Articles Archive - Page 41 of 157 - Pittsburgh Quarterly

Question: “I have read that American children are falling behind the rest of the world in performance on basic fitness tests. How can we get kids to exercise more and improve their fitness?” Your assessment of the physical status of our younger generation is spot on. Over the last few decades, American children have become …

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Opinion

Ode to the Nose

by Diane Vrabel

Somebody once asked Princess Di to name one thing she would change about herself. Without hesitation, she replied, “My nose.” Ah, the poor, long-suffering nose! Dissed by royals, no less. It’s the most maligned facial feature, but arguably the most indispensable. The eyes may be the windows of the soul, but the nose is the …

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Creative Capital

The Senator’s Big Idea

by Greg Curtis

Joe Biden was my new client because he’d called Joseph Hill Associates to ask about something called “federal revenue sharing” (FRS). Most people live long and happy lives without ever hearing that phrase, but, alas, not me. I was JHA’s resident expert on FRS. Previously in this series: “The Law Works in Mysterious Ways: Joe …

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Nonprofits

Gimme Shelter

by Pohla Smith

Emelee Mihalick, 37, a wife, mother of two and former teacher, has been involved with something else even longer than those three things. The Squirrel Hill resident is a volunteer who cares for dogs at shelters. Currently she is volunteering at the four-year-old Humane Animal Rescue in Pittsburgh’s East End. “My mom walked dogs,” remembered …

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Arts

Decorating the Silver Screen

by Maria Sciullo

Jan Pascale would be really great on a scavenger hunt. Fifty place settings of vintage Blue Willow china? A candlestick telephone? Camera equipment from the 1930s? A lineup of old, clunky manual typewriters? [ngg src=”galleries” ids=”386″ display=”basic_thumbnail” thumbnail_crop=”0″] As a set decorator, she found all this and much more just for one movie, “Mank.” As …

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Regional News

Region Adds Jobs, but Growth Is Slow

by Julia Fraser

Employers in the Pittsburgh region added workers to their payrolls in March, but the modest job gains were a weak signal of recovery from the damage inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic, according the most recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area gained about 9,000 jobs from February …

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Regional Annual Report

Municipal Time Bomb

by Jeffery Fraser

The fear was real last spring as local taxes—the lifeblood of boroughs, townships and cities—were trickling in. The COVID-19 pandemic was closing or impairing businesses in southwestern Pennsylvania, the state and nation. The U.S. unemployment rate soared to nearly 15 percent. “We worried that our revenues would collapse,” said Scott Andrejchak, the municipal manager of …

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Homes

Light as Air

by Marylynn Uricchio

Leanne Ford is working from home these days, just like everyone else. But home for Ford means Pittsburgh, as in the entire city and its environs. [ngg src=”galleries” ids=”385″ display=”basic_thumbnail” thumbnail_crop=”0″] The interior designer and star of HGTV’s “Restored by the Fords” is positioning her new season, “Home Again with the Fords,” as part of …

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Birds

It’s a Bird, Not an Insult

by David Liebmann

One April morning when I was watching my feeders, I noticed a woodpecker on a branch. At least I thought it was a plain, old woodpecker. Black and white plumage, chisel-like beak. But there was red on the front of its face and chin. Not the back-of-the-head, red splotch of the male downy or hairy …

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Creative Capital

The Law Works in Mysterious Ways

by Greg Curtis

After I was mustered out of the army, I reapplied to law school to finish my second and third years. I assumed my readmission would be pretty much automatic, but I was wrong — I was put through the wringer. Previously in this series: “Joe Biden Saved Me from Pocatello” Eventually I was required to …

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Nature

Celebrating Spring in Penns Creek Wild Area

by Thomas Saunders

People who have spent time around state College know the surrounding mountains hold countless opportunities for enjoying the outdoors. From winter hiking in the rocky ridgelines and snowshoeing around Bear Meadows Natural Area to spring fishing in Penns Creek’s and Fishing Creek’s famous trout waters, Centre County offers beautiful, remote landscapes in any season. One …

