Introduction

This style guide, created in Sept. 2025 is a living document. It is a communication guide designed to give clarity to writers and consistency to readers.

Overall, as an organization, we acknowledge that the English language is a language of art, poetry and the mundanities of everyday life. We use the language to convey love, affection, and fast food orders. With that in mind, we will respect and honor the language, with full sentences and proper grammar, as it defines our civic lives and culture. We will try not to step on the language or twist it into unrecognizable bits.

With that in mind, here are some ways to maintain clarity in the posts of Informup.org.

AP Style

Informup defaults to the AP Style, except otherwise noted here in this guide. You can fine the complete AP style guide in our company Reporter Resources This style includes common AP style guidelines for quick reference.

Syndication

Our reporting is often syndicated to other news outlets. Those outlets may have their own house style. Those style guides should be documented and included in the Reporter Resources' Partner House Style folder.

General style issues

Abbreviations and acronyms

Never on first reference. Spell out the whole name with any acronym in parenthesis if one will be used. Though try to use a better description than the acronym.

The only exceptions are PennDOT and UPMC.

Examples:

• Department of Mobility and Infrastructure on first reference and DOMI on second, but road department works better.
• Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority is still the legal name of the water authority, though it has rebranded as Pittsburgh Water. Use Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority on first reference, and then Pittsburgh Water, PWSA, or the water authority on second reference.
• Also see city departments and authorities.

Brutal murder

never use. They all are.

Commas

Use the Oxford Comma to provide clarity in lists - this is a departure from AP style.

Courtesy titles

Mrs. Ms. Mr. Dr. are only used in obituaries. If you need clarity between two people with the same last name, use their first names. Use Dr. if it is germane to the subject.

Dates

Spell out every month from March through July. Every other month is abbreviated. Our Style is Month date such as Sept. 22

Email

It is one word, no hyphen.

Funding

Who is paying? When a governmental body embarks on a project. Find and state the source or sources of the funds.

For Example, the City Council will also approve funds for a specific project. Those funds are often coming from the County or the State. That source should be clearly stated, so readers do not think the money is coming from the City Budget.

Headlines (Article & Topic)

They should be accurate, but concise. Avoid the word "Council" as the noun in a headline, because that is sure to be a snoozer.

The headline should contain the most criticl piece of information from the story. This is often the most engaging bit too.

Examples:

• Petition Calls for Pittsburgh to declare itself a Sanctuary City
• One Thousand 911 calls in 1 minute, emergency communications breakdowns and an aging emergency vehicle fleet—City Council Week of July 28

Money

We use a dollar sign followed by the amount. Over a million, if using round numbers, we spell out million, i.e., $6 for six dollars or $6 million for six million dollars. For non-monetary amounts, see numbers.

Names

Use official website names for public officials. In City Council go with this: https://www.pittsburghpa.gov/City-Government/City-Council/Districts

For people who are not public officials, use their generally recognized name. Middle initials are not necessary unless they use them. This is a departure from AP style.

Numbers

Spell out zero through nine. 10 and over? Use numerals.

OK

is now, OK. Okay isn't OK anymore.

Pennsyltucky

We all love it, but never use it.

Pennsylvania

Always capitalize it. The proper name is Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, never State of Pennsylvania. But state and commonwealth are interchangeable to describe the state/Commonwealth.

Pennsylvania regions

capitalize Western Pennsylvania, Central Pennsylvania, and Eastern Pennsylvania. Use lower case other times, such as northeastern Pennsylvania.

Percent

The % sign is 100% the way to go.

Quotes, use of

Be clear where quotes are coming from; [Name] said, [Name] said in an email, [Name] said in a press release, or according to the proposed legislation.

Real estate tax

There are three taxing bodies that each sets its own millage rate.

Assessments: Allegheny County is responsible (or, given the length of time between county assessments, irresponsible) for assessing properties. The assessment determines the value of the property, which is then multiplied against the millage rate to determine the real estate tax bills.

Millage rate: The millage is assessed on the assessment. One mill is one tenth of one cent per dollar of valuation, or $1 per thousand.

The tax bill is determined by (the value of the property in thousands) x (millage of each taxing body) then all added together.

