Jared Murphy / 90.5 WESA

Public Safety Officials Advise Commuters To Avoid Downtown During President Trump's Visit

City of Pittsburgh public safety officials had some advice for Downtown commuters hoping to come to work when President Trump visits Wednesday: try to avoid it.

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Katie Blackley / 90.5 WESA

Former Pittsburgh Passion QB To Be Inducted Into Women's Football Hall Of Fame

Scott Kelly / NASA via AP

New AI Device Will Listen For Mechanical Problems Aboard International Space Station

Politics & Government

Voting Reform Package Emerges In Pennsylvania Capitol

By Marc Levy | Associated Press • 3 hours ago
Matt Rourke / AP

Legislation unveiled Monday would overhaul some aspects of how voters cast ballots in Pennsylvania while delivering much of the money counties need to buy voting machines ahead of next year's presidential election.

Public Safety Officials Advise Commuters To Avoid Downtown During President Trump's Visit

By • 5 hours ago
Jared Murphy / 90.5 WESA

City of Pittsburgh public safety officials had some advice for Downtown commuters hoping to come to work when President Trump visits Wednesday: try to avoid it.

Black Americans Don’t Always Respond To The Census. Pennsylvania’s NAACP Is Trying To Correct That

By • 14 hours ago
Katie Meyer / WITF

Census officials are working to encourage black Americans to participate in the once-a-decade survey.

Science, Health & Tech

New AI Device Will Listen For Mechanical Problems Aboard International Space Station

By • 16 hours ago
Scott Kelly / NASA via AP

A device created in Pittsburgh will be sent to the International Space Station next month. SoundSee, developed by technology company Bosch, uses artificial intelligence to detect mechanical problems based on sound. The project is in collaboration with Pittsburgh-based space robotics company, Astrobotic.

Pennsylvania's Individual Health Plan Premiums To Rise 4%

By • Oct 18, 2019
Gene J. Puskar / AP

Premiums for health insurers' individual policies in Pennsylvania for 2020 will reflect an aggregate statewide increase of 4 percent, with an increase of 10 percent in the small group market.

Allegheny County Man Files Suit Saying He Was Denied Job For Medical Marijuana Use

By • Oct 16, 2019
Sarah Kovash / 90.5 WESA

Pennsylvania opened its medical marijuana registry to patients two years ago, and it was only a matter of time before a case like Derek Gsell’s would arise.

Identity & Justice

Report: Synagogue Massacre Led To String Of Attack Plots

By Michael Kunzelman | AP • 13 hours ago
Matt Rourke / AP

At least 12 white supremacists have been arrested on allegations of plotting, threatening or carrying out anti-Semitic attacks in the U.S. since the massacre at a Pittsburgh synagogue nearly one year ago, a Jewish civil rights group reported Sunday.

PHOTOS: Demonstrators Gather To Raise Awareness Of Allegheny County's More Than 4,100 Homeless Youth

By • Oct 18, 2019
Jared Murphy / 90.5 WESA

More than 4,100 children in Allegheny County were homeless in 2018. Students, youth advocates and city officials gathered in Market Square on Friday afternoon to raise awareness of this population at the Standup For Homeless Children demonstration. 

After Deadly Shooting, Tree Of Life Plans Reopening

By Ramesh Santanam | Associated Press • Oct 18, 2019
Katie Blackley / 90.5 WESA

Leaders of the Pittsburgh synagogue where worshipers were fatally shot last year want to rebuild and renovate the building, turning it into what they hope will be a "center for Jewish life in the United States" and a symbol against hatred.

Education

State University Leaders Seek $100M To Redesign System

By • Oct 18, 2019
Keith Srakocic / AP

The system overseeing more than a dozen Pennsylvania universities has unanimously voted to ask the state for up to $100 million over the next five years to further consolidate.

Good Question!
Katie Blackley / 90.5 WESA

Historic Bellefield Tower Demonstrates Balance Of Preservation And Progress

A weathered stone structure sits quietly on the corner of Fifth and Bellefield avenues in Oakland as students, cars and buses hurry past. Six sandstone steps guide visitors to a big red door framed by black wrought iron fasteners.

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Katie Blackley / 90.5 WESA

Pittsburgh Vs. Seattle: Which City Actually Has More Cloudy Days?

Why Are There So Many 'Run Roads' In The Pittsburgh Region?

Development & Transportation

URA Vote Sets The Stage For Lower Hill Development In Spring 2020

By • Oct 18, 2019
Gensler

On Friday the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority cleared the way for the Pittsburgh Penguins to begin development of the former Civic Arena site in spring 2020. The particulars of the deal have been the subject of intense negotiation for years.

