Zoo Tragedy Leads Patch's Top News Stories

The most read articles this week were about the tragedy involving a 2-year-old boy who was mauled to death by African painted dogs at the Pittsburgh Zoo. Other top stories were about this week's election.

Even with a major presidential campaign in full swing, the top stories this week weren’t about politics. Unfortunately, the most read articles were about the tragedy involving a 2-year-old Whitehall boy who was mauled to death by African painted dogs at the Pittsburgh Zoo. The zoo later announced the animals will not be euthanized. The popular elections stories included the results and recaps of the most important races. The hottest local race was between Matt Smith and Raja to see who would replace former state Sen. John Pippy. And the most interesting storyline was how the four communities that make up the Chartiers Valley School District closely split their presidential election votes. The final results for Bridgeville Collier, …

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2012 General Election Voter Guide

Patch will post preview stories and candidate profiles for those on the ballot for the Nov. 6 election.

Americans will be going to the polls in less than a month to choose who will lead this country. Over the next few days, we’ll feature each race that affects people in Bridgeville, Collier, Heidelberg, Mt. Lebanon, Scott and South Fayette. We will post preview stories and candidate profiles for those on the ballot for the Nov. 6 election of the U.S. presidency, U.S. Senate, state Senate, state House and a number of statewide offices. Click here to find your polling place. Here are your choices in ballot order:   U.S. PRESIDENT:  Republican: Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor. Democrat: Barack Obama, incumbent U.S. president and former U.S. senator from Illinois Libertarian: Gary Johnson Green: Jill Stein                     (Click …

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Raja, Smith Spar in State Senate Debate

The state Senate candidates in the 37th District talked about Marcellus shale gas and public education during the event hosted by the Pittsburgh Airport Area Chamber of Commerce.

Candidates vying for the seat in the state's 37th Senate District said they support Marcellus shale drilling in the region, but contrast on ways to correct public funding issues in the state's school districts.   D. Raja, a Republican business owner and former Mt. Lebanon commissioner, faced off Friday with state Rep. Matt Smith, of Mt. Lebanon, during the first candidate forum of the race. The candidates fielded questions from constituents during the forum, hosted by the Pittsburgh Area Chamber of Commerce at the Tonidale in North Fayette.  Raja and Smith seek to replace former Sen. John Pippy, R-Moon, who resigned from his seat in June.    The 911th Airlift Wing:  The next senator for the state's 37th senatorial district must work to …

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Meet Raja and Matt Smith: Chamber of Commerce to Host Candidate Q&A

A "meet-the-candidates" breakfast with state Senate contenders Matt Smith and D. Raja is slated for Friday morning in North Fayette

Candidates for the state's 37th senatorial district will face off in a meet-the-candidates event sponsored by the Pittsburgh Airport Area Chamber of Commerce.  Mt. Lebanon Republican D. Raja and Democratic state Rep. Matt Smith will take part in a morning discussion Friday morning at the Cornerstone at Tonidale along Steubenville Pike in North Fayette.  The talk will be moderated by Frank Polito, a regional director of government affairs for Comcast.  Tickets for the event, which is scheduled to take place from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m., are $30 for chamber members and $45 for non-members.  The event is billed as an opportunity to meet the candidates and "exchange ideas about the latest issues impacting our region," according to a statement from …

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D. Raja: Republican Candidate for 37th State Senate

A candidate profile of D. Raja, who is running against Matt Smith for Pennsylvania state senate.

Name: D. Raja Place of residence: Mt. Lebanon Attended college: Yes College: Raja graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1989 and received an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University in 2003.  Job titles held: CEO and founder Employers: Computer Enterprises Inc., a company that provides IT services   Party affiliation: Republican Running for: Pennsylvania State Senate Running for position: Pennsylvania State Senator District: 37th Incumbent/Seat last held by: Former Sen. John Pippy Previous elective offices: Served as a Mt. Lebanon commissioner and later as president of the commission Unsuccessful bids for elective offices: Previously lost his bid for Allegheny County Executive to Rich Fitzgerald  1910 Cochran Road Manor Oak Two, Suite …

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Shirley Dean

11:13 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012

Here's your options people, Raja who is a reformer that isn't a career politician and who brings a fresh perspective, OR Matt Smith who is a Harrisburg politician that lied about taking a pension, voted for raising taxes on small businesses, and has voted for over 5 billion in new spending INCLUDING the Arlen Spectar Library AND funding for Jerry Sandusky's 2nd mile. YES THIS IS A VERIFIABLE FACT…   more ›

2011 Election

Fitzgerald Defeats Raja for Allegheny County Executive

the former Democratic county council president looks ahead to priorities once in office.

Mass transit, Marcellus Shale, property taxes, the airport, and the county budget will all be on Democrat Rich Fitzgerald’s radar when he takes over as Allegheny County executive in January. Fitzgerald, 52, of Squirrel Hill, defeated Republican D. Raja, 46, of Mt. Lebanon by a nearly 2-1 margin in Tuesday’s general election. Fitzgerald celebrated the win with hundreds of supporters at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers hall on Pittsburgh’s South Side. Many wore green T-shirts with the words, “Welcome to Fitzburgh” on the front. Afterwards, he talked to Patch about his first priorities when taking office. “We’ve got a lot of challenges, transit, stopping the reassessment of our county only, being able to utilize Marcellus …

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2011 Election

Raja, Fitzgerald Debate as Election Nears

County executive candidates address Moon-area business leaders on economic development.

Allegheny County Executive candidates D. Raja and Rich Fitzgerald today spoke before Moon-area business leaders, fielding questions on future development of the Pittsburgh International Airport region. Both candidates touted the benefits of Marcellus shale drilling on land surrounding the airport during the breakfast forum at the Pittsburgh Airport Holiday Inn.  With little more than two weeks remaining before November's general election, they also took advantage of the forum to criticize each another's platforms and performance. “I was hoping when I entered the race that it would be about policy,” said Raja, a Republican business owner from Mt. Lebanon. “Unfortunately, [the election] turned out to be a non-discussion of policy.” …

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Mike Jones

1:20 pm on Thursday, October 27, 2011

Roger... Unfortunately,"flash pan" attack ads are very effective. It's only when people delve into the real issue do they find how the truth was bent or misinterpreted. But how many people actually spend time researching those things? Not very many.   more ›

Candidates to Take the Comedy Club Stage

Comedy Night on Aug. 18 will raise money for the Allegheny County Music Festival Fund.

Local and state general election candidates will take the stage at the Pittsburgh Improv on Aug. 18 to seek laughs at Candidates' Comedy Night 2011 and raise money for the Allegheny County Music Festival Fund. The adult-oriented evening, which begins at 7:30 p.m., has proven to be a rare political win-win for the last four years. The candidates will benefit from their willingness to be off-message by getting to perform for a politically savvy audience, while local children served by Allegheny County Department of Human Services or Allegheny County Juvenile Probation win as the evening’s beneficiaries of the money raised. Special guest Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato will perform along with the following candidates: Rich Fitzgerald …

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