Current (2025) millage is:

• City of Pittsburgh - 8.06
• Pittsburgh Public Schools - 10.25
• Allegheny County - 6.43

Real estate tax bills Separate bills are sent by the city and county. They are determined by (the value of the property in thousands) x (millage).

So a $200,000 house in the city is going to be taxed as follows:

• City: 200 x 8.06 = $1,612
• Schools: 200 x 10.25 = $2,050
• Allegheny County 200 x 6.43 = $1,286
• Total tax bill on that property is then all of those added together: $4,948

For a story on the tax rates for individual taxing bodies, it is okay to stop there, or you can go further to say, "with city, schools and county taxes the owner of a $200,000 house will see taxes of

The value of 1 mill assessed to each taxing body is:

• City of Pittsburgh - $33,274,107
• Pittsburgh Public Schools (also includes Mount Oliver) - $33,496,952
• Allegheny County - $112,862,338

Survey Questions

Questions will be in complete sentences. Survey questions will never be leading. See the Survey Writing guide for more information.

Time of Day

use AP style "We use figures for time of day, with a colon to separate hours from minutes: 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 9-11 a.m., 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Avoid such redundancies as 10 a.m. Monday morning. Instead: 10 a.m. Monday."

Spell out noon and midnight. No one can remember if noon is 12 a.m. or 12 p.m. anyway.

The construction 4 o'clock is OK, but not preferred.

Titles (in general)

Use a gender-neutral form. In Pittsburgh City Council it is City Council Member. Capitalize when before the name (Fire Chief Darryl Jones), but not after, (Jones, the fire chief).

Pittsburgh specific styles

Allegheny County Courthouse

courthouse on second reference.

Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas

Judges are referred to as Allegheny Common Pleas Judge [First name last name].

Allegheny County government

Allegheny County has a county executive and county council. The county also has a series of row offices, which are run by separately elected officials. Those row offices are: controller, district attorney, sheriff, and treasurer. Capitalize them when using the entire title without the name, the Allegheny County Controller, or the title before the name, Controller Corey O'Connor, but not after the name, Corey O'Connor, the controller.

Allegheny County municipal governments

Allegheny County has 130 separate municipal governments with four cities, 42 townships, 81 boroughs, one home-rule municipality, and a village. Use the designation of "borough, township, city" when needed for clarity. There is both a Baldwin Borough and Baldwin Township, a Springdale Township and borough, and Elizabeth Borough and township. You can call any of these communities municipalities, but Monroeville is the only home-rule municipality. Many of these municipal governments also have similar names, such as Braddock, Braddock Hills and North Braddock, or the Sewickleys, which are all boroughs but there is a Sewickley, Sewickley Hills, and Sewickley Heights. Two boroughs are split between counties. The borough of Trafford has areas in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. McDonald Borough straddles Allegheny and Washington counties. See list with the other tables at the end of this section.

Allegheny County School Districts

There are 42 school districts in the county and another two districts that are shared across county borders. See table with all of the school districts and the municipalities they serve at the end of this section.

Carnegie, The

Capitalize the definite article before the facility

• The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
• The Carnegie Museum of Art
• The Carnegie Museum of Natural History
• The Carnegie Music Hall

Except The Carnegie Science Center which is now Kamin Science Center.

City council

Capitalize city council only when using it as the proper term Pittsburgh City Council, which, frankly we should do on first reference since the Internet is everywhere. Use "council" on second reference.

City-County Building

Never city hall. We don't have a city hall here. Here, we can't fight the City-County Building.

City council members

Members, capitalize Council Member (two words there) if it precedes the name as a title. Council Member Deb Gross, for instance. If there is a story about the city and county, identify the council. (County Council Member DeWitt Walton, of the Hill District.). On first reference, or as soon as feasible, identify their neighborhood. We can't list every neighborhood they represent, but identifying their home neighborhood gives readers an idea.

City departments

See list of city departments, Emergency Medical Service, Fire and Police stations at the end of the document.

Counties

name them if someone or something is from outside of Allegheny County, the exceptions are Beaver, Butler, Greensburg. For Washington, Pa. use Washington, PA.

East End

Use when talking about a broad swath of the city, but use specific neighborhoods when appropriate: i.e. Squirrel Hill South and Squirrel Hill North, East Liberty, Shadyside.

