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04 NEWS // Coming Home
06 NEWS // Fair Funding?
12 MUSIC // Need for Speed
14 MUSIC // SoulShowMike’s Album Picks
16 NEWS // Firing Furor
18 NEWS // Pittsburgh News Roundup
20 EVENTS // Seven Days in Pittsburgh
22 Crossword and Classifieds
FEB. 15-22, 2023 // VOL. 32 ISSUE 7
Editor-in-Chief ALI TRACHTA
Director of Advertising RACHEL WINNER
Director of Operations KEVIN SHEPHERD
News Editor JAMIE WIGGAN
A&E Editor AMANDA WALTZ
News Reporter JORDANA ROSENFELD
Art Director LUCY CHEN
Photographer/Videographer JARED WICKERHAM
Graphic Designer JEFF SCHRECKENGOST
Digital Editorial Coordinator HANNAH KINNEY-KOBRE
Senior Account Executive OWEN GABBEY
Sales Representatives SIERRA CLARY, MARIA STILLITANO
Digital Coordinator MORGAN BIDDLE
Marketing Coordinator LEE HOOD
Circulation Manager JEFF ENGBARTH
Featured Contributors REGE BEHE, NATALIE BENCIVENGA, MIKE CANTON, LYNN CULLEN, JORDAN SNOWDEN
Interns PATRICK CAVANAGH, INDIA KRUG, MATTHEW MONROY
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COVER PHOTO: THE CAZART CHRONICLES
COVER ILLUSTRATION: LUCY CHEN
Joyce and Fred Schattauer stroll through Phipps Conservatory.
EVEN IN FAR AWAY Los Angeles, Pittsburgh helped Ali Trachta land her first newsroom job.
Back in 2010, she was up for the role of Assistant to the Editor at LA Weekly. When she walked into the editor’s office, she saw a huge photograph of downtown Pittsburgh pinned up on a bulletin board. It turned out her future boss – despite hailing from Alaska – had an affection for the city following a stint as a diehard Pirates’ fan, so the two spent the first half of the interview professing love for the ‘Burgh.
She got the job.
And on Jan. 23, Trachta started a new one, becoming Pittsburgh City Paper’s new editor-in-chief following a threemonth search of candidates across the country.
“Even though I’m brand new, I feel right at home in many ways,” Trachta says of her new role at City Paper . “I’m using the same language I used to use. I’m using the same software I used to use. I’m getting the same shiver up my spine when I hit publish.”
Trachta, a Pittsburgh native, began freelancing for publications in Chicago and Los Angeles in the late aughts while earning her bread in the corporate world. She eventually leveraged her clips into that full-time position at LA Weekly, and rose to the rank of Senior Digital Editor during her 7-year tenure. Throughout that time, she was driven by a sense of purpose and belonging that she’s never quite found outside the world of alternative media.
“I just felt like myself at all times at work,” Trachta recalls.
Returning to Pittsburgh in 2017, she regained that feeling as managing editor of NEXTpittsburgh where she spent a year before detouring into tech startups, serving in a variety of editorial and communications roles.
Tracy Certo, NEXTpittsburgh’s founder and editor-at-large, describes Trachta as “a smart, personable, and talented writer/ editor with a wicked sense of humor ... She’s also digitally savvy and highly
skilled in social media.
“One of the things that most impressed me about her was her ability to consistently come up with good, original story ideas,” Certo tells CP. “Ali is a great choice for the role at City Paper.”
Trachta’s former boss Sarah Fenske, who took over for the editor who hired her, echoes this sentiment: “I worked with Ali during my three years as editor-in-chief of the LA Weekly, and I was consistently impressed by her organization, her creativity, and her good humor.
As the paper’s digital editor, she guided the Weekly to the highest web traffic it ever attained in its 40-year history –and spearheaded some terrific projects that let people see and understand Los
Angeles in new ways.”
Trachta hopes to do the same at City Paper. “I intend to build on all the great work that’s been happening here for decades,” she says, “as well as try out some new stuff readers might not be expecting.”
Trachta joins CP after a period of turbulence brought on by the resignation of former editor Lisa Cunningham in October 2022 and the paper’s surprise acquisition by Block Communications, Inc. last month. Trachta learned of CP’s sale at the same time the public did.
Trachta, a former union member, says her agreement with BCI grants her full editorial control over CP’s content, and she has been assured by company
representatives the alt-weekly’s pages will not be reproduced in the Post-Gazette.
“I owe it to this paper and to the city of Pittsburgh to give this my all,” Trachta says. “This is a dream job for me and I can’t wait to dig in, tell compelling stories, and have a lot of fun. I feel like I’m right where I belong.”
Fenske agrees. “Even during our L.A. years, it was clear how much Ali loved Pittsburgh,” she tells CP , “and I can’t imagine a more perfect role for her than running the alt-weekly in her beloved city. She was made for this job, and I think everyone on staff and in your readership is going to be blown away by what she brings to it. I can’t wait to read the City Paper she puts out.” •
A Pa. court just ruled the state must close the wealth gap among school districts. Will it matter in Allegheny County?
