Editor's Picks category, Page 356
Astrobotic space museum planned for Pittsburgh
Museums are generally known as places where historic objects are stored and displayed. But a new museum dedicated exclusively to space is as much about the future as it is the past. Space robotics company Astrobotic announced Tuesday it is opening the Moonshot Museum, which it says is Pennsylvania’s first...
U.S. birth rate falls to lowest point in more than a century
NEW YORK — The U.S. birth rate fell 4% last year, the largest single-year decrease in nearly 50 years, according to a government report being released Wednesday. The rate dropped for moms of every major race and ethnicity, and in nearly every age group, falling to the lowest point since...
Paddling sojourn on Conemaugh, Kiski rivers returns after pandemic hiatusVideo
Paddlers will have an opportunity to explore the “Past, Present and Future” of a key local waterway when the Stony-Kiski-Conemaugh Rivers Sojourn returns on June 3-6, after last year’s cancellation because of covid-19 pandemic concerns. The 44-mile float downstream from Johnstown to Apollo, on mostly flat water, is appropriate for...
Kecksburg UFO Festival remains grounded in 2021, despite plan to lift pandemic restrictions
The Kecksburg UFO Festival, usually held annually in July, has been canceled this year, even though most of Pennsylvania’s covid-19 mitigation restrictions will be lifted May 31. “We had to cancel. We needed more time to line up vendors. … There were just too many questions,” said Ron Struble, a...
Safe at home: Pierogies will once again race inside PNC Park
The racing pierogies are back where many fans believe they belong. Cheese Chester, Sauerkraut Saul, Jalapeno Hannah, Bacon Burt and Oliver Onion will once again be participating in the “The Great Pittsburgh Pierogy Race” inside PNC Park starting Monday. Brian Warecki, Pirates senior vice president for communications, confirmed the races...
TV Q&A: Which shows are ‘on the bubble’ for renewal?
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: Recently you wrote about several CBS shows that have been renewed, but there was no mention of “SEAL Team.” Do you know the renewal status...
Rick Santorum’s comments on Native Americans don’t quiet criticsVideo
NEW YORK — CNN analyst Rick Santorum’s claim that he misspoke during a recent speech where he said there was “nothing here” when the United States was founded did little to diminish anger against him. The National Congress of American Indians on Tuesday renewed calls for CNN to fire the...
Sewickley writer’s work featured in latest ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’ book
A Sewickley writer’s work recently appeared for the fourth time in a “Chicken Soup for the Soul” book. Judith Burnett Schneider, who left her job as a research scientist several years ago to become a full-time writer, just had her essay “Pivotal Cup” appear in the media company’s latest anthology,...
Star Wars strong: May the 4th be with youVideo
It’s May the 4th, and you know what that means. It’s Star Wars Day, the unofficial holiday celebrating the storied movie franchise and a play on what is arguably its best-known line: “May the Force be with you.” The Force gives certain people in the Star Wars universe extraordinary abilities...
Fountain flows for the season at Point State Park
The fountain at Point State Park is flowing for the season. This is the 47th year for the fountain, which has become a landmark at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers at Point State Park in Downtown Pittsburgh. An old friend in @DowntownPitt is back for its 47th...
Fifth graders’ Jeff Goldblum obsession gets love from Pittsburgh actor
Sometimes, school can be really fun. Not to mention a brush with your celebrity obsession. The fifth graders at Bristol Elementary in Webster Groves, Mo., have been working remotely this year because of the pandemic. The class’s teacher Samantha Brown decided — as great teachers are apt to do —...
Cyril Wecht’s memoir tells renowned forensic pathologist’s personal storyVideo
Cyril Wecht has never been one to hold his tongue. When the former Allegheny County coroner and county commissioner is bothered by something, he speaks his mind. The same holds true for his recently published memoir, “The Life and Deaths of Cyril Wecht: Memoirs of America’s Most Controversial Forensic Pathologist.”...
Harmar eagles are busy: Battling a red-tailed hawk, an intruding eagle and a gull; and raising 2 chicks
The Harmar bald eagles apparently have their hands — er, claws — full: They’re raising two chicks while warding off a red-tailed hawk and a visiting juvenile eagle. One of the Harmar eagles recently rebuffed a gull trying to steal its fish while in flight. The Harmar birds are in...
