Port Authority of Allegheny County leadership quietly shaken up, advocates ask for more transparency
In the span of two weeks, Port Authority’s CEO and board chair have announced departures with little explanation.
Pittsburghers mark International Women’s Day with strike and protests
In honor of International Women’s Day, Pittsburghers are organizing for equal pay, abortion access and more.
Listen Up! March 8
Every Wednesday, we make a Spotify playlist containing tracks from artists mentioned in the current music section. Listen in the bathtub while reading the music stories in this week’s paper for a fully immersive experience. This week’s playlist has a song called “Y’all Motherfuckers Need Jesus,” so you know it’s good.
Leona’s Ice Cream, known for its ice-cream sandwiches, now comes in pints
Packaging ice cream might sound simple enough, but there are a slew of unexpected challenges. There are strict laws about labeling; having to coordinate with the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture; and, not least, the basic challenge of keeping a frozen product frozen. Katie Heldstab, co-owner of Leona’s Ice Cream, discovered…
CAKE Comedy’s Kickstarter to perform in Pittsburgh ends Friday
CAKE Comedy turns to Kickstarter to book Pittsburgh show.
Pittsburgh candidates file election petitions for May primary
Today is the deadline to file petitions for the May primary election.
Music To Sweep To 11: The Beables
After three months of sweeping in silence, the best blog in the world is back.
Lynn Cullen Live 03/07/17
Video Archive You can listen to the audio archive here. Pope on panhandling. Trump is disrupting air traffic. Kayla, the barbie, may be spying on you. Audio Only Archive Listen to the Audio Archives on with our new Apple and Android Apps or the computer audio player.
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey holds another last-minute social-media event
The Republican Pennsylvania Senator said he doesn’t when he will hold an in-person town hall.
MP3 Monday: SOFT GIRL
MP3 Monday. The only music site in the world.
Lynn Cullen Live 03/06/17
Video Archive You can listen to the audio archive here. Lynn returns to a new studio and a continually unraveling government. Audio Only Archive Listen to the Audio Archives on with our new Apple and Android Apps or the computer audio player.
Not Its First Rodeo
Tucked away in Allison Park just outside the city, Goat Rodeo Farm and Dairy and its herd of 100 goats are preparing for spring and the arrival of many newborn kids. The baby goats are essential to the farm’s main operation — making goat cheese. Today, we’ll visit the farm and learn about how its…
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto releases first polling figures for 2017 mayoral race
Peduto is holding a commanding 57 percent lead, according to mayoral race’s first poll.
Three more performances of ‘The Beauty Queen of Leenane’ at Pittsburgh’s August Wilson Theater
Martin McDonagh’s Tony-winning play staged by acclaimed Irish troupe
Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-André Fleury deserves a chance to start somewhere else
By the time you read this, Pittsburgh Penguins goalkeeper Marc-André Fleury might no longer be with the team he’s been a part of since 2003. On the other hand, by the time you read this, Fleury might still be the Penguins’ backup goalie as they prepare for a run at a second straight Stanley Cup.…
The Colombian Spot opens a storefront eatery on the South Side
When most people think about South American food, they think empanadas: the meat-, cheese- or fruit-filled hand pies that are ubiquitous on the continent. But Karen Perdomo says Colombian empanadas deserve their own category. While most empanadas are made with flour or cornmeal, Colombians use hominy for their empanada dough. Perdomo says she’s doing this…
For this UPMC surgeon, music is an important prescription for a successful procedure
Imagine you’re about to go under the knife for brain surgery. You’re given anesthesia and your eyelids start to get heavy. Right as you begin to lose consciousness, you hear the opening notes of The Beatles’ “Come Together.” Sure, it could be a dream or an anesthetic-induced hallucination. But if your doctor is David Okonkwo,…
Hardcore band Power Trip plans on staying political even as it gains more notoriety among metal fans
POWER TRIP, IRON REAGAN, PROTESTER, CONCEALED BLADE 7:30 p.m. Fri., March 3. Spirit, 242 51st St., Lawrenceville. $15. All ages. 412-586-4441 or spiritpgh.com When Power Trip toured with Anthrax and Lamb of God last year, it was, by any measure, a break for the Dallas-based thrash band. But for a group that came up in…
