Your Daily Guide

Who’s Keeping Tabs on Election Day?

The Department of Justice announced it's sending election monitors to the polls in Allegheny County, along with three other counties across the state, as part of a nationwide deployment. While federal monitors have been sent out in the past — typically to ensure voters don't experience discrimination or intimidation — voting rights advocates are raising concerns about potential election interference. Here's what you need to know:

• The federal monitors are only supposed to observe and take notes, according to a letter from the DOJ: "They do not intrude or interfere in any way with the voting process." [Penn Capital-Star]
• County Executive Sara Innamorato told City Cast Pittsburgh that the monitors won't have any special access to polling places and will be treated like any other registered observer. "They've assured us that they'll be in plain clothes and they'll be in compliance with state and local laws, and we're going to give them the benefit of the doubt," she said. [City Cast Pittsburgh]
• Voter intimidation is illegal. Federal law prohibits stationing armed federal agents at polling places, with narrow exceptions, and Pennsylvania generally prohibits police officers from coming within 100 feet of polling locations. Threatening, harassing, or interfering with someone trying to vote is also against the law. [ACLU / Votebeat / PA.gov]
• If you see voter intimidation or anything else concerning at your polling place, you can call the county elections division at 412-350-4500.

Listen to our full interview with Sara Innamorato on today’s pod, where we also discuss the county’s new paid parental leave policy, a potential sales tax increase, the timeline for property reassessments, and more.

Changes Ahead at Busy Intersections

Pittsburgh is expanding its red light camera program to the intersection of Browns Hill Road and Parkview Boulevard in Squirrel Hill, near the Homestead Grays Bridge. Drivers get a 30-day warning period before $100 fines kick in. [WPXI]

• Changes are coming to Bloomfield too. The notoriously tricky intersection of Liberty Avenue and Main Street, near the Bloomfield Bridge, is slated for a $3.5 million makeover, including shorter pedestrian crossings and improved bike connections. [WTAE]

AGH Nurses Get a Raise

After threatening to strike, 1,500 nurses at Allegheny General Hospital have a new contract that includes average raises of nearly 16%, a promise to increase staffing levels, and protections to keep AI from overriding nurses’ clinical judgment. The agreement also puts an end to mandatory rotating shifts that had nurses switching between days and nights in the same week. [WPXI]

More Housing for Pittsburgh Seniors

Two longtime vacant properties are getting new life as affordable senior housing. In Beltzhoover, a former elementary school is welcoming residents into 39 new apartments, while demolition is underway at the long-neglected Berg Place complex in Carrick to make way for more affordable units. [WESA / WPXI]

• Allegheny County is one of the oldest counties in the nation, but we've lost millions of dollars in state funding to serve our seniors. Learn why, plus how local officials are trying to fill the gap. [City Cast Pittsburgh]

Smiley Cookies, But Make It Whiskey

In a collaboration nobody asked for (but we’re definitely curious about), Wigle Whiskey and Eat’n Park have teamed up to create Smiley Cookie-flavored whiskey. This sounds a little too reminiscent of 99 Bananas and other questionable flavored liquor of my college days, but maybe this is flavored booze for a new generation! Would you give it a try? [🔒 Business-Times]