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Across Pennsylvania, thousands of children are unvaccinated against the measles, putting communities below the critical threshold of herd immunity — the level that experts say is needed to stem the spread of the disease.

At many schools in Pittsburgh, the number of kindergartners who are immunized against measles and other diseases has dropped for the last six years, leaving hundreds of students without the critical protections that have been in place for generations.

It happened under the watch of principals and superintendents who are entrusted with protecting the health of students.

A six-month Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigation found that school leaders have allowed thousands of children into schools without all the required vaccines even though they had no special exemptions that let them forgo the shots on religious or philosophical grounds — a violation of state vaccine laws.

Read the full investigation at the link in our bio.

📝: Jimmy Cloutier, Michael D. Sallah, Mike Wereschagin and Hanna Webster/Post-Gazette; Melissa Dai and Isaiah Steinberg/Medill Investigative Lab

📸: Samara McCallum and Alexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette

Across Pennsylvania, thousands of children are unvaccinated against the measles, putting communities below the critical threshold of herd immunity — the level that experts say is needed to stem the spread of the disease.

At many schools in Pittsburgh, the number of kindergartners who are immunized against measles and other diseases has dropped for the last six years, leaving hundreds of students without the critical protections that have been in place for generations.

It happened under the watch of principals and superintendents who are entrusted with protecting the health of students.

A six-month Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigation found that school leaders have allowed thousands of children into schools without all the required vaccines even though they had no special exemptions that let them forgo the shots on religious or philosophical grounds — a violation of state vaccine laws.

Read the full investigation at the link in our bio.

📝: Jimmy Cloutier, Michael D. Sallah, Mike Wereschagin and Hanna Webster/Post-Gazette; Melissa Dai and Isaiah Steinberg/Medill Investigative Lab

📸: Samara McCallum and Alexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette

Across Pennsylvania, thousands of children are unvaccinated against the measles, putting communities below the critical threshold of herd immunity — the level that experts say is needed to stem the spread of the disease.

At many schools in Pittsburgh, the number of kindergartners who are immunized against measles and other diseases has dropped for the last six years, leaving hundreds of students without the critical protections that have been in place for generations.

It happened under the watch of principals and superintendents who are entrusted with protecting the health of students.

A six-month Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigation found that school leaders have allowed thousands of children into schools without all the required vaccines even though they had no special exemptions that let them forgo the shots on religious or philosophical grounds — a violation of state vaccine laws.

Read the full investigation at the link in our bio.

📝: Jimmy Cloutier, Michael D. Sallah, Mike Wereschagin and Hanna Webster/Post-Gazette; Melissa Dai and Isaiah Steinberg/Medill Investigative Lab

📸: Samara McCallum and Alexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette

Across Pennsylvania, thousands of children are unvaccinated against the measles, putting communities below the critical threshold of herd immunity — the level that experts say is needed to stem the spread of the disease.

At many schools in Pittsburgh, the number of kindergartners who are immunized against measles and other diseases has dropped for the last six years, leaving hundreds of students without the critical protections that have been in place for generations.

It happened under the watch of principals and superintendents who are entrusted with protecting the health of students.

A six-month Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigation found that school leaders have allowed thousands of children into schools without all the required vaccines even though they had no special exemptions that let them forgo the shots on religious or philosophical grounds — a violation of state vaccine laws.

Read the full investigation at the link in our bio.

📝: Jimmy Cloutier, Michael D. Sallah, Mike Wereschagin and Hanna Webster/Post-Gazette; Melissa Dai and Isaiah Steinberg/Medill Investigative Lab

📸: Samara McCallum and Alexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette

Across Pennsylvania, thousands of children are unvaccinated against the measles, putting communities below the critical threshold of herd immunity — the level that experts say is needed to stem the spread of the disease.

At many schools in Pittsburgh, the number of kindergartners who are immunized against measles and other diseases has dropped for the last six years, leaving hundreds of students without the critical protections that have been in place for generations.

It happened under the watch of principals and superintendents who are entrusted with protecting the health of students.

A six-month Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigation found that school leaders have allowed thousands of children into schools without all the required vaccines even though they had no special exemptions that let them forgo the shots on religious or philosophical grounds — a violation of state vaccine laws.

Read the full investigation at the link in our bio.

📝: Jimmy Cloutier, Michael D. Sallah, Mike Wereschagin and Hanna Webster/Post-Gazette; Melissa Dai and Isaiah Steinberg/Medill Investigative Lab

📸: Samara McCallum and Alexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette

Across Pennsylvania, thousands of children are unvaccinated against the measles, putting communities below the critical threshold of herd immunity — the level that experts say is needed to stem the spread of the disease.

At many schools in Pittsburgh, the number of kindergartners who are immunized against measles and other diseases has dropped for the last six years, leaving hundreds of students without the critical protections that have been in place for generations.

It happened under the watch of principals and superintendents who are entrusted with protecting the health of students.

A six-month Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigation found that school leaders have allowed thousands of children into schools without all the required vaccines even though they had no special exemptions that let them forgo the shots on religious or philosophical grounds — a violation of state vaccine laws.

Read the full investigation at the link in our bio.

📝: Jimmy Cloutier, Michael D. Sallah, Mike Wereschagin and Hanna Webster/Post-Gazette; Melissa Dai and Isaiah Steinberg/Medill Investigative Lab

📸: Samara McCallum and Alexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette

Across Pennsylvania, thousands of children are unvaccinated against the measles, putting communities below the critical threshold of herd immunity — the level that experts say is needed to stem the spread of the disease.

At many schools in Pittsburgh, the number of kindergartners who are immunized against measles and other diseases has dropped for the last six years, leaving hundreds of students without the critical protections that have been in place for generations.

It happened under the watch of principals and superintendents who are entrusted with protecting the health of students.

A six-month Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigation found that school leaders have allowed thousands of children into schools without all the required vaccines even though they had no special exemptions that let them forgo the shots on religious or philosophical grounds — a violation of state vaccine laws.

Read the full investigation at the link in our bio.

