After a period of improved Pittsburgh police-community relations, do recent brutality allegations signal a backslide to the bad old days?

“We have these incidents coming around like we haven’t seen in a while.”

Fired janitors at Pittsburgh’s Ellis School raise concerns over custodial workers’ pay and role in the black community

“For a school that prides itself about women empowerment, it is a slap in the face.”

Still Going Strong: Weird Paul Celebrates 33 Years of Vlogging

“I would talk and babble into cassettes for hours. It was a way you could listen to yourself, if nobody else was going to listen to you.”

An antiwar poem by Jimmy Cvetic: Square peg into a round hole or a letter to God

I listened to the war stories over a beer, and then it hit me in the chest like a bullet fired from a sniper

Racist vandalism apparently targeted at Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin not removed for days after request

“If you let it go, that means it is OK. Things can escalate.”

Szechuan Spice brings a menu of spicy Chinese food to Shadyside

It is a welcome addition to the local array of authentic, regional Chinese restaurants

808 Cafe brings quick, inexpensive and tasty lunchtime fare to Downtown

“We’ve been doing this so long, we’ve got it down to a science.”

We Need to Talk

“There should be someone for everyone to trust and feel comfortable talking to about really sensitive things that happen in the industry.”

This butternut squash and apple soup is a great pick for fall

It’s a perfect choice after finding a rogue squash growing on the sidewalk

Pittsburgh City Paper Booze Battles: Muddy Waters Oyster Bar vs. The Pines

This week, two bars tackle Death in the Afternoon

Clément Canne Bleue Rhum Agricole

$33.09/750ml

After 30 years, Pixies are sounding comfortable and maybe that’s OK

“When it happens, they get the real shit, not the fake bullshit, not an act.”

A crowded stage is nothing new for Broken Social Scene

“I don’t know how many people will be onstage when we get to Pittsburgh.”

Pittsburgh’s Descendants of Crom music fest is a 17-band dream for metal fans

“All the fans, the bands, we are all descendants of Crom.”

New Local Releases: Killer of Sheep

New Local Releases: The Stapletons

Napping Princess tops a week of Japanese animation at Row House

Kenji Kamiyama’s film mixes genres into an entertaining hybrid

Dave Made a Maze

Fantastic hand-crafted sets and stop-motion animation bring this film to life

Kingsman: The Golden Circle

It’s an unnecessary but sort-of fun sequel to the 2014 spy spoof

The Villainess

A Korean action film with a confusing plot, but lots of ultra-violent action and stunts

What Hath Night to Do With Sleep at Pittsburgh Center for the Arts

Stephanie Armbruster’s abstracts explore the experience of travel

Plans for the Pittsburgh International Airport renovation leave a lot to be desired

The current presentation looks nothing like Pittsburgh at all

Is signing Jaromir Jagr the key to a Pittsburgh Penguins threepeat?

Reuniting Lemieux and Jagr for a second shot at a threepeat is the stuff of Hollywood movies

This week in Pittsburgh Sports History

A look back at events that you’ve either forgotten about or never heard of in the first place

Since Major League Baseball’s reorganization in 1995, the Pirates have not once won a division title, and that sucks

Even the Reds have three banners, for crying out loud

Dan Savage takes questions from a live studio audience

Donald Trump is president and we could all be dead tomorrow. Don’t delay.

Matthew Newton explores the history and mystique of the shopping mall

Local writer’s book is part critique, part memoir

Works by local authors: new young-adult science-fiction novel and a Gettysburg travelogue

Joshua David Bellin's Freefall, W. Stephen Coleman’s Discovering Gettysburg

Middletown at Little Lake Theatre

Eno may think he’s being moving and profound, but really he’s just twee and irritating

Vintage Hitchcock at South Park Theatre

It’s a highly clever production with a pitch-perfect cast

Texture Contemporary Ballet looks to go Boundless

“I have some dancers in sneakers, some in socks and some in pointe shoes.”

Short List: Sept. 28 - Oct. 5

Honoring “white savage” Simon Girty; Thrival returns; East Texas Hot Links at Pittsburgh Playwrights; Lori Jakiela’s latest book launch