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On average, African Americans experienced homicide victimization at a rate 19 times greater than the rate for non-blacks. 51 percent of offenders were under the age of 25, 80 percent were African American, and 93 percent were male. Homicides were most often perpetrated between individuals of the same race; 74 percent were perpetrated by a black offender against a black victim and 11 percent between a white offender and white victim. Six percent of cases were between a black offender and white victim; 7 percent between a white offender and black victim.

Allegheny County saw one of the steepest population declines in the United States last year, continuing a decadeslong trend in Western Pennsylvania, which has steadily lost residents since the collapse of key industries in the 1970s. According to data released Thursday by the Census Bureau, more than 12,000 people left the county last year — about a 1% drop — landing it in the top 10 counties for population loss between July 2021 and 2022. A host of factors have been blamed for the drop, including the COVID-19 pandemic and a surge in violent crime nationwide that has led to...

Back in September of 2022, forensics expert Erich Speckin discovered over 10,000 ballots in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County that had substantially inferior image quality compared to other ballots provided: “Many of these images have similar defects in the printing/copying process which would indicate common source of production, but different than the remaining examined ballots. Clearly in the mail in counting area, a random printing defect that may have existed in mailing out of ballots could not consistently come back and be counted on the same scanner. Therefore, a printing defect on the printing side of the ballot creation is not the...

Pennsylvania’s experience with private election grants should be evidence enough for lawmakers across the country to regulate their use.Despite widespread allegations of fraud after the 2020 election in Pennsylvania, I feel confident that fraudulent votes did not decide the election’s outcome. On the other hand, I can say with confidence that the election in my home state was not conducted fairly.Through a series of open records requests, Broad + Liberty, a media outlet I helped found, discovered that the Chicago-based Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) targeted counties that vote Democrat with their election grants. Not only that, but...

With Pennsylvania’s mask mandate and COVID-19 restrictions in the rearview mirror, cases of the disease are increasing statewide. Over the past week, there have been 2,930 cases reported by the state Health Department — the highest weekly count reported since June 12, when 2,997 cases were reported within one week. This week’s number of cases is nearly twice that of the previous week’s total of 1,606 cases across the state. The statewide total of cases since the pandemic began is 1,217,857. The amount of individuals hospitalized and in intensive care due to the virus has also increased. On July 15,...

Exactly two years ago, U.S. Steel Corporation announced that the company would turn its Mon Valley operations into a key source of lightweight steel for the automotive industry. At the time, local leaders and company officials called the investment “transformational.” It involved a whopping $1.5 billion upgrade to its Mon Valley Works. On Friday, U.S. Steel said after months of tug-of-war with the Allegheny County Health Department, it is canceling the $1.5 billion upgrade and idling three batteries at Clairton Coke Works by 2023. President Joe Biden said in his joint speech in front of Congress that there there's no...

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, said Monday that he will veto a bill banning transgender athletes from playing women's sports in the state, should it pass the state legislature, reported the Hill. “I’ll veto this discriminatory bill if it gets to my desk,” he tweeted. The "Fairness in Women's Sports Act" is Pennsylvania's version of similar bills advancing in state legislatures across the country. Meanwhile, five GOP Pennsylvania House members — Reps. Barbara Gleim of Cumberland County, Valerie Gaydos of Allegheny County, Stephanie Borowicz of Clinton County, Dawn Keefer of York County and Martina White of Philadelphia — say...

The Allegheny County Health Department cited Al’s Cafe in Bethel Park and David’s Diner in Harmar late last week for serving meals indoors in defiance of the governor’s shut down order. The statewide restrictions, which expire Jan. 4, are aimed at stemming the current surge in COVID-19 cases. Inspectors visited both restaurants Thursday in response to complaints, according to the inspection reports. Both were ordered closed that day. Inspectors followed up Friday, when both restaurants were found operating and ordered closed again. Both also were cited for removing the county’s “closed” signs, inspection reports show. In addition, Al’s Cafe, on...

WASHINGTON — The architects of a newly unveiled 10-year, $600 billion climate plan to revitalize Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley region are moving forward with a difficult task of building political willpower in Washington while gaining the trust of rural communities tied to the coal and natural gas industries, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto told a group of sustainable development advocates Tuesday. That coalition-building — a communications strategy to be forged over the next six weeks among academic institutions in Pittsburgh and seven other cities — is a critical step toward executing the plan Mr. Peduto described as both idealistic...

With the state and country’s COVID-19 surge worsening, Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine on Tuesday said four new “targeted and strategic” state orders will begin Friday in an attempt to lower the number of new cases and prevent the health care system from becoming overwhelmed. The four new orders are: ● Masks must be worn whenever a person is away from home. That includes outdoors if a person cannot be socially distant — 6 feet away — from other people. But the order applies in every situation indoors, whether a person can stay socially distant or not, and...

