Thursday, April 20, 2017
CP photo by Ryan Deto
More than 200 consituents fill the Bethel Park Community Center at a town hall event without Rep. Tim Murphy.
For weeks, constituents have flooded his office with calls and protested outside his Greensburg and Mount Lebanon offices. A group of six constituents even tried to speak to him at a talk he held at Duquesne University, but Murphy cancelled that event at the last second to dodge their questions.
Tags: Tim Murphy , Mondays With Murphy , 412 Resistance , Bethel Park , PolitiCrap , Image
Writing classes in all genres are part of the business plan for Amazing Books & Records to bring a full-time bookstore to the South Side for the first time in years.
Amazing Books owner Eric Ackland has signed a lease for the Schwartz Living Market space on East Carson Street and plans to begin bookselling operations there by June 1. A coffeeshop and café are to follow, Ackland tells CP, followed by a roster of writing workshops, modeled on New York’s Gotham Writers Workshop and Boston’s Grub Street.
Ackland tells CP that he believes that the classes in his Steel Quill Writers Workshop, taught by professional writers, could very well become his business’s largest source of revenue. The workshops would cover fiction, screenplays, copywriting, technical writing, blogging and more, he says.
Meanwhile, the new 4,600-square-foot space would allow Amazing Books to display more of its inventory of used books than is possible at either of its current locations, Downtown and in Squirrel Hill. “It’s large and it’s beautiful,” he says of the new space. Ackland also envisions carrying a small selection of new books, as well as greeting cards. The other two locations will remain open for now, he says.
The building’s owner, Elisa Beck, sounds similarly enthused. The building, roughly a triple-wide storefront, formerly housed Schwartz Market, a neighborhood grocery that opened in 1938 and closed in 2011. Beck has been working to turn the spacious two-story structure into a hub for ideas to create a greener society, and renovating it into a “living building,” one that makes all its energy and processes its own stormwater and wastewater, among other qualities.
For a few years, the building housed a marketplace for vendors of healthy-living products, and more recently an artists’ co-op. The plan for Amazing Books in the space is “just really exciting,” she says, and in line with her vision. (Those interested to learn more can contact her at [email protected].)
Ackland’s expansion comes at a time when, even in the era of e-books and online book-retailers, brick-and-mortar bookshops in Pittsburgh are experiencing a rebirth. And he says that his current stores are profitable (thanks in part to online sales, which Ackland says make up “close to a third” of Amazing’s business).
However, the new store would face some challenges. The loss of bookshops on the South Side during the early 2000s probably wasn’t a coincidence: Neither the rise of bar culture nor the changing local demographic necessarily bodes well for walk-up sales, for instance. An attempted third location in Oakland “bombed,” says Ackland.
Another issue: Ackland, a devout Jew, closes his stores at sundown every Friday and all day every Saturday, the week's busiest shopping day. That scheduling is “our Achilles heel,” he acknowledges.
“It is definitely hard, but we’re really proud of it.”
But Ackland says he thinks the Carson Street location, in a high-profile, high-foot-traffic neighborhood, can work. “It’s a neighborhood that’s supported bookstores before,” he says, recalling Elljay’s (since relocated to Dormont and renamed) and the original City Books, which ran part-time hours for years before closing in 2014. (Last year, City Books reopened under new ownership on the North Side.)
Ackland adds that the Schwartz location comes with off-street parking off Carson, a rare amenity in the neighborhood. And the building comes equipped with a kitchen, ready for the cafe and other potential food service.
Ackland says he is trying to raise $25,000 to fund the move and renovations to the new space. He plans to do that largely through a new membership drive. Amazing Books memberships start at $52 and come with discount benefits.
Amazing Books owner Eric Ackland has signed a lease for the Schwartz Living Market space on East Carson Street and plans to begin bookselling operations there by June 1. A coffeeshop and café are to follow, Ackland tells CP, followed by a roster of writing workshops, modeled on New York’s Gotham Writers Workshop and Boston’s Grub Street.