J. Trafford, of Suavity’s Mouthpiece, stages a concert benefiting the Trans Women of Color Collective
Trans Women of Color Collective Benefit featuring Werefolk, J. Trafford, The Childlike Empress and SOFT GIRL. 7 p.m. Sat., March 18. Venus Fly Trap (for the address, use the contact form here: venusflytrappgh.weebly.com/contact.html). $5 suggested donation A couple of weeks ago, J. Trafford tweeted his song “Good Exercise” to City Paper, describing it as “about…
Wysocki: In Pittsburgh’s college-basketball scene, women hold all the power
Last week, I delivered the state of men’s collegiate basketball in Pittsburgh. This week, we turn to the women and see how our seven local colleges performed during the 2016-17 season. At every university except for Pitt, the women’s team outperformed the unfairer sex. The only losing record was at Carlow, whose women’s team had…
Pitt’s conservative student-run publication brings a new slant to campus news
It can be hard being a conservative on a college campus. According to a 2014 Pew Research Center study, 41 percent of millennials identify as liberal compared to just 15 percent who identify as conservative. Considering that college campuses are currently dominated by millennials, it’s not always easy for conservatives to find each other and…
Savage Love
Fortyish, straight, white dude here. I have this weird (possibly misogynistic) belief that, when it comes to sex, I can’t win. Actually, I think men in general can’t win. Thoughtful, well-meaning men at least. It comes down to this: During sex, if the man doesn’t come, it’s the man’s fault, because he clearly has problems…
Arts groups mobilize to save federal funding
In December, City of Asylum/Pittsburgh received a $100,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. It was a big honor: The NEH awards only a few dozen grants annually. City of Asylum shelters writers persecuted in their home countries; the NEH funds would support the nonprofit’s literary readings and other programs promoting diversity and…
Logan
It’s hard to believe that Hugh Jackman has been playing Logan, a.k.a. Wolverine, for 17 years. But the latest installment in the X-Men franchise, Logan, directed by James Mangold, is a fitting and emotional send-off for a beloved character. The film opens with a clearly aged and physically diminished Wolverine living in a world largely…
Short List: Mar. 2-8
SPOTLIGHT: Fri., March 3 – Stage Richard Blair remembers when his father was writing 1984. In the late 1940s, George Orwell (born Eric Blair) and his young adopted son were living on the Isle of Jura, off Scotland. Orwell died in 1950, the year after publication of his classic dystopian novel about a totalitarian government…
The Necks and Battle Trance offer two different takes on experimental music
THE NECKS 7:30 p.m. Fri., March 3. First Unitarian Church, 605 Morewood Ave., Shadyside. $16-20. 412-682-0591 BATTLE TRANCE 8 p.m. Sun., March 5. City of Asylum @ Alphabet City, 40 W. North St., North Side. Free (reservations required). 412-323-0278 By pure coincidence, two groups come to town this weekend playing music that can’t be easily…
Buttermilk Fried Chicken
I started cooking when I was about 6. It was originally a way to get away from my older sister and younger brother. They always got me in trouble. When I was 8 or 9, one of my favorite cousins was going away to Penn State, and I wanted to cook fried chicken for her…
Get Out
Get Out Directed by Jordan Peele Starring Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, LilRel Howery Get Out opens with a young black man lost in the suburbs, talking to himself. He’s bemused, describing the leafy streets as a “hedge maze,” but when a car slowly rolls up, panic sets in: “Don’t do anything stupid, just keep walking.” …
A United Kingdom
In 1947, Seretse Khama (David Oyelowo), a young man from the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, in southern Africa, is studying in London. Upon his return, he will claim his seat as king of his tribe. But at a dance, he meets Ruth Williams (Rosamund Pike), a secretary. They court, marry and make plans to set…
Jabo’s Smoque House and Saloon, Bloomfield, makes a play for BBQ fans
Jabo’s Smoque House and Saloon Location: 4428 Liberty Ave., Bloomfield. 412-904-3853 Hours: Mon.-Thu. 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.- 1 a.m. Prices: $5-20 Liquor: Full bar Pittsburgh is finally learning that barbecue is about smoke, meat and sauce — in that order. For decades, local chains and mom-and-pop places alike roasted slabs of poorly butchered…
