Articles Archive - Page 74 of 156 - Pittsburgh Quarterly

In their own view, people in Allegheny County are generally healthier than the nation’s population. They’re also smoking less. Only 16 percent of county residents overall described their general health as fair or poor in the Pittsburgh Regional Quality of Life Survey conducted in June. Nationally, 18.4 percent of Americans say they’re in fair or …

How Healthy are Allegheny County Residents? Read More »

Birds

Death in the Back Yard

by Don Feigert

I had been an outdoors guy all my life, until Donna Rae found “our dream house” in the city of Sharon in 2006. The compromise was that, for a place in town, this property had a bit of wild land and some wildlife: dozens of squirrels, occasional deer, raccoons, skunks, and—some years—hawks roosting in the …

Death in the Back Yard Read More »

This Week’s Astrology: Jan. 31–Feb. 7, 2019

by Judi Vitale

Apart from harsh weather, this time of year rarely seems “eventful.” However, the planets do not see it that way this week. In addition to a new moon on Monday, we will notice other shifts that will result from some rather important planetary interactions. Most powerful among these will be a harmonious exchange between Saturn …

This Week’s Astrology: Jan. 31–Feb. 7, 2019 Read More »

Regional News

Lowest in Decades

by Julia Fraser

Unemployment in southwestern Pennsylvania fell again in December, ending a year that saw the jobless rate slip to levels last seen when the region’s steel industry still ruled the local economy. The unemployment rate in the seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area was 4.2 percent for December 2018, down .4 percent from December 2017, according to …

Lowest in Decades Read More »

Creative Capital

On Lucretius, Part II: Why His Poem Was so Great

by Greg Curtis

“The greatest poem by the greatest poet.” —Dryden on De Rerum Natura and Lucretius ”Carmina sublimis tunc sunt peritura Lucreti / exitio terras cum dabit una dies.” —Ovid [“The verses of the sublime Lucretius/will perish only when a day will bring the end of the world.”] What exactly was it that made De Rerum Natura, or DRN, so remarkable? …

On Lucretius, Part II: Why His Poem Was so Great Read More »

Nature

Wild Bones

by Daryln Brewer Hoffstot

My daughter brings home bones and piles them on the driveway: femur, rib, jawbone with a few flat teeth attached, dozens of thin arced parts. —from “My Daughter Brings Home Bones” by Jennifer Richter [ngg src=”galleries” ids=”163″ display=”basic_thumbnail” thumbnail_crop=”0″] The American photographer Sally Mann, controversial in the 1990s for the photos she took of her …

Wild Bones Read More »

Books

Short Takes: “Thank Your Lucky Stars” “Asia Ascending”

by John Allison

The pleasures of “Thank Your Lucky Stars” are doubled in the re-reading. The 50 stories tucked into 189 pages encourage a binge. Most are short short, sometimes just a few paragraphs; about 10 are traditional-length short stories (if size matters). But when you return to browse through the collection, images and phrases bust out like …

Short Takes: “Thank Your Lucky Stars” “Asia Ascending” Read More »

Books

The Bad Old Days

by John Allison

You won’t get depressed by reading Richard Gazarik’s “Wicked Pittsburgh.” The retired Tribune-Review reporter does not seek to darken the name of our fair city. He merely wants to gather, in one handy and readable volume, key stories of corruption, crime and skulduggery stretching back to the turn of the 20th century. The cumulative effect …

The Bad Old Days Read More »

Special Reports

Up in the Air

by Pittsburgh Today Staff

This four-part award-winning series of articles offers a comprehensive look at air quality in southwestern Pennsylvania. The scope of the 14-article series, winner of a national Folio award for regional journalism, ranges from the legacy of the region’s industrial past when Pittsburgh earned the reputation as the “Smoky City,” to the characteristics of the region’s …

Up in the Air Read More »

Nonprofits

Disability Community Looks to Commonwealth Leaders for Hope and Help

by Ruth Siegfried

With a re-elected governor sworn back in for his second term, a new lieutenant governor snug in his new office and a gaggle of new legislators joining lawmaking hands with their seasoned colleagues, it’s time for Harrisburg to settle in and begin work one of its most vexing tasks: enacting a fair, adequate and balanced …

Disability Community Looks to Commonwealth Leaders for Hope and Help Read More »

This Week’s Astrology: Jan. 24-30, 2019

by Judi Vitale

While we will certainly notice less frenetic activity than the last few weeks have brought, this one will have its share of interesting turns. The sun will remain in Aquarius, bringing to mind the general concern of what works for “everyone,” whether that constitutes your family, circle of friends, business associates, community, country, or more. …

