Downtown walking tour illuminates Pittsburgh’s light art
New guided tour examines Pittsburgh art that relies on light to tell a story.
Pennsylvania voters must register by March 28
Remember, to vote in the April 26 Pennsylvania primary, you must register by this Monday, March 28.
A conversation with this week’s Pittsburgh City Paper cover artist Rhonda Libbey
Rhonda Libbey is a local artist from Oakmont who has done work for Pittsburgh City Paper for more than 10 years.
Listen Up! March 23
Every Wednesday, we make a Spotify playlist containing tracks from artists mentioned in the current music section and included in our concert listings. Listen below!
Pittsburgh sees decrease in number of complaints against police officers
The City of Pittsburgh has seen a decrease and lawsuits against the city and complaints against police officers over the past two years.
Pennsylvania Sen. Casey endorses Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Katie McGinty
Former Pa. environmental secretary Katie McGinty picks up endorsement from current Democratic Senator Bob Casey, and her opponent former U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak downplays the endorsement.
Hundreds mourn the deaths of victims killed in suburban Pittsburgh mass shooting
More than 200 residents attended a funeral Tuesday for three of the victims in the Wilkinsburg mass shootings
Nontraditional wedding venues in Pittsburgh
Navigation Intro Picture Perfect Special Invites Alternative Band Fashion Experience Groom Style Big-Day Hair Blossoming Ideas Nontraditional Settings Just Call It a Wedding Drinking It In Don’t Let Them Just Eat Cake It can be easy to forget that your nuptials don’t have to be limited to a place of worship or a small room…
Poetry and Race in America at the University of Pittsburgh
Overflow crowd hears six top African-American poets read, discuss race.
Stephen Zappala uses victims Sandra Bland, Walter Scott and Janay Palmer in tv ad for Pennsylvania attorney general
The first television advertisement for Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala in the race for Pennsylvania attorney general highlights national incidents of police misconduct and domestic violence.
Josh Shapiro launches first TV ad in campaign for Pennsylvania attorney general
In the first television advertisement in the election for Pennsylvania attorney general, candidate Josh Shapiro expresses a commitment to senior citizens, marriage equality and the environment.
MP3 Monday: Unfinished Symphonies
Stream or download a song from Unfinished Symphonies
What you need to know about Pittsburgh news this week:
This week, medical-marijuana legislation passed the PA State House and is headed to the Senate; Wilkinsburg residents revisited the scene of last week’s mass shooting; and Pittsburgh’s first nonprofit breast-milk bank opens its doors.
Pittsburgh’s stuffed-animal drive well-timed in wake of recent tragedies
Pittsburgh City Councilor Dan Gilman and Pittsburgh Bureau of Police Chief Cameron McLay announced an initiative to collect stuffed animals for children affected by fires and other traumas
Campaign 2016’s Silly Season: A Weekly Tweet Roundup March 18
Clinton hears about pegging; Marco Rubio has a bad 2016; and the Ohio primary finds Trump and Kasich getting sporty
Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Jeff Locke tunes out the noise while he fine-tunes his game
Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Jeff Locke on getting better under intense scrutiny
The Who Hits 50 at Pittsburgh’s Consol Energy Center
Farewell concert brings to mind band’s power and paradoxes
Pennsylvania campaign round up: U.S. Senate candidate Sestak releases TV ad; State House Rep. Ravenstahl gets a clear path to nomination thanks in part to his mom
Former U.S. Congressman and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Joe Sestak releases “Joe’s Got Your Six” ad and some other political news from St. Partick’s Day week
Pittsburgh-area residents revisit scene of last week’s mass shooting in Wilkinsburg
Last night, Pittsburgh-area residents returned to the scene of last week’s mass shooting in Wilkinsburg to call on witnesses to come forward with information.