📝: Jimmy Cloutier, Michael D. Sallah, Mike Wereschagin and Hanna Webster/Post-Gazette; Melissa Dai and Isaiah Steinberg/Medill Investigative Lab

📸: Samara McCallum and Alexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette

Across Pennsylvania, thousands of children are unvaccinated against the measles, putting communities below the critical threshold of herd immunity — the level that experts say is needed to stem the spread of the disease.

At many schools in Pittsburgh, the number of kindergartners who are immunized against measles and other diseases has dropped for the last six years, leaving hundreds of students without the critical protections that have been in place for generations.

It happened under the watch of principals and superintendents who are entrusted with protecting the health of students.

A six-month Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigation found that school leaders have allowed thousands of children into schools without all the required vaccines even though they had no special exemptions that let them forgo the shots on religious or philosophical grounds — a violation of state vaccine laws.

Last year alone, school officials let nearly 16,000 into classrooms, despite warnings from public health officials that students face severe risks when rates fall to unsafe levels.

Combined with the students who have the legal exemptions — about 23,000 — the total number who are attending classes in Pennsylvania without the shots has soared to at least 40,000, records show.

Pennsylvania’s state health department says all students must meet vaccine requirements “or risk exclusion,” and district leaders are responsible for enforcing those mandates.

But the Post-Gazette found that, in the last two years, hundreds of superintendents and principals have failed to ensure that the requirements were met.

Read the full investigation at the link in our bio.

📝: Jimmy Cloutier, Michael D. Sallah, Mike Wereschagin and Hanna Webster/Post-Gazette; Melissa Dai and Isaiah Steinberg/Medill Investigative Lab

📸: Samara McCallum, Justin Guido and Alexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette

Across Pennsylvania, thousands of children are unvaccinated against the measles, putting communities below the critical threshold of herd immunity — the level that experts say is needed to stem the spread of the disease.

At many schools in Pittsburgh, the number of kindergartners who are immunized against measles and other diseases has dropped for the last six years, leaving hundreds of students without the critical protections that have been in place for generations.

It happened under the watch of principals and superintendents who are entrusted with protecting the health of students.

A six-month Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigation found that school leaders have allowed thousands of children into schools without all the required vaccines even though they had no special exemptions that let them forgo the shots on religious or philosophical grounds — a violation of state vaccine laws.

Last year alone, school officials let nearly 16,000 into classrooms, despite warnings from public health officials that students face severe risks when rates fall to unsafe levels.

Combined with the students who have the legal exemptions — about 23,000 — the total number who are attending classes in Pennsylvania without the shots has soared to at least 40,000, records show.

Pennsylvania’s state health department says all students must meet vaccine requirements “or risk exclusion,” and district leaders are responsible for enforcing those mandates.

But the Post-Gazette found that, in the last two years, hundreds of superintendents and principals have failed to ensure that the requirements were met.

Read the full investigation at the link in our bio.

📝: Jimmy Cloutier, Michael D. Sallah, Mike Wereschagin and Hanna Webster/Post-Gazette; Melissa Dai and Isaiah Steinberg/Medill Investigative Lab

📸: Samara McCallum, Justin Guido and Alexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette

Across Pennsylvania, thousands of children are unvaccinated against the measles, putting communities below the critical threshold of herd immunity — the level that experts say is needed to stem the spread of the disease.

At many schools in Pittsburgh, the number of kindergartners who are immunized against measles and other diseases has dropped for the last six years, leaving hundreds of students without the critical protections that have been in place for generations.

It happened under the watch of principals and superintendents who are entrusted with protecting the health of students.

A six-month Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigation found that school leaders have allowed thousands of children into schools without all the required vaccines even though they had no special exemptions that let them forgo the shots on religious or philosophical grounds — a violation of state vaccine laws.

Last year alone, school officials let nearly 16,000 into classrooms, despite warnings from public health officials that students face severe risks when rates fall to unsafe levels.

Combined with the students who have the legal exemptions — about 23,000 — the total number who are attending classes in Pennsylvania without the shots has soared to at least 40,000, records show.

Pennsylvania’s state health department says all students must meet vaccine requirements “or risk exclusion,” and district leaders are responsible for enforcing those mandates.

But the Post-Gazette found that, in the last two years, hundreds of superintendents and principals have failed to ensure that the requirements were met.

Read the full investigation at the link in our bio.

📝: Jimmy Cloutier, Michael D. Sallah, Mike Wereschagin and Hanna Webster/Post-Gazette; Melissa Dai and Isaiah Steinberg/Medill Investigative Lab

📸: Samara McCallum, Justin Guido and Alexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette

Across Pennsylvania, thousands of children are unvaccinated against the measles, putting communities below the critical threshold of herd immunity — the level that experts say is needed to stem the spread of the disease.

At many schools in Pittsburgh, the number of kindergartners who are immunized against measles and other diseases has dropped for the last six years, leaving hundreds of students without the critical protections that have been in place for generations.

It happened under the watch of principals and superintendents who are entrusted with protecting the health of students.

A six-month Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigation found that school leaders have allowed thousands of children into schools without all the required vaccines even though they had no special exemptions that let them forgo the shots on religious or philosophical grounds — a violation of state vaccine laws.

Last year alone, school officials let nearly 16,000 into classrooms, despite warnings from public health officials that students face severe risks when rates fall to unsafe levels.

Combined with the students who have the legal exemptions — about 23,000 — the total number who are attending classes in Pennsylvania without the shots has soared to at least 40,000, records show.

Pennsylvania’s state health department says all students must meet vaccine requirements “or risk exclusion,” and district leaders are responsible for enforcing those mandates.

But the Post-Gazette found that, in the last two years, hundreds of superintendents and principals have failed to ensure that the requirements were met.

Read the full investigation at the link in our bio.

📝: Jimmy Cloutier, Michael D. Sallah, Mike Wereschagin and Hanna Webster/Post-Gazette; Melissa Dai and Isaiah Steinberg/Medill Investigative Lab

📸: Samara McCallum, Justin Guido and Alexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette

Across Pennsylvania, thousands of children are unvaccinated against the measles, putting communities below the critical threshold of herd immunity — the level that experts say is needed to stem the spread of the disease.

