Contributors KAHMEELA ADAMS-FRIEDSON, REGE BEHE, LYNN CULLEN, MEG ST-ESPRIT, MATT PETRAS, JORDANA ROSENFELD, JORDAN SNOWDEN
CP ILLUSTRATION: JEFF SCHRECKENGOST CP PHOTO: MARS JOHNSON
CP PHOTO: DAVID S. ROTENSTEIN
HOUSE BY HOUSE, PART I
Historic Lincoln Park in Penn Hills has long been home to a Black middle-class community, but experts and residents claim environmental racism is literally demolishing it
BY: DAVID S. ROTENSTEIN // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
They’re tearing down these houses,” says Penn Hills resident Wynona Harper.
“When they tear down the houses, the lots are not being taken care of and they look a whole hot mess.”
Harper is describing what happens when Penn Hills razes single-family homes as part of the municipality’s 50-year-old Townwide Demolition Program. It’s a program that the municipality uses to eliminate what it calls blight, namely
deteriorating vacant and abandoned homes in neighborhoods such as Lincoln Park, where Harper lives. Many Lincoln Park residents claim that the program simply removes one nuisance and replaces it with another: vacant overgrown lots.
Some Black Lincoln Park homeowners go one step further, alleging that the program is environmental racism because it imposes burdens on the community not seen elsewhere in Penn Hills.
Lincoln Park is one of Pittsburgh’s earliest Black suburbs. Between 1900 and 1970, middle-class Black families bought and built homes there. They created a thriving community. But since the 1990s, the neighborhood has become ground zero of the municipality’s inventory of vacant and abandoned homes. It’s one of several Penn Hill neighborhoods that have propelled the municipality into the spotlight as a nationally recognized hotbed of suburban poverty.
Sewage spills and dumping in a nearby ravine spurred Black Lincoln Park residents to make environmental racism claims in the 1960s. Back then, civil rights leaders alleged that the municipality sought to displace them. Sixty years later, the conditions are different, but the accusations are the same.
Pittsburgh City Paper spoke with current and former Lincoln Park residents, municipal officials, and experts in housing and
environmental protection laws. Penn Hills isn’t Detroit or even Pittsburgh, two cities with significant numbers of vacant and abandoned homes. Yet the municipality takes what some residents believe is a path of least resistance to its vacant housing problem, one most frequently associated with the ills of urban renewal: demolition.
This article is the first in a twopart series digging into the reasons why Penn Hills has so many vacant and abandoned homes, how the municipality addresses these properties, and why some residents believe Penn Hills’ solution is worse than the original problem.
A HISTORY OF NEGLECT
In the mid-1960s, Penn Hills had a mess on its hands. Raw sewage pouring out of broken pipes and debris trucked in from urban renewal demolitions in East Liberty were making life miserable for Lincoln
Park residents. The neighborhood had become “a breeding ground for disease and rodents,” the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported in 1965.
“In the renewal debris that is being dumped there, I have seen a whole nest of rats,” one Santiago St. resident who lived near the dumping site told the Pittsburgh Courier that year.
The raw sewage and dumping spurred complaints to the Pennsylvania Commission on Human Relations, federal agencies, and protests at the City-County Building.
Some residents believed there was intent behind the conditions.
“Apparently they wanted to rid this little corner of Penn Township, where 90 percent of this municipality’s Negroes live, of them,” Dr. Charles Greenlee told the Pittsburgh Courier in 1965. Greenlee, a respected pediatrician and civil rights activist, lived in Lincoln Park in a Travella Blvd. home he and his wife bought in 1951.
Greenlee is a familiar name to
many Pittsburghers — his older brother, Gus, owned the Crawford Grill and the Pittsburgh Crawfords baseball team.
Fast-forward 40 years. In the first decades of this century, Penn Hills found itself facing failing infrastructure and a shrinking tax base. The municipality was stretched thin. Decades of deferred infrastructure investment and crushing schoolsystem debt had pushed Penn Hills into what author Benjamin Herold described as a “destructive spiral” in his 2024 book, Disillusioned: Five Families and the Unraveling of America’s Suburbs
According to Herold, Black families in Penn Hills bear the brunt of those problems. Bethany Smith, a Penn Hills resident and one of Herold’s sources, penned the epilogue to his book. “A lot of white folks don’t care for our presence,” she wrote.
