Free Republic

Protesters concerned about race relations in Pittsburgh camped outside Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's office overnight, and, when he failed to materialize by morning, they headed to his house... “I wholeheartedly believe in the right to peaceful assembly, however, that does not give anyone the right to damage private property and to frighten people's young children,” Ravenstahl said. Ravenstahl has a son, Cooper, 4.

PITTSBURGH - Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl is standing behind stances taken by mayors in Chicago and Boston against Chick-fil-A after the company’s president said he was not in favor gay marriage. “I came out in support of gay marriage and support the right of gay couples to marry and would be supportive of them in this case as well,” Ravenstahl said Thursday. Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy said he doesn't support same-sex marriage. The fast-food chain said it has a history of applying biblically based principles to its business, such as closing stores on Sundays. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel told the...

Update: Boy Mayor of Pittsburgh decides to Join the Fudgepacker Choir after all If you asked Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl to identify his three favorite ice cream flavors these days, he likely would respond, “Vanilla, vanilla and vanilla.” With a probable re-election battle looming against one or more prospective challengers such as City Councilman Bill Peduto, city Controller Michael Lamb and state Auditor General Jack Wagner, Ravenstahl’s strategy appears to be: Bland is grand. The mayor took his greatest political risk in ages on Thursday, appearing on the North Shore to hype the city’s new multi-space parking meters. It...

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl has no Plan B to solve Pittsburgh's financial problem if City Council rejects the idea of leasing public parking assets. Rejection would be council's "equivalent of endorsing $30 million in cuts" in the budget Ravenstahl submits this week, he said yesterday. With three months for city leaders to act before a state takeover of the pension system, Pittsburghers should know the city faces a crisis that would worsen with inaction and could mean tax increases. "It's our biggest issue," Ravenstahl said. "It becomes difficult because when you talk to the person on the street, they want to...

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and his wife Erin are calling it quits. "For some time, like many couples, Erin and I have been working hard to build a successful marriage and have faced the challenges associated with that," the mayor said in a prepared statement released late last night. "Sadly, Erin and I have decided that it is in our family's best interested to formally separate." Erin Ravenstahl said in a separate statement that the couple's 1-year-old son Cooper will be a priority and asked that the public respect the family's privacy.

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl plans to propose a 1 percent college-education privilege tax to council today, in a move that's likely to set off a fight with the city's schools of higher learning. College and university representatives met with the mayor on Wednesday and argued against the tax, which would be assessed on a college student's tuition. It technically would not be a levy on the students or their schools, but rather on the privilege of getting a higher education in Pittsburgh. "They weren't pleased to hear that this was an option we were pursuing," Mr. Ravenstahl said. But he...

Hearing scheduled on G-20 arrests Students to air complaints Nov. 10 Wednesday, October 28, 2009 By Dan Majors, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The city's Citizen Police Review Board last night tentatively scheduled a Nov. 10 hearing, ideally to be held on the University of Pittsburgh campus, to hear the complaints of students arrested during last month's protests of the G-20 summit. The time and place of the meeting is contingent upon arrangements to be made with university administrators. Review board Executive Director Elizabeth C. Pittinger said the board has received 75 complaints about police actions, a dozen of which involve sworn statements.

"The Republican nominee for Pittsburgh's top office is its Democratic mayor.Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's campaign confirmed today that he will accept the GOP nod for mayor, after the Allegheny County Elections Division released its official count of Republican write-in votes in last month's primary. Mr. Ravenstahl, a lifelong Democrat, got 607, versus 189 for Squirrel Hill Republican John Wander, who ran a last-minute write-in nomination bid."

A city government employee developed a computer program that let him rig a radio station's online poll in favor of the mayor, who is seeking re-election Tuesday. Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's administration said the employee, who works in the city's computer department, would not be disciplined. "As far as I'm concerned, it was all in good fun," the mayor said. The employee found a way around restrictions on repeat voting, allowing him to bombard the site with votes favoring the mayor, the mayor's office acknowledged. The poll, posted last week, showed 86 percent of listeners believed the media was too harsh...

(KDKA) PITTSBURGH The man next in line to replace Mayor Bob O’Connor will be sworn in tonight. At 10:30pm, City Council President Luke Ravenstahl will officially become the next mayor of Pittsburgh. At 26 years old, Ravenstahl will be the youngest mayor in the city’s history. Earlier today, he told reporters he was ready. “My experience and my actions on council here over the last two-and-a-half years,” Ravenstahl cited. “I’ll let the people decide that. That is an issue that many will raise. “I’m here. I’ve been the president, I have been elected by my district, I have been elected...