Julia Zenkevich

Pittsburgh

General Assignment Reporter at WESA-FM (Pittsburgh, PA)

general assignment reporter also covering allegheny county govt for @905wesa, pittsburgh’s @npr news station. views my own. tips? 📧[email protected] (she/her)

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Articles

Voter guide to Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas judicial candidates

3 days ago | wesa.fm | Julia Maruca |Chris Potter |Tom Riese |Julia Zenkevich

Judicial races don't generate much buzz, but this year what they lack in intensity they make up for in volume. A total of eight seats on the Allegheny County's Common Pleas are up for grabs, thanks to a slew of retirements this year, and 22 candidates are seeking to fill them. Combined with an earlier eight-seat contest in 2021, well over one-third of the county's bench will have turned over in just the past four years.
Pittsburgh students, professors, rally against attacks on higher education

1 week ago | wesa.fm | Julia Zenkevich

Students, faculty, and staff from local colleges and universities rallied at Schenley Plaza in Oakland on Thursday, pushing back against what they described as Trump administration efforts to target higher education. They condemned federal attempts to eliminate diversity programs, cut research funding, and influence what’s being taught on campus.
Officials celebrate new affordable housing in the Hill District

1 week ago | wesa.fm | Julia Zenkevich

New affordable housing is coming to the Hill District. Officials broke ground Tuesday on the Herron Village Apartments, which will eventually include 12 affordable housing units and commercial space for a beauty salon, community market and laundromat. The Urban Redevelopment Authority will also offer financial literacy courses to residents, along with other life-skills training.
Allegheny County to offer in-person voter services ahead of May primary

2 weeks ago | wesa.fm | Julia Zenkevich

Allegheny County leaders are once again expanding options for voters who want to use a mail-in ballot in this year’s primary elections. The county Elections Division will operate four satellite locations and 10 ballot return sites in the lead-up to the May primary, offering voters two ways to ensure they get their ballots in before Election Day.
Pittsburgh and Pa. food banks see growing demand, as Trump slashes federal funding

2 weeks ago | wesa.fm | Julia Zenkevich

This is WESA Politics, a weekly newsletter by our political reporters providing analysis about Pittsburgh and state politics. If you want it earlier — we'll deliver it to your inbox on Thursday afternoon — sign up here. Federal cuts to a popular food aid program are proving to be unpopular with two key constituencies: people who grow food, and people who eat it.
Allegheny County Councilor David Bonaroti to resign

3 weeks ago | wesa.fm | Julia Zenkevich

Allegheny County Councilor David Bonaroti plans to resign at the end of the month, he announced Thursday. Bonaroti, a Google employee in his day job, plans to move to North or South Carolina this summer for work. His last County Council meeting will be April 22. Bonaroti is a first term Democrat representing District 13, which covers parts of Pittsburgh and Bellevue next door. His departure comes just over a year into his four-year term.
Federal HHS layoffs hit NIOSH mine-safety research facility near Pittsburgh

3 weeks ago | wesa.fm | Julia Zenkevich |Chris Potter

Federal workers in Pittsburgh’s South Hills have apparently been caught up in nationwide layoffs involving 10,000 people, with staff at a federal facility focused on mine safety having received lay off notices Tuesday. About 200 members of American Federation of Government Employees Local 1916, a union representing federal workers, received emails Tuesday morning informing them of a “reduction in force.” Unionized workers’ last day will be June 30.
Pittsburgh City Council begins look at offering tax relief for longtime homeowners

1 month ago | wesa.fm | Julia Zenkevich

Pittsburgh City Council plans to solicit public feedback on a bill meant to protect longtime homeowners in gentrifying neighborhoods from future property reassessments. Mayor Ed Gainey proposed a Longtime Owner Occupant Tax Exemption Program, also known as LOOP, earlier this month. A LOOP is an anti-gentrification measure, one that caps the taxable value of a home after a reassessment.
Corrections officers, advocates push to revive restraint chair at Allegheny County Jail

1 month ago | wesa.fm | Julia Zenkevich

Allegheny County residents voted to ban the use of restraint chairs at the county jail nearly four years ago, but new efforts could seek to overturn the moratorium.
‘No rhyme or reason’: How federal layoffs are impacting Pittsburgh workers

1 month ago | wesa.fm | Julia Zenkevich

The Trump administration’s purge of federal employees has hit Pittsburgh, leaving some federal workers without jobs and throwing the unions that represent them into a state of confusion.