The 2024 presidential election is shaping up as a repeat, but some voters are experiencing it for the first time. Thousands of young people are aging into the voter rolls this year, arriving to a political and societal landscape that has even seasoned voters scratching their heads. Democracy & Doubt Pittsburgh navigates trust and choice in the 2024 election season “Horrible,” said Nora Zangana, a senior at Pittsburgh Sci-Tech, to describe how she feels about voting this year for the first time. “I’m scared. I don’t know what’s happening.” While gaining the right to vote can inspire, so ..read more

Update 04/17/24: Pittsburgh City Council voted preliminarily to change the city’s zoning code to allow for the construction of townhomes in more residential areas. In a voice vote during a Standing Committees meeting, most members expressed support and there were no votes in opposition. Councilor Theresa Kail Smith abstained. A final vote is likely Monday. Big zoning rumblings from small Pittsburgh neighborhood Reported 4/16/24: A debate over the direction of one of Pittsburgh’s smaller neighborhoods is pulling the whole city toward a potential zoning change allowing for more housing density ..read more

The PublicSource staff has been honored for reporting that covers matters of critical importance in the lives of people who reside in Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania.   We thank the judges and teams who manage these contests for their time and generous feedback.  PublicSource has received the following recognition for our journalism in 2023 and 2024. This list will be updated to remain current through calendar year 2024: April 8, 2024 PublicSource staff members, interns, freelance contributors and community members who worked with PublicSource to share their stories were no ..read more

Elections 101 from Spotlight PA protects you against election misinformation and empowers you to make informed decisions. This story is made possible through a collaboration with Votebeat, a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting. You may be one of the hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians who plan to vote by mail during the 2024 election. Or maybe it’s an option you’ve considered but haven’t pursued because you distrust the process or have concerns about fraud. Pennsylvania election officials have safeguards in place to verify the ..read more

April has been wet in the Pittsburgh region, pushing this year into record territory. April 11 was the 25th wettest day on record for the region dating back to 1871, per the U.S. National Weather Service’s Pittsburgh bureau.  Pittsburghers don’t have to look back far to see what record rainfall — potentially linked to climate change — does to a landscape of steep slopes and rushing water. This week pictures and videos circulated the internet of the city’s Point State Park fountain barely peeking through rising river waters and geese floating on the flooded “bathtub” section of the Parkwa ..read more

The biggest political spender in the Democratic primary for Pittsburgh’s congressional seat is a Libertarian from the Philadelphia suburbs. Meanwhile the vast bulk of the money raised by the incumbent comes from other states. Democracy & Doubt Pittsburgh navigates trust and choice in the 2024 election season Jeffrey Yass, a billionaire who has long championed conservative causes and candidates in Pennsylvania, donated $800,000 this February to a political action committee that is airing television ads supporting Bhavini Patel in her bid to take the Democratic nomination from Rep. Summ ..read more

At 26 years old, I’ve been volunteering with animals for half of my life. Spending hundreds of hours working with sick and beaten cats, dogs and rabbits changes the way you think about animals — and the people responsible for protecting them.  The first time I stepped foot on Animal Friends’ Ohio Township campus was for a field trip with my Girl Scout troop in 2010. Humane education programs like these, in which children and adults learn animal welfare basics such as handling techniques and health needs, foster empathy for animals through hands-on experience. In my case, I developed an e ..read more

At a time of change at the top of its org chart, Allegheny County government’s workforce shows signs of stabilizing from years of pandemic-era turmoil. The end of 2023 brought the first change in the county executive’s office since 2012, with former Executive Rich Fitzgerald exiting and new Executive Sara Innamorato taking office in January.  During Fitzgerald’s final 12 months — and for the first time since before the pandemic — the county hired more employees than it lost (729 to 629), finishing the year with 5,142 people on its roster. Departments that have struggled under staffing sh ..read more

Pittsburgh Public Schools [PPS] has filed a lawsuit against Allegheny County to compel a county-wide reassessment of properties.  The filing comes after the school board unanimously voted last month to authorize district solicitor Ira Weiss to take legal action. The lawsuit names the county and County Executive Sara Innamorato in her official capacity as defendants. PPS officials said they would approach the county executive’s office to consider a voluntary reassessment, but two weeks later that window is closed, according to Weiss.  “We have provided the county executive with a rea ..read more

At the Pittsburgh International Airport on the night of Feb. 18, travelers braved freezing temperatures to wait for a bus that never showed up. Armin Samii was one of those hopeful Pittsburgh Regional Transit [PRT] riders. After he checked the 28X’s projected arrival time on Transit, a popular third-party app that operates in multiple U.S. cities, Samii weighed the pros and cons of taking an expensive Uber or Lyft. When his brief wait turned into an hour, he regretted his gamble on public transit.  “If I knew that I would have to stand there for [an hour], then suddenly paying $50 for an ..read more