Editor's Picks category, Page 410
East Carson Street construction project planned for April
A construction project along East Carson Street aimed at improving safety is scheduled to start in April. Crews are conducting preparatory work this week to get ready for the project, PennDOT announced Monday. The $16.31 million project targets a 2.5-mile stretch of East Carson Street in Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood....
John Dorfman: No one wants Chinese stocks now — and that’s why you should
Sir John Templeton, one of the greatest investors of the 20th century, famously said you should invest “at the point of maximum pessimism.” At various points in his career, he did that in the United States, Japan and New Zealand. Now, I think investors have the chance to do something...
Girl, 11, brings AR-15 to Idaho hearing on gun legislation
BOISE, Idaho — An 11-year-old girl toting a loaded AR-15 assault weapon appeared Monday with her grandfather, who is supporting legislation that would allow visitors to Idaho who can legally possess firearms to carry a concealed handgun within city limits. Charles Nielsen addressed the committee that voted to send the...
Woman, 84, sinks putt across basketball court to win new carVideo
OXFORD, Miss. — All that 84-year-old Mary Ann Wakfield needed to do to win a new car was sink a putt across the entire length of the court at the University of Mississippi’s basketball stadium. Wakfield did just that during a promotional segment at Saturday’s game between Ole Miss men’s...
Jonah Goldberg: Bernie Sanders too often sees only what he wants to see
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who did not have a great performance in Wednesday’s Democratic debate, nevertheless said something interesting. “We’re not going to throw out capitalism,” Bloomberg said. “We tried. Other countries tried that. It was called communism, and it just didn’t work.” I’m unclear on when...
Pittsburgh gas prices down as national average starts seasonal rise, analyst says
While the national average price of gasoline has gone up for the second consecutive week, prices are lower in the Pittsburgh area, according to price-tracking service GasBuddy. The national average went up 2.4 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $2.47. In the Pittsburgh area, prices came down by...
Indiana Township police dog Ares preps for retirement
Indiana Township police dog Ares is making the most of his last month on duty. The drug-sniffing dog will be the special guest at a retirement party thrown by Fairview Elementary students in Fox Chapel Area School District. Ares joined the township police department in 2010 and became an instant...
Cartoonist, writer bring back iconic comic ‘The Yellow Kid’Video
A longtime editorial cartoonist and a comics writer meet at an arts festival, admire each other’s work and strike up a friendship. No, it’s not the set-up for a punchline, but rather collaboration of like minds among two of the biggest fans of a century-old newspaper comic-strip character: The Yellow...
Case of missing children tied to doomsday beliefs, 3 deaths
HONOLULU — Family members used to describe Lori Vallow as an attentive mother who had her kids’ best interests at heart. But that was before she reportedly declared herself a god sent to prepare the world for an imminent apocalypse. Before three untimely deaths of people surrounding her. Before her...
’70s turn 50: City of Champions rises, concerts surge and steel sees last gaspVideo
At the start of the decade that gave us Watergate, Jimmy Carter and the Three Mile Island meltdown, Pittsburghers were watching The Doors at the Civic Arena, meeting a brash young quarterback named Terry Bradshaw and watching the last good years before the collapse of its defining industry. While the...
‘Impractical Joker’ Sal Vulcano pumps up packed theaters for movie’s openingVideo
Cinemark movie theaters in Monroeville, Robinson and the Pittsburgh Mills mall in Frazer were packed with patrons hoping to meet an impractical star. Sal Vulcano, one quarter of TruTV’s “Impractical Jokers,” visited the Steel City on Friday to help promote his group’s new film. “Impractical Jokers: The Movie” launched in...
Cherrie Mahan’s mysterious disappearance haunts her mother 35 years laterVideo
Janice McKinney is still looking for answers, 35 years after the disappearance of her daughter, Cherrie Mahan. The 8-year-old third-grader was last seen Feb. 22, 1985, as she got off a school bus about 100 yards from her home in Winfield Township, Butler County. McKinney struggles daily with questions that...
