Though he hinted at a run for months, one-time gubernatorial candidate and Republican state Sen. Doug Mastriano announced Wednesday he will not challenge Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro this year. That leaves state Treasurer Stacy Garrity as the only GOP contender to declare an interest in the race.

Three of western Pennsylvania's four Planned Parenthood clinics — including the Downtown Pittsburgh location — will close their in-person services this month. The organization says it has struggled to fill vacant nurse positions amid a statewide nursing shortage. www.wesa.fm/health-scien...

The Blocks announce the demise of the Pittsburgh @post-gazette.com one week after they folded @pghcitypaper.com Local news is more important now than ever before. Pittsburgh’s journalists need your support.

Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania is temporarily closing three of its four family planning clinics, leaving a significant portion of the organization’s 13,000 patients without medical care in the interim. Planned Parenthood said the closure is the result of a shortage of nurses.

The owners of Pittsburgh’s largest newspaper say they will shut down in May. Block Communications, Inc. said Wednesday it plans to publish the final edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and cease operations on May 3.

Democratic state senators gathered in Harrisburg to mark — and denounce — the fifth anniversary of the attack on the U.S. Capitol. But while their focus remained on law enforcement and protesters that died as a result of the event, lawmakers also put the spotlight on a more recent development.

Rock climbing is the latest skill Neko has picked up, thanks to Pittsburgh Public Schools’ COVID Compensatory Services program. It’s how the district is working to recover the therapies and learning support students like Neko lost during the COVID-19 school shutdowns.

In his inauguration speech, O’Connor acknowledged the city faces major challenges, including a city budget that faces lean years, even after City Council passed a tax hike in the waning hours of 2025.

Former government officials say the state isn’t doing enough to regulate fracking waste, even as new research shows it’s far more radioactive than previously known.

More than a decade after regulators promised to improve reporting standards for this waste, an Inside Climate News investigation found huge discrepancies in state records.

Every even-numbered election year, when voters choose presidents, governors and legislators, national groups hire temporary staff to find people not yet registered to vote, or who need to update their registration.

A $42 billion federal grant program was supposed to expand broadband to all Pennsylvanians. But a year of cuts and rule changes leaves the program in a difficult position.

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey will allow a 2026 city budget that includes a 20% property tax hike to go into effect without his signature — expressing reservations about the proposal but acknowledging he does not have the leverage to stop it.

On Tuesday — the 53rd anniversary of that play, known as the Immaculate Reception — the Senator John Heinz History Center announced it will rename its Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum for the Hall of Fame running back.

Before all the national acclaim, myriad recounts, and before it was even dubbed "The Immaculate Reception," the first person ever to tell the story was just a kid from East Liberty.

Originally called the Renaissance City Choir, the group now known as the Pittsburgh Pride Choir rang in the holiday season earlier this month in front of a packed sanctuary at East Liberty Presbyterian Church.

The U.S. The Supreme Court granted the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's motion on Dec. 22 to stay an appellate court injunction ordering the newspaper to reinstate the former strikers’ health care and return to bargaining for a new union contract.

A Pittsburgh City Council member has proposed using eminent domain to obtain a troubled 100-unit apartment building in Homewood in order to preserve the building as low-income housing and keep its elderly tenants from being displaced.

Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services is notifying households who might have lost benefits like medical or food assistance because of a problem with a state mail vendor that caused more than one million pieces of mail to be delayed by a month, officials said Friday.

Under the glow of twinkling lights and jingle bells, something darker emerged to mark the start of the holiday season this month in Pgh. At Penn Brewery, people of all ages celebrated the arrival of Krampus, a half-demon half-goat folklore character tasked with punishing misbehaving children.

The increase now awaits final passage, which is expected later this afternoon. The hike, which would raise the city’s property tax burden by $161 a year for a $100,000 property, would go into effect next year. It's expected to raise roughly $28.3 million next year.

Funding for child care, home services for older adults, and disability support will increase under Pennsylvania’s latest budget, but recruitment and retention are expected to persist in the long term.

The holidays are busy and you are distracted, which gives fraudsters more ways to steal your money. Here are ways to protect yourself during the Christmas hustle and bustle.

It’s the first new major facility for the utility in almost 20 years. The modern pumping system is designed to cut back on any interruptions in the flow of drinking water for about two-thirds of Pittsburgh Water’s service area.

The bills ready for Shapiro’s signature include a ban on unregulated nicotine vapes, a revamped DUI treatment program for first-time offenders, and changes to the way unemployed people access benefits.

Pittsburgh City Councilors gave some early indications Thursday about the kind of cuts and other changes they might be willing to make to next year’s city budget.

