Commander Rashall Brackney testifies regarding police procedures in Jordan Miles civil trial
City Paper File Photo Jordan Miles Pittsburgh police commander Rashall Brackney took the stand today in the Jordan Miles civil trial against the three police officers he says excessively assaulted and unfairly arrested him in January 2010. However, Brackney’s testimony was strictly on police procedures and policies and not on her knowledge of the officers’…
Updated: Peduto announces appeal of arbitrator’s decision to waive police residency requirement
Mayor Bill Peduto says the city has appealed an arbitrator’s ruling that allows Pittsburgh Police officers to live outside of the city. The appeal puts a hold on the arbitrator’s decision that would allow officers to live within 25 miles of the City-County Building. “For more than a century, city workers have been required to…
More on Astria Suparak and CMU’s Miller Gallery
Observers offers more insight on gallery head’s abrupt departure
Lynn Cullen Live 03/18/14
Video Archive Phone guest: Susan; Obits: Jack Kinsler, Pgh native/fixed Skylab & L’wren Scott, fashion designer; referendums; no chance for an independent in the White House; new season of DWTS; “beyond the pale” meaning; it’s OK to eat burgers & fries; gluten-free isn’t healthier; Malaysian plane still missing; sometime being a conformist isn’t the best…
County reaches deal for off-site gas extraction at Deer Lakes Park
Although it still must be approved by Allegheny County Council, County Executive Rich Fitzgerald announced late Monday that an agreement has been reached with natural gas driller Range Resources for the off-site extraction of gas located below Deer Lakes Park. “By non-surface, I mean non-surface,” Fitzgerald told reporters. “There will be no activity that occurs…
Lynn Cullen Live 03/17/14
Video Archive Guest: Joe Coohill, professor of British / Irish history at Duquesne; Malaysian plane update; don’t care about Crimea; O’bama hasn’t replaced Rooney as ambassador to Ireland yet; NRA not happy w/ White House choice for Surgeon General; gun laws in Indiana & Georgia; cyborgs to be a reality in the future; paying it…
Final Weekend for “Congregation” in Market Square
Interactive light-and-sound show is evenings-only
Lynn Cullen Live 03/14/14
Video Archive Guest: Chris Potter; Pi Day!; it’s hard to live in a world & be a stranger to it; Einstein’s birthday; Oklahoma station “accidentally” cuts to commercial during Neil deGrasse Tyson’s evolution segment; Fitzgerald, Peduto backing Tom Wolf for PA gov.; Malaysia’s missing plane similar to a Tin Tin story; Obama signing executive order…
Corbett, Peduto announce city will stay under Act 47
Photo by Alex Zimmerman Corbett (left) and Peduto at this afternoon’s press conference In a joint press conference this afternoon, Mayor Bill Peduto and Gov. Tom Corbett announced the state would continue to oversee the city’s finances under Act 47. “While Pittsburgh continues to take considerable steps in its efforts in stabilizing the city’s financial…
Children’s Festival Moves Downtown
Pittsburgh International Children’s Festival takes over 8th and Penn in May
Monitoring Pittsburgh acts at SXSW after Wednesday night’s crash
A list of Pittsburgh acts who are confirmed safe after the tragedy.
