Jury hears opening statements and witness testimony on day one of Jordan Miles trial
This morning attorneys delivered their opening statements in the civil lawsuit filed by former CAPA Highschool student Jordan Miles against three Pittsburgh police officers he says unfairly arrested and excessively assaulted him in January 2010. “What this case is about, we believe, is abuse of power,” said Miles’ attorney Robert Giroux, who was first to…
Lynn Cullen Live 03/11/14
Video Archive ) Kafka: The meaning of life is that it stops; don’t watch the eagle cam after the eggs hatch if you can’t handle nature; missing Malaysian airplane; throwing up in court rooms; Ukraine/Crimea/Russia situation; people who can’t say “no;” money & happiness; brain training — does it really help memory?; Caller: Clarence, Canonsburg…
Sidra Bell Dance New York at the Kelly-Strayhorn
Internationally known troupe impresses with “garment”
Lynn Cullen Live 03/10/14
Video Archive Phone guest: David Shipler, Pulitzer Prize winner; excessive surveillance hasn’t brought us to a safer place; why civil rights activists are disappointed in Obama; violation of 4th amendment; racism has been animated, not eliminated after electing a black president; security at airports; celebrating St. Patrick’s Day early; Jordan Miles still seeking justice. Audio…
Lynn Cullen Live 03/07/14
Video Archive Guest: Chris Potter; Peduto met w/ Romoff; UPMC & labour laws; Peduto rethinking nonprofit contribution system; Jesse Venture Off the Grid; sexual assault in the military; “upskirting” is OK in Boston; frat culture is out of control; Crimea — Russia is going to take it / do we care?; Callers: Joe / Unknown.…
Ticket sales for TEDxGrandviewAve open March 10
On Mon., March 3, TEDxGrandviewAve began revealing speakers for its upcoming event in April. So far, the list features some well-known and not-so-well-known locals in various fields of expertise. “With our theme ‘Dare to Create,’ our speakers will cover a broader audience than last year,” says Kacey Wherley, founder and director of TEDxGrandviewAve. “I think…
Local blogger seeks to speed up Peduto transition process
It took one month for the 1,000-plus members of Bill Peduto’s “transition team” to compile their recommendations on reshaping city government. It’s now taken more than twice that long to post those recommendations on line. And at least one participant is a little tired of waiting, and now intends to post some of them on…
Choir’s twist on Broadway through this weekend
Three performances remain of Renaissance City Choir’s Unexpected Broadway show. Details in Program Notes.
Renaissance City Choir Presents Unexpected Broadway
Show features classic tunes, with a twist
PSO looking for a few good dogs
Q: How do you get to Carnegie Hall if you’re a dog!A: Learn to bark and stay silent on command! OK, it’s not Carnegie Hall, but if your dog is obedient and a particularly melodic barker — and, presumably, can stand to be in the middle of the din of a symphony orchestra — it…
Pittsburgh-featured video game The Last of Us the getting big screen treatment
A Pittsburgh scene from The Last of Us Last summer we all got a feeling for what post-apocalyptic Pittsburgh would be like in the Video Game “The Last of Us,” from Naughty Dog Games. For those of you without a video-game console, you are in luck because the game is being turned into a motion…
Marah at Kollar Club Saturday night
Philly-based folky rock band Marah has an interesting concept behind its new album, Marah Presents: Mountain Minstrelsy of Pennsylvania. The band discovered the book Mountain Minstrelsy of Pennsylvania, by Henry Shoemaker, and inside the book were some fragmented song lyrics that caught band members David Bielanko and Christine Smith’s eyes. The band decided to make…
Dueling feature films, documentary project in production here
“The Chair” centers on two different takes on the same source material
Burgess, Lavelle propose changes to land bank bill
Two city councilors proposed several amendments yesterday evening to a controversial bill that would give an independent board authority to manage the blighted, vacant or tax delinquent land throughout the city. The original legislation, introduced Jan. 14 by city councilor Deb Gross, has drawn criticism from community members who packed two separate city council hearings…
Lynn Cullen Live 03/06/14
Video Archive No Tom today; “ashtags” on Twitter for Ash Wednesday; Gillenbrand fighting sexual assault in the military; okay for Boston men to take photos up women’s skirts; we shouldn’t embrace ALL of America’s exceptionalism; Obit: Lee Lorch, civil rights activist; Caller: Clarence, Canonsburg. Audio Only Archive
Peduto returns, in one piece, from meeting with Romoff, UPMC
As an old UPMC ad once had it, “The conversation continues.” And that was Mayor Bill Peduto’s message at a late-day press conference, called following his meeting with UPMC CEO Jeffrey Romoff and other hospital leaders. The much-anticipated meeting, which Peduto first divulged news of yesterday, took place in Romoff’s office. It lasted two hours…
Introducing: SXSC
A freelancer takes her mom to SXSW.