At many schools in Pittsburgh, the number of kindergartners who are immunized against measles and other diseases has dropped for the last six years, leaving hundreds of students without the critical protections that have been in place for generations.

It happened under the watch of principals and superintendents who are entrusted with protecting the health of students.

A six-month Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigation found that school leaders have allowed thousands of children into schools without all the required vaccines even though they had no special exemptions that let them forgo the shots on religious or philosophical grounds — a violation of state vaccine laws.

Last year alone, school officials let nearly 16,000 into classrooms, despite warnings from public health officials that students face severe risks when rates fall to unsafe levels.

Combined with the students who have the legal exemptions — about 23,000 — the total number who are attending classes in Pennsylvania without the shots has soared to at least 40,000, records show.

Pennsylvania’s state health department says all students must meet vaccine requirements “or risk exclusion,” and district leaders are responsible for enforcing those mandates.

But the Post-Gazette found that, in the last two years, hundreds of superintendents and principals have failed to ensure that the requirements were met.

Read the full investigation at the link in our bio.

📝: Jimmy Cloutier, Michael D. Sallah, Mike Wereschagin and Hanna Webster/Post-Gazette; Melissa Dai and Isaiah Steinberg/Medill Investigative Lab

📸: Samara McCallum, Justin Guido and Alexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette

Across Pennsylvania, thousands of children are unvaccinated against the measles, putting communities below the critical threshold of herd immunity — the level that experts say is needed to stem the spread of the disease.

At many schools in Pittsburgh, the number of kindergartners who are immunized against measles and other diseases has dropped for the last six years, leaving hundreds of students without the critical protections that have been in place for generations.

It happened under the watch of principals and superintendents who are entrusted with protecting the health of students.

A six-month Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigation found that school leaders have allowed thousands of children into schools without all the required vaccines even though they had no special exemptions that let them forgo the shots on religious or philosophical grounds — a violation of state vaccine laws.

Last year alone, school officials let nearly 16,000 into classrooms, despite warnings from public health officials that students face severe risks when rates fall to unsafe levels.

Combined with the students who have the legal exemptions — about 23,000 — the total number who are attending classes in Pennsylvania without the shots has soared to at least 40,000, records show.

Pennsylvania’s state health department says all students must meet vaccine requirements “or risk exclusion,” and district leaders are responsible for enforcing those mandates.

But the Post-Gazette found that, in the last two years, hundreds of superintendents and principals have failed to ensure that the requirements were met.

Read the full investigation at the link in our bio.

📝: Jimmy Cloutier, Michael D. Sallah, Mike Wereschagin and Hanna Webster/Post-Gazette; Melissa Dai and Isaiah Steinberg/Medill Investigative Lab

📸: Samara McCallum, Justin Guido and Alexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette

Across Pennsylvania, thousands of children are unvaccinated against the measles, putting communities below the critical threshold of herd immunity — the level that experts say is needed to stem the spread of the disease.

At many schools in Pittsburgh, the number of kindergartners who are immunized against measles and other diseases has dropped for the last six years, leaving hundreds of students without the critical protections that have been in place for generations.

It happened under the watch of principals and superintendents who are entrusted with protecting the health of students.

A six-month Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigation found that school leaders have allowed thousands of children into schools without all the required vaccines even though they had no special exemptions that let them forgo the shots on religious or philosophical grounds — a violation of state vaccine laws.

Last year alone, school officials let nearly 16,000 into classrooms, despite warnings from public health officials that students face severe risks when rates fall to unsafe levels.

Combined with the students who have the legal exemptions — about 23,000 — the total number who are attending classes in Pennsylvania without the shots has soared to at least 40,000, records show.

Pennsylvania’s state health department says all students must meet vaccine requirements “or risk exclusion,” and district leaders are responsible for enforcing those mandates.

But the Post-Gazette found that, in the last two years, hundreds of superintendents and principals have failed to ensure that the requirements were met.

Read the full investigation at the link in our bio.

📝: Jimmy Cloutier, Michael D. Sallah, Mike Wereschagin and Hanna Webster/Post-Gazette; Melissa Dai and Isaiah Steinberg/Medill Investigative Lab

📸: Samara McCallum, Justin Guido and Alexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette

Across Pennsylvania, thousands of children are unvaccinated against the measles, putting communities below the critical threshold of herd immunity — the level that experts say is needed to stem the spread of the disease.

At many schools in Pittsburgh, the number of kindergartners who are immunized against measles and other diseases has dropped for the last six years, leaving hundreds of students without the critical protections that have been in place for generations.

It happened under the watch of principals and superintendents who are entrusted with protecting the health of students.

A six-month Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigation found that school leaders have allowed thousands of children into schools without all the required vaccines even though they had no special exemptions that let them forgo the shots on religious or philosophical grounds — a violation of state vaccine laws.

Last year alone, school officials let nearly 16,000 into classrooms, despite warnings from public health officials that students face severe risks when rates fall to unsafe levels.

Combined with the students who have the legal exemptions — about 23,000 — the total number who are attending classes in Pennsylvania without the shots has soared to at least 40,000, records show.

Pennsylvania’s state health department says all students must meet vaccine requirements “or risk exclusion,” and district leaders are responsible for enforcing those mandates.

But the Post-Gazette found that, in the last two years, hundreds of superintendents and principals have failed to ensure that the requirements were met.

Read the full investigation at the link in our bio.

📝: Jimmy Cloutier, Michael D. Sallah, Mike Wereschagin and Hanna Webster/Post-Gazette; Melissa Dai and Isaiah Steinberg/Medill Investigative Lab

📸: Samara McCallum, Justin Guido and Alexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette

Just two years after a deadly outbreak of polio raged across the country, the children lined up in the basement gymnasium of a Pittsburgh elementary school for what became the largest medical experiment in America.

Under the glare of news cameras, the first public trial of the vaccine at Arsenal Elementary School in 1954 was a turning point in the battle against an epidemic that had left thousands of people dead and even more sickened and paralyzed.

The shots would nearly eliminate the polio cases spreading across the country and help build a broad acceptance of childhood immunizations for decades to follow.