BY JAMIE WIGGAN AND JORDANA ROSENFELD // JAMIE@PGHCITYPAPER.COM // JORDANA@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
WHEN the Sto-Rox School District ran out of money for paper in February 2020, local businesses and residents poured into a GoFundMe drive to meet the need.
That need was just one of many, most of which couldn’t be solved with simple crowdfunding. Two years later, the state stepped in with a financial recovery plan outlining teacher retirement incentives, higher healthcare contributions, and local tax raises. Still, even those leading the charge acknowledged the path ahead looked steep.
But a Commonwealth Court ruling on Pennsylvania school funding, announced last week, means that, at least in theory, the burden that’s long fallen on struggling communities like Sto-Rox now rests more broadly on the state legislature.
The decision comes nearly 10 years after petitioners from six ailing school districts challenged whether state officials were living up to their constitutional obligations to maintain and support “a thorough and efficient system of public education.”
Although none of the original
petitioners were based in Allegheny County, economic and academic disparities are rife across its 43 public school districts, and the ruling could spell welcome news for those facing setbacks.
“Allegheny County as a whole has some of the widest disparities in the state,” Jackie Foor, executive director of Consortium for Public Education, tells Pittsburgh City Paper . “We are excited that Judge [Renée Cohn] Jubelirer has recognized that [education] really is a fundamental right.”
Lawmakers can still appeal the
decision, but, even if it stands, its full impact remains far from clear.
While the petition was launched around a push for equal funding, Jubelirer found the General Assembly’s obligations also extend to students’ academic, social, and civic outcomes.
“The appropriate measure,” writes Jubelirer, “is whether every student is receiving a meaningful opportunity to succeed academically, socially, and civically, which requires that all students have access to a comprehensive, effective, and contemporary system of public education.”
Source: Pennsylvania Department of Education
To determine how a school measures up, Jubelirer names five “inputs” — funding, staffing, curricula, facilities, and “instrumentalities of learning.”
Generally, Jubelirer notes, more than half of a district’s funding comes from local sources, disadvantaging low-wealth communities that rely on weak tax bases.
“What the Court’s findings illustrate is local control by the districts is largely illusory,” she writes. “Low-wealth districts cannot generate enough revenue to meet the needs of their students, and the pot of money on which Legislative Respondents allege they sit is not truly disposable income.”
That lack of cash exacerbates the other issues. The amount of funding available to districts also impacts their ability to provide for the other inputs, like staffing, curricula, and after-school programming, Jubelirer says.
While high-wealth districts boast scores of extracurricular activities – arts classes and other electives, after school tutoring, and programs for college and career readiness, including Advanced Placement classes — Jubelirer finds that those resources do not exist, or are entirely inadequate in many low-wealth districts. In one example, a teacher in
the William Penn School District told the court that her district can’t afford to give her 25 kindergarteners more than 15 minutes of recess a day.
Deficiencies in material resources, whether it be school buildings, computer technology, or up-to-date textbooks, are points of high concern in the ruling.
U.S. President.
“The evidence demonstrates that low-wealth districts … which struggle to raise enough revenue through local taxes to cover the greater needs of their students, lack the inputs that are essential elements of a thorough and efficient system of public education.”
by the Legislative Respondents), national assessments, high school graduation rates, post-secondary enrollment, and racial disparities. These metrics, she says, help gauge whether every student “is receiving a meaningful opportunity to succeed.”
Summing up the inputs and outputs, Jubelirer points to “consistent gaps” between high- and low-wealth districts. The conclusion that not every student in Pennsylvania receives a meaningful opportunity to succeed, she writes, is “inescapable.”
The reports of rampant disparity underscoring Jubelirer’s 800-page conclusion are mirrored across school districts in Allegheny County.
Just a year before the Sto-Rox paper crisis, middle schoolers at the neighboring Montour District celebrated the opening of the country’s first public school artificial intelligence lab.
Jubelirer cites testimony from students in some schools being taught in classrooms where the sky is visible through holes in the roof, and in another instance, where children are reportedly learning from history textbooks so old they name Bill Clinton as the current
While acknowledging limitations of standardized testing, Jubelirer cites a string of “outputs” to evaluate the funding-driven “inputs” she cites. They are: state assessments (in Pennsylvania, the PSSAs and Keystones), PVAAS (a measure of academic growth preferred
In the Mon Valley, a 2020 report on segregation in American schools found that the districts of Clairton City and West Jefferson Hills, which share a border, represent the country’s ninthgreatest divide among neighboring districts.
“The evidence demonstrates that lowwealth districts … which struggle to raise enough revenue through local taxes to cover the greater needs of their students, lack the inputs that are essential elements of a thorough and efficient system of public education.”
