Surrounded by labor union organizers, in Allegheny County Courthouse, Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) with Senators Lindsey Williams (D-Allegheny) and Vincent Hughes (D-Philadelphia) announced legislation intended to help workers unionize with greater ease on Thursday.

According to the legislation’s sponsors what’s being called the Workplace Freedom Act protects Pennsylvania workers by strengthening bargaining. 

If Councilwoman Erika Strassburger (D-District 8) has her way, Pittsburgh’s municipal waste and recycling code will see an update of the rights and responsibilities of tenants and landlords alike within the city. 

Previously within city code there were standards for how residents should dispose of waste and recycling. The legislation Strassburger introduced Tuesday will clarify those standards and add practices to make Pittsburgh a cleaner city.

Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto has had a sometimes fraught relationship with the self-driving car industry. Monday, surrounded by the area’s industry leaders, he put past differences aside to introduce an executive order outlining guidelines for testing self-driving cars in the steel city.

The result of much collaboration, what’s being called the Pittsburgh Principles will act as an agreement between testers such as Uber and Aurora Innovation and the city with regard to the ever evolving technology surrounding autonomous vehicles. One that covers transparency, safety, and environmental guidelines. 

Since 2013, the Wilkinsburg School District has been on Pennsylvania’s financial watch list. According to Auditor General Eugene DePasquale despite the additional oversight the district entered into a risky tax collection agreement that cost saddled them with even more debt.

“My audit found the school district bundled its delinquent real estate taxes into a payday-type loan, which is akin to gambling with public money,” DePasquale said. “That deal should never have happened.”

Liv Bennett had been approached about running for office before, but despite her years of activism, she feared she wouldn’t be taken seriously. After a summer of organizing for police reform in Allegheny County in the wake of Antwon Rose’s death, she decided Allegheny County Council needed new blood for things to really change. Tuesday night she kicked off her campaign for the District 13 seat.