Pittsburg, PA
Pittsburgh won’t remove homeless encampments after U.S. Supreme Court ruling
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Do people experiencing homelessness have the right to camp out in cities like Pittsburgh?
Over the objections of advocates for those experiencing homelessness, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled cities can enforce no-camping laws and take down tent encampments, even if there is no offer of alternative shelter or housing.
In Pittsburgh, the tents will stay.
Tucked behind the Allegheny County Jail is a sprawling encampment of 35 tents along the Eliza Furnace Trail.
“It’s getting ridiculous. We have our two kids and I don’t even really want to take them past it. They’re definitely encroaching on the trail. You know, it’s definitely unclean. It’s a little scary,” said Ross Lapkowicz from Regent Square.
For the past three years, encampments have sprung up in various parts of Downtown and on both the North and South sides, but even though this is perhaps the biggest one yet, the city has no plan to decommission it or take it down, despite last week’s U.S. Supreme Court decision saying cities have the power to do so.
“We have to be strategic about any encampment. If we close it, where will those people end up? Where will they go? Because we don’t have enough places to put them,” said Pittsburgh Public Safety director Lee Schmidt.
In a decision homeless advocates say criminalizes being poor, the Supreme Court has ruled cities can enforce bans on camping, even if there isn’t a sufficient number of shelter beds to offer those living in encampments. But Schmidt says Pittsburgh’s policy will stay in effect. The encampments will remain until it can make each resident a credible offer of shelter.
“Obviously with Second Avenue Commons and the fire that occurred there, that’s complicated the issue even more so we have try to work with people where they are and continue that process,” Schmidt said.
The tents are in violation of city guidelines requiring they be 6 feet back from a public right-of-way. But unlike others, encampments, the city says this one has not been the site of rampant open-air drug use or fights, police often patrol it and both the city’s ROOTS team and Public Works Department have staged cleanups, though that hasn’t assuaged all the concerns.
“I don’t know what the solution is,” Lapkowicz said. “I think that Pittsburgh has a lot of a vacant space and somewhere right next to something Pittsburgh has done really well with the creation of these trails is the not the spot they should be allowed.”
“We understand it can be frustrating for some folks and others feel unsafe but we’ll do our best to continue to work with everyone involved to come up with solutions that are realistic and don’t just move the problem around,” Schmidt said.
The city and county have a committee that continually reviews conditions at these encampment, deciding which ones should be taken down. It has decided that this one will stay for the foreseeable future.
Pittsburg softball improved to 16-4 on the season by sweeping host Kansas City Piper 17-1 in five innings and 15-3 in six innings Saturday afternoon.
Breck Slaughter earned the win in both games. She allowed one run on two hits with 10 strikeouts and two walks over five innings during the opener. Then, she allowed one run on two hits with three strikeouts and two walks over three innings.
AnnaLynn Hudson pitched the last three innings of the day for the Purple Dragons.
Offensively, Pittsburg scored 17 runs on 20 hits during the opener and all nine Dragons reached the hit column. Kenleigh Warford led with four hits, Breck Slaughter and Micah Gomez each had three and Brecken Campbell, Brette Pasteur, Laney Trisler and Emily Shriver each had two. Slaughter, Trisler and Gomez each doubled twice and Pasteur and Shriver also recorded two-baggers. Brilee Mantooth homered. Gomez led the Dragons with four RBI, Campbell had three and Trisler, Mantooth and Shriver drove in two each.
The Dragons closed out their sweep with 15 runs on just 11 hits. Pasteur had a monster performance at the plate with four runs scored, three hits in three at-bats, two home runs and five RBI; she also worked a pair of walks and proved to be an utter pain for Piper pitchers Reagan Asbury and Harper Cordill.
Campbell also homered and finished with three hits for the Dragons. Slaughter and Shriver both finished with two hits and both seniors doubled.
Pittsburg won four games during the week and outscored Labette County, Independence and Piper by a combined 59-11. The Dragons return to Southeast Kansas League play on the road Monday against Independence; the Dragons beat the Bulldogs 14-1 in five innings last Thursday in Pittsburg.
The Dragons are looking to wrap up at least a share of the SEK League title.
Pittsburg 612 44 — 17 20 0
KC Piper 000 01 — 1 2 5
Breck Slaughter and Peyton Morey; Stella Utter and Ginny Garcia. W: Slaughter. L: Utter. 2B—PHS: Slaughter 2, Brette Pasteur, Emily Shriver, Laney Trisler 2, Micah Gomez 2; KCP: Faith Flournoy. HR—PHS: Brilee Mantooth.
——
Pittsburg 225 105 — 15 7 2
KC Piper 100 101 — 3 6 6
Breck Slaughter, AnnaLynn Hudson (4) and Peyton Morey; Reagan Asbury, Harper Cordill (5) and Faith Flournoy. W: Slaughter. L: Asbury. 2B—PHS: Slaughter. HR—PHs: Brecken Campbell, Brette Pasteur 2; KCP: Ginny Garcia.
This sports reporting is made possible, in part, by the Support Local Journalism Project Fund. Learn more at: southeastkansas.org/fund/support-local-journalism-project-fund/
Pittsburg, PA
Steelers insider just poured gasoline on the Aaron Rodgers fire following latest report of what he was doing in Pittsburgh
Aaron Rodgers was supposed to be in Pittsburgh over the weekend, with the thought that a deal would get done. One Steelers insider backs the report, but adds details that only compound a messy situation.
Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
At this point, the events of the past two seasons between Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers could probably be a book or movie. Everything from walks on the beach, to him throwing with DK Metcalf before signing, to someone capturing him driving a rental car into Pittsburgh has made waves.
This offseason was supposed to be different, and a decision from Rodgers was supposed to come much earlier. However, the Steelers remain in a holding pattern, and one that many believed would end over the weekend, after it was reported that Rodgers would be in town to sign a contract. Well, that seems to be true, but like much of this saga over the past two years, there seems to be a holdup.
Aaron Rodgers 2025 stats
- 3.4 TD to INT ratio.
- 3,322 passing yards.
- 65.7% completion percentage.
Aaron Rodgers visited Pittsburgh, but not the Steelers over the weekend
“Aaron Rodgers has been in town for a couple days, but the Steelers have not met with him yet and instead have been talking with his agent. Rodgers has stayed away from the team’s South Side facility while the three-day rookie minicamp has been going on.” – Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The news from Dulac comes on the heels of the report from 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh that Rodgers would be visiting the Steelers over the weekend, with the intention to sign his deal.
That report was backed up nationally by NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport, but some in Steelers media (Mark Kaboly) said that if Rodgers was going to be in town, that was news to the team.
Omar Khan said as much during a radio hit after the reports surfaced, saying that he didn’t know where Rodgers was, but that talks remained fluid. Of course, general managers, including Omar Khan, have been known to bend the truth, which seems to lie somewhere in the middle here.
The bottom line with Aaron Rodgers
It’s obvious to me that the Steelers and Rodgers are held up over money. I know that it was said to not be the case, but you don’t intentionally avoid meeting with a team and have your agent talk to them, just days after they use a tender that determines your 2026 salary, if you’re just going to sign.
I would be surprised if Rodgers doesn’t sign at this point, but it doesn’t change the monetary situation that needs to be worked out here.
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