Articles Archive - Page 73 of 158 - Pittsburgh Quarterly

It’s three o’clock on a Friday afternoon, and there are people coming into the post office on Main Street with letters to mail and packages to ship and books of stamps to buy and not one of them can resist the candy. Cinnamon drops and peppermints and, “Oh, is that butterscotch? I’ll take two,” sitting …

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Regional News

Unemployment Drops As Workforce Expands

by Julia Fraser

Southwestern Pennsylvania saw unemployment continue to fall in February and, over the previous 12 months, added more than 8,000 workers to its workforce, which has struggled to expand in recent years, U.S. Bureau of Labor data show. The unemployment rate in the seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area dropped to 3.6 percent in February, down from …

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Books

Treating Patients As People

by Fred Shaw

Healthcare often gets treated as if the only issue is economic: Health insurance-Goliaths Highmark and UPMC are in a coverage standoff; a “Medicare-for-all” bill that could cost up $32 trillion is unveiled in the U.S House of Representatives; insurance rates tick upward. But what about the emotional plight of flesh-and-blood patients facing uncertain outcomes while …

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Creative Capital

The Argument for Containing China

by Greg Curtis

“In the Indo-Pacific region, China wants complete dominance; it wants to force the United States out and become the region’s unchallenged political, economic, and military hegemon. And globally … it wants to be powerful enough to counter Washington when needed.” –Oriana Skylar Mastro, Foreign Affairs We are talking about how a cold war between China and …

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Arts

New Faces at the Westmoreland

by Vicky A Clark

With a renewed interest in what kinds of people are represented in art museums, a new exhibition at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art offers some rarely seen faces. “Mingled Visions: The Photographs of Edward S. Curtis and Will Wilson” (March 30–June 30) presents images of Native Americans taken a century apart and from different …

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Opinion

Batting Her Eyelashes

by Elizabeth Wiethorn

As never happens, I was invited to a black-tie charity event. Already possessing a fetching black ball gown, I thought I was sufficiently prepared. A close friend, however, said I just MUST get eyelash extensions for that “little extra pizzazz.” Maybe I would finally make the P-G “Seen” column! Always on the lookout for such …

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Health

Saving the Aging Brain

by Keith Gillogly

Think of all the products and promises for sale claiming to improve brain health. Mental-fitness games offer a gymnasium for the brain while one-a-day pills pledge a mental fountain of youth. Regardless of these claims, there may be no big secret to keeping the brain healthy and maintaining cognitive function. Rather, practicing all the components …

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PQ Poem

On Broken Hollow Bridge

by Karen J. Weyant

Answering Darlene Howard’s snotty dare, I hoisted myself up to the handrail, as thick as a balance beam, but slick with summer rain and wet rust. Knees bent, arms out to my sides, I straightened, chin up, staring ahead. Kicking off my sandals, I took my first tentative steps, peeling corrosion sticking to my skin, …

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Creative Capital

U.S & China: Setting the Record Straight

by Greg Curtis

In April of 2017, as Donald Trump and Xi Jinping were preparing to meet, a group of academics, policy wonks and former diplomats took out a full-page ad in the New York Times. The wonks warned the U.S. against falling into the “Thucydides Trap.” The ad explained the Thucydides Trap as arising when a dominant power …

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Obituaries

Massaro, Weiss, Fralic, Coleman, Hughes, Grunbaum, Hickey, Rich

by PQ Staff

Carol Massaro, 79: A mother of four, she raised nearly $1 million for Alzheimer’s research after the disease took her late husband, contractor Joseph A. Massaro Jr. She was a woman of tremendous energy and generosity, serving as an indefatigable volunteer for organizations across the city. Jack Weiss, 85: His father died when he was …

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Profiles

Compassion, Mindfulness and Resilience

by Douglas Heuck

A native of California, Dr. Barry Kerzin is a Buddhist monk and the physician to the Dalai Lama. He sat down with Pittsburgh Quarterly to discuss his recent visit to Pittsburgh. Q. You’re here to work with many of UPMC’s 16,000 nurses for training in compassion, mindfulness and resilience. How do you do this? A. …

