Sen. Bob Casey introduces bill to examine social media’s potential role in rising hate crimes
The number of hate crimes in the U.S. increased annually from 2015 to 2017, according to the latest federal data available. And now a new bicameral bill has been introduced to assess the impact social media has potentially had on the rise in hate crimes. U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Scranton)and U.S. Rep. José E. Serrano (D-New…
Pittsburgh is one of the most gentrified cities in the U.S.
According to a new study from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, Pittsburgh is the eighth most gentrified city in America. With 20 percent of its eligible census tracts being gentrified between 2000-2013, Pittsburgh was more gentrified than cities like San Francisco, Austin, and Denver. Gentrification is when redevelopment brings in more affluent residents, typically at…
Pittsburgh Grooveline: April 4-10
Each week, the City Paper compiles a list of Pittsburgh dance parties for you and your crew to bust loose to the best bangers, EDM, pop hits, and more. (All events are 21 and over unless otherwise stated.) Thu., April 4 Radiate at Up There (upstairs at There Ultra Lounge). 9 p.m.-12 a.m. 931 Liberty…
How Democrat Pam Iovino flipped a Pittsburgh area state senate district
Democrat Pam Iovino was elected on April 2 during a special election for Pennsylvania’s 37th state senate district. She flipped a seat in an area that President Donald Trump won by 6 points and defeated Republican D. Raja by a margin of 52-48 percent. District 37 includes Western and Southern Allegheny County, as well as…
‘It’s all Bigfoot, all the time for some of these people’
After 34 years investigating paranormal activity, Brian Seech claims he can always spot when people are withholding a good story. He cites an experience he had with audience members during a speaking gig at a Bigfoot conference in Fayette County. “I said, ‘How many here have claimed to see a Bigfoot?’ About four or five…
On feminism and boob jobs
I have a breast augmentation surgery scheduled for next month. If previous behavior is any indication of the future, I will likely bump the procedure to November or December. I put the deposit down nearly two years ago and keep shifting the date. The reason for my indecisiveness is complicated. I am 41 now, and…
Amy Schumer tries to relate in stand-up special Growing – doesn’t
In her 2019 Netflix stand-up special, Growing, Amy Schumer would like her fans and enemies to know that she’s different now, that she’s married and pregnant, but also that she’s exactly the same. She’s done with her wild partying days, yet still relishing in the grossness of being alive. Schumer joins comedian Ali Wong, who…
Comic series Cisco Kid vs. Donald Trump pits a Western icon against the president
In the comic art series Cisco Kid vs. Donald Trump, the iconic Wild West hero tackles the most inadequate and appalling aspects of the current presidency. From April 5-May 3, the Irma Freeman Center for Imagination will host an exhibit of the series by artist Kosmo Vinyl. Vinyl started the series — which he calls…
Pa. House Speaker Mike Turzai compares pro-abortion rights advocates to Nazis
On March 28, during a keynote address at an anti-abortion event in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania House Speaker Mike Turzai (R-Marshall) compared pro-abortion rights advocates to the “Nazi regime.” “What is allowable as a human being? Oh, please tell us, far left. Since you seem to have a judgment on this,” said Turzai, in reference to abortion advocates…
Lynn Cullen Live – 4/2/19
Video Archive Telemarketers, customer service, and the never ending fire alarm test are the topics of discussion Lynn and Susan are starting off with today. They are also talking about a St. Louis radio host Don Marsh, who quit his job after a complaint that he told a guest she looked great. Both Lynn and…
Winds of Change
Jeff Verszyla is in the running for Best Meteorologist in Pittsburgh Magazine’s Best of the ‘Burgh Readers’ Poll. This is not surprising considering Verszyla has more than 20 years in broadcast meteorology, a 2014 Emmy Award for his coverage, and a loyal fan base. What is surprising is what Verszyla doesn’t have: a job with…
Talkin’ Snack: Taco Bell “sauce packet-inspired” tortilla chips
Taco Bell is a fast food restaurant known for tacos, burritos, quesadillas, and monstrous hybrids of all three. They are not typically known for commercially sold snack products, but that might be changing. In other words, there were Taco Bell tortilla chips at Rite Aid so I bought them. In March, Taco Bell launched three…
Anthrocon attendees can ride the rails with Anthrotracks
Anthrocon, a major annual convention for the furry community, won’t return to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center until July, but companies are already gearing up for the big event. The South Carolina-based boutique tour company Atlantic Rail Tours LLC announced the launch of Anthrotracks, a comprehensive travel option for East Coast furries. Timed to…