Federal Building

The proper name is the William S. Moorhead Federal Building

Greater Pittsburgh International Airport

Use the whole name, PIT on second reference or the airport.

Green Tree

The borough is Green Tree, the road is Greentree Road.

Housing Authorities

In a departure from AP style, the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh can be City Housing Authority on first reference. Allegheny County Housing Authority can be the County Housing Authority.

Kamin Science Center

It is no longer The Carnegie Science Center and lost its definite article.

McArdle Roadway

Mt. Lebanon

uses the abbreviation for Mount. Mount Washington does not.

Names

Use official website names for public officials. In City Council go with this: https://www.pittsburghpa.gov/City-Government/City-Council/Districts

For people who are not public officials, use their generally recognized name. Middle initials are not necessary unless they use them. This is a departure from AP style.

Neighborhoods

Capitalize all neighborhood names and use the proper names (https://pittsburghpa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/basic/index.html?appid=0b82e78539464c3da121dcab22e444d4). The one exception is Downtown, which is a neighborhood called Central Business District, but is known as Downtown to everyone other than Deputy Director of City Planning Andrew Dash.

Neighborhoods are delineated on City Maps and we use those. So, for instance, FNB's new building is not in the "Lower Hill District," which is the designation of a Specially Planned District. The neighborhood is the Central Business District

North Side

two words, except when in a name such as The Northside Chronicle (they are wrong.) Use specific neighborhoods when talking about them: i.e. Federal North, Marshall-Shadeland, Manchester.

Pittsburgh Board of Public Education

Pittsburgh school board is OK on first reference, a departure from AP style.

Pittsburgh City Council

Capitalize city council only when using it as the proper term Pittsburgh City Council, which, frankly we should do on first reference since the Internet is everywhere. Use "council" on second reference.

Pittsburgh City Council members

Members, capitalize Council Member (two words there) if it precedes the name as a title. Council Member Deb Gross, for instance. If there is a story about the city and county, identify the council. (County Council Member DeWitt Walton, of the Hill District.). On first reference, or as soon as feasible, identify their neighborhood. We can't list every neighborhood they represent, but identifying their home neighborhood gives readers and idea.

Pittsburgh city departments

See list of city departments, Emergency Medical Service, Fire and Police stations at the end of the document.

Pittsburgh elected offices

The city's elected officials are the controller, council members, and mayor.

Pittsburgh parking chair

There are parking chairs in every city with snow. Parking chair is not capitalized.

Pittsburgh Public Schools

Currently the schools all have the city before the name and the grade designation after: Example: Pittsburgh Linden PreK-5. It is acceptable in a story about the Pittsburgh Public Schools to drop Pittsburgh from the name. Soon all of the schools will have the same grade structures, so Linden can then be called Linden Elementary, and Colfax Middle School (instead of the Colfax K-8 as it is now). Allderdice High School is always acceptable, as are Brashear High School, Carrick, and Perry. Other high schools currently have a middle school component.

CAPA, which is 6-12, is the school for the Creative and Performing Arts, but CAPA is the official name on the district's website. Use either Creative and Performing Arts 6-12 or CAPA 6-12 on first reference.

ELEMENTARY GRADES:

• Allegheny PreK-5 - Perry South
• Arsenal PreK-5 - Lawrenceville
• Banksville K-5 - Banksville
• Beechwood PreK-5 - Beechwood
• Concord K-5 - Knoxville
• Dilworth PreK-5 - Highland Park
• Faison K-5 - Homewood
• Fulton PreK-5 - Highland Park
• Grandview PreK-5 - Mount Washington
• Liberty K-5 - Shadyside
• Lincoln PreK-5 - Larimer
• Linden PreK-5 - Point Breeze
• Miller PreK-5 - Bedford Dwellings
• Minadeo PreK-5 - Squirrel Hill South
• Montessori PreK-5 - Friendship
• Phillips K-5 - South Side Flats
• Roosevelt K-5 - Carrick
• Spring Hill K-5 - Spring Hill
• Weil PreK-5 - Middle Hill
• West Liberty PreK-5 - Brookline
• Westwood PreK-5 - Westwood
• Whittier K-5 - Duquesne Heights
• Woolslair PreK-5 - Bloomfield