Lynn Cullen Live 03/13/14
Video Archive ) Guest: Tom Sokolowski; Malaysian plane still missing; Pope Francis tweets, asks for prayers; some calling Obama undignified for appearing on Between Two Ferns; Mother Angelica is actually Rita Rizzo; “bossy” used mainly for women, replacing the word “bitch;” women are their own worst enemies; Callers: Clarence, Canonsburg / Roger, Bellevue / PJ,…
GIF Contest Taking Submissions Until Friday
Attention GIF-makers — now’s your chance to shine
“Staycation” package back and expanded
“PittsburghPass” now offers singles package
Pittsburgh Savoyards’ Utopia Limited
UTOPIA LIMITED continues through Sun., March 16. Pittsburgh Savoyards at the Carnegie Library and Music Hall, 300 Beechwood Ave., Carnegie. $12-25. 412-734-8476> or tickets@pittsburgh savoyards.org The Pittsburgh Savoyards brings its season to a close with a colorful — and long-delayed — Pittsburgh premiere. The rarely seen Utopia Limited or The Flowers of Progress was the…
In a Jam
This might come as little consolation if you were stuck on the Veteran’s Bridge during last Monday’s morning rush hour, or if you were stranded Downtown waiting for a bus. But when a March 3 protest at UPMC’s headquarters effectively shut down Grant Street, demonstrators weren’t just obstructing traffic. They were also giving Mayor Bill…
Lynn Cullen Live 03/12/14
Video Archive Obama on Between Two Ferns; family trapped in room, hiding from 22 lb. cat; mummified woman found in Michigan, dead in her car for 5 years; missing Malaysia plane & conspiracy theories to follow; 1956 plane crashed into Mon River, never found; building collapse in East Harlem, NYC; Obit: William Pogue, pilot of…
Savage Love
I have a terminal disease and don’t have more than five or six years left. I haven’t told my wife, which brings me to my problem. We’d lived together for seven years when she cheated on me the first time. We worked things out, but continued to live separately. Then I cheated on her. We…
An interactive exhibit dazzles
PLUME continues through April 20. Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, 6300 Fifth Ave., Shadyside. 412-361-0873 orpittsburgh arts.org You hear Plume, Ian Brill’s solo exhibit at Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, long before you see it. There’s a frequency as you enter the building; almost from the moment you step into the gallery you feel a…
Fair (3)
It’s hard to find feather roach clips. There are no more square mirrors of AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Ratt. Spidora has legs made of Christmas lights. I’ve stood in front of mirrors to see my lingerie. I’ve fallen asleep waiting. What did I look like to the girl he roped into befriending me? Pre-web cams, she…
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s 3 x 3
>PITTSBURGH BALLET THEATRE performs 3 X 3 through Sun., March 16. August Wilson Center, 980 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $25.75-74.75. 412-456-6666 or pbt.org A world premiere, a company premiere and an old favorite combined to make Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s 3 X 3 program at the August Wilson Center this past Sunday a triumph. The program, which…
Short List: March 12 – 19
FREE EVENT: Sun., March 16 — Talk When approached by the police, many people comply with whatever is asked of them — not knowing that, depending on the request, they have the right to refuse. It’s this “acquiescence” that Pulitzer Prize-winning author and former New York Times reporter David K. Shipler hopes to combat with…
Tim’s Vermeer
Tim’s Vermeer Directed by: Teller Starts: Fri., March 14. Regent Square At the outset of the film, Tim Jenison announces: “I’m going to try to paint a Vermeer. … It will be pretty remarkable if I can, because I’m not a painter.” Tim’s Vermeer is a Penn & Teller documentary — Penn Jillette produced and…
La Palapa
La Palapa 1925 E. Carson St., South Side. 412-586-7015 or 412-586-4943 Hours: Sun. and Tue.-Thu. 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Prices: Appetizers, soups and salads $5-10; entrees $11-25 Liquor: BYOB One thing we frequently hear from people who come to Pittsburgh from the West or the Southwest is that “There’s no good Mexican…
Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil le Clercq
Nancy Buirski’s bio-doc Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil le Clercq opens with grainy, black-and-white footage of 1950s ballet star “Tanny” le Clercq dancing with Jerome Robbins in “Afternoon of a Faun,” the piece that he choreographed for her. With a spare set and simple costumes, the exquisite movements of the long-limbed, angular Tanny draws the…
Local CSA programs are open for sign-ups — and registering early is a good idea
Forget Christmas: For Pittsburgh foodies, the most wonderful time of the year is now — CSA sign-ups are upon us. In Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), consumers buy produce directly from area farmers, and pick up either at the farm or area drop-off locations. CSAs help people eat better, while conserving farmland (and farmers’ livelihoods) by…
Mr. Peabody & Sherman
It seems no bit of pop culture can be left un-updated, so here’s a big-budget, big-screen, 3-D computer-animated version of the 1960s Jay Ward cartoon from the Rocky and Bullwinkle TV show. And while Rob Minkoff’s film is well produced and fun, it does beg the question: Who is the intended audience? Aging baby boomers…
The newly opened Pizza Cono in Squirrel Hill offers pizza-in-a-cone