#MusicMonday Wrap-up: April 1
Every Monday, CP staff writer Jordan Snowden wraps up the weekend in local and national music news with #MusicMonday. Here’s what went down the past few days. Local Last night, livefromthecity debuted his latest album Lightwork with a listening party in Bloomfield. The 10-track album, featuring Benji., Jordan Montogomery, JM the Poet, Zende, and A’leighsha dropped at…
DIY venue 222 Ormsby is up and running again, but some old problems persist
Two years after code violations forced it to shut down, the Pittsburgh punk venue 222 Ormsby is fighting to come back. The DIY space located at 222 Ormsby Ave. in Mount Oliver was infamous along the East Coast from the mid-2000s through the mid-2010s for hosting bands like The Menzingers, Suicide Machines, and Bomb The…
Lynn Cullen Live – 4/1/19
Video Archive There is so much pain in the world, and Lynn feels she doesn’t have the constitution to handle it all. She heard that as one ages they are able to handle the terrible things happening around them better, but she feels it’s the opposite for her. She feels even worse about everything going…
Mr. Roboto Project hosts Unblurred benefit show for Antwon Rose II
The recent Antwon Rose Jr. trial, in which a former East Pittsburgh police officer was acquitted for the fatal shooting of an unarmed Black teenager, prompted protesters to take to the streets to express their outrage, disappointment, and fear. In response, people have stepped up to support demonstrators and Rose’s family. A GoFundMe was created to…
CONCERT PHOTOS: Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley bring KISS: End of the Road Tour to PPG Paints Arena
KISS brought its End of the Road tour to Pittsburgh on Saturday night, with original members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley joining Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer on stage at PPG Paints Arena. If you’re wondering if the costumed foursome still shred, well, just check out Mike Papariella’s photos from the show.
South Hills special election could be pivotal in flipping Pennsylvania’s state senate
The Pennsylvania state Senate has been in Republican control for more than 20 years. As recently as last year, the GOP had so much control, they held a super-majority that could have potentially overrode Gov. Tom Wolf’s veto. But that tide could potentially change with a local special election on April 2. Democrat Pam Iovino…
Pittsburgh City Podcast March 28: Covering last weekend’s protests
On this week’s Pittsburgh City Podcast, we’re discussing the coverage of last weekend’s protests in response to the verdict on the Antwon Rose Jr. trial, in which a former East Pittsburgh police officer was acquitted for the fatal shooting of an unarmed Black teenager. Host Alex Gordon is joined by City Paper writers Ryan Deto and…
Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week says goodbye (kind of?), big Burrito introduces Alta Via, and more food headlines from this week
Good Chroma When Good Chroma, an all-vegan bakery, was shut down in October, owner Tyler Czuczman stayed positive. “This is not the end of Good Chroma,” the bakery posted on social media. And he was right: Earlier this week, Good Chroma announced plans to open a brick-and-mortar shop, in either Bloomfield or East Liberty, according…
Lynn Cullen Live – 3/29/19
Video Archive Lynn doesn’t have anything planned to talk about today. She’s going to see where the show takes her. So far she has spoken about watching Jordan Peele’s new movie Us, the posthumously released book The Matriarch: Barbara Bush and the Making of the American Dynasty, and the joy she received from planting one…
New campaign calls for long-term solutions to Clairton Coke Works’ pollution
U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works has been a source of intense air and water pollution in the Mon Valley for decades. Now, advocacy group PennFuture is looking to force U.S. Steel to make some long-term changes with a new campaign. Over the past year, the company has been met with a series of enforcement orders…
Kelly Strayhorn Theater explores Black trauma with Fugitive Trajectories film showcase
In 2013, the Black Radical Imagination series was founded as a way to bring daring new visual media by and about Black people to cities throughout the world. Created by Los Angeles-based curator Erin Christovale and filmmaker Amir George, the series uses the aesthetics of Afrofuturism, Afro-surrealism, and magical-realism to meditate “on the various ways Black…
Lynn Cullen Live – 3/28/19
Video Archive President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Western PA, Kim Evert is joining Lynn today. They are talking about what exactly Planned Parenthood does, and the current obstacles the organization faces. Audio Only Archive Stream or download the last 5 shows on the MP3 downloads page.
