Chris Potter
Government & Accountability EditorNearly three decades after leaving home for college, Chris Potter now lives four miles from the house he grew up in -- a testament either to the charm of the South Hills or to a simple lack of ambition. In the intervening years, Potter held a variety of jobs, including asbestos abatement engineer and ice-cream truck driver. He has also worked for a number of local media outlets, only some of which then went out of business. After serving as the editor of Pittsburgh City Paper for a decade, he covered politics and government at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He has won some awards during the course of his quarter-century journalistic career, but then even a blind squirrel sometimes digs up an acorn.
And yes, that is his real hair.
He can be reached at 412-930-8006 or at cpotter@wesa.fm.
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Democrats are hoping that voters will find things to admire in President Joe Biden despite frustrations, and that investments in Western Pennsylvania will pay off this November.
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The project, part of a $63 million investment being made statewide through President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, will focus on the building’s loading dock, where there has been deterioration to concrete and steel beams.
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The city announced Monday that City Planning director Karen Abrams would step down in April. Mayor Ed Gainey has said he intends to replace her with Jamil Bey, the founder and CEO of the Urbankind Institute.
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John Inglis, AJ Olasz and Victoria Schmotzer are competing for the Democratic nomination to represent the 38th District in the Pennsylvania State House.
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Nick Pisciottano faces Makenzie White for the Democratic nomination in the 45th State Senate District; on the Republican side, Jen Dintini is running against Kami Stulginskas.
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U.S. Rep. Summer Lee faces challenger Bhavini Patel for the Democratic nomination in the 12th Congressional District.
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Some local officials worried that any incoming replacement would be hard-pressed to match Mike Doyle’s ability to bring home federal dollars, and that Summer Lee’s truth-to-power approach to politics might cost the district aid.
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While endorsements often attract little public notice, this one has drawn attention all the way in Harrisburg as the region’s progressive leaders flex their muscle again — and House members push back.
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The 14th Ward Independent Democratic Club endorsed Bhavini Patel in her bid to topple first-term Congresswoman Summer Lee.
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The spot was aired by Moderate PAC, which purports “to strengthen Moderate House Democrats,” but whose only significant donor on record is Jeffrey Yass, an eastern Pennsylvania hedge-fund manager whose contributions to conservative candidates and causes like school vouchers has loomed increasingly larger in recent years.