Articles Archive - Page 26 of 158 - Pittsburgh Quarterly

The unemployment rate in southwestern Pennsylvania fell to one of the lowest rates in the past 50 years, according to the latest Pennsylvania Department of Labor data. In September, 4.2 percent of workers in the seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area were looking for work. That rate tied for the lowest unemployment rate in the region …

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Creative Capital Money

Poor, Poor Pitiful Me

by Greg Curtis

On December 28, 2021, despite being double vaxxed and boosted, I tested positive for COVID. So much for the vaccine’s 96 percent success rate. Over the following week my symptoms got worse and worse – basically, the flu-from-hell – and eventually I called my doctor. Previously in this series: Beating Long COVID, Part I He …

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Culture History

Touring Our Industrial Past

by Evan Pattak

Step on board the good ship Explorer and get ready to enjoy your exciting outing on Pittsburgh’s signature rivers. No jazz combo, no dancing here, but there is a tour guide who will introduce you to the stops along your journey. Over there are the former iron-making Carrie Furnaces spanning Rankin and Swissvale, abandoned in …

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Obituaries People

Ferlo, Treganowan, Chaplin, Simpson, Poliziani, Fuhrer, Henderson, Lovelace, Grefenstette, Dunlap, Grata

by PQ Staff

Jim Ferlo, 70A former state senator, city council president and community advocate, Ferlo was an active supporter of causes that included attempting to save the landmark Syria Mosque. He was Pennsylvania’s first openly gay senator after coming out publicly during a 2014 debate about an LGBT hate crimes bill. Ferlo began his career as a …

Ferlo, Treganowan, Chaplin, Simpson, Poliziani, Fuhrer, Henderson, Lovelace, Grefenstette, Dunlap, Grata Read More »

Education Nonprofits

An Untapped Resource? Pt. II

by PQ Staff

We’ve asked the presidents of this region’s colleges and universities to address our critical workforce shortages by penning a response to the following question: “As you know, the western Pennsylvania region faces a more acute workforce shortage than almost any other major region in the country. Working as closely with young adults as you do, …

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Creative Capital Money

Beating Long COVID

by Greg Curtis

Among the many things medical science didn’t anticipate about the pandemic was the phenomenon of so-called “long COVID.” People, many of whom who were double vaxxed and boosted, got sick and never got completely better. Symptoms vary, but may include serious fatigue, fever, cough, “brain fog,” vertigo, digestive troubles, loss of smell and/or taste, depression, …

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Books Culture

Death of the Daily News

by Fred Shaw

Nearly 200 years ago, French social scientist Alexis De’ Tocqueville spent nine months touring America, documenting observations in what became the seminal Democracy in America. His take on the job of newspapers in a bourgeoning new country experimenting in representative democracy could be his most prescient: “’To suppose they only serve to protect freedom would …

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Education Nonprofits

An Untapped Resource?

by PQ Staff

An Untapped Resource? Read More »

Pittsburgh Today Regional News

Region Continues Adding Jobs, But Can’t Erase Pandemic Losses

by Julia Fraser

Jobs ticked up in the Pittsburgh region in September, but incremental gains haven’t been enough to bring the number of jobs back up to pre-pandemic levels. Employers in the seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area added 11,700 jobs from August to September, a 1 percent monthly gain, according to recent data from the U.S. Bureau of …

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Innovation Money

A Letter from Philadelphia

by Robert Dickey IV

When I grew up in Pittsburgh in the 1960s and ‘70s, for a time it had the third-largest concentration of corporate headquarters in the U.S. with US Steel, Mellon Bank, Alcoa, H.J. Heinz, Koppers, Rockwell, Dravo, Westinghouse, and others. Since then, Pittsburgh has seen many changes, some anticipated, others completely new and unexpected. But I …

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Creative Capital Money

The Conclusion: Lessons to Remember for Next Time

by Greg Curtis

Norwegians, including those serving on the Koronakommisjonen, are so polite and self-effacing that one has to read between the lines to understand just how remarkable the country’s pandemic response was. It turns out it was that very modesty, that national humility, that was at the core of what made them successful. Previously in this series: …