PITTSBURGH - Mail-in ballots continue to be the focus of the Allegheny County election officials. Bins of ballots are being reviewed by the Division Manager and Deputy Divisions Manager in front of observers, according to Allegheny County officials. The ballots are being sorted into two piles: ballots which can’t be resolved, and another for ballots that will need more research. Those ballots will be reviewed to see if a resolution is possible. Election officials are also taking a look through the ballots returned by voters who got an incorrect and corrected ballot. Those ballots are matched against the incorrect ballots....

Allegheny County, PA still has 35,413 uncounted mail-in ballots, but elections staff is taking today off for "administrative work" and will not resume count until Friday. "I can't get an answer as to why,'' says @bethanyhallam , a member of county elections board.     https://twitter.com/tripgabriel/status/1324374362561126401      

PITTSBURGH — An Allegheny County council member is defending a recent tweet, claiming it is being taken out of context. The Channel 11 newsroom received several calls and emails about a tweet from Bethany Hallam, who is a council member at-large and a member of the Allegheny County Board of Elections. The tweet read, “Never burned a police car myself, but (expletive) yeah let’s riot against fascism.”

OAKMONT, Pa. — President Donald Trump’s son Eric made a surprise visit to one of Allegheny County’s most popular spots Thursday morning: Oakmont Bakery. But it’s the nature of the visit that has sparked controversy. Trump wore a mask into the building but removed it when interacting with supporters. Channel 11 News' exchange partners at TribLIVE were there as Trump spoke to supporters at the popular bakery. He handed out cookies that featured images of his father, which is part of the bakery’s traditional cookie poll leading up to an election. Trump is in the lead, with 13,656 cookies sold,...

PITTSBURGH — Allegheny County reported 45 new positive COVID-19 cases Tuesday, and some of those then are from test results dating back more than a month, according to the Allegheny County Health Department. Despite the length of time, this marks the daily lowest total since late June. The agency will also transition to reporting hospitalizations from the virus on a weekly basis instead of each day. (UPDATE: A spokeswoman w/ @HealthAllegheny says they will now be reporting hospitalizations on a weekly basis instead of daily. This is due to different reporting protocols by hospitals, leading to inconsistencies in data)

Ben Roethlisberger broke pandemic restrictions to get his hair cut and beard trimmed, along with a small recording crew, for a video the Steelers quarterback put out on his Twitter account Monday. Governor Tom Wolf doesn’t want Roethlisberger, or anyone to break coronavirus restrictions in that way. “My concern is just a general concern and anybody who puts himself or herself into harm’s way is something i think we ought to try to avoid,” Wolf said in response to a question about Roethlisberger specifically. "And when you go to something like a barbershop and you’re not protected, I don’t care...

A nonprofit law firm run by a former member of President Donald Trump's now-disbanded voter fraud commission is suing Allegheny County for its alleged failure to maintain its voter rolls. The Public Interest Legal Foundation, of which J. Christian Adams is president and general counsel, filed a lawsuit in federal court on Monday accusing the county of violating the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 by not undertaking a "reasonable effort" to remove the names of ineligible voters from its registration lists. Under state and federal law, the county is supposed to remove voters who have moved out of state,...

PITTSBURGH -- Darrin Kelly, president of the powerful Allegheny-Fayette County Central Labor Council, says that not one of the Democratic candidates running for president has reached out to him to ask about or listen to what union families in western Pennsylvania are looking for in a nominee to challenge President Donald Trump in November. "Not one," he says abruptly. That omission is obvious in just about every proclamation about the energy sector coming from the mouths of most Democratic candidates, whether it is Sens. Bernie Sanders' and Elizabeth Warren's pledging to ban fracking, or former Vice President Joe Biden's recent...

Allegheny County Controller Chelsa Wagner will stand trial again in Detroit next year on a felony charge of assaulting, resisting and obstructing a police officer, barring a plea deal, her defense said Friday. The decision by prosecutors to retry the case against Ms. Wagner comes exactly one month after the end of her first trial, when a Detroit jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on the felony — prompting the judge to declare a mistrial on that count. That same jury in November acquitted Ms. Wagner of misdemeanor disorderly conduct — which, like the felony, stemmed from an encounter...

The Rev. Hugh Lang, a priest for 63 years, was convicted Friday of indecent assault and unlawful contact with an 11-year-old boy while he was pastor at St. Therese of Lisieux parish in Munhall. Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Mark V. Tranquilli announced the verdict, ending a three-day bench trial that played out before a courtroom filled with nearly 30 of the priest's supporters. The 88-year-old priest took the stand Friday morning and vigorously denied the charges. But the judge said testimony convinced him that the incidents described by the 30-year-old accuser were true. The man, who lives in Southeast...