ELEMENTARY WITH MIDDLE GRADES

• Arlington PreK-8 - Arlington
• Brookline PreK-8 - Brookline
• Carmalt PreK-8 - Overbrook
• Colfax K-8 - Squirrel Hill South
• Greenfield PreK-8 - Greenfield
• King PreK-8 - Allegheny Center
• Langley PreK-8 - Sheraden
• Manchester PreK-8 - Manchester
• Mifflin PreK-8 - Lincoln Place
• Morrow PreK-8 - Brighton Heights
• Sunnyside PreK-8 - Stanton Heights

MIDDLE SCHOOLS

• Allegheny 6-8 - Allegheny Center
• Arsenal 6-8 - Lawrenceville
• Classical 6-8 - Crafton Heights
• Schiller 6-8 - East Allegheny
• South Brook 6-8 - Brookline
• South Hills 6-8 - Beechview
• Sterrett 6-8 - Point Breeze

MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL

• CAPA 6-12 - Downtown (can also be Central Business District or The Cultural Center)
• Milliones 6-12 - Upper Hill
• Obama 6-12 - East Liberty
• Westinghouse Academy 6-12 - Homewood West
• Science And Technology Academy - North Oakland

HIGH SCHOOLS

• Allderdice High School - Squirrel Hill South
• Brashear High School - Beechview
• Carrick High School - Carrick
• Perry High School - Perry South

SPECIAL SCHOOLS

• Clayton Academy - Perry South
• Conroy - Manchester
• Gifted Center - Crafton Heights
• Pittsburgh Bridges Academy - based in various schools
• Online Academy - Based in South Side Flats
• Pioneer - Brookline
• Student Achievement Center - Homewood

EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTERS

• Allderdice Early Headstart
• Allegheny Early Childhood
• Arlington Early Childhood
• Arsenal Early Childhood
• Beechwood Early Childhood
• Brashear Early Headstart
• Brookline Early Childhood
• Carmalt Early Childhood
• Carnegie Science Center Early Childhood
• Chartiers Early Childhood
• Childrens Museum Early Childhood
• Concord Early Childhood
• Conroy Early Childhood
• Crescent Early Childhood/Early Headstart
• Dilworth Early Childhood
• Fulton Early Childhood
• Grandview Early Childhood
• Greenfield Early Childhood
• King Early Childhood
• Langley Early Childhood
• Lincoln Early Childhood
• Linden Early Childhood
• Manchester Early Childhood
• Mifflin Early Childhood
• Miller Early Childhood
• Milliones Early Childhood
• Minadeo Early Childhood
• Montessori Early Childhood
• Morrow Early Childhood
• Northview Heights Early Childhood Center
• Obama Early Childhood

Senior Centers

Use the neighborhood name followed by Healthy Active Living Center. For instance Hazelwood Healthy Active Living Center. On second reference it can be Hazelwood Senior Center. If talking about a bunch of centers, use the neighborhood and center for instance, the Sheraden Center.

The centers are:

• Beechview
• Glen Hazel
• Greenfield
• Hazelwood
• Homewood
• Lawrenceville
• Morningside
• Mount Washington
• South Side
• West End

South Side

Use actual neighborhood names when talking about specific areas, i.e. South Side Flats, South Side Slopes, Arlington, Beltzhoover.

Swimming Pools

city pools or swimming pools are fine on first reference.

The Oliver Bath House is a pool that is open year round in South Side Flats.

All other pools are referred to by [Name] Pool in [Neighborhood]. Magee Pool in Greenfield.

The pools and their neighborhoods are:

• Ammon - Hill District
• Bloomfield - Bloomfield
• Highland - Highland Park
• Homewood - Homewood (This is being rebuilt and may change its name)
• Jack Stack - Brighton Heights
• Magee - Greenfield
• McBride - Lincoln Place
• Moore - Brookline
• Ormsby - South Side Flats
• Phillips - Carrick
• Ream - Mount Washington
• Riverview - Perry North
• Schenley - Squirrel Hill South
• Sue Murray - Allegheny Center
• Westwood - Westwood
• West Penn - Polish Hill

Theaters

August Wilson African American Cultural Center can be the August Wilson Center.

Benedum Center for the Performing Arts can be Benedum Center on first reference.

Byham Theater.