Ackland tells CP that he believes that the classes in his Steel Quill Writers Workshop, taught by professional writers, could very well become his business’s largest source of revenue. The workshops would cover fiction, screenplays, copywriting, technical writing, blogging and more, he says.
Meanwhile, the new 4,600-square-foot space would allow Amazing Books to display more of its inventory of used books than is possible at either of its current locations, Downtown and in Squirrel Hill. “It’s large and it’s beautiful,” he says of the new space. Ackland also envisions carrying a small selection of new books, as well as greeting cards. The other two locations will remain open for now, he says.
The building’s owner, Elisa Beck, sounds similarly enthused. The building, roughly a triple-wide storefront, formerly housed Schwartz Market, a neighborhood grocery that opened in 1938 and closed in 2011. Beck has been working to turn the spacious two-story structure into a hub for ideas to create a greener society, and renovating it into a “living building,” one that makes all its energy and processes its own stormwater and wastewater, among other qualities.
For a few years, the building housed a marketplace for vendors of healthy-living products, and more recently an artists’ co-op. The plan for Amazing Books in the space is “just really exciting,” she says, and in line with her vision. (Those interested to learn more can contact her at [email protected].)
Ackland’s expansion comes at a time when, even in the era of e-books and online book-retailers, brick-and-mortar bookshops in Pittsburgh are experiencing a rebirth. And he says that his current stores are profitable (thanks in part to online sales, which Ackland says make up “close to a third” of Amazing’s business).
However, the new store would face some challenges. The loss of bookshops on the South Side during the early 2000s probably wasn’t a coincidence: Neither the rise of bar culture nor the changing local demographic necessarily bodes well for walk-up sales, for instance. An attempted third location in Oakland “bombed,” says Ackland.
Another issue: Ackland, a devout Jew, closes his stores at sundown every Friday and all day every Saturday, the week's busiest shopping day. That scheduling is “our Achilles heel,” he acknowledges.
“It is definitely hard, but we’re really proud of it.”
But Ackland says he thinks the Carson Street location, in a high-profile, high-foot-traffic neighborhood, can work. “It’s a neighborhood that’s supported bookstores before,” he says, recalling Elljay’s (since relocated to Dormont and renamed) and the original City Books, which ran part-time hours for years before closing in 2014. (Last year, City Books reopened under new ownership on the North Side.)
Ackland adds that the Schwartz location comes with off-street parking off Carson, a rare amenity in the neighborhood. And the building comes equipped with a kitchen, ready for the cafe and other potential food service.
Ackland says he is trying to raise $25,000 to fund the move and renovations to the new space. He plans to do that largely through a new membership drive. Amazing Books memberships start at $52 and come with discount benefits.
Tags: Amazing Books & Records , Eric Ackland , South Side , Schwartz Living Market , Image
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
CP photo by Ryan Deto
Affordable-housing advocates rally on Smithfield Street in Downtown, Pittsburgh.
Instead, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto met with Penn Plaza residents, and more than 100 of them formed a tenant council to advocate for their rights. Soon after, a deal was reached that got move-out costs for the tenants and affordable-housing commitments from the city, in turn for allowing the developers, LG, to move forward with their plans.
But things started to go south for the developers after that. A fight over the public park next to Penn Plaza went in favor of the public, and the Pittsburgh Planning Commission voted 9-0 against the developers' plans because they said LG failed to collaborate with the community. Also, the major business tenant of the proposed Penn Plaza redevelopment, Whole Foods Market, pulled out.
Now, the affordable-housing advocates who have been rallying around the Penn Plaza saga, Homes For All Pittsburgh, want the city of Pittsburgh to purchase the remaining Penn Plaza building to preserve it as affordable housing and allow the tenants to own the building, like a co-op. The building, 5600 Penn Ave., is set to be demolished soon (the other building 5704 Penn Ave. was demolished in 2016).
Today, about 20 people held a rally on Smithfield Street, Downtown, demanding that Penn Plaza be sold to the city.
Pittsburgh, through the Pittsburgh Housing Authority, actually tried to purchase Penn Plaza back in 2015, but LG declined. Helen Gerhardt, of Homes for All, believes it is time to reconsider that plan.
