Editor's Picks category, Page 384
Answering The Call: Meet the expert helping UPMC employees work remotelyVideo
During the covid-19 pandemic, many people are working remotely, including tens of thousands of UPMC employees. The person largely responsible for making this happen is UPMC systems engineer Crystal Morgan, an online security expert and former songwriter from Los Angeles. In this edition of Answering the Call, Morgan discusses working...
Pine Township man recognized as ‘Big of the Year’ for Pennsylvania by Big Brothers Big Sisters
Brady Smith concedes that his description of family life while growing up in southern New Jersey may seem overly idyllic to some people. But the nurturing he received from his parents not only helped shape him as an adult, it served as a foundation for Smith’s efforts to help others....
Poll worker needs ranked critical in Washington, Westmoreland, Fayette counties
Westmoreland County, as well as Fayette and Washington counties, face an uphill battle when it comes to recruiting poll workers for the presidential election this fall, researchers found. A study produced by Boston-based bipartisan nonprofit The Voter Protection Corps and Carnegie Mellon University found the counties were among 15 across...
Trib partners with investigative nonprofit Spotlight PA
Trib Total Media on Thursday became a partner in Spotlight PA, the nonprofit investigative newsroom based in Harrisburg that covers state government. Spotlight PA was launched in September 2019 through The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Lenfest Institute for Journalism, which operates the Inquirer. Trib Total Media joins PennLive/Harrisburg Patriot-News as...
Location of time capsule buried in a North Huntingdon school courtyard remains a mysteryVideo
The location of a time capsule buried 31 years ago in a former Norwin elementary school courtyard remains as much a mystery today as the contents sealed inside it, despite a couple of hours of digging into the solid earth and using a metal detector to try to find it....
Unity family appeals backyard chicken violation, want birds classified as petsVideo
Kristin Kuhns and her husband, Jeff, say the chickens they keep in their Unity backyard provide their family with companionship as well as eggs, and they want township officials to ease up on regulation of the birds. After a neighbor in the Lawson Heights neighborhood complained about the Kuhnses’ 20...
Take a drive through the Pittsburgh Zoo’s ‘Carnival’ on FridayVideo
The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium’s annual summer gala has gone mobile. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, a traditional event at the zoo in Highland Park wasn’t able to be held. So organizers went on the move and created “Carnival: Drive Thru at the Zoo.” The sold-out soiree is from...
Point Park University implements new safety measures for fall reopeningVideo
Point Park University’s plans for reopening include thorough signage, capacity limits in rooms and elevators and a lot of Plexiglas. As students prepare to return to campus this fall, university leaders have implemented a variety of new measures to promote social distancing, mask-wearing and other safety protocols to prevent the...
Fayette County singer in running for country music awardsVideo
A country singer from Fayette County is hoping to up her industry profile through awards from two music industry organizations. Katrina Lynn Whetsel of White, who performs as Katrina Lynn, is nominated for honors from the Atlanta-based International Singer Songwriters Association and Fair Play Country Music, an online magazine and...
Western Pa. leaders working to exceed census response rates from 2010
Fewer people have responded to the 2020 census across Western Pennsylvania than in 2010, new data shows. According to the Pennsylvania State Data Center, several area counties, including Allegheny and Westmoreland, are about 5 percentage points behind self-response rates recorded in 2010. That means fewer people so far have responded...
Pittsburgh Symphony looks to January return to Heinz Hall
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is planning its return to Heinz Hall in January, but in the meantime will offer a new digital music series free to the public this fall. The digital programming will introduce a “reinvented” 2020-21 season, the symphony’s 125th, taking the place of in-person concerts that have...
Pittsburgh’s North Shore restaurants endure summer without sports fans
Rico Lunardi opened the third location of Slice on Broadway, his local pizza chain in 2016 at PNC Park. He guesses he missed only five or six Pirates game nights since he opened the spot with a street entrance on Federal Street. “I will never be a professional athlete, but...