A Conversation with Roxane Gay
ROXANE GAY 7:30 p.m. Mon., March 6. Carnegie Music Hall. 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. 412-622-8866 or pittsburghlectures.org Roxane Gay is a Haitian-American author and English professor (at Purdue University) who explores feminism, race and sexual politics. Her new short-story collection, Difficult Women, depicts strong women facing challenges including abuse and addiction. Her 2014 essay collection Bad…
Pittsburgh City Paper Booze Battles: Morcilla vs. Union Standard
Each week, we order the same cocktail at two different bars for a friendly head-to-head battle. Go to the bars, taste both drinks and tell us what you like about each by tagging @pghcitypaper on Twitter or Instagram and using #CPBoozeBattles. If you want to be a part of Booze Battles, send an email to…
Critics’ Picks, March 2-8
[HIP HOP + THU., MARCH 2 If you were a fan of Wu-Tang Clan when Enter the Wu-Tang was released in 1993, there’s no doubt you connected with a member and tagged him as your favorite. For me, beside ODB — everybody loved ODB — it was GZA (even if I wasn’t exactly sure how…
Scott Smith, of East End Brewing Company, lets his baby bird fly with can distribution
After 13 years in the business, Scott Smith is ready to let his baby bird fly … straight into the can. Big Hop, East End Brewing Company’s flagship American IPA, will now be distributed through a wholesaler to bars, restaurants and beer distributors dressed in a signature acid-green can with its familiar tree-frog logo (designed…
Ragtime at Carnegie Mellon School of Drama
RAGTIME continues through Sat., March 4. Carnegie Mellon School of Drama at Phillip Chosky Theatre, CMU campus, Oakland. Sold out. cmu-drama.com Ragtime is a dawning: a new age, new life and new sounds. The anthemic 1996 musical portrays the conflicts at the turn of the 20th century between African Americans, Eastern European immigrants and upper-class…
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These films also feature women as the protagonists, but in more interesting ways than in traditional horror, which often reduces them to victims (whether or not they fight back). In “The Box,” the horror is unseen, unknowable, and is destroying an otherwise normal family: After an encounter with a man on the subway, a young…
Big Love at Point Park Conservatory
BIG LOVE continues March 9-12. Pittsburgh Playhouse, 222 Craft Ave., Oakland. $10-24. 412-392-8000 or pittsburghplayhouse.com To recast Joseph de Maistre’s famous maxim: “Every age gets the revival of Greek tragedy that it deserves.” And with Point Park Conservatory Theatre Company’s production of Charles L. Mee’s 2000 play Big Love (based on Aeschylus’s fifth-century B.C. The…
Addiction treatment can save lives, but getting patients in the door is still an issue
Twenty-four-year-old Tommee Morrow lost both her parents at a young age. She started smoking marijuana at age 12 and, along with other members of her family, later turned to heroin. “I was sad all the time and depressed, and I didn’t see having anything else in my life,” Morrow says. “Since I lost them, everything…
Korean contemporary dance company Bereishit makes its Pittsburgh debut
BEREISHIT DANCE COMPANY 8 p.m. Sat., March 4. Byham Theater, 101 Sixth St., Downtown. $10-60. 412-456-6666 or trustarts.org More known for producing top-flight classical-ballet dancers, Korea has been all but absent on the contemporary dance scene. Seoul-based Bereishit Dance Company seeks to change that. Founded in 2013 by choreographer Soon-ho Park, the company has done limited…
NHL hockey is fun outdoors, but hockey over a shark tank kicks it up a notch
I’m not sure why we like it so much, but watching NHL games played in stadiums is just stinking fun. I like that the play of the game can be affected by the weather. It was cold and windy on Feb. 26 when the Penguins beat the Philadelphia Flyers at Heinz Field. That got me…
Di Majo Norante Ramitello, Montepulciano/Aglianico blend 2012
“It’s robust and has nice acid and tannins. It’s very earth-driven initially, with bright blueberry notes and baking-spice undertones from the Aglianico. This is a great wine for someone who likes big cabernets, and wants to try Italian varietals that are new but also familiar in flavor.” Recommended by Amanda Dudzinski, bar manager at Sienna…
