Articles Archive - Page 101 of 156 - Pittsburgh Quarterly

The heavy smoke is gone. But particulates 30 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair and gases formed by the reaction of sunlight and fossil fuels exhaust remain as the region’s most widespread, stubborn and dangerous air quality problems. Unlike the smoke that draped large swaths of southwestern Pennsylvania during its industrial heyday, …

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Regional News

Taming Air Pollution: The Region’s Century-Old Challenge

by Jeffery Fraser

Southwestern Pennsylvania and air quality have long had a complicated relationship. For the better part of a century, the region had been a place so polluted from the soot of industry and homes heated by coal that street lamps were lit in the afternoon and walking a single block could ruin the collar of a …

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Profiles

Rich Fitzgerald, Allegheny County Executive

by Jeff Sewald

I was born and raised in the Bloomfield-Garfield section of Pittsburgh, which is now called “Friendship.” I attended St. Lawrence O’Toole Grade School in Garfield, Central Catholic High and then Carnegie Mellon University in nearby Oakland, and have lived and raised my family in Squirrel Hill for the past 33 years. So, geographically speaking, I’ve …

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Arts

Serious Threads

by Vicky A Clark

First the Frick announced a new programming initiative in fashion and brought “Killer Heels” to Pittsburgh. The impossibly impractical yet stunningly gorgeous shoes might have made more sense at the Warhol where Andy’s advertising and shoe portrait drawings would have cheekily made the connection between costume, eroticism, design, and identity while contextualizing the to-die-for heels. …

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Opinion

Journalism 101?

by Douglas Heuck

I’ve been a reporter or editor almost continuously since taking over my high school newspaper 39 years ago. So when President Trump called journalists “among the most dishonest human beings on earth,” it did get my attention. But journalists get attacked so often that rather than take it personally, I considered whether any truth lurked …

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Regional Annual Report

A Shrinking Resource

by Julia Fraser

Not that long ago, the state Department of Education was a robust repository of expertise for 500 Pennsylvania school districts, offering curricular guidance ranging from math to art to best practices for improving school effectiveness and education outcomes. Those days, however, are largely gone as a new environment has taken hold, one in which federal …

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Regional Annual Report

Despite Lull, Pittsburgh Poised to Grow Faster

by Stuart Hoffman

Greater Pittsburgh’s economy is in a precarious situation to start 2017. The seven-county region’s unemployment rate rose sharply through the second half of 2015, nearing 6 percent—a level not seen since 2014 when the recovery was just gaining real momentum. Prior to the 2008–09 recession, Pittsburgh’s unemployment rate mirrored national trends for 20 years. So …

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Arts

Josh Gibson on Deck

by Matthew John Milligan

Pittsburgh’s greatest but still relatively unknown sports hero is about to get a curtain call of a different kind. This spring, Pittsburgh Opera unveils “The Summer King,” the world premiere of Daniel Sonenberg’s tale of the remarkable, short life of baseball legend Josh Gibson. The opera weaves a young black man’s heartbreaking personal tribulations with …

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Birds

The Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher

by David Liebmann

One spring, I ventured south to Savannah, Georgia, for some sun and warmth. As a coastal locale and part of the Atlantic flyway, it was rich with avifauna heading back to nesting territories farther north in places like western Pennsylvania. It was March, and the streets of that wonderful city were alive with flowering trees, …

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Arrivals

Finley, McClendon, Castillo, Hill, Shiller, Newton, McKone

by PQ Staff

On July 1, Macon Paine Finley will become head of the Ellis School. She comes to Pittsburgh from St. Louis, where she has been assistant head of school at the John Burroughs School since 2012. Her appointment comes on the heels of celebrating The Ellis School’s 100th anniversary. Before joining Burroughs in 2000, Finley served …

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Creative Capital

Loose Change, Part IV

by Greg Curtis

Last week we solved the problem of reforming a defective Affordable Care Act in a simple and brilliant manner. Alas, not all the changes Americans want—and voted for—will be so simple to effect. For example, let’s turn to: Russia Although President Obama entered office promising to “reset” America’s relations with Russia, he left office with …