Environmental and Reproductive Justice Conference Opens Tomorrow
National speakers and presenters highlight sixth annual Kinks, Locks & Twists
Uniting in Protest: Criticism of UPMC has stretched beyond its own workers
Talk to UPMC workers at one of their many protests over the past few months, and they’ve likely told you they’ve been standing outside chanting because their wages are too low, their medical debt is too high and their employer won’t let them unionize. But they’re not out there chanting alone. And as large as…
Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me
“Everybody’s got a sack of rocks,” explains Broadway legend Elaine Stritch. But while the 87-year-old performer has her share of troubles, Chiemi Karasawa’s documentary portrait, Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me, makes clear that little is holding Stritch back from singing, touring, being Elaine. The film mostly follows Stritch has she prepares for a new revue show,…
Law School: Federal complaint filed against for-profit ITT Tech
Although a complaint filed last week by the Federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was aimed specifically at for-profit educator ITT Technical Institute, it may also serve as a warning shot to other for-profit education companies. The CFPB filed a complaint against ITT — which has two campuses in the Pittsburgh area — accusing the school…
In Bloom
This coming-of-age story from Nana Ekvtimshvili and Simon Gross also doubles as a look at post-Soviet Georgia, itself a country struggling to find its footing. The two teenage girls suffer the usual troubles (family, boys), but the lawlessness and violence of their homeland’s growing pains also indelibly mark their lives. A quiet but compelling drama…
A new A&E drama series Those Who Kill pits Pittsburgh police against a serial killer
The set- and shot-in-Pittsburgh crime series Those Who Kill premiered this week on A&E (Mondays, at 10 p.m.). The 10-part serial was adapted from a Danish TV show, and stars Chloe Sevigny as newish police detective Catherine Jensen, and James D’Arcy as a forensic psychologist. Episode 1 was very pilot-like, with a self-contained serial-killer story…
The Invisible Woman
Everybody knows who Charles Dickens is, but most of us know little about the writer’s life other than the popular works he left behind. Ralph Fiennes’ bio-pic, adapted from Claire Tomalin’s book, draws back the velvet curtain on one lesser-known aspect of Dickens’ life — his late-in-life affair with a young woman. The film, as…
Savage Love
Straight female with a question about something I’ve never really told anyone about, because it’s so weird and gross. After I have a bowel movement, I pull up my jeans. When I do that, the crotch seam presses on my clit as I begin to close the zipper, and I get what I can only…
Short List: March 5 – 12
SPOTLIGHT: Sat., March 8 — Dance Swiss contemporary ballet company Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève opens its five-city North American tour with its Pittsburgh debut Sat., March 8 at the Byham Theater. Presented by the Pittsburgh Dance Council, the acclaimed 52-year-old company is known for its inventiveness, world-class repertory and virtuosic dancers. Moreover, artistic…
Dijlah
Dijlah Restaurant 4130 Butler St., Lawrenceville. 412-224-2111 Hours: Tue.-Sat. 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Sun. noon-8 p.m. Prices: Appetizers $3-6; entrees $10-15 Liquor: Not permitted There tend to be tight relationships among the cuisines of the Mediterranean basin. Due to trade and climate, menus from Morocco to Lebanon vary but slightly. In the eastern Mediterranean, items like…
