Pittsburg, PA

Emails show Pittsburgh has failed to comply with regulations for needle exchanges

Published

1 year ago

December 18, 2023

Emails show Pittsburgh has failed to comply with regulations for needle exchanges

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Discarded used syringes are a public health hazard, but a KDKA investigation has found that for the past two years, the city failed to comply with health department regulations.

It’s called a needle exchange, but since implementing its program 18 months ago, KDKA Investigates has learned the city failed to develop a program to collect and safely dispose of used needles and syringes.

In nearly two dozen emails obtained through a right-to-know request, KDKA Investigates found that despite repeated pleas from the Allegheny County Health Department, the city failed to develop a policy or comply with regulations requiring the accounting and disposal of the needles, nor has it made available required sharps disposal containers to ensure the public’s health and safety. Without those safeguards, KDKA-TV has continually found needles strewn around trails and in open piles near encampments.

Sheehan: “You can see that the program went off without proper safeguards, right?”

Schmidt: “Yeah, probably didn’t use best practices around the proper safeguards.”

In email after email obtained by KDKA, the city fails to deliver when county health officials requested a needle disposal policy. Then Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt began overseeing the city’s Office of Community Health and Safety, which administers the program and saw it wasn’t working.

Sheehan: “Basically, since this needle exchange has been run, there’s been no exchange at all. I mean basically a lot of these needles have just been discarded. Is that correct?”

Schmidt: “It’s not my current assessment.”

Absent a developed plan, Schmidt says he eventually decided to pull the plug and stop distributing needles until the city can ensure the public’s safety.

“There wasn’t really accountability around how many needles were given out in return for how man sharps containers — that sort of thing,” Schmidt said. “So that’s when we paused the program. I would rather we pause it, we slow roll it, whatever it takes to get it done the right way rather than just roll it out for the sake of saying we’re doing something,” Schmidt said.

After suspending the distribution of needles for two months, Schmidt says the city has now begun a small pilot program with a limited number of homeless addicts, giving them needles only when they return the used ones and trying to get them into recovery programs.

In the meantime, the city has finally developed a draft disposal policy to ramp the program back up. It outlines the need for sharp box containers to be placed at encampment sites though the city has still yet to purchase those containers.

The city has done needle cleanups but just this last week, KDKA-TV found discarded needles throughout an encampment on the North Side and needles along an encampment on the Allegheny Riverfront Downtown, some even in the path of pedestrians.

Sheehan: “There are still syringes down by the Allegheny Riverfront for runners and joggers to step on.”

Schmidt: “There are, and I want to be clear, we’re not the only ones doing programs like this. There’s Prevention Point, there’s other outreach agencies, there’s also Good Samaritans that feel that’s their right to do that.”

After operating without the proper safeguards, Schmidt says the needle exchange program will take baby steps until they get it right and try to convince everyone else giving out needles to do the same.

Andy Sheehan

KDKA-TV Investigator Andy Sheehan began his broadcast journalism career in September 1992, when he joined KDKA after reporting for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for nine years. Andy’s forte is the in-depth investigative story, exposing corruption and government waste.

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Pittsburg, PA

Ireland Contracting Nightly Sports Call: Dec. 25, 2024

Published

6 hours ago

December 26, 2024

Press Room

Ireland Contracting Nightly Sports Call: Dec. 25, 2024 – CBS Pittsburgh

Watch CBS News

KDKA-TV’s Cassidy Wood and KDKA Radio’s Suzie Cool discuss the sports topics of the day.

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Pittsburg, PA

Stick a fork in the Pittsburgh Steelers

Published

16 hours ago

December 25, 2024

Press Room

As I sit here feeling a headache form in between sips of egg nog in my new Ice Nine Kills sweatshirt, I’ve written, erased, and rewritten the opener for this six times. What can even be said after what we just watched other than “Yeah, this team isn’t going anywhere.”

From the opening drive, these were the same Steelers we’ve seen the last two weeks – unorganized, unmotivated, and a complete non-threat to teams that are actually contenders in the AFC.

The Chiefs jumped out to a 13-0 lead after the Steelers punted on their first two drives that spanned a combined eight plays. The Steelers weren’t down and out yet, though. A quick drive that featured several big Jaylen Warren runs got them into the red zone in three plays. Warren ran into the end zone, but a holding call on Darnell Washington brought it back. The next play, Russell Wilson threw an interception to Justin Reid and that all but sealed the deal. Even when Wilson ran in for a score to make the lead 13-7, it never really felt like the Steelers would take the game by the horns and make a statement. The only statement they made is that they remain a second-class team.

Even when they owned time of possession, they didn’t do anything with the ball. They had the ball for 31:22, but their two turnovers plus a turnover on downs did them in. They ran the ball well, as Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren both finished with over 70 yards and the team accumulated over 200 yards on the day. But five Russell Wilson sacks and a lackluster passing game were Pittsburgh’s undoing offensively.

Defensively, this team is lost. After the first two scores, multiple players are throwing up their hands in confusion wondering what happened. They didn’t register a sack on Mahomes, they gave up 320 yards through the air, and allowed 16 first downs via Mahomes’ arm. This is not a good defense, and they lack any sort of aggressiveness to try and help the back end with pressure. Now at 10-6 and losers of three straight, Pittsburgh will likely be the No. 5 seed and travel to Houston or Baltimore for the wild card round, and nothing they’ve shown over the last month gives anyone any reason to believe they’d win. Stick a fork in the Pittsburgh Steelers, this isn’t a serious football team.

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Pittsburg, PA

Pittsburgh Steelers Christmas Day History: Record, Statistics, & More

Published

1 day ago

December 25, 2024

Press Room

Pittsburgh Steelers Christmas Day History: Record, Statistics, & More

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 Advertisement	Opponent	Result
2016	Baltimore Ravens	W, 31–27 Advertisement
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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