Articles Archive - Page 36 of 154 - Pittsburgh Quarterly

Wactlar, Henderson, Figgins, DeFazio, Corry, Toker Read More »

Howard Wactlar, 77: During a career of more than 50 years at the National Science Foundation and Carnegie Mellon, where he arrived in 1967 and went on to hold positions in both the School of Computer Science and the Robotics Institute, Wactlar developed an impressive array of technology and software engineering systems. He helped to …

Regional News

Unemployment Falls and Labor Force Plunges

by Julia Fraser

Unemployment fell sharply in southwestern Pennsylvania last month. But the good news is tempered by continued contraction of the regional labor force, which plunged to its lowest level since June 1991, according to the latest Pennsylvania Department of Labor data. Unemployment in the seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area dropped one full percentage point — from …

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Government Missteps: Let Me Count the Ways

Government Missteps: Let Me Count the Ways Read More »

By the mid-twentieth century, antitrust enforcement in the United States had become far more sophisticated than it had been for the first six decades after the Sherman Act was passed in 1890. Unfortunately, the ratio of success-to-fiasco remained roughly constant. Previously in this series: “The Weird Inconsistencies of Trust Busting: Antitrust Is More Interesting Than …

Events

95th Cinderella Ball Presents Ten Debutantes, Celebrates Service

95th Cinderella Ball Presents Ten Debutantes, Celebrates Service Read More »

The 95th Presentation of Cinderella Ball was held on Saturday, June 26, 2021 in Sewickley, Pa. chaired by Cinderella Women’s Committee members Mrs. Laura Kronk and Mrs. Lisa Keefer. For an event that has been held nearly every year since 1924, this celebration was especially poignant as much of the volunteering and events were held …

Regional News

Pandemic’s Disruptive Path Still Haunts the Unemployed

by Jeffery Fraser

Fallout from the pandemic is discouraging a significant number of unemployed southwestern Pennsylvanians from looking for work, even as businesses reopen and COVID cases decline, according to a recent survey. Caring for children, dependent older adults and others was the most common reason for not looking for work that was given by unemployed workers who …

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Books

Pittsburgh Philanthropy

by Kathleen W. Buechel

Ask a person from Pittsburgh to define philanthropy and they’ll most likely mention an industrialist such as Andrew Carnegie, or a patriarch named Heinz or Mellon. These economic titans loom large in Pittsburgh. The word “Pittsburgh” and its Gilded Age bequests are so intertwined that some think these industrialists invented philanthropy here. Experiences at Carnegie’s …

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Events

Brother’s Brother Foundation and Blood Science Foundation Host Inaugural Golf Event

Brother’s Brother Foundation and Blood Science Foundation Host Inaugural Golf Event Read More »

On Monday June 21, 2021, Brother’s Brother Foundation (BBF) and Blood Science Foundation (BSF) jointly hosted their Inaugural Golf Event at the Fox Chapel Golf Club. The outing, despite challenging weather conditions, raised money to support local healthcare and educational programs. Brother’s Brother Foundation was established by Dr. Robert A. Hingson in 1958 to assist …

On Inflation

Confessions of an Introvert in Pandemic Times Read More »

So many people have asked about my views on inflation that I’m pausing my antitrust series to address the topic. Back to antitrust next week. “If [Biden] succeeds, the President will cast 40 years of economic doctrine on history’s ash heap. But that’s a big if.” — Michael Hirsh, in Foreign Policy In my day …

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Opinion

Confessions of an Introvert in Pandemic Times

by Valentine J. Brkich

Most people who know me would be surprised to hear that I’m an introvert. Sure, I can be social when I have to. But honestly, social situations drain me. I recharge by coming home and crawling into a dark corner all by myself, much to my wife’s chagrin. You see, I’m an INFJ. In the …

Sports

Lovable and Inimitable

by James Forr

Original research for this story was conducted by the author for a book he co-authored with David Proctor entitled “Pie Traynor: A Baseball Biography.” Hunched over a lathe on a steamy factory floor, Pie Traynor — World Series champion, future Hall of Famer, and the man widely considered the greatest third baseman who had ever …

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Arts

The Triumph of “The Current War”

by Stuart Sheppard

Since the emergence of drama two-and-a-half-millennia ago, the theater’s greatest enemy has always been the plague. It is no coincidence that during the fifth century BCE, as Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides were writing the first great tragedies, Hippocrates was writing the first great medical treatise, called the Epidemics. Theater, unlike virtually any other art form, …

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Money

What a Year. What Now? Part III

What a Year. What Now? Part III Read More »

Pittsburgh Quarterly asked the region’s top experts to respond to these questions: As the U.S. economy gradually recovers from the pandemic, which sectors of the market do you like now? How are you positioning client portfolios? We thank them for giving readers their responses, which follow. Read part one and part two. Linda Duessel, Federated …

Obituaries

Flannery, Verrilla, Kudzma, Washowich, Spinabelli, Davis

Flannery, Verrilla, Kudzma, Washowich, Spinabelli, Davis Read More »

Tom Flannery, 75: A former Dartmouth football and rugby player who was 6’4” and 230 pounds, Flannery blended an imposing physical presence with a warm, fun-loving personality to become the top headhunter in Pittsburgh. In his role leading the Pittsburgh office of international search firm Boyden, he placed key top executives at countless local corporations …

Our Sleeping Porch

by Daryln Brewer Hoffstot

“There was nothing of the giant in the aspect of the man who was beginning to awaken on the sleeping porch of a Dutch Colonial house in that residential district of Zenith known as Floral Heights. His name was George F. Babbitt.” — “Babbitt” by Sinclair Lewis The joys of a sleeping porch are many, …

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The Weird Inconsistencies of Trust Busting

The Weird Inconsistencies of Trust Busting Read More »

Last week, I suggested that the enforcement of America’s antitrust laws has made little sense since the Sherman Act was adopted in 1890. In fact, the word that comes to mind is “fiasco.” Previously in this series: “Making Monopoly Illegal: Antitrust Is More Interesting Than You Think, Part VI” I mentioned earlier in this series …

Books

A Different View of the Neighborhood

by Gregg Behr & Ryan Rydzewski

In 1968, when Fred Rogers pushed through his famous front door for the first time, he brought with him more than kindness, compassion and a cardigan sweater. He brought more than Daniel Tiger, more than X the Owl, more than all the puppets who lived in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. What Rogers brought was less …

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Money

What a Year. What Now? Part II

What a Year. What Now? Part II Read More »

Food & Wine

Buckle Up!

by Lidey Heuck

Pie, crisp, cobbler, crumble, betty or buckle, the most beloved summer desserts are the ones that highlight ripe summer fruit, with a little bit of butter, sugar and flour to bring everything together. (And most, if not at all, are made even better with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.) Versions of …

Buckle Up! Read More »

Making Monopoly Illegal