ICE detainees seek freedom using medieval legal idea and 16-year-old website Habeas corpus cases, once rare in Western Pennsylvania, now flood the federal docket as ICE detainees challenge detentions. Families are using the charity website to pay lawyers.

New: Thousands of ICE detainees are successfully petitioning for habeas corpus to get out on bond as their cases pend. Pittsburgh is a hub of this action, as the largest detention center in the Northeast is nearby.

Read how it works and the families involved: www.publicsource.org/gofundme-and...

There will be 'hundreds' of FBI personnel in the region during the NFL draft, a bureau official said Friday www.publicsource.org/nfl-draft-pi...

O’Connor amendments paint difficult financial future, even after raising taxes Mayor O’Connor proposed more than 60 budget amendments, adding $28 million in spending and causing a $6 million deficit this year.

News: Even after raising property taxes 20%, Pittsburgh's financial forecast does not look pretty.

Under the new budget plan outlined by Mayor O'Connor, the reserve fund will continue shrinking and will be near the legal minimum by 2030.
www.publicsource.org/city-pittsbu...

Pitt to give city $5 million over five years for O’Connor agenda The University of Pittsburgh gift will benefit city parks, business corridors and public safety, Mayor Corey O'Connor said.

News: Pitt will give the city $5 million over five years to boost Mayor O'Connor's agenda www.publicsource.org/university-p...

Which Allegheny County employees were paid the most last year? It’s now easier to find out. Jail hires and public safety worker overtime drove the overall payroll higher. County police redacted fewer officer names than the year prior after a Public Source legal challenge.

Allegheny County taxes went up last year. Want to know where the money went? Here's our annual look at what county employees were paid last year: www.publicsource.org/allegheny-co...

ICE to deploy at Pittsburgh International, but no visible presence Monday morning Security was running smoothly with minimal lines throughout the morning a day after Pittsburgh was included in a list of 14 airports at which ICE would be assisting.

New: ICE is reportedly on site at Pittsburgh International, but from the landside terminal we saw no visible ICE presence so far today — and no serious lines. www.publicsource.org/ice-pittsbur...

O’Connor says Pittsburgh budget short some $30 million in key areas Pittsburgh’s 2026 budget lowballed costs by $30 million or more, and Mayor O’Connor’s team has not yet finalized any needed cuts.

News: Mayor O'Connor says the city budget passed in December underfunds key areas by $30 to $40 million and he'll seek revisions this month. Where will the money come from? He does not know yet. www.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-b...

Who’s running for office in Allegheny County in 2026? Control over Harrisburg and the U.S. House hang in the balance, but Allegheny County voters will see few contested primaries on May 19.

Yesterday was the filing deadline for Pennsylvania's 2026 primary elections. Here's a list of filed candidates for Allegheny County seats.

🗳️ 7 contested legislative primaries
🗳️ Dems run in every seat; 12 of 23 have GOP opponent (pending write-ins) www.publicsource.org/election-202...

Council votes to restrict Allegheny County employees from cooperating with ICE Legislation barring county employees from providing assistance or information to federal immigration agencies passed after scores of public comments, lengthy council debate and the defeat of amendment...

News: Allegheny County Council voted to restrict county employees from cooperating ICE. An amendment to sunset it in 3 years failed. www.publicsource.org/allegheny-co...

Allegheny County Council advances bill restricting ICE cooperation New Allegheny County legislation to restrict cooperation with federal immigration authorities passed a divided committee. A final council vote is still pending.

News: Allegheny County Council advanced a bill today to restrict county employees' cooperation with ICE. Final vote could happen March 10. www.publicsource.org/allegheny-co...

Also: Jen Mazzocco, who just won the 42nd state House district in a special election, has already filed a petition to run for a full term.

The first person to file a petition to run for PA's 12th Congressional District: Will Parker (D-Pittsburgh)

Expecting multiple candidates in each primary for this seat, including incumbent Summer Lee, with filing deadline next week.

Allegheny County DHS leader to leave for NYC job New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani appointed Erin Dalton as social services director. Dalton has served as Allegheny County Department of Human Services since 2021.

NEWS: Allegheny County's Human Services director, Erin Dalton, will leave to take a similar job in Zohran Mamdani's administration in New York. www.publicsource.org/mamdani-pick...

