THE HALFAX HEIMDALL AUGUR

Pittsburgh proposes $500,000 settlement with Fern Hollow Bridge ... PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — The city of Pittsburgh proposed a payment to settle with the victims of the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse. According to the deputy mayor, the city would pay out a total of $500,000. The attorneys representing the victims of the bridge collapse say this proposed settlement caught them by surprise. The announcement came Friday morning from Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak. He said this would acknowledge the city's role in the collapse. It's been more than two years since the bridge collapsed in January of 2022, injuring eight people. "We accept that the Fern Hollow Bridge was city infrastructure and so we have liability," Pawlak said. The total is the upper limit for the city's liability. In Pennsylvania, state law sets the cap on what municipalities pay out. This money would be split between all the victims. If it were to be split evenly between the eight victims, that would be $62,500 a person. At this point, it is not known how it would be split. "In instances like this, the city's liability has an upper limit. We have agreed to pay that all the way up to that limit," Pawlak said. In a statement, the …

Settlement in Fern Hollow Bridge case collapses amid finger-pointing The site of the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse in Frick Park on Jan. 31, 2022, three days after the disaster. The City of Pittsburgh is blaming everyone but itself for the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse. In recent court filings, lawyers for the city have faulted the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, the private engineering firms who conducted annual inspections — even the victims driving across the bridge in 2022 when it failed. What’s more, they’ve proposed using any settlement money for the victims to pay for the city’s future legal costs arising from the collapse. Pittsburgh’s strategy to deflect responsibility for the disaster — despiteample evidence that for years it neglected critical maintenanceon the bridge — isn’t sitting well with the victims’ attorneys. “Asserting my clients were somehow responsible for their own harm … is mind boggling,” said attoney Pete Giglione, who represents Daryl Luciani, the Pittsburgh Regional Transit driver whose bus fell into a Frick Park ravine that day. The city’s claims lay out Pittsburgh’s possible trial defenses to the nine lawsuits against it. They come as the…

Pittsburgh approves settlements for Fern Hollow Bridge collapse victims More than four years after the Fern Hollow Bridge collapsed, Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday approved settlement payments for the victims. The settlements, which total $445,000, signal the end of a lengthy battle between the victims and the city, whose total liability iscapped at $500,000by state law. Several people were injured, some seriously, when the 447-foot span linking Regent Square with Squirrel Hill broke apart and fell into a ravine in Pittsburgh’s Frick Park inJanuary2022, sending vehicles and a Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus plummeting about 100 feet. No one died. The victims sued the city, as well as private engineering firms that had been hired to conduct inspections on the bridge. The engineering firms’ settlements are not subject to city approval processes and have not been made public. The plaintiffs include Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus driver Daryl Luciani and his wife, Karen; Clinton and Irene Runco; Tyrone Perry and his wife, Velva, who died last September; Matthew Evans; Joseph Engelmeier; Thomas and Sarah Bench; and Anna Nichols, a bus passenger. Individual payouts by the city…

Pittsburgh approves settlements for Fern Hollow Bridge collapse victims <p>More than four years after the Fern Hollow Bridge collapsed, Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday approved settlement payments for the victims.</p>

Council reviews more than $400K settlement for Fern Hollow Bridge ... Council reviews $445K settlement for Fern Hollow Bridge collapse victims Council reviews $445K settlement for Fern Hollow Bridge collapse victims WITH THE STORY. THE CITY COUNCIL IS CONSIDERING WOULD PAY $445,000 TO NINE OF THE TEN PEOPLE WHO SUED THE CITY WHEN THE FERN HOLLOW BRIDGE HERE COLLAPSED MORE THAN FOUR YEARS AGO. AND THE ACTION COUNCIL TOOK TODAY PUTS THEM ONE STEP CLOSER. RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF A WARRANT IN FAVOR OF DARRYL AND KAREN LUCIANI AND THE LAW GROUP, P.C., FOR A SINGLE PAYMENT IN 2026 IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $90,000 IN FULL AND FINAL SETTLEMENT OF LITIGATION FILED. EACH OF THE RESOLUTIONS WERE READ INTO THE RECORD IN COUNCIL CHAMBERS, DETAILING HOW MUCH EACH OF THE NINE PEOPLE IMPACTED BY THE FERN HOLLOW BRIDGE COLLAPSE WOULD RECEIVE IF THE SETTLEMENT IS APPROVED. THE BUS DRIVER, DARRYL LUCIANI, WOULD RECEIVE THE LARGEST PORTION $90,000. HE WAS DRIVING A PRT BUS WITH TWO PASSENGERS ON BOARD. JANUARY 28TH, 2022, WHEN THE BRIDGE FELL ABOUT 100FT. COUNCIL PRESIDENT DANIEL LAVELLE SAYS WITH THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THESE RESOLUTIONS, NINE PEOPLE ON THE BRIDGE THAT DAY, NEARLY FOUR …

