Pittsburg, PA
East Bay city to add gun buyback program in efforts to get firearms off streets
PITTSBURG — Pittsburg police have added one other software of their belt to assist stem violence and get weapons off the streets with a brand new buyback program.
The Metropolis Council accredited the $100,000 expenditure on Monday utilizing beforehand unbudgeted proceeds from the city-owned Pittsburg Energy Firm.
The final gun buyback applications in 2014 and 2016 have been successful, netting a complete of 300 weapons off Pittsburg streets, Police Chief Steve Albanese mentioned.
“The general objective of applications like that is to take away weapons off the road and out of our neighborhood,” the chief mentioned.
Beneath this system, police purchase again weapons residents now not need, exchanging them for present playing cards that can be utilized for fuel, meals, eating places and extra. Police will finally destroy the firearms, in accordance with officers.
This system “offers a protected and easy course of the place neighborhood members can promote or get rid of their undesirable firearms completely,” Albanese mentioned.
In some instances, they’re weapons {that a} member of the family inherits and are handed down from era to era, the chief mentioned. Some won’t even work. Police suggest to pay $200 for assault rifles or ghost weapons; $100 for handguns; rifles and shotguns; and $50 for inoperable firearms.
Moreover offering a easy option to get rid of weapons, the buyback program additionally goals to lift consciousness of the chance of firearms and to scale back their availability in Pittsburg and the encircling neighborhood, the police chief mentioned. He additionally famous an enormous element of this system will probably be training, educating the residents by means of social media in regards to the dangers and methods to safely retailer firearms.
Albanese famous this system is just like others held not too long ago within the Bay Space.
“San Mateo County, Marin County and Oakland all simply accomplished buyback applications in June. All have been very profitable, some with a bit bit increased numbers than others,” he mentioned. “The bottom quantity we noticed was 130 weapons from a kind of applications and the very best was 550. So fairly vital so far as serving to our communities out.”
Pittsburg’s program follows on the heels of a 90-day marketing campaign police started on June 1 to curb violent crimes and cut back gun violence, particularly. In the course of the particular enforcement operation, native police are teaming up with state and federal regulation enforcement businesses to get unlawful firearms off the streets, make felony arrests and curtail different felony exercise.
For the reason that marketing campaign started, 75 unlawful weapons have been taken off Pittsburg streets and out of the fingers of criminals, Albanese mentioned. “That’s nearly one a day daily,” the chief added.
Of these, 20 have been ghost weapons and 29 have been unregistered firearms. Of these arrested, 52% weren’t from Pittsburg, in accordance with Albanese.
Mayor Holland Barrett White mentioned although he was skeptical about whether or not the gun buyback program would assist cut back violent crime, “the price of doing nothing was far higher.”
“Once you see 75 recovered weapons, I feel that speaks volumes for the necessity of a program like this,” he mentioned. “It is a actually good place to begin.”
The council accredited the measure 4-0, with Councilwoman Merl Craft absent.
For extra info on the buyback program, verify the Pittsburg police Fb web page at https://www.fb.com/pittsburgpd the place police will probably be saying the buyback dates.
The Pittsburgh Steelers will face the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Day as part of a two-game showcase on Netflix.
A Brief History of the Steelers on Christmas Day
Wednesday’s matchup against the Chiefs will only be the third time the Steelers have played on Christmas Day in their history. Pittsburgh played on consecutive Christmas Days in 2016 and in ’17. They hold a 2–0 record on Christmas, beating the Baltimore Ravens in ’16 and the Houston Texans in ’17. A win over the Chiefs this year would allow the Steelers to keep their undefeated Christmas record.
The NFL first played Christmas games in 1971 when hosting two matchups: Dallas Cowboys vs. Minnesota Vikings and Kansas City Chiefs vs. Miami Dolphins. The league took a long break from hosting Christmas Day games until 1989. The NFL didn’t consistently showcase Christmas Day games until somewhat recently. Games on the holiday used to happened every few years or so, but now there’s been at least one if not more Christmas Day games every year since 2020.
The 2022 and ’23 seasons saw three Christmas Day games each, the most ever hosted on the holiday. It’s more rare for the NFL to have Christmas games compared to the long-standing tradition of Thanksgiving games.