Jerusalem
p>National Geographic’s IMAX film Jerusalem, directed by Daniel Ferguson, gives a close-up of the city and the three major religious groups occupying its rocky terrain. We’re treated to spectacular shots of Jewish boys celebrating b’nai mitzvah; Christians tracing the steps of Jesus’ path to his crucifixion on the Via Dolorosa; and Muslims dancing and drumming,…
In Millvale, organization teaches art of cooking
Though Stephanie Davis — a cook at Eleven — “grew up in the kitchen,” many have not. For them, the Gardens of Millvale (GOM) has a few culinary classics boiled down into affordable, straightforward cooking classes. The goal? “To teach people how to grow their own food and what to do with it,” explains Denise…
The Wind Rises
“Airplanes are beautiful dreams,” says a character in Hayao Miyazaki’s anime, a loose biography of Japanese airplane-designer Jiro Horikoshi. It’s probably no coincidence that in this paean to aeronautics, everybody constantly travels by all means of earthbound transportation. Lives, after all, are spent on foot and in streetcars, and not soaring magically through the air.…
Squirrel Hill’s Independent Brewing Co. celebrates local beer
There are hundreds of jokes (and even a movie) about a lawyer walking into a bar, but in Squirrel Hill, a lawyer — two, actually — decided to walk into the bar and buy it. In the process, brothers Peter and Matt Kurzweg rebranded the recently shuttered Fanattics bar as the Independent Brewing Company. But…
Film Kitchen
Ivette Spradlin screens five of her inventive shorts, including “A Lesson in Movement” — a delightful kinesthetic montage made from vintage gymnastics, X-ray and animated anatomical footage — and “Silience,” which combines puppetry and stop-action animation with live circus-style performers like a juggler and a contortionist. The program also features two installments of Chris Lee…
The 52nd Street Market in Lawrenceville hopes to serve all residents
As a lifelong Lawrenceville resident, Deirdre Kane knows how important the former Bloomfield Market was to the local community. So when the local landmark on 52nd Street closed, it was sorely missed. “I used to frequent that market during my entire childhood,” Kane says. “I’ve had family members work there over the years. It’s important.”…
Arcade Fire’s popularity has caught up to its volume
>ARCADE FIRE with DAN DEACON, KID KOALA. 7:30 p.m. Wed., March 12. Consol Energy Center, 1001 Fifth Ave., Uptown. $39-73. All ages. 412-642-1800 or consolenergycenter.com Musically, Arcade Fire has long been a big band. Its signature is to build songs into momentous crescendos, until the sound waves themselves practically have physical mass. As the six-member group…
Lynn Cullen Live 03/05/14
Video Archive Guest: Tammy Ryan, playwright; John Kerry in Ukraine; umbrellas & parasols; University of Chicago changes their mind about “Fabulous Fab” teaching there; sexual assault in the military; Soldier’s Heart / 5th Wall event at Bricolage; Caller: Joe. Audio Only Archive
Pittsburgh SoundCloud Meetup brings together DJs and producers in real life
PITTSBURGH SOUNDCLOUD MEETUP 7 p.m. Tue., March 18. Brillobox, 4104 Penn Ave., Bloomfield. Free. More info: soundcloud.com/groups/pgh-sc-meetup It’s a Tuesday night and there are 10 people sitting upstairs at Brillobox, facing the stage in rows of foldable chairs. Elaborate lights and lasers are shooting patterns all over the room. Animated visuals play on a video…
An unprized favorite, puzzling inclusions, best dead artists and more in the Carnegie International.
