Editor's Picks category, Page 175
Welcome to the ‘Hotel California’ case: The trial over handwritten lyrics to an Eagles classic
NEW YORK — In the mid-1970s, the Eagles were working on a spooky, cryptic new song. On a lined yellow pad, Don Henley, with input from band co-founder Glenn Frey, jotted thoughts about “a dark desert highway” and “a lovely place” with a luxurious surface and ominous undertones. And something...
TV Talk: ‘Constellation’ starts strong, ends weakVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. PASADENA, Calif. — “Constellation” is one of those post-“Lost,” labyrinthine shows, the kind of series that may or may not ever provide satisfying answers or reach a decent conclusion. It’s a twisty conspiracy thriller with...
Accordion players enjoy instrument’s resurgence
The Accordion Club of Natrona Heights might need to change its name. These guys and gals aren’t just sitting around playing old-timey polkas — they can really jam. “We like to get together and kind of show off what we can do,” said club founder Gabe Ziccarelli, 77, whose lightning-fast...
Astronomers find what may be the universe’s brightest object with a black hole devouring a sun a day
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Astronomers have discovered what may be the brightest object in the universe, a quasar with a black hole at its heart growing so fast that it swallows the equivalent of a sun a day. The record-breaking quasar shines 500 trillion times brighter than our sun. The...
Mark Smail, 62, carried on the family automotive business, was active in community
While Mark A. Smail had the responsibility of operating the family’s successful automotive dealerships east of Greensburg, he also made it a priority to spend quality time with his family and enjoy life. Smail enjoyed boating in the Florida Keys in the summer, going to the family’s lodge in Ontario’s...
Students and parents are frustrated by delays in hearing about federal financial aid for college
NEW YORK — For many students, the excitement of being accepted into their first-choice college is being tempered this year by a troublesome uncertainty over whether they’ll get the financial aid they need to attend. The financial aid decisions that usually go out with acceptance letters are being delayed because...
TV Talk at TCA: Pittsburgh native who won equal rights for flight attendants featured in PBS’s ‘Fly with Me’Video
PASADENA, Calif. — Growing up in Swissvale, Mary Pat Laffey Inman was familiar with the work of unions, but she had no idea just how important they would be to her career as a flight attendant. Her efforts to gain pay and benefit equality with men changed the airline industry’s...
‘Oppenheimer’ wins 7 prizes, including best picture, at British Academy Film AwardsVideo
LONDON — Atom bomb epic “Oppenheimer” won seven prizes, including best picture, director and actor, at the 77th British Academy Film Awards on Sunday, cementing its front-runner status for the Oscars next month. Gothic fantasia “Poor Things” took five prizes and Holocaust drama “The Zone of Interest” won three. British-born...
How Ziggy Marley helped bring the authenticity to ‘Bob Marley: One Love’
People had been coming to Ziggy Marley and his family for years with ideas about how to turn reggae icon Bob Marley’s life into a movie. But it never felt quite right, until a few years ago when they decided to be the instigators. “It was just a feeling,” Ziggy...
Silent Book Club gains traction in the Pittsburgh region
The rules of Silent Book Club are simple: No assigned reading, no homework and no small talk required. Members are expected to show up at a designated meeting place with whatever title they’re enjoying, sit and read. They can share thoughts if they want, but they don’t have to. The...
‘There needs to be somebody that looks like me’: Pittsburgh nonprofit creates recreation opportunities for people of color
Jaiya Hughes loves everything about winter. When temperatures drop, Hughes, 10, cannot wait to don her snow coat and boots and hit the hills of her East Liberty neighborhood in Pittsburgh, sled in hand. Her mother, Tazi Hughes, always joins in on the action. But when Jaiya sees fellow sled...
Monroeville ‘doodler’ featured at The Manos Gallery in Tarentum
Larry Brandstetter’s passion for art began at the kitchen table. When he was 8, Brandstetter recalls his mother sitting in their Morningside home with an open phone book nearby. “She would draw these ladies in chiffon dresses and heels,” Brandstetter said. Her whimsy sparked his creativity, according to the self-proclaimed...
Runners shrug off cold in Pittsburgh Undie Run to help fight neurofibromatosis
“Aren’t you freezing?” The question was painfully obvious. But it was hard to avoid repeating it Saturday to runners young and old who huffed and puffed their way across the Roberto Clemente Bridge from Downtown Pittsburgh to the North Shore, wearing enthusiastic smiles, colorful skivvies and not much more in...