Celebrate the new season of GOT by chugging a ‘red wedding’ or guzzling a ‘wildfire’ Downtown
Spoiler alert: this story contains many references to Game Of Thrones across all seasons to-date. A week past St. Patrick’s Day, Clover Bar was still glowing green. It was the bar’s last sign of the holiday, as it was stripped bare and transformed into something new. As the holiday faded, winter started to rise: a…
Lynn Cullen Live – 3/27/19
Video Archive The dropping of all charges against Jussie Smollett gave Lynn some distraction from all the other news she’s been focused on recently. It’s a very strange turn of events. She’s flummoxed, and curious what exactly happened. She is also taking a moment to mention Betsy DeVos withdrawing support to the Special Olympics from…
Fearing for your life
If you asked me now, I couldn’t tell you what I was looking for as I stared at my phone watching a live stream of the Antwon Rose verdict on Friday, March 22. I don’t know what I expected to happen, really. Regardless of the outcome, a promising young man would still be senselessly absent…
How a trip to Europe and a timely tweet jumpstarted Pitt dropout’s music career
One day, “Honey Eye” by Inner State 81 started playing on Pittsburgh City Paper’s Discover Weekly playlist on Spotify, a curated music list that recommends tracks from popular artists. A blend of soul, hip hop, and electronic music, “Honey Eye” samples Patti LaBelle’s “Love, Need and Want You.” By changing the pitch of Labelle’s voice,…
Westmoreland Museum highlights Native American art and culture with Mingled Visions: The Photographs of Edward S. Curtis and Will Wilson
Early American photography closely aligns with images of the Wild West, cowboys, outlaws, and frontier people in washed-out black-and-white or sepia tones. Just as prominent are portraits of Native Americans seated in traditional dress, staring straight into the camera or in profile. Much of the latter could be attributed to the work of Edward S.…
Anime selections from the Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival
The Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival, now in its fourth year, showcases the country’s diversity in filmmaking, from animation to cult horror to quiet dramas. This year, the festival showcases three anime films that never got a wide release in Pittsburgh and showcase the complexity and flexibility of the animation, which, depending on who you ask,…
Pitt Fest: Where, when, and who to see
Pitt Fest started as an April Fools’ joke in 2017, as a one-night Oakland basement show with nine bands. But it’s evolved into a five-venue event spanning six days and including over 45 performers. Although Pitt Fest has no affiliation with the University of Pittsburgh, its name stems from previous lineups where at least one…
Small plates and snacks shine at Fairlane
Fairlane opened with almost no warning. The Mount Lebanon restaurant, taking over the building once occupied by Block 292, announced its opening day with an Instagram post. Before landing in Pittsburgh, owners Graham Foster and Lauren Zanardelli operated a Southern-inspired food truck. The two decided to ditch the road and found homes in the kitchens…
Clothes Make … Tara Fay
Name: Tara Fay, Store manager, marketing, events and curator, Social Status Pittsburgh, @mstarafay What are you wearing? Thrifted denim, a thrifted blazer, the t-shirt is a Comme de Garçon + [Jean-Michel] Basquiat collab, and Fear of God Skylon Nikes. Tell me what you liked about the blazer. I was looking for a practical blazer that…
Bricolage Production Company kicks off its 11th year of its Midnight Radio series with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
“I think that’s going to sound really nice and disgusting.” It’s Friday night in Downtown Pittsburgh, and Bricolage artistic director/founder Jeffrey Carpenter is directing a rehearsal of the company’s upcoming production of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The cast and crew are trying to figure out how to create the sound of the Tin Woodsman’s…
Teledildo or teledildon’t?
Last week, Kyle Machulis, the world’s leading authority in open-source teledildonics, traveled to Pittsburgh to spend a week as a resident artist at Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for Creative Inquiry. For many, teledildonics may be an entirely foreign concept, yet engineers, software developers, and techies have been designing them for years. In fact, the term…
Strawberry Lemonade and Natural Light: What could go wrong?
Standing in Pistella Beer Distributors on Penn Avenue, even looking at the case of Strawberry Lemonade Natural Light (aka “Naturdays”) made my stomach uneasy. The novelty of a fruit-flavored version of the college-beer staple was intriguing until the case was nearby. But curiosity was stronger than my nausea, and a case of Naturdays was brought…
Backstage with Kahmeela Adams-Friedson at the Office of Public Art
Name: Kahmeela Adams-Friedson, Swisshelm Park Work: Program Coordinator, Office of Public Art What happens in your office? We’re advocates and agents, connecting artists with organizations and communities that want to create some form of public art. Most people automatically just think of murals. We do a lot more. Like what? We’re going step-by-step, uniting those…
Min Jin Lee’s critically-acclaimed novel Pachinko tells a sweeping multi-generational story of immigrant struggle writ small
The title of Min Jin Lee’s most recent novel might seem at odds with the story’s epic sweep. Pachinko is a pinball-like gambling game that has been popular for decades among Korean expatriates in Japan. In contrast, Lee’s novel Pachinko (2017, Grand Central) takes place over a century, telling a multi-generational story of the immigrant struggle…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Kermit the Frog from Sesame Street is the world’s most famous puppet. He has recorded songs, starred in films and TV shows, and written an autobiography. His image has appeared on postage stamps and he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Kermit’s beginnings were humble, however. When his…
