Editor's Picks category, Page 345

Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — One is a former health-care worker and political veteran from Westmoreland County. The other is an ex-public defender and...

NEW YORK — The “Great Pumpkin” never showed on broadcast television this year, but after a deal with PBS, the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and Christmas specials will return to the air. Last month, Apple TV+ became the new home to the beloved Peanuts holiday specials. That sparked an outcry from...

Award-winning actors Tom Hanks and Billy Porter, along with Joanne Rogers, the wife of legendary children’s TV host Fred Rogers, will serve as honorary cabinet members for the Tree of Life Congregation in its efforts to establish a new home. Hanks, Porter and Rogers are joining elected officials and business...

Two covid-19 vaccines might be nearing the finish line, but scientists caution it’s critical that enough people volunteer to help finish studying other candidates in the U.S. and around the world. Moderna Inc. and competitor Pfizer Inc. recently announced preliminary results showing their vaccines appear more than 90% effective, at...

Fox Chapel council voted to eliminate the word Squaw from two borough roads and a trail, bringing an end to a divisive months-long debate and following a national trend to remove the slur from place names. Council voted 6-0, with member Jay Troutman abstaining, to change the name of Squaw...

As challenging a year as 2020 has been, we still should be thankful that it has been the best year in human history to be alive. Consider: In 1920, according to the book “Enlightenment Now,” the average person spent 11.5 hours each week doing laundry. By 2014, he or she...

The Pittsburgh Opera was hoping to have one of its festive in-person fundraising galas this fall, but coronavirus made it impossible. However, the Opera still needed to come up with a way to raise money to support its acclaimed Resident Artists program. So, next month, it will hold what it’s...

Ring in 2021 at the place where you’ve spent most of 2020. At home. The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust on Monday announced its First Night celebration as: “Highmark First Night Pittsburgh 2021 at Home.” The annual New Year’s Eve celebration on Dec. 31 can be viewed on KDKA-TV. The station’s “Pittsburgh...

The four farmers’ markets operated by the City of Pittsburgh will be closing for the season in the next two weeks. The final days of operation for the markets, operated by the city’s Office of Special Events, are:Friday (Nov. 20) at Allegheny Commons Park on the North Side.Sunday (Nov. 22)...

NEW YORK — As half of HGTV’s “Property Brothers,” Jonathan Scott is all about transforming interior spaces. Now he’s revealing a massive space he’d like to transform — the Earth. “Jonathan Scott’s Power Trip” is his new documentary about solar power and why this clean, renewable source of energy is...

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will take its online audience to Heinz Hall, The Andy Warhol Museum and Fallingwater for the next episode of its fall digital series, “Front Row: The PSO Virtual Experience.” “Originators and Disrupters (Part 1)” will premieres at 7:30 p.m. Friday, with guest concertmaster and leader Alexi...

Your role for Thanksgiving dinner might be different this year. “I suspect we will have a lot of first-time turkey makers,” said Carol Miller, one of 50 Turkey Talk-Line experts for Butterball, a turkey brand and the largest producer of turkey products in the U.S. “With so many people staying...

Drugmaker Pfizer is expected to seek federal permission to release its covid-19 vaccine by the end of November, a move that holds promise for quelling the pandemic, but also sets up a tight time frame for making sure consumers understand what it will mean to actually get the shots. This...

BISMARCK, N.D. — Like many medical workers around the world, the coronavirus pandemic is a burden that Fargo emergency room nurse Adam Johnston can’t escape. The grim reality follows him everywhere: at work, where people die every shift; at the grocery store, where people rail against his city’s mask requirement;...

Days before President-elect Joe Biden declared victory, with millions of votes still being counted, pundits as well as regular voters were quick to condemn the polling industry for failing to gauge just how tight the 2020 presidential race initially seemed to be. Democrats hoping to watch a blue wave roll...

OXFORD, Miss. — A human rights award has been presented to the defense team for a Mississippi man who was freed from prison in December after more than 20 years and this year had all charges dropped against him. The Curtis Flowers defense team, which includes the George C. Cochran...

After more than a decade of division — Republicans trying to block Barack Obama at every move and Democrats questioning Donald Trump’s legitimacy — President-elect Joe Biden is inheriting a contentious crowd. His best strategy to bring them around a table together, a diverse group of Pennsylvanians say, would be...

**WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD THROUGH SEASON 2, EPISODE 3 OF ‘THE MANDALORIAN’** This week, we learned that there are least two ideologically-opposed sects of Mandalorians, that Silas Adams has upped his villain game and gotten promoted from Gem Saloon muscle to Imperial commander, and that Admiral Ackbar’s brethren are apparently the...

PHOENIX — An updated U.S. citizenship test will require applicants to answer more questions than before and could slow down the number of tests held each day, experts said. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency on Friday announced the updated test now has 128 civics items to study and...

A Derry Township man’s boast on social media about bagging an albino deer during archery season last month landed him in hot water with the state game commission. After an investigation, Stone P. Kepple, 23, admitted to wardens that he had struck the deer while driving in Derry Borough and...

Covid-19 travel restrictions won’t stop Santa from visiting some local malls, although he will be wearing a mask and keeping his distance. Other shopping centers will offer virtual visits with the jolly old elf. Plan your in-person or online visit with Santa at these locations: • Westmoreland Mall: Santa and...

This year’s demands for social justice and the health care challenges brought on by the covid pandemic have prompted students at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine to create their own version of the Hippocratic oath, the ethical code doctors take to act in patients’ interest. The Hippocratic oath...

Looking for weekends plans? Here are a few fun things to do in Pittsburgh: Fall Foliage Yoga Hike with Elevate Yoga Pittsburgh Elevate Yoga Pittsburgh is hosting a hiking and yoga event at Settlers Cabin Park in Collier, North Fayette and Robinson at 12 p.m. on Saturday. The Fall Foliage...