Winter Is Coming, And Western PA Needs Plow Truck Drivers

By , & • Oct 16, 2019
Carolyn Kaster / AP

On today's program: Southwestern Pennsylvania is hiring a couple hundred plow truck drivers; the Steelers say Mexico is their biggest international market, but others are growing; Pittsburgh Opera is encouraging patrons to use their cell phone during shows; and Pittsburgh International warns catfishing for airline fees is much more common than you’d think.

Arts, Sports, & Culture

August Wilson House Secures Half-Million-Dollar Grant

By • 1 hour ago
Photo by Jared Murphy / 90.5 WESA News

The August Wilson House has awarded a federal grant of nearly $500,000 toward restoration of the famed, Pittsburgh-born playwright’s boyhood home in the Hill District.

Officials say the funds will allow construction to begin on the 1840s brick house on Bedford Avenue, where Wilson, his mother and six siblings lived in the 1940s and ’50s. The $499,628 grant, administered by project partner Duquesne University, complements $5 million raised last year by a group of celebrities organized by actor Denzel Washington, among the nation’s most prominent Wilson admirers.

In An Emergency, Preparedness Depends On The Public

By , & • 6 hours ago
Courtesy of Sheri Fink / Washington and Jefferson College

On today's program: Author Sheri Fink tells Pittsburgh what it means to be prepared; a look at one free, community-based fitness program changing lives; the people and plans behind the URA’s latest deadline for the Civic Arena site; and how Friday’s 3rd Circuit Court ruling will affect protests outside abortion providers in Pittsburgh.

Environment & Energy

Report: ExxonMobil Scouting Property For 2nd Cracker Plant In Beaver County

By Reid Frazier | StateImpact Pennsylvania • Oct 17, 2019
Picture of ethane "cracker"
BASF

ExxonMobil is reportedly looking for land to build a large chemical plant in Beaver County. 

Activists Urge Wolf, Again, To Shut Down The Mariner Pipelines

By • Oct 17, 2019
Katie Meyer / WITF

Democratic Governor Tom Wolf got some unexpected visitors Wednesday—or at least, the hallway outside his office did.

Chemical Safety Board Says PES Refinery Explosion 'Did Not Have To Happen'

By • Oct 17, 2019
Emma Lee / WHYY

An outdated piece of pipe that had corroded so much its sides were the width of half a credit card led to the catastrophic explosion and fire at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery in June, according to a new report out Wednesday by the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board.

Economy & Business

NFL Season Rockets Pennsylvania To New Sports Betting Record

By • Oct 17, 2019
Fred Vuich / AP

Sports betting in Pennsylvania blew through its previous monthly record with the start of the NFL season.

What Does Fentanyl Cost PA In Dollars? Auditor Tries To Find Out

By • Oct 17, 2019
Rick Bowmer / AP

Pennsylvania’s auditor general says when his team set out to determine how much addiction to opioids—and in particular, the powerful synthetic drug fentanyl—costs Pennsylvania, they immediately ran into some problems.

Local Headlines

Doctor Who Traded Opioids For Sex Found Guilty

By • Oct 18, 2019
Toby Talbot / AP

A Pennsylvania doctor who authorities say traded opioid prescriptions for sex and sexually explicit photos and texts has been convicted.

PA Hunters, Anglers Warned Of Scam Licensing Websites

By Rachel McDevitt | WITF • Oct 15, 2019
Keith Srakocic / AP

Pennsylvania hunters and anglers should watch out for fraudulent licensing websites, state officials say.

The Game Commission and Fish and Boat Commission said those who use third-party sites are wasting their money and risking identity fraud by providing personal information, including social security numbers.

Game Commission spokesman Travis Lau recommended getting a license in person, for those wary of the scam websites.

Food & Drink

PA's Pumpkin Farmers Dealing With Lower Than Normal Crop Yields

By • Oct 14, 2019
Jared Murphy / 90.5 WESA

Some pumpkin farmers in western Pennsylvania have seen lower than normal crop yields this year. The culprit? Heavy summer rains that kept important pollinators away and spread fungal disease.

National & International

A Push To Have Cars Say 'No' To Drunk Drivers

By • 1 hour ago

As cars become smarter and safer, some members of Congress want to require them to be built to prevent drunk driving.

Sens. Tom Udall, D-N.M., and Rick Scott, R-Fla., introduced legislation last week that would make it mandatory for all new cars and trucks to come loaded with passive, virtually unnoticeable, alcohol detection systems by 2024.

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