South Pittsburgh Reporter - Serving South Pittsburgh Since 1939

South Pittsburghers, along with the rest of the city, have an opportunity they haven’t had since 2005: to choose a new mayor without having a sitting mayor in the race. Along with having to decide which of the four Democratic and one Republican...

Natalia Rudiak has earned the privilege of having the opportunity to be on the ballot in the November General Election on the Democratic ticket. Over the last four years she has demonstrated an ability to bring an intelligent thought process to City...

Recent developments in the council of Mount Michener should give the subjects pause to reflect on what has happened in their little fiefdom on the hill. In recent months, Council President Billie Michener and her band of followers dismissed two long-...

Nearly 35 years ago I went to my first Mount Oliver Borough Council meeting. I can still remember sitting in the gallery of the Council Chambers, what is now the borough administrative office. Then, the borough secretary was Freda Froelich, council...

South Side and South Siders are often looked at with envy by people in other neighborhoods throughout the city. The rest of the city is now looking at South Side to see how it handles the process of exploring a Neighborhood Improvement District. In...

Today is Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011. Voter turn out is expected to be low because of the off-year election, but there are still important choices to be made. This year, Allegheny County voters will elect a new Chief Executive, Controller, Co...

Over the past several years Mount Oliver Borough has been in the headlines on too many occasions. Drugs, shootings, and public safety issues are an everyday concern. But for a while, the issue receiving the most amount of press was what was going on...

In the Allegheny County Executive race, the choice is easy. Rich Fitzgerald has been attentive to the issues of South Pittsburgh for over a decade. Mr. Fitzgerald has represented South Pittsburgh's 16 th Ward neighborhoods on County Council, and as...

Pius...the disregarded street. I couldn't agree more with Mr. Tarkett's Letter to the Editor about Pius Street still being a speedway (Pius still a speedway, April 12, 2011). My husband and I have lived on Pius Street for 15 years. We also have a...

(Editor's Note: The Historic Review Commission approved demolishing of the Bluestone building at its August meeting after several member of the commission abstained and over the protests of several South Side residents. The project now has to go...

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's announcement several weeks ago that he was going to move the Zone 3 Police Station two-thirds of a mile from Mary Street in the South Side to E. Warrington Avenue on the Hilltop has garnered the expected reactions. On the Hill...

Guest Commentorial By Bruce A. Kraus Recently, a public meeting of the Pittsburgh City Council, District Three, was held on South Side to provide the residents with the opportunity to address the council with their concerns and suggestions of how...

The city legislation that limits the number of liquor licenses permitted in the South Side may soon get its first test. At last week's South Side Planning Forum meeting Durid Aboud along with his attorney, Louis Caputo, addressed the community about...

Companies planning to locate or develop property on the South Side should take notice of events of the last month in the neighborhood. Twice in the last month Councilman Bruce A. Kraus called special town meetings to allow residents and business...

Several weeks ago, the City of Pittsburgh Department of Public Works asked for public comment on a decorative metal fence in the 1700 block of East Carson Street. Perhaps through the efforts of community minded residents, the notices were removed fro...

To borrow an often used expression on the South Side these days, it's better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission. Late last week notices were posted on poles in the 1700 and 1800 blocks of East Carson Street by the City of Pittsburgh...

Councilman Jeff Koch's legislation to limit bars on the South Side is finally coming before City Council in a form that will pass. The legislation sets a saturation point for liquor licenses in Local Commercial Districts of 2 million square feet or...

If at first you don't succeed, try try again. Today, Councilman Jeff Koch is expected to present the latest version of his “bar legislation” to City Council. This time, although he has his numbers correct, he is still operating under the...

Otto von Bismark once said, “Laws are like sausage, it is better not to see them made.” Although law wasn't made, certainly history was made in a like manner last week at the Mount Oliver Borough Council meeting. The March meeting went too late...

The Pittsburgh Planning Commission's decision against the proposed legislation to limit the number of bars throughout the city in Local Neighborhood Commercial districts shouldn't be seen as a defeat for the residents of South Side. The legislation,...

The revolving door to the Zone 3 police commander's office has once again turned bringing in newly named Commander Lawrence Ross III while pushing out Commander RaShall Brackney. In the shuffling of police supervisory personnel, Commander Brackney...

On Tuesday, Jan. 23 the Pittsburgh Planning Commission will consider making a change to zoning in Local Neighborhood Commercial (LNC) districts that among other things would place limitations on the number of liquor licenses that could be located in...

I write you today as a native son, born and raised here, hoping to alarm enough people into action. In 1996, the Presidential race consisted of Clinton, Dole and Perot. Most candidates offer one or two good ideas amidst a plethora of poor ones and Ro...

City Council has all but collectively turned its back on residents of the South Side Flats and Slopes. In the preliminary vote taken on Wednesday Sept. 20, and the final vote on Tuesday, Sept. 26, Councilman Motznick, from Carrick, was the only...

There are many neighborhoods that envy South Side for what it has including a robust business district, a growing population, one of the best elementary schools in the city and a plan, The South Side Neighborhood Plan. The South Side Neighborhood...