Articles Archive - Page 118 of 153 - Pittsburgh Quarterly

For years the well pads, truck traffic and logos of energy companies large and small multiplied across counties like Washington and Greene as southwestern Pennsylvania became a poster child for the rush to extract natural gas trapped in the Marcellus Shale. It was in such a climate that the region recently assumed a new identity …

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Opinion

Angry customers

by Lara Bruhn

I am yelling at you because it is so rare that I can ever speak to anyone in charge!” the customer bellowed before ultimately chuckling. So, I’m the whipping boy for every bad customer service experience that corporate America has ever delivered? That’s a heavy burden, and I’m not ideally suited to shoulder it. I …

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Health

Too Fat Too Young

by Kelly Casey

Michelle Penn-Nored of Penn Hills has been dealing with type 2 diabetes since her late 40s. She’s determined to keep her daughter from having the same fate. Last August at 10-year-old Meccah’s wellness exam, Penn-Nored talked with the physician assistant about getting a prescription so Meccah could join Weight Watchers. She carried a lot of …

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Profiles

A Pittsburgh banking career

by Douglas Heuck

In April, Jim Rohr will retire as Executive Chairman of PNC Financial Services Inc. His 42-year career with the bank includes 13 years as CEO, a span that has seen PNC become one of the nation’s largest banks. Rohr has also been one of Pittsburgh’s greatest modern corporate leaders in civic affairs, championing a wide …

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Education

A Question of Duty

by PQ Staff

Editor’s note: Pittsburgh Quarterly invited the heads of the region’s top independent schools to address, in 150 words or less, the following question: Your students are fortunate to be receiving an education at one of the region’s finest schools. What message of responsibility for the greater society does your school seek to instill in them? …

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Business

Still Changing at 150

by Evan Pattak

On April 19, 1864, America was preoccupied by several rather sizable events, including the Civil War and the recent emancipation of slaves. So citizens could be excused if they paid scant attention to the festivities that day in Cumberland, Md., where an entity called Consolidation Coal Company launched its operations by selling 1,000 shares of …

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Obituaries

McLaughlin, Ho, Wolf, Freeland, Purcell, Magovern

by PQ Staff

Aloysius “Ish” McLaughlin Jr., 79 An engineer who grew up in Swissvale, Ish McLaughlin rose through the ranks to become president of the Dick Corp., building it into one of the nation’s largest construction companies. A consummate strategist, tireless worker and smart businessman, he won major contracts including the restoration of Washington, D.C.’s Union Station, …

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Nature

French Creek Watershed

by Thomas Saunders

When we in Pittsburgh look out on the Allegheny River, it can remind us that the water flowing past has its origins in some faraway places worth visiting and exploring. One of these is the broad valley of the west branch of French Creek in Erie County. Three miles northwest of the town of Wattsburg …

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Special Reports

Pittsburgh Today and Tomorrow 2014

by Pittsburgh Today Staff

The 2014 Pittsburgh Today and Tomorrow report, produced by Pittsburgh Today, analyzes recent data to assess the Pittsburgh region’s standing compared with 14 U.S. cities in 10 categories. Also included are numerous in-depth reports focusing on the most important issues facing Greater Pittsburgh. To view a PDF version of Pittsburgh Today and Tomorrow 2014, click …

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Special Reports

The Pittsburgh Regional Environment Survey

by Pittsburgh Today Staff

In May 2013, more than 800 men and women living in the seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) were interviewed by telephone for a survey about the environment conducted by the University of Pittsburgh University Center for Social and Urban Research (UCSUR) and Pittsburgh Today. In order to better understand what’s important to our region’s …

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Region

Considering a Pittsburgh Tradition

by Douglas Heuck

It was two years ago that Bill Dietrich, our longtime Pittsburgh Quarterly history writer, died and left $500 million to community institutions. I mentioned Bill to out-of-towners recently while explaining Pittsburgh’s unusual social fabric. He’d studied Pittsburgh’s industrial titans and the legacies they left that still shape our city. If he’d grown up elsewhere, Bill …

