The dead of winter is a good time to fire up the creative juices. And for filmmakers and aspiring filmmakers, there's two things of interest this week.

The Steeltown Entertainment Project's Film Factory is still accepting entries for its short script competition. Finalists receive mentorship, and the eventual winner gets up to $30,000 to produce a short film in Western Pennsylvania. The winning short also premieres at the Three Rivers Film Festival.

New this year, all entrants will be assigned three other scripts to read on which they can provide feedback, which will be considered in the judging process.

Dust off your ideas and typewriters — scripts (no longer than 12 pages) are due by Fri., Jan. 31. See the Steeltown Entertainment site for complete details.

And, if you've already shot your film or video, Pittsburgh Filmmakers is looking to screen it this Friday. The slate is open to students and alumni of Filmmakers, as well as PF/PCA members. Artists can submit one film (up to 15 minutes), in the following formats: .mov, DVD, Blu-Ray. If submitting a film on 16 mm Super 8 or MiniDV, email [email protected] by Wed., Jan. 29.

Screening begins at 8:30 p.m., Fri., Jan. 31, at Melwood Screening Room, in Oakland, with the last film beginning at 11 p.m.

• Photo by Alex Zimmerman
• Heated bus stop at Fifth and Ross

As if their battle with UPMC weren't hard enough, Highmark officially announced today a war against another major Pittsburgh institution: unbearably cold bus stops.

But installing "overhead heat lamps" at four bus stops — three Downtown, one on the North Side — isn't just an effort to heat the outdoors; it's an attempt to earn a little name recognition.

"We knew the cold months are coming," says Highmark spokesman Doug Braunsdorf. "It was certainly a way to get our name out."

The lamps are activated by a button at the stops, which on a recent frigid evening at Fifth and Ross, seemed to elicit a Pavlovian response (the company has not ruled out some sort of cooling apparatus in the summer months).

“These warming stations may be novel and something for people to talk about, but more importantly they show our commitment to the health and well-being of people in Pittsburgh," says Highmark executive Steve Nelson, according to a press release. "It may be a small gesture, but it shows that we care."

One can only hope UPMC responds with curbside espresso bars.

The heaters can be found at the following stops:

*Boulevard of the Allies and Stanwix Street

*Liberty Avenue and Ninth Street

*Fifth Avenue and Ross Street

*Reedsdale Street and Boyce Street

• Photo courtesy of Kate Magoc
• PIxies at Carnegie Music Hall, Oakland

Over the course of the past year, the Pixies went from Kim Deal to Kim Shattuck, but then pretty quickly replaced the Kim trend with Paz Lenchantin, formerly of A Perfect Circle, among other projects. Some die-hard Pixies fans got their panties in a bunch over the loss of the OG Kim and then the band went and replaced her replacement anyway. So, the question now is, can the Pixies forget about Kims and move on with all the raging rockness that they had in the ’80s and ’90s? Apparently some say no. But those were likely the people who just couldn’t afford a ticket.

Those naysayers can be damned because the Pixies plus Paz actually rocked the crowd’s collective face off on Saturday night at the Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland. With a robust 27-song set and a hearty 4-song encore, Black Francis crooned and belted to a crowd of aging hipsters. Apologies if that’s not the right word for them, but what else do you call people with style, good taste in music, a few gray hairs and a penchant for craft brews?

From the opener of “Bone Machine” all the way to their passionately, well-done cover of The Jesus & Mary Chain’s “Head On,” Lenchantin proved that she belonged on stage with the guys, and the Pixies proved that they can still rock as hard as they did in ’86.

They tried to tease the crowd a bit at the end, as if they weren’t going to play an encore. Which, why wouldn’t they? — is what most everyone in the concert hall was thinking. After much continuous applause and some second and third tier stomping, the band reformed in front of the flashing light backdrop that made Carnegie Music Hall feel way more epic than it probably ever has, and they proceeded to play to their adoring fans who knew all the lyrics. They played “Wave of Mutilation” a second time (the first time it was the UK surf version, in case you were there and you know their discography that well). And then they closed, quite perfectly in fact, with “Where is My Mind?”

With the entirety of the Carnegie Music Hall on their feet, the Pixies took a bow and exited leaving no doubt that they still got it.

Folk singer John Gorka is bringing his show to Pittsburgh next Thursday, Jan. 30.

With an almost three-decade career, Gorka knows something about longevity. His style is folk with a country storytelling flare. Most of his songs are about love, but also about his experiences in life, which can be relatable for a working-class city like Pittsburgh.

If folk is your thing, check out John Gorka tonight at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts: 7:30p.m. Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. 6300 5th Ave. Pittsburgh. $28, or $12 with student ID. 412-394-3353 or http://www.caliopehouse.org

Starting next month, Auditor General Eugene DePasquale will begin an audit of the Pittsburgh Public School District. At a Jan. 27 press conference, DePasquale said the audit is meant to help the district avoid a pending financial crisis and improve academic performance.

