Articles Archive - Page 73 of 153 - Pittsburgh Quarterly

Taxes on sugary beverages seem like a sweet deal with their potential to whittle down obesity and diabetes rates while boosting city revenues to help pay for things like better schools and parks. Yet, they require broad public and political support to adopt over industry opposition. Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle and several other cities …

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Creative Capital

Firing Your Financial Advisor, Part III

by Greg Curtis

Now that we know why we’re going to fire our financial advisor, let’s talk about when to do it. Obviously, if any of the issues I detailed in my last post are operating, the time to fire your advisor is ASAP. But even if no hot-button issues have raised their ugly heads, that doesn’t necessarily mean that all is …

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Innovation

Alan Perlis: The First Computer Scientist

by James H. Morris

I was a teenager in 1957 when the Russians launched Sputnik. In the national reaction to it I was inspired to pursue science. I was all set to go to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology or the California Institute of Technology to become a physicist, when the Carnegie Institute of Technology offered me a full …

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Arts

Carnegie International Opening Weekend Through the Lens of an Outsider

by Casey Kelbaugh

Though my visits to Pittsburgh have been few and far between, I’ve always known that my family had deep roots in the Iron City. Along with that came a vague whisper of prominence verbally imparted by my grandparents. But until my visit to the opening weekend of the Carnegie International in October, I had no …

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The Pulse

Airing Concern

by Jeffery Fraser

Historically lower ozone pollution levels in southwestern Pennsylvania do not impress residents of Allegheny County whose concern is rising over the quality of the air they breathe. Seven years ago, air quality wasn’t a problem in the minds of 47 percent of county residents. Today, only 32 percent of Allegheny County residents share that view, …

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Arts

The 57th Carnegie International: Looking Forward While Mindful of the Past

by Vicky A Clark

The Carnegie International is here again, the 57th in the series inaugurated by founder Andrew Carnegie in 1896. While international exhibitions have proliferated in the last 50 years, the Carnegie International remains one of the few based in a museum with its own identity—one rich with diverse offerings ranging from a museum of art to …

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This Week’s Astrology: Nov. 29–Dec. 5, 2018

by Judi Vitale

If you haven’t noticed the confusion, static and difficulty of Mercury retrograde as of yet, it might become more obvious this week as Mercury slides back into the sign of Scorpio. Attend to problems with communication and technological issues that may have begun over the last few months, and they will be fixed once and …

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Regional News

Unemployment Stays Low

by Julia Fraser

Southwestern Pennsylvania still enjoys relatively low unemployment, but the region’s rate remains higher than the national average. The Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased from 4.8 percent in October 2017 to 4.2 percent in October 2018, according to recently released data from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. The U.S. unemployment rate was 3.7 percent in October. “The nation’s unemployment …

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Spotlight

Healthier, Wealthier and Wiser: Are Cities with Soda Taxes Better Off?

by Julia Fraser

Improving city schools and parks may not have been novel campaign promises, but when it came to funding such aspirations, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney had something new to say. He championed the Philadelphia Beverage Tax, a 1.5-cents-per-ounce tax on sweetened beverages to help fund schools, pre-kindergarten classes, parks and libraries. Last year, Philadelphia became the …

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Creative Capital

Firing Your Financial Advisor, Part II

by Greg Curtis

If you Google “Should I fire my financial advisor?” you will land on a lot of brain-dead articles. If any of the reasons listed in those articles apply to your financial advisor and you haven’t fired him, you’re probably hopeless. But in the interest of comprehensiveness, let’s take a quick look at reasons to fire your advisor right …

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PQ Poem

At Western Psych

by Angele Ellis

On the dayroom TV screen, the Gladiator hallucinates in the desert. Golden lions and ghost horses scream. Filmed light flickers like tears on drugged un/watchful faces. Everyone is shoeless, their socks dark green. The water fountain is bandaged in a towel, leaking like a bad burn. The inmates queue to drink the dribble, scolded by …

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Culture

Indiana County Tree Farmers Keep the Green in Christmas

by John Beale

When your friends in Florida or your relatives in Virginia gather around their live Christmas tree this season, there’s a chance the evergreen was grown and harvested from a hillside in Indiana County, Pa. Flemings Christmas Tree Farm in Indiana is just one of 20 tree farms in the county that claims to be “The …

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Opinion

A Turning Point for Troubled Times

by Douglas Heuck

By almost any objective measure, life in America has never been better. We’re not at war. Poverty is low, unemployment’s even lower, and stocks are sky high. Homicide rates are about where they were in 1950 and half of what they were in 1980. And medical care is better than ever with dramatic breakthroughs occurring …

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This Week’s Astrology: Nov. 22–28, 2018

by Judi Vitale

Mercury retrograde may continue to plague us humans this week, but paying more attention to the way you handle things such as communication, travel, and electronics will help. Also, remember to bring extra patience to any and all situations, and be accepting that not every plan can be as perfectly executed as your favorite chef’s …

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Arrivals

Yeh, Taylor, Giovannitti, Chodos, Farmer, McQuaid, Zhao

by PQ Staff

Justin Yeh, M.D. is chief of the Division of Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Medicine and co-director of the Heart Institute at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. He oversees the pediatric cardiac intensive care unit and holds an appointment as associate professor of pediatrics and critical care medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Yeh, a native of …

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American Spirit

Anne and the Album

by Kate Benz, photography by John Altdorfer

She could sit here all day, really. On the upholstered, wooden chair without wheels that she’ll push from keyboard to keyboard while she’s creating songs in the studio she has set up in her living room. It’s a sunken space with hardwood floors and a wood beam ceiling, anchored by a stone fireplace that feels …

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Creative Capital

Firing Your Financial Advisor

by Greg Curtis

“You’re fired!” – Donald Trump. The incredible—and incredibly long—bull market in both stocks and bonds that has persisted since the end of the Global Financial Crisis is now teetering. Whether or not the market bloodbath that occurred in October continues, the bull will in fact come to an end one of these days. When that …

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Shopping

Unique Boutiques

by Barbara Eichenlaub

As the holidays approach, so does the need for presents and hostess gifts. While it may be tempting to get on your iPad at 2 a.m. and order mass-produced items that will show up on your doorstep in two days, there are unique or personalized options that support local businesses and make you look like …

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Profiles

Pittsburgh’s Leading Newswoman

by Kate Benz

It is a hot, unbearably humid day in late August. There are two LED lights, a heavy, Sony XD camera mounted on a tripod and one monitor propped up on the Baughman Trail in Ohiopyle, just beyond the old train station. Mosquitos relentless, sun managing to beat down through a thick canopy of trees, crickets …

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Regional News

Region Adds Jobs

by Julia Fraser

Pittsburgh may have lost its bid for Amazon’s second headquarters, but the region picked up more jobs in October. The Pittsburgh region gained 10,869 jobs between October 2017 and October 2018, a 1.3 percent increase over the year, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Other regions, however, continued to add jobs at …

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The Pulse

Scrimping to Get By

by Jeffery Fraser

Paying their housing costs is a struggle for an alarming number of Americans across the country and Allegheny County is no exception. Nearly one-third of Americans spend at least 30 percent of their income on housing. The number of households dealing with such costs has risen from 16 million in 2001 to more than 38 …

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This Week’s Astrology: Nov. 15–21, 2018

by Judi Vitale

Shifts and signals from many of the planets will usher in the uptake in pace that signifies the holiday season. The biggest news is the beginning of Mercury retrograde, which comes on Friday evening. Expect to notice certain glitches in communication and travel even before that occurs. Pre-Thanksgiving travelers may want to leave extra time, …

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