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Regional News

Region Adds Jobs, But Pace Slows

by Julia Fraser

Employers in southwestern Pennsylvania continued to add jobs last month, but there are signs that job creation, which has been on the rise in recent years, could be slowing. The seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area added 6,400 jobs from February 2018 and February 2019—a .6 percent year-over-year increase, according to new data from the U.S. …

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Events

Pittsburgh Opera Hosts “Bohemian Nights” Fashion Show

by PQ Staff

Pittsburgh Opera’s “Bohemian Nights” fashion show dazzled guests gathered at Pittsburgh Opera Headquarters in the Strip District on Monday, March 18. [ngg src=”galleries” ids=”303″ display=”basic_thumbnail” thumbnail_crop=”0″] The evening featured couture fashions from Larrimor’s, hair and makeup by Studio Booth, and Pittsburgh Opera’s Resident Artists in opera couture. Before the show, guests enjoyed cocktails and passed …

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The Pulse

Degrees of Influence

by Jeffery Fraser

Question: Who in Allegheny County is more likely to own the home they live in—residents with a college degree, those with some college or other post-secondary schooling, or those who never took their formal education beyond high school? It’s not the person with a college degree. Some 72 percent of residents with no more than …

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Arts

Exuberance at the Warhol

by Vicky A Clark

Devon Shimoyama’s just-ended exhibition at the Andy Warhol Museum proves the enduring power of Warhol’s work 30 years after his death and shows that the museum has no interest in becoming a shrine to a self-referential and reverential hagiography. “Cry, Baby” brings a young talent to our attention, while simultaneously offering new insights into the …

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Creative Capital

Fed Cred: The Quailing Central Bank and What it Means

by Greg Curtis

It’s been a long time since I berated my friends at the Fed, and my typing fingers are getting itchy. So I’m interrupting my Cold War II series for a little pleasant Fed-bashing. Part of the reason for my (uncharacteristic) forbearance is that I thought Jay Powell was mostly doing the right things. He’d been …

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Food & Wine

Pittsburgh Quarterly Presents “The List” 2019

by Tatiana

Pittsburgh Quarterly’s Restaurant review Board is pleased to present our list of favorite restaurants. The list was generated based on our preferences for memorable dishes, fresh ingredients, professional service, appropriate atmosphere and, most important, consistently delicious food. Through regular meetings, spirited conversations and intense reviews which detail our anonymous dining experiences, we voted to generate …

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Nature

Against the Grain: The Tale of a Fallen Maple

by David Macpherson

Just after dawn on the beginning of a humid day, the copse below my hilltop home appeared out of order—something just not right. I crunched about 100 yards down my gravel driveway to investigate. The large maple, one of the bigger trees on my property, had toppled over, pulling up its roots when it fell. …

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Ready for a Burst of Spring (and Planets at Play)?

by Judi Vitale

No matter what it looks like outside, we’ll be feeling spring bursting out all over. Not only is it just about time for the season to officially start, when the sun enters Aries March 20th…there will be a full moon that will bring an explosion of energy and activity that will give the fastest of …

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Education

City Public Schools Wither as Economy Booms

by Paul Scripko

Austin is learning that much-desired economic success can have unintended consequences. The city’s declining school-age population and public school enrollment is citywide topic of conversation among Austin Independent School District (AISD) officials and Austin residents, including parents of school age children, taxpayers without children in school and local economic development professionals thrown in the mix. …

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Regional News

Pittsburgh Unemployment Hits Dramatic New Low

by Julia Fraser

Southwestern Pennsylvania opened the year with the lowest unemployment the region has seen in nearly 50 years. Pittsburghers began 2019 working in full force, as the unemployment rate fell to its lowest point since February 1970 and dropped beneath the national jobless rate. Unemployment in the seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area fell one percent in …

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Events

Mardi Gras Gala Raises More Than $511,000

by PQ Staff

On Fat Tuesday, March 5, more than 700 Mardi Gras revelers came to the Westin Convention Center to support the Epilepsy Association of Western and Central PA and honor Deb Rice-Johnson, President of Highmark, Inc., as the King of the Mardi Gras. [ngg src=”galleries” ids=”301″ display=”basic_thumbnail” thumbnail_crop=”0″] More than 6,500 balloons covered the ceiling of …

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