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Sustainability Watch

Recreational Opportunities

by Pittsburgh Today Staff

Southwestern Pennsylvanians think highly of the parks, trails and other recreational amenities in the region and survey data suggest most base their views on firsthand knowledge. The accessibility and quality of outdoor recreational opportunities, whether found in parks and woods or on rivers and streams, are indicators of the quality of life available in the …

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Events

Ballywood Shimmers and Shines

by PQ Staff

The 2017 American Heart Association’s Heart “Ballywood” shimmered and shined with nearly 550 in attendance, raising $750K for heart and stroke research and education. [ngg src=”galleries” ids=”177″ display=”basic_thumbnail” thumbnail_crop=”0″] The evening’s festivities included a silent and live auction, along with live entertainment from First Class Bhangra dance troupe from the University of Pittsburgh and Ronobir …

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Sustainability Watch

Water Quality: Bromide and TDS

by Pittsburgh Today Staff

Levels of bromide and total dissolved solids have improved in the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers in recent years. But the future is uncertain due to potential new sources. Both are indicators of water quality in southwestern Pennsylvania’s three major rivers. High concentrations of bromide and other salts in streams and rivers pose environmental and …

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Creative Capital

Loose Change, Part III

by Greg Curtis

In my last post I breathlessly announced that I held the solution to the American healthcare dilemma in my hot little hands. While the hapless Republicans and Democrats are stumbling around blaming each other and wishing the healthcare issue would just blow away, your humble blogger has solved the problem without breathing hard. In order …

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Opinion

Confession: Cops and Kids

by Tim Menees

I done got busted for breaking-and-entering (cue the blues harp and slide guitar). This is a sad tale but I must spare all young people the same sordid fate. One sunny Saturday morning six decades ago in Seattle’s Ballard district, two kids blew open the door of a playground field house, and the rest of …

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Sustainability Watch

General Health Trends

by Pittsburgh Today Staff

The prognosis for residents’ health in southwestern Pennsylvania is mixed. Heart disease deaths declined over a recent 10-year period in Allegheny County, the most populous of the seven Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area counties. But across the region, the rate of people reporting fair or poor overall health has increased. Heart disease Allegheny County residents are …

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PQ Poem

When I Am Empty

by Anne Rashid

When I am empty I think about you staring back at me in the pouring rain— the family picnic in the Upper Peninsula, my grape pop spilling down the sides of the table, an empty bottle, your lips turned into a smirk, your eyes glinting, you in that moment loving me. I’m empty on the …

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Creative Capital

Loose Change, Part II

by Greg Curtis

In my last post we observed how overwhelming the desire for “change” is in America, and we also paused to notice the penalty the Democratic Party has paid for ignoring voters’ wishes. In this post and the ones that follow, I will touch on some of the more important policies and practices that will be …

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Creative Capital

Loose Change

by Greg Curtis

Since the Presidential election there has been a lot of loose talk about “change.” In this series of posts we’ll try to tighten up that conversation by identifying some specific changes Americans have on their minds. Specifically, I’ll touch on some of the more controversial changes the new Administration will be evaluating. Before we get …

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Sustainability Watch

Mobility Trends in Pittsburgh

by Pittsburgh Today Staff

An easy commute is hard to come by in the Pittsburgh region. Traffic delays are longer, transit use lags and transportation costs consume a significant share of household income in many places. Transit use Transit use per capita in Allegheny County fell by about 6 percent between 2003 and 2013. The decrease likely reflects to …

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Creative Capital

Is Everything That Didn’t Work Worthless? Part IV

by Greg Curtis

We began this series of posts by examining the sorry state of value investing. We then moved on to making unfashionable arguments on behalf of hedge fund fees and performance. We’ll close the series by looking at the important role hedge funds—and, for that matter, value investing—play in the long-term success of investment portfolios. Hedge …

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