“Pizza Not Flat Anymore,” boasts the motto at Pizza Cono. If you didn’t have any problems with pizza being flat, say hello to Mike Rifai. The brand-new shop’s part-owner and spokesman worked in pizza joints while attending Pitt. He graduated in 1997, and became an electrical engineer. But when he heard about cone pizza in…
300: Rise of an Empire
I gave up trying to sort out the plot of this hyped-up swords-and-sandals actioner from Noam Murro, which covers events that happened before, during and after whatever happened in 2006’s 300. (This movie is like those bogus music and video re-releases that get you to pay more for a bunch of outtakes.) It doesn’t matter:…
Bartender conference gives city a chance to show off
Last week, more than 60 bartenders and liquor-brand representatives visited Pittsburgh for the United States Bartenders’ Guild (USBG) northeastern regional conference. The USBG is a national organization dedicated to empowering bartenders through workshops, mentorship and camaraderie. This year, the guild decided to host four regional conferences to help build bonds between nearby cities … and…
Irish-rock band Ceann re-forms after the tragic loss of its singer
CEANN. 3:30 p.m. Sat., March 15. Claddagh Irish Pub, Cinema Drive, South Side. $5. All ages. 412-381-4800 Also: 8 p.m. Mon., March 17. Excuses Bar and Grill, 2526 E. Carson St., South Side. $10. 412-431-4090 For more than a decade, Ceann had a reputation as the biggest Irish party band to come out of Pittsburgh.…
Timmy Bankz gets another shot at success with “Love You for the Night”
Timmy Bankz: reverbnation.comtimmybankz Timmy Bankz used to rap under the name Profit — but money was at the root of many of the troubles that faced the MC throughout his 20s. Now in his early 30s, Bankz is working to make a go of it with the help of Monroeville-based producer Van Taylor and a…
Two new groups hope to promote public-space performance
As the weather warms, two new groups, Busker Street Union and BuskPGH, hope to enrich Pittsburghers’ daily lives by facilitating a lively, high-quality street-performance scene. BuskPGH, a project of the Pittsburgh Downtown Community Development Corporation, plans to partner with the Port Authority to place performers in Downtown and North Side T stations. “We want to…
Critics’ Picks: March 12 – 18
[SOUL] + FRI., MARCH 14 Last year’s On My Mind/In My Heart, the full-length that put Boston-based soul singer Jesse Dee on the map, was a pleasant surprise. The vintage sound is natural, not forced; Dee’s swinging numbers recall Van Morrison at his jazziest. He’s a charmer live, and brings his band to Thunderbird Café…
New Releases
John McDonald Right Place, Right Time (Self-released) This is the album you might expect from a guy who’s going solo after years leading the city’s premier party/cover band. There are steel-drum sounds and reggae-style upstroke guitar parts, but McDonald is consciously trying to declare independence from his life as the Jimmy Buffet cover guy. These…
A Robert Qualters retrospective is a summation, and a valediction, for a local icon.
ROBERT QUALTERS: A LIFE continues through April 20. Book-launch party: 6 p.m. Thu., March 13. Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, 6300 Fifth Ave., Shadyside. 412-361-0873 or pittsburgharts.org Robert Qualters was born in 1934 and grew up in Clairton. Drawn to painting, he studied at Carnegie Tech, then spent time in the Army, in Europe, before…
Brew House artists are renovating their South Side home, but not changing their mission
The South Side’s landmark Duquesne Brewery has been part of the neighborhood’s fabric for more than a century. And the Brew House Association — the collective whose members make, exhibit and promote varieties of art — has occupied the structure for more than two decades. But the South Side itself has been in constant flux…
The city’s painted “ghost signs” are featured
PALIMPSESTS opening reception: 6 p.m. Fri., March 14. Exhibit continues through May 16. Filmmakers Galleries, 477 Melwood Ave., Oakland. 412-682-4111 or pittsburgharts.org To Will Zavala, the old advertisements painted on Pittsburgh’s brick buildings were a novelty when he moved here from San Francisco, in 2003. But when he tried to discuss them with a friend,…
More than 15 years after its creation, Pittsburgh’s police review board may finally get some respect
For much of its 17-year history, the Citizen Police Review Board has been the red-headed stepchild of city government. And despite new leadership in the mayor’s office and on Pittsburgh City Council, that hasn’t changed quite yet. Mayor Bill Peduto and City Council President Bruce Kraus have not taken action on the board’s three vacancies.…
The Importance of Being Earnest, at Prime Stage
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST continues through Sun., March 16. New Hazlett Theatre, 6 Allegheny Square East, North Side. $10-20. primestage.com On the comedy landscape, Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest looms likes Mount Everest. No matter what’s in the foreground, there it is rising up, tantalizingly unassailable. Eventually every serious theater person is…
Cloudy Future
Joel and Christine Polacci live in a handsome Tudor home, on a quiet street that straddles Ben Avon’s border with Avalon. It’s got three bedrooms, a renovated kitchen complete with granite countertops and a back deck that’s perfect for entertaining. Provided, that is, your guests like watching the emissions from Neville Island’s Shenango coke works…