Source: Pennsylvania Department of Education
to stand strong and demand a funding formula that works for all students,” Megan Van Fossan, superintendent at Sto-Rox School District, says in a statement. “We need a funding formula based on our students’ actual needs. Our kids at Sto-Rox are amazing but they do not have the same opportunities as students in well-funded districts.”
deficit in 2015, but has steadily risen back to solvency since entering the state recovery program in 2019, according to reporting from PublicSource. Indicating the kind of difference outside funding can make, the arrival of millions of dollars in COVID relief monies played an important part in the district’s recovery.
But the question of how much struggling schools stand to gain from the Pennsylvania ruling remains unclear.
John Zahorchak, business manager at the Penn Hills District, tells City Paper he’d like to see lawmakers get to work in time for the next fiscal year.
“ It seems to be a step in the right direction,” Zahorchak says. “At Penn Hills, along with many other urban schools, we have some unique challenges. We look forward to learning more about a system that is fair and equitable for all students.”
Penn Hills wracked up a $15 million
An appeal from Republican lawmakers could set the clock back many years, warns Ira Weiss, a solicitor representing Pittsburgh Public, Sto-Rox, and several other local school systems. Even without an appeal, Weiss expects years of wrangling between lawmakers, where Democrats maintain a razor-thin majority in the House and Republicans control the Senate.
“It’s far too early to say whether a new system will be devised, and what it’s going to look like,” Weiss tells CP
“This is the first page in a very long story.” •
“Now is the time for Pennsylvania to stand strong and demand a funding formula that works for all students.”
IF YOU WALK AWAY from the new 12-minute Speed Plans record with anything left rattling around in your noggin, it’ll be the ringing in your ears.
Statues of God , released Jan. 27, marks the third official record from the Pittsburgh five-piece , which consists of Matt Maitland (vocals), Matt George (bass), Justin “Twisty” Bennet
(guitar), Ralph DiLullo (guitar), and Justin Danylko (drums). Recorded around three years ago, Speed Plans waited until the vinyl release was ready to drop the album digitally.
Statues of God opens with a feedbackladen guitar rip that drops away for a drum barrage that sounds like knocking on the gates of hell. You could call it a hardcore call-and-response, but if you
ask the guys in the band, like true-blue Pittsburgh punks, they’ll probably chalk the moment up to just fucking around.
“You just hit the drums hard and loud and fast, cause if you don’t do that, then the band sucks,” says Danylko. “Cause if I didn’t do that — if I didn’t hit the drums hard — we wouldn’t be good.”
The band lineup has changed over the years, but what’s been consistent
since their first release, the 2019 More Hardcore, is their output of scuzzy hardcore music that kills in DIY spots around the city. Technically two cassettes — a self-titled demo tape in 2018 and Eeking Out in early 2019 — predate that release, but they’d prefer to keep those early experiments in the past.
“Yeah, we took those down. We don’t talk about those,” says Danylko.
Danylko and Maitland exude a slaphappy attitude, a vibe that you need when your music is for scrappy punk fans to bang shoulders to in the Rock Room on a Thursday night. But where their previous work achieved that amped-up severity, while faltering slightly in totality, Statues of God represents a significant step up in recording and music quality.
Released off the Seattle-based label Iron Lung Records, the album is a tightly mixed epitome of old-school guitar licks and drum beatdowns — the kind of music that Danylko and others have loved for years.
way through without stopping, redoing songs when needed. Tracks like “I Can’t Read” may clock in at a lean 29 seconds, but they move at a pace as breakneck as the band’s name suggests.
“You can notice the quality of drumming goes down towards the end because we recorded the album in the order of the track listing,” says Danylko. “So the drumming gets weaker as the record goes on cause I got tired.”
The song’s lyrics are full of rancor and pissed-off spitballs. On “Bald Boss,” Maitland yells, “Pay me nothing / Piss my time away / Don’t know my first fucking
Speed Plans originated from the high school friendships between Danylko, DiLullo, and George, who all hail from Erie, Pa. After moving to Pittsburgh in 2016, Danylko, a longtime hardcore music fan who was active in the Erie punk scene, tapped his then-roommate Maitland to be the singer for Speed Plans.
It was an unlikely fit for Maitland, a kid from Mars, Pa. raised on Jimmy Buffet.
“[Justin] kinda just told me I was the singer rather than asking. He was like. ‘You’re singing for Speed Plans,’ so that started happening,” says Maitland. “Growing up I never really went to many shows. I definitely didn’t come from the hardcore scenes. It was funny to be like, OK, now I have to do something over this music on the mic.”
For Statues of God, the band wanted to capture Maitland’s vocals and the band’s backing to produce a sound that was less hi-fi than their previous albums. With the help of friend-of-the-band Christian Neimeyer (founder of Pittsburgh record label Kill Everyone Records), the band recorded the guitars and drums live and then added Maitland’s vocals.
Recording the instrumentation presented a distinct challenge: maintaining the stamina to perform the album all the
name / Stuck in your warehouse 12 hours a day.” Songs like “Freak Flag” tackle undying alienation: “Human science project / I will never feel the same way / I swam in the fountain, made this way and I can’t change.” It’s an apt lyric given the album cover art, which Danylko pulled from a medical book titled Abnormal Psychologies
Danylko pointed out a loose religious theme across songs such as “Jesus Christ” and “Redemption,” but overall, he and Maitland hesitate to latch meaning onto any of the lyrics. If anything, the songwriting process is utilitarian — they’ll have an idea for a title and slot in words where they work, Maitland says.
