Whiskey Rebellion II

County wants to fund Port Authority with drink tax, but tavern owners aren't bellying up to the bar without a fight

• by Chris Young

Horns of a Dilemma

Progressives face a tough choice this November -- the devil you know, or the one without a snowball's chance in Hell?

• by Chris Potter

Women's Groups back police domestic violence law; FOP says butt out

Local activists may be applauding council's proposed legislation to deal with concerns about city police officers charged with domestic violence, but police union officials say council's actions are out of line.

• by Melissa Meinzer

The Third Degree

Third-party candidates say their perspectives deserve airing too

• by Charlie Deitch, Melissa Meinzer and Chris Young

Etna man discovers not all employment ads are legit

Mike Wolfe thought he found his dream job in a classified ad, until he realized the company wanted to be the ones to get paid.

• by Matthew Pavelek

Brunton's Dairy Farm

Using a straw for this chocolate milk may damage your embouchure and dash any hopes for a tuba-playing career.

• by Colleen Van Tassell

Lo Bello's Fifth Avenue Spaghetti House

Those who are blessed enough to have Italian grandmothers have assured us that the clichés about always having a tray of lasagna at the ready and pinching young cheeks to a rosy sheen are all true. For the rest of us, there's Rose Lo Bello.

• by Angelique Bamberg and Jason Roth

Punk legends The Saints play 31st Street Pub

"I'm not rich enough to be a permanent tourist, or a kept woman. And I find the fact that I can travel the world playing music -- that just astonishes me."

• by Aaron Jentzen

Production Procedures Productions releases fifth annual Halloween Compilation

It's just about time to dress up like someone you're not and beg for candy -- what a lot of Pittsburgh guys and gals already do most weekend nights anyway.

• by Aaron Jentzen

Fusion guitarist Matt Hudson brings his quartet to two area venues

"We really want to make an attempt to reach people who aren't just fusion heads."

• by Manny Theiner

Local label Polar Recordings releases Folklore Vol. 1

The standout tracks are Kevin Finn's two contributions, both of which suggest an epic sweep and broader emotional significance.

• by Aaron Jentzen

Lars and the Real Girl

This is the story of a withdrawn, 27-year-old Wisconsin office drone who has a bittersweet relationship with an inflatable doll that he buys on the Internet. Really.

• by Harry Kloman

Into the Wild

This is Sean Penn's adaptation of Jon Krakauer's best-selling account of McCandless' curious odyssey -- from dropping out of suburban life to his eventual death, alone in the woods of Alaska.

• by Al Hoff

The Pittsburgh International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival

The 22nd annual festival continues with entertaining and provocative feature films, documentaries and shorts highlighting the gay, lesbian and transgendered experience.

Chihuly at Phipps bridges the gap between nature and glass art.

A spectacular 15-foot tower of cobalt and chartreuse tendrils is alive with vibration and movement, part creeping vine and part Medusan snake.

• by Lissa Brennan

A Conversation with Paul McCarthy

• by Bill O'Driscoll

Letters to the Editor: Oct 24 - 31

Feedback from our readers: Dissecting "Bodies" ... a final word on transwoman Jessi Seams

Upset Stomachs

If Pitt fans could kid themselves that the program was still relevant, they're becoming more and more disabused of that notion.

• by Jody DiPerna

This Just In: Oct 24 - 31

Highlights from the local TV news: Protect Yourself from toxic toys! ... French fries revealed!

• by Frances Sansig Monahan

Moving Past the Primary Stage

Both mayoral candidates have work to do

• by Dr. Goddess

Author Dave Eggers and Valentino Achak Deng, collaborators on the novel What Is What, visit Pittsburgh.

Eggers has said that Deng's voice was so compelling that it had to be preserved, and that at times he wasn't sure whether he was writing about Deng or helping Deng write his own book.

• by Melissa Meinzer

No Time Like the Present

A poem by Samuel Hazo

• by Dan Arp

The America Play

Maslow imaginatively stages parts of this as almost vaudevillian, or a minstrel show, with actor Garbie Dukes displaying amazing virtuosity as the narrator and Lincoln impersonator.

• by Gordon Spencer

Maria Bamford, on tour with The Comedians of Comedy, talks peer pressure, raisins and global warming.

"It seems like now people are more accepting of global warming, like, 'Let's see what the Arctic's going to be like. Let's see if we can put condos up there.'"

• by Ben Karakh

Theatre Festival in Black and White

Ade has constructed a riveting one-room epic about politics and disillusion, told in achingly human terms.

• by Ted Hoover and Bill O'Driscoll

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre takes on Don Quixote.

Kumiko is a rising star at PBT: She shot from apprentice to the second-highest rank of soloist in just four years, and is fast approaching that blend of experience, stage presence and technique that will propel her to the rank of principal.

• by Steve Sucato

Good Black Don't Crack

This routine of under-rehearsed, awkwardly staged plays is getting tiresome, if only because we expect more from Pittsburgh's oldest existing African-American company.

• by Robert Isenberg

Aristocratic Folk

As is traditional with this region's dances, the women maintain an air of aloofness while the men do all the showing off, from acrobatic flips and bravura leaps to deep-knee-bend kicks and dancing on their tip-toes.

• by Steve Sucato