Helen Gerhardt (she/her)

This is disgraceful. RFK Jr is literally telling these kids/families that they deserve neglect, illness and death because they weren't lucky enough to be born into a wealthy, white family like him.

Yes, the @pghguild.com is still on its unfair labor practices strike, and still publishing a strike paper, with news on a meeting on the I-79/Route 910 Wexford interchange and two city traffic calming projects; a feature on fall parks events; and the big PUP football notebook: www.unionprogress.com

CNN has identified at least 100 U.S. citizen children who have been separated from their parents after ICE deported them - including newborns.

As a parent I cannot imagine the horror of being separated from my child, but that trauma is even more acute for the innocent children left behind.

They also have one of the most effective school systems in the world. They did that (in part) by treating teaching like an actual profession, as illustrious as being a doctor or a lawyer, with similar academic expectations and similar salary standards.

Finland ends homelessness and provides shelter for all in need - scoop.me In Finland, the number of homeless people has fallen sharply. Why? The country applies the "Housing First" concept agains homelessness.

“In Finland, the number of homeless people has fallen sharply. Those affected receive a small apartment & counselling with no preconditions. 4 out of 5 people affected make their way back into a stable life. And all this is CHEAPER than accepting homelessness.”

It costs a lot less to house people.

If this gets through, we're all on that list. And then there's no fleeing anything.

Pittsburgh lawyers and advocates scramble to protect local Guatemalan children amid U.S. deportation push Up to 10 migrant teens in Pittsburgh-area shelters flagged for rapid removal amid U.S. deportation push over weekend. A U.S. judge halted it.

While many were 3-day-weekending, a few were scrambling to prevent the federal gov't from stealthily deporting Guatemalan minors, including some housed in Pittsburgh, @jamiewiggan.bsky.social and @quinnglabicki.bsky.social reported www.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-a...

Tyler Pecyna's Pittsburgh Union Progress newsletter is really good. He will send it to you, too. Just sign up for free at www.unionprogress.com/subscribe/.

Study: Many Allegheny County psych hospitalizations do more harm than good Involuntary psychiatric hospitalizations — when they’re judgment calls by doctors — can lead to the kinds of harm they are intended to prevent, per a study of Allegheny County data.

The cause of the disparity is debated, and the effects of 302s can be positive or negative (or both). But recent research shows that "judgment call" 302s nearly double risks of overdose, suicide or a charge for a violent crime. www.publicsource.org/mental-healt...

Involuntary ‘302’ hospitalizations fall more heavily on Black patients. Would AOT be different? Data from Allegheny County and neighboring states reveals the racial disparities behind court-ordered mental health care. Would AOT be different?

Black people in Allegheny County are more than twice as likely to be involuntarily committed for mental health care ("302ed") than are whites. www.publicsource.org/racial-dispa...

National guard troops lounging outside a Krispy Kreme

Dearest Martha,

The National Guard stand solemn watch at the Krispy Kreme tonight. I cannot tell if they defend the people from the donuts, or the donuts from the people. Powdered sugar hangs in the air like cannon smoke. Jensen took a hot coffee to the face, he may never recover.

Yours in glaze,

For anyone still saying that a Canadian like me should “mind my own business,” there’s literally nothing that’s more my business — more EVERYONE’s business — than the most powerful nation in the world right next door turning itself into a lawless, fact-less, corrupt dictatorship.

Nothing. #ElbowsUp

STARTER PACK: ICYMI, this is one of my favourite and most important Starter Packs, I co-curated with celebrated climate scientist and exceptional science communicator @katharinehayhoe.com. People and organizations that specifically overlap smart/better cities and climate action. Please share widely!

We have to talk about this also as an insult to the National Guard, who are being used as political props by the President and governors. They signed up to serve their country and their communities, and are now being turned into playthings of a political operation. It’s a slap in the face.

Your Pittsburgh-area story idea or tip for Public Source This is for anyone in the Pittsburgh region (including all of Allegheny County and its bordering counties) or with information relevant to our area to share ideas, tips, stories that you think our new...

Then please consider submitting your real, non-AI-assisted, Pittsburgh-informed essay concept via our pitch form: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

🚨 ICE destroys a restaurant, arresting 16 people, literally started a FIRE; no criminal activity being committed by those arrested. 📌 The criminals destroyed a restaurant and kidnapped 16 people.

Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to improve the process of Federal

1. Federal funding for research promotes tech, biomedical, and scientific discovery in the US, and provides training for the sci/tech workforce that has brought immeasurable wealth to the US over the past 75 years.

Today's executive order includes a provision that will obliterate both functions.

Your 401(k) Is Billionaires’ Next Bailout Scheme President Trump could bail out private equity companies — by letting them loot your retirement plan.

Trump is about to let private equity billionaires loot 70 million Americans’ 401k accounts.

This could be history’s largest wealth transfer from workers to billionaires.

And it will barely be one day of headlines.

www.levernews.com/your-401-k-i...

Why a NASA satellite that scientists and farmers rely on may be destroyed on purpose The Trump administration has asked NASA staffers to draw up plans to end at least two satellite missions that measure carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, according to current and former NASA employees.

Head of NASA Sean Duffy intends to destroy a satellite that collects key data on carbon dioxide and plant health, by causing it to burn up in the atmosphere. The U.S. Dept of Agriculture and private agriculture firms use the data to forecast crop yield, drought conditions and more.

Great to see this in print—a collection of essays from @knightcolumbia.org’s collaboration with @randersenjones.bsky.social @sonjawest.bsky.social about, well, the future of press freedom. Features essays from many of the country’s leading press freedom scholars and lawyers.

America under GOP rule.

In my book, I show that an eviction can ruin someone's life *even if it never happens.* A mere eviction FILING—even one dismissed in court—can destroy your credit and lock you out of housing for years.

That's why I say people aren't "falling" into homelessness. They're being pushed.

ICE activity is rising in Pittsburgh. Know what to do. Where ICE detains people in the Pittsburgh area, how many are affected and what to do. Rights and resources from Casa San José, ACLU and other local groups.

News you can use: What to do, and not to do, at an ICE scene www.publicsource.org/resource-gui...

On the ground with the volunteers tracking ICE across the Pittsburgh region More than 250 Casa San José-trained volunteers respond to immigration enforcement at courthouses, businesses and neighborhoods.

Here's a deep look at the Rapid Response Network, which rallies to locations of ICE activity to monitor and educate www.publicsource.org/local-volunt...

ICE and allies hit Ambridge with ‘most intense’ roundup yet seen in Pittsburgh region Beaver County law enforcement partnered with federal immigration agents in the “most intense” roundup to date. Two bystanders were also arrested.

Last night in Ambridge, ICE and local allies got "gnarly" - arresting 12, including some who were observing, documenting and engaging in expression or obstruction, depending on your take. @quinnglabicki.bsky.social was on scene www.publicsource.org/beaver-count...

Study: Many Allegheny County psych hospitalizations do more harm than good Involuntary psychiatric hospitalizations — when they’re judgment calls by doctors — can lead to the kinds of harm they are intended to prevent, per a study of Allegheny County data.

Even as Trump pushes involuntary mental health commitments, researchers' deep dive into Allegheny County data says that in cases when it's not clear-cut, a "302" can raise risks of violent crime, suicide or OD, @venuri.bsky.social reports www.publicsource.org/mental-healt...

Penn Plaza 10 Year Commemoration: Rally for Justice and Action on Affordable Housing · Pennsylvania United 2025 marks ten years since the start of the mass displacement of Penn Plaza residents in East Liberty. Join us to hear their stories a decade later and to rally for affordable housing solutions for al...

I'm attending Pennsylvania United's event, “Penn Plaza 10 Year Commemoration: Rally for Justice and Action on Affordable Housing” - sign up now to jo www.mobilize.us/paunited/eve...

This is the deliberate political throttling of a resource critical to healthcare providers everywhere, but especially here in the US. It's been a critical early-warning system that has proven its value for decades. Trump got a grip on its throat the 1st go-round, RFKJr will choke it to death.

an image that defines a concentration camp as Mass detention without trial, Targeted group persecution, State or military operational control, Harsh, inhumane conditions, Isolation and surveillance, Fear as a tool of control.

All the hallmarks.

The Grand Opening of an American Concentration Camp The Republicans are proudly calling it “Alligator Alcatraz.” Let’s call it what it is.

Where we are as a country:

"The funding in the bill will make ICE the largest jailer in the world, with $200 billion at their disposal."

newrepublic.com/article/1975...