Winter 2025
Pittsburgh Tomorrow: The Voyage of a Year
At 3 a.m. Sunday, October 20, I bolted out of bed with a thought. Weeks earlier, I’d tried unsuccessfully to attend a Kamala Harris rally to spread the word about the Pittsburgh Tomorrow project. On this Sunday, Elon Musk was coming for a rally — and if I could get in, I wanted to be …
A Pilot Program Flies
Early this year, we wrote letters to the principals of all 88 high schools in Allegheny County asking them to nominate one sophomore and one junior (one boy, one girl) to the initial congress for the Allegheny Conservation Corps, an initiative for high school students to create community projects. The idea was threefold: physically improve …
Noteworthy Winter 2025
(Editor’s note: this story was originally published Dec. 3) Stick Up for U.S. SteelOne thing the U.S. presidential aspirants had in common this year is they all came out against the U.S. Steel/Nippon Steel deal. U.S. Steel chose the Japanese steelmaker because Nippon is willing to pay a much higher price than the other bidder, …
Holiday Nonprofit Guide
Editor’s note: We asked the leaders of key local nonprofits the following question: What is your organization’s mission and what are you most in need of as we approach the holidays and 2025? The answers follow. JANE WERNER, Children’s MuseumOur mission is to provide innovative and inclusive museum experiences that inspire kindness, creativity, curiosity and …
Kinetic Theatre’s “A Sherlock Carol”
Earlier this month I happened to rewatch the 1976 film, “The Seven-Per-Cent Solution” which I had not seen for many years, and was amazed by the interiority actor Nicol Williamson discovered in the character of Sherlock Holmes. In this story, Holmes teams up with Sigmund Freud – talk about an intellectual buddy adventure – to solve …
Holiday Nonprofit Guide
Editor’s note: We asked the leaders of key local nonprofits the following question: What is your organization’s mission and what are you most in need of as we approach the holidays and 2025? The answers follow. WENDY PARDEE, The Children’s Institute of PittsburghThe Children’s Institute provides support and care unlike any other to children with …
Dissatisfied but Grateful
To satisfy and to gratify are often used interchangeably, but they have totally different meanings. To satisfy, or to be satisfied, refers to a variety of human needs that periodically demand to be met and satiated in order to be eased. The need for food, water, sleep, space, companionship, alleviation of pain, or protection from …
What Do I Know? Stanley Druckenmiller
I was born in 1953 in Philadelphia and grew up in New Jersey and Virginia. By the eighth grade, I had attended six public schools before being enrolled at a private day school in the ninth grade. My father, who was a chemistry major in college, worked for Dupont and ended up in labor relations. …
An Owl for All Seasons
I do not recommend birding while driving. Looking up into the sky to determine whether the soaring shape high above is an eagle or just a turkey vulture is generally unsafe. True, I have never veered off the road or crossed into oncoming traffic, but I could have. Hurtling down the highway, I’ve seen red-tailed …
Seasons Saltings
John Tarallo is a happy person. And he seems to infuse his infectious enthusiasm and passion into everything he touches. Raised in Lawrenceville and Bloomfield, he started working at the legendary Groceria Italiana at 13. There, and in his Italian mother’s and grandmother’s kitchens, he watched and learned about food, flavors and cooking. He went …
Nashville, Pennsylvania
After an 11-year exile to Nashville, Tennessee, I finally woke up smelling Pittsburgh. I woke from dreams of flying through the Conemaugh Gap, inhaling the untouched scent of the Laurel and Cresson mountains surrounding my hometown of Johnstown, and continued across Route 22 to the musky smells of the Monongahela and into the mist of bridges …
Explore a Winter Hike on the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail
One of our region’s great hikes is the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail. It runs from the town of Ohiopyle on its southern end 70 miles northward to a vista above the Conemaugh River at its northern terminus. Used by through- and day-hikers and runners, it’s one of Pennsylvania’s most beautiful trails. With steep grade changes, …
Explore a Winter Hike on the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail Read More »
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Finds Poetry in Dance
I should have known something special was happening Downtown on a windy, wet, early-April evening when I saw a 10-year-old girl literally yanking her mother into the box office of the Benedum Center. I hadn’t seen a child this excited to attend a performance since I witnessed a little boy twirling his red matador cape …
