The coronavirus pandemic caused more than one million Pennsylvanians to vote by mail in the June primary, and state officials expect that number to roughly triple in November. With a little over a month until the election, the rules around voting by mail are still in flux, as several lawsuits make their way through the courts.
Police across the country have come under intense scrutiny in recent months. According to the National Institutes of Health, Black people continue to die at the hands of law enforcement at nearly three times the rate of white people, even though they’re less likely to be armed.
That scrutiny has also extended to schools, and many districts have severed ties with law enforcement. While Pittsburgh Public Schools currently has no plans to do so, the board of directors voted this week to begin gathering more data about arrests, in an effort to disrupt the “school to prison pipeline” that disproportionately affects Black students.
More than 5,000 people submitted comments to Pittsburgh’s Art Commission, about the Christopher Columbus statue in Schenley Park. Nearly two-thirds were in favor of removing it, and this week, the commission voted unanimously to do just that.
Helping explain the headlines:
- Emily Previti, elections and voting reporter with WITF
- Bill O'Driscoll, arts and culture reporter
- Sarah Schneider, education reporter
Pittsburgh Explainer is hosted by Liz Reid and produced by Katie Blackley. New episodes come out every Friday. Subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify.
