🛍️ Will Century III Mall get demolished?

Biden To Visit East Palestine on Friday

President Joe Biden will head to the Ohio-Pennsylvania border on Friday, nearly a year after a Norfolk Southern train derailed and released hazardous chemicals. The White House said his visit will ensure that state and local officials “hold Norfolk Southern accountable.” [Associated Press]

• 📣 What’s the state of East Palestine now? [🎧 City Cast Pittsburgh]

PPS Owes Students Hours of Services

Schools that closed during the pandemic will need to compensate students with disabilities for missed services — that’s more than 603,000 hours for more than 7,800 students! Under Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, each student is owed 272 hours of instruction for “missed academic support, emotional support, physical therapy, or a combination of other services.” [90.5 WESA]

Heads Up: Downtown T Delays

Downtown light rail riders can expect 30-minute delays most weekends through March due to construction at Wood Street Station. (The station will, however, be open during normal hours for St. Patrick’s Day weekend.) Inbound riders can still commute to Steel Plaza but will have to take a shuttle bus to Gateway Station if they want to get to the North Side; North Side riders can get a shuttle from Gateway to Penn Station if they want to reboard the light rail. [Pittsburgh Union Progress]

• 🚧 More construction news: A $25.5 million project has begun on McNightmare — I mean McKnight Road!

Flash Back: Three Rivers Implosion

This year’s Super Bowl took place on the anniversary of the end of an era in Pittsburgh – 23 years since Three Rivers Stadium was imploded to make way for PNC Park and Heinz Field. The dual-sports venue was home to the Steelers when they won four of their six Super Bowl championships. The $55 million stadium, built in 1970, took only 19 seconds to crumble. [TribLIVE]

• 🏟️ Speaking of Pittsburgh sports history: You might be pronouncing our local sports heroes’ names wrong. [🎧 City Cast Pittsburgh]

Let’s play a game! Where can you find the photo above? 👀

🌟 Shoutout to Andrew H. and Andy C. who correctly guessed the last “Where Is It?” challenge:

If you’re looking for vintage Steelers, Pirates, or Penguins gear, step into The Closet in Bellevue, a shop packed with Pittsburgh nostalgia. Like me, you might get flashbacks of your dad in the '90s 💥

Will Century III Mall Get Demolished?

Century III Mall closed its last store in 2020, was condemned in 2023, and now its owners are facing criminal charges. A few days ago, District Attorney Stephen Zappala called the 90-acre property “a monument to blight.” So if it can’t be fixed, what should happen next? Writer, publisher, and shopping mall enthusiast Matthew Newton is here to share our nostalgia and explain exactly what went wrong.