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Sports Sports & Outdoors

When Jim Thorpe Almost Became a Pittsburgh Pirate

by Richard “Pete” Peterson

In the 1912 summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, Jim Thorpe won the demanding five-event pentathlon and the grueling ten-event decathlon and was roundly declared the greatest athlete in the world. He added to his stature that fall by becoming a football All-American after leading Carlisle to a stunning upset over a powerful Army team that …

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Pittsburgh Today

Pittsburgh Passport

by Jeffery Fraser

Even before the pandemic, economic development officials worried the western Pennsylvania labor force was lacking the volume of workers necessary to fuel aspirations of sustained economic growth and increased global competitiveness among the region’s businesses. How to boost the labor force was a tough question to answer. The region’s population had flatlined, having risen only …

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Events Nonprofits

AHN Gala Raises Nearly $2 Milliion

by PQ Staff

Allegheny Health Network (AHN) hosted its first gala in Pittsburgh since before the start of the pandemic at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. The “Believe – Exhibitions of Amazing Feats” gala brought together community leaders with health system leadership to recognize the remarkable generosity of donors and supporters who believe in the charitable mission of AHN, …

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Creative Capital Money

The Lessons of Norway

by Greg Curtis

I want to bring this series to a close by comparing what happened in the U.S. with what happened in – Norway. Previously in this series: The Problem with Overselling Vaccines Why, you may be thinking, Norway? It is, after all, a tiny, homogenous country about the size of Phoenix, but far less diverse. The …

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Home & Lifestyle Homes

Full of Flavor

by Marylynn Uricchio

Wanderlust quite literally means a lust for wandering, and Richard DeShantz has it big time. One moment he’s skiing out West, the next he’s exploring the food and culture in Turkey. Trying to catch up with the chef and owner of nine successful Pittsburgh restaurants can be a challenge, but it also explains the myriad …

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Arrivals People

McCarroll, Maneval, Medlar, Barrett, Rieck, Benoit

by PQ Staff

David McCarroll has been appointed concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, holding the Rachel Mellon Walton Concertmaster Chair beginning with the 2022-2023 season. McCarroll joined the orchestra as concertmaster for its European tour in August and will make his Pittsburgh debut in September. He performs regularly around the world with major orchestras and as a chamber musician, playing at …

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Books Culture

The Blue Continuum

by Robert McNeilly Jr.

“Every society gets the kind of criminal it deserves. What is equally true is that every community gets the kind of law enforcement it insists on.”— Robert F. Kennedy Policing in any community is only as effective as the elected officials being informed and prudent enough to avoid common mistakes. When officers make mistakes, they jeopardize …

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Creative Capital Money

The Problem with Overselling the Vaccines

by Greg Curtis

I’m claiming that the final group of vaccine-hesitant people – anti-vaxxers, if you prefer – was “nearly all of us.” The reason is that the vaccines, which were actually a wonderful advance, were oversold to us, and as we gradually found that out, our faith in the vaccines – and in medical science itself – …

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Nature Sports & Outdoors

Streaming Views

by John Beale

Nonprofits Nonprofits

UPMC Hillman Gala Raises $1 Million for Cancer Research

by PQ Staff

More than 700 people, including business leaders, oncologists and others gathered last week at PPG Paints Arena to support cancer research, raising more than $1 million for the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center. Since 2011, PNC has presented the PNC Elsie Hillman Distinguished Scholar Award to honor theexperts making a difference in the fight against cancer. …

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Pittsburgh Today Regional News

Unemployment Remains Low; Hiring Remains Challenging

by Julia Fraser

Regional unemployment in August remain unchanged at 4.4 percent, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor. “There’s only been a few months in the last 50 years in which the regional unemployment rate has been lower,” said Chris Briem, a regional economist at the University of Pittsburgh University Center for Social and Urban Research. “The …

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