Key Moments in Steelers’ Christmas Day History
The Steelers’ first Christmas Day game back in 2016 vs. the Ravens was one for the history books. Pittsburgh clinched the AFC North title after former receiver Antonio Brown scored a four-yard touchdown with nine seconds left in the game to give the Steelers a 31–27 victory. It’s always a huge win when the Steelers beat their AFC North rivals, but it helps that a playoff spot was on the line, too. Pittsburgh advanced to the AFC Championship that season, but lost to the eventual Super Bowl championship-winning New England Patriots.
The Steelers’ 2017 Christmas Day matchup vs. the Texans the following year wasn’t as nail-biting as Pittsburgh dominated 34–6. The Steelers scored four touchdowns in the game compared to the Texans’ one touchdown, which resulted in no two-point conversion. The Steelers would go on to lose in the wild-card round to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
It’s been so long since the Steelers have played in a Christmas Day game, though, as former quarterback Ben Roethlisberger led the team to both of these key wins mentioned above. The Steelers are on their fourth starting quarterback since Roethlisberger retired after the 2021 season.
By the Numbers: Steelers’ Christmas Day Record
The Steelers hold a 2–0 record on Christmas Day.
|
Year |
Opponent |
Result |
|---|---|---|
|
2016 |
Baltimore Ravens |
W, 31–27 |
|
2017 |
Houston Texans |
W, 34–6 |
Roethlisberger threw for 279 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions during the win over the Ravens. Running back Le’Veon Bell carried the ball 20 times for 122 yards and one touchdown. And, another blast from the past, Brown caught the ball 10 times for 96 yards and one touchdown.
Both Roethlisberger and Bell showed out for the Steelers in 2017, too. The quarterback threw for 226 yards and two touchdowns, while the running back carried the ball 14 times for 69 yards and one touchdown. Receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster led the Steelers with six catches for 75 yards and one touchdown in the contest. Brown missed the game due to injury.
Steelers’ Christmas Day Heroes
As mentioned above, both Roethlisberger and Bell appeared as heroes for the Steelers in both previous Christmas Day games. Brown, too, is considered the hero of the 2016 game as he scored the final touchdown to seal the win.
Memorable Rivalries and Matchups
Rivalry games are often showcased during the Christmas Day matchups. The Steelers were a part of that narrative in 2016 when playing against the Ravens, but this year the Steelers and Ravens will be playing in different Christmas games. The Ravens will be playing the Texans after the Steelers–Chiefs game.
The Chiefs have appeared in multiple rivalry Christmas Day games against the Las Vegas Raiders in 2004 and ’23, and also against the Denver Broncos in 2016. Kansas City holds a 2–2 record on Christmas Day.
The Christmas Day games often hold playoff implications for teams as the games are played near the end of the regular season. Before the 18-week season, the Christmas Day games were sometimes the last games of the season for some teams. However, both the Steelers and Chiefs clinched playoff spots already. The Steelers will need to win in order to keep the top AFC North seed, especially if the Ravens beat the Texans.
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Paul Skenes was nothing short of dominant for the Pittsburgh Pirates en route to winning the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year.
But even in a season full of special performances from the first overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, one performance stood out above the rest for the Pirates. MLB.com picked the best performance for every team in the 2024 season and tabbed his performance against the Milwaukee Brewers on July 11 as Pittsburgh’s best. Skenes pitched 7 no-hit innings and struck out 11 batters while walking just one on 99 pitches in a 1-0 win over the eventual NL Central champions.
“Skenes had otherworldly expectations coming into 2024, but few could have expected him to dominate the way he did out of the gate, earning an All-Star nod after just 10 Major League starts,” Stumpf writes. “His 11th start made it clear that he was already one of the game’s best, striking out 11 over seven innings of no-hit ball. Skenes walked and hit a batter in the second, his lone blemishes as he would go on to retire the last 16 Brewers he faced. The Pirates would go on to win, 1-0, and Skenes was named the National League’s starting pitcher the next day.“
The only trouble Skenes had came in the second inning with two outs when he hit Brewers Jake Bauers and walked Garrett Mitchell. The Pirates ace escaped the jam by striking out Andruw Monasterio and Skenes sat down the next 15 batters he faced, including seven via strikeout, to end his outing.
Skenes’ outing against the Brewers marked the second time he exited a game without allowing a single hit. He also accomplished the feat on May 17 in the second start of his big league career when he pitched 6 shutout innings, struck out 11 and walked 1 batter against the Chicago Cubs to earn the first win of his career.
Make sure to visit Pirates OnSI for the latest news, updates, interviews and insight on the Pittsburgh Pirates
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