Jimmy Cloutier

There you have it. Following two years of community pushback, the Pittsburgh Public school board have voted 6-3 against a plan to shutter nine schools and reorganize several others.

Nearly 80 parents urged the Pittsburgh Public School Board on Monday to vote against a proposed school closure plan that many described as “half baked.” The board votes tomorrow.

@megantomasic.bsky.social has the details.

Electric bills across Pennsylvania are set to increase next month, due in part to the rapid growth of data centers and AI.

The president this week called veteran Democrats in Congress “traitors,” questioned whether they should be locked up and charged with sedition, and then reposted a comment that said they should be hanged. The next day, the offices of one of those lawmakers received bomb threats.

Musk could spend $50 million a day for the rest of his life (assuming he makes it to 100) and still not spend a trillion dollars.

Elon Musk Wins $1 Trillion Tesla Pay Package

An incomprehensible amount of money — about half the GDP of Canada — for one person. The median Tesla worker, by contrast, earned around $57,000 in 2024. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/b...

Over the summer, my colleagues and I revealed how regulatory gaps and enforcement failures have allowed mine operators to expose workers to unsafe levels of dust, even as cases of black lung surged across Appalachia. www.post-gazette.com/news/health/...

As black lung surges, coal miners rally for protections in nation’s capital WASHINGTON — Ravaged by black lung disease, retired coal miner Gary Hairston stood with nearly 100 other underground workers and advocates on Tuesday...

Yesterday, coal miners rallied in the nation's capital to demand protections from toxic dust. New rules that were supposed to come into effect earlier this year are being challenged by the mining industry and have been paused by the Trump administration. www.post-gazette.com/news/politic...

USA: RSF and 16 press freedom groups denounce proposed journalist visa restrictions In August, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposed a new rule that would drastically restrict the amount of time foreign journalists can live and work in the country. Reporters Without B...

#USA RSF and 16 other organizations published a joint statement calling for the Trump admin to abandon a proposal to severely restrict visas for international journalists. Read the statement here: rsf.org/en/usa-rsf-a...

U.S. Is Losing Race to Return to Moon, Critics Say, Pointing at SpaceX

NEW: U.S. Is Losing Race to Return to Moon, Critics Say, Pointing at SpaceX

The company’s Starship rocket, which has suffered a series of recent test explosions, is still years away from being ready for the mission, former NASA executives say.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/u...

US appeals court orders deportation of Atlanta journalist detained by Ice Mario Guevara faces imminent removal from US as his attorney files emergency petition

Mario Guevara is here legally and is not facing any criminal charges.

He is being thrown out of the country for nothing but reporting news.

This Pennsylvania settlement could set the standard for preventing tiny plastic pellet pollution A company agreed to install technology to watch for "nurdles," tiny plastic pellets used to make all manner of goods.

This Pennsylvania settlement could set the standard for preventing tiny plastic pellet pollution.

A company agreed to install technology to watch for the tiny plastic pellets.

grist.org/solutions/pl...

#Plastic #Pennsylvania #Pollution #Health #Toxic #Climate #Environment

County Council calls on Congress to increase monthly benefits for coal miners with black lung Amid rising concerns about coal miners who have been diagnosed with black lung, County Council unanimously voted Tuesday to urge local members of Congress...

County Council calls on Congress to increase monthly benefits for coal miners with black lung

Federal regulatory gaps and enforcement lapses allow mine operators to expose their workers to dangerously high levels of coal dust. Read the latest from @michaeldsallah.bsky.social, @wereschagin.bsky.social, and me.

Mold, lead and more environmental factors threaten health of Pa. schoolchildren, per new report With data collected from 2018 through 2022, the study examined factors including air and water quality, the age of buildings and their conditions, and COVID-era ventilation upgrades.

Mold, lead and more environmental factors threaten health of Pa. schoolchildren, per new report

FWIW the National Museum of African American History is full of stories of heroism, liberation, perseverance and success against all odds, and, when I lasted visited, had a special exhibit on Afrofuturism. Black history is American history. Black culture is American culture.