Penn Hills Mayor Pauline
Calabrese disagrees with Herold’s findings and his methods. “In my opinion, his research technique was flawed,” Calabrese wrote in response to emailed questions. “He had a narrative he wanted to push and he went in search of anyone whom he thought would support it.”
issues in Lincoln Park, focusing instead on other issues.
In 2005, Black Lincoln Park homeowners filed another complaint with the Pennsylvania Commission on Human Relations. The residents had sought relief and answers from Penn Hills officials about the demolition
“THAT’S GOING TO OVERLAY WITH WHERE YOU SEE POVERTY, AND THAT’S DEFINITELY TILTING TOWARDS BLACK AND BROWN FOLKS.”
Herold is only the latest author to dig into poverty and race in Penn Hills. The municipality is the subject of a 2012 Princeton University Ph.D. dissertation, and it figures prominently in the 2013 Brookings Institution book, Confronting Suburban Poverty in America. The earlier books, dissertation, and academic journal articles bypassed the townwide demolition program and the environmental
program. Finding none, eight elderly residents who had lived for several decades in Lincoln Park went to the same civil rights commission that earlier residents approached.
“For 2003 and continuing to the present [Penn Hills] has intentionally permitted blight and decay to exist in my neighborhood,” wrote the lead complainant. “I believe [Penn Hills’s] actions were due to my race,
and the race of my neighborhood[,] African American.”
Pennsylvania Commission on Human Relations files are sealed to protect the identity of people filing complaints. “Disclosure to a thirdparty would be against the Agency’s interest in confidentiality in that such disclosure would create a ‘chilling effect’ that would dissuade aggrieved persons from privately seeking assistance,” the Commission wrote in its denial to a Pennsylvania Right-toKnow Law request.
One of the eight complainants and her daughter agreed to speak with City Paper about the case and the allegations of racism in exchange for anonymity. Five others have died since the complaint was filed. The other two could not be reached.
The Commission on Human Relations investigated the complaint for six years and dismissed it in 2011. In its findings, the commission wrote that there was insufficient evidence
CP PHOTO: DAVID S. ROTENSTEIN
Aerial photos show the extent of demolitions in Lincoln Park between 1956 and 2022.
of unlawful discrimination.
Lincoln Park residents then appealed to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which funds the demolition program through the Community Development Block Grant program. They also reached out to the ACLU, the NAACP, and local journalists.
“We will be non-existent if the current system of demolishing homes continues,” three residents wrote in a 2012 letter to the NAACP Legal and Educational Fund. “We are desperate for assistance if our community is to survive.”
“I wrote to them several times about what was going on. I never got responses,” says Lee, 92, one of the complainants. CP is using her middle name to protect her privacy.
HEIRS’ PROPERTIES
The Townwide Demolition Program was at the center of the 2005 complaint. “I’d say it’s a fairly robust
demolition program,” says Penn Hills Planning Director Chris Blackwell. The municipality has demolished hundreds of homes.
“I can’t tell you the exact number,” says Blackwell.
The homes slated for demolition are first condemned. Many, says Blackwell, were abandoned after the last owners died. “Owners are deceased. All you can do is send a violation, but it goes nowhere,” he says.
Known as “heirs’ properties,” these abandoned homes are part of a nationwide problem, especially in Black communities. They are a drag on local governments because property taxes aren’t being paid, and they bring down property values and become eyesores.
“Heirs’ properties are properties with what’s called clouded title,” says Kristopher Smith, a community development officer with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation based in Jacksonville, Fla. “That
1902 advertisement from The Pittsburgh Press for Lincoln Park real estate
occurs when the owner of record passes away without a will and the interests in that property are passed down informally to heirs.”
Another way titles become clouded is when a will divides property among several heirs. Sometimes those heirs have already died by the time the owner of record dies. Other times, the heirs simply ignore the property and their obligations to maintain it and pay taxes. A situation similar to this helped lead to the Sept. 2023 shooting that rocked Pittsburgh’s Garfield neighborhood.
“This cuts across urban, suburban, and rural markets,” says Smith. “The reality of that is that that’s going to
overlay with where you see poverty, and that’s definitely tilting towards Black and brown folks.”
