ERIE — The Democratic mayor of Erie has decided not to run for Congress next year.

Joe Sinnott tells the Erie Times-News that he will remain at City Hall instead of campaigning for the seat representing Pennsylvania's 3rd District.

The office is currently held by Rep. Mike Kelly, a Republican freshman who unseated Democrat Kathy Dahlkemper during the GOP wave of 2010.

The second-term mayor told the newspaper on Thursday that, after consulting with advisers, “my analysis and assessment tells me it's not the right time.”

PITTSBURGH — City officials are offering to help develop a plan to keep retailer Saks Fifth Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh, radio station KQV reports.Saks has occupied the building since the mid-1970s, but the current lease expires in 2012.A spokeswoman for Saks told local media that discussions are ongoing, but that the store needs extensive upgrades and remodeling. Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl told KQV that the city wants Saks to stay.

PITTSBURGH — The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center asked a judge Thursday to dismiss a federal lawsuit accusing it of false advertising, arguing that the health insurer suing the hospital can’t prove that anything in its ads is false.In the original lawsuit filed in July, Highmark claimed UPMC’s ads are meant to scare people into believing they’ll lose access to UPMC’s service when a contract between the feuding companies expires next year.Politicians and community leaders have pressured the two companies to settle their differences, but the lawsuits suggest that isn’t going to happen anytime soon.In a statement Thursday, UPMC said it “regrets Highmark’s unwillingness to work together on how to best unwind our relationship in an orderly and timely fashion to minimize uncertainty and confusion facing our patients.”The contract expires next July, though there’s a one-year period after that during which Highmark has claimed its subscribers will still have access to UPMC doctors and hospitals. UPMC says that’s not true and its ads reflect that.