Episode Details

It’s the Friday news roundup! Things are heating up again over the potential sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel, based in Japan. As a federal review continues, President Biden looks poised to block the acquisition. Meanwhile, company executives are hosting rallies Downtown. Pittsburgh City Council signed off on a new eviction protection program for renters, former mayor Bill Peduto’s twitter got hacked, and with all the political candidates cycling through Western Pennsylvania, there were sure to be haters over Tim Walz’s recent MilkShake Factory order.

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• While President Biden’s ready to block Nippon Steel’s acquisition of U.S. Steel, the CEO U.S. Steel said that without the sale, thousands of jobs will be at risk, and the company’s headquarters might need to leave Pittsburgh.
• In a recent visit, VP and presidential candidate Kamala Harris said that U.S. Steel should remain American-owned and American-operated. 
• About 400 U.S. Steel employees rallied Downtown in support of the sale, but the union’s previously joined lawmakers in opposing the deal. The union supported a $7.3B offer from Cleveland-Cliffs, but U.S. Steel turned down the offer saying it was “unreasonable.” 
• The union’s concerned about loopholes in the current agreement, including one that lets Nippon Steel abandon promises in the case of “unanticipated or significant downturn in business conditions.” But for now, Nippon Steel committed to making $2.7B in improvements to our steel mills.
• City Council approved $2 million from the Stop the Violence fund to assist renters facing eviction. This is an expansion of a pilot program that prevented evictions in about three out of four cases.
• If you’re looking for a new rental unit, there are six things you need to know before you sign a lease, and if you get in a dispute with your landlord, there’s other options besides going to court like mediation.
• Neighbors living in a Highland Park duplex have been in a battle to one-up each other’s political lawn signs,