“Often we’ll come up with a name for the song and then that dictates what the lyrics will be about thematically, and what words need to flesh it out,” says Maitland.
“None of them are that particularly meaningful at the moment.”
Catch Speed Plans in action and it’s easy to see why it doesn’t matter. At the release show for Statues of God, which took place on Jan. 4 at a local DIY venue, a mix of beret-wearing college kids and leather-clad old-timers tossed and tumbled around together. The set was 20 minutes, max. Speed Plans, indeed. •
“You just hit the drums hard and loud and fast, cause if you don’t do that, then the band sucks.”
Many Americans are fortunate to have dental coverage for their entire working life, through employer-provided benefits. When those benefits end with retirement, paying dental bills out-of-pocket can come as a shock, leading people to put off or even go without care. Simply put — without dental insurance, there may be an important gap in your healthcare coverage.
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I’VE PARTICIPATED in the joy of The Soul Show for over 16 years, as a co-host then host. If one spends that much time in the presence or vicinity of the music scene, trajectories of artists are witnessed. I remember a few. Scouring through emails and CDs back in 2012, some great cover artwork caught my eye, and then the album name caught my brain. Over the next few days, I got to know the album in bits and pieces while commuting from the city to Cranberry, Pa. I remember the time and place when I finished Robert Glasper’s Black Radio and thought “Grammy”: I-79 northbound, after hearing covers of Bowie’s “Hermione” and Nirvana’s “Teen Spirit.” It won Best R&B Album that year. Black Radio III just did it again.
In 2014, Lizzobangers introduced me to Lizzo’s speedmouth and attitude. At the time, I told my station’s music director, who, like Lizzo, also hailed from
Minneapolis, that she was one to watch. I might have even said she was the next Queen Latifah. And now, Lizzo is on top of the world.
soulshowmike.org
Scroll back to 2012: saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin and her Soul Squad put out a fun R&B/funk album called Retox. One of my favorite tracks to play on the air was “Human Being,” a dreamy psych-soul number featuring vocalist Mavis Swan Poole. A Pittsburgh Cultural Trust vice president texted me asking who the artist was, and then Poole came to perform in Pittsburgh twice that year.
When word began to spread of Benjamin’s 2020 tribute to the Coltranes, it felt like her time was coming. Pursuance:
“I don’t worry”
The Coltranes was a smash. Along with the album, Benjamin donned a new look that captured a regal, mythical vibe. The total package was amazing. Sure enough, a Pittsburgh date was set, but then the pandemic prevented the show.
When Benjamin was announced for 2021 visits to both Cleveland’s Tri-C Jazz Festival and the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival, I went to Tri-C. When we finally met after her command performance, there was a COVID almost-hug and a “We did it!”
A day or two later, and several days before the Jazz Festival, Benjamin was involved in a serious car accident, but persevered and made it to the Highmark Stadium gig. In a Jan. 23 New York Times article, she says her recovery inspired her latest release, Phoenix, an album rife with feminism and other social consciousness.
Observing Benjamin’s recent Sharp Radway and Jyoti (Georgia Anne Muldrow’s one-woman band) projects, it was clear that she was ready to convey messages with music. She has assembled an allstar cast on both fronts. Activists/scholars
Sonia Sanchez and Angela Davis narrate on several tracks. Teri Lyne Carrington produces, Dianne Reeves sings, Wayne Shorter blows sax, Muldrow sings and contributes synths, and Patrice Rushen plays the keys.
“Mercy,” featuring Reeves, echoes the expansiveness of West Coast Get Down-er, Kamasi Washington. “Blast,” with Sanchez reciting poetry, is strident and urgent. As soon as the title track began, I heard the edgy contributions of Muldrow. It’s one of my favorite songs on the album.
The Soul Show on WZUM-FM (Saturdays from 2 p.m.-5 p.m.) is presenting its annual series of BHM themes (the first two segments this February covered Blaxploitation Film Soundtracks and Multigenerational Music Families). On Sat., Feb. 18, tune in for a retrospective on The Soul Train television series. •
THE UNITED STEEL WORKERS accuse a local nonprofit organization of firing three employees as part of what they call “a classic and vicious union-busting campaign.”
Refugee mentoring nonprofit Hello Neighbor terminated three staff members on Feb. 2, one month after a supermajority of eligible workers requested voluntary recognition of their bargaining unit, and two weeks before employees were due to vote on whether to unionize with the United Steelworkers. USW representatives were quick to criticize the non-profit following the terminations.
“We’ve seen these types of anti-union tactics before, but it’s even more frustrating to watch an employer, whose supposed mission is to uplift the community, tear down their own workers,” USW District 10 Director Bernie Hall says in a press release. “Firing employees and taking staff away from refugees and immigrants who need and deserve help and resources does nothing to help anyone.”
