Former police chief Harper sentenced to 18 months in prison
City Paper File Photo Nate Harper Earlier today, former Pittsburgh police chief Nate Harper was sentenced to 18 months in prison for conspiracy, theft of public funds, and tax evasion. “We’ve spoken to [Harper] and he’s extremely disappointed and distraught,” said Bob Leight, one of Harper’s attorneys. In March of last year, Harper was indicted…
Film on Activist African Hip-Hop Artist Screens Tonight
Documentary spotlights Sister Fa’s campaign against female genital mutiliation
Lynn Cullen Live 02/25/14
Video Archive Phone guest: Susan; who said it: Cartman or Ted Nugent?; Rand Paul named after Ayn; Obit: Harold Ramis, writer / actor / director; change.org petition to help man sentenced to life without parole….because of marijuana; Virginia senator thinks pregnant women are just “hosts”; someone tell Republicans that Christianity isn’t the only religion; what’s…
Hero Jr. comes to Wooley Bully’s
Hero Jr. Rock band Hero Jr. brings back the sound of ’70s rock into their music and it works. They sound a lot different than most rock bands these days. They recently released an EP called Tower 18 and the impressive part about this release is that the three tracks were recorded live in their…
The Mountain Goats play Friday night (Feb. 28) at CMU
Photo courtesy of DL Anderson The Mountain Goats Here’s one I only just now caught wind of: lo-fi-turned-regular-fi indie-folk heroes The Mountain Goats will play this Friday night at the Rangos Ballroom in the University Center at Carnegie Mellon. Local regular-fi indie-pop heroes Donora open the show, and lots of heroes of different varieties will…
Lynn Cullen Live 02/24/14
Video Archive Guest: Erin McClelland, running against Keith Rothfus for Congress in 12th District; Olympics are over & no one died; beauty found in bare trees; Obit: Alice Herz-Sommer, Holocaust survivor; fracking effects at Trax Farms; Erin McClelland campaigning for seat in Congress; easier name, easier on the eyes than Rothfus; trickle down doesn’t work;…
Lynn Cullen Live 02/21/14
Video Archive Guest: Chris Potter; man used fork lift to get candy bar from busted vending machine; Arizona wants it to be okay to discriminate if your religion says so; surfer AND gun-toting Jesus coming our way; burying the dead in Potter’s Field; history of Moses Montefiore & Montefiore hospital; average age of farmers in…
UPMC employee seeks meeting with CEO, escorted from USX building by police
About ten minutes after UPMC employee Christoria Hughes along with Revs. Rodney Lyde and Ronald Wanless asked personnel of the U.S. Steel building — where UPMC has its corporate offices — for a meeting with UPMC CEO Jeffrey Romoff, they were escorted out of the building and cited for trespassing by city police, Hughes says.…
Fact-checking tonight’s land bank hearing
At 6:00 tonight in Council Chambers, there will be a public hearing on legislation introduced by city councilor Deb Gross that would create a Pittsburgh land bank. In a nutshell, the legislation is an attempt to streamline the process by which blighted, vacant or tax delinquent land is reused. If you want a primer on…
New initiative helps women avoid poverty
Women and families in America are often one life-changing event away from poverty. After experiencing sudden unemployment, a health emergency, or the loss of a spouse, women find themselves with few resources to turn to for support. That’s one of the reasons why in 2012, 14.5 percent of American women lived in poverty, compared to…
Post-Gazette reporter named Peduto’s communications manager
A veteran Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter who has spent the bulk of his career covering politics and politicians is the new communications manager for Mayor Bill Peduto. Tim McNulty, 44, of East Allegheny has been named as Peduto’s spokesperson effective today. McNulty joined the Post-Gazette in 1996 as the paper’s Washington, D.C. correspondent. He was the…
Lynn Cullen Live 02/20/14
Video Archive Guest: Tom Sokolowski; great nursing staff @ Montefiore; Susan Sontag’s Illness as Metaphor; Canadian ice dancing couple trying to be polite about the US duo’s gold; we love Lauryn Williams!; Wall St. Journal reports that Kerry is “flat out wrong” about climate change; no irony in Madeline Gins’ obit; maintaining a sense of…
Protestors ask Sen. Toomey to support minimum wage increase
Two dozen protestors rallied outside U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey’s office in Station Square earlier this afternoon to urge the Pennsylvania Republican to support legislation that would increase the federal minimum wage. “We want to bring attention to the minimum wage,” said Jeanine Jelks-Seale. “So many of my friends and family are working hard, but they’re…
Pittsburgh Represents in James Beard Semi-Finalists List
Two Pittsburgh venues make the James Beard Foundation semi-finalists lists
MH The Verb new album
The Balloon Guide album cover Rapper MH The Verb — who was based in Pittsburgh during his college days, and was hip-hop director at WPTS-FM — last week released a new album, The Balloon Guide. He has a style that’s similar to Lupe Fiasco and has a good delivery. The Pitt grad, who now lives…
Registration Deadline for Big Drawing Symposium
Tomorrow’s your last chance to register for workshops and special events in DRAW2014, Carnegie Mellon’s four-day art symposium. Get a fuller picture in Program Notes.
