Editor's Picks category, Page 434
Wash your hands, but NOT that turkey
These days, it seems like we’re constantly washing everything in sight. From hands to countertops, keyboards to kids’ toys. And with covid-19 a serious threat, it’s the best thing you can do. Except when it comes to that turkey. Yep, it’s true. Poultry doesn’t exactly seem super clean, but no...
Slippery Rock University students aim to bring ‘The Rock’ to The Rock
A Slippery Rock University student is trying to bring “The Rock” to The Rock. Samantha Kochis, 20, created an online petition on Change.org to bring movie megastar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to Slippery Rock University, also nicknamed The Rock. “This campaign started out as a joke among a few friends....
Pittsburgh approves free on-street parking through Thanksgiving weekend
Parking at meters and in city-owned metered lots will be free on Thanksgiving through Sunday, Dec. 1, according to the Pittsburgh Parking Authority. The authority’s board of directors Wednesday unanimously agreed to waive meter enforcement for Saturday, Nov. 30, a busy shopping day dubbed Small Business Saturday. Parking at meters...
Colleges struggle with soaring student demand for counseling
More college students are turning to their schools for help with anxiety, depression and other mental health problems, and many must wait weeks for treatment or find help elsewhere as campus clinics struggle to meet demand, an Associated Press review of more than three dozen public universities found. On some...
Turkey Trot serves as family tradition for Greensburg woman, family
On Thanksgiving morning, Doris Daigle can be found in one place — the intersection of Westminster Avenue and West Pittsburgh Street in Greensburg. She will be looking up the hill through her red-framed eyeglasses at a sea of runners closing in on the finish line of the city’s annual Turkey...
Cop pulls over giant banana car; gives driver $20
Getting pulled over on the highway can cost you some green. Unless your driving a yellow banana. Steve Braithwaite has been touring America in a banana-shaped convertible for two years, according to his Big Banana Car website. He was recently departing Michigan behind the wheel of his home-made fruit sculpture...
To stuff or not stuff? That is the Thanksgiving question
The idea of a juicy, stuffed turkey serving as the centerpiece to Thanksgiving feast can get just about any of us drooling. So I hate to be the bearer of bad news. But cooking your stuffing inside the bird might not be the best idea. It sure is delicious, but...
Task force recommends eliminating state grand jury reports
Pennsylvania should consider abolishing the kind of grand jury report that detailed extensive allegations of child sexual abuse among Catholic clergy, a task force of lawyers, judges and legal scholars said. In the report released last week, the result of a two-year review of the state grand jury system also...
Josh Shapiro focused on being Pa. attorney general, not what’s next
Don’t ask Josh Shapiro what’s next. There’s work to do right now. Shapiro, three years into his first term as Pennsylvania attorney general, has risen in profile since taking office. That’s due in no small part to the explosive 2018 grand jury report accusing a half-dozen Catholic dioceses across the...
Andrew Johnson, Nixon, Clinton, Trump: Duquesne’s Ken Gormley weighs in on presidential impeachmentsVideo
After traveling the country promoting his New York Times bestseller “The Death of American Virtue: Clinton v. Starr” in 2010, Ken Gormley was encouraged that Americans were on track to heal the bitter divisions that grew during the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. That optimism was misplaced, Gormley concedes. “Sadly,...
Photos: Thousands celebrate Pittsburgh’s 59th annual Light Up Night
Thousands came out Friday evening to celebrate Pittsburgh’s 59th annual Light Up Night. Sponsored by Comcast, the city’s event used to mark the unofficial start to the holiday season, kicked off with the lighting of the Holiday Tree. Light Up Night was held Downtown and brought out families from across...
AP photographer releases new images of Mister Rogers’ ‘Neighborhood’
From 1984 through 2000, I had the privilege of spending countless hours documenting a very special neighbor, Fred Rogers of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” A more kind and caring neighbor there never was or will be. Whether working behind the set with his puppets, feeding his fish, pulling on his cardigan...
Stay warm, see holiday lights at Lumaze Pittsburgh, a new indoor festivalVideo
Run through sparking icicles. Take a seat in an illuminated horse’s carriage. Walk under a tunnel of lights. Enter a castle of bright bulbs. Pose for a photo next to a gigantic glass slipper. These are a few of the experiences at Lumaze Pittsburgh, a new indoor holiday festival, which...
