Editor's Picks category, Page 373
How a Kevin Bacon video (and other things) helped reporter survive breast cancer
I can’t really have breast cancer. That is the shock every woman goes through when hit with the diagnosis. Then comes the fear, the fight, the treatment, maybe more fear — all of which I knew about — but the post-cancer treatment, not so much. As a breast cancer survivor...
Washington state discovers 1st ‘murder hornet’ nest in U.S.
SPOKANE, Wash. — Scientists in Washington state have discovered the first nest of so-called murder hornets in the United States and plan to wipe it out Saturday to protect native honeybees, officials said. Workers with the state Agriculture Department spent weeks searching, trapping and using dental floss to tie tracking...
Richland man on mission to unearth mysteries surrounding abandoned Bakerstown cemeteryVideo
The tiny collection of crumbling gravestones along Route 8 in Richland aren’t visible from the busy roadway. The abandoned cemetery in the Bakerstown neighborhood doesn’t appear on maps. And there are no signs along the narrow gravel road leading to the clearing where the smattering of weather-worn headstones marks the...
Pittsburgh native featured in ‘Crutch’ documentary doesn’t lean on disabilityVideo
Everyone uses crutches. Some are just invisible. As Bill Shannon crosses a city street on film, his movements are unstable with crutches under each arm. He collapses on a patch of grass after reaching the other side. What you see is man with a disability who has fallen. What you...
Time magazine replaces logo on cover for 1st time in nearly 100 years
The cover of Time magazine’s double issue that hits newsstands Friday will bear an important message in lieu of its famed logo — marking its first absence from the cover in nearly 100 years. The giant letters at the top of the cover instead read: “VOTE.” Edward Felsenthal, Time’s editor...
Police: North Huntingdon cat hoarder said animals took over his house
Police said a North Huntingdon man told them he stopped staying at his township home because cats had overrun it. In September, authorities rescued 73 cats from the property on Leger Road and removed 11 that died. Since being surrendered to Frankie’s Friends in New Kensington, another 22 cats died...
Daughter of former Pitt linebacker Scott McKillop gets ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos’ appearance
It took her dad Scott McKillop 20-plus years to get into the national spotlight as Pitt’s leading tackler on one of the team’s best defenses in recent memory, but Harper McKillop’s wit got her 15 seconds of fame. Twenty-four, to be exact, on Sunday’s episode of “America’s Funniest Home Videos.”...
Gibsonia couple opens Spark Wine Company in their home during pandemic
Finding a spark of joy is important, especially during difficult times. For one Pine Township couple, that spark came in the form of starting a winery and building a community in the process. Joe and Lindsey Campisi have turned the sour grapes of the pandemic into delicious wine with their...
Mel’s Petit Café crepe place opens in Mt. Lebanon
Amadine Fevrier of Mt. Lebanon spent nearly every summer of her childhood in the Brittany region of France. At the rear of the family’s property is a centuries-old “little house” where Fevrier’s grandmother would make the region’s traditional Sunday lunch: a heaping stack of savory — not sweet — crêpes...
From Pittsburgh’s Manchester to the moon: Astrobotic pioneers new lunar missionsVideo
Ground control for the first commercial trip to the moon will be at a nondescript building on Pittsburgh’s North Side near the Manchester neighborhood. A group of federal, state and local officials on Monday celebrated a private ribbon-cutting for Astrobotic’s headquarters at the 47,000-square-foot complex at 1016 North Lincoln Ave....
Diversity project billboards shine along Westmoreland County roadsVideo
Drivers on Westmoreland County highways are encouraged to take their eyes off the road — carefully — to look for new billboards offering messages of hope and healing. Ten artists created works that reflect the theme “Make Our Differences Our Strengths,” as part of the Diversity Billboard Art Project created...
Things to do in Western Pa.
What would you like to do for fun this week? Paint a bird portrait? Listen to some roots music? Have a few belly laughs? Get the kids to bed — for once — with a minimum of fuss? You can do all those things, and more. The details are here,...
2020 stinks, Charlie Brown. No ‘Great Pumpkin’ on TV and other lame stuff to whine aboutVideo
It might be the most 2020 thing yet. Word comes that “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” will not be airing this year on broadcast TV. Nope. Not CBS. Not ABC. Not NBC. Not even C-SPAN! It’s the first time it’s happened since the special first aired in 1966 on...
