Community Corner
🌱 Hays Woods Park Improvement + 51 Shut Down + Officer Reinstated
The quickest way to get caught up on the most important things happening today in Pittsburgh.
Hello all! Rachel Tasker here with your Tuesday edition of the Pittsburgh Daily, filled with everything you need to know about what's happening locally. Today you'll read about...
- Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy partnering with Allegheny Goatscape to improve Hays Woods Park
- Heavy police response shuts down part of Route 51 in Pittsburgh
- Pittsburgh Police officer accused of sexual assault by colleague to be reinstated
Here we go!
Mostly cloudy. High: 41 Low: 29.
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Here are the top stories today in Pittsburgh:
1) Pittsburgh's newly acquired Hays Woods Park will be undergoing ecosystem improvements soon, all thanks to $233,000 in grant money from the Richard King Mellon Foundation and a partnership with Allegheny Goatscape. The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy is partnering with the organization to remove invasive plant species from the park's grounds. The wooded space in Pittsburgh's Hays neighborhood officially became a city park in December 2021. It is the city's second-largest park. The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy will look to revisit key habitat sites to assess their current conditions and perform maintenance work to ensure they are stable for future comprehensive management plans, the organization said.
(TribLIVE)
2) A police chase ending in a crash and causing road closures along Route 51 resulted in three suspects being taken into custody and one suspect being hospitalized. The vehicle in question crashed at the BP gas station near Woodruff Street at around 2:40 p.m. According to Pittsburgh police, four males exited the vehicle following the crash and fled on foot. One of the suspects was hit by a car driven by one of the detectives, police said. He was taken to a hospital in critical condition, while the other three males were apprehended at the scene and taken to Pittsburgh police headquarters. The Allegheny County Police Department will investigate both the initial pursuit and the critical incident, police said.
3) State Rep. Jessica Benham (D-South Side) is the new co-chair of the state legislature's LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus. Benham, who is bisexual, became the first open LGBTQ woman to serve on Pennsylvania's state legislature when she was first elected in 2020. She is openly autistic and likely the first openly autistic elected official in state history. "Representative matters because we legislate from our lived experience," said Benham. "My advocacy is driven by what I have gone through as a queer woman." Benham said her top priority as co-chair will be continuing the caucus' advocacy to pass the Fairness Act, a law to ensure statewide non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ individual.
(TribLIVE)
4) Pittsburgh Police Officer Aaron Fetty, who was accused of sexual assault by a colleague in September 2022, is set to be reinstated to the force with back pay. The decision follows a grievance filed by the Fraternal Order of Police seeking to reinstate Fetty, and an arbitration panel sided with the FOP, voting two to one in Fetty's favor. The city has appealed the ruling to Common Pleas Court, and the case will soon be assigned to a judge.
5) Oyster lovers have had one less dining option in Pittsburgh since The Original Oyster House closed its doors on Jan. 1. Believed to be the city's oldest bar and restaurant, the Original Oyster House held a meeting with its 10 employees prior to making a closure decision and asked: 'Should we temporarily close for six weeks to give everyone a break?' They had done just that the past two years, due to pandemic and staffing challenges. The restaurant will reopen Feb. 15, a week before Lent begins, the restaurant's busiest time of the year.
(TribLIVE)
Today in Pittsburgh:
- Indoor Wise Walk — Brentwood Library (9:00 AM)
- Sit-N-Fit — Brentwood Library (9:40 AM)
- Scrapbooking — Plum Community Library (10:00 AM)
- Wild About Books — Mount Lebanon Public Library (10:00 AM)
- NAMI PA Butler County Family Support Groups (12:30 PM)
- Zumba Fitness for Adults — Mount Lebanon Public Library (1:00 PM)
From my notebook:
- US National Weather Service Pittsburgh PA: "We're lookin' at you, Thursday 🧐 A warm up is expected before a cold front moves through this weekend, bringing the polar air back to the region." (US National Weather Service Pittsburgh PA via Facebook)
- The Andy Warhol Museum: "The Sensory Friendly Teen Studio Workshop is a workshop developed specifically so that teens (ages 13–20) with sensory sensitivity needs can experience the museum in a way that works for them, happening this Friday, Jan. 13 from 6–9 p.m." (The Andy Warhol Museum via Facebook)
- Grow Pittsburgh: "Tonight is the deadline to apply for the Seedling Sale Assistant and Seedling Production Assistant positions for our 2023 growing season. " (Grow Pittsburgh via Facebook)
- Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens: "Opening Sat., Jan. 14, explore the discovery of orchids and the cultural influences behind bonsai when you visit the all-new Orchid and Tropical Bonsai Show: Origin Stories." (Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens via Facebook)
- Buy Fresh Buy Local/Farm to Table Western PA: "Applications now open for 2023 Barrel and Flow Fest! Apply now: www.barrelandflow.com/applicat... https://farmtotablepa.com/2023-barrel-flow-applications-now-open/" (Buy Fresh Buy Local/Farm to Table Western PA via Facebook)
- Carnegie Science Center: "Register now for tomorrow's Cafe Sci lecture! Learn all about Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI) with guest speaker Jonathan Graves in our next Cafe Sci on Jan. 9, presented by PPG." (Carnegie Science Center via Facebook)
Alrighty, you're all good for today! I'll see you soon.
— Rachel Tasker
About me: Rachel is a native Pennsylvanian with stops in Erie and State College before making Pittsburgh her home in 2020. She's got a background in a little bit of everything... from working in media newsrooms and public health to the 2016 Presidential election in Washington, D.C. and the 2019 Super Bowl where (surprise!) Tom Brady won... AGAIN. She loves good coffee, bad reality T.V., attending local events and trying new food in the 412. She resides in the South Hills.
Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Pittsburgh Daily? Contact me at pittsburgh@patch.com