“Our audit will provide a road map for how we fix those problems,” DePasquale said. “We have to come up with a plan.”

The district is facing a $46.3 million budget deficit in 2016. The audit will look at factors ranging from what the district spends its money on, the impact of charter schools on the district’s budget and enrollment, and even student test scores.

“This is not about casting blame for past decisions,” DePasquale said. “This is not about throwing stones.”

However, DePasquale did highlight how state funding decisions have impacted the district. He said a decrease in state funding for education and elimination of charter tuition reimbursement for Pennsylvania school districts have contributed to the district’s looming budget deficit.

“Urban education in poor districts has taken a hit in state budgets,” DePasquale said. “There is a state responsibility that in my view is not being met."

The announcement was made in collaboration with Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto. While the mayor has no direct control over the school district, he said he hopes to serve as a mediator between district administrators, the teachers union, and foundations as they are faced with difficult decisions in the coming years.

“We’re facing a couple years of uncertainty,” Peduto said. “What we need is good information to make good decisions.”

Starting this month, the rate paid to the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority for sewage treatment will go up for homes across Allegheny County.

As a result of a federal mandate from the Environmental Protection Agency, ALCOSAN is being forced to spend $2 to $5 billion to upgrade the county’s sewer infrastructure. To pay for the upgrades, the cost is being passed on to consumers in the form of rate hikes over the next four years.

While no one wants to pay more, some believe the hikes will create a financial burden for low-income families.

“ALCOSAN has role to play in ensuring the lowest income families aren’t hurt by this investment,” says Emily Alvarado, interim director of the Clean Rivers Campaign. Members of the coalition raised their concerns at a recent ALCOSAN board meeting.

• Photo by Alex Zimmerman
• Ellen McLean

The Port Authority board voted this morning to promote interim CEO Ellen McLean to be its permanent CEO.

That decision appeared to be swayed by McLean's lobbying efforts in Harrisburg, where a transit funding crisis threatened to force the authority to make yet another round of service cuts. (Those cuts were avoided after a multibillion dollar plan narrowly passed in the house, and plenty of political hi jinks.)

"She's brought a renewed sense of leadership to Harrisburg," board chairman Robert Hurley said.

"It's a historic moment," McLean said after the board's vote. "We have funding, something we haven't had. It gives you the opportunity to pull a lot of people together and have a conversation about what modern transit looks like for Allegheny County."

McLean said her top priorities are to ensure the long-term financial viability of the system and make service improvements.

"We've been cutting for so long; we know our riders are stuffed in buses at times," she said. McLean did not commit to new routes, though she didn't rule out the possibility either, saying she would have to evaluate once funds from the transit bill start flowing in July.

That means new routes wouldn't be on the table until at least September, McLean said.

• Moot Davis

The Pittsburgh debut of New Jersey-based honky tonk artist Moot Davis is going to have to wait a couple of weeks. The show scheduled for tomorrow night at the Dead Horse Cantina and Music Hall in McKees Rocks has been cancelled.

As City Paper reported in this week’s issue, Davis was beginning and ending a month-long tour to Texas and back in the area. However, Davis tells CP that the venue called and cancelled the show on Wednesday.

But not to worry, Davis will stop back in the area on his return to the Garden State with a Feb. 15 show at Moondog’s in Blawnox (378 Freeport Road).

Davis says the cancellation sent him scrambling for a replacement venue and he will now be playing at 9 p.m. tomorrow at the Purple Cow Lounge in Morgantown, WV.

What would Hazelwood’s 178-acre brown field look like if it were developed by teenage students from one of Pittsburgh’s private schools?

Hazelwood’s community leaders and stakeholders got the answer when they visited Winchester Thurston on Jan. 22. As part of their class on urban research and design, three groups of senior students presented different development plans for the former steel site.

• Almono

While his brother — former Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl — decided to get out of local politics last year, state Rep. Adam Ravenstahl (D-Summer Hill) has decided to seek a third term in office.

“It has been an incredible honor to serve the residents of the 20th Legislative District and I hope to earn their support for another term,” Ravenstahl said in his announcement release (available after the jump). “I’m proud of my record of fighting for good paying jobs and more funding for local school districts. Ensuring that our children have the opportunity to receive a quality education will remain a top priority of mine.”

The new 20th District is not the same North Side-centric area that Ravenstahl first began representing in 2010. A few suburban areas were also added into the mix during redistricting including Bellevue, Avalon and parts of Ross Township.

While it’s unclear if he will see a primary challenger, Ravenstahl will see opposition in November from Bellevue resident, pastor at Emmanuel Christian Church in Brighton Heights and U.S. Air Force veteran Tom Fodi. Fodi, who PoliticsPa calls a “self-declared Libertarian-Republican, has scheduled his official campaign kick-off for Feb. 3.