Lincoln Park has both types of heirs’ properties. Responding to complaints by neighboring property owners, the municipality draws from a pool of CDBG funds to hire contractors to demolish the vacant homes and grade the lots. Penn Hills slaps liens on each demolished property to recover costs.
The lots are then left untouched by the municipality. “Penn Hills does not have the resources to mow these lots,” read city planning documents. The municipality encourages the reversion to woodlands: “Land is to
1902 advertisement from The Pittsburgh Press for Lincoln Park real estate
remain wooded until a development proposal is approved.”
Instead of carefully planted grass and trees, the lots fill with weeds, vines, and invasive plant species and become homes for wild turkeys, deer, snakes, and rats.
Those vacant lots were the basis for the 2005 civil rights complaint. Though the case remains raw among the surviving complainants, it was little more than a bureaucratic nuisance to Penn Hills government. It yielded no changes to how the municipality conducts its demolitions program. “Nothing,” says Blackwell.
“That’s old news,” says municipal manager Scott Andrejchak. “That was resolved. It was adjudicated. It was fully adjudicated.”
“‘Environmental racism’ is a defined term,” he adds. “I think it could be in a situation where you have an industrial polluter. It’s where you have a public health effect.”
To some Lincoln Park residents, the closed case isn’t old news. Vacant lots and abandoned homes left to rot do create public health hazards, according to research by Grounded Strategies. In 2021, the organization issued a report funded by the Heinz Endowments that laid out public health consequences of vacant lots in Pittsburgh.
The study found that vacant lots negatively impact community health, mental health and physical health. “The mental health implications of vacant land are often the result from continuing negative emotions associated with living close to vacant land,” the study’s authors wrote. Vacant land threatens physical health by creating opportunities for illegal dumping and by attracting wild animals. It can also provide cover for criminal activities.
Daequan McAdam is an environmental justice organizer with 412 Justice. He defines environmental racism differently from Andrejchak, noting that “there is a disproportionate impact on marginalized
communities and their quality of life with environmental hazards, whether that be air pollution, water pollution, environmental decision-making.”
McAdam says that the demolitions create cumulative impacts. Individual teardowns don’t necessarily impact a lot of people when they happen. But over time, when lots of homes are demolished and the number of vacant lots balloons, that’s when the problems begin.
“They are linked to a lot of high rates of different types of illnesses and ailments,” says McAdam.
It’s a vicious cycle that is slowly destroying Lincoln Park, house by house. Residents there don’t think it’s a coincidence that their neighborhood bears the brunt of the demolitions program and that disinvestment festers in the oncefashionable suburb.
“I’d say a majority would be in the Lincoln Park area,” Blackwell says. “But we demolish structures all over Penn Hills.”
CP asked Blackwell if there were other demolition hot spots besides Lincoln Park in Penn Hills. “No, that would be the hot spot,” he says.
ROOT SHOCK
The effects of the demolitions program are evident throughout Lincoln Park. Overgrown lots are one piece of a neglectful disinvestments puzzle that includes haphazardly patched streets.
“After a while, it’s just going to be a few houses and a bunch of weeds everywhere,” says Antionette. Her family has lived on Travella Blvd. since the 1950s. She asked that we only use her first name to protect her privacy. “Then it’ll be like somebody with an old rotten mouth, a tooth here and nothing else, you know, and then a tooth here. That’s how this will look. A couple of houses and the rest will be land.”
Fletcher Hardy lives on Torrance St. next door to a home the municipality demolished in 2023. He’s lived there since 2010. There are
this year. He supports the demoli tion program because it eliminates unsafe buildings.
The house next door, which had been owned by the family of a decorated World War II Buffalo Soldier (someone who served in an all-Black army unit), was in bad shape. The roof was falling in on the nine people who were living there. Hardy points to one of the houses slated for demolition and says, “That’s what it looked like.”
Hardy wanted to buy the lot, but couldn’t. It’s heirs’ property, and the municipality doesn’t own it. He didn’t know about the 2005 Commission on Human Relations complaint, but, like the complainants, he’s critical of what happens to the lots once the houses
property,” he says. “They don’t main tain this main street [Mount Carmel], so grass, bushes take over the whole block where there are no houses.”