Multiple outlets citing anonymous sources, reported Wednesday that the Hoffmann Family of Companies is nearing final stages of an agreement to purchase one of the league's marquee franchises. Purchase would need to be approved by the NHL's Board of Governors, though that is often merely a formality.

City school board members on Wednesday approved a $731 million budget for the district. While the district originally recommended a 4% millage increase, the final budget raises the tax rate by only half that amount.

The Justice Department has said the subpoena, filed in July, is part of an investigation into fraud related to the promotion of puberty blockers and hormone therapies. It calls for UPMC to hand over extensive documentation related to gender-affirming care it has offered.

The program offered up to $45,000 in aid for first-time homebuyers in Allegheny County outside of the city of Pittsburgh, who had already qualified for a mortgage. (A similar program already exists for Pittsburgh residents.)

Council has called Gainey’s proposed financial plan for next year inadequate to meet city’s needs. Lavelle said councilors are working to find around $20M to cover purported shortfalls in allocations for overtime pay & utility bills, and to fund an upgrade to the city’s long-neglected vehicle fleet.

All three establishments were featured as part of a Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership walking tour on Tuesday, meant to highlight the support each received from PDP economic development initiatives. The showcase was part of a broader effort to encourage people to take up residence Downtown.

Allegheny County is among the oldest in the U.S. More than a quarter of its residents are over the age of 60, a number only expected to increase, according to the county health department’s Area Agency on Aging.

The U.S. Route 322 State College Area Connector project will affect agricultural lands, local waterways and homes. A yearslong project in Penn State's landscape architecture program has been looking into ways to minimize those impacts.

The Trump administration has proposed big changes to federal protections for threatened and endangered species, habitat, and waterways. The administration says they are needed to keep up with recent Supreme Court Rulings.

The case involves a challenge to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission’s application of anti-discrimination protections to transgender students in public schools.

Steelers star outside linebacker T.J. Watt is in the hospital after experiencing discomfort in his lungs. Spokesman Burt Lauten said the 7-time All-Pro & 2021 NFL Defensive Player of the Year was sent to the hospital on Thursday after initially reporting the discomfort to the club's medical staff.

Flights from the Irish airline Aer Lingus are scheduled to start on May 25, 2026. Nonstop flights are planned for Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays year-round, except for January and February.

Weeks after federal authorities arrested an Uzbek terror suspect with a Pennsylvania-issued commercial driver’s license, state senators convened a fact-finding panel in Harrisburg to investigate the details — without directly addressing the widely publicized episode.

School districts — whether public or private — across the commonwealth may be required to draft a policy prohibiting student cellphones with limited exceptions following a unanimous vote in the state Senate Education Committee Tuesday.

PPS is blaming “inconsistent implementation” for falling reading scores among the district’s third graders. During a presentation of the district’s Pa. System of School Assessment, superintendent Wayne Walters told board members that teachers need more time for training on reading instruction.

As budget deliberations for the city of Pittsburgh reach a critical stage in the final weeks of the year, City Councilor Barbara Warwick says the city has little choice but to enact a tax increase. On Monday, she announced plans to propose a 30 percent property tax hike next year.

Pittsburgh City Councilors want to make changes to Mayor Ed Gainey’s 2026 spending plan. Some of the money to do so might come from a fund intended to help Pittsburghers afford housing.

An Allegheny Front investigation in collaboration Inside Climate News found that this waste is often sent to the same landfills as household trash, and a patchwork of state rules that can allow it to slip by regulators, especially in Ohio.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Pennsylvania legislators are among the highest paid in the country. The average pay for a state lawmaker nationally is $47,904, but that includes part-time legislatures.

A multi-million dollar proposal designed to rehabilitate Pennsylvania’s aging housing stock failed to receive funding in the state’s 2025-2026 budget — marking the third year without a state-funded successor to the popular Whole Home Repair Program.

Pa. has quietly moved to limit access next year to popular weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy for residents covered by Medical Assistance. Beginning in Jan., Medicaid will no longer pay for adults to take the drugs for obesity only, but coverage will continue for diabetes, other conditions.

Joyful fans, local officials and a beloved mascot dog name "Amo" celebrated the city’s men’s soccer team the Pittsburgh Riverhounds for their recent championship in the United Soccer League Thursday.

Most artists who confront Pittsburgh history approach it with a certain reverence. In “The Hidden Shift,” his new installation at Mattress Factory, resident artist Ting Tong Chang takes a more ironic tack.

With no dissent, Allegheny County Council passed a budget on Tuesday that avoids a property tax increase while staving off program cuts and layoffs. Members voted unanimously to approve County Executive Sara Innamorato’s spending plan with a few additions.