Lawsuits, Boosters & Banned Books Week

It’s the Friday news roundup! Allegheny County leadership is at odds again — this time, over the fate of the Shuman juvenile detention facility in the East End; the new covid boosters are allegedly available, but Pittsburghers are having a lot of trouble finding them both in stock and covered by their insurers; and Banned Books Week kicks off this weekend, as state lawmakers consider ways to make it both easier and harder for individual school districts and libraries to be subject to those bans. Plus, did you know the whole commemoration began with a Pittsburgher?

We love to cite our sources:

• PINJ and the Pittsburgh Independent have been doing great reporting about the plan to renovate Shuman and County Council’s impending lawsuit 
• County Executive Rich Fitzgerald sued Council previously for passing an increase in the minimum wage for county workers, which he said he supports, but not in this manner
• Rollout of the new Covid booster has had issues nationwide, including insurance denials and canceled appointments
• One health and policy expert explained one cause for NPR: This is the first year the vaccine is being commercialized
• One person looking for the booster in Miami said it seems like the American health care system is ”circling the drain” 
• Pittsburgh native Judith Krug was a banned books crusader before her death in 2009
• The Washington Post analyzed book challenges nationwide and found the majority were filed by just 11 people
• The latest report from PEN America, which tracks book bans, found that almost 75% of reported book bans in the last school year were connected to organized efforts, mainly from advocacy groups, elected officials, or enacted legislation
• Lancaster Online reported on the legislation around book bans in PA, including a proposed bill to ban book bans at libraries and public schools and another bill that would require schools to notify parents about "sexually explicit content" in curriculums
• Our own Mallory Falk did a deep dive on an attempted book ban in Central York for WHYY’s Schooled podcast last year, and and the Inky looked at where Pennsylvania ranks with book bans nationwide
• Check out the Carnegie Library’s plans for Banned Book Week, including the 30 Books in 30 Minutes event online and in person Oct. 7 at 10:30 a.m.

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