Hardy thinks Penn Hills simply forgot about Lincoln Park. “They didn’t keep up with stuff,” he says. Hardy cites antiquated septic tank systems and auxiliary buildings constructed without building permits. He points to the lot where his neighbor’s house once stood and describes a garage that the municipality’s demolition contractor didn’t remove. He pointed it out to the contractor, who replied that it wasn’t part of the project.
“So the garage is still sitting there,” says Hardy.
Even the correct name of Hardy’s
— that’s the name that the Torrens Gas Company gave it in 1895. In Allegheny County and municipality records, it’s spelled “Torrance.”
The greatest impacts might be the ones that can’t be seen from the road. They appear in the ways that Lincoln Park residents describe their community. These narratives fit a pattern found in other communities where residents have experienced urban renewal and gentrification resulting in displacement that happens in stages. As familiar people, buildings, and landscapes disappear, the residents who remain experience stress.
Psychiatrist and urban scholar Mindy Thompson Fullilove describes the responses to displacement
environment is destroyed. “It’s the destruction of all or part of one’s emotional ecosystem,” Fullilove says.
Suburbs are not immune to root shock, or the trauma experienced when one's environment is destroyed. “Anybody could have it,” she says in an interview with CP.
“We were a very vibrant community,” says Lee’s 65-year-old daughter. She grew up in Lincoln Park and asked that CP not use her name to protect her mother’s identity. “Sometimes when I drive here, it’s really upsetting because it’s like — like, you see, what, five houses?”
CP PHOTO: DAVID S. ROTENSTEIN Homes slated for demolition along Torrance/Torrens St.
PRODUCTION VS. PRESERVATION
“If we think about what the cost is to build an affordable housing unit, wouldn’t it make much more economical sense to preserve the units that you already have?” says Kim Cutcher, a LISC vice-president based in Toledo.
Like many housing experts, Cutcher believes that preserving existing housing stock is key. “There’s just not enough resources to wholesale build new, affordable units,” she says.
“It’s not just preserving the existing housing stock, but it’s also providing job opportunities for disadvantaged youth in the community who could learn valuable building trade skills, rehabilitating these homes, and then maybe even move into the homes once they’re rehabilitated,” says Cutcher.
Cutcher and Kristopher Smith cite land trusts and legal avenues to clear titles to heirs’ properties. These routes require access to lowcost civil legal support and longterm strategies, including estate counseling, to remediate the effects of heirs’ properties.
The solutions involve creativity and money, two things that appear to be in short supply in Penn Hills. The municipality uses the Allegheny County Vacant Property Recovery Program to get some properties back on the tax rolls, but it’s mainly been used by homeowners to buy adjacent parcels, says Blackwell.
Wynona Harper, who has lived in Lincoln Park since 1995, is spearheading a plan to develop five affordable housing units and a community store and garden using the Vacant Property Recovery Program. In October, the Penn Hills Council approved the transfer of eight parcels to Harper for the project.
“So when they took the houses down, I always wanted to do a development in order to help the next person,” Harper says.
But Harper’s project is housing production, not preservation.
Pennsylvania’s conservatorship law is another route, but it’s also a costly and time-consuming process.
“It’s a chore, you know, so not a lot of people are willing to do that,” says Blackwell.
Meanwhile, it’s demolition season in Lincoln Park. “They usually start the end of the year,” says Hardy. This year’s round includes two Torrance St. homes and one on Travella Blvd.
All of the demolished Lincoln Park homes had histories. The people who once lived in them were everyday people and Pittsburgh luminaries, like the Torrance St. Buffalo Soldier or the civil rights leader who lived on Funston Ave. or the Travella Blvd. photo studio owner. Before razing the homes, Penn Hills was required by federal law to account for their history — but didn’t. In Part II, CP will explore how those lost histories have contributed to root shock in Lincoln Park. •
CP PHOTO: MARS JOHNSON
A vacant home awaits demolition on Travella Blvd.
CP PHOTO: DAVID S. ROTENSTEIN
No dumping signs posted along Lawton St.