Pittsburgh Pirates Andrew McCutchen: Seeing Pedro Alvarez in Baltimore jersey was ‘awkward’
Losing teammates is a reality of Major League Baseball, but that’s a lesson Pittsburgh Pirates Andrew McCutchen said he learned long before he got to the majors.
Lynn Cullen Live 03/15/16
Video Archive You can listen to the audio archive here. Merrick Garland. More on the campaign trail and what we can do. Eddie Izzard runs and runs and runs. Audio Only Archive Listen to the Audio Archives on with our new Apple and Android Apps or the computer audio player.
Deitch: Fight for gun control now, you don’t know whose life you’re saving
In the wake of last week’s mass killing in Wilkinsburg, there’s a lot I could write about. I could talk about the need for an assault-weapons ban and the need for stronger background checks, but we all know that stuff and have pretty much resigned ourselves to the fact that the gun lobby will always…
Titus Andronicus frontman Patrick Stickles discusses Twitter, the state of rock ’n’ roll, and not “chickening out” on the band’s epic new record
TITUS ANDRONICUS & CRAIG FINN 7 p.m. Sun., March 20. Cattivo, 146 44th St., Lawrenceville. $16-18. 412-687-2157 or cattivopgh.com It’s been roughly seven months since Titus Andronicus released its most recent record, The Most Lamentable Tragedy, so I don’t ask frontman Patrick Stickles to dwell on it. If there was ever an artist whose music…
Short List: March 16 – 22
FREE EVENT: Fri., March 18 — Art The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s spring Gallery Crawl falls several weeks early to coincide with the 200th anniversary of Pittsburgh’s incorporation as a city. Seems a rather bureaucratic excuse for a holiday — were notaries involved? — but the Bicentennial Gallery Crawl should still be fun. The crawl expands…
Pittsburgh’s South Side swarms with massive crowds all year round; will a new plan lessen the impact on the neighborhood?
Sidewalk puke, garbage and broken windows are unfortunately common sights for South Side residents and business-owners the day after Pittsburgh’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The annual event is a sore subject for South Siders, who both relish and detest their neighborhood’s standing as the No. 1 destination for those wearing the green. But what was…
Stuff We Like
Bicycle Heaven. This North Side landmark claims to be the nation’s largest bike museum, and with 2,000 bikes on display (from pennyfarthings to banana seats), who’s to argue? It also does event rentals and — conveniently, just off the riverfront trail — you can get your bike fixed here too. Plus: open seven days a…
This Week in City Paper History
Nowadays, it’s common to hear about a for-profit education company screwing over its students by providing a high-cost education of debatable value to students who were surprised by the final price tag and will likely default on their loans. But in 2008, very little was written about the business practices of some of these companies,…
Pittsburgh wins big at the American Craft Spirit Awards
As a rule, Pittsburgh is a fiercely proud and independent city, one that doesn’t need outsiders patting us on the head and telling us we did a good job. That said, everyone likes a shiny trophy. And at the recent American Craft Spirit Awards, Pittsburgh’s distillers brought home quite a few — including the biggest…
At long last, local retro-pop outfit Delicious Pastries releases its sophomore record, Aleatoric Delay
DELICIOUS PASTRIES RELEASE SHOW with BUTTERBIRDS, SHAKEY SHRINES, MEETING OF IMPORTANT PEOPLE 9 p.m. Fri., March 18. Spirit, 242 51st St., Lawrenceville. $10. 412-586-4441 or spiritpgh.com “Aleatoric music” is a term given to compositions that incorporate found or “accidental” sounds and the element of chance, according to Jesse Ley. The drummer of Delicious Pastries goes…
Sushi Fuku
Sushi Fuku 120 Oakland Ave. and 417 S. Craig St., Oakland. 412-621-2490 Hours: Daily 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Prices: $2-10 Liquor: None Fast-food sushi, as a concept, has not exactly been embraced by Americans. Sure, even Giant Eagle now sells pre-made maki and nigiri to take home, but fast food has long been the province of…