The organization maintains the firings were driven by economic concerns unrelated to the organizing efforts.
The former workers say they were given no advance notice of their termination. All three had signed the letter requesting voluntary recognition of their
bargaining unit.
The termination agreement, shared with Pittsburgh City Paper, asked the fired employees to agree not to seek reinstatement, keep confidential the conditions of their termination, and release their right to bring legal claims against the company in exchange for one month of severance pay.
City Paper spoke to two of the three fired workers, both of whom say they declined to sign the agreement.
Laura Oxenreiter, a former refugee resettlement case manager who was terminated last week, tells City Paper that concerns about high turnover, burnout, and lack of resources to support
employees led her to sign onto the union drive at Hello Neighbor.
Another recently fired worker, London Harmony, says the lack of staff support at Hello Neighbor diminishes the quality of service offered to clients.
“[Unionizing] would ensure that we’re able to serve our families better,” says Harmony, Hello Neighbor’s former social media content creator.
The Hello Neighbor organizing committee says management responded to their bid for voluntary recognition with a cascade of anti-union tactics, including pressuring employees to change or step down from their positions, seeking to push individuals into supervisory roles
that would make them ineligible to join the bargaining unit, and threatening to freeze pay and raises and delay hypothetical contract negotiations, according to a Feb. 6 letter to the organization’s board of directors.
Workers also claim management has “frozen spending and limited the provision of certain direct goods and services, including diapers and formula, to families in need.”
Harmony says she was surprised by the organization’s response to workers’ request for voluntary recognition.
“We work for a nonprofit and we work to help the community. That response, given what we do, did kind of throw me for a loop,” Harmony says.
Sloane Davidson, Hello Neighbor founder and CEO, tells City Paper in an email that the employees were terminated for financial reasons unrelated to the union drive and denies the allegations of union-busting.
The terminations, which Davidson referred to as “lay-offs,” were a “really difficult decision,” she says. “It in no way has anything to do with the unionization and it’s been really hurtful to see it twisted that way by those who wish to malign and manipulate us.”
The organizing committee alleges that Hello Neighbor’s financial health may have been hit by the costs of contracting with anti-union law firm Littler Mendelson P.C. Filings with the National Labor Relations Board show that Littler is providing Hello Neighbor’s legal defense
against unfair labor practice charges related to the firings.
Littler bills itself as “the single source solution provider to the global employer community,” and exclusively represents management in labor disputes.
“Members of the leadership team have stated that the cost of the legal fees associated with retaining Littler have cut into the organization’s ability to continue providing these necessary goods to families,” the committee wrote to the board in the Feb. 6 letter.
Sarah Miley, a member of Hello Neighbor’s board of directors, is a labor and employment attorney with Littler Mendelson, according to the nonprofit’s website.
Davidson declined to respond to further questions about Hello Neighbor’s relationship with Littler Mendelson.
The organizing committee calls on the board to reinstate the fired workers, cut ties with Littler, voluntarily recognize their union, and come to the bargaining table in good faith.
“It’s been incredibly disappointing to see the lack of listening and respect for the super-majority of staff who requested to unionize by the Board and CEO,” Oxenreiter says. “Each member of the staff is essential and excellent at their jobs. We stayed because we cared. Each staff member lost is a detriment to the organization’s ability to support our new neighbors. I believe that unionization is the most likely way to improve systems there.” •
Victories in three Allegheny County special elections have given Democrats a slim lead in the Pennsylvania House for the first time in more than a decade.
Democrats Joe McAndrew, Abigail Salisbury, and Matt Gergely won their bids for Pennsylvania’s 32nd, 34th and 35th districts, respectively, during elections held on Feb. 7. These wins give their party a single seat majority in the 203 member chamber.
The House began its latest term this year three members short following the death of Tony DeLuca, and the ascension of Summer Lee and Austin Davis to higher offices.
Despite Democratic gains in the lower chamber, Republicans still hold a majority in the state Senate. Democrat Josh Shapiro just won a four-year term as Pennsylvania Governor.
A report titled “Representing Our Routes,” published by Pittsburghers for Public Transit, uses public data to show that, in 2022, Pittsburgh transit riders experienced a “dramatic” increase in overcrowded, chronically late, and canceled buses and trains.
Last year, the authors write, 38 out of 105 Pittsburgh Regional Transit routes were reliable less than 50% of the time for at least one month. The report calls on Pittsburgh City Council to advance Mayor Ed Gainey’s transit-supportive infrastructure and land-use policies outlined in his transition plan to help PRT improve service and reliability. •
“Everybody puts their own flavor on what it is that they do. So I always say, you can’t fix every single problem in an area. It’s just not possible to do everything, but you just have to chip away best as you can, little by little, and do everything you can.”