Heinz Hall is actually Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts, but Heinz Hall is always fine.

UPMC hospitals

They all start with UPMC followed by the hospital name (but without the word "hospital". Drop the UPMC on second reference and add hospital. First reference: UPMC-Shadyside. Second reference: Shadyside Hospital.

Exception: Western Psychiatric Institute & Clinic is now UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital, use Western Psych. on second reference.

West End

Use as a region of the city. But try to be more neighborhood specific such as Crafton Heights, Westwood, Greentree.

Yinz

While the ultimate Pittsburgh-ism, it can also be seen as mocking a segment of our community, so be careful.

Allegheny County Departments

Allegheny County municipal governments by name

Use Borough or Township only for clarity, such as Baldwin Borough.

• Aleppo Township
• Aspinwall Borough
• Avalon Borough
• Baldwin Borough
• Baldwin Township
• Bell Acres Borough
• Bellevue Borough
• Ben Avon Borough
• Ben Avon Hgts Borough
• Bethel Park
• Blawnox Borough
• Brackenridge Borough
• Braddock Borough
• Braddock Hills Borough
• Bradford Woods Borough
• Brentwood Borough
• Bridgeville Borough
• Carnegie Borough
• Castle Shannon Borough
• Chalfant Borough
• Cheswick Borough
• Churchill Borough
• City of Clairton
• City of Duquesne
• City of McKeesport
• City of Pittsburgh
• Collier Township
• Coraopolis Borough
• Crafton Borough
• Crescent Township
• Dormont Borough
• Dravosburg Borough
• East Deer Township
• East McKeesport Borough
• East Pittsburgh Borough
• Edgewood Borough
• Edgeworth Borough
• Elizabeth Borough
• Elizabeth Township
• Emsworth Borough
• Etna Borough
• Fawn Township
• Findlay Township
• Forest Hills Borough
• Forward Township
• Fox Chapel Borough
• Franklin Park Borough
• Frazer Township
• Glassport Borough
• Glenfield Borough
• Glen Osborne Borough
• Greentree Borough
• Hampton Township
• Harmar Township
• Harrison Township
• Haysville Borough
• Heidelberg Borough
• Homestead Borough
• Indiana Township
• Ingram Borough
• Jefferson Borough
• Kennedy Township
• Kilbuck Township
• Leet Township
• Leetsdale Borough
• Liberty Borough
• Lincoln Borough
• Marshall Township
• McCandless Township
• McDonald Borough, Split between Allegheny and Washington counties
• McKees Rocks Borough
• Millvale Borough
• Monroeville Municipality
• Moon Township
• Mount Lebanon Township
• Mount Oliver Borough
• Munhall Borough
• Neville Township (referred to as Neville Island, not Neville)
• North Braddock Borough
• North Fayette Township
• North Versailles Township
• Oakdale Borough
• Oakmont Borough
• O'Hara Township
• Ohio Township
• Penn Hills Township
• Pennsbury Village
• Pine Township
• Pitcairn Borough
• Pleasant Hills Borough
• Plum Borough
• Port Vue Borough
• Rankin Borough
• Reserve Township
• Richland Township
• Robinson Township
• Ross Township
• Rosslyn Farms Borough
• Scott Township
• Sewickley Borough
• Sewickley Heights Borough
• Sewickley Hills Borough
• Shaler Township
• Sharpsburg Borough
• South Fayette Township
• South Park Township
• South Versailles Township
• Springdale Borough
• Springdale Township
• Stowe Township
• Swissvale Borough
• Tarentum Borough
• Thornburg Borough
• Trafford Borough: split between Allegheny and Westmoreland Counties
• Turtle Creek Borough
• Upper St. Clair Township
• Verona Borough
• Versailles Borough
• Wall Borough
• West Deer Township
• West Elizabeth Borough
• West Homestead Borough
• West Mifflin Borough
• West View Borough
• Whitaker Borough
• White Oak Borough
• Whitehall Borough
• Wilkins Township
• Wilkinsburg Borough
• Wilmerding Borough

Allegheny County School Districts

Allegheny County has 42 school districts that are entirely in the county and two, (Penn-Trafford and Fort Cherry) that are shared with other counties.

Pittsburgh City Departments

Emergency Medical Services

Fire Stations

Police Stations