🗳️ Allegheny County enters its Innamorato era

Allegheny County Enters Its Innamorato Era

Newly-minted chief executive Sara Innamorato said she’s ready to “get to work” in her inauguration speech Tuesday. She said she wants to make the county “work for people of all backgrounds and cultures, all faiths and traditions, all customs and communities,” and she’s starting with county government itself, like improving benefits and filling 1,000 vacant positions.

• Read more on her goals for affordable housing, criminal justice reform, and childcare. [90.5 WESA]

New 911 System for Allegheny County

The county is overhauling its emergency communications system to create a backup network and better connect nearly 400 public safety agencies, regional partners, and the state. The project, contracted with Motorola, will cost about $80.3 million and take between five and seven years to complete. [90.5 WESA]

• Related: State legislators are launching a study to see how the 911 system can better assist people during a crisis by sending mental health responders instead of police. [SpotlightPA]

Child Care Approaches a ‘Cliff’

An estimated 181 child care programs permanently closed in Allegheny County over the last four years, according to Emily Neff of Trying Together. With pandemic funding ending, practitioners anticipate a crisis. [PublicSource]

• Related: In Pennsylvania, the median cost of childcare is $339 per child, per week, according to a Penn State study. [Pittsburgh City Paper]
• Listen for more on how Pittsburgh zones for childcare. [🎧 City Cast Pittsburgh]

Dean Bog on Art, Ego & The Accident That Changed It All

A few years ago, a recent Pitt grad started an ambitious project — document as many Pittsburgh neighborhoods as possible, and make it fun. Dean Bog became a local sensation, enticing people to care about places they’d never visited. And then, the YouTube series stopped. After a three year hiatus, we catch up with Dean to hear where he’s been and where he’s going next.