But the Pittsburgh school that helped launch one of medicine’s most towering achievements is now at high risk of another dangerous childhood disease: measles.

At Pittsburgh Allegheny on the North Side and Concord Elementary near the city’s southern border, the number of kindergartners who are immunized against measles and other diseases has dropped for the last six years, leaving hundreds of students without the critical protections that have been in place for generations.

Statewide, thousands of children are unvaccinated against the measles, putting communities below the critical threshold of herd immunity — the level that experts say is needed to stem the spread of the disease.

And it happened under the watch of principals and superintendents who are entrusted with protecting the health of students.

A six-month Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigation found that school leaders have allowed thousands of children into schools without all the required vaccines even though they had no special exemptions that let them forgo the shots on religious or philosophical grounds — a violation of state vaccine laws.

Read the full investigation at the link in our bio.

📝: Jimmy Cloutier, Michael D. Sallah, Mike Wereschagin and Hanna Webster/Post-Gazette; Melissa Dai and Isaiah Steinberg/Medill Investigative Lab

📸: Samara McCallum, Justin Guido andAlexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette, Associated Press

Just two years after a deadly outbreak of polio raged across the country, the children lined up in the basement gymnasium of a Pittsburgh elementary school for what became the largest medical experiment in America.

Under the glare of news cameras, the first public trial of the vaccine at Arsenal Elementary School in 1954 was a turning point in the battle against an epidemic that had left thousands of people dead and even more sickened and paralyzed.

The shots would nearly eliminate the polio cases spreading across the country and help build a broad acceptance of childhood immunizations for decades to follow.

But the Pittsburgh school that helped launch one of medicine’s most towering achievements is now at high risk of another dangerous childhood disease: measles.

At Pittsburgh Allegheny on the North Side and Concord Elementary near the city’s southern border, the number of kindergartners who are immunized against measles and other diseases has dropped for the last six years, leaving hundreds of students without the critical protections that have been in place for generations.

Statewide, thousands of children are unvaccinated against the measles, putting communities below the critical threshold of herd immunity — the level that experts say is needed to stem the spread of the disease.

And it happened under the watch of principals and superintendents who are entrusted with protecting the health of students.

A six-month Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigation found that school leaders have allowed thousands of children into schools without all the required vaccines even though they had no special exemptions that let them forgo the shots on religious or philosophical grounds — a violation of state vaccine laws.

Read the full investigation at the link in our bio.

📝: Jimmy Cloutier, Michael D. Sallah, Mike Wereschagin and Hanna Webster/Post-Gazette; Melissa Dai and Isaiah Steinberg/Medill Investigative Lab

📸: Samara McCallum, Justin Guido andAlexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette, Associated Press

Just two years after a deadly outbreak of polio raged across the country, the children lined up in the basement gymnasium of a Pittsburgh elementary school for what became the largest medical experiment in America.

Under the glare of news cameras, the first public trial of the vaccine at Arsenal Elementary School in 1954 was a turning point in the battle against an epidemic that had left thousands of people dead and even more sickened and paralyzed.

The shots would nearly eliminate the polio cases spreading across the country and help build a broad acceptance of childhood immunizations for decades to follow.

But the Pittsburgh school that helped launch one of medicine’s most towering achievements is now at high risk of another dangerous childhood disease: measles.

At Pittsburgh Allegheny on the North Side and Concord Elementary near the city’s southern border, the number of kindergartners who are immunized against measles and other diseases has dropped for the last six years, leaving hundreds of students without the critical protections that have been in place for generations.

Statewide, thousands of children are unvaccinated against the measles, putting communities below the critical threshold of herd immunity — the level that experts say is needed to stem the spread of the disease.

And it happened under the watch of principals and superintendents who are entrusted with protecting the health of students.

A six-month Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigation found that school leaders have allowed thousands of children into schools without all the required vaccines even though they had no special exemptions that let them forgo the shots on religious or philosophical grounds — a violation of state vaccine laws.

Read the full investigation at the link in our bio.

📝: Jimmy Cloutier, Michael D. Sallah, Mike Wereschagin and Hanna Webster/Post-Gazette; Melissa Dai and Isaiah Steinberg/Medill Investigative Lab

📸: Samara McCallum, Justin Guido andAlexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette, Associated Press

Just two years after a deadly outbreak of polio raged across the country, the children lined up in the basement gymnasium of a Pittsburgh elementary school for what became the largest medical experiment in America.

Under the glare of news cameras, the first public trial of the vaccine at Arsenal Elementary School in 1954 was a turning point in the battle against an epidemic that had left thousands of people dead and even more sickened and paralyzed.

The shots would nearly eliminate the polio cases spreading across the country and help build a broad acceptance of childhood immunizations for decades to follow.

But the Pittsburgh school that helped launch one of medicine’s most towering achievements is now at high risk of another dangerous childhood disease: measles.

At Pittsburgh Allegheny on the North Side and Concord Elementary near the city’s southern border, the number of kindergartners who are immunized against measles and other diseases has dropped for the last six years, leaving hundreds of students without the critical protections that have been in place for generations.

Statewide, thousands of children are unvaccinated against the measles, putting communities below the critical threshold of herd immunity — the level that experts say is needed to stem the spread of the disease.

And it happened under the watch of principals and superintendents who are entrusted with protecting the health of students.

A six-month Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigation found that school leaders have allowed thousands of children into schools without all the required vaccines even though they had no special exemptions that let them forgo the shots on religious or philosophical grounds — a violation of state vaccine laws.

Read the full investigation at the link in our bio.

📝: Jimmy Cloutier, Michael D. Sallah, Mike Wereschagin and Hanna Webster/Post-Gazette; Melissa Dai and Isaiah Steinberg/Medill Investigative Lab

📸: Samara McCallum, Justin Guido andAlexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette, Associated Press

Just two years after a deadly outbreak of polio raged across the country, the children lined up in the basement gymnasium of a Pittsburgh elementary school for what became the largest medical experiment in America.

Under the glare of news cameras, the first public trial of the vaccine at Arsenal Elementary School in 1954 was a turning point in the battle against an epidemic that had left thousands of people dead and even more sickened and paralyzed.

