The coronavirus pandemic has been a lot of things to a lot of people.
It has been a medical emergency. It has been a financial boondoggle. It has been a planning nightmare, an educational upheaval and an employment catastrophe.
But it’s also been something else. A great equalizer.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Conference of Mayors sent a letter to the leadership of the Senate and the House of Representatives pleading for more help with funding covid response efforts.
“Despite immense fiscal pressure, your local government partners oversaw those efforts, while trying to maintain essential services and increase our internal capacity to provide support for residents and businesses who have been crippled by a tanking economy,” the letter stated.
What makes Pittsburgh such an attractive movie location?
Tax credits for film companies are just the beginning, says Dawn Keezer, director of the Pittsburgh Film Office.
“We have such a diversity of locations. Pittsburgh can look like any place in the world,” she says. “The only things we don’t have are a beach and a desert.
“We do New York better than New York,” she says. “We’ve been San Francisco, Paris, Ukraine and Atlanta.”
There’s the beauty of the city viewed from the West End Overlook or Mt. Washington and downtown’s blend of modern and historical architecture, she says. Drive for an hour and you have mountains, small towns, farmland and other attractive settings.
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Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto is among the more than 280 mayors calling on congressional leaders to “take immediate action” on coronavirus relief legislation proposed by President Joe Biden.
The legislation, called the American Rescue Plan, would provide $350 billion to state and local governments.
“Providing direct, flexible aid to cities is the most efficient and immediate way to help families and their communities who have been suffering for far too long,” a letter by the U.S. Conference of Mayors says.
Among Pennsylvania’s cities, Peduto was joined by Monessen Mayor Matthew Shorraw, Bethlehem Mayor Robert Donchez, Easton Mayor Salvatore Panto, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney and Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti in signing the letter.
Cowboys For Trump Leader Arrested Over US Capitol Riot
- Associated Press, KUNM News
A New Mexico county official and founder of the group Cowboys for Trump who had vowed to return to Washington after last week s riot at the U.S. Capitol to place a flag on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi s desk was arrested Sunday by the FBI.
Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin was arrested on charges of illegally entering the U.S. Capitol.
According to court documents, Griffin told investigators that he was caught up in the crowd, which pushed its way through the barricades and entered the restricted area of the U.S. Capitol, but he said he did not enter the building and instead remained on the U.S. Capitol steps.