Editor's Picks category, Page 292
TV Talk: HBO’s winning ‘Winning Time’ is a sports show about businessVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. More a business-of-sports show than a sports show, “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” (9 p.m. Sunday on HBO and HBO Max) giddily explores the personalities involved in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 1980s...
John DeSantis remembered fondly by Pittsburgh Home & Garden Show exhibitors
The late John DeSantis “never met a stranger.” Those are words from Jenn Tompkins, co-owner of Rent The Chicken in South Buffalo Township. Her company will be one of the more than 1,500 exhibitors for the 40th annual Duquesne Light Co. Pittsburgh Home & Garden Show, which DeSantis founded. He...
How to help Ukrainians affected by Russian invasion
More than 1 million people have fled Ukraine, and at least 160,000 have been displaced inside the country as fighting continues between Russian and Ukrainian forces in Europe’s largest ground war since World War II. The United Nations issued an appeal this week for $1.7 billion to help with aid...
TV Talk: Pittsburgh natives Billy Porter, Andy Warhol get streaming biographiesVideo
It’s a banner week for Pittsburgh natives in the arts with new streaming biographies of artist Andy Warhol and actor/singer/director Billy Porter on tap. Warhol is featured in Netflix’s six-hour “The Andy Warhol Diaries” documentary series, streaming next Wednesday, and Porter is profiled in a season-two episode of Apple TV+’s...
‘Smashing bots’: High schools battle in regional robotics competition
Riley Davison’s Wednesday was filled with excitement for one reason: “smashing bots.” The Pine-Richland senior was among dozens of high school students who crowded in Robert Morris University’s John Jay Center for the 17th annual BotsIQ, a regional competition in which student-made robots fight each other gladiator-style. In one corner,...
Quaker Valley High School welcomes therapy dog program
A jingle of dog tags resonates whenever Penny makes her way around Quaker Valley High School. The 2-year-old purebred bulldog brings joy to students and staff alike. “It’s been great,” said owner Rob Johnson, a paraprofessional who obtained the dog from D and D Bulldogs near Philadelphia. “The kids have...
Phipps Conservatory unveils long-term ‘Tropical Forest Hawai’i’ exhibit
Nature, history and culture intertwine in “Tropical Forest Hawai’i: Aloha ‘Aina,” a new long-term exhibition in the Tropical Forest Conservatory at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh. The major redesign of the 12,000-square-foot, 60-foot-high space is the result of a multi-year process of research and planning that took Phipps...
TV Q&A: Why no sports report on WPXI’s 6 p.m. newscast anymore?
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions every Wednesday at TribLive.com in a column that also appears in the Sunday Tribune-Review. Q: Has Channel 11 officially dropped its sportscast from the 6 p.m. newscast? It’s been absent post-Olympics. Previously, there were times when their sports anchor had...
Hempfield Girl Scout receives national honor for coming to grandfather’s aid after serious fallVideo
When Ashley Bensur found out her grandfather had fallen 10 feet from a balcony at his Hempfield home the morning of July 11, 2020, there was no doubt in her mind that she had to help. Rather than waiting to hear an update on his condition, Bensur, then 12, tagged...
Mac Martin, Pittsburgh-area bluegrass musician ‘known ’round the world,’ dies at 96
Bluegrass musician Mac Martin had his roots in Pittsburgh, but his music was known around the world, according to other bluegrass musicians and fans who knew him. “He was known all over the world. He played in a bar in East Liberty (Walsh’s Lounge) in the 1950s, and people would...
Ranking the Batmen: Who’s the best (and worst) on-screen Batman?
This week sees the release of “The Batman,” the latest big screen take on the Dark Knight, the top dog when it comes to our cinematic superheroes. Sure, others have come along and out-grossed the Caped Crusader at the box office, but it was the original “Batman” movie in 1989...
Photo gallery: Ukraine continues to endure, fight Russian attacks
KYIV, Ukraine — Day 6 of the biggest ground war in Europe since World War II saw Russian forces bombard the central square in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, and other civilian sites Tuesday. “Nobody will forgive. Nobody will forget,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said condemning Russia’s attacks as a blatant campaign...
TV Talk: WPGH to add evening newscast produced by WPXI
Pittsburgh viewers will soon have another half-hour weekday evening newscast option: WPXI-TV will begin producing a 6:30 p.m. newscast for WPGH-TV beginning March 14. WPXI’s David Johnson and Liz Kilmer will anchor the additional half-hour news broadcast that displaces a second run of the syndicated, Jay Leno-hosted game show “You...
