The city of Pittsburgh released its second annual report on the Pittsburgh Equity Indicators, a set of 80 measures that examine disparities based on race, gender, and/or income in multiple areas to better understand opportunities available to Pittsburgh residents.

“This analysis is a start towards untangling the deep roots of inequality that exist in this city,” Mayor Bill Peduto said.

To the relief of gun control proponents and ire of gun advocates, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto signed City Council’s much debated gun control legislation into law Tuesday. For the law’s supporters, in the aftermath of the Tree of Life massacre, the regulations that include an assault weapons ban with accessories as well as allowing the confiscation of firearms from residents deemed an “extreme risk” is long overdue.

But, there’s a major hitch, as state law prevents municipalities from passing gun control measures. Which is why, with the ink barely dry on the new laws and shortly after the signing, organizations such as Firearm Owners Against Crime, the Firearm Policy Coalition, and the Firearm Policy Foundation followed through on threats made in public hearings and council meetings and filed a lawsuit against the steel city.

In chambers filled with hopeful supporters and angry opponents, after months of debate Pittsburgh City Council passed its controversial and possibly unconstitutional gun legislation, Tuesday, by a 6-3 vote. 

After months of tense public hearings, grieving constituents, post-agendas, and the looming threat of lawsuits against the city by gun advocates, in 60 days following Mayor Bill Peduto’s signature, the ordinances that ban assault weapons and their ammunition as well as allow courts to confiscate firearms from residents deemed an “extreme risk” will enter the books. But there’s a catch. 

Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto has had a sometimes fraught relationship with the self-driving car industry. Monday, surrounded by the area’s industry leaders, he put past differences aside to introduce an executive order outlining guidelines for testing self-driving cars in the steel city.

The result of much collaboration, what’s being called the Pittsburgh Principles will act as an agreement between testers such as Uber and Aurora Innovation and the city with regard to the ever evolving technology surrounding autonomous vehicles. One that covers transparency, safety, and environmental guidelines. 

Pittsburgh’s McFarren Street Bridge can look forward to a series of repairs this year, much to the relief of residents. Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto announced the reconstruction would be the first done under the city’s Clean Construction guidelines. 

When Peduto still sat on Pittsburgh City Council in 2011, he introduced legislation intended to limit diesel fuel emissions in the air. Under the law any city government construction project over $2.5 million is required to use diesel particulate filters and ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel in power trucks and other equipment. The McFarren Street Bridge will be the first time since Peduto’s council days that the law will be enforced.