Registration Deadline for Big Drawing Symposium
Sign up for workshops and special events by tomorrow
Former CPRB member tapped to lead OMI
A former member of the city’s Citizen Police Review Board will be the new head of the city’s Office of Municipal Investigations. According to a press release, Deborah Walker, 59, of Allentown, has 20 years of law enforcement experience and 10 years working in higher education. She worked at the University of Pittsburgh Police Department…
UPDATED: Port Authority says it’s a felony to assault its drivers … but there’s a catch
Photo by Alex Zimmerman Over the past few weeks, Port Authority has been not-so-subtly reminding the public not to mess with its drivers. They’ve installed orange stickers on virtually every vehicle which read: “Assault of a public transit vehicle operator is a felony. Violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” And…
Robocop
Robocop Directed by: José Padilha Starring: Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 Robocop was a pulpy mix of satire, commentary and ultra-violence in a morally ambiguous storyline that made perfect sense for the darker side of the Reagan era. Didn’t need a remake. But I had some hopes for a re-built Robocop,…
Legal fight reflects uncertainty for same-sex couples who get married out of state
Down on the first floor of the City-County Building, a handful of same-sex couples celebrated Valentine’s Day by trying to obtain a county marriage license — a public protest of Pennsylvania’s refusal to recognize gay marriage. But a somewhat different drama was playing out six floors above, far from reporters’ microphones. There, in the courtroom…
Kids for Cash
Robert May’s documentary Kids for Cash take a comprehensive look at the judicial scandal in Luzerne County that made national headlines. The media shorthand was: Juvenile-court judge Mark Ciavarella sentenced thousands of teens, often for minor infractions, while receiving kickbacks from the private jail where they were incarcerated — a.k.a. “kids for cash.” May interviews…
Cashing In
The newly resurgent Pittsburgh economy has given us a few things to complain about: $13 cocktails, tech workers acting like they own the place, and rents in certain East End neighborhoods that have gone from silly to stratospheric. And there are communities where, amidst all this plenty, people are really struggling. But economically speaking, the…
About Last Night
It’s unfair to call Steve Pink’s film a remake of the eponymous 1986 film starring Rob Lowe and Demi Moore. Both films are derived from the same source material — David Mamet’s 1974 play Sexual Perversity in Chicago — but the similarities end there. And that’s a good thing: Pink’s film, starring Kevin Hart, Michael…
Savage Love
I am a straight male, married to a woman for 25 years. Our marriage started to go sour about 14 years ago. Sex was infrequent and stultifying. Finally, I made plans to separate. When my wife got wind of these plans, she agreed to work on our relationship. Things got better. Sex got more frequent,…
Endless Love
Swallow the film’s opening scene, and I guess the rest of this romantic piffle will also make sense. The drop-dead-gorgeous, smart and well-to-do Jade (Gabriella Wilde) graduates from high school having made no friends, but on graduation day meets David (Alex Pettyfer), the dreamy son of a mechanic. They fall in love big-time (on only…
Short List: February 19 – 26
FREE EVENT: Fri., Feb. 21 — Art Five months after becoming North America’s first host of a giant rubber duck, Pittsburgh gets the same privilege for a very different sort of public art. “Congregation,” a large-scale, interactive video and sound installation, will animate nights in Market Square for three weeks starting Fri., Feb. 21. “Congregation,”…
In Secret
IN SECRET. Even though this tale takes place in 1860s Paris, I feel I have seen this exact-same plot play out in a 1940s film noir. But really, a morality tale about the perils of obsessive love befits any time. Charlie Stratton’s drama is adapted from Emile Zola’s novel Therese Raquin, and recounts the troubled…
Butcher and the Rye
Butcher and the Rye 212 Sixth St., Downtown. 412-391-2752 Hours: Tue.-Thu. 5-11 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 5 p.m.-midnight Prices: Small plates $7-14; large plates $16-26 Liquor: Full bar At its most basic, food is an essential requirement for physical survival. Beyond that, everyone knows there are strong sensual and social aspects to food. Food can be political,…
