Editor's Picks category, Page 415
Piano bar opens at the Waterfront in HomesteadVideo
A new brand of piano music has come to the Waterfront Shopping Center in Homestead. The shopping and dining destination has added the national dueling piano chain, The Big Bang Dueling Piano Bar. It opened Friday. A crowd gathered for opening night offering song requests from country to pop. Guests...
Animals adjust to cold weather at Pittsburgh zooVideo
Some of us do better than others in the cold weather. The same holds true for animals, whether in the wild or in captivity. “All our animals at the zoo have temperature parameters for exhibition,” Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium zookeeper Henry Kacprzyk told AccuWeather. “We have a wide variety...
Dora the Explorer from Nick Jr. Live! visits Brightside Academy in PittsburghVideo
Dora the Explorer’s latest adventure took her to Brightside Academy in Downtown Pittsburgh on Friday. The beloved Nickelodeon character is in town for Nick Jr. Live! this weekend at the Benedum Center, Downtown. She will be joining characters from PAW Patrol and Bubble Guppies for the show. The national touring...
How Prohibition shook Pittsburgh 100 years ago, and how alcohol still flowedVideo
Luigi Lamendola had one of those colorful gangster nicknames. He was known as “Big Gorilla” because he stood 5-foot-8 and weighed 224 pounds. Few called him that to his face because he was a brute and a bully. On a May evening in 1927, Lamendola came to the doorway of...
2020 Country Megaticket announced for 9 shows at S&T Bank Music Park
The 2020 Country Megaticket will offer country music fans one ticket to each of nine summer concerts at S&T Bank Music Park. The Megaticket, presented by the Burgettstown venue and Live Nation, will go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. Jan. 24 at megaticket.com. The 14th year of...
5 things to do in Westmoreland County this weekend: Jan. 17-19Video
Depending on your holiday/travel plans, this week may have been the first full work week since sometime last year. It’s not easy getting back into that full-time production mode. Luckily, the weekend looms for most of us. Get out and hear some music, get some culture, maybe even dare your...
5 things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend: Jan. 17-19
Winter is really here here. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get out of the house and do something fun this weekend. Here are some options in Pittsburgh: Jam on Winter Jam is a night of Christian music at PPG Paints Arena. The tour’s headliner is Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Crowder. His...
9 facts and figures you might not know about Prohibition
One hundred years ago, America went dry. The long-fought temperance movement to rid the United States of bars and booze finally came to fruition. The 18th Amendment banned the “manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes.” The Volstead Act provided a way to enforce it — starting...
Arnold girl, 6, aims to sell 4K boxes of Girl Scout CookiesVideo
Stella VanWhy is one determined Daisy. The 6-year-old Arnold girl told her troop co-leader she was going to sell 2,020 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies so she could pay for Girl Scout camp this summer, said Alicia Phillips, Stella’s mom. “That’s what I want to do most, because I love...
Review: Mac Miller posthumous album is heartbreakingly full
“Why does everybody need me to stay?” Mac Miller asks on the first single from his latest release. He answered his own question with the superb posthumous “Circles.” Miller’s 12-track album is heartbreakingly sublime, a portrait of a wry and honest musician acknowledging his demons but looking past them. “I’m...
Chicago-area man falls ill on plane, dies after emergency landing at Pittsburgh International
A 48-year-old man from suburban Chicago became unresponsive Wednesday afternoon while on a Southwest Airlines flight from New York to Chicago. The plane made an emergency landing at Pittsburgh International Airport shortly before 1 p.m. and the man was transported to a hospital, according to Allegheny County Airport Authority spokesman...
Muslim millennial’s site dispels stereotypes for millions
Today she travels the world, attends a red-carpet movie premiere and sits on panels with astronauts, former presidents and feminist icons. But in the years after 9/11, Amani Al-Khatahtbeh was just a New Jersey teenager, writing a blog from her bedroom. She used the blog to connect with other young...
Food Podcast: How to keep public aware of hunger as communication landscape changes
Making the public more aware of hunger in the United States is a key priority of Feeding America, the largest hunger-relief organization in the country. “Feeding America only has about 50 percent awareness in the U.S., and that’s because we changed our name about 10 years ago,” Feeding America Chief...
