Tag: Allegheny County

Soros-Backed Pennsylvania Candidate Loses DA Bid Despite Landslide Primary Win

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Matt Dugan, the Democratic candidate running for district attorney in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County, lost his election bid despite receiving nearly $2 million of funding from megadonor George Soros, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

Dugan first challenged incumbent District Attorney Stephen Zappala in the county’s May primary election, beating Zappala by 10 points after receiving $700,000 in funding from the Soros-funded Pennsylvania Justice and Public Safety Political Action Committee (PAC), according to the Post-Gazette. The PAC donated an additional $1.1 million to Dugan’s campaign between June and October, but Zappala managed to beat the Democratic challenger by 3 points despite his major loss just months earlier.

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Study: Hard Decisions, Not Tax Increases, Needed for Pittsburgh Public Transit

The Center Square

The relatively high cost of Pittsburgh’s bus and light-rail operations means that, in the near future, Allegheny County officials must choose between raising taxes to fund it or find a way to cut costs.

So argues the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy’s Research Director Eric Montarti and research assistant Scott T. Cross in a policy brief advocating for “hard decisions” to be made instead of raising county taxes and fees.

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Pennsylvania Localities Benefitting Substantially from Gas Extraction Fee

Bradley Vasoli

While Democrats insist Pennsylvania misses out on revenue from natural gas extraction, a Pittsburgh nonprofit’s analysis published on Thursday observes drilling impact fees yielded $2.25 billion through 2021.

Since the boom in hydraulic fracturing (or fracking), the horizontal drilling technique gas companies use to access the vast reserves of fossil fuel from the Marcellus Shale sedimentary rock formation, many politicians have eyed an extraction tax. Instead of such a tax, former Governor Tom Corbett (R) and a Republican-led legislature levied an impact fee in 2012, with revenues going to localities largely to mitigate fracking-related environmental disruption. In the new policy brief from the Allegheny Institute (AI), the think tank’s executive director Frank Gamrat detailed those revenue gains. 

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Pennsylvania Lawmaker Offers Legislation to Count Provisional Ballots in Cases of Defective Mail-In Votes

Bradley Vasoli

Pennsylvania state Senator Lisa Boscola (D-Bethlehem) is drafting a bill to ensure voters have their in-person votes counted in cases when their defective mail-in ballots were tossed. 

Boscola sponsored Act 77, the 2019 law that legalized no-excuse mail-in voting in Pennsylvania, and her emerging bill seeks to clarify a part of that statute. A provision in that law led the Delaware County Board of Elections to vote unanimously on May 23 to throw out six of its eligible voters’ ballots cast in the May 16 primary. Three of those voters are now suing the board in the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas to have their votes tallied and to guarantee those in similar situations have their ballots counted in the future. 

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Soros-Funded Dugan Chosen Over Incumbent Pittsburgh-Area Prosecutor Who Could Run As Republican

Bradley Vasoli

Leftist attorney Matt Dugan won the Democratic primary for Allegheny County, Pennsylvania district attorney Tuesday night, rejecting six-term incumbent Steve Zappala.

With 97.8 percent of precincts reporting, Dugan, the county’s head public defender, received over 93,000 votes to Zappala’s 74,000. This doesn’t mean the latter can be counted out just yet; if GOP write-in votes — which are still being tallied — number 500 or more for him, he can run against Dugan in the general election this fall. 

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Report: Pennsylvania Coal Ash Site Sixth-Most Polluted in the U.S

The Center Square

A former coal power plant in western Pennsylvania has one of the most contaminated coal ash sites in the nation.

That’s according to a new report, “Poisonous Coverup,” published by the Environmental Integrity Project and Earthjustice. The environmental groups argue that, across America, “nearly all coal plant owners are ignoring key requirements and employing common tricks to avoid mandatory cleanup” of coal ash, a byproduct of burning coal that has various contaminants.

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Scientists Believe Meteor Exploded over Pittsburgh

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aerial view of Pittsburgh, Pa.

Scientists believe a meteor exploded early New Year’s Day over Pittsburgh, causing mysterious loud noises and vibrations that shook the city.

“The loud explosion heard over SW PA earlier may have been a meteor explosion,” the U.S. National Weather Service tweeted Saturday, posting an image showing a flash of light it claimed was “not associated with lightning.”

“No confirmation, but this is the most likely explanation at this time,” the agency said.

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Bail Calculator Developed by Leftist Billionaire Used for Accused Waukesha Murderer Also Used in Two Pennsylvania Counties

Bradley Vasoli

Two Pennsylvania counties use the same lenient bail-calculation system that is used in Milwaukee County, WI and that is now being scrutinized in the wake of the Nov. 21 Waukesha Christmas-parade massacre.

Suspect Darrell E. Brooks Jr. faces homicide charges for killing six people at the holiday celebration with his car. Earlier that month, prosecutors handling a case of physical abuse and vehicular assault regarding Brooks asked a court to set bail bond for the defendant at a mere $1,000, to which the court agreed.

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