Photo altered to Ice Cube, 50 Cent in ‘Trump 2020’ hats
An altered photo of rappers Ice Cube and 50 Cent in hats that appear to show support for President Donald Trump circulated widely on social media Tuesday, fueled in part by a tweet by Eric Trump. “Two great, courageous Americans,” Trump’s son tweeted. He removed the tweet with a photo...
Film Pittsburgh Fall Festival goes online, as executive director nears 2 decades at helm
Kathryn Spitz Cohan began her tenure at what is now Film Pittsburgh just after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The executive director enters her 20th season amid another life-changing time – the covid-19 pandemic. Film Pittsburgh screens independent films from around the world, for themed festivals, and holds...
First covid-19 positive cat reported in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania on Tuesday reported its first incident involving a cat contracting covid-19. State Veterinarian Dr. Kevin Brightbill announced Pennsylvania’s first confirmed covid-19 positive cat in a joint release from the state Departments of Agriculture and Health. The 16-year-old Cumberland County cat lived in a home with multiple people who had...
After 100 years on AM dial, KDKA Radio adds FM signal
A change is in the air for News Radio 1020 KDKA. Starting Nov. 2, as part of the commemoration of the station’s centennial anniversary, KDKA-AM will simulcast on FM for the first time ever and be heard on 100.1 FM. The spot had previously been occupied by WAMO, a station...
Aaron Carroll: Let kids have Halloween
Of course we want everyone, including children, to be safe during the pandemic. We canceled school in the spring, camps in the summer, vacations, sleepovers and more. My daughter turned 14 in June, and her friends drove by in cars, wishing her happy birthday while she waved from the lawn....
Editorial: Pipeline protection needs common sense update
There is a difference between security and secrecy. Security is making sure that dangerous things are protected. Secrecy is making sure things — dangerous or otherwise — are hidden. Those might seem related, but they aren’t the same. A $5.1 billion pipeline that transmits millions of gallons of natural gas...
At Oakmont Bakery, the presidential ‘cookie poll’ tradition continues (just for fun)
In what might be the most appetizing part of the 2020 presidential election, Oakmont Bakery is producing patriotic cookies emblazoned with portraits of candidates Joe Biden and President Donald Trump. A dozen runs $24. The sugar cookies are iced with an image of either Biden surrounded by blue stars or...
Jeffrey Toobin suspended by the New Yorker, steps away from CNN
NEW YORK — Author-commentator Jeffrey Toobin has been suspended by the New Yorker and is stepping away from his job as CNN’s senior legal analyst pending what the cable network is calling a “personal matter.” Vice reported earlier Monday that Toobin had exposed himself during a Zoom meeting with staffers...
TV Talk: Netflix debuts trailer for Pittsburgh-filmed ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’
Netflix released the trailer for “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” its adaptation of the August Wilson play that was filmed in Pittsburgh in the summer of 2019. The movie arrives on Netflix on Dec. 18. “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” stars Viola Davis as blues singer Ma Rainey during a recording session...
Disney+ adds new content warning for racist depictions in classic films
Classic movies that feature racist stereotypes and other problematic elements now include a new content warning on Disney+. When viewers choose to play movies such as “Dumbo,” “Aladdin,” “Peter Pan,” “The Aristocats” and “Swiss Family Robinson” on the Disney streaming service, a written disclosure about its “negative depictions and/or mistreatment...
West Deer district judge will accept letters to Santa to spread holiday cheer
District Judge Tom Swan wanted to add some cheer to an otherwise depressing year. That’s why he’s trading in his judge’s gavel for a Santa hat. Well, not really. OK, maybe a little. Swan decided his West Deer court office would be the perfect place to accept letters to Santa...
TV Talk: Jim Carrey’s Joe Biden pulls a Mister Rogers on ‘SNL’Video
It’s been a busy week for Latrobe native Fred Rogers in the pop-culture zeitgeist, beginning with social media reactions to a tweet Thursday night, which in turn inspired a scene in the cold open sketch on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” It all started Thursday night during dueling town halls between...
