UPDATED: Voter ID Case Goes to Pa. Supreme Court

A local group plans to present petitions Thursday in downtown Pittsburgh calling on Allegheny County election officials not to enforce the new voter ID law this November.

Opponents of Pennsylvania's new voter ID will make their case Thursday before the state Supreme Court. There's no timeframe for a ruling from the court—but the Nov. 6 General Election is fast approaching. Oct. 9 is the last day to register to vote. The Supreme Court is composed of three Republican and three Democratic justices (a seventh judge was suspended while she faces criminal charges). A 3-3 tie would affirm the decision of the lower court, according to a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report. Commonwealth Court upheld the law in August. Supporters say the law will prevent voter fraud and imposes the same photo ID standard required in many common circumstances. Challengers say the law is designed to disenfranchise poor and elderly voters …

• Photos (1)

Flag Retirement Ceremony Planned for Flag Day

County Executive Rich Fitzgerald and members of the Allegheny County Council will help to properly burn U.S. flags.

Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald and members of the Allegheny County Council will host a sixth annual U.S. flag retirement ceremony at the "By the Dawn's Early Light" Flag Retirement Plaza in South Park on Thursday night at 7. Flags that have become worn and unusable while flying in service to the United States will be properly retired in the plaza's burn pit on Flag Day. Among the groups participating in the ceremony will be the West Mifflin Area High School Air Force JROTC, United States Colored Troops Youth Re-enactment Drum Corps, 6th Regiment United States Colored Troops and local Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and American Legion members.   Keeping up with news in the Pine-Richland community is easy—simply sign up for our daily …

• Photos (1)

Raja, Fitzgerald Express Support for Marcellus Shale Drilling in Airport Region

County executive candidates address business leaders on economic development.

Allegheny County Executive candidates D. Raja and Rich Fitzgerald spoke Friday before Moon-area business leaders, fielding questions on future development of the Pittsburgh International Airport region. Both candidates touted the benefits of Marcellus shale drilling on land surrounding the airport during the breakfast forum at the Pittsburgh Airport Holiday Inn.  With little more than two weeks remaining before November's general election, they also took advantage of the forum to criticize each other's platforms and performance. “I was hoping when I entered the race that it would be about policy,” said Raja, a Republican business owner from Mt. Lebanon. “Unfortunately, [the election] turned out to be a non-discussion of policy.” Fitzgerald…

• Photos (1)

Flags Retired in North Park Ceremony That Honored Sept. 11 Anniversary

Pine-Richland High School's JROTC cadets participated in ceremony to respectfully retire damaged U.S. flags.

To honor the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11, a flag-retirement ceremony was held Thursday evening in North Park. Tattered, worn American flags were incinerated in the burn pit at the North Park Flag Retirement Plaza, which is incorporated into the 80th Division Monument & Garden at the intersection of Babcock Boulevard and Ingomar Road. The event was the third annual North Park flag-retirement ceremony. “The United States’ flag stands for so much,” said Council Member Nick Futules, chair of council’s parks committee. “It stands for sacrifice, for freedom, for hope. It is a symbol representing who we are as citizens of this great nation, and we pay tribute to it by properly and respectfully retiring it.”  Attendees included Air Force JROTC …

• Photos (10)

Flag Ceremony to Honor 10th Anniversary of 9/11

Flags to be retired Thursday in North Park.

In recognition of the 10th anniversary of 9/11, there will be a flag retirement ceremony Thursday in North Park. Allegheny County Council members will honor tattered flags in a 6:30 p.m. ceremony that respectfully incinerates the flags in the burn pit at the flag retirement plaza. The ceremony is open to the public. The North Park Flag Retirement Plazais incorporated into the 80th Division Monument & Garden at the intersection of Babcock Boulevard and Ingomar Road. “If a U.S. flag is soiled, damaged or weathered, protocol calls for it to be buried or incinerated,” the county’s website states.  Military veterans, law enforcement officials and emergency responders will attend the ceremony. Boy and girl scout troops; local, state and federal …

Allegheny Council Takes Steps to Verify Legal Workers

Contractors working on county projects must participate in a program to verify their workers are not illegal laborers.

Allegheny County Council agreed Tuesday night to participate in a program to verify that workers who are employed by companies contracted for county-subsidized projects are lawfully within the United States.  The county will require contractors to participate in the E-verify program—federally created and administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration—to certify they do not knowingly employ any illegal laborers when agreeing to accept county work.   The program requires companies and employees to submit information from the employment eligibility verification form (I-9) to the free online E-Verify program.  By electronically comparing information taken from the I-9 Form against 535 million …

• Photos (1)