Long-standing Pittsburgh reggae group The Freedom Band releases its first album
THE FREEDOM BAND RELEASE SHOW 8 p.m. Fri., March 18. James Street Gastropub and Speakeasy, 422 Foreland St., North Side. $5. 412-904-3335 or jamesstreetgastropub.com After more than a decade together, the Freedom Band is finally getting around to releasing a record. It’s “sort of sad,” drummer “Chizzy” Chuck Kristan laughs. “Most bands have their first…
Pittsburgh kids create their own school-lunch recipes
Last year, Community Kitchen Pittsburgh involved 30 middle- and high schoolers from seven schools in its inaugural Project Lunch Tray. This year, says Community Kitchen Program Director Tom Samilson, the program to help kids create their own “healthy, delicious and kid-friendly school-lunch recipes” includes 15 schools and 150 students. The teams, from public, private and…
Savage Love
I’m a 27-year-old, feminist, conventionally attractive, straightish, GGG woman. Over time, my tastes have changed, and now I find myself more of a kinkster. A few years ago, my desire for kinkier sex and my willingness to take a chance came together in a mutually beneficial, exciting D/s relationship. I’ll be honest: I wasn’t as…
The Bronze
The media generally depicts Olympic-caliber female gymnasts as plucky sprites, all sparkle, smiles and American flags. That’s why it’s a hoot to catch up with 2004 bronze medalist Hope Annabelle Greggory (Big Bang Theory’s Melissa Rauch), who stomps around her small Ohio town in a cloud of bitterness, delusion and profanity. But Hope’s life of…
Black poets gather for Poetry and Race in America workshop, reading
ours is a long love song, a push out into open air, a stare into the barrel, a pool of grief puddling under our single body. In his poem “repetition & repetition &,” Nate Marshall evokes black identity and solidarity in the face of endless tragedy. In Pittsburgh, after last week’s massacre in Wilkinsburg, the…
The Confirmation
The marketing material for this debut by writer-director Bob Nelson suggests it might be one of those stealth religious films. But despite the odd church scene, this low-key dramedy about a fractured family winds up in some darker places, and even suggests that sometimes the best course of action is committing sins. Walt (Clive Owen)…
Miss Julie, Clarissa and John at Pittsburgh Playwrights
MISS JULIE, CLARISSA AND JOHN continues through March 27. 937 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $20-25. 412-687-4686 and pghplaywrights.com There is a major artistic event happening in Pittsburgh and you’ve got two weeks to do whatever it takes to get yourself to it. Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Co. presents the world premiere of Miss Julie, Clarissa and John,…
Creative Control
Benjamin Dickinson’s dark comedy is the black-and-white love child of Black Mirror and Mad Men. In the very near future, a worker at a hip advertising and branding agency gets a new assignment — testing new “augmented reality” glasses for a client. These glasses enable a sort of hybrid of video recording and playback, assorted…
Texture Contemporary Ballet brings in new voices
TEXTURE CONTEMPORARY DANCE PERFORMS REFLECTIONS Fri., March 18-Sun., March 20. New Hazlett Theater, 6 Allegheny Square East, North Side. $20-25. (Abbreviated performance for children: 4 p.m. Sat., March 19; $10 per family). 888-718-4253 or newhazletttheater.org For its latest production, Reflections, Texture Contemporary Ballet is adding a bit more, well, texture. The company, whose programs through…
King Georges
For decades, Le Bec-Fin, in Philadelphia, was regarded as one of the country’s very best French restaurants. Its owner and chef, Georges Perrier, trained as a saucier in France, and through myriad restaurant trends and food fads, remained committed to classic French cuisine. (The sauce, Perrier reminds us, is the basis of all French cooking.)…
The 10th annual Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival Faces of Conflict opens in Pittsburgh
The Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival: Faces of Conflict runs Thu., March 17, through April 3, with more than a dozen feature films and documentaries. Unless noted, films screen at McConomy Auditorium, on the CMU campus, and are $10 ($5 students/seniors). A complete schedule, including guest speakers and special events, is at www.cmu.edu/faces. Some recent…
Tokyo Tribe
This new film from Sion Sono (Why Don’t You Play in Hell?) is an exuberant tale of highly stylized Tokyo street gangs who engage in battles with each other and with a cannibalistic gangster, who is in hock to a god. As told almost exclusively through profane rap songs. It’s an overly long hot mess…
10 Cloverfield Lane
If you’re interested in seeing 10 Cloverfield Lane, which is a nifty little thriller — a grade-A B-movie — just go now. Don’t read any further — the less you know, the better. The film opens with Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) leaving her home, driving down some lonely Louisiana road in the dark and having…
Critics’ Picks, March 17-23
[FUNK] + THU., MARCH 17 Putting futuristic synthesizers to good use, local project Arkesh mixes ’70s-style R&B grooves with forward-looking instrumentation to create danceable jams. This collaboration of Pittsburgh musicians brings together a stew of influences: Transcendent Eddie Hazel-style guitar work can be heard next to sweaty saxophone exercises. With nods to Funkadelic, and an…
In the wake of a mass shooting in Pittsburgh suburb, residents and officials are taking action
Wilkinsburg Borough Councilor Vanessa McCarthy-Johnson was overwhelmed. She spoke through tears to a crowd of about 300 concerned citizens on March 12. She was overcome by the number of people who showed up on a Saturday afternoon to discuss the borough’s plan of action in the wake of the March 9 mass shooting that took…
In Hong Kong and Appalachia, two photographers explore home
FELLOWSHIP 16 continues through April 2. Silver Eye Center for Photography, 1015 E. Carson St., South Side. 412-431-1810 or www.silvereye.org In Silver Eye Center for Photography’s Fellowship 16 exhibition, two photographers deepen our understanding of two very different places they call home. Both Ka-Man Tse and Aaron Blum are artists under 35 doing large-format film…
Pittsburgh’s starting nine: Mike Wysocki on the greatest Pittsburgh-born baseball stars
The upcoming Pirates season isn’t the only thing to get excited about; Donora native Ken Griffey Jr. will also be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. It’s a well-deserved honor, and I wonder where Griffey fits in among other major-leaguers born in the Pittsburgh area. Here’s how I see a top nine shaking…
New Releases
OLD HEAD RELEASE SHOW with OUTSIDEINSIDE, TERRY & THE COPS 9 p.m. Sat., March 19. Brillobox, 4104 Penn Ave., Bloomfield. 421-621-4900 or brillobox.net When Old Head released a split with Outsideinside in 2013, I had the feeling that it might mark the beginning of something significant. Or, if not exactly “significant,” at least something genuinely…
Lynn Cullen Live 03/16/16
Video Archive You can listen to the audio archive here. Professor David Harris on racial profiling, modern policing and criminal justice. Audio Only Archive Listen to the Audio Archives on with our new Apple and Android Apps or the computer audio player.
City Paper Podcast, or “Untitled” – Episode 009
This week on the City Paper podcast, we speak to filmmaker John Cameron Mitchell. Our panel discusses the mass shooting in Wilkinsburg and gun violence. And, we visit a thriving Wilkinsburg business – Leona’s Ice Cream Sandwiches.
Lynn Cullen Live 03/15/16
Video Archive You can listen to the audio archive here. First Amendments rights at rallies. Primaries today. A surprising caller. ISIS and their sex slaves. Audio Only Archive Listen to the Audio Archives on with our new Apple and Android Apps or the computer audio player.
Lynn Cullen Live 03/14/16
Video Archive You can listen to the audio archive here. Trump on campaign trail that looks increasingly like 1932 Germany. Audio Only Archive Listen to the Audio Archives on with our new Apple and Android Apps or the computer audio player.
