Despite the pleas of environmental groups and Lincoln residents, the Allegheny County Board of Health has approved a federally mandated air pollution control plan for the Liberty-Clairton area that fails to reduce pollution below federal health standards for part of that area. (Today)

Maple syrup season is late due to unseasonably cold days, but the recent rise in temperatures is giving producers some hope. (Yesterday)

Allegheny County has hired a consultant to conduct energy audits in 104 municipal building all over the county as part of its Energy Efficiency & Conservation Program, a part of a broad energy conservation policy that County Executive Dan Onorato implemented last year. (Yesterday)

Deep in a cramped cave gouging into a Mifflin County hillside, three young biologists crawled and twisted through a narrow passage, lifting their head lamps toward a sloped stone ceiling that should have been carpeted with hibernating bats. (03/07/2010)

Environmental groups say an Allegheny County Health Department plan to reduce sooty air pollution in the Liberty-Clairton area does not protect the health of more than 80 families in nearby Lincoln. (03/05/2010)