Margin: Mazzocco wins the district by 64 points (!)

Former incumbent Dan Miller won it by 33 in 2024.

Turnout around 26%.

Mazzocco: 10,419
Leckenby: 2,330

Not the whole municipality.

It's too soon to compare Mazzocco's margin with 2024 results, but we have some precincts in.

Upper St. Clair 2-2 was R+4 in 2024 and was D+42 tonight.

Mt. Lebanon 2-1 was D+38 in 2024 and was D+70 tonight

Castle Shannon 3 was D+16 in 2024 and was D+58 tonight.

Democrat cruises to easy victory in South Hills special election for state House Jennifer Mazzocco prevailed in the region’s first election of 2026 and will represent Mount Lebanon, Dormont, Castle Shannon, Baldwin Township and part of Upper St. Clair for the rest of the year.

NEWS: Democrat Jennifer Mazzocco wins special election for Pennsylvania state House in Pittsburgh suburbs, the AP declared at 8:45.

The Democrats will retain the House majority. We need more vote in to see the swing from 2024 www.publicsource.org/live-results...

Live results: South Hills special election for state House In the South Hills of Pittsburgh, voters head to the polls in the first election of 2026. Follow results live in the contest between Democrat Jennifer Mazzocco and Republican Joseph Leckenby.

🗳️PA special election results 🗳️

Democrat Mazzocco gets 86% of the mail-in votes in HD-42. That compares to 76% received by the Democrat in 2024.

Live results here: www.publicsource.org/live-results...

The district has gone for Democrats by more than 30 points in recent elections.

The House is 100D-98R now with 5 vacancies. 2 are filled today (other election is in Lehigh Co) and 3 in March.

If Dems hold either seat up today they keep the majority at least awhile longer

🗳️ Today's the first Election Day of 2026 in Pennsylvania.

Here in Allegheny County there's a special election for state House. Voters in Mt. Lebanon, Baldwin Tp., Castle Shannon, Dormont and part of Upper St. Clair vote today.

Live results publicsource.org at 8 p.m.

Inbox: Pittsburgh Congresswoman Summer Lee will deliver the Working Families Party response to Trump's state of the union this Tuesday

New: This isn't a surprise, but Beaver County Sheriff Tony Guy has filed FEC paperwork to launch a run for Congress in PA-17 (currently represented by Deluzio)

Will UPMC’s ambulance gift inspire other nonprofits to contribute? UPMC just gave $10 million to the City of Pittsburgh for new ambulances. Highmark, Pitt and CMU are among other large nonprofits with no public plans to follow suit.

New: For years, UPMC said of voluntary payments to Pittsburgh: We'll contribute when the other major nonprofits do too.

Then Mayor O'Connor entered, UPMC cut a one-time $10M gift. It's not clear what's next, as PGH seeks more revenue from tax-exempt orgs www.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-n...

“we have not been getting very straight answers” from various parts of county government, member Alex Rose said. The bill could move rapidly this month if it goes according to current schedule.

Allegheny County Council says it doesn’t know how much county employees interact with ICE Allegheny County Council considers legislation to ban many forms of cooperation between county employees and ICE agents. But current interactions are unclear.

New: Allegheny County Council is considering a bill banning county cooperation with ICE. But today members were frustrated that they simply don't know how much interaction is currently going on. www.publicsource.org/allegheny-co...

@cpotterpgh.bsky.social ai can never replace us!!!!!

Turn-signal stop prompts ICE detention for father of two in Springdale The Peruvian national’s family said he was legally in the country and complying with asylum processes when local police pulled him over and turned him over to ICE. The borough has an agreement with th...

New from @jamiewiggan.bsky.social and @stephstrasburg.bsky.social : Turn-signal stop prompts ICE detention for father of two in Springdale www.publicsource.org/ice-detains-...

It's FEC filing season...

U.S. Rep. Summer Lee reports having $1.8 million on hand heading into 2026 reelection effort.

The neighborhood that has seen the most city-funded demolitions since 2020 is Homewood North (53 out of 411 total). Click on the article for the fill list of neighborhoods.

“The scale of the problem is probably too much for the city as a system to handle with the amount of resources at its disposal,” @northsidecowboy.bsky.social said.