Nonprofit operator receives $7,800 daily payments before children are housed at the former Shuman facility, as Allegheny County pays for renovation costs. Brittany Hailer and Brian Conway This story is a collaboration between Pittsburgh Institute…
‘I wanted to read books’: Former Shuman Detention…
Sean Johnson Editors Note: Sean Johnson was of the last cohort to be housed at the now shuttered Shuman Juvenile Detention Center in 2021. He writes that the education programming in the facility and a…
Records released from Allegheny Medical Examiner after court…
Brittany Hailer Daniel Pastorek died over two years ago, on Thanksgiving Day, 2020, in a mental health unit in the Allegheny County Jail. He struggled with housing and suffered from schizophrenia. He was arrested and…
UPDATED: Allegheny County’s juvenile detention contract valued at…
While the county seeks bids for “phase one” renovations, state documents indicate Allegheny County sought private ownership to take over the shuttered former juvenile detention facility By Brittany Hailer and Brian Conway This story is…
Smithfield shelter closure limits resources for homeless downtown
Pittsburgh community members step up after Allegheny County Department of Human Services closes shelter despite public outcry Matt Glover Under a small overhang in the pouring rain outside Smithfield United Church of Christ, Kim Paquet,…
Pre-trial detainee has waited over six years to…
By Jody DiPerna and Matt Glover In a pre-trial hearing today, Assistant District Attorney Matthew Newman told Common Pleas Court Judge Randal Todd that the D.A.’s office personally delivered eight discs containing video surveillance footage…
Jail Oversight Board members and jail administration abruptly…
Community members honored deceased incarcerated persons through song By Matt Glover Yesterday’s Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board meeting ended early with Judge Elliot Howsie, who led the meeting, walking out to a rendition of “Mama,…
Interview with Jared Hamilton, Filmmaker of “Mighty Harlan…
by Jody DiPerna In the summer of 2019, Blackjewel mine workers blockaded train tracks in eastern Kentucky as they demanded back pay from the mining company that, suddenly and without warning, fired the miners and…
‘Mighty Harlan County,’ film about the Blackjewel miners,…
by Jody DiPerna On May 11, the Battle of Homestead will show the film 'Mighty Harlan County,' followed by a conversation with film director Jared Hamilton moderated by the Pittsburgh Institute for Nonprofit Journalism. UPDATE: …