DELICIOUS DUO
Afghan Kabab and Pizza House is doing Afghan cuisine and pizza, and Afghan pizza, very well
BY: AAKANKSHA AGARWAL // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
The aroma hits you first as the doors swing open — the smoky scent of marinated meats sizzling on the grill, mingling with the rich fragrance of spices and freshbaked naan. Inside Afghan Kabab and Pizza House, tucked away in the quiet neighborhood of Blawnox without any flashy signs to draw you in, it’s the kind of place you’d miss if you weren’t looking for it. But once you’ve been here, it’s impossible to forget.
CP PHOTO: MARS JOHNSON Afghan Kabab and Pizza House in Blawnox
Behind the counter, co-owner Nushrat Yuldash works with the kind of practiced ease that comes from wearing many hats. One moment he’s greeting customers with a warm smile and taking orders, and the next, he’s in the kitchen shaping kababs or stirring a pot of fragrant Qabuli Palaw. Alongside his two childhood friends and business partners, Jawad and Fawad Hairdari, Yuldash does a bit of everything — prepping ingredients, managing the front, and even handling late-night inventory runs.
“And there were always kababs on the table. The flavors were always comforting and simple, nothing overpowering or too spicy.” These early experiences instilled in Yuldash a deep appreciation for authentic cooking. However, it would take years — and a journey halfway around the world — before this passion blossomed into what Afghan Kabab and Pizza House is today.
Cooking wasn’t initially part of Yuldash’s plan. “I never imagined I’d be running a restaurant. Back home,
“PITTSBURGH FELT LIKE A FRESH START. THE PEOPLE WERE WELCOMING, AND I BEGAN TO SEE POSSIBILITIES THAT I HADN’T SEEN BEFORE.”
Yuldash is a refugee from Afghanistan who has turned his deep love for the flavors of his homeland into a thriving business. Born and raised in Maymana, the capital of Faryab province in northern Afghanistan, Yuldash’s early life was steeped in the rich traditions of communal eating, homecooked food, and a sense of togetherness. His mother, known in their neighborhood for her culinary skills, could transform even the simplest ingredients into something extraordinary. “She always cooked with the freshest ingredients — no shortcuts, no pre-made spices — everything was from scratch, made with care and patience. Our family table was always open to friends and neighbors.”
The kitchen was the heart of their home, where Yuldash’s family hunkered down every day over “simple, homemade food.” Daily staples included bowls of steaming Ashak, or leek-filled dumplings, and Qabuli Palaw, a sweet and savory dish made with meat, rice, carrots, and raisins.
my life was different — simple, but different. Though I didn’t cook, I was always drawn to the kitchen from a very young age.”
Academically inclined, Yuldash pursued a degree in Business Administration through a special scholarship program at Banaras Hindu University in India — a solid education that promised stability and financial security. It was during his university days in India that he first honed his culinary skills. He and his Afghan roommates, far from home, found solace in recreating familiar dishes. In their cramped apartment, cooking became a collective ritual.
With his mother on the phone offering guidance, Yuldash took charge of marinating and grilling the meat, while one roommate prepared a crisp, fresh salad, and another cooked basmati rice. “We missed the food from home, and this was our way of staying connected,” he recalls. Through these communal meals, Yuldash not only learned the intricacies of cooking, but discovered
“SOME HAVE NEVER TRIED AFGHAN FOOD BEFORE, BUT ONCE THEY DO, THEY KEEP COMING BACK.”
the deep connection between food and identity.
However, life had other plans for Yuldash. He arrived in San Diego in 2017 under the Special Immigrant Visa program, a lifeline for those who had worked with the U.S. government in Afghanistan. “It was expensive, even with two jobs,” he recalls of his time in California, where he worked at the Family Health Centers of San Diego. “San Diego was beautiful, but it was hard to make ends meet. My kids were little, and living paycheck to paycheck wasn’t sustainable. We needed to find a place where we could actually build a life.”
That place turned out to be Pittsburgh. Drawn by the lower cost of living and the presence of a growing Afghan community, the family relocated in 2019. It was here, in a city known for its resilience, that Yuldash found his calling in the kitchen once
again. “Pittsburgh felt like a fresh start,” he says. “The people were welcoming, and I began to see possibilities that I hadn’t seen before.”
The fragrant aroma of his kababs would drift through the Canonsburg neighborhood, drawing curious neighbors to his door. Their enthusiastic compliments and encouragement planted the seed of an idea — why not share these beloved flavors with a wider audience?