The shots would nearly eliminate the polio cases spreading across the country and help build a broad acceptance of childhood immunizations for decades to follow.

But the Pittsburgh school that helped launch one of medicine’s most towering achievements is now at high risk of another dangerous childhood disease: measles.

At Pittsburgh Allegheny on the North Side and Concord Elementary near the city’s southern border, the number of kindergartners who are immunized against measles and other diseases has dropped for the last six years, leaving hundreds of students without the critical protections that have been in place for generations.

Statewide, thousands of children are unvaccinated against the measles, putting communities below the critical threshold of herd immunity — the level that experts say is needed to stem the spread of the disease.

And it happened under the watch of principals and superintendents who are entrusted with protecting the health of students.

A six-month Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigation found that school leaders have allowed thousands of children into schools without all the required vaccines even though they had no special exemptions that let them forgo the shots on religious or philosophical grounds — a violation of state vaccine laws.

Read the full investigation at the link in our bio.

📝: Jimmy Cloutier, Michael D. Sallah, Mike Wereschagin and Hanna Webster/Post-Gazette; Melissa Dai and Isaiah Steinberg/Medill Investigative Lab

📸: Samara McCallum, Justin Guido andAlexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette, Associated Press

Just two years after a deadly outbreak of polio raged across the country, the children lined up in the basement gymnasium of a Pittsburgh elementary school for what became the largest medical experiment in America.

Under the glare of news cameras, the first public trial of the vaccine at Arsenal Elementary School in 1954 was a turning point in the battle against an epidemic that had left thousands of people dead and even more sickened and paralyzed.

The shots would nearly eliminate the polio cases spreading across the country and help build a broad acceptance of childhood immunizations for decades to follow.

But the Pittsburgh school that helped launch one of medicine’s most towering achievements is now at high risk of another dangerous childhood disease: measles.

At Pittsburgh Allegheny on the North Side and Concord Elementary near the city’s southern border, the number of kindergartners who are immunized against measles and other diseases has dropped for the last six years, leaving hundreds of students without the critical protections that have been in place for generations.

Statewide, thousands of children are unvaccinated against the measles, putting communities below the critical threshold of herd immunity — the level that experts say is needed to stem the spread of the disease.

And it happened under the watch of principals and superintendents who are entrusted with protecting the health of students.

A six-month Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigation found that school leaders have allowed thousands of children into schools without all the required vaccines even though they had no special exemptions that let them forgo the shots on religious or philosophical grounds — a violation of state vaccine laws.

Read the full investigation at the link in our bio.

📝: Jimmy Cloutier, Michael D. Sallah, Mike Wereschagin and Hanna Webster/Post-Gazette; Melissa Dai and Isaiah Steinberg/Medill Investigative Lab

📸: Samara McCallum, Justin Guido andAlexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette, Associated Press

Just two years after a deadly outbreak of polio raged across the country, the children lined up in the basement gymnasium of a Pittsburgh elementary school for what became the largest medical experiment in America.

Under the glare of news cameras, the first public trial of the vaccine at Arsenal Elementary School in 1954 was a turning point in the battle against an epidemic that had left thousands of people dead and even more sickened and paralyzed.

The shots would nearly eliminate the polio cases spreading across the country and help build a broad acceptance of childhood immunizations for decades to follow.

But the Pittsburgh school that helped launch one of medicine’s most towering achievements is now at high risk of another dangerous childhood disease: measles.

At Pittsburgh Allegheny on the North Side and Concord Elementary near the city’s southern border, the number of kindergartners who are immunized against measles and other diseases has dropped for the last six years, leaving hundreds of students without the critical protections that have been in place for generations.

Statewide, thousands of children are unvaccinated against the measles, putting communities below the critical threshold of herd immunity — the level that experts say is needed to stem the spread of the disease.

And it happened under the watch of principals and superintendents who are entrusted with protecting the health of students.

A six-month Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigation found that school leaders have allowed thousands of children into schools without all the required vaccines even though they had no special exemptions that let them forgo the shots on religious or philosophical grounds — a violation of state vaccine laws.

Read the full investigation at the link in our bio.

📝: Jimmy Cloutier, Michael D. Sallah, Mike Wereschagin and Hanna Webster/Post-Gazette; Melissa Dai and Isaiah Steinberg/Medill Investigative Lab

📸: Samara McCallum, Justin Guido andAlexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette, Associated Press

Just two years after a deadly outbreak of polio raged across the country, the children lined up in the basement gymnasium of a Pittsburgh elementary school for what became the largest medical experiment in America.

Under the glare of news cameras, the first public trial of the vaccine at Arsenal Elementary School in 1954 was a turning point in the battle against an epidemic that had left thousands of people dead and even more sickened and paralyzed.

The shots would nearly eliminate the polio cases spreading across the country and help build a broad acceptance of childhood immunizations for decades to follow.

But the Pittsburgh school that helped launch one of medicine’s most towering achievements is now at high risk of another dangerous childhood disease: measles.

At Pittsburgh Allegheny on the North Side and Concord Elementary near the city’s southern border, the number of kindergartners who are immunized against measles and other diseases has dropped for the last six years, leaving hundreds of students without the critical protections that have been in place for generations.

Statewide, thousands of children are unvaccinated against the measles, putting communities below the critical threshold of herd immunity — the level that experts say is needed to stem the spread of the disease.

And it happened under the watch of principals and superintendents who are entrusted with protecting the health of students.

A six-month Pittsburgh Post-Gazette investigation found that school leaders have allowed thousands of children into schools without all the required vaccines even though they had no special exemptions that let them forgo the shots on religious or philosophical grounds — a violation of state vaccine laws.

Read the full investigation at the link in our bio.

📝: Jimmy Cloutier, Michael D. Sallah, Mike Wereschagin and Hanna Webster/Post-Gazette; Melissa Dai and Isaiah Steinberg/Medill Investigative Lab

📸: Samara McCallum, Justin Guido andAlexandra Wimley/Post-Gazette, Associated Press

When it comes to favorite Pittsburgh eats, one dish has stood head and shoulders above the rest for more than a half-century: the salty-sweet layered dessert known as strawberry pretzel salad.