Harrisburg University, Nerd Street Gamers partner for new esports degreeVideo
Harrisburg University has launched a new esports degree in partnership with Nerd Street Gamers. Beginning this spring semester, students at the Pennsylvania school will be able to enroll in Harrisburg’s esports program, which will help provide with them skillsets for a career in this industry, reports Cheddar Business. Nerd Street...
Larry Jock, former Valley News Dispatch publisher, dies while hunting at 58
Standing 5 feet 7 inches tall, Larry Jock had such a big personality that he proved he didn’t need to be the tallest one in the room to command its attention, his former colleagues, friends and family recalled. “He was a smaller guy, bulky and short, but he was a...
Who wants to buy a house-bus in Pittsburgh?
One can’t help but notice this house rolling down the road that’s for sale. Pennsylvania native Andrew Weidman, 27, is visiting Pittsburgh for the winter, hoping to sell “Lucy Half-Bus.” It’s a 2003 Ford E350 converted former school bus, powered by Ford’s legendary 7.3 diesel, with 137,000 miles on the...
Game Commission honors Latrobe student for bringing help to entangled deer
A Greater Latrobe ninth-grader’s sharp eyes and caring response helped free a white-tailed deer trapped in Unity this past fall. Pennsylvania Game Commission officers surprised Parker Williams on Friday when they arrived at her school and presented her with a certificate, recognizing the initiative she took on Nov. 4 to...
UPMC, Pitt test out wireless eyeball implant in hopes of restoring lost sightVideo
A surgeon at UPMC Mercy hospital implanted a wireless chip designed to act like a small, artificial retina in the eye of an Ohio woman last week in the first trial of the technology in the United States. The treatment could offer a novel way to restore the sight of...
What’s Brewing? Collaboration beers with bands, bakeries and charities
The excitement continues with beer collaborations across the country and right here in Pennsylvania. Whether a brewery works with a band to invigorate its fan base, a local bakery to rouse your sweet tooth or a charity that is in desperate need of help, one thing is for certain —...
Winter heat having odd effect on Outer Banks wild horses
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Freakishly warm January temperatures are having a strange effect on the wild horses roaming North Carolina’s Outer Banks, prompting a warning to drivers. The notoriously independent horses are sleeping on the beaches at night — in the path of recreational vehicles. “Please be careful!” the Corolla Wild...
What really works for dry winter skin, according to dermatologists
Your skin doesn’t like winter. The combination of cold air outside and heated air inside often leads to dry, itchy, scaly skin. There’s plenty of advice on the web about what to do and plenty of heavily marketed products that claim they’ll solve this seasonal problem, often at a hefty...
Latrobe Historical Society to revisit centennial through archival film
Rock ‘n roll had its first major impact about 65 years ago, with the release of the Elvis Presley single “That’s All Right (Mama).” Also in 1954, doctors began a mass trial vaccination of children against polio and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled segregation in public schools is unconstitutional. That...
Ghost Town Trail named 2020 Trail of the Year by state conservation officials
The Ghost Town Trail that runs from Blairsville to Ebensburg has been named Pennsylvania’s 2020 Trail of the Year by the state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Built initially as a 12-mile trail in 1994, Ghost Town Trail was the first in the state constructed using transportation enhancement funding....
Foreigner, Kansas, Europe bring ‘Juke Box Heroes’ tour to BurgettstownVideo
The band Foreigner turned out hit songs including “I Want to Know What Love Is,” “Cold as Ice,” “Hot-Blooded” and “Juke Box Hero” throughout the 1970s-80s. Right alongside was Kansas, with “Dust in the Wind,” “Carry on Wayward Son” and “Point of Know Return,” and, soon, Europe with “The Final...
Tom Hanks lands Oscar nomination for role as Mister RogersVideo
Tom Hanks woke up to beautiful news Monday. His portrayal of Fred Rogers in “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” was nominated for an Academy Award for best actor in a supporting role. The movie, with some scenes filmed in Pittsburgh, also stars Matthew Rhys as Lloyd Vogel, the...