The idea to open a restaurant was born out of necessity as much as passion. “We missed the food from back home, and we couldn’t find anything like it here,” Yuldash explains. With support from his wife and support from the local Afghan community, he decided to turn his lifelong love of cooking into a business. It was a leap of faith, but one that felt right. “Cooking was something I knew I could do well,” he says. “And I knew
there were others like us who longed for the taste of home.”
The chance to bring his vision to life came unexpectedly when Yuldash discovered a small pizza shop for sale in Blawnox. The shop was modest, with a simple layout, a small kitchen, and seating for about 15 people. Yuldash quickly partnered with his childhood friends — two brothers from his hometown, the Hairdaris, who had a background in the baking business and had been evacuated to Pittsburgh in 2022.
Eager to seize the opportunity, the trio purchased the shop in April. In just two months, they readied the space, and by June 1, they proudly opened the doors of Afghan Kabab and Pizza House.
Instead of scrapping the existing menu, Yuldash and his partners decided to keep the pizza on the menu — it is, after all, an American
staple — while adding their own spin. The result? Kabab Pizza — a culinary creation that sounds unusual on paper but is nothing short of genius in execution. “It’s something you won’t find anywhere else in the city,” Yuldash says.
“The Kabab pizza is one of our bestsellers,” he says with a grin. “Lamb, chicken, all marinated by us. We don’t buy pre-marinated meat. We bring in fresh halal meat, mostly from Amish farms or Muslim butchers, and marinate it ourselves.”
But the true stars of Afghan Kabab and Pizza House are its traditional Afghan dishes. The menu features a variety of kababs, each grilled to perfection over an open flame, as well as hearty dishes like Qabuli Palaw — Afghanistan’s national dish. It’s a labor of love, made using a method passed down through generations. “We don’t fry the ingredients like
CP PHOTO: MARS JOHNSON
Nushrat Yuldash, owner of Afghan Kabab and Pizza House in Blawnox
in other places,” Yuldash explains. “Everything is cooked slowly, with patience. The onions, garlic, and carrots are sautéed until they release their natural sweetness, which gives the palaw its distinctive flavor. It is delicately spiced, like everything else on our menu.”
Another standout dish is the mantu — steamed dumplings filled with spiced ground beef and onions, topped with a tangy yogurt sauce, and a sprinkling of dried mint. “Mantu is a dish that’s close to my heart,” says Yuldash. “It’s something my mother used to make for special occasions.”
The restaurant is slowly becoming a hub for Pittsburgh’s Afghan community, a place where they can reconnect with their roots over a plate of kababs or a bowl of Ashak. “We’ve had families come in who haven’t tasted these dishes in years,”
Yuldash says. “It’s an emotional experience for them, and for me, too.”
The restaurant has also attracted a diverse crowd of Pittsburgh locals, eager to explore new flavors. “We get people from all walks of life,” Yuldash notes. “Some have never tried Afghan food before, but once they do, they keep coming back.”
Beyond the kitchen, Yuldash remains committed to helping other refugees find their footing in Pittsburgh. He works as an employment specialist with Jewish Family and Community Services, where he helps newly arrived refugees navigate the challenges of settling into a new country. “I know what it’s like to start over with nothing,” he says. “If I can help others avoid some of the struggles I faced, then it’s worth it.” •
RAISE THE FLAG
The Pittsburgh Flag Football League is gaining popularity in schools, and prepares for its Olympic debut
BY: ATIYA IRVIN-MITCHELL // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
While the Penguins, Pirates, and Steelers are the teams
Pittsburghers are the most likely to cheer for, there is another sport on the rise in the Steel City: flag football.
most guys were not fortunate enough to kind of get any sort of experience in playing football beyond the highschool level,” Curd tells Pittsburgh City Paper. “And so we started the league as a way to kind of provide recognition for just the average guy.”
Curd knows firsthand that a
“FLAG FOOTBALL IS VERY MUCH WHAT I WOULD CALL A COME-AS-YOU-ARE SPORT.”
The Pittsburgh Flag Football League was founded in 2009 as a light-hearted weekly pastime for adults. Pittsburgh Flag Football League executive director Chris Curd says the league has since expanded to include youth and high school girls.