Served at nearly every summer cookout, potluck, graduation party or family reunion —and if you’re really lucky, with Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner — it’s an American classic, beloved both for its contrasting textures and colorful layers and the fact that you don’t have to be a whiz in the kitchen to be able to prepare it. It only looks fancy.

Read more about the dessert's history and get a PG-tested recipe at the link in our bio.

📝: Gretchen McKay/Post-Gazette
📷: Gretchen McKay/Post-Gazette, courtesy photos

#pittbsurgh #pittsburghfood #memorialdayrecipes

When it comes to favorite Pittsburgh eats, one dish has stood head and shoulders above the rest for more than a half-century: the salty-sweet layered dessert known as strawberry pretzel salad.

Served at nearly every summer cookout, potluck, graduation party or family reunion —and if you’re really lucky, with Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner — it’s an American classic, beloved both for its contrasting textures and colorful layers and the fact that you don’t have to be a whiz in the kitchen to be able to prepare it. It only looks fancy.

Read more about the dessert's history and get a PG-tested recipe at the link in our bio.

📝: Gretchen McKay/Post-Gazette
📷: Gretchen McKay/Post-Gazette, courtesy photos

#pittbsurgh #pittsburghfood #memorialdayrecipes

When it comes to favorite Pittsburgh eats, one dish has stood head and shoulders above the rest for more than a half-century: the salty-sweet layered dessert known as strawberry pretzel salad.

Served at nearly every summer cookout, potluck, graduation party or family reunion —and if you’re really lucky, with Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner — it’s an American classic, beloved both for its contrasting textures and colorful layers and the fact that you don’t have to be a whiz in the kitchen to be able to prepare it. It only looks fancy.

Read more about the dessert's history and get a PG-tested recipe at the link in our bio.

📝: Gretchen McKay/Post-Gazette
📷: Gretchen McKay/Post-Gazette, courtesy photos

#pittbsurgh #pittsburghfood #memorialdayrecipes

When it comes to favorite Pittsburgh eats, one dish has stood head and shoulders above the rest for more than a half-century: the salty-sweet layered dessert known as strawberry pretzel salad.

Served at nearly every summer cookout, potluck, graduation party or family reunion —and if you’re really lucky, with Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner — it’s an American classic, beloved both for its contrasting textures and colorful layers and the fact that you don’t have to be a whiz in the kitchen to be able to prepare it. It only looks fancy.

Read more about the dessert's history and get a PG-tested recipe at the link in our bio.

📝: Gretchen McKay/Post-Gazette
📷: Gretchen McKay/Post-Gazette, courtesy photos

#pittbsurgh #pittsburghfood #memorialdayrecipes

When it comes to favorite Pittsburgh eats, one dish has stood head and shoulders above the rest for more than a half-century: the salty-sweet layered dessert known as strawberry pretzel salad.

Served at nearly every summer cookout, potluck, graduation party or family reunion —and if you’re really lucky, with Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner — it’s an American classic, beloved both for its contrasting textures and colorful layers and the fact that you don’t have to be a whiz in the kitchen to be able to prepare it. It only looks fancy.

Read more about the dessert's history and get a PG-tested recipe at the link in our bio.

📝: Gretchen McKay/Post-Gazette
📷: Gretchen McKay/Post-Gazette, courtesy photos

#pittbsurgh #pittsburghfood #memorialdayrecipes

JEREMY REYNOLDS | To create art may be a fundamental part of the human experience, but the cost to make it is both high and rising. What’s more, art doesn’t tend to make much money.

Just ask Pittsburgh’s theater community, which is losing jobs in the face of a merger, as I wrote earlier this week in an unfortunately prescient column that ran the same day as a mass layoff at the Pittsburgh Public Theater on Tuesday.

Most arts organizations are nonprofits supported by donations. In Pittsburgh, these organizations tend to “punch above their weight” in terms of quality, to use the cliché, and there’s a reason for that. Pittsburgh was once one of the largest, most prosperous cities in the country — the eighth largest, in fact — and while it has declined since then in population and affluence, philanthropic foundations from the city’s heyday still fund a great deal of nonprofit work, including the arts.

So when the $2.2 billion Heinz Endowments announces a change in priorities for its arts-giving strategy, as it did in a Tuesday press release, it’s a big deal. There are new priorities for about $14 million a year that funnels directly into Pittsburgh’s 500-plus arts organizations for the next five years.

Read more at the link in our bio.

#pittsburgh

JEREMY REYNOLDS | To create art may be a fundamental part of the human experience, but the cost to make it is both high and rising. What’s more, art doesn’t tend to make much money.

Just ask Pittsburgh’s theater community, which is losing jobs in the face of a merger, as I wrote earlier this week in an unfortunately prescient column that ran the same day as a mass layoff at the Pittsburgh Public Theater on Tuesday.

Most arts organizations are nonprofits supported by donations. In Pittsburgh, these organizations tend to “punch above their weight” in terms of quality, to use the cliché, and there’s a reason for that. Pittsburgh was once one of the largest, most prosperous cities in the country — the eighth largest, in fact — and while it has declined since then in population and affluence, philanthropic foundations from the city’s heyday still fund a great deal of nonprofit work, including the arts.

So when the $2.2 billion Heinz Endowments announces a change in priorities for its arts-giving strategy, as it did in a Tuesday press release, it’s a big deal. There are new priorities for about $14 million a year that funnels directly into Pittsburgh’s 500-plus arts organizations for the next five years.

Read more at the link in our bio.

#pittsburgh

JEREMY REYNOLDS | To create art may be a fundamental part of the human experience, but the cost to make it is both high and rising. What’s more, art doesn’t tend to make much money.

Just ask Pittsburgh’s theater community, which is losing jobs in the face of a merger, as I wrote earlier this week in an unfortunately prescient column that ran the same day as a mass layoff at the Pittsburgh Public Theater on Tuesday.

