What you need to know about Pittsburgh news this week

Here's what went down in Pittsburgh this week:

1. This week was book-ended with holiday events. Last weekend, thousands flocked to Downtown for the city's 55th Annual Light Up Night festivities. Tree lightings, ice sculptures, display windows, live music, fireworks and a holiday market were all part of  Pittsburgh's official holiday season kick-off.  Enjoy our photo essay.
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2. Pittsburgh’s Cultural Trust unveiled eleven new bike racks in Downtown’s cultural district on Tuesday. And each rack is a unique public-art installation created by a different artist. “Even something as utilitarian as a bike rack can function as public art,” says Cultural Trust President Kevin McMahon.
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3. At City Paper, staffers drew hand turkeys to wish our readers a Happy Thanksgiving. Each one reveals a little bit of our staffers' personalities (and artistic abilities).
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4.On Black Friday and Small Business Saturday, the "nomadic" I Made It! Market set up its holiday shop on two floors of the Nova Place on Pittsburgh's North Side. One hundred vendors displayed their handmade wares. Mother and daughter Debbie and Nicole Cerilli, of Pittsburgh, sold their artisan jewelry, which they describe as  "whimsical, dainty and delicate."
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5. Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto visited the fabric store Spool in the Allentown neighborhood for Small Business Saturday. Co-owners Michelle Lancet and Jennifer Swartzwelder received funding from the Hilltop Alliance to open the store on Sept. 13 in the neighborhood's business district on Warrington Avenue. "The business district has done everything they can to help us succeed," Lancet says.
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From the pages of the City Paper:


Staff writer Ryan Deto explores a workforce development program focused on ensuring that minorities and disadvantaged laborers, like those with a criminal record, are given opportunities to contribute to Homewood’s current construction revival. Development projects are slated for the once-neglected neighborhood, including a 40-unit apartment complex and the new state-of-the-art Animal Rescue League shelter, bringing hopes of economic vitality that could combat the neighborhood’s drug and violence problems. Rashad Byrdsong, president of the Community Empowerment Associate, who himself was formerly incarcerated in 1992, wants to ensure that people from the neighborhood and all disadvantaged workers get to share in any future prosperity.