The week in review
A BR IEF ROUNDUP OF THE LOCAL NEWS OF THE WEEK
Unfortunately, it was only a matter of time before Pennsylvania passed the 1 million mark in COVID-19 cases, and that time came last week.
State health officials on Thursday reported the latest figures on its COVID Alert PA app, which shows that the state had 1,000,240 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 24,917 deaths since the first case was reported in March 2020.
Also as of Thursday morning, Pennsylvania had a positivity rate of 6.5%, while the number of people hospitalized with the disease had started to increase again.
The Allegheny County Health Department on Thursday expanded eligibility for vaccinations, adding people between 16 and 64 who have health problems that include cancer, chronic kidney disease, lung disease, Down syndrome, pregnancy, diabetes and some heart conditions with the exception of highblood pressure.
The Health Department this week is initiating a new system that will allow people to pre-register for the shots and offer one-time use links to private clinics where the shots are also offered.
Public comment on public transit
The Port Authority announced that the public has until May 5 to give its two cents on the plan to raise fares by 25 cents for riders using a prepaid ConnectCard.
Staff writer Ed Blazina reported that the 40-day comment period approved Friday will address the increase to $2.75, as well as a change in the transfer policy. Riders using ConnectCards will have a three-hour window during which they can transfer or take as many rides as they want without paying an extra fee.
There has been some concern that the change in transfer policy will negatively affect low-income riders who are more likely to pay in cash and will have to pay a full, separate fare.
In her remarks to the board, CEO Katharine Eagan Kelleman said the proposed changes should be made as soon as possible while the agency continues to discuss how to address cash users. Ms. Kelleman acknowledged that 8% of riders before the pandemic paid fares in cash, and cash riders won’t benefit from the proposed changes.
“As this process begins, we want to assure you we are listening,” she said. “We are coming into this with open ears. We’re going to continue to work on [relief for cash customers].”
The agency hasn’t scheduled an in-person meeting yet but it will hold three online meetings: 1-4 p.m. April 22; 9 a.m.-noon April 30; and 4-7 p.m. May 4. It expects to announce this week how to participate in the meetings.
Comments also can be made through the authority’s website at www.portauthority.org/fares2021 or by mail sent to Port Authority of Allegheny County, Attn: 2021 Fare Proposal, 345 Sixth Ave., Third Floor, Pittsburgh 15222. All comments must be received by close of business May 5.
ATI workers plan to strike Tuesday
Staff writer Patricia Sabatini reported that roughly 1,300 workers at Pittsburghbased Allegheny Technologies Inc. represented by the United Steelworkers union plan to strike starting at 7 a.m. Tuesday.
USW international Vice President David McCall, who chairs the talks, accused the metals giant of unfair labor practices and trying to force workers into accepting unnecessary concessions.
“After years of loyalty, hard work and sacrifice, workers deserve more respect and consideration than ATI has shown at the table,” Mr. McCall said in a
statement Friday after negotiators failed to reach a settlement. “We will continue to bargain in good faith and we strongly urge ATI to start doing the same.”
A walkout would affect workers at nine locations. They include Brackenridge, Latrobe, Natrona Heights, Vandergrift and Washington, Pa., as well as Lockport, N.Y.; Louisville, Ohio; New Bedford, Mass.; and Waterbury, Conn.
“Allegheny Technologies Inc. is incredibly disappointed that our employees represented under the USW master contract have elected to strike,” spokeswoman Natalie Gillespie said in an email Friday. “Our latest proposal increases wages and continues premium-free health care for our employees, at a time when we are losing money, following one of the worst years in company history.”
Under the company’s current offer, union workers would maintain premium free health care coverage for the first three years of the four-year contract, Ms. Gillespie said. In 2024, monthly premiums would be $40 per person, or $125 per family, or employees could opt for a premium-free version of the plan, she said.
The company has proposed wage increases totaling 9% over the four years of the contract, plus a lump sum payment of $4,000 the first year.
ATI reported a loss of $1.6 billion in 2020. In December, it announced a restructuring that will eliminate about 400 jobs, 200 of them in the Pittsburgh region.
More time to get ‘Obamacare’ in Pa.
Pennsylvanians have an extra three months to sign up for government subsidized health insurance in 2020, the second time Affordable Care Act enrollment has been extended since January.
Staff writer Kris B. Mamula reported that Pennie, the state’s online health insurance marketplace for subsidized coverage, on Thursday extended open enrollment until Aug. 15 to match a change in marketplaces
operated by the federal government. The deadline had been May 15, which was an extension of a Jan. 15 cutoff.
The recently passed American Rescue Plan increases the number of Americans who are eligible for subsidies by 20% to 21.8 million from 18.1 million, according to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The increase means 3.7 million people are newly eligible for subsidized health care coverage, most of whom have incomes between 400% and 600% of the poverty level or up to $76,560 for an individual or $157,200 for a family of four.
Some 330,000 Pennsylvanians get health insurance through Pennie. Pennsylvania is one of 15 states that operate their own health insurance marketplaces under terms of the Affordable Care Act.