Abigail Salisbury (D-34) asrecorded by the Pennsylvania
Capital-Star
The Carnegie Museum of Natural History explores a matriarchal Native American community with Apsáalooke Women and Warriors. Presented in cooperation with guest curator Nina Sanders of the Chicago-based Field Museum, the exhibition includes war shields, horse regalia, and over 20 works of art, including paintings, photography, beadwork, fashion, and a nine-foot-tall modern tipi. Visitors will learn about the gender roles and egalitarian qualities of this Indigenous group from the northern plains region of the United States. 10 a.m.–8 p.m. Continues through May 29. 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. Included with museum admission. carnegiemnh.org
LIT • VIRTUAL
Virtual Poetry Book Party: We Are Changed to Deer at the Broken Place by Kelly Weber with Allison Adair and Kasey Jueds 7-8 p.m. Free. Registration required. whitewhalebookstore.com/events
CONVENTION • DOWNTOWN
Pittsburgh International Auto Show
9 a.m.-8 p.m. Continues through Mon., Feb. 20. David L. Lawrence Convention Center. 1000 Fort Duquesne Blvd., Downtown. $6-12, free for kids under 6. Half-price admission on Feb. 20. pittautoshow.com
FILM • LAWRENCEVILLE
Oscar Nominated Short Films. Showtimes vary. Continues through Thu., Feb. 23. Row House Cinema. 4115 Butler St., Lawrenceville. $10.48. rowhousecinema.com
ART • OAKLAND
Artist Talk: Violet Maimbourg 5-6:30 p.m.
Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry. 4919 Frew St., Oakland. Free and open to the public. studioforcreativeinquiry.org
MUSIC • SEWICKLEY
Folk February. 6:30-9 p.m. Continues on Fri., Feb. 24. Sweetwater Center for the Arts. 200 Broad St., Sewickley. $30-40. sweetwaterartcenter.org
•
Blue is back, baby! The Blue Man Group presents a round of spectacular performances at the Benedum Center for its North American tour. Since debuting in 1991, the popular act has thrilled audiences around the world with a combination of percussion, art, comedy, non-verbal communication, and body paint. Don’t miss what promises to be a “joyful experience that unites audiences of all ages.” 7:30 p.m. Continues through Sun., Feb. 19. Seventh St. and Penn Ave., Downtown. $36.25-$105. trustarts.org
•
Alonzo King LINES Ballet 8 p.m.
Byham Theater. 101 Sixth St., Downtown. $15-70. trustarts.org
KIDS • SQUIRREL
Jr. Garden Buds: The Secret Garden of George Washington Carver 10-11:30 p.m. Frick Environmental Center. 2005 Beechwood Blvd., Squirrel Hill. Free. pittsburghparks.org
TUE. FEB 21
OUTDOOR • NORTH SIDE
EveryBody Outdoors: North Side Art Hike. 1-3 p.m. Various locations, North Side. $10. Registration required. ventureoutdoors.org
ART • GARFIELD
Elusive Ground by Abiria Ali and Every Day Dream by Dennis Childers. 2-5 p.m. Continues through March 3. Irma Freeman Center for Imagination. 5006 Penn Ave., Garfield. Free. irmafreeman.org
ART • LAWRENCEVILLE
Down On Paper Opening Reception. 6 p.m. Vestige Gallery. 5417 Butler St., Lawrenceville. Free. vestigegallery.com
SUN., FEB. 19
MUSIC • DOWNTOWN
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra presents The Music of John Williams 2:30 p.m. Heinz Hall. 600 Penn Ave., Downtown. $35-99. pittsburghsymphony.org
MAGIC • DOWNTOWN
Mr. Messado in Ringistry 6:30 p.m. Continues through Sun., Feb. 26. Liberty Magic. 811 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $40-65. trustarts.org
LIT • NORTH SIDE
Honoring Black Womanhood with Mahogany L. Browne 7 p.m. Alphabet City. 40 W. North Ave., North Side. Free. Registration required. Livestream also available. cityofasylum.org
FILM • MUNHALL
Classic Movies at the Library: Metropolis. 7 p.m. Carnegie Library Music Hall of Homestead. 510 E. 10th Ave, Munhall. Free. pghclassicmoviegrp.wixsite.com
While some authors avoid social media altogether, whether in their work or professionally (see: the grumblings of Jonathan Franzen), Patricia Lockwood embraced it as a narrative device for her latest novel No One Is Talking About This.
Since its release, the bestseller, described by Penguin Random House as an “urgent, genre-defying” tale about an influencer drawn into a Sartre-esque online world, has received wide praise from critics and readers alike. Lockwood will discuss the book with fellow author Clare Beams
during a Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures event at Carnegie Music Hall 7:30 p.m. 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. Virtual passes also available. $10-18. pittsburghlectures.org
EXHIBITION • SHADYSIDE
Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh presents Revolving Doors Tours from 12-3 p.m. Chatham University-Jennie King Mellon Library. Woodland Road, Shadyside. Free. Registration required. hcofpgh.org/ revolving-doors
MUSIC • LAWRENCEVILLE
Billy Raffoul with American Authors.