"The city has an obligation to provide fair and affordable housing," says Gerhardt. "We want someone to own Penn Plaza who has that obligation."
Gerhardt says that in addition to providing affordable rents for low-income residents, tenant-owned buildings can have positive effects on residents, as they tend to provide some onsite jobs and social services that can help lift residents out of poverty. She cites success on the North Side, where the Northside Coalition for Fair Housing was able to purchase scattered sites and keep them affordable and tenant-owned. Gerhardt says Homes For All will continue to call out LG until it sells the building to the city.
Gerhardt also added she is grateful that the city and Pittsburgh City Council have taken steps to address affordable-housing issues, but says substantial affordable-housing legislation must come soon. She says she has spoken with developers who are on board with inclusionary zoning requirements, where developers set aside a certain percentage of units that maintain affordability. City council is currently considering creating a Housing Opportunity Fund, which would provide $10 million a year to pay for affordable-housing projects and provide more leverage for state and federal housing grants.
Gerhardt says more and more low-income Pittsburghers are being pushed out of their neighborhoods due to rising rents and its "absolutely" time for council to act on these proposals.
Tags: Penn Plaza , Homes for All Pittsburgh , LG Realty Advisors , Pittsburgh , Image
By turns hilarious and sinister, and sometimes both at once, Collaborators is an exceptionally engaging evening of theater. Playwright John Hodge’s satiric drama imagines an almost-plausible 1930s collusion between famed writer Mikhail Bulgakov and Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.
As history and biography, the play takes us only so far. But it’s a fascinating — and highly entertaining — rumination on the relationship between politics and art and a terrifying exploration of the price of moral compromise.
In the play, a secret policeman proves oddly chipper; Bulgakov’s relationship with Stalin feels weirdly dreamlike (and might, it occurred to me, actually be a dream). The show’s aspects of madcap, absurdist humor rub shoulders with its moments of mortal danger — a mix surely informed by director Jed Allen Harris’ long experience doing political theater, as well as his work in the former Eastern Bloc nation of Bulgaria.
As history and biography, the play takes us only so far. But it’s a fascinating — and highly entertaining — rumination on the relationship between politics and art and a terrifying exploration of the price of moral compromise.
In the play, a secret policeman proves oddly chipper; Bulgakov’s relationship with Stalin feels weirdly dreamlike (and might, it occurred to me, actually be a dream). The show’s aspects of madcap, absurdist humor rub shoulders with its moments of mortal danger — a mix surely informed by director Jed Allen Harris’ long experience doing political theater, as well as his work in the former Eastern Bloc nation of Bulgaria.
Tags: Quantum Theatre , Collaborators , Program Notes , Image
Post by Jody DiPerna
Joyce Carol Oates arrived in Pittsburgh on a red-eye flight on Tuesday morning and said that walking around Mount Lebanon felt kind of surreal, as the morning after an overnight flight often does. But the cross-country travel didn’t slow the acclaimed author down last night, as she kept a full auditorium at Mount Lebanon's Mellon Middle School in thrall discussing her latest novel, A Book of American Martyrs.
The novel, set in Michigan and Ohio, is told in the voices of myriad characters. Primarily it is the story of two families: those of Dr. Augustus Voorhees, an abortion doctor who is murdered in the novel's first sentence, and Luther Dunphy, the Christian-fundamentalist assassin. Both men end up martyrs to their respective causes.
The first excerpt Oates read was from the perspective of Voorhees. Interestingly, it was a passage she edited out, explaining that it felt like a stand-alone piece, or a short story. Oates has taught creative writing since the early 1960s and she clearly brings her professorial self to bear when editing her own work.
Joyce Carol Oates arrived in Pittsburgh on a red-eye flight on Tuesday morning and said that walking around Mount Lebanon felt kind of surreal, as the morning after an overnight flight often does. But the cross-country travel didn’t slow the acclaimed author down last night, as she kept a full auditorium at Mount Lebanon's Mellon Middle School in thrall discussing her latest novel, A Book of American Martyrs.
