Arrests of two public employees on sexual misconduct charges brings realities of #MeToo to Pittsburgh

Jim Sheppard Mike Diebold

Two arrests this week of public employees on sexual misconduct charges brings home the reality of #MeToo to the Pittsburgh region. First came word that Jim Sheppard, an analyst in the office of County Controller Chelsa Wagner, was arrested on charges of harassment, stalking, and related crimes in regard to his ex-boyfriend. Sheppard had previously […]

WTF?

November 8, 2017. The date four local women in politics announced they were forming a Political Action Committee (PAC) called Women for the Future of Pittsburgh with the unfortunate acronym of WTF. For clarity sake, I’m going to use WTF Pgh to avoid confusion with actual WTF references. Stated mission: Women for The Future (WTF) […]

I’m Officially a Social Media Maven

It has been a long climb from the valley of the shadows of the person most likely to post their cereal choices on Facebook, but I made it! A ha! I may have carpal tunnel syndrome from 8+ years of blogging, composing 30K tweets and hanging out with my 2600 best friends on Facebook, but […]

Pennsylvania Elects First Openly Gay State Representative; Other Election News

Congratulations to Brian Sims who won the Democrat primary to run for State House in District 182 (Philly). Brian faces no challenger in November and is on course to be the first openly gay person elected to statewide office in Pennsylvania. From GayPolitics.com. Brian Sims tonight has won a decisive Democratic primary in his Philadelphia […]

To Protect My Body, I Must Have a Voice – An Open Letter to Western PA Representatives

Dear Jake Wheatley, Adam Ravenstahl, Harry Readshaw, Dom Costa, Dan Frankel, Joe Preston, Dan Deasy, and Paul Costa. Gentlemen. As you are aware, my House District (22) has no Representative in your august body. Nor is there any realistic hope that we will have a special election in April to ensure we are represented in […]

Pennsylvania’s 22nd House District Endorsement – WTF?

This past Sunday, the Allegheny County Democratic Committee endorsed people.  Yes, they picked Altmire over Critz which we will visit in another post. But I’m concerned about my district, the 22nd district in the House of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, formerly occupied by Chelsa Wagner. Up until Sunday, I could not get a whiff of […]

Is This Disenfranchisement or What? The PA House 22nd District Loses Again

Is This Disenfranchisement or What? The PA House 22nd District Loses Again

Caught this today: But state House speaker Sam Smith says his immediate problem is that he must call special elections for six vacant state House seats and is stuck with an outdated map that is “so wildly out of proportion -– one person, one vote-wise, population-wise -– that I don’t want to be calling special […]

Wagner, Weinstein Accept 35% Raises While Allegheny Co Residents Lose Food Stamp Eligibility

Wagner, Weinstein Accept 35% Raises While Allegheny Co Residents Lose Food Stamp Eligibility

Inflammatory juxtaposition, no? Yes! And it should be because this is a horrible example of greed and complete disregard for the working class. Allegheny County Controller Chelsa Wagner was sworn in and a week later received a 35% raise, a $23,000 raise! County Treasurer John Weinstein received the same percentage (and actual amount). THIRTY FIVE […]