Most arts organizations are nonprofits supported by donations. In Pittsburgh, these organizations tend to “punch above their weight” in terms of quality, to use the cliché, and there’s a reason for that. Pittsburgh was once one of the largest, most prosperous cities in the country — the eighth largest, in fact — and while it has declined since then in population and affluence, philanthropic foundations from the city’s heyday still fund a great deal of nonprofit work, including the arts.

So when the $2.2 billion Heinz Endowments announces a change in priorities for its arts-giving strategy, as it did in a Tuesday press release, it’s a big deal. There are new priorities for about $14 million a year that funnels directly into Pittsburgh’s 500-plus arts organizations for the next five years.

Read more at the link in our bio.

#pittsburgh

JEREMY REYNOLDS | To create art may be a fundamental part of the human experience, but the cost to make it is both high and rising. What’s more, art doesn’t tend to make much money.

Just ask Pittsburgh’s theater community, which is losing jobs in the face of a merger, as I wrote earlier this week in an unfortunately prescient column that ran the same day as a mass layoff at the Pittsburgh Public Theater on Tuesday.

Most arts organizations are nonprofits supported by donations. In Pittsburgh, these organizations tend to “punch above their weight” in terms of quality, to use the cliché, and there’s a reason for that. Pittsburgh was once one of the largest, most prosperous cities in the country — the eighth largest, in fact — and while it has declined since then in population and affluence, philanthropic foundations from the city’s heyday still fund a great deal of nonprofit work, including the arts.

So when the $2.2 billion Heinz Endowments announces a change in priorities for its arts-giving strategy, as it did in a Tuesday press release, it’s a big deal. There are new priorities for about $14 million a year that funnels directly into Pittsburgh’s 500-plus arts organizations for the next five years.

Read more at the link in our bio.

#pittsburgh

JEREMY REYNOLDS | To create art may be a fundamental part of the human experience, but the cost to make it is both high and rising. What’s more, art doesn’t tend to make much money.

Just ask Pittsburgh’s theater community, which is losing jobs in the face of a merger, as I wrote earlier this week in an unfortunately prescient column that ran the same day as a mass layoff at the Pittsburgh Public Theater on Tuesday.

Most arts organizations are nonprofits supported by donations. In Pittsburgh, these organizations tend to “punch above their weight” in terms of quality, to use the cliché, and there’s a reason for that. Pittsburgh was once one of the largest, most prosperous cities in the country — the eighth largest, in fact — and while it has declined since then in population and affluence, philanthropic foundations from the city’s heyday still fund a great deal of nonprofit work, including the arts.

So when the $2.2 billion Heinz Endowments announces a change in priorities for its arts-giving strategy, as it did in a Tuesday press release, it’s a big deal. There are new priorities for about $14 million a year that funnels directly into Pittsburgh’s 500-plus arts organizations for the next five years.

Read more at the link in our bio.

#pittsburgh

JEREMY REYNOLDS | To create art may be a fundamental part of the human experience, but the cost to make it is both high and rising. What’s more, art doesn’t tend to make much money.

Just ask Pittsburgh’s theater community, which is losing jobs in the face of a merger, as I wrote earlier this week in an unfortunately prescient column that ran the same day as a mass layoff at the Pittsburgh Public Theater on Tuesday.

Most arts organizations are nonprofits supported by donations. In Pittsburgh, these organizations tend to “punch above their weight” in terms of quality, to use the cliché, and there’s a reason for that. Pittsburgh was once one of the largest, most prosperous cities in the country — the eighth largest, in fact — and while it has declined since then in population and affluence, philanthropic foundations from the city’s heyday still fund a great deal of nonprofit work, including the arts.

So when the $2.2 billion Heinz Endowments announces a change in priorities for its arts-giving strategy, as it did in a Tuesday press release, it’s a big deal. There are new priorities for about $14 million a year that funnels directly into Pittsburgh’s 500-plus arts organizations for the next five years.

Read more at the link in our bio.

#pittsburgh

JEREMY REYNOLDS | To create art may be a fundamental part of the human experience, but the cost to make it is both high and rising. What’s more, art doesn’t tend to make much money.

Just ask Pittsburgh’s theater community, which is losing jobs in the face of a merger, as I wrote earlier this week in an unfortunately prescient column that ran the same day as a mass layoff at the Pittsburgh Public Theater on Tuesday.

Most arts organizations are nonprofits supported by donations. In Pittsburgh, these organizations tend to “punch above their weight” in terms of quality, to use the cliché, and there’s a reason for that. Pittsburgh was once one of the largest, most prosperous cities in the country — the eighth largest, in fact — and while it has declined since then in population and affluence, philanthropic foundations from the city’s heyday still fund a great deal of nonprofit work, including the arts.

So when the $2.2 billion Heinz Endowments announces a change in priorities for its arts-giving strategy, as it did in a Tuesday press release, it’s a big deal. There are new priorities for about $14 million a year that funnels directly into Pittsburgh’s 500-plus arts organizations for the next five years.

Read more at the link in our bio.

#pittsburgh

As vaccination rates plummet in hundreds of schools across Pennsylvania, state health officials say 32 cases of measles have been reported so far this year — the highest total since 1991.

Twenty of those cases are part of an ongoing outbreak that started in Lebanon County over the past month and has spread to three other counties: Berks, Dauphin and Lancaster.

“The outbreaks are happening all over the country and now they’re in Pennsylvania," said Todd Wolynn, a Pittsburgh pediatrician who trains healthcare workers on vaccine messaging. “It’s like the kindling in the fire. It’s happening now.”

Read more at the link in our bio.

As vaccination rates plummet in hundreds of schools across Pennsylvania, state health officials say 32 cases of measles have been reported so far this year — the highest total since 1991.

Twenty of those cases are part of an ongoing outbreak that started in Lebanon County over the past month and has spread to three other counties: Berks, Dauphin and Lancaster.

“The outbreaks are happening all over the country and now they’re in Pennsylvania," said Todd Wolynn, a Pittsburgh pediatrician who trains healthcare workers on vaccine messaging. “It’s like the kindling in the fire. It’s happening now.”

Read more at the link in our bio.

As vaccination rates plummet in hundreds of schools across Pennsylvania, state health officials say 32 cases of measles have been reported so far this year — the highest total since 1991.