As Post-Gazette employee representatives consider a strike, analysts say strategy can be dicey
A strike is “in the arsenal” for newspapers to use in labor negotiations, said Rick Edmonds, a media business analyst for the Poynter Institute. But it’s “sort of the atomic bomb,” he said. Edmonds, referring to a potential strike at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, said these work stoppages once were commonplace...
Horses welcome — but not people, really — to horse show at North Park
Horses are encouraged — people, not so much — to attend the North Allegheny Horsemen’s Association Horse Show at North Park this Sunday. It’s one of the rare public events that Allegheny County Parks has approved during covid-19 pandemic regulations. The Allegheny County Health Department’s limit of 50 people to...
Allegheny County assistant district attorney dies after battle with covid-19
An Allegheny County prosecutor who believed he had contracted covid-19 while working at the courthouse in late June has died. Russ Broman, 65, of Upper St. Clair had been hospitalized since July and on a ventilator for the last several days. He died Tuesday, according to Mike Manko, a spokesman...
$5M digital innovation lab to be built on site of New Kensington community garden
A community garden once heralded as among the first efforts to revitalize New Kensington’s downtown will make way for a building that will bring digital tools to the area’s businesses, industries, entrepreneurs and students. Construction of the $5 million digital innovation lab is expected to start this fall at the...
Pizza party held to mark 1918 ‘pandemic’ baby’s 102nd birthdayVideo
Mary Cassesse’s family never really spoke about the worldwide Spanish Flu outbreak that claimed the lives of an estimated 50 million people the year she was born. But learning later in life about the events that gripped the world in 1918 made her realize how lucky she was to have...
St. Clair Social gastropub opens at old Sharp Edge spot in Friendship
Friendship has a new neighborhood bar. St. Clair Social gastropub is open on South St. Clair Street in the former location of Sharp Edge, a pioneering craft beer venue that closed in 2018 after nearly three decades. SYN Bar & Taqueria + Pizzeria later operated in the space but closed...
Sunny days bring uptick in air pollution to Southwestern Pa.Video
There’s a downside to a hot, sunny summer in Southwestern Pennsylvania: higher levels of ozone air pollution, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The region’s Air Quality Index has reached Code Orange four days this year, including Sunday and Monday. The average for an entire year is 3...
Community college leaders tout cost advantages as 4-year schools go online
As families weigh the rapidly evolving landscape at colleges across the state, officials at Pennsylvania’s 14 community colleges say they are ready to accommodate students faced with last-minute decisions about the fall semester. “We estimate a student could save as much as $20,000 on the cost of an education if...
‘Art Neighbors’ lend their talents to Greensburg Art Center show
Many hands make light work, and they also can make beautiful art — as illustrated by the upcoming “Art Neighbors” exhibition at Greensburg Art Center. Now in its second year, the show features work by artists who are members of either, or both, the Greensburg and Latrobe art centers. The...
Lawsuit seeks to ensure all mail-in ballots are counted
A federal lawsuit aims to ensure that legitimate ballots don’t get tossed out because of bad penmanship as record-high numbers of Pennsylvanians opt to vote by mail in the November presidential election. The suit seeks to force election officials in Allegheny County and statewide to implement changes that give voters...
Bill Mazeroski goes to bat for New Stanton’s Poulich Pit BBQ sauceVideo
Sitting on his neighbor’s porch having a drink, Angelo Poulich talked about marketing his barbecue sauce. His neighbor asked if there was anything he could do, such as use his photo or name to help promote the product. “I almost spit out my whiskey when he said that,” said Poulich,...
Here are some tips for planting and growing crops in a fall garden
Tamara O’Brien has always planted a fall garden. She sows various types of greens, cucumbers and heirloom squashes much later into the summer than less-seasoned gardeners might dare and harvests all the way through October. Planting a fall plot is a strategy that lengthens the growing season and increases the...
Civilian marksmanship program promotes gun safety, produces skilled shootersVideo
On a cool Sunday morning, the sun is burning the fog off Skellytown Road in North Huntingdon, and the dull crack of distant gunfire is the only thing interrupting the chatter of birds. The shooting is coming from the White Oak Rod & Gun Club, where a small group gathered...
