NewsBreak Original

Pittsburgh District 5 Councilman Corey O'ConnorPhoto courtesy of Councilman Corey O'Connor. From the office of Pittsburgh District 5 City Councilman Corey O’Connor. Now that it’s summer, I wanted to remind everyone of some of the great programming that the City of Pittsburgh offers this season.

From the office of Pennsylvania 43rd District Senator Jay Costa. PA 43rd District State Senator Jay CostaPhoto courtesy of Sen. Jay Costa. Senate Democrats are leading the fight in Harrisburg to address the serious gun violence problem that exists in Pennsylvania and across the country. Last week, we filed discharge resolutions intended to move anti-gun violence legislation to the floor of the State Senate for a vote. While Senate Republicans have moved bills that would make guns more accessible and make it harder for municipalities to address gun violence, bills from Senate Democrats that strengthen gun safety in the Commonwealth have been stalled in committee.

Swinburne Bridge in 2018.Photo by hhm8, licensed under CC BY 2.0. The 107-year-old Swinburne Bridge is slated for replacement, but the project suffered a false start in the area of community input. Residents complained to Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure that a scheduled June 16 meeting was not well publicized and affected households were not notified far enough in advance.

Terri L. Shields.Photo courtesy of Terri L. Shields. Being in my later years of life, I have had my aging challenges in remembering what happened last week. With all this being said and established, I cannot remember or tell the day or the hour I first had a conversation with Terri L. Shields.

When Mayor Ed Gainey announced an end to the Mon-Oakland Connector (MOC) shuttle road at the February 17 Greater Hazelwood community meeting, residents of affected communities applauded. They immediately requested basic improvements like safe street crossings, sidewalks and facilities for after-school programs. Officials offered no specific plans for redistributing MOC funds, but early reports focused on building a biking and walking trail that follows the same MOC route.

At the June 14 community meeting, non-profit developer Community Builders gave Hazelwood a look at evolving designs for a four-story mixed-use building planned for the east side of the 4800 block of the Second Avenue business district.

It’s summer break and most students are out of school, hopefully enjoying their time at home, on vacation, at camps, or playing with their friends. Maybe some kids are finding themselves bored and unsure how to fill their time. Three Rivers Village School’s calendar resembles, very closely, Pittsburgh Public School’s calendar so our students are also out. Though that may be one of the only resemblances our school has to PPS.

Arsenal 201's Phase II, which is the first project to be triggered by the inclusionary zoning ordinance in Lawrenceville.Photo by Dave Breingan. By Dave Breingan, Executive Director of Lawrenceville United.

The massive, three-story brick structure at 5005 Lytle will return to its original use after 85 years next spring. That is when the Hazelwood Brewing Company will come back to life with three craft brewers, an independent food vendor, a beer garden and incredible views from the rooftop deck.

A grocery store on the 4800 block of Second Avenue could succeed, concludes a feasibility report commissioned by neighborhood community groups. The study anticipates that as Greater Hazelwood’s population grows, demand for convenient, affordable groceries will increase along with it.

We cruised through neighborhood streets, onto highways, and finally up a picturesque driveway with a brook alongside it. The sky was full of clouds that looked like they belonged over Lake Erie, and the beehives were bustling with activity. We were finally meeting our bee hero: Chris Vario, owner of Sonny Rose Ranch, a forty-acre apiary south of Pittsburgh.

4900 block development concepts aim to be accessible, sociable and active. By Juliet Martinez with additional reporting by Sarah Kanar. The updated concept drawings for developing the 4900 block of Second Avenue reflect feedback the architects received in December. Community members stressed the need for accessible, sociable spaces that can invigorate the neighborhood and its economy. Kate Tunney of Rothschild Doyno Collaborative presented designs that revolved around building a three-story addition to one side of 4901 Second Avenue, which stands at the corner with Flowers Avenue.

Straight Outta Hazelwood is a series of profiles written by Andrea Coleman, a lifelong Hazelwood resident and founder of the Garden of Different Abilities. Bill Muldoon on vacation in Iceland in 2017.Photo by Beth Muldoon.

Erika "E" Johnson is a Pittsburgh native, a singer-songwriter, writer and founder of Beata Beatus Co. Find out more at www.erikadenaej.com.Photo courtesy of Erika Johnson. I have a coworker who laughed at my comment that Juneteenth should be a national holiday. How do I deal with a response like this and microaggressions at work regarding my cultural viewpoints?

The Hazelwood Food Recycling Site is one link in a self-contained neighborhood supply chain that is helping address poverty and protect the environment using community currency.

Sen. Jay Costa, 43rd district representativePhoto courtesy of the office of Sen. Jay Costa. From the office of State Senator Jay Costa, representing the 43rd district. As you’ve traveled around Pittsburgh over the last few years, you have undoubtedly seen the signs of our City’s burgeoning driverless car industry, also known as highly automated vehicles (HAVs). We are lucky to host a wide array of HAV companies and inventive people at our local universities. Because of this, we are well positioned to be a leader as this new industry develops.

Pittsburgh District 5 Councilman Corey O'ConnorPhoto courtesy of Councilman Corey O'Connor's office. From the office District 5 Councilman Corey O’Connor. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s (PennDOT) ongoing regional bridge and road work includes improvements and modifications to the Route 885 corridor, including areas in and near the neighborhood of Hazelwood.

Greater Hazelwood is changing, and some residents have reported getting calls from people asking to buy their homes. Investors who want to buy older or distressed properties that are not on the market yet take the direct approach of asking, “Do you want to sell your house?”

If you have questions about sexuality, gender, safer sex or birth control, but you don’t know who to ask, you’re in luck. The Planned Parenthood drop-in center at 5125 Second Avenue in Hazelwood is open again.

On April 26, Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI) hosted a meeting via Microsoft Teams to kick off public engagement on its Sylvan Avenue Multimodal project, presenting early plans and fielding questions from community members.