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Opinion

Stocks & Pedestal, Winter 2014

by PQ Staff

In the stocks: Fox Chapel Area High School When Fox Chapel High junior David Schaffner arrived at a Friday night home football game on Sept. 13, he realized he still had the hunting knife in his pocket that he’d been using in a wooded area near his home. As he approached the gate, he turned …

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Arrivals

Sklarsky, Hacker, Longhi, Bier, Stephan, Ivanko, Roman, Webster

by PQ Staff

Frank S. Sklarsky is executive vice president and chief financial officer at PPG Industries. A native of Buffalo, Sklarsky comes to Pittsburgh from Princeton, N.J., where he held the same position with Tyco International Ltd. Previously, he was executive vice president and chief financial officer at both Eastman Kodak Co. and ConAgra Foods, Inc. after …

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Profiles

Mark A. Nordenberg, Professor of Law & University Administrator

by Jeff Sewald

Minnesota is the ‘Land of 10,000 Lakes,’ and northern Minnesota, where I was born and raised, has more than its share. Because Duluth, my hometown, was built on a hill, we had a scenic view of Lake Superior from our home. To me, it was like an ocean. Duluth was a great place to be …

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Books

Glory daze

by John Allison

In this season of Steelers discontent, Gary Pomerantz offers rattled fans some balm. “Their Life’s Work” is a thoroughly reported and clearly written account of the Steelers’ sensational ’70s, framed through the “brotherhood” of the players and their interplay with the owners. Based on more than 250 interviews over three years, Pomerantz retells the Steelers …

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Sports

Lay your money down

by Marino Parascenzo

I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I’ve never really caught on to the gambling culture of pro football. Not that I’m totally clueless. I understand the over-under and a pick not covering. But when it comes to teasers, props and such, they might as well be speaking calculus. This is not the case in Britain, …

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Homes

The height of city living

by Marylynn Uricchio

The sleek new Fairmont Pittsburgh is a glamorous addition to the Downtown scene. Movie stars including Tom Cruise and Harrison Ford have made it the go-to hotel for those seeking luxury, privacy and service. But even more exclusive are The Residences located on the top 10 floors of Three PNC Plaza, which adjoins the hotel. …

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Birds

Wintering in Pittsburgh

by David Liebmann

With winter’s chill approaching, most birds long ago migrated south. Migration actually begins in August and continues through the milder months of September and October. Birds wing their way to more abundant food sources, with some of Pittsburgh’s species heading deep into South America to tropical climes. A few hearty species winter in western Pennsylvania, …

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Architecture & Neighborhoods

Hatfield and Home

by Charles Rosenblum

At the corner of Hatfield and Home streets, lively currents in Lawrenceville’s past, present and future converge in vivid architecture. Historic rowhouses line the street in one direction, and in another are some of the remains of industrial infrastructure. The substantial remaining open space toward the river seems to ask almost vocally what to do …

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Arts

The Carnegie International: 2013

by Graham Shearing

Let me say at the beginning that I adore the current Carnegie International, curated by Daniel Baumann, Dan Byers and Tina Kukielski. It has made me change my mind about a number of things I have held dear in the past. And, to me at least, it is already old hat, because for nearly two …

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Food & Wine

Pickling plenty

by Sherrie Flick

As the garden tips from late summer to fall and the plants become a little woody, then crispy, the only thing to do—if you’re a gardener like me—is turn to the things you’ve put up during the months of productivity. It’s nostalgic, opening up a jar of tomato sauce or jam. Garden memories may seem …

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Region

Raising a Glass (and a Local Industry)

by Tim McNulty

It is near mayhem inside the headquarters of Pennsylvania Pure Distilleries, a drafty warehouse next door to a glass factory along an industrial stretch of Shaler. A forklift topples over a pile of cardboard boxes waiting to be filled with vodka bottles. Giant fermentation tanks are hot with bubbling CO2. A leg of pantyhose—stuffed with …

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