Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Diane McNeill knows the red and blue American history textbooks sitting under her students’ desks are inadequate. The white glossy pages, the edges covered in pencil marks, were published in 1997. In the back, a list of U.S. presidents ends with Bill Clinton. The book is a bulky reminder of the disadvantages East Allegheny School District students face as the underfunded district struggles to afford the kind of modern technology and curriculum readily available in wealthier districts. At East Allegheny, teachers and administrators often fill in the gaps; Ms. McNeill uses outside resources such as History Channel videos while posters hanging on her classroom walls extend lessons past the Clinton administration. And her days are often filled with sending kids to the school’s “free store” for clothing or to the nurse for supplies they don’t have at home.

In four years, Downtown’s second-tallest skyscraper could go from full to empty — perhaps overnight. That could be the fate awaiting the 54-story BNY Mellon Center in 2028 when the master lease of its main tenant BNY ends. By then, the building at 500 Grant St. could be empty. BNY, which leases all of the tower, has begun systematically moving workers from the structure to its service center behind it on Ross Street.

Workers appear to be one step closer to resuming construction at the new $1.5 billion UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Oakland after the healthcare giant was issued an electrical permit Wednesday afternoon — but they’re still waiting on two other permits to be approved. The city of Pittsburgh halted work at the site last Thursday, claiming some aspects of the project had begun without the required permits. The stoppage by the Department of Permits, Licenses and Inspections forced about 150 workers off the job.

There apparently will be no parole for Western Penitentiary. Despite at least two proposals for the old North Side prison’s redevelopment, the state is moving ahead with plans to raze the buildings at the site.

A broken arm could just as easily break someone’s credit score. An unexpected surgery has left many credit reports scarred for years in the current system. But help may be on the way. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is aiming to revolutionize the way Americans bounce back from health-related setbacks.

The city of Pittsburgh has halted construction at the new $1.5 billion UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Oakland, claiming that work started on some aspects of the project without the required permits.

Despite a decade of statewide improvements to infrastructure, the percentage of Pennsylvania bridges in poor condition is still nearly double the national average, according to a recently released report. Researchers at TRIP, a national transportation research group, found that 2,835 of the 22,043 of bridges across the state — about 13% — were in poor condition. The national average is 7%.

A private equity company promised job creation and economic development when it purchased malls nationwide — including Century III in West Mifflin. It left behind a trail of empty, decaying buildings and unpaid property taxes, a PG investigation found. From 2011 to 2014, Moonbeam Capital LLC and its subsidiaries purchased 19 malls and shopping centers in more than 10 states — from West Mifflin, Pa. to Nevada. Steven Maksin, the founder of Moonbeam Investments LLC, was considered a “visionary” and promised the creation of “thousands and thousands of jobs.” Moonbeam has since racked up millions in unpaid property taxes, liens and a litany of building violations in places that were once celebrated as town centers, a PG investigation found. “Their strategy was to pay cash for assets, not invest back in them, bleed the rents, and then leave a vacant, decrepit parcel,” said Ryan McMahon, the Onondaga county executive.

Still reeling from one of the largest medical device recalls in U.S. history, Philips Respironics plans to cut 300 manufacturing jobs in Western Pennsylvania and relocate some 500 workers from its Pittsburgh headquarters to its two major plants in the nearby suburbs, the company announced. Philips will leave its building in Bakery Square starting in the fourth quarter of 2024 and will move the workers over the next two years into its centers in Murrysville and New Kensington. The company will all but end manufacturing at the two plants in 2025 after once dominating the market for breathing machines and making what became signature products. The company said it will continue manufacturing through a “third party” outside of the region, but did not provide any more details. The restructuring is expected to leave about 900 jobs remaining in the region — at least for now. #philips #cpap #layoffs #healthcare

Since 2016, West Virginia University Health System has folded 14 hospitals into its network — including three hospitals last year alone — creating an emerging 25-hospital Goliath that reaches into Pennsylvania, Ohio and Maryland. And in January, the health system, which is branded WVU Medicine, is expected to add the 218-bed Weirton Medical Center in the northern panhandle of West Virginia to the system portfolio, pending regulatory approval, as revenue from overall core operations increased 48.3% to $5.9 billion in 2023 from $3.8 billion in 2021, according to a new report from S&P Global Ratings. The New York City-based agency assigned WVU Medicine’s long-term debt an A rating with a stable outlook. #wvumedicine #healthcare #WVU #hospitals