Like Father, Like Son
Fatherhood — in its practical, emotional, cultural and biological aspects — is the focus of this gentle drama from Japanese writer-director Hirokazu Koreeda (Nobody Knows, I Wish). Ryota (Masaharu Fukuyama) is a successful architect who applies his commitment to hard work to both his consuming job and to the development of his 6-year-old son; we…
Line cooks are a restaurant’s unsung heroes
At a time when chefs have become national celebrities, it’s easy to forget: If you’re eating in restaurants, you’re mostly being fed by line cooks. Like the ghost writers of the food industry, line cooks execute a chef’s vision by providing everything from uniformly sliced vegetables to perfectly cooked proteins and pretty garnishes. It’s a…
Winter’s Tale
Akiva Goldsman’s directorial debut could be charitably called a “romantic fantasy adventure,” but it’s also a dreadful, laughably bad mess. Adapted from Mark Helprin’s popular novel, it’s a time-spanning tale of love, miracles, revenge, big-hearted burglars, financially minded demons, flying horses and consumptive women in diaphanous gowns. It mostly takes place in old New York…
CoStar Brewing makes bid for local stardom
It’s not uncommon for a garage band to dream of fame and fortune, but what about a garage brewery? It’s not out of the realm of possibility for CoStar Brewing, which for the past year has been producing small batches of increasingly popular beer. After four years of homebrewing, Dominic Cincotta and Jeff Hanna were…
Mr. Small’s owners work with an old friend to get out of debt
On a February morning, Mike Speranzo is coughing — he’s had a protracted head cold. “It’s just because I’ve been out there hanging drywall in 18-degree weather,” confesses the 45-year-old co-owner of Mr. Small’s Theatre, the live-music venue in Millvale. “Otherwise I’d have gotten over it by now.” He and his nephew, Evan Smith, have…
Local eatery Eden joins a new campaign to improve the lot of restaurant workers
It’s a bitter irony of higher-end dining: Customers will pay a premium for humanely raised meat … without sparing a thought about the treatment of the kitchen staff who prepares it. Jordan Romanus, a local activist with the Restaurant Opportunities Center, hopes to change that. “Twenty years ago,” he says, “if you were talking about…
Singer overcomes tumors to bring back The Show
THE SHOW EP RELEASE with SYLVANIA, COURT IV, A FRIENDLY GESTURE. 7:30 p.m. Sat., Feb. 22. Mr. Small’s Theatre, 400 Lincoln Ave., Millvale. $12-15. All ages. 412-821-4447 or mrsmalls.com The guys in The Show aren’t in it to have fun on the weekends or impress chicks. “I want to make music that will make people…
Museum and library workers are looking for better treatment at work.
Pittsburgh’s museums and libraries are where we go to admire great works of art and literature. But some museum and library workers say their employers don’t give all employees the respect they deserve. Some have joined to form Info Desk, a new campaign by local cultural-industry workers who say they’re underpaid and lack adequate say…
Falling Andes comes back after early Internet hit with EP years in the making
FALLING ANDES EP RELEASE with MIKE CALI. 10 p.m. Sat., Feb. 22. Club Café, 56 S. 12th St., South Side. $10. 412-431-4950 or clubcafelive.com If there’s one thing Dan Peluso has learned over the years with his band Falling Andes, it’s patience. In 2011, the band was off to a quick start; Peluso had moved…
A new mayor buys some time for the Produce Terminal
The change in mayoral administrations from Ravenstahl to Peduto has brought a reprieve for the Strip District’s Pennsylvania Fruit Auction and Sales Building, otherwise known as the Produce Terminal. The noteworthy turnabout has been preceded by a sequence of variously unlikely and paradoxical events. The iconic 1,533-foot-long warehouse, originally built in the late 1920s, was…
Kid Durango goes country and stays grunge at the same time
KID DURANGO/CHRIS KINTUCKY EP RELEASE with IMPERIAL RAILWAY, BASSETTE. 9 p.m. Sat., March 1. Brillobox, 4104 Penn Ave., Bloomfield. $7. 412-621-4900 or brillobox.net “There’s only three certains in life,” says Chris Kintucky, in the trademark drawl he tends to pass in and out of. “A risin’ divorce rate, whiskey, and Chad Kroeger one day goin’…
Barebones Productions’ A Steady Rain