Fern Hollow Bridge Collapse Settlement Reached - Pittsburgh Politics & Government Fern Hollow Bridge Collapse Settlement Reached The City of Pittsburgh has reached a financial settlement with the victims of the January 2022 Fern Hollow Bridge collapse. Eric Heyl , Patch Staff Posted Fri, Sep 13, 2024 at 7:58 am ET | Updated Fri, Sep 13, 2024 at 8:00 am ET The immediate aftermath of the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse. (National Transportation Safety Board) PITTSBURGH, PA — The city has reached a financial settlement with the victims of the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse, which drew national attention when it fell into a Frick Park ravine in January 2022. Pittsburgh Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak said in a statement Friday morning that he has forwarded a resolution to City Council authorizing a payment of the full liability of $500,000 to the victims. Ten people were injured in the spectacular collapse, some seriously. "Now, the matter rests before the Court for its action pursuant to the Rules of Civil Procedure, and we await its decision so we the City and the plaintiffs may bring this matter to a close," Pawlak said. Find out what's happening in Pittsburgh for free with the latest updates …

Fern Hollow Bridge settlement in flux as city seeks $100K for court ... Any settlement between the city of Pittsburgh and the victims of the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse is in limbo. Now, Pittsburgh City Council is being asked to approve another $100,000 to prepare for a court case. It's been almost four years since the bridge collapse, but the court battle continues. Last year, around this time, the city came out and said they would settle . "We think this will streamline the process that hasn't been able to reach a successful conclusion so far," Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak said in 2024. On Tuesday, the city council introduced a measure for another $100,000 to go toward their case preparation. This is in addition to the $40,000 they already approved over the summer. "Here we are now, still fighting over their share, which is the most we can ever recover from the city is $500,000," attorney Pete Giglione said. Giglione represents the bus driver who was on the bridge when it went down. He said if the city paid the $500,000, they would be done. Mayor Ed Gainey's office said in a statement that they offered that sum, but the plaintiffs declined the offer. Giglione said it came with too m…

Council reviews $445,000 settlement for Fern Hollow Bridge collapse victims <p>Pittsburgh City Council is reviewing a proposed $445,000 settlement for nine victims of the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse, which occurred on January 28, 2022, on a snowy morning.</p>

Pittsburgh City Council to vote on Fern Hollow Bridge settlement payments Politics & Government Pittsburgh City Council approves Fern Hollow Bridge settlement payments 90.5 WESA | By Julia Maruca Published June 16, 2026 at 4:14 PM EDT Updated June 30, 2026 at 1:22 PM EDT Facebook LinkedIn Email Gene J. Puskar / AP This aerial image, taken with a drone, shows the new Fern Hollow Bridge ahead of its dedication in 2022 in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh City Council approved payments to the victims of the 2022 Fern Hollow Bridge collapse — a move that attorneys say will settle a number of lawsuits that followed the disaster. The seven settlement payments, approved by Council Tuesday in a 6-0 vote with three members absent, total $445,000. The money will be paid to 10 individuals who were impacted by the incident, each of whom will receive between $40,000 and $90,000. The payments mark an end to lawsuits filed after the collapse, according to Council President Dan Lavelle, as well as Jason Matzus of Matzus Law, which represented two of the plaintiffs. “All the cases on behalf of all the plaintiffs against all the defendants have been resolved,” Matzus said. That includes c…