This Week’s Astrology: Jan. 24-30, 2019 Read More »

Nature

Patterns at the Reservoir

by David Aschkenas

With winter’s storms and frigid temperatures come delicate specimens of nature’s beauty, for those attentive enough to notice. Over several years, photographer David Aschkenas captured the natural art of ice patterns on the surface of the Highland Park Reservoir. Enjoy the beauty of freezing temperatures—without needing to bundle up—in this photo collection by Aschkenas. [ngg …

Patterns at the Reservoir Read More »

Creative Capital

On Lucretius: The Man Who Changed the World

by Greg Curtis

One happy day in the year 1417, with the mind of Europe still firmly in the grip of the Dark Ages, a fellow named Poggio Bracciolini was mucking around in the Benedictine library at Fulda in present-day Germany. He reached out his hand and pulled off the musty shelves a volume which, to his astonishment, …

On Lucretius: The Man Who Changed the World Read More »

Sports

The Flying Dutchman Once More

by Teake Zuidema

It all began when my car caught fire. I smelled something burning as I approached the intersection of Penn and North Negley Avenue. I scanned my surroundings to see which building was ablaze. Nothing. Just then, it dawned on me the smoke was inside my car while all the windows were closed. A few days …

The Flying Dutchman Once More Read More »

Health

Making a Splash

by Kelly Casey

More than a century ago, scientists figured out how to deploy sound waves to locate the position and distance of enemy submarines. This discovery would also lay the groundwork for using high-frequency sound waves to peer inside the human body and usher in the age of ultrasound. Today, ultrasound (or sonography) is the most widely …

Making a Splash Read More »

Profiles

Consensus Builder

by Jonathan Callard

Mark Nordenberg’s cell phone lights up. He smiles to see a call from Herb Douglas, the oldest living African-American Olympic medalist and a University of Pittsburgh alum. Douglas hails from Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood neighborhood, where some community advocates raise questions about how residents will fare amidst the mammoth Hazelwood Green development project currently under construction. “Are …

Consensus Builder Read More »

Regional News

Jobs Added In Region

by Julia Fraser

The Pittsburgh region closed out 2018 with an uptick in employment opportunities as employers added 17,100 jobs in December, a year-over-year increase of 0.8 percent dating to December 2017, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. December’s numbers suggest that job creation remained positive in the seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area throughout 2018. But, …

Jobs Added In Region Read More »

Spotlight

Mandating Affordable Housing: A Complex Zoning Challenge

by Jeffery Fraser

One Pittsburgh neighborhood could soon test a brand of zoning that requires developers to include affordable housing in new market-rate projects as a way to build the inventory of units available for residents earning less than the city’s median income. Pittsburgh recently joined cities in 25 states that have adopted some form of inclusionary zoning, …

Mandating Affordable Housing: A Complex Zoning Challenge Read More »

This Week’s Astrology: Jan. 17–23, 2019

by Judi Vitale

Reverie and reverberations could result from the planetary action we have in store. You may remember that eclipse of the sun that had people talking on January 5th. That was the new moon. This week, the eclipses become a matching set with an eclipse of the moon on Monday the 21st. This is the full …

This Week’s Astrology: Jan. 17–23, 2019 Read More »

Creative Capital

We Are Forever Grateful for Your Sacrifices, Part II

by Greg Curtis

Amazingly, I passed all my first year law school exams (okay, by the skin of my teeth), and that fall I was back in Cambridge ready to start my second year at Harvard Law. But they wouldn’t let me register for classes because I couldn’t pay the (staggering) tuition. When I’d started my first year …

We Are Forever Grateful for Your Sacrifices, Part II Read More »

Food & Wine

New and Noteworthy: LeoGreta, Fish nor Fowl

by Tatiana

Longtime Pittsburgh chef Greg Alauzen has opened his own restaurant in Carnegie paying homage to his parents, Leon and Greta with his homemade Italian cuisine. His enthusiasm as chef/owner is palpable. Firmly at the helm in the kitchen; he takes time to visit his guests. His menu is straightforward featuring Italian classics made from scratch. …

New and Noteworthy: LeoGreta, Fish nor Fowl Read More »

Food & Wine

Essential Dining: Winter

by Tatiana

While Pittsburgh winters often begin with sparkling lights, a gentle first snow and holiday splendor, they can quickly become slush and ice. The constant threat of the wintry mix, the steady stream of gray days, and scattered plastic chairs reserving parking on snowy streets can wear down the most pleasant among us. Confronting the cold …

Essential Dining: Winter Read More »