A STEADY RAIN continues through March 2 at the New Hazlett Theater, 6 Allegheny Square East, North Side. $30-35. barebonesproductions.com Barebones Productions gives A Steady Rain the spare, tight exposition that it needs. Directed by Melissa Martin, Keith Huff’s 2007 police melodrama features two excellent actors hurtling through the past and the present in an…
Critics’ Picks: February 19 – 25
[ROCK] + THU., FEB. 20 Greg Hoy has worn numerous musical hats over the years — the ex-Pittsburgher is a sound engineer, has written about music, and has his own repertoire of tunes, backed by various bands. His Pittsburgh rhythm section (which includes rock stalwarts Paul Labrise, Tom Emmerling and Ray Vasko) recorded a high-energy,…
Pittsburgh CLO’s Judge Jackie Justice
JUDGE JACKIE JUSTICE continues through April 27. The Cabaret at Theater Square, 655 Penn Ave., Downtown. $34.75-44.75. 412-456-6666 or clocabaret.com The elevator pitch for Judge Jackie Justice IS appealing: a musical spoof of Judge Judy with lots of Jerry Springer thrown in. And it’s written by a couple of local boys: book and lyrics by…
On the Record with Nicole Atkins
NICOLE ATKINS. 7 p.m. Fri., Feb. 21. Club Café, 56 S. 12th St., South Side. $15. 412-431-4950 or clubcafelive.com New Jersey native Nicole Atkins now has three full-length albums under her belt, and nothing to prove. Her new album, Slow Phaser, charts new territory for her, as bass beats and understated sonic effects hammer her…
New Horizon’s Do Lord Remember Me
DO LORD REMEMBER ME continues through March 2. New Horizon Theater at the Union Project, 801 N. Negley Ave., Highland Park. $15. 412-431-0773 Like a collage of music, dance and drama, Do Lord Remember Me, at New Horizon Theater, recounts true stories of the grim history of slavery in the United States. Playwright James de…
Lynn Cullen Live 02/19/14
Video Archive The world is falling apart; young girl shot dead after egging a car; Lauryn Willams – local Olympian who may end up with gold in both Summer & Winter Olympic games; Bode Miller broke down crying after winning bronze & what that says about the woman who interviewed him; Callers: Clarence, Canonsburg /…
Agamemnon at Pitt Theater
AGAMEMNON continues through Sun., Feb. 23. Henry Heymann Theatre, Stephen Foster Memorial, Forbes Avenue at Bigelow, Oakland. $12-25. 412-624-7529 or play.pitt.edu After two-and-a-half millennia, Agamemnon still has the power to thrill. The University of Pittsburgh Department of Theater Arts’ new production modernizes Aeschylus’ tragedy with a translation by British poet Ted Hughes (published posthumously in…
A classic Pittsburgh-set short story becomes opera.
PAUL’S CASE George R. White Studio, 2425 Liberty Ave., Strip District. 8 p.m. Sat., Feb. 22; 7 p.m. Tue., Feb. 25; 8 p.m. Fri., Feb. 28; and 2 p.m. Sun., March 2., $40. 412-456-6666 or pittsburghopera.org Willa Cather’s 1905 short story “Paul’s Case” is an indelible portrait of unhappiness in Pittsburgh. The protagonist, a misfit…
Crowded Out: Will the competition for crowd-sourcing dollars shut out small projects the platform was originally designed to help?
For the founders of Cellhelmet, launching a crowdfunding campaign two years ago was as much about creating brand awareness as it was about getting startup capital. And Cellhelmet, a Pittsburgh-area cell-phone repair company, ended up getting some of each. The company received $19,000 on Kickstarter — almost double its $10,000 goal — and an offer…
A new ballet explores one man’s struggle with Parkinson’s disease.
Bodiography performs LEFT LEG, RIGHT BRAIN (THE FRANK FERRARO STORY) 8 p.m. Fri., Feb. 21, and 8 p.m. Sat., Feb. 22. Byham Theater, 101 Sixth St., Downtown. $20.75-50.75. 412-456-6666 or www.trustarts.org Bodiography Contemporary Ballet Company’s ongoing dedication to medical-themed dances may yet earn it a new moniker: “Bodiography, M.D.” Artistic director Maria Caruso’s penchant for…
Insufficient Funds: Banks offer few options for low-income customers
On a recent frigid Friday afternoon outside the ACE Cash Express off Market Square, there is a steady stream of customers. There’s a 34-year-old mother of two who pays nearly $20 to cash her paycheck of $591.57. She’s not happy to be here, she says, but doesn’t have a choice. After she lost her last…
Review: Taylor Swift at Heinz Field, July 6
“Thank you” she said, “for making my music the soundtrack to your crazy emotions.”