Week in review: Market Square fire, Pirates’ Felipe Vazquez charged, ‘A Beautiful Day’ premiereVideo
The past week in Western Pennsylvania featured a fire in Market Square, child porn charges filed against suspended Pirates’ relief pitcher Felipe Vazquez and the debut of the Mister Rogers movie. Here’s a look back at some of the top stories of the week. Hemp-drying facility reopens A hemp-drying facility...
Joanne Rogers, Pittsburgh’s ‘luckiest widow’ savors seeing, appearing in Mister Rogers movieVideo
Joanne Rogers calls herself the luckiest widow in Pittsburgh. The presence of her late husband, Fred Rogers, is everywhere. “He is just there,” she said of Mister Rogers. “I don’t have to give up all of him. And, you know, thank goodness. I’m just fortunate.” The movie “A Beautiful Day...
Utah woman fights charges after stepkids see her topless at home
SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah woman charged with a crime after her stepchildren saw her topless in her own home is fighting the case that could force her to register as a sex offender, pointing to a court ruling that overturned a topless ban in Colorado and helped fuel...
Glitch in Medicare drug plan finder could cost consumers
WASHINGTON — A glitch in Medicare’s revamped prescription plan finder can steer unwitting seniors to coverage that costs much more than they need to pay, according to people who help with sign-ups as well as program experts. Serving some 60 million Medicare recipients, the plan finder is the most commonly...
It wouldn’t be the holidays in Pittsburgh without sinkhole bus gingerbread housesVideo
This year’s Christmas is filled with visions of … buses in sinkholes. It’s not as festive as the traditional sugarplums, but the infamous sinkhole in Pittsburgh’s Downtown figures prominently in the 2019 Pittsburgh Gingerbread House Competition. The annual competition is displayed this year at the City-County Building in Downtown. This...
Where and when to shop on Black Friday in Western Pa.
Christmas season seems to start earlier and earlier every year, at least according to store displays – need some holly with your Halloween pumpkin? Still, lots of folks don’t get into the spirit until after Thanksgiving. Once the pumpkin pie is eaten, though – watch out. It’s time to go...
Mickey the macaroni penguin celebrates 35th birthday at Pittsburgh zooVideo
Mickey the macaroni penguin is doing Yankee Doodle dandy. At 35 years old, she is said to be among the oldest penguins living in captivity in the United States. She celebrated her milestone birthday at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium on Wednesday, making loud trumpet calls and pecking at...
12 Days of Christmas to cost nearly $40,000 this year, PNC calculates
Plan to spend about $40,000 on Christmas gifts this year if you’re using the 12 Days of Christmas as your shopping list. This year, PNC is reporting a total cost of $38,993.59 to buy all 12 gifts — including five golden rings, a bunch of drummers drumming and a lot...
Latrobe woman lived long enough to see her Christmas sleigh wish fulfilled
Rita Ruffner was all about Christmas, so much so that she wanted her son, a former Hollywood set designer, to make a Santa’s sleigh for her front yard. Jeffrey Michaels, 51, of Las Vegas started work on the sleigh this summer. He finished days before his mother’s 80th birthday Oct....
Hear Joy Ike’s brilliant cover of Mister Rogers’ ‘Won’t You Be My Neighbor?’Video
Yes, there has been a Mister Rogers overload these past few … years. But Pittsburgh native singer-songwriter Joy Ike’s cover of Fred Rogers’ “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” is spot on and just in time. Not to mention amazing! Armed with a baritone ukulele, Ike seemlessly bops through the iconic...
Prince Andrew to step back from public dutiesVideo
LONDON — Britain’s Prince Andrew said Wednesday he is stepping back from public duties with the queen’s permission. Andrew said it has become clear to him in recent days that his association with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has become a “major distraction” to the royal family’s work....
Former altar boys sue Pittsburgh diocese alleging years of sexual abuse
Two former altar boys have accused a priest of almost daily sexual abuse for more than three years in the 1980s, according to a 27-page lawsuit filed against the Diocese of Pittsburgh, Bishop David A. Zubik and St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in McDonald. The diocese has yet to be served...
