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If HQ2 Doesn't Come To Pittsburgh, Was It All Worth It?

Megan Farmer
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KUOW
A group of joggers run by Amazon's first North American headquarters in Seattle, Wash.

Twenty cities are still waiting for Amazon to anoint the home of its second North American headquarters. Most will be disappointed, which begs the question: was it worth all the trouble?

Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald says yes. Even if Amazon opts out of Pittsburgh, creating a competitive bid led to other corporations discovering the city’s potential, he says. Fitzgerald talks about that process, as well as the county police’s role in lending expertise to municipal departments for major crime investigations; potentially dissolving East Pittsburgh's police department; and recent changes to the county airport authority's investment policy.

Credit Sabrina Bodon / 90.5 WESA
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90.5 WESA
Zombie Den, a bar situated in Market Square for the month of October

Elsewhere on the program, part four in Keystone Crossroads' No Justice for All series. Some private donors worried about the opioid crisis are stepping up to fund Blair County's district attorney's office. The group has raised millions in private funding to help prosecutors more aggressively pursue drug crime, but as WPSU's Min Xian reports, fundraising might put the public defenders' office at an even greater disadvantage. WITF's Emily Previti joins later to discuss the project's origin. 

And Pittburgh is honoring the undead. 90.5 WESA’s Maria Scapellato talks to University of Pittsburgh film professor Adam Lowenstein to talk about how George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead is still affecting horror cinema 50 years after its premiere. WESA's Sabrina Bodon also visits a zombie-themed bar in Market Square.

Kiley Koscinski covers city government, policy and how Pittsburghers engage with city services. She also works as a fill-in host for All Things Considered. Kiley has previously served as a producer on The Confluence and Morning Edition.
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