8 p.m. Doors at 7 p.m. Thunderbird Music Hall. 4053 Butler St., Lawrenceville. $25. 18 and over. thunderbirdmusichall.com
FILM • NORTH SIDE
Reel Q Reel Stories: Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? 7-8:30 p.m. Alphabet City. 40 W. North Ave., North Side. Free. Registration required. Livestream also available. cityofasylum.org
MUSIC • DOWNTOWN
Jazz at Lincoln Center Presents Songs We Love 7:30 p.m. Byham Theater. 101 Sixth St., Downtown. $25-45. trustarts.org
Aaron Aupperlee
Aaron Jentzen
Abbey Farkas
Abigail Noyce
Adele Taylor
Albert Presto
Alex LaFroscia
Alison Marchioni
Amberle Sherman
Amy Loveridge
Amy W Bilkey
Andrea Boykowycz
Andrew Brown
Andrew Conte
Andrew Faulhaber
Andrew Goldstein
Andy Collins
Anna Reilly
Armin Samii
Barbara Valaw
Barbara Young
Bethany Hallam
Beth Boroumand
Beth Silver
Betsy Yates
Bill McShane
Breanna Jay
Brett Scruton
Brian Kell
Brian Kelly
Brittani Baxter
Carl Villella
Carol Brackett
Carolyn Biglow
Carrie Roy
Cassia Priebe
Catherine Straka
Chloe Bark
Chris Flyer
Chris Gillotti
Chris Ivey
Chris Mueller
Chris Sichi
Chris Watts
Cindy Hogan
Cindy Hudson
Colby King
Constance Merola
Cynthia Hinck
Daniel Jacobowitz
Daniel M Crawford
Daniel Tasse
David Findlay
David Gerson
Eamon Geary
Edward Venator
Elise Lu
Elizabeth Collura
Elizabeth Engelhardt
Elizabeth Turner
Ellen Philips
Emilie Yonan
Emily Skopov
Eric Renkey
Erin Kelly
Evan DiBiase
Filomena Manns
Francis Garland
Frank B Tallarico
Geo Maroon
Georgann Jenkins
George Malt
Gillian Kratzer
Gina Vensel
Gretchen Swecker
G Ronald Ripper
Harley Nester
Henry Doherty
Ian Riggins
Jack Busch
James Heinrich
Janet Lunde
Jay Lasus
Jay Walker
Jeff Betten
Jeffrey Benzing
Jeffrey Bigham
Jennifer Holz
Jeremy Kimmel
Jeremy Watt
Jessica Bevan
Jessica Prucnal
John Berry
John Runco
Jonathan Tummons
Joshua Axelrod
Judith Hartung
Judith Lenz
Julia Scanlon
Juli Wright
Justin Lindsay
Justin Romano
Kara Holsopple
Katharine Kelleman
Katie Damico
Katie Vargo
Kay Brink
Kelly Hiser
Kim Potter
Kristen Ebert-Wagner
Kristin Komazec
Lara Putnam
Laura Dickey
Laura Everhart
Lauren Banka
Leah Hoechstetter
Leslie Harman
Linda Pearce
Liz Hrenda
Liz Reid
Lorie Milich
Lynn Cullen
Lynne Cherepko
Mackenzie Moylan
MaiShawna Fortune
Margaret Prescott
Marianne Donley
Mark Westbrook
Mary Muzzetta
Mary Russell
Matthew Buchholz
Matthew Griffin
Matthew Orphir Cartier
Max Garber
Megan Brady
Meredith Brenner
Micaela Corn
Michael Anderson
Michael Divine
Michael Donovan
Mike Beattie
Mike Weis
Mimi Forester
Moira Egler
Molly Kasperek
Molly Toth
Nathan Lutchansky
Nicole Egelhoff
Nicole Johnson
Norine Minion
Olie Bennett Guarino
Olivia Tucker
Patricia Mann
Patrick Kelley
Paul McGowan
Peter Mudge
Peter Reichl
Rachael Hopkins
Rachel Chapin-Paolone
Rachel Dalton
Rachel Tiche
Rachel Winner
Randy Sargent
Raymond Kozlowski
Raymond Pekich
Regina Connolly
Robert McKenney
Robert McKnight
Rosemary Mendel
Ruth Yahr
Samuel Boswell
Sam Wasserman
Sarah Peterson
Sarah Vernau
Sarah Wiggin
Sara Innamorato
Sean Mahan
Shanna Carrick
Sharon Hicks
Shelby Brewster
Sherri Suppa
Stacey Campbell
Stephen Wagner
Steve Felix
Steven Haines
Sue D’Nihm
Susan Speicher
Suzanne Kafantaris
Suz-Anne Kinney
Suzi Neft
Taia Pandolfi
Tara Zeigler
Tereneh Idia
Theodore McCauley
Thomas Bartnik
Timons Esaias
Todd Patterson
Toni Haraldsen
Tristan Lucchetti
Uwe Stender
Virginia Alvino Young
William MarucaI
Extra Space Storage will hold a public auction to sell the contents of leased spaces to satisfy Extra Space’s lien at the location indicated: 6400 Hamilton Ave, Pittsburgh PA 15206 March 1, 2023 at 1:45 PM. 4012 Shante Wilcox. The auction will be listed and advertised on www.storagetreasures.com.
Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.
Extra Space Storage will hold a public auction to sell the contents of leased spaces to satisfy Extra Space’s lien at the location indicated: 111 Hickory Grade Rd. Bridgeville, PA 15017, March 1, 2023 at 12:30 PM. Carla El 2075, Rachael Doven 3369. The auction will be listed and advertised on www.storagetreasures.com.
Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.
Extra Space Storage will hold a public auction to sell the contents of leased spaces to satisfy Extra Space’s lien at the location indicated: 1005 E Entry Drive Pittsburgh PA 15216, March 1, 2023 at 11:30 AM. Dan Simcox 3118, Jobbie Brown 5184, Kayla Johnson 8124. The auction will be listed and advertised on www. storagetreasures.com. Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.
Extra Space Storage will hold a public auction to sell the contents of leased spaces to satisfy Extra Space’s lien at 110 Kisow Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15205 on March 1st, 2023 at 11:15 am. Christina Frazier 105. The auction will be listed and advertised on www.storagetreasures.com. Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.
Extra Space Storage will hold a public auction to sell the contents of leased spaces to satisfy Extra Space’s lien at 3200 Park Manor Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15205 on March 1, 2023 at 12:30pm. 1043 Cheyanne Couzzens.
The auction will be listed and advertised on www.storagetreasures.com.
Purchases must be made with Cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse and bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.
Extra Space Storage will hold a public auction to sell the contents of leased spaces to satisfy Extra Space’s lien at the location indicated: 880 Saw Mill Run Blvd, Pittsburgh PA 15226 March 1, 2023, at 1:15 PM. 1007 Tonya Plows, 1129 Melinda Madison, 1141 Victoria Bittner, 3010 Lucienda Reardon, 3091 DeyKwane Cooper, 4070 Sean Lowry, 4224 Tyrone Williams.The auction will be listed and advertised on www. storagetreasures.com. Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.
DENTAL INSURANCE
DENTAL INSURANCE from Physicians Mutual Insurance Company. Coverage for 350 plus procedures. Real dental insurance - NOT just a discount plan. Do not wait! Call now! Get your FREE Dental Information Kit with all the details! 1-855-385-3879 www.dental50plus.com/ citypaper #6258
MISCELLANEOUS
Guaranteed Life Insurance! (Ages 50 to 80). No medical exam. Affordable premiums never increase. Benefits never decrease. Policy will only be cancelled for non-payment. HOURS: M-F 9a-10p & Sat 11a-2p EST 1-888-386-0113 (Void NY) (AAN CAN)
Extra Space Storage will hold a public auction to sell the contents of leased spaces to satisfy Extra Space’s lien at the location indicated: 700 E Carson St, Pittsburgh PA 15203 on March 1, 2023 at 12:15 PM. Unit 1096 Kandice Kyles, 165 Santino Angelo, 2183 Shaughnessea Richardson, 3017 Duriee Killings, 4070 Destiny Henry, 4198 Dawn Toboz. The auction will be listed and advertised on www.storagetreasures.com.
Sealed proposals shall be deposited at the Administration Building, Bellefield Entrance Lobby, 341 South Bellefield Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15213, on March 7, 2023, until 2:00 P.M., local prevailing time for:
• Replace EM Generator
• General and Electrical Primes
Project Manual and Drawings will be available for purchase on February 13, at Modern Reproductions (412-488-7700), 127 McKean Street, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15219 between 9:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. The cost of the Project ManualDocuments is non-refundable. Project details and dates are described in each project manual.
Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property. We are an equal rights and opportunity school district.
1. Burning matter?
5. The King and I setting
9. Sums things up?
13. “Shut the alarm off”
14. Serve, as wine
15. Shamblin who founded the Christian diet
16. “___ Lisa”
(Nat King Cole song)
17. Retains
18. “Until we meet again”
19. Dog with silky hair and pricked ears
20. It might be a bust
22. Cakehole
23. That, in Barcelona
25. Place where people go who are in the closet?
27. Source of many problems
32. Capital of East Flanders
33. Golfer Aoki
34. As a consequence
36. “Game” played by constantly shuffling appointments ... and a literal representation in this puzzle
41. Country on the Adriatic sea
42. Al in the
Louisiana Music Hall of Fame
43. Up one
46. Encrypted?
48. Cheap booze
50. Dummy
51. A long ways away
52. Goes without
56. Bug in the wall
59. Biology lab gel
61. Instructional piece
62. Son of God, in a Bach chorale 63.
children’s song
9. Gig-getter for artists: Abbr.
10. The Rock’s first name
11. Put in holding
12. Talk back to
20. One always lifting spirits?
21. Masters coup
24. Sack for sneaks
26. Drummer’s patterns
27. Thing dropped after a bravura performance
28. Botanist Gray
29. Airline app data, for short
30. The Pogues singer MacGowan
31. Shroud city
35. “Move! Now!,” in hospitals
LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS
7.
8. Character asked to “please shine down on me,” in a
