“As a longtime Allegheny County resident, working mother, early childhood educator, advocate and policymaker, I am immensely proud that Allegheny County has created the Department of Children s Initiatives. All of Allegheny County s children and families deserve comprehensive, equitable and high quality early learning and out-of-school time services if we are to continue to build our county s reputation as a great place to live, work and raise children,” Mercatoris said Tuesday.
Ashton Jones Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald during a meeting in downtown Pittsburgh on Tuesday, May 25, 2021.
About $400,000 in funding for the department was included in the county’s 2021 budget.
Mercatoris has held a number of positions related to early childhood education, including for Pennsylvania’s Office of Child Development and Early Learning and with the Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children. She is a resident of Ben Avon.
Zappala Sr. then became Allegheny County s planning director and solicitor before winning a Common Pleas court seat. In 1981, he was elected to the state Supreme Court and became chief justice in 2001 before retiring in December 2002.
While serving on the state’s highest court, he initiated, developed and fully integrated “the largest court automation system of its type in the country, according to the obituary posted by the funeral home. “His efforts combined and automated systems of the three appellate courts in Pennsylvania, making it much easier and efficient for litigants, counsel, and the courts to operate, it said.
Zappala Sr. was involved in and received numerous awards from civic and legal organizations. He was married to his wife, Phyllis, for 65 years.
Stephen Zappala Sr., a former chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court being remembered for his distinguished legal career and public service, has died. He was 88.
Former Chief Justice Stephen A. Zappala Sr., Father Of District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr., Passes Away
CBS Pittsburgh 1 hr ago Syndicated Local – CBS Pittsburgh
By: KDKA-TV News Staff
PRESTO TOWNSHIP (KDKA) Former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chief Justice Stephen A. Zappala Sr. passed away on Friday.
“I was saddened to hear of the death of former Chief Justice Stephen A. Zappala Sr. His distinguished legal career, and interest in public service, benefitted our community. He served as solicitor to the county’s Authority for Improvements in Municipalities (AIM) before joining the Court of Common Pleas, then the PA Supreme Court before assuming the role of Chief Justice,” said County Executive Rich Fitzgerald in a statement. “His dedication to the legal profession coupled with community service can be seen in his son, our District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala, Jr. Our deepest sympathies to the District Attorney and the entire Zappala family on t
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