The novel, set in Michigan and Ohio, is told in the voices of myriad characters. Primarily it is the story of two families: those of Dr. Augustus Voorhees, an abortion doctor who is murdered in the novel's first sentence, and Luther Dunphy, the Christian-fundamentalist assassin. Both men end up martyrs to their respective causes.
The first excerpt Oates read was from the perspective of Voorhees. Interestingly, it was a passage she edited out, explaining that it felt like a stand-alone piece, or a short story. Oates has taught creative writing since the early 1960s and she clearly brings her professorial self to bear when editing her own work.
Tags: Joyce Carol Oates , A Book of American Martyrs , Mount Lebanon Middle School , Program Notes , Image
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jared Diamond returns for a free talk at Point Park University.
The talk, titled "The History of Everybody for the Last 13,000 Years," will address "the root causes of societal collapse due to environmental and governmental structure concerns, and how societies ultimately choose to fail or succeed," according to a statement from Point Park.
Sounds a lot like Diamond's 2005 book Collapse — and, in a nation whose new leader seems intent on ignoring the science of climate change and rolling back other environmental protections, still alarmingly relevant.
Diamond last spoke in Pittsburgh in 2013, following publication of his book The World Until Yesterday, about what we can learn from traditional societies. Here's my interview with him previewing that talk.
Diamond's best-known book remains Guns, Germs and Steel, in which he ambitiously attempts to explain why societies evolved in different ways, and why some people over the millennia ended up conquerors and others the conquered. (It had largely to do with the native flora and fauna where their societies began.)
The author is hosted here by Point Park's Environmental Journalism program.
"Jared Diamond offers a big-picture perspective of how the environment and society are historically related," said Environmental Journalism program director Christopher Rolinson. "It gives our students an opportunity to ponder our actions — what we're doing to the planet, and how it's going to affect us in the future."
Diamond, a professor of geography at UCLA, has won numerous awards including a MacArthur "genius" grant and the National Medal of Science.
His talk begins at 7 p.m. and takes place in the University Ballroom on the second floor of Lawrence Hall, at 201 Wood St. The talk is free but it's advisable to get tickets here.
Here's the event's Facebook page.
The talk, titled "The History of Everybody for the Last 13,000 Years," will address "the root causes of societal collapse due to environmental and governmental structure concerns, and how societies ultimately choose to fail or succeed," according to a statement from Point Park.
Sounds a lot like Diamond's 2005 book Collapse — and, in a nation whose new leader seems intent on ignoring the science of climate change and rolling back other environmental protections, still alarmingly relevant.
Diamond last spoke in Pittsburgh in 2013, following publication of his book The World Until Yesterday, about what we can learn from traditional societies. Here's my interview with him previewing that talk.
Diamond's best-known book remains Guns, Germs and Steel, in which he ambitiously attempts to explain why societies evolved in different ways, and why some people over the millennia ended up conquerors and others the conquered. (It had largely to do with the native flora and fauna where their societies began.)
The author is hosted here by Point Park's Environmental Journalism program.
"Jared Diamond offers a big-picture perspective of how the environment and society are historically related," said Environmental Journalism program director Christopher Rolinson. "It gives our students an opportunity to ponder our actions — what we're doing to the planet, and how it's going to affect us in the future."
Diamond, a professor of geography at UCLA, has won numerous awards including a MacArthur "genius" grant and the National Medal of Science.
His talk begins at 7 p.m. and takes place in the University Ballroom on the second floor of Lawrence Hall, at 201 Wood St. The talk is free but it's advisable to get tickets here.
Here's the event's Facebook page.
Tags: Jared Diamond , Point Park University , Environmental Journalism program , Image
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto takes on Donald Trump instead of primary challengers in new campaign ad
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto's first television advertisement for the mayoral election isn't your typical campaign ad. Instead of taking on his opponents in the upcoming May primary election, Pittsburgh City Councilor Darlene Harris and activist Rev. John Welch, Peduto takes on U.S. President Donald Trump.
