PITTSBURGH — Council members in Western Pennsylvania have approved a contract to drill for natural gas and oil at Pittsburgh International Airport.

The Allegheny County Council voted 9-4 with one abstention Tuesday night to approve the contract with Consol Energy after a hearing that lasted nearly two hours.

Members opposed said they were concerned about environmental impacts and safety and whether the county got the best deal possible.

Under the deal, Consol will pay a signing bonus of $50 million and then 18 percent royalties on future production expected to total $450 million over two decades. The first wells would be drilled in late 2014 or early 2015.

The airport says it will use the money to lower airline costs in hopes of attracting more flights, and for capital improvements.

Ravenstahl to seek new term as mayorPITTSBURGH — The 33-year-old mayor of Pittsburgh has officially announced he will seek another term in office.Mayor Luke Ravenstahl made the announcement to about 200 supporters at his new campaign headquarters on Tuesday night. Ravenstahl has been mayor since he replaced Bob O’Connor, who died in office in 2006. Ravenstahl automatically got the job because he was city council president at the time.Ravenstahl, a Democrat, was elected to a full four-year term in 2009. He says that, under his watch, the city has created a climate for growth. He says the city has better employment numbers and a lower crime rate than when he took office.He’ll face several others in the May primary. City Councilman Bill Peduto and Controller Michael Lamb have both announced primary challenges.

Police: Man stabs, kills grandmotherGIBSONIA — Authorities say a man accused of having stabbed his elderly grandmother to death during breakfast told investigators that “the archangel” told him to do so.Levi Daniel Staver, 26, was charged with criminal homicide in the death of 76-year-old Constance Johnston on Tuesday morning in Gibsonia.Police say she and her husband, a retired minister, were sitting at the kitchen table when Staver came upstairs from the basement and stabbed her in the back with a hunting knife.Authorities allege in court documents that Staver told police that he was sitting at his computer when “the archangel” told him to “kill the witch.” They said the family previously had serious concerns about his mental health.

Pa. lobbies FAA for air traffic facilityDOYLESTOWN — Members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation are lobbying federal aviation officials to give the commonwealth equal weight with New York when choosing a site for a new air traffic control facility.Pennsylvania’s two U.S. senators, Democrat Bob Casey and Republican Pat Toomey, and nine U.S. House members have sent a letter to Federal Aviation Administration head Michael Huerta urging the consideration of properties in the eastern part of the state.The FAA has announced a $2.3 billion modernization plan that will consolidate 49 aging air traffic facilities in the Northeast down to four by 2023.