Students in Hempfield support programs sell handmade items through boutique
Jack Wonderling carefully lifted the lid of the heat press machine and placed a fresh tote bag inside. He pressed down on the handle of the press and held it for about a minute until the design — a glittery blue Spartan logo — was transferred onto the outside of...
Drake and J. Cole wow old and new fans at PPG Paints Arena
Two legends can co-exist, and they did it Friday night as the Drake with J. Cole: It’s All A Blur Tour-Big As The What? hit the PPG Paints Arena stage for the first of two nights. It might have been snowy and cold outside, but Drake and J. Cole brought...
Century-old home for sale in Sewickley has storied history
A grand Sewickley house, built in 1905 by famed Pittsburgh architects, is on the market after being in the same family for nearly 80 years. Located at 47 Woodland Road, the property is the work of Frank Rutan and Frederick Russell, best known for the Schenley Park Hotel, today the...
Medici Importers Global brings a taste of Italy to Pittsburgh
Jason Grant noticed an older, distinguished-looking man having dinner at a restaurant in Il Borro, Italy. Grant asked the maître d’ to pass along a message that he wanted to say hello to the man — Ferruccio Ferragamo of the luxury Italian footwear brand family. A few minutes later, Grant...
Ellis School Black History Month fashion show honors August Wilson, Ann Lowe
The Ellis School held a fashion showcase on Thursday, paying homage to pioneers in Black culture — playwright and author August Wilson and fashion designer Ann Lowe. Students strutted down the runway in fashions of different eras that represented each decade of Wilson’s play. “Eras of Style: Celebrating August Wilson’s...
Armstrong County golf resort sells for $2.5M, leaving weddings, other events in limbo
A public golf resort in Armstrong County has sold for $2.5 million, leaving many customers who had events booked at the venue scrambling to find alternate accommodations. The Inn at Lenape Heights Event Center & Golf Resort in Manor Township sold Jan. 31 to 950 Golf Course Road LLC. The...
5 things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend: Feb. 16-19
It’s the weekend — three days off for some with Presidents Day on Monday. Here are some ways to spend it. Ghost Hounds The Ghost Hounds will perform at 7 p.m. Friday at the Roxian Theatre in McKees Rocks. The blues-rock group announced singer and songwriter Orianthi, who has performed...
TV Talk at TCA: W.Pa. natives Billy Gardell, Paige Spara say goodbye to ‘Bob (Hearts) Abishola,’ ‘The Good Doctor’Video
PASADENA, Calif. – It’s the end of the road for two prime-time broadcast series starring Western Pennsylvania natives. Billy Gardell’s CBS sitcom “Bob (Hearts) Abishola” and Paige Spara’s ABC drama “The Good Doctor” will call it quits by the end of the strikes-shortened 2023-24 TV season in May. ‘Bob (Hearts)...
5 Things to do in Westmoreland County: Feb. 16-18
This weekend is all about the parties. Decorations, dancing and unveilings make up a full calendar of things to do this weekend in Westmoreland County. Student exhibition Beginning Friday, the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art Ligonier, off Boucher Lane in Ligonier Township, will open the Artists of the 21st Century,...
Ready to dance without pause for 46 hours? Here’s your guide to Penn State’s Thon 2024
Perhaps the biggest event of Penn State’s spring semester is just around the corner, but it’s not too late to learn how to follow along, get involved or lend a hand. Penn State’s IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, better known simply as “Thon,” will get underway at 6 p.m. Friday before concluding...
Red flags, missed clues: How accused U.S. diplomat-turned-Cuban spy avoided scrutiny for decades
MIAMI — Manuel Rocha was well known in Miami’s elite circles for an aristocratic, almost regal, bearing that seemed fitting for an Ivy League-educated career U.S. diplomat who held top posts in Argentina, Bolivia, Cuba and the White House. “Ambassador Rocha,” as he preferred to be called, demanded and got...
TV Talk: Filmed-in-Pittsburgh ‘American Rust’ streams season 2 on Prime Video in March
PASADENA, Calif. — After Showtime canceled filmed-in-Pittsburgh “American Rust” following its first season, Amazon’s Freevee said it would pick up the crime drama starring Jeff Daniels. But Amazon’s Prime Video announced Thursday the show will stream on Prime (not Freevee), confirming my reporting from late last year. The new season,...