The ad that began airing today touches on subjects like economic investment and affordable housing. Peduto has been criticized by those who say the city lacks affordable housing. In the video Peduto says the city has "affordable housing in every neighborhood."
Tags: Bill Peduto , Pittsburgh , Mayor , Darlene Harris , John Welch , Donald Trump , PolitiCrap , Video , Image
Monday, April 17, 2017
Pittsburgh's mayoral race hasn't really taken off like many Pittsburghers might have thought. Initially, the entrance of Rev. John Welch, known for his progressive activism and protests against UPMC, was predicted to sway incumbent Mayor Bill Peduto to the left. And when City Councilor Darlene Harris (D-North Side) entered the race, some believed Harris, with her old-school, more conservative approach, would pull Peduto to the right. Local political observers seemed ready for challengers to tackle Peduto, or at least watch him tight-rope walk between these two sides.
Tags: Bill Peduto , Darlene Harris , John Welch , WTAE , PolitiCrap , Image
This week’s track, “God’s Morning Breath” by Molly Spear, is not for unadventurous ears. There are no lyrics, not much in terms of structure, hard to dance to (if you suck at dancing). Instead, we’re treated here to wave after wave of hypnotic looping guitars, with a tangible Indian and Middle Eastern influence. Like Sun Araw, but quieter. Stream or download “God’s Morning Breath” below.
To download, right-click here and select "save link as."
Molly Spear: "God's Morning Breath"
To download, right-click here and select "save link as."
Tags: Molly spear , DRUGS , God's Morning Breath , FFW>> , Image , Audio
Friday, April 14, 2017
On Sunday, Pittsburgh City Councilor Darlene Harris posted pictures to her Facebook page of her behind-the-scenes visit to the Shrine Circus. In one photo, Harris can be seen riding an elephant. In another, she's on a camel.
People quickly criticized Harris, citing the circus' history of animal mistreatment.
"The cruelty that elephants like this have suffered for decades is unconscionable and one by one, either the tools of the cruelty - bullhooks - or the very source of the cruelty - using wild animals like elephants in circuses - is being outlawed throughout the US," wrote Lori Sirianni on Harris' Facebook page.
And now national animal-rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is weighing in. Yesterday, PETA sent a letter to Harris about the abuses circus animals experience.
"The circus's deplorable history of hurting and exploiting animals is all in the public record," Rachel Mathews, PETA Foundation associate director of captive-animal law enforcement, said in a statement. "If Darlene Harris is the animal advocate she claims to be, she should support efforts underway in Pittsburgh to ban cruel animal acts — not condone cruelty by riding an elephant."
Harris has been an animal advocate in the past. In 2015, she sponsored legislation, which passed, prohibiting the capture and harm of wild birds; and she's successfully advocated other legislation to help protect animals over the years.
But Harris opposed legislation sponsored by City Councilor Bruce Kraus last year to prohibit performances by wild or exotic animals for public entertainment or amusement. A vote on the ordinance has never taken place. In 2015, Kraus had sponsored legislation making it illegal to use bullhooks or similar devices on elephants, but it was later withdrawn.
Read the full letter PETA sent to Harris below.
April 13, 2017
Darlene Harris
District 1 Council Member
Pittsburgh City Council
Dear Ms. Harris,
I'm writing on behalf of PETA and our more than 6.5 million members and supporters worldwide, including thousands in Pittsburgh, in response to your request for proof of abuse at the Shrine circus. Our files are bursting with reports of cruelty, animal-welfare violations, and other problems. I hope that after learning the facts, you will reconsider your support of circuses that force animals to perform and apologize for promoting the cruelty inherent in using animals for entertainment.
Traci, the elephant you rode recently, was leased from Carson & Barnes Circus, a notorious animal abuser with repeated violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA). Its laundry list of offenses includes failing to provide animals with minimum space and clean water and failing to identify, convey, or document treatment of veterinary care for several animals, including an elephant who has since died.