Amid immigration uncertainty, ‘Hello Neighbor’ helps migrants find their place in Pittsburgh Felix Rokiko’s journey to Pittsburgh began thousands of miles ago in his home country of Uganda, which he left in February to pursue a new life in...

Amid immigration uncertainty, ‘Hello Neighbor’ helps migrants find their place in Pittsburgh

Pa. GOP bets on Garrity — not Mastriano — for governor’s race against Shapiro It’s no secret that Republicans are anxious to field a strong challenge to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s re-election next year. During a May 30 speech in West Mifflin, for example, President Donald Trump…

Republicans, eager to avoid a repeat of Doug Mastriano's 2022 loss, are rallying behind state Treasurer Stacy Garrity for governor. Though she hasn’t formally declared, GOP leaders see her as their best chance to challenge Gov. Josh Shapiro and avoid downballot damage in some key districts.

Under international law, it is a war crime to deliberately target journalists.

The U.S. desperately needs to regulate blindingly bright vehicle headlights. It’s become near impossible to drive at night

Most of the money traces back to the Blockchain Innovation Project, a pro-crypto group whose leaders include Club for Growth President David McIntosh and former Ohio Democratic Sen. Tim Ryan.

@wereschagin.bsky.social has new details on the dark money donors who spent tens of thousands of dollars to defeat Mayor Ed Gainey in the Democratic primary. www.post-gazette.com/news/politic...

Dark money in national elections gets a lot of coverage, but, increasingly, we're also seeing it seep into local politics. “It's one more nail in the coffin of our democratic system,” said Terry Goddard, a former attorney general of Arizona who led an anti-dark money campaign in the state.

Butler GOP Rep. Mike Kelly violated code of conduct during insider trading investigation, House Ethics Committee finds U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly violated congressional ethics rules and refused to fully cooperate with an investigation into insider trading by him and his wife,...

The House Ethics Committee concluded on Friday that Rep. Mike Kelly — whose wife bought $23,000 worth of stock in a steel company in 2020 — broke ethics rules during insider trading investigation. @benkail.bsky.social & @wereschagin.bsky.social have the details: www.post-gazette.com/news/politic...

✅ Done. I had been meaning to publish it. Loving the app.

Alarming number of measles cases sees U.S. on course to no longer consider the disease eliminated Surpassing a yearly measles case count not seen for more than three decades, the U.S. this week inched closer to losing its status as having eliminated...

'We're on a slippery slope': Alarming number of measles cases sees U.S. on course to no longer consider the disease eliminated

www.post-gazette.com/news/health/...

The bill that was struck down would have given city neighborhoods the power to decide whether they wanted inclusionary zoning added to new developments. A dueling proposal by Mayor Ed Gainey would mandate inclusionary zoning citywide. From @hlauer.bsky.social.

PA Task Force 1 heads to Texas to assist with rescue and recovery efforts • Pennsylvania Capital-Star Gov. Josh Shapiro announced that members of Pennsylvania Task Force 1 (PA-TF1) would be departing in the next 24 hours to lead a “multi-state support team for search, rescue, and vital response” in Te...

A group of specially trained Pennsylvanians is being deployed to Texas to respond to the flooding that has claimed the lives of at least 100 people.

I lived two years in Armenia, and no one there could agree on whether it is a European or Asian nation. I live in Pittsburgh now, and no one can agree on whether it is in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, or Northeast. I’m French-Canadian, which, in many ways, makes me neither French nor Canadian.

ICE detentions surge across Western Pennsylvania, new data shows For ICE, the numbers have been mounting. A restaurant raid in Marshall where 14 people were rounded up recently, their arms shackled to their waists, some...

Since Trump entered office, the number of immigrants detained by ICE in Western Pennsylvania has more than doubled from the same period last year. More than half have never been convicted of — or even charged with — a crime.
www.post-gazette.com/news/politic...