Lourdes Sanchez Ridge, who has served as Pittsburgh’s solicitor since the beginning of Mayor Bill Peduto’s administration in 2014, is stepping down. 

Motley Rice, LLC, a national plaintiff litigation firm, was selected after a request for qualifications went out from both municipalities last December, according to a press release. 

Facing his first electoral challenge in eight years, State Representative Paul Costa (D-Allegheny) bobbed and weaved through a whirlwind candidates’ forum Monday night, relying on his record to try to make his case for reelection. 
 
Costa’s challenger, 30 year old Braddock native community activist Summer Lee, already has the endorsement of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, and has followed through on their support with progressive rhetoric. 

Armed with 159 separate contributions — including maxed out donations from Dan Gilman and Bill Peduto’s election committee — Erika Strassburger took a commanding lead in fundraising in Pittsburgh’s March 6 special election by raking just over $91,241 in January, according to city campaign finance reports.

The election for city council’s District 8, which includes a central chunk of the affluent East End, is to replace former city councilman Gilman after he resigned to become Mayor Peduto’s new chief of staff in early January.

A messy round of lawsuits between the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority and the private water company Veolia ended in a settlement the authority announced Thursday afternoon, leaving some water advocates aggrieved.

In the settlement, PWSA will avoid paying $5 million in fees to Veolia from the contract the authority and corporation first signed in July 2012, then extended until December 2015.