Showtime series ‘Rust’ holding casting call in Pittsburgh
A new Showtime series starring Jeff Daniels is holding a casting call in Pittsburgh. The open call for paid background actors will be held Sunday, March 1 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. The show, called “Rust,” is looking for extras to portray...
Fracking debate causes tremors in battleground Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG — The notion of banning fracking is dividing the Democrats running for president and increasingly dividing Democrats in the presidential battleground state of Pennsylvania, where fracking has vaulted it to the No. 2 natural gas producer behind Texas. The divide was clear, again, on the debate stage Wednesday night...
Winemaker Dennis Narcisi remembered as ‘passionate man with a soft heart’
It seemed that Dennis Narcisi never met a grape or person he didn’t like. He was not a big man physically, just five-and-a-half-feet tall weighing only 140 pounds. But his son, Randy, remembered him as a huge person. “He was just a quiet, little guy who didn’t have a mean...
Map lets you track your flush to the ALCOSAN plant
There’s an old saying about waste running downhill. In fact, that’s exactly how it gets to the wastewater treatment plant. ALCOSAN has partnered with 3 Rivers Wet Weather to map all the sewer lines in their service area. The resulting Follow the Flush interactive map allows the public to track...
Editorial: Time for Nalani Johnson Rule
Time in a child’s life ticks by fast. A baby grows and changes every day. A week can be the difference between pants that fit and pants that don’t. And an hour can be the difference between life and death. On Tuesday, cellphones across the area blared as an Amber...
East End Brewing’s cider being launched in cans and keg versions
East End Brewing is launching cans and kegs of its hard cider. Along Came A Cider is described as a semi-dry cider made from fresh apple juice from Kistaco Farms in Apollo. The brewery has made the cider since 2009 but wasn’t legally allowed to can it because of its...
Artist’s dryer lint sculptures to be displayed inside Pittsburgh laundromat
Clothes lint from dryers became the medium for artist Cheryl Capezzuti, so a pop-up art installation at a laundromat seems to be a natural progression. On Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., some of Capezzuti’s works of lint sculptures will be displayed inside the Butler St. Coin-op Laundromat in...
Coming soon: More pet camping sites at Pennsylvania state parks
The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will allow pets at more state park campsites in 2021. Dogs, cats and caged animals such as birds and hamsters will be permitted in the parks. Livestock such as horses, cows, pigs, sheep, and goats are not considered pets. Pet camping started...
Pittsburgh rap artist Harvey ‘Frzy’ Daniels aims for greatnessVideo
Harvey “Frzy” Daniels did not plan to become a rapper. When he was a kid, he wasn’t even allowed to listen to rap music. Will Smith was the exception. One day in 2003, during his senior year at the since-shuttered Career Connections Charter High School in Lawrenceville, he was unknowingly...
Why parents aren’t taking kids to the pediatrician
The Flora family no longer visits the pediatrician as often as they used to. “We used to live in our pediatrician’s office,” said Jennifer Flora, 36, a Greensburg mother of three. “I would say, in the past two years, we have finally cut out the doctor visits, outside of yearly...
Mobile cupcake business serves up happiness by the dozenVideo
Confectionery chef Amanda Dingey of Ford City is on a roll. Dingey owns and operates StudeCakers, a mobile and online custom cupcake business she opened in 2012 after leaving a corporate customer service job. “Last year, I sold over 35,000 cupcakes,” says Dingey, 45. “My cupcake flavors scream ‘fun.’ ”...
Pittsburgh area’s mild winters creating mountains of salt
Back-to-back mild winters have caused a backlog of road salt for some communities, forcing them to scramble to find space to store incoming shipments for next year. A number of communities have not used as much road salt as they thought they would, said Tom Benecki, executive director of the...
‘Dr. Betsy’ and Scooter, her paraplegic therapy cat, bring happiness to Western Pa. nursing homesVideo
Editor’s note: This is part of an occasional series that features Alle-Kiski Valley residents and the notable things that they do. Goodwill doesn’t retire easily when it comes to animals and the vulnerable. For more than more than 11 years, a now-retired veterinarian known as “Dr. Betsy” Kennon of Fawn...
