Editor's Picks category, Page 421
Editorial: Time for Nalani Johnson Rule
Time in a child’s life ticks by fast. A baby grows and changes every day. A week can be the difference between pants that fit and pants that don’t. And an hour can be the difference between life and death. On Tuesday, cellphones across the area blared as an Amber...
East End Brewing’s cider being launched in cans and keg versions
East End Brewing is launching cans and kegs of its hard cider. Along Came A Cider is described as a semi-dry cider made from fresh apple juice from Kistaco Farms in Apollo. The brewery has made the cider since 2009 but wasn’t legally allowed to can it because of its...
Artist’s dryer lint sculptures to be displayed inside Pittsburgh laundromat
Clothes lint from dryers became the medium for artist Cheryl Capezzuti, so a pop-up art installation at a laundromat seems to be a natural progression. On Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., some of Capezzuti’s works of lint sculptures will be displayed inside the Butler St. Coin-op Laundromat in...
Coming soon: More pet camping sites at Pennsylvania state parks
The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will allow pets at more state park campsites in 2021. Dogs, cats and caged animals such as birds and hamsters will be permitted in the parks. Livestock such as horses, cows, pigs, sheep, and goats are not considered pets. Pet camping started...
Pittsburgh rap artist Harvey ‘Frzy’ Daniels aims for greatnessVideo
Harvey “Frzy” Daniels did not plan to become a rapper. When he was a kid, he wasn’t even allowed to listen to rap music. Will Smith was the exception. One day in 2003, during his senior year at the since-shuttered Career Connections Charter High School in Lawrenceville, he was unknowingly...
Why parents aren’t taking kids to the pediatrician
The Flora family no longer visits the pediatrician as often as they used to. “We used to live in our pediatrician’s office,” said Jennifer Flora, 36, a Greensburg mother of three. “I would say, in the past two years, we have finally cut out the doctor visits, outside of yearly...
Mobile cupcake business serves up happiness by the dozenVideo
Confectionery chef Amanda Dingey of Ford City is on a roll. Dingey owns and operates StudeCakers, a mobile and online custom cupcake business she opened in 2012 after leaving a corporate customer service job. “Last year, I sold over 35,000 cupcakes,” says Dingey, 45. “My cupcake flavors scream ‘fun.’ ”...
Pittsburgh area’s mild winters creating mountains of salt
Back-to-back mild winters have caused a backlog of road salt for some communities, forcing them to scramble to find space to store incoming shipments for next year. A number of communities have not used as much road salt as they thought they would, said Tom Benecki, executive director of the...
‘Dr. Betsy’ and Scooter, her paraplegic therapy cat, bring happiness to Western Pa. nursing homesVideo
Editor’s note: This is part of an occasional series that features Alle-Kiski Valley residents and the notable things that they do. Goodwill doesn’t retire easily when it comes to animals and the vulnerable. For more than more than 11 years, a now-retired veterinarian known as “Dr. Betsy” Kennon of Fawn...
1803 Hempfield school house restoredVideo
New life has been breathed into a Hempfield schoolhouse originally built in 1803. After sitting vacant for 15 years, the Middletown School House — along School House Lane — was purchased by Donna Acito in 2017. Originally planning to tear down the structure, Acito decided to restore it after learning...
Surveyors tackling resurvey of Mason-Dixon Line
A group of surveyors from Pennsylvania and Maryland starting this year plan to create a new record of what might be America’s most famous border: the Mason-Dixon Line. Members of both states’ surveyor societies will help survey the 196-mile border stretching from Delaware to the southeastern tip of Fayette County,...
Greensburg man might be the sharpest knife in the drawerVideo
Of all the words Kevin Sheftic might use to describe his life, “dull” is not one of them. After decades in the corporate world, Sheftic decided to pursue an entrepreneurial path providing services people rarely think about. In 2016, he founded Line Pro Striping, a company that paints lines on...
Penguins sign 6 Make-A-Wish children to 1-day contractsVideo
Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford signed special one-day contracts for six special children at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry on Saturday morning. Through Make-A-Wish, the six children were able to have breakfast in the locker room with Penguins players and watch practice with their families. Following practice...
