Dear Reader,
If you're like us, you're probably taking a proverbial deep breath right now. We're almost ready for a new year that promises change and challenges. But that can wait for a few days. Let's savor 2023, that marathon of human stories, data, documents and emerging trends which we've explored together.
Housing and homelessness were ever-present concerns in the Pittsburgh region this year. We went deep with our Shelter Stakes series, chronicling shelter closures, camp sweeps and policy changes against the surging housing insecurity that’s left around 900 people without permanent homes in Allegheny County this holiday season.
With COVID-driven funding expiring fast, the long-haul effects of the pandemic may be just beginning, particularly for the Pittsburgh Public Schools, but also the city and other local institutions. Our enterprising PPS series, Uneven Scales, has examined the stakes for a school system facing mounting costs and dwindling students as stabilizing federal funds dwindle.
Shell’s multibillion dollar cracker plant in Beaver County has drawn the ire of activists for years, but our investigation into its malfunctions and attempted mitigations validated their concerns by unearthing public records that would otherwise stay buried.
These and other challenges in education, environment, equity, public health and safety have dominated local discourse this year. Perhaps the individual with the most power to affect them – the county executive – will leave office in a few days at the close of a 12-year tenure. We followed the race to fill Rich Fitzgerald’s seat closely — not as a horse race, but as an invitation to explore the big issues that define our region.
We’ve shared facts, outlined options, amplified voices and made splashes large and small. It’s your support that will propel us to do even more in 2024.
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If you valued all the PublicSource stories you read this year, please help them coming. Thanks to our generous match pool supporters, one-time gifts to our nonprofit newsroom are now tripled and new monthly gifts are matched x24! Only two days remain to get your gift matched, so please give right now by clicking here.
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With gratitude,
The PublicSource team
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