You may not realize that elephants do not give rides willingly. They must be violently "broken" first. Tim Frisco, Carson & Barnes' animal-care director, was videotaped viciously attacking elephants with heavy steel-tipped bullhooks and electric prods and instructing trainers to sink the bullhooks into the animals' flesh and twist them until the elephants scream in pain.
Carson & Barnes also has an alarming record of endangering the public. Last year, it was ordered to pay a $16,000 fine to settle an AWA lawsuit after three elephants became frightened, escaped from a performance, and ran amok for nearly an hour. In 2011, a federal inspector saw a circus employee exchanging money with a coworker while the elephant he was supposed to be controlling walked away with passengers in the saddle.
As you know, last year, City Council President Bruce A. Kraus introduced legislation to ban animals from being bred, caged, trained, and transported for entertainment in Pittsburgh. We urge you to consider supporting this legislation, which would spare animals so much suffering.
Sincerely,
John Di Leonardo, M.S.
Senior Campaigner, Animals in Entertainment
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
People quickly criticized Harris, citing the circus' history of animal mistreatment.
"The cruelty that elephants like this have suffered for decades is unconscionable and one by one, either the tools of the cruelty - bullhooks - or the very source of the cruelty - using wild animals like elephants in circuses - is being outlawed throughout the US," wrote Lori Sirianni on Harris' Facebook page.
And now national animal-rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is weighing in. Yesterday, PETA sent a letter to Harris about the abuses circus animals experience.
"The circus's deplorable history of hurting and exploiting animals is all in the public record," Rachel Mathews, PETA Foundation associate director of captive-animal law enforcement, said in a statement. "If Darlene Harris is the animal advocate she claims to be, she should support efforts underway in Pittsburgh to ban cruel animal acts — not condone cruelty by riding an elephant."
Harris has been an animal advocate in the past. In 2015, she sponsored legislation, which passed, prohibiting the capture and harm of wild birds; and she's successfully advocated other legislation to help protect animals over the years.
But Harris opposed legislation sponsored by City Councilor Bruce Kraus last year to prohibit performances by wild or exotic animals for public entertainment or amusement. A vote on the ordinance has never taken place. In 2015, Kraus had sponsored legislation making it illegal to use bullhooks or similar devices on elephants, but it was later withdrawn.
Read the full letter PETA sent to Harris below.
April 13, 2017
Darlene Harris
District 1 Council Member
Pittsburgh City Council
Dear Ms. Harris,
I'm writing on behalf of PETA and our more than 6.5 million members and supporters worldwide, including thousands in Pittsburgh, in response to your request for proof of abuse at the Shrine circus. Our files are bursting with reports of cruelty, animal-welfare violations, and other problems. I hope that after learning the facts, you will reconsider your support of circuses that force animals to perform and apologize for promoting the cruelty inherent in using animals for entertainment.
Traci, the elephant you rode recently, was leased from Carson & Barnes Circus, a notorious animal abuser with repeated violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA). Its laundry list of offenses includes failing to provide animals with minimum space and clean water and failing to identify, convey, or document treatment of veterinary care for several animals, including an elephant who has since died.
You may not realize that elephants do not give rides willingly. They must be violently "broken" first. Tim Frisco, Carson & Barnes' animal-care director, was videotaped viciously attacking elephants with heavy steel-tipped bullhooks and electric prods and instructing trainers to sink the bullhooks into the animals' flesh and twist them until the elephants scream in pain.
Carson & Barnes also has an alarming record of endangering the public. Last year, it was ordered to pay a $16,000 fine to settle an AWA lawsuit after three elephants became frightened, escaped from a performance, and ran amok for nearly an hour. In 2011, a federal inspector saw a circus employee exchanging money with a coworker while the elephant he was supposed to be controlling walked away with passengers in the saddle.
As you know, last year, City Council President Bruce A. Kraus introduced legislation to ban animals from being bred, caged, trained, and transported for entertainment in Pittsburgh. We urge you to consider supporting this legislation, which would spare animals so much suffering.
Sincerely,
John Di Leonardo, M.S.
Senior Campaigner, Animals in Entertainment
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
Tags: circus , darlene harris , peta , Keeping Up With the Council , Image
