Ravenstahl refutes claims that he's against birth control

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl makes no bones about his personal beliefs. He does, however, object to a rumor about those beliefs that's been bouncing around Pittsburgh blogs and e-mail in-boxes.

• by Melissa Meinzer

Breaking Down Defense Mechanisms

Activists shed light on CMU ties to defense industry

• by Marty Levine

Political Veteran

John Soltz is leading a new chorus of Bush critics. Just don't call him anti-war.

• by Charlie Deitch

Carlisle falling behind the pack in re-election bid

Embattled councilor Twanda Carlisle was the only city council incumbent not to receive the party's support.

• by Charlie Deitch

Federal bill would insure mental-health treatment

If you break your leg, you can usually count on your health insurance to pay for the treatment. But if you have depression or another mental-health problem, you often have to foot the bills for medication and therapy yourself.

• by Violet Law

Double Wide Grill

It's one thing to meld the citified with the country-fried, but the question remained: How does the Double Wide handle roadside classics?

• by Angelique Bamberg and Jason Roth

Local rockers Life in Bed wake up to the Passed and Presents

"Back then, you weren't writing a guitar part to impress someone or showcase your talent -- you would play a riff because it fits."

• by Manny Theiner

Vinyl's hip allure reaches a new generation -- through television?

"It's the extra step to prove your worthiness."

• by Manny Theiner

Frida Hyvönen

Her raw poetry and penchant for word games situate her as a figure more bookish than folky.

• by Andy Mulkerin

Frank Bienkowski releases f'n mess

The local songwriter let the ideas for 16 songs gestate and grow over nearly 20 years.

• by Mike Shanley

Scatological noise artist Jean-Louis Costes and pals hit the Smiling Moose.

A three-act "opera pornosocial" in store, called Les Petits Oiseaux Chient ("Little Birds Shit").

• by Manny Theiner

The Pittsburgh Jewish-Israeli Film Festival

The festival offers more than 20 films from Israel, Europe and North America representing Jewish experiences from the comic to the dramatic to the inspirational.

Flannel Pajamas

Lipsky's unadorned direction gives the sensation of intimacy and natural space, yet you can sense the contrivance in every handsomely framed shot.

• by Harry Kloman

A mockumentary about a famous artist and the children he left behind highlights the next Film Kitchen.

The satiric indie feature is both a bio of the dubiously talented Happy Walter and the story of Walter IV's struggle to know the father who failed to raise any of his children, despite naming them all after himself.

• by Bill O'Driscoll

Miss Potter

Don't look for any darkness to be revealed: Miss Potter remains warm and cozy. (Capsule review)

• by Al Hoff

The Ultimate Gift

The film presents familiar routes to being a better person but seems to take an eternity to get the obvious. (Capsule review.)

• by Al Hoff

An Unreasonable Man

Ralph Nader's story is the stuff of classical drama: the hero undone by his greatest strengths, tenacity and conviction. (Capsule review)

• by Al Hoff

We take an Irishman to Tides, an exhibition of work by artists from Northern Ireland.

"It's about towers, isn't it? Maybe keeping some in and others out? Having different purposes: no more pirates in Ireland, bases without statues, that air tower without an airport ...?"

• by Sherrie Flick

If we can salvage the Convention Center, why not historic treasures?

It's the result of enormous subsidies, and it's the source of enormous troubles. Maybe we should just quit while we're behind and tear it down.

• by Charles Rosenblum

Advertising imagery sparks the photos of American Brain.

Raczka sees this work as collaboration with the media culture.

• by Sherrie Flick

Young artists drink in the Brew House's new Distillery Program.

"I saw the postcard calling for applications and I thought, 'I must be in this program,'" says Cahn.

• by Maura McAndrew

Just Checking

Don't turn back the clock on hockey's progress

• by Jody DiPerna

Filling the Bill

Peduto needs to reach out ... now.

• by Chris Potter

A Conversation With Deanna Hitchcock

If somebody tells me my cake tastes vegan, then I feel like I've failed

• by Al Hoff

Giving the Devil Its Due

Violence takes many forms

• by Dr. Goddess

This Just In: March 7 - 14

• by Frances Sansig Monahan

Letters to the Editor: March 7 - 14

Feedback from our readers.

Industrial Genius: The Working Life of Charles Michael Schwab

Like Schwab himself, Warren focuses on business details, so much so that the book's significance is best appreciated by insiders.

• by Chris Potter

Poet Terrance Hayes addresses life during wartime in How to provoke with courtesy.

"I realize that when you said 'Freedom,' you were talking about the meat we kill for, the head of the enemy leaking in the bushes, how all of it makes peace possible."

• by Bill O'Driscoll

A Little Red

Four of the five writers -- James Michael Shoberg, Michael McGovern, Joseph Lyons and Alyssa Herron -- have dirty minds.

• by Ted Hoover