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Food & Wine

Spring Greenery

by Lidey Heuck

After a long winter, the arrival of early spring, however damp and cool, is always welcome. This year especially so, as warmer weather on the horizon promises a reprieve after another pandemic winter. What better way to celebrate the cheerfulness of spring than with a pasta bursting with the bright, crisp flavors of spring’s early …

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Creative Capital

Joe Biden Saved Me from Pocatello

by Greg Curtis

I had no intention of going to law school. In fact, I’d already been accepted into a Ph.D. program in English Lit at Yale and fully intended to spend my life writing poetry and teaching literature on some leafy campus. But then I got my draft notice and suddenly I got a lot more realistic …

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PQ Poem

Necessary City

by Emily Mohn-Slate

I’m walking in hard rain in East Liberty no umbrella keeping direction bythe Cathedral rising over the roofs of this city I swore I’d never live in. Nico and Kai shopin Giant Eagle. I know he’s taking good care of him probably making him laugh feeding himcheerios. I could leave get in my car and …

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Arrivals

Baker, Talotta, Franco, Hearn, Reeves, Ramachandran

by PQ Staff

Gretchen Baker will become the Daniel G. and Carole L. Kamin Director of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History on April 1. Baker is currently the managing director for museum experience at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles. She previously served as vice president of exhibitions for the Natural History Museums of …

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Regional Annual Report

Breaking the News

by Bill O'Toole

With their traditional revenue models already suffering a long-term structural decline, local media operations have been further weakened by the government lockdowns and economic havoc accompanying COVID-19. Or as Tom Melia, Washington director of PEN America, the 99-year-old nonprofit that protects free expression, put it: “The pandemic has accelerated almost every contributing factor to the …

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Sports

Pittsburgh’s Greatest Sports Rivalry: Satchel and Josh

by Richard “Pete” Peterson

On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson, who started his professional career with the Kansas City Monarchs, played his first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers and began the integration of the Major Leagues. This past December, nearly 75 years later, Major League Baseball decided to elevate Negro League Baseball, founded in 1920, from minor-league to major-league …

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Obituaries

Rooney, Clarke, Habegger, Miller, Thornburgh, Gale, Robinson

by PQ Staff

Patricia Rooney, 88: Married to the late Steelers Chairman Dan Rooney for 65 years and one of four matriarchs of longstanding NFL families, Mrs. Rooney combined her love of family with a commitment to many causes, especially in the North Side neighborhood where she grew up and lived until her death. The mother of nine …

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Creative Capital

The Thrilling Conclusion

by Greg Curtis

We now come to the dénouement of my story, with the episode we’ll call The Imposter. On a Saturday evening, I donned my young-lawyer uniform and headed for Glassport, Pa., situs of Copperweld’s headquarters and plants and where I was to stand in for the Baron. Previously in this series: “The Mystery Man: Baron Rothschild …

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Health

What Determines a Healthy Body Weight?

by Joseph A. Luxbacher

Question: “How can I determine a healthy body weight for myself?” For sake of discussion, let us consider a healthy body weight to be one where a person generally feels good with her or his weight, can complete routine physical activities and exercise with relative ease, and is free of or successfully managing chronic disease. …

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Profiles

Andy Masich: Pittsburgh Has a Story to Tell

by Jeff Sewald

My father was an engineer and my mother was a trained actress who went to school at Carnegie Tech, now Carnegie Mellon University. (Her first kissing scene was with Carl Betz, a Pittsburgher, who played the husband on “The Donna Reed Show.”) My parents met while doing community and summer-stock theatre. I have a wonderful …

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Regional News

February Jobs Report: Still Dismal

by Julia Fraser

The Pittsburgh region continued to hemorrhage jobs in February, according recently released data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area lost 82,400 jobs between February 2020 and February 2021, amounting to a 7.8 percent decrease over the year. Job losses in the region exceeded the 6.7 percent average decline …

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