Editor's Picks category, Page 368
Sounding off: With no evidence of voter fraud, let’s please move on
It is unfortunate that in these times anybody can throw out any sort of nonsense, and so many people will believe anything. Letter-writer Al Bianchini, offering no evidence, states that the election was “a fiasco” and “mail-in balloting is a disaster” (“U.S. voting system is a disaster,” Nov. 11, TribLIVE)....
How to safely celebrate Thanksgiving during the pandemic
Thanksgiving is traditionally celebrated with large family feasts and lots of friends. This year, health officials are urging people to scrap those plans in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic. Department of Health Secretary Rachel Levine has urged people to nix any gatherings, large or small, to celebrate the upcoming...
Owl be darned — Rockefeller Center Christmas tree survival tale not surprisingVideo
It’s actually not unusual, given the circumstances, that a cute Northern saw-whet owl, found in the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center recently, is healthy and still adorable. The saw-whet owl is so named because its call, not the typical hoo-hoo, but rather a mechanical toot-toot, sounds like the sharpening of...
Toast the season with festive twists on holiday spiritsVideo
You don’t have to go to the bar to get a well-made drink. Many can be served in your house. “With most people spending the holidays at home because of the pandemic, there are easy ways to make cocktails in your house,” said Barry Young, co-founder and master distiller at...
TV Talk: Thanksgiving parade telecasts altered by pandemicVideo
With covid-19 upending holiday plans worldwide, even traditions like the “Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade” have to change, but the show will go on, at least on TV. “You have to have it on in the background while you’re making your gravy,” teased Hoda Kotb, who will again host the telecast...
Vatican reportedly launching probe after Pope Francis’ Instagram account ‘likes’ racy photo
“At least I’m going to heaven.” That was the quip from bikini model Natalia Garibotto after the official Instagram account of Pope Francis was one of 100,000 to “like” a racy photo of the half-clothed Brazilian. According to the Catholic News Agency, the photo was quickly “unliked” by the verified...
Isolated for months, island crew sees pandemic for 1st time
HONOLULU — Just as the coronavirus pandemic began to take hold, in February, four people set sail for one of the most remote places on Earth — a small camp on Kure Atoll, at the edge of the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. There, more than 1,400 miles from Honolulu, they...
‘Letterkenny’ season 9 release date announcedVideo
Christmas will bring a new season of a great Canadian show this year. Season nine of “Letterkenny” will be released Dec. 26 via Hulu in the U.S. and Dec. 25 via Crave in Canada. The show features creators Jared Keeso and Jacob Tierney, as well as Nathan Dales, Michelle Mylett,...
Drag queen art critics return for The Westmoreland’s online program
Drag performers know a thing or two about fashion, hair and makeup. Some of them also know a thing or two about fine art. Through their lush false eyelashes, Pittsburgh-based performers Alora Chateaux and Tootsie Snyder will take a look at works from The Westmoreland Museum of American Art’s permanent...
TV Talk: ‘Saved by the Bell’ enrolls a new classVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Peacock’s “Saved by the Bell” revival has elements of a nostalgia play with multiple original series cast members popping in here and there. But in three episodes sent for review, the new series proves itself...
Covid forces Punxsutawney Phil to go virtual; no crowds on Gobbler’s Knob in February
Say it ain’t so, but the covid-19 pandemic will keep thousands of people from witnessing whether Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow atop the famed Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney on Feb. 2 and forecasts six more weeks of winter. Even though people want to see Phil’s prognostication in person for the...
Poll: More than half of Republicans say Joe Biden won because of a ‘rigged’ electionVideo
Over half of Republicans claim President Donald Trump won the presidential election “rightfully,” but it was taken from him because of voter fraud that aided President-elect Joe Biden, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Wednesday. The poll, taken Friday through Tuesday showed that 52% of Republicans said Trump...
2 women, including Westmoreland’s Kim Ward, just made history in Pa. legislature
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...
Charlie Brown specials to air on TV, after all, in PBS deal
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...
Tom Hanks, Billy Porter, Joanne Rogers join honorary Tree of Life cabinet
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...
NBC’s ‘Today’ talks with Lucy Pollock, 98, Latrobe baking sensationVideo
From her Latrobe kitchen to Facebook and now to NBC’s “Today,” Lucy Pollock’s baking skills keep reaching wider audiences. The 98-year-old started gaining recognition in the early days of the pandemic when her daughter and housemate, Mary Ellen Raneri, started sharing Pollock’s baking skills on live Facebook sessions. Mary Ellen’s...
Volunteers still needed to test variety of covid-19 vaccines
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 votes to remove Squaw name from borough streets, trail
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...
Tom Purcell: Covid-19 obscures so many ways 2020 is best year ever
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...
Pittsburgh Opera holding ‘online Holiday Bazaar’ in lieu of in-person gala
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...
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust announces plans for virtual First Night
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...
Pittsburgh’s city-operated farmers’ markets set final days of operation
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)...
One half of the ‘Property Brothers’ praises solar in documentary
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...
PSO’s online Front Row series includes sensory friendly holiday concert
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...
Thanksgiving turkey questions? Experts offer up advice
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...
