🌱 $50M Towards Reducing Community Violence + A New Childcare Center

Hi there, Pittsburgh. I'm here in your inbox today to get you up to speed on everything you need to know about what's going on in town.

But first, your local weather:

• Wednesday: Cloudy with afternoon rain. High: 54 Low: 51.
• Thursday: A morning shower in spots. High: 75 Low: 30.

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Here are the top 3 stories in Pittsburgh today:

1. Allegheny County will fund a five-year, $50 million community violence reduction initiative. The public health approach to community violence reduction is aimed to be implemented locally and coordinated by the county. This effort was made possible at the request of the Department of Human Services and the Health Department’s Office of Violence Prevention. Their proposals urged the county to use evidence-based approaches to violence reduction in highly-impacted communities. (South Pittsburgh Reporter)
2. Little Explorers, a new childcare center, is taking over the Brashear Center on the South Side. The business aims to build strong child-teacher bonds and focuses on learning through exploration and play, and it plans to offer afterschool programming and summer camp. Equipped to handle 103 children, the center will charge fees and determine subsidy eligibility per child based on income. (South Pittsburgh Reporter)
3. The Pittsburgh Police Department has relocated its K9 units to a predominantly Black neighborhood in the city. The move, which doesn't sit well with many residents, has created a local controversy. Comparing it to the use of German Shepherds on civil rights protestors, the Director of the Citizen Police Review Board said "the optics are horrible." Discussion of the move is ongoing. (WPXI Pittsburgh)

Today and tomorrow in and around Pittsburgh:

Wednesday, February 22

• Faculty Colloquium: "When Causal Inference Meets Graph Machine Learning: Unleashing the Potential of Mutual Benefit" At the University of Pittsburgh (11:00 AM)
• Little Balcony Big Band Artful Wednesday At Nordy's Place (12:00 PM)

Thursday, February 23

• Time for Tots At Community Library of Castle Shannon (11:00 AM)

From my notebook:

• The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh's Shaun the Sheep exhibit is now open through Apr. 30. Click here for tickets and to learn more. (Children's Museum of Pittsburgh via Facebook)
• The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh has a special Black History Month display for children. Stop by with your child and see which book they want to take home. (Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh via Facebook)
• The Carnegie Science Center is hosting a Society Science webinar on the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio on Feb. 23 at 7:00 p.m. Register for free here. (Carnegie Science Center via Facebook)

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Thanks for following along and staying informed. See you all soon for another update!

— Nicole Fallon-Peek

About me: Nicole Fallon-Peek is a journalist and copywriter with a degree in Media, Culture and Communication from New York University. She has served as a freelance reporter, managing editor, copy editor, and editorial director for a variety of B2B news outlets. She currently co-owns and operates content creation agency Lightning Media Partners.