to leave,” said Jimmy Alexandre, owner of Charleroi’s Haitian Resource Center. “I’m building something here. I’m making connections... I don’t want to leave all that to start it over.”

Lancaster County Coroner Dr. Stephen Diamantoni later told local reporters that his office was investigating the death of an infant who tested positive for measles. He said an autopsy found that the baby died of a ruptured spleen, not the virus, though measles was detected in the postmortem analysis

The 10,000 sq. ft. main store is jam-packed with LPs. The section reserved for jazz, country and gospel alone is as large as many whole used record shops. Jerry’s might in fact be, as Weber used to claim, the biggest store in the nation dedicated to used vinyl.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday against Snap Inc, Snapchat’s corporate parent, in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court. It alleges the company “markets its app as safe for users as young as 13 even though Snap knows that its app carries a high risk of harm to minors.”

Officials kicked off the reopening of the Police Zone 5 and Fire Engine & Truck Company 8 building in East Liberty on Monday. Located on North Euclid Avenue near Garland Park, the station was originally built in 1929, under the mayorship of Charles Kline, the last Republican to hold the office.

Pittsburgh’s mosquito season reaches its peak this month, aided by summer storms and high humidity. But the bugs are emerging earlier and sticking around longer according to a report from Climate Central.

Few issues in Allegheny County have been as controversial as property reassessments, but a bipartisan consensus is emerging after a judge ordered the county to conduct its first property assessment in over a decade: “It’s about time,” said County Councilor Suzanne Filiaggi, a Republican.

The renovations, expected to finish by 2027, will feature nine treatment rooms, consulting areas, observation rooms, a creative arts therapy center and a parent-child interaction therapy room, which uses real-time coaching by providers for parents to improve their relationship with their child.

Under the order, no new projects will be considered for expedited permitting, a provision the Shapiro administration previously touted as a fix for slow, red-tape bureaucracy. State agencies will also be blocked from signing non-disclosure agreements about development projects.

Resolve Crisis Services offers several options for people experiencing a mental health crisis in Allegheny County, including telephone support, a walk-in center and a mobile crisis service that can respond in the community.

Pittsburgh is reducing the number of outdoor pools open to the public as many seasonal lifeguards return to school. Beginning Monday, Aug. 17, six CitiParks pools will remain open through Labor Day: Bloomfield, Highland, Jack Stack, Magee, Moore and Ream.

At Penn State’s recent Ag Progress Day, a proposed project called KeyState Energy would produce urea and urea ammonium nitrate fertilizer in Clearfield County that could make the product more affordable and accessible to area farmers.

Statewide, more than half of 653 waterway sites tested had at least one day with potentially unsafe levels of the bacteria last year. Nearly 4 in 10 sites had elevated contamination levels on one-quarter of the days tested.

Cities like Boston seem to be taking a different approach. We recently spoke with officials there who talked about initiatives like Boston After Dark, which provides young people with places to hang out, eat, and listen to live DJs in summer evenings.

Some pediatricians may give out stickers, crayons or small toys to their young patients after a routine wellness visit. But Dr. Trude Haecker and her colleagues at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia have been taking a different approach: They’re “prescribing” new books to children and families.

The letter criticizes Costello’s appearances on a podcast hosted by MAGA influencer Steve Bannon on July 21 and 22, during which Costello criticized Jason Richey — the party’s former chair and now the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor.

Construction is now moving into areas of Highland Park, Shadyside, Bloomfield, and Lawrenceville. People whose lines are affected should have gotten information in the mail.

The health department previously provided data at the state and county-level about childhood vaccinations. The new initiative follows a wave of reporting that found vaccination rates have been declining in schools across Pennsylvania for years, especially among kindergarteners.

Right now, the company makes steel slabs at the Edgar Thomson plant, and ships them by rail about seven miles to its current hot strip mill at the Irvin Works. Then it has to re-heat the slabs to press them into coils. This upgrade will cut out lots of unnecessary steps and energy use.

The planned L-shaped building would wrap around the 19th-century Music Building on Fifth Ave. Pitt plans to erect the 105-foot building on a current parking lot. The dorm would include six residential floors and ground-floor retail dining that would be open to the public.

The Transit Revitalization Investment District would issue bonds to fund redevelopment, then pay off that debt by using much of the additional property tax revenue created by the development. For the incentive to have its full effect, Allegheny County & PPS would also have to sign off on the plan.

Officials with Pittsburgh Public Schools say doing so would allow these programs to be more inclusive of students of color, who have long gone underrepresented in gifted courses and other advanced opportunities.

Earlier this year, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection found no significant risk to human health from the radioactive leachate from landfills. But a group of environmental nonprofits are asking the agency to reconsider.

A closed section of Interstate 376/Parkway East in Pittsburgh, Edgewood and Swissvale is expected to reopen Monday evening — a week earlier than scheduled, and a development that likely will relieve thousands of daily commuters.

Individuals can pedal, roll or stroll down a three-mile stretch between Lawrenceville and the Strip District, taking in car-free views of the city along the way. Organized by non-profit BikePGH, OpenStreetsPGH is part of a broader, global movement to see the world as designed for humans, not cars.

The budget contains $7 million to transition the electronic debit cards used by people in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — often called SNAP, or food stamps — into cards with more secure chip technology.

“The best I can tell you right now,” said Jason Zang, PennDOT District Executive of District 11, “maybe the middle of next week — plus or minus.” The state road plan anticipated the highway to be reopened by Aug. 3.

A temperature inversion this morning will hold residual wildfire smoke close to the ground, pushing particulate matter air pollution levels into a range considered unhealthy for sensitive groups under the U.S. Air Quality Index system.

“Hopefully this heavy smoke will clear the area tomorrow. But today we want to encourage everyone to stay safe,” Innamorato said. “That means if you can comfortably stay indoors, please prioritize doing so,” and keep activity levels low.

As previously reported by WESA, the nine-member board has largely moved substantive discussions about healthcare, staffing, uses of force and the welfare of incarcerated people from monthly public meetings to subcommittee meetings not open to the public.

Thursday afternoon, Allegheny County Health Department upgraded its air quality warning to Code Maroon, the most severe status in the U.S. Air Quality Index system. In response to dangerous conditions, the city of Pittsburgh has announced all outdoor city programs are closed today.

For a decade, science has proven that brain-computer interface technology can restore a sense of touch for people with spinal cord injuries. But new research from the University of Pittsburgh suggests those gains can last.

Emma Riva brought hers along when she moved to Pittsburgh from her hometown of New York City in 2021. Now Petrichor, the online art magazine she founded soon after, is ready to bid for new audiences with its debut print issue.

Wildfire smoke from Canada and Minnesota has driven high levels of particulate matter pollution in eastern Pennsylvania already this morning, and the smoke is expected to grow thicker in the Pittsburgh region as the day goes on.

The “explosive demolition” of the bridge was scheduled to take place Wednesday between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., but PennDOT sent out an announcement around 8:30 p.m. stating the explosion would be postponed until today.