Penguins’ Jason Zucker shares cute video of son learning to cheer for dad’s new teamVideo
Jason Zucker has played only one game as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins. So you’ll have to forgive his son for not being up to date. On Monday, the Penguins acquired Zucker in a trade from the Minnesota Wild. But as of Thursday night, his son Hendrix was still...
Gisele Fetterman dressed in Carnival costume creates testy debate
A bit of a storm brewed across the Keystone State earlier this week — courtesy of Twitter — after Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman tweeted a photo of his wife, Gisele, suited-and-booted (not really) in a Carnival costume. “Waiting on confirmation from our PA Historian, gonna go out on a...
U.S. scientists: Earth just had its hottest January in recorded historyVideo
Last month was the hottest January since scientists began keeping temperature records in 1880, scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Thursday. Global land and ocean temperatures exceeded all temperatures recorded in the past 141 years of data at 2.05 degrees above the 20th century average. Of the...
Most popular Valentine’s gifts in each state
OK, guys. By now you either have your Valentine’s Day gift or … well, good luck. But what presents are guys around the country buying the most? The folks at the online store All About Gifts & Baskets used sales data and a survey to customers to put together a...
Which romantic comedy is most popular in Pennsylvania?Video
One way to avoid the crowded restaurants on Valentine’s Day is to stay home, cook a meal, add a little champagne and a romantic movie. The folks at Comparitech dug into some Google Trends data and found the rom-coms that are most popular in each state. Pennsylvania’s favorite is “Silver...
Photos: Sidney Crosby teaches ‘Little Penguins’ to play hockeyVideo
Youngsters took to the ice with Penguins’ captain Sidney Crosby as he helped instruct them Wednesday during the “Little Penguins Learn to Play Hockey” program at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry. The program, in its 12th season, provides an introduction to hockey for 1,500 kids age 4-9 every year....
New Big Burrito Group restaurant coming to Lower Lawrenceville
Lower Lawrenceville will be the recipient of Big Burrito Group’s newest restaurant concept come early fall. “We’re working on the final details,” said Big Burrito Restaurant Group CEO Cary Klein. “As soon as we get zoning approval, we’ll be full-blast.” The restaurant group has leased the first floor space at...
Scientists discover mysterious outer space radio waves that repeat every 16 days
Something, somewhere, about a half-billion light-years away in space, is sending out mysterious radio signals that form a set pattern. Fast radio bursts (FRB) are rare but not unheard of, according to CNN, but they normally are emitted once by whatever the source. When they do repeat, it’s in short...
Rare painted bunting captivates birdwatchers in O’HaraVideo
One of North America’s most gorgeous birds, aglow in the outrageous color combination of red, blue and yellow-green, has showed up at a bird feeder in O’Hara Township — a rarity for Pennsylvania. About 400 bird-watchers have stopped by the O’Hara neighborhood to see the rare visitor the size of...
Golden retriever ‘Daniel’ from Ligonier Twp. captures hearts at Westminster dog show
Everybody loves a golden retriever, and everybody’s favorite golden after this week’s Westminster dog show is Ligonier Township’s very own Daniel. The 5-year-old, bred and trained by Tammy Tomlinson of Hillock Golden Retrievers, won best-in-breed and best sporting dog at the 144th annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at New...
Pope avoids question of married priests in Amazon document
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis declined Wednesday to approve the ordination of married men to address a shortage of priests in the Amazon, sidestepping a fraught issue that has dominated debate in the Catholic Church and even involved retired Pope Benedict XVI. Francis, in an eagerly awaited document, did not...
Analysis: Bernie Sanders’ narrow New Hampshire win ups pressure on moderatesVideo
WASHINGTON — For Bernie Sanders, not all victories are created equal. In 2016, Sanders carried New Hampshire by 22 points, pummeling Hillary Clinton and setting the stage for a protracted fight over the Democratic presidential nomination. On Tuesday, he won the state’s primary by less than 2 points, raising questions...