Pittsburgh woman takes 1st place on ‘Jeopardy!’
Pittsburgh resident Margaret Shelton took first place after competing on the TV game show “Jeopardy!” Tuesday night. Shelton won $16,600 from the game that pitted her against Christine Whelchel, of Tennessee, and Stefan Stenroos, of California, according to the “Jeopardy!” website. Shelton joins a few other Pittsburghers to compete on...
A little luxury at Lent: Lobster roll returns to Del Vecchio’s in Vandergrift — for a price
At Del Vecchio’s Market in Vandergrift, a seafood special is back on the menu for the Lenten season that begins Wednesday, but it’s not typical Southwestern Pennsylvania fare. Lobster roll — a mainstay of New England popular cuisine — is returning to Del Vecchio’s, alongside the classic fried and baked...
2nd immersive art exhibit coming to North Side
First Vincent van Gogh, now Frida Kahlo. A second interactive art exhibit is coming to Lighthouse ArtSpace Pittsburgh, a converted warehouse, on Pittsburgh’s North Side. Lighthouse Immersive, a producer of experiential art exhibits, partnered with Impact Museums, which operates immersive experiences built around art, entertainment and social causes, and collaborated...
Pittsburgh Pop podcast: Talking ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ series, Michael Keaton on ‘SAG Awards,’ ‘Law & Order’ revival, Jon Delano’s attic
In this episode of the “Pittsburgh Pop” podcast, host Tim Benz and TV Talk columnist Rob Owen discuss Pittsburgh pop culture news of the moment, including what Pittsburgh native Michael Keaton had to say when accepting his SAG Award for “Dopesick” Sunday night and how it relates to his family...
Week in pictures: Feb. 21-27
A selection of the best photos from Tribune-Review photographers from Feb. 21-27....
TV Talk: KDKA-TV adds to weather staff; Pokemon ads filmed in PittsburghVideo
The stakes are raised in Pittsburgh’s local TV battle for meteorological marketing supremacy: KDKA-TV hired Falicia Woody, most recently of WKBN-TV in Youngstown, Ohio, to join Channel 2’s weather team. Assuming none of the four current KDKA weather staffers – Kristine Emery, Mary Ours, Ray Petelin and Ron Smiley –...
Emotional Michael Keaton dedicates SAG award win to nephew, sisterVideo
On Sunday, actor and Pittsburgh native Michael Keaton won a Screen Actors Guild award for his role in “Dopesick.” His acceptance speech for winning the best male actor in a television movie or limited series started out just as you’d expect from the 70-year-old star of movies like “Nightshift” and...
Laurelville Retreat Center hosts backyard birding event just weeks after fire in maintenance facility
Despite a fire destroying a maintenance facility at Laurelville Retreat Center in Mt. Pleasant this month, almost 70 people gathered at the dining hall Sunday afternoon for a presentation on backyard birding. The lunch and learn on backyard birding taught attendees how to identify birds in the region, where to...
Editorial: 95% vaccinated number seems absurdly high
It is hard to get 95% of Pennsylvanians to walk in step for anything. Pennsylvania is a perennial swing state because it is a state divided on almost everything. Steelers versus Eagles. Pitt versus Penn State. Sheetz versus Wawa. And there is no deeper divide than the political. It isn’t...
Western Pennsylvania high school students take Polar Plunge for Special Olympics
Fox Chapel Area High School students suited up as characters from the Disney movie “Frozen.” It was the perfect fashion for Friday morning. With temperatures in the 30s and wind chills in the 20s, the teens took a plunge into 4 feet of cold water — dressed at Elsa, Anna,...
The ‘Puttery’ to bring indoor mini-golf venue to Pittsburgh’s Strip District
The Strip District is quickly expanding its entertainment district, and a new upscale mini-golf venue is joining the fun. Drive Shack Inc., a Dallas-based leisure company, is bringing a Puttery location to the Strip District, complete with three themed, nine-hole courses and several bar and lounge areas across two stories....
Pittsburgh streets and landmarks to be featured in Monopoly game
A “Get Out of the Allegheny Jail Free” card? The newest Monopoly game could include that saying as well as other Pittsburghese references. And you, Steel City residents, can help decide. Pittsburghers are encouraged to submit their suggestions for the upcoming board game. Hasbro, the makers of Monopoly, has partnered...