“Having my background and experience both at the collegiate level and professional level, I realized that
love of football can take you many places. Although he’s originally from Youngstown, Ohio, obtaining a football scholarship in 1999 brought him to the University of Pittsburgh, and ultimately to a stint in the National Football League playing for the Atlanta Falcons.
In the league’s early days, there were nine teams of adult men
playing for the joy of it, but, as interest grew, the league expanded in 2011 to include kids, which meant playing and practicing at four di erent locations. Curd recalls that, at the league’s peak, it included 34 teams, but, as with many things when the pandemic struck, participation flatlined. Fortunately, Curd says, when restrictions eased, there were many parents eager to get their children involved in outdoor activities again.
“Now, we’re back in full force, and we’re fortunate to have five locations across the western Pennsylvania area,” Curd says. “We also have winter seasons and a summer season that can vary between as low as 400 kids to as high as 1,100 kids participating across each of the locations.”
According to Curd, what brings kids to the league in one way or another is a love of football. For some kids, flag football is a compromise for those who are eager to play the game but have parents concerned about the safety risks that come with tackling. For others, their love of the game is so intense they participate in the league in addition to playing tackle football.
“Even though they’re playing tackle football four to five days a week, what I call ‘diehards’ are the kids where anything that’s involved in football they want to be a part of,” Curd says.
The youth league includes kids between the ages of 5 and 15, with girls being able to choose between playing on a co-ed team or participating in the girls-only division.
“There are certain subset of girls that just kind of don’t care, you know, ‘I don’t care about playing with boys, not a big deal,’” Curd says. “But for the majority of young ladies that want to get involved in it, doing it all-girls is
more of a, I don’t want to call it a safer environment, but it’s an environment that kind of speaks to all girls, not just a handful of girls.”
A recent development for the girls division is that, in Sept. 2024, Pennsylvania joined Georgia, Florida, and e as in making flag football a sanctioned high school sport.
Previously, the Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles sponsored the teams in an e ort to help girls flag football get established within the commonwealth. While Curd says the partnership between the NFL teams and the league will continue, now that the teams at the 60 participating high schools are sanctioned, they’re eligible for school funding, and teams will be able to participate in interscholastic competitions during the 2025-26 school year.
Looking to the future, Curd points out that in , flag football will officially be an Olympic sport; therefore, in the time between now and then, the goal is to help the game continue its growth. When thinking of why so many young people are gravitating towards flag football, Curd says, the appeal is likely because there isn’t one sort of person who’d excel at the game. If you love the game and are good at thinking ahead, Curd says, you can go far on the field.
“ here’s no sort of athlete profile that fits for flag football. ftentimes, there’s a profile that’s needed, not only just for female athletes but also for male athletes, but flag football is very much what I would call a come-as-you-are sport,” Curd says. “It doesn’t matter your height, your overall athleticism. If you have height and athleticism, that’s great. It’ll do nothing but help you. But strategy is what really matters.” •
Feeling Nostalgic?
MUSIC • NORTH SIDE
IN PITTSBURGH
THU., DEC. 12
LIT • BLOOMFIELD
meTamorphosis: a queer and trans-led reading series 7-8:30 p.m. White Whale Bookstore. 4754 Liberty Ave., Bloomfield. Free. RSVP required. Livestream available. whitewhalebookstore.com/events
MUSIC • SOUTH SIDE
Mary Gauthier with Jaimee Harris. 7 p.m. Doors at 6 p.m. Club Cafe. 56-58 South 12th St., South Side. $25. ticketweb.com
THEATER/BURLESQUE • ALLENTOWN
Vigilance Theater Group presents a Very Spooky Holiday 7:30 p.m. Grim Wizard Co ee. 1206 Arlington Ave., Allentown. $17. instagram.com/vigilancetheater
FILM • DOWNTOWN
5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem byDaft Punk and Leiji Matsumoto. 8 p.m. Continues on Sun., Dec. 15. Harris Theater. 809 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $15. trustarts.org
FRI., DEC. 13
FILM • SEWICKLEY
Holiday Classics at The Lindsay 12:15 p.m. Continues through Thu., Dec. 26. The Lindsay Theater and Cultural Center. 418 Walnut St., Sewickley. $8.75-11. thelindsaytheater.org
ART • OAKLAND
BOOM Concepts pays tribute to generations of Black artists with the opening reception of Collective Legacy II at the Frick Environmental Center. Created to celebrate the organization’s 10th anniversary, the exhibition highlights “over 50 years of Black arts in the region” with works ranging from mixed media paintings to sculpture and photography. Centered around a work by Carl “Dingbat” Smith, Collective Legacy II strives to localize “the essence of the Black diasporic experience.” 6-9 p.m. 2005 Beechwood Blvd., Oakland. Free. Registration required. All ages. pittsburghparks.org
MUSIC
PARTY
• NORTH SIDE
21+ Night: Swiftie Science 6-10 p.m. Carnegie Science Center. One Allegheny Ave., North Side. $20-25. carnegiesciencecenter.org
DEC.