2013 CARNEGIE INTERNATIONAL continues through March 16. Carnegie Museum of Art, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. 412-622-3131 or cmoa.org I never really took to the “CI13” designation for the 2013 Carnegie International”—it sounds like a vacuum cleaner or overbudget military hardware—but it’s concise and more specific than the commonly used “the International.” As the shebang approaches…
Saying goodbye to the Boss Man of Pittsburgh rock radio
When I was young, Porky Chedwick belonged to a league of what were, to me, weird old guys that my parents listened to on the radio every weekend. As a kid, the music wasn’t up my alley: When I came into my own tastes, I wanted Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Porky was a relic from…
Technology is a uniter in a new interactive art installation in Market Square
CONGREGATION continues through March 16. Dusk-10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, and dusk-midnight Fridays and Saturdays. marketsquarepublicart.com As technology develops, our everyday experiences are increasingly mediated, and many activities that used to be solitary are now interactive. While interactivity is often overplayed — giving critics good reason to lament the loss of quiet contemplation — the…
Critics’ Picks: March 5 – 11
[HIP HOP] + THU., MARCH 6 When Marcus Harris lived in Pittsburgh a few years ago, he played a few crucial roles — he was in charge of hip hop at WPTS (Pitt’s college station) and was part of the group The BnVz. He’s in New York City now and is best known as MH…
Off the Wall’s A Feminine Ending
A FEMININE ENDING continues through March 15. Off the Wall Productions. 25 W. Main St., Carnegie. $5-35. 888-718-4253 or insideoffthewall.com It’s difficult to know whether the melancholy lurking underneath Sarah Treem’s A Feminine Ending is by the author’s design, or the result of the baggage we bring to this local premiere at Off the Wall…
On the Record with Charles Rocha
THAT SUMMER EP RELEASE. 10 p.m. Sat., March 8. Club Café, 56 S. 12th St., South Side. $8. 412-431-4950 or clubcafelive.com Charles Rocha has played with a slew of bands, starting with Pittsburgh’s The Berlin Project about 15 years ago, and including Bear Cub. He now lives in Florida, where he and another former Berlin…
The History Center augments From Slavery to Freedom with new technology.
FROM SLAVERY TO FREEDOM is ongoing. Heinz History Center, 1212 Smallman St., Strip District. 412-454-6000 or heinzhistorycenter.org New additions to the Heinz History Center exhibit From Slavery to Freedom deepen our insight into what it took for an enslaved person to get free. A food display and digital safehouses are some of the latest features…
Technical Difficulties: Although on the rise nationally, career and tech programs at city schools face sagging enrollment, uncertain future
When the students in Carrick High School’s health-careers technology program get their diplomas, they won’t have to worry about what they’ll be doing after high school. “We have students that are graduating in June,” Mary Kozicky, a registered nurse who runs the program, said during a tour of the school’s facilities last month. “And I’m…
A rising-star choreographer world-premieres her latest at the Kelly-Strayhorn.
SIDRA BELL DANCE NEW YORK performs garment 8 p.m. Fri., March 7, and 8 p.m. Sat., March 8. Kelly-Strayhorn Theater, 5941 Penn Ave., East Liberty. $15-25. 412-363-3000 or kelly-strayhorn.org When choreographer Sidra Bell began work on garment during a residency at the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater last July, she thought it would take one of two directions:…
Taxing Alternative: Peduto administration rethinking nonprofit contribution system
Turn on the TV or open a newspaper, and you can barely escape the dispute between Highmark and UPMC, or the struggle of low-paid service workers clamoring for a union or better benefits. But for the fledging administration of Mayor Bill Peduto, there’s a whole other issue involving local nonprofits to resolve. With the city’s…
Non-Stop
“Not an easier job in the whole federal government than riding first-class in airplanes.” So says a voice on a radio program as this film opens, presumably carping about federal air marshals. Bill Marks (Liam Neeson) might beg to differ. He’s an air marshal, and his job sucks enough that he has to down booze…
Teacher’s Homewood arrest goes before review board
Photo by Alex Zimmerman Officer Jonathan Gromek appears at CPRB hearing A Citizen Police Review Board hearing last night served as a window into Pittsburgh officer Jonathan Gromek’s defense in a federal civil rights suit that claims he improperly arrested a teacher outside a Community Empowerment Association meeting last summer. Critics of the incident “have…
