In case you missed it: News from winter break 2019

Students are heading back to campus to find that some local businesses closed or moved, several top Pitt executives got a pay bump for 2020 and the president was impeached. We’ve rounded up a few of the break’s biggest headlines, in case you missed them.

Jimmy John’s moves to a new location

The Oakland Jimmy John’s location will move to a new storefront closer to campus by March, according to Jimmy John’s spokesperson Nathan Louer. The store, currently located at 3444 Forbes Ave., between McKee Place and Coltart Avenue, will move to 115 Oakland Ave. between Forbes and Fifth avenues. The space was previously occupied by Jester’s Court Tattoos, and Jimmy John’s applied for a permit in October to convert it for its usage. The sandwich shop’s current building is the proposed site of a controversial 13-story office tower.

Bruegger’s on Forbes Avenue closed

Bruegger’s Bagels, located at 3714 Forbes Ave., between Oakland Avenue and Atwood Street, closed in mid-December. Henry Schwartz, co-managing partner of the Oakland Real Estate Company, the building’s owner, did not respond to a request for comment.

Raises approved for several University executives

The compensation committee of Pitt’s Board of Trustees approved a round of 2.25% raises on Dec. 16, 2019, for Chancellor Patrick Gallagher and eight University executives.

Gallagher’s total compensation package will equal $829,000 this year, with a base salary of $669,738. He also received an additional $500,000 last year as a deferred compensation bonus — $100,000 of his base salary was withheld each year for five years, a practice that will now end.

The committee previously approved a round of 1.5-2.5% raises for five of Pitt’s top executives, as well as the chancellor, in December 2018.

SisTers PGH fire

SisTers PGH, a non-profit organization that serves trans and non-binary Pittsburghers, is without a home after a fire struck its Squirrel Hill offices on Murray Avenue. The blaze began on the second floor of the building by an unrelated resident, and the City Public Safety Department said it was able to contain the fire to the second floor before it was extinguished. The organization is raising money to help with relocating to a new space — nearly $30,000 was donated as of Dec. 21, 2019.

Local protests follow President Trump’s impeachment

The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Dec. 18, 2019, to impeach President Donald Trump on two articles of impeachment, by votes of 230-197 and 229-198. All nine of Pennsylvania’s House Democrats, including Rep. Mike Doyle, who represents Oakland, voted in favor of both articles. The impeachment is the third in the United States’ 232-year history — the other two presidents impeached by the House were Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton.

Pittsburghers made their voices heard on impeachment — hundreds gathered at the City-County Building downtown and at Rep. Conor Lamb’s nearby Mount Lebanon district office. Many held signs that read “Impeach,” “Impeach & Remove,” and “No one is above the law.”

#NoWarWithIran Protest

About 200 Pittsburghers protested Saturday in Schenley Plaza as part of a national day of action, urging President Donald Trump not to further escalate the nation’s conflict with Iran. The protest followed the United States’ Friday killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s top general and head of the country’s elite Quds Force, near Baghdad International Airport in Iraq. American officials say, without providing evidence, that Soleimani was planning attacks that would endanger U.S. armed forces and officials. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the United States should expect “harsh retaliation” in response.

A previous version of this story said the two presidents impeached prior to President Trump were Andrew Jackson and Bill Clinton. The two presidents impeached prior to President Trump were Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. The article has been updated to reflect this change. The Pitt News regrets this error.