17
• NORTH SIDE
Sounds of the Season with Zuly Inirio. 7:30 p.m. New Hazlett Theater. 6 Allegheny Sq. E, North Side. $39. newhazletttheater.org
MUSIC
• LAWRENCEVILLE
La Lom with The National Reserve. 8 p.m. Doors at 7 p.m. Thunderbird Music Hall. 4053 Butler St., Lawrenceville. $25. thunderbirdmusichall.com
The Government Center enters its Covers Era with a special 35th birthday celebration for Taylor Swift. Taylor Fest features several local acts — The Screeching Tires Of True Love, The Swifties, Fantome Trois, and Dan Sty — playing songs by the superstar. Bring your fellow tortured poets and sing along during this anti-hero-friendly event. Donations will also be accepted for Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania. 8 p.m. 715 East St., North Side. Free. All ages. thegovernmentcenter.com
PODCAST• DOWNTOWN
Drunkard’s Walk Podcast Live. 8 p.m. Arcade Comedy Theater. 943 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $15. arcadecomedytheater.com
FILM • LAWRENCEVILLE
Cult-O-Rama Holiday Special 9 p.m. Row House Cinema. 4115 Butler St., Lawrenceville. $16.50. rowhousecinemas.com
Cartoonist Joe Wos expands on the Exploding Kittens franchise with a new release at Mystery Lovers Bookshop. Based on the hit game and animated Netflix show, the Exploding Kittens Puzzles and Activities book contains tons of mazes, coloring pages, word searches, and more, all with art by Wos, who will sign copies of the work and his other books. All guests will also be entered to win an Exploding Kittens Prize pack featuring the card game, book, and plush. 6-7 p.m. 514 Allegheny River Blvd., Oakmont. Free. Registration required. mysterylovers.com
DEC.
13
PHOTO: TIM NORRIS
The Hip Hop Nutcracker at the Benedum Center
THUR, DEC. 12
DANCE • EAST LIBERTY
Confluence Ballet presents The Jazz Nutcracker. 7 p.m. Continues on Sun., Dec. 15. Kelly Strayhorn Theater. 5941 Penn Ave., East Liberty. $22-35. kelly-strayhorn.org
MUSIC • MCKEES ROCKS
Pittsburgh Plays: The Cure. 8 p.m. Doors at 6:30 p.m. Roxian Theatre. 425 Chartiers Ave., McKees Rocks. Tickets start at $17. All ages. pittsburghplays.com
MUSIC • MILLVALE
Wax Jaw with Century III and Sunny Daze and the Weathermen 8 p.m. Doors at 7 p.m. The Funhouse at Mr. Smalls. 400 Lincoln Ave., Millvale. $12 in advance, $15 at the door. mrsmalls.com
SUN., DEC. 15
MARKET • LAWRENCEVILLE
Pittsburgh Record Fest 12-8 p.m. Spirit. 242 51st St., Lawrenceville. $3. All ages. spiritpgh.com
MARKET • HIGHLAND PARK
Queer Craft Market Winter Bazaar 3-7 p.m. Union Project. 801 N. Negley Ave., Highland Park. Free. instagram.com/queercraftmarket
MON., DEC. 16
TALK • DOWNTOWN
To Adapt or Not to Adapt: Shakespeare and Democracy 7 p.m. O’Reilly Theater. 621 Penn Ave., Downtown. $20. ppt.org
TUE., DEC. 17
MUSIC • DOWNTOWN
Tony Martucci Earth Tones. 5 p