Ryan Deto stories, Page 25

Pennsylvania certified more than 20,000 teachers every year a decade ago, but those numbers have dropped dramatically, Gov. Josh Shapiro said during a Tuesday visit to Pittsburgh’s Colfax K-8 school. Shapiro said the state certified only 6,100 teachers last year. At the news conference in Squirrel Hill, Shapiro said he...

President Joe Biden has nominated a longtime assistant U.S. Attorney to become the top prosecutor in the Western District of Pennsylvania. Eric G. Olshan has served as an assistant U.S. Attorney in the Western District of Pennsylvania for more than six years. The district covers 25 counties in the western...

Allegheny County has no campaign finance limitation, but one candidate for county executive is proposing a change. Former Allegheny County Councilman Dave Fawcett, a Democrat from Oakmont who is seeking the county’s top elected office, said Friday that he would support more stringent and rigorous campaign finance regulations if elected....

Allegheny County Treasurer John Weinstein on Friday said he never tried to orchestrate political deals behind closed doors in order to regain power and position on the county’s influential Alcosan board. The statement came after Schuyler Sheaffer, a former campaign manager for state Rep. Emily Kinkead, said that County Councilwoman...

A group created to provide mental health support and healing after the Tree of Life mass shooting plans to extend its work through 2028. The 10.27 Healing Partnership group said it has completed 716 individual counseling encounters, 883 counselor-led group therapy encounters, 212 community presentations, and reached nearly 10,000 individuals...

A contentious multi-family apartment project in Pittsburgh’s Shadyside neighborhood received approval after months of negotiations. The 117-unit development from Mozart Management was approved Monday by Pittsburgh’s Zoning Board of Adjustments. The 10-story apartment building proposed at 525 South Aiken Street in Shadyside is a slightly smaller version than was initially...

On certain days, residents in some Pittsburgh neighborhoods and outlying municipalities can often smell a rotten-egg odor, but they might not have known where it was coming from or how prevalent it was. The Allegheny County Health Department announced Tuesday it will now offer publicly trackable information about how much...

Pennsylvania has been hit with a slew of invasive species over the years, from spotted lanternflies colonizing Pittsburgh bridges to emerald ash borers destroying the state’s timber stock. In a report released Monday, the Pennsylvania Governor’s Invasive Species Council recommends a statewide response to tackle the threat of invasive species,...

Two emerging tech cities are improving connections with the announcement of increased flight service between Pittsburgh and Austin, Texas. Southwest Airlines announced last week it will be increasing service between Pittsburgh International Airport and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport starting this fall. The Texas-based carrier will expand flights from weekend-only to daily...

Two progressive candidates in high-profile, countywide races earned endorsements this month from the traditionally moderate Allegheny County Democratic Committee. In years past, the committee has been known to back moderate candidates and those with longstanding insider connections to local committee members. On March 5, progressive District Attorney candidate Matt Dugan...

A nurse at UPMC Altoona was illegally retaliated against and fired after she spoke to local media about staffing shortages and working conditions, according to a complaint from the National Labor Relations Board. UPMC on Friday defended its actions, saying that the nurse in question was a contractor on temporary...

Harrison resident and former congressional candidate Erin McClelland has ended her bid for Allegheny County executive. McClelland, a contractor in Allegheny County’s Human Services Division, didn’t submit signatures to the county election division even though she was the first candidate to announce for the executive race. She said her experience...

Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania is joining the plastic bag ban. The regional nonprofit chain of 34 Goodwill thrift stores will eliminate the use of plastic shopping bags later this month. Shoppers are encouraged to use a free box from the store, bring their own reusable bag, or buy a Goodwill...

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman’s staff said Monday that he is being briefed on activity and discussing updates on legislation and other priorities, several weeks after he checked himself into the hospital for treatment of clinical depression. Fetterman’s chief of staff Adam Jentleson said he had a productive morning with Fetterman...

A bipartisan bill expected to be introduced soon in Harrisburg would loosen regulations of Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program and could substantially increase the number of cannabis patients in the state. A memo on the legislation co-sponsored by state Sens. Jim Brewster, D-McKeesport, and Mike Regan, R-York, said the bill would...

Carnegie Mellon University scientists monitoring the air near the East Palestine, Ohio, derailment site found levels of pollution from most chemicals measured to be of low or minimal risk, but at least one pollutant was detected at levels of “potential concern.” Researchers from Carnegie Mellon and Texas A&M University teamed...

Pennsylvania’s Department of Health opened a resource center in Beaver County for state residents concerned about the impact of last month’s train derailment in nearby East Palestine, Ohio. In the two days after it opened Tuesday, officials said about 200 residents of Beaver County and neighboring Lawrence County went to...

Gov. Josh Shapiro said Wednesday in a visit to Pittsburgh that his upcoming budget address will include funding increases for business innovation programs meant to attract and retain science and technology companies in Pennsylvania. The governor toured Astrobotic Technology on Pittsburgh’s North Side and praised the company for their growth...

A group of Pennsylvania lawmakers in the U.S. House and Senate have set their sights on regulating rail companies following last month’s train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. U.S. Sens. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, and John Fetterman, D-Braddock, have introduced the bipartisan Railway Safety Act of 2023, while U.S. Rep. Chris...

A report from the Wall Street Journal on Monday said sources inside the U.S. Department of Energy now believe with “low confidence” that the global spread of covid-19 was “most likely” the result of a laboratory leak in China. The report contradicts four other U.S. agencies that have investigated how...

February did not make Pittsburgh shiver. Generally, February is the region’s second snowiest month of the year. Not this year. Just 0.2 inches of snow accumulated over February in the Pittsburgh region. With highs reaching above 50 degrees Tuesday, the month ended as the least snowy February in Pittsburgh history,...

Allegheny County cast more votes in the November election than any other Pennsylvania county — surpassing even Philadelphia, which has about 350,000 more residents and 100,000 more registered voters. Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said the county’s robust efforts to help people vote by mail were a key factor. Fitzgerald...

Pittsburgh was awarded $1.4 million on Wednesday to study whether it should alter a section of Route 65 in the city’s North Side to reconnect the Chateau and Manchester neighborhoods. In the 1970s, officials raised a portion of Route 65, also known as Ohio River Boulevard, onto a viaduct to...