Pittsburg, PA
Volunteers work to keep Pittsburgh clean: “We’re proud of this city”
An oversized poster board tracks the deep cleaning happening across Pittsburgh’s Mount Washington neighborhood. All of the yellow highlights denote the streets already adopted.
“We got all the streets on Grandview [Avenue] and we’re still working on a few on Duquesne.”
It’s the brain of Helen Oldfield, who told KDKA-TV that her recent move from the West Coast left something to be desired at first.
“I was very depressed and shocked by the amount of dirt and litter everywhere,” said Oldfield, creator of the Adopt-A-Block program.
She started volunteering for the large cleanups along Grandview Avenue and loved seeing people rappel down the sides to collect the accumulated trash.
“It’s the iconic street in Pittsburgh. It needs to be clean and look nice, but what about the rest of Mount Washington? When people wandered back through the streets, it was just horrible; it was a mess,” Oldfield said.
It was from that idea that Oldfield’s Adopt-a-Block program was born. Now she’s more than 60 volunteers deep and trying not to just clean but shift attitudes.
“I think a lot of the mess that accumulates up here on Grandview, unfortunately, is due to groups of young people collecting in the evening and just hanging out,” she said. “And it’s a cool place to hang out, so why not? They come with their motorbikes, and they come with their fast cars, and they drink, and they eat fast food, and then they chuck it all over the edge. I don’t believe the trash is due to any local residents or any visitors or sightseers.”
Volunteers Barbara and Paul Franklin say this is part of their life now.
“We’ve been here about a year, and we moved back to Pittsburgh after being away for 37 years, and we noticed there’s just a lot of trash out there,” Paul Franklin said.
The couple is now donning yellow safety vests, using an embroidery hoop to keep the trash bags open, and using grabbers to snag cigarette butts, cans, and even gum wrappers.
“When we do McCardle Roadway on Sunday mornings, I feel really good about that,” Barbara Franklin said.
The volunteers keep on coming, snapping pictures of themselves getting their steps in and making a difference, block by block.
“There is still a long way to go, and we are getting there, and I feel the motivation going here,” said Oldfield.
The Franklins told KDKA-TV that it’s addicting, and now they notice trash everywhere. They hope people will see this story and spread it beyond Mt. Washington.
“We’re proud of this city, we’re proud of this neighborhood, and we want to show it in its best light, and we think we’re helping to do that,” said Paul Franklin.
Oldfield said she hopes to secure some funding to continue supplying her volunteers with much-needed gear. She’s currently receiving some money from the community organization Neighbors on the Mount to purchase the vests and grabbers.
She’s soon applying for grant money in the form of a Neighborhood Economic Development grant and told KDKA-TV that she hopes the city will consider her group for the funds to keep this going.
Marcus Semien hit a three-run homer, rookie Zac Thornton pitched five scoreless innings and the New York Mets matched a season high with their fourth straight win by beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-4 on Friday night.
Semien’s second homer in two games and 14th of the season, a drive to left-center off Carmen Mlodzinski, capped a four-run third that put the Mets ahead 5-0. New York, last in the NL East, swept a three-game series in Cleveland before busing to Pittsburgh on Thursday night.
Thornton (3-2) allowed four hits while striking out three and walking two. The left-hander remained in the game following a 36-minute rain delay in the top of the third.
Pittsburgh got two runs in the seventh and then two more in the ninth off closer Devin Williams, but a pair of baserunning mistakes cost the Pirates as they tried to rally.
Semien made a sliding stop at second base of Bryan Reynolds’ grounder with a runner aboard to end it.
Mets rookie outfielder Carson Benge was removed with left wrist soreness in the bottom of the fourth, one inning after sliding into the wall in the left-field corner while catching a flyball hit by Ronny Simon.
Benge was replaced by Cristian Pache with the Mets leading 6-0. Benge helped New York build the lead with a pair of run-scoring singles.
Making his first start since May 25, Mlodzinski (6-4) was tagged for five runs and seven hits in three innings. Mlodzinski returned to the rotation from the bullpen after Mitch Keller sustained a season-ending right shoulder injury in his previous start.
A.J. Ewing, another rookie outfielder, had three hits and scored twice for the Mets. Ewing led off the game with a double and scored on a single by Benge, who also singled home a run in the third before Semien homered. Francisco Lindor added an RBI single in the fourth.
The Pirates, who are 4-11 since the All-Star break, got two hits each from Reynolds, Nick Gonzales, Simon and Jared Triolo.
Mets RHP Robert Stock (0-1, 1.80 ERA) faces rookie RHP Bubba Chandler (4-8, 4.49) on Saturday night.
Pittsburg, PA
Belle Vernon athletic director Matt Humbert leaving district for same role at Bethel Park
Belle Vernon Area athletic director Matt Humbert is stepping down from his position to take on the same role with the Bethel Park School District.
Humbert has been the athletic director at Belle Vernon for more than a decade and also served as the district’s football coach for a number of years.
While the football coach at Belle Vernon, Humbert was highly successful, winning two WPIAL titles and two PIAA state championships in 2021 and 2022.
In a letter to district parents and families, Belle Vernon Area superintendent Timothy Glasspool said that Humbert “worked tirelessly to build a culture centered on excellence, accountability, and pride.”
“While we are certainly disappointed to see Coach Humbert leave Belle Vernon Area, we understand and respect his decision to continue his career at Bethel Park School District,” the letter said. “We are grateful for his years of dedicated service and wish him every success and happiness in this next chapter.”
Humbert will be continuing in his role at Belle Vernon through the end of September and is expected to begin his duties at Bethel Park next month.
It’s unclear how soon Belle Vernon Area is expected to hire or appoint Humbert’s replacement.
Pittsburg, PA
Pittsburgh Penguins sign forward with just 14 career points to an 8-year, $32 million contract extension
The Pittsburgh Penguins made a very surprising move on Thursday.
The club announced that they have re-signed restricted free agent forward Ville Koivunen to an 8-year, $32 million contract extension ($4 million AAV). A deal of that length for any player tends to raise the eyebrows of the hockey world, but this one was even more unique in that regard because Koivunen has played just 47 career NHL games and recorded just 14 points (2g, 12a) in those contests.
Koivunen is now on the books with the Penguins through the 2033-34 season.
“There were many factors that led to us going down this path,” general manager Kyle Dubas said in a press release. “But the primary factor was watching the way the market evolved over the season and especially the summer and trying to best plan for the future of the Penguins. We view the contract as a bet – on Ville, his potential, and our belief that he is going to do the work to reach that potential.”
Koivunen, drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round of the 2021 NHL Draft, was traded to the Penguins in 2024 as part of Pittsburgh’s return for star winger Jake Guentzel. He has been a star-level producer in the AHL with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, notching 41 points (13g, 28a) in 34 games during the 2025-26 campaign, but recorded only 7 points (2g, 5a) in 39 NHL games with the Penguins.
Despite spending much of the season in the NHL, the 23-year-old Finnish forward led the Baby Pens in assists (28), ranked second in points (41), and had the highest points-per-game average on the team (1.21). Koivunen added nine points (4g, 5a) in 15 games during this past spring’s postseason.
The Penguins still have over $10 million in cap space this offseason after finishing second in the Metropolitan Division last season. They have several important players entering the final seasons on their contracts, including star veterans like captain Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Erik Karlsson.
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