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March 27-April 2 Explained: Biden's Infrastructure Plan, Policing Under Peduto & Vaccine Eligibility

Evan Vucci
/
AP
President Joe Biden delivers a speech on infrastructure spending at Carpenters Pittsburgh Training Center, Wednesday, March 31, 2021, in Pittsburgh.

On this week's Explainer:

President Joe Biden visited Pittsburgh earlier this week to announce an enormous infrastructure plan that was a central pillar of his campaign. Government and accountability reporter An-Li Herring reports the $2 trillion proposal would, according to the president, bring in good-paying jobs, grow the economy and upgrade the country's infrastructure.

So far, the vaccine has only been available to Pennsylvanians in 1A, the state’s first priority group. But as health and science reporter Sarah Boden reports, acting health secretary Alison Beam announced this week that allPennsylvanians would become eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine by April 19.

Mayor Bill Peduto is facing several challengers in the May primary, and one of the big campaign issues is police reform, where Peduto has at times found himself at odds with both activists and police. Government and accountability reporter Ariel Worthy looked into whether policing has changed at all during Peduto’s time in office.

Pittsburgh Explainer is hosted by Liz Reid and produced by Katie Blackley. New episodes come out every Friday. Listen on the NPR One app or subscribe on iTunesGoogle PlayStitcherSpotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Katie Blackley is a digital editor/producer for 90.5 WESA and 91.3 WYEP, where she writes, edits and generates both web and on-air content for features and daily broadcast. She's the producer and host of our Good Question! series and podcast. She also covers history and the LGBTQ community. kblackley@wesa.fm