Twenty of those cases are part of an ongoing outbreak that started in Lebanon County over the past month and has spread to three other counties: Berks, Dauphin and Lancaster.

“The outbreaks are happening all over the country and now they’re in Pennsylvania," said Todd Wolynn, a Pittsburgh pediatrician who trains healthcare workers on vaccine messaging. “It’s like the kindling in the fire. It’s happening now.”

Read more at the link in our bio.

No more need to anticipate.

For nearly a decade, fans of Heinz ketchup who preferred the condiment in the old-fashioned glass bottle have been forced to squeeze it out of a plastic container.

Those days are over. On Wednesday, Kraft Heinz said it is bringing back the glass bottle.

Head to the link in our bio to read more about where and when the bottles will be available.

The Pittsburgh region will be under a flood watch through Saturday afternoon, with up to 2 inches of rain possible.

The flood watch — covering eastern Ohio, southwestern Pennsylvania and the northern panhandle of West Virginia — runs through 2 p.m. Saturday.

Get the weekend forecast at the link in our bio.

📝: Lindsay Shachnow/Post-Gazette
📷: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

#pittsburgh

The Woodland Hills School Board for the first time in public heard accusations of gender bias against Superintendent Joe Maluchnik, who has been on leave since late last year.

Thursday night’s hearing, which at times turned contentious, with one person being escorted out for disrupting proceedings, featured two district employees who spoke on the 10 allegations against Maluchnik of gender-based discrimination and harassment.

Throughout the four-hour hearing, held in the Woodland Hills High School auditorium and heard by school directors, the employees alleged Maluchnik promoted and gave raises only to male administrators, had arguments with female staff during which they felt uncomfortable, and excluded female administrators from meetings and decisions they traditionally were involved in.

Read more at the link in our bio.

📝: Megan Tomasic/Post-Gazette
📷: Giuseppe LoPiccolo/Post-Gazette

The Woodland Hills School Board for the first time in public heard accusations of gender bias against Superintendent Joe Maluchnik, who has been on leave since late last year.

Thursday night’s hearing, which at times turned contentious, with one person being escorted out for disrupting proceedings, featured two district employees who spoke on the 10 allegations against Maluchnik of gender-based discrimination and harassment.

Throughout the four-hour hearing, held in the Woodland Hills High School auditorium and heard by school directors, the employees alleged Maluchnik promoted and gave raises only to male administrators, had arguments with female staff during which they felt uncomfortable, and excluded female administrators from meetings and decisions they traditionally were involved in.

Read more at the link in our bio.

📝: Megan Tomasic/Post-Gazette
📷: Giuseppe LoPiccolo/Post-Gazette

The Woodland Hills School Board for the first time in public heard accusations of gender bias against Superintendent Joe Maluchnik, who has been on leave since late last year.

Thursday night’s hearing, which at times turned contentious, with one person being escorted out for disrupting proceedings, featured two district employees who spoke on the 10 allegations against Maluchnik of gender-based discrimination and harassment.

Throughout the four-hour hearing, held in the Woodland Hills High School auditorium and heard by school directors, the employees alleged Maluchnik promoted and gave raises only to male administrators, had arguments with female staff during which they felt uncomfortable, and excluded female administrators from meetings and decisions they traditionally were involved in.

Read more at the link in our bio.

📝: Megan Tomasic/Post-Gazette
📷: Giuseppe LoPiccolo/Post-Gazette

Allegheny County Council President Patrick Catena is stepping down from his leadership position a week after several of his colleagues on council mounted an effort to force him out of the post, councilman Dan Gryzbek said in a statement posted to social media Friday.

Gryzbek’s announcement comes after a bruising month for Catena, who lost his primary for the state House on Tuesday in a lopsided election in which he won just over a third of the vote.

His troubles started with a mailer sent by his campaign that criticized his opponent in the House race — attorney Brittany Bloam — for being supported by an “extreme left group” that advocates for transgender athletes.

Read more at the link in our bio.

Saying that Alaysia Johnson’s final two years of high school were busy would be an understatement.

On top of her normal duties as a high school student, Alaysia also took classes at the Community College of Allegheny County, worked toward her cosmetology license, ran her own cosmetics business, participated in sports and worked a part-time job at Sonic.

Thursday evening, she will earn her business certificate from CCAC. In the following two weeks, she will receive her high school diploma from Hickory High School in Hermitage and cosmetology license from the Mercer County Career Center.

Read more at the link in our bio.

📝: Maddie Aiken/Post-Gazette

Saying that Alaysia Johnson’s final two years of high school were busy would be an understatement.

On top of her normal duties as a high school student, Alaysia also took classes at the Community College of Allegheny County, worked toward her cosmetology license, ran her own cosmetics business, participated in sports and worked a part-time job at Sonic.

Thursday evening, she will earn her business certificate from CCAC. In the following two weeks, she will receive her high school diploma from Hickory High School in Hermitage and cosmetology license from the Mercer County Career Center.

Read more at the link in our bio.

📝: Maddie Aiken/Post-Gazette

Saying that Alaysia Johnson’s final two years of high school were busy would be an understatement.

On top of her normal duties as a high school student, Alaysia also took classes at the Community College of Allegheny County, worked toward her cosmetology license, ran her own cosmetics business, participated in sports and worked a part-time job at Sonic.

Thursday evening, she will earn her business certificate from CCAC. In the following two weeks, she will receive her high school diploma from Hickory High School in Hermitage and cosmetology license from the Mercer County Career Center.

Read more at the link in our bio.

📝: Maddie Aiken/Post-Gazette

Don’t shoot the messenger, but your electricity bills are set to increase on June 1. Yes, again.

Electric utilities in the state will adjust a portion of their monthly bills next month to account for the higher cost of electricity on the regional market, managed by PJM Interconnection.

The utilities must buy electricity on behalf of customers who choose not to shop for it themselves; most residential consumers don’t. In that sense, the utilities are also the messengers of this news, as they are not allowed to mark up that cost but instead pass it through to their customers.

Read more at the link in our bio.

Story: Anya Litvak/Post-Gazette
Graphic: James Hilston/Post-Gazette