PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Stadium Authority has OK'd a $20,000 parking study prompted by Steelers officials who say they are studying adding up to 4,000 seats to Heinz Field.

The Stadium Authority owns the parking lots and some other real estate near the Steelers' home stadium and PNC Park. The city-county Sports & Exhibition Authority oversees Heinz Field, which the Steelers control.

Co-owner and President Art Rooney II tells authority officials that the team has enough demand to fill the extra seats, which would be built near the south end zone at the open end of the stadium.

The Steelers have sold out every game since the 65,000-seat stadium opened in 2001 and routinely sold out games at Three Rivers Stadium before that.

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh City Council is expected to consider an 11th hour plan to shore up the city's underfunded pensions in hopes of preventing a state takeover of the fund.The Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System has the power to take over Pittsburgh's system if the city doesn't fund its obligations at 50 percent by year's end. The city has about $1 billion in pension obligations, but only $270 million — or 27 percent — to meet those payments.City council earlier this year shot down Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's plan to lease city parking lots and garages for 50 years and use some of the money to shore up the pension fund.The new plan won't involve leasing the parking lots, but rather pledging revenue from future parking increases to fund the pensions.

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh's newest hotel is open for business, and hoping to capitalize on its location next to the city's new hockey arena.The Cambria Suites Pittsburgh opened next to the Consol Energy Center, which is the home of the Penguins. The $25 million hotel is a joint venture between Choice Hotels, Canonsburg-based Horizon Properties Group and the Penguins.The hotel's general manager tells a Pittsburgh newspaper that it hopes to partner with the Consol Energy Center to help book more acts for the city.The hotel has 142 suites. It is part of the first phase of the Penguins' plans to redevelop 28 acres that used to include the Civic Arena.

ERIE — For the first time since 2005, Erie International Airport is seeing an increase in the number of departures this year.Outgoing flights carried 117,817 passengers in 2010 through Nov. 30. That's a 4.6 percent increase from the 112,594 passengers transported during the same period of 2009.Airport executive director Chris Rodgers said the biggest reason for the increase is the general improvement in the global economy.

PITTSBURGH — State police are trying to find a man who allegedly stole a hand-held video game system and accessories — from the casket of a teen killed in a crash on Christmas Day.State police in Indiana, Pa. were not willing to comment on the case beyond the brief news release issued Wednesday.The release said 38-year-old Jody Lynn Bennett, of Mentcle, allegedly grabbed the items from the casket of 17-year-old Bradley McCombs during a viewing Monday night at the Rairigh Funeral Home in Montgomery Township.The funeral home director and McCombs' mother aren't commenting, but the suspect's aunt, Dianna Bennett, said her family is friends with the McCombs and mortified by the incident.

INDIANA — State police say a pair of repo men wrongly took a woman's car after failing to check its license plate and vehicle identification number.The woman had thought she was duped by fake repo men when they showed up at her home in White Township, Indiana County. They drove away in her 2005 Ford Focus after convincing the woman's brother they were authorized to repossess it.Police said in a news release that the men do work for a repossession company but didn't check the car's tag.Police said the car was returned to the woman after TV stations and newspapers reported the incident and the repo company determined the wrong vehicle was taken.