PLCB loses another round
It’s kind of strange reading a headline that says the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board has been violating the law, but that’s what the state Supreme Court ruled last week.
The Legislature passed a law in 2016 permitting independent wine sellers to deliver to restaurants and specialty retailers. Since Prohibition ended, if a restaurant wanted to offer a trendy specialty wine, it first had to go
through a state store, which naturally included a per-bottle handling fee.
In May 2020, Commonwealth Court Judge Kevin Brobson-ruled that the PLCB must implement a system to allow restaurants to receive special-order wines that are not sold in state stores directly from importers and distributors.
But rather than establishing the system, the PLCB continued to require restaurants and retailers to pick up orders at state stores.
The state’s high court Thursday backed Judge Brobson’s ruling. The PLCB declined to comment.
Court rules on gas drilling issue
Staff writer Laura Legere filed a story about the Pennsylvania Supreme Court also ruling that the attorney general cannot use the state’s consumer protection law to make claims on behalf of landowners with natural gas drilling leases.
A 6-1 decision, handed down Wednesday, reversed a lower court ruling and said the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law only protects buyers, not sellers, that have been harmed in a transaction. In an oil and gas lease agreement, the landowner is the seller, the court said.
The ruling came as a blow to the state’s remaining case
alleging Marcellus Shale companies misled and underpaid property owners.
In the majority opinion, Justice Sallie Updyke Mundy wrote that the Supreme Court found the state’s consumer protection law “clearly regulates the conduct of sellers, and it does not provide a remedy for sellers to exercise against buyers.”
Because of that, the court concluded, the attorney general’s office cannot bring claims under the consumer protection law on behalf of private landowners who allege they were deceived into signing unfavorable gas leases.
The attorney general’s office said in a statement that it is “committed to standing up for landowners who are cheated and we will continue this fight on our remaining antitrust count.”
“We are reviewing this opinion and have plans to engage legislators on this matter to update Pennsylvania laws to better protect those misled by corporations like this one,” the office said.
Hotel gets over past reservations
Staff writer Mark Belko reported that the Omni William Penn Hotel on Grant Street, one of Downtown’s most venerable hotels, is ready to start checking in guests again.
The hotel, which closed because of the pandemic a year ago, is set to reopen Thursday.
Omni spokeswoman Melissa Becker said the hotel will follow new protocols and safety measures.
Of the Downtown hotels, the William Penn is one of the few that has remained closed throughout the pandemic. The only others still shut down are the Distrikt and the Pittsburgh Marriott City Center, according to tourism group Visit Pittsburgh.
It’s almost time for back to school
The Pittsburgh Public Schools plan to give all students the chance to return to the classroom at least two days a week by early May.
Staff writer Andrew
Goldstein reported that the district — which has been fully remote since March 2020 — will start to reopen to some students in April.
“We have never stopped working to reopen our schools, and we are so glad that the moment is here,” Superintendent Anthony Hamlet said Tuesday evening during a virtual town hall.
The district split students into four groups for the phased return. Students who the district believes have the greatest need and would benefit the most from in-person learning will return first.
The first student group — close to 4,800 in total — will return to classrooms April 6. Those students include kindergartners, students with disabilities, Englishlanguage learners and other vulnerable children.
The next group — about 5,200 strong — will return April 26. It includes students who have shown some progress in online learning.
The other two student groups, which include about 10,200 students, will be welcomed back May 3. Those groups include students who have displayed positive progress in online learning.
The district said it determined the groups using data and other considerations — including reading and math grades from the first semester — a student social-emotional welfare survey and an individualized education plan.
Most students will be in a hybrid model that allows them to be in class two days a week and online the other three.
Students who attend the Pioneer and Conroy special education centers will attend classes four days a week.
The district will provide students the option to remain in fully remote instruction.
Teachers and other schoolbased staff — who this month became eligible for COVID-19 vaccines in Pennsylvania — were required to return to their buildings by Monday to prepare for the incoming students.
Mr. Hamlet said 80% of the district’s staff had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
See ya later, crocodiles
Staff writer Ashley Murray reported proposed reptile regulations that traveled at a turtle’s pace through the city’s legislative process received unanimous Pittsburgh City Council support Tuesday.
In a 9-0 vote, the body banned ownership of popular but potentially problematic small red-eared slider turtles as well as larger reptiles, including alligators and crocodiles.
Council moved on the measure — sponsored by Councilman Bruce Kraus — after holding it for more than a year. Local animal advocates testified about issues faced by public safety officers and animal shelters when such reptiles, which can live for decades, are captured or surrendered.
The ordinance allows exceptions for those who have owned the pets for the past six months, given that they adhere to new criteria including: pay a yet-to-be-determined registration fee; alert the city’s Bureau of Animal Care and Control should the critter escape; and carry liability insurance in the minimum amount of $1 million.
Research institutions, veterinarians and zoos certified by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums are exempt from the ordinance — a point of contention since the ordinance was introduced in February 2020.
The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium announced Friday that it would again seek the organization’s accreditation after it dropped the designation in 2015 following a dispute over elephant handling.
Violators could face a $1,000 fine per offense and forfeiture of the animals.