This week, the nonprofit Heritage Community Initiatives celebrated a quarter-century of providing bus service for dozens of eastern Allegheny County communities — and now, its leadership is using a recently completed analysis to make the service better.

Heritage’s bus service currently consists of three main routes covering just over 81 miles, serving several municipalities in the Mon Valley, spanning from Swissvale, Liberty, Wilkins, Monroeville and many places in between. There are 81 stops, and the nonprofit has an annual budget of just over $1 million to operate the system, according to Heritage President and CEO Paula McWilliams.

In the event of a major flood, do you know what to do?

That was a question posed at the Extreme Event Workshop led by the Pennsylvania Silver Jackets on Thursday. Community leaders and stakeholders took part in an hour-long game that challenged them to budget for resources and work with other teams to solve hypothetical problems that could appear during a flooding scenario.

Indiana County’s board of commissioners voted Wednesday to approve a grant agreement and resolution dealing with the future of the Indiana County-Jimmy Stewart Airport in White Township.

The resolution will start the process of turning up to 50 vacant acres into an “Airport Land Development Zone,” while the grant agreement opens up state funding for what Airport Authority Manager Rick Fuellner described as “a big hangar out there (that is) going to attract a lot of business.”

In a continuation of last year’s “Link Up Lawrence” broadband study, Lawrence County is spending $8,400 for a regional funding application with Pennsylvania’s Northwestern Commission.

Federal American Rescue Plan Act funds totaling $244,750 were also previously spent by the county to continue the partnership with Michael Baker International, the engineering firm responsible for “Link Up Lawrence.”

After a solid decade in the chocolate business, Nina Midgley Kelman thought she had heard every imaginable question about her signature Mountain Magic bites at My Favorite Sweet Shoppe in Collier or local craft shows and events like Yinzerfest.

Then she brought the sweet and crunchy confection to last week’s Fancy Food Show in New York City. The buyers, brokers, distributors and other industry professionals who attended the Specialty Food Association’s 68th summer show at the Javits Center on June 23-25 weren’t asking much about calories or shelf life. A few asked whether she had gluten-free options.

Leann Chaney, senior active transportation coordinator at the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, works with stakeholders looking to advance active transportation such as biking and walking within the SPC’s 10-county region. She provides technical guidance to help local governments achieve their active transportation goals and improve safety, comfort and connectivity. She also manages SPC’s nonmotorized data collection program, implementing the Regional Active Transportation Plan for Southwestern Pennsylvania and sponsoring a quarterly Active Transportation Forum.

Nationally syndicated reporter and author Salena Zito joins The Big K Morning Show with Larry Richert to discuss Rich Fitzgerald’s new role at the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission. To get a glimpse into his new role, Zito recently joined Fitzgerald for a variety of meetings across the region.

Read her latest article “Rich Fitzgerald’s out of office, but not out of work” for more details.

View the full story at audacy.com.

It has been just under six months since Rich Fitzgerald walked into the Allegheny County Courthouse, something he did daily for over a dozen years as the county’s chief executive, usually with a phone in his hand trying to manage a crisis.

But today was different. Today he was there to attend the unveiling of his portrait, along with the portraits of the other two former county executives, Dan Onorato and the late Jim Roddey, honoring their place in county government as the first three to hold that office since 1998, when the county switched from three commissioners to a county executive and 15-member council.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation opened the public period for the proposed 2025 statewide transportation improvement program.

The program consists of road and bridge projects statewide that support Gov. Josh Shapiro’s vision of a safe and reliable transportation network. The comment period will remain open until July 3, 2024.

Members of the Southwest Pennsylvania Commission and PennDOT officials presented the plan for local projects at a public meeting of local elected officials earlier this month.

Penn Township commissioners approved the preliminary development plan for a new Pennsylvania Turnpike maintenance complex featuring nearly 8 acres of solar panels.
 
The complex — which will contain an office space, truck and maintenance garages and a salt storage building — will be located on a nearly 42-acre property with an entrance along Route 130.
 
Pending stormwater, sewage and driveway permit requirements, the complex is scheduled to be built by fall 2026, according to the turnpike’s website.