Firefighters rescue man trapped in portable toilet in Gettysburg
GETTYSBURG — Authorities say a man was rescued after a tree that fell during high winds trapped him inside a portable toilet at Gettysburg National Military Park in south-central Pennsylvania. The Barlow Volunteer Fire Department said on its Facebook page that the crew was called to Little Round Top shortly...
Kayakers take to the water for 7th annual Loyalhanna SojournVideo
Dozens of brightly colored kayaks lined a pathway at Latrobe’s Cardinal Park early Saturday in anticipation of the hundreds of boaters expected to float 9 miles down Loyalhanna Creek, ending their journey in New Alexandria. In all, about 220 people were registered to participate in the seventh annual Loyalhanna Sojourn,...
Who are the Western Pa. residents charged in Capitol insurrection?
In some ways, the people from Western Pennsylvania who were arrested in the Capitol riot match the findings of national studies conducted by the Chicago Project on Security and Threats. Most of them are employed, and several own their own businesses — including a couple who owns a contracting company...
Calling the Class of 2021: Join TribLIVE’s virtual graduation
TribLIVE is celebrating the graduating Class of 2021 with our second annual virtual graduation. Do you know a graduating student who deserves recognition for his or her achievement? Submit their information and a photo by clicking the link below, and we’ll include them in our celebration of this year’s graduating...
Why allergy season is worsening in Western Pa.
As temperatures rise, allergy symptoms are ramping up for many seasonal sufferers — especially in the Pittsburgh region. Pittsburgh ranks as the fifth most challenging place to live with seasonal allergies, according to a recent report from the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. “This report validates what everyone who...
Jason Momoa’s filmed-in-Pittsburgh movie gets streaming debut date
The Jason Momoa-starring “Sweet Girl,” which filmed in Pittsburgh in late 2019, got a release date from Netflix this week: Aug. 20. Momoa stars as Ray Cooper, who vows to bring justice to those responsible for the death of his wife while protecting his daughter (Isabela Merced). The film, directed...
240-pound fish, age 100, caught in Detroit River
Now that’s a whopper — a very old whopper! A 240-pound sturgeon that could be more than 100 years old was caught last week in the Detroit River by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The “real life river monster” was nearly 7 feet long, the agency said Friday on...
TV Talk: Paul Martino leaving KDKA-TV
Paul Martino, a veteran KDKA-TV reporter/anchor, will retire from the station July 1. Martino has been with the station since 1984 and until recently anchored weekend evening newscasts. He was replaced in that role by younger reporters and reassigned to weekday general assignment reporting. KDKA-TV news director Kathy Hostetter did...
Rick Sebak signature cocktail available at Independent Brewing in Squirrel Hill
If WQED film director Rick Sebak ever does another unusual television program about to-go cocktails, he’s got the perfect drink to serve his viewers. The Independent Brewing Co. in Squirrel Hill created “The Rick Sebak Cocktail,” also known as “A Gentleman’s Breakfast,” back in 2014. It had previously only been...
Rain forces Lernerville Speedway to cancel event celebrating 1,000th sprint car race
At event at Lernerville Speedway meant to celebrate the track’s 1,000th sprint car race on Friday was canceled due to inclement weather. With an event dubbed Lernerville Grand, the speedway was set to host its 1,000th sprint car race. The event was planning to feature the All Star Circuit of...
TV Talk: Billy Porter plans to cast ‘authentic Pittsburgh people’ in his directorial debut
Pittsburgh native Billy Porter, a 1987 graduate of Pittsburgh CAPA and Taylor Allderdice High Schools and a 1991 graduate of Carnegie Mellon University’s drama program, has stayed busy during the past year’s pandemic, filming the final season of “Pose” — with its parallels to covid-19 — and readying his feature...
Jurassic Quest Drive-Thru coming to Pavilion at Star Lake
The dinos are coming! If you’ve ever longed to re-enact the drive-through scene from 1993’s “Jurassic Park,” here’s your chance. Of course, that’s without the live creatures breaking free and destroying everything. Jurassic Quest Drive-Thru will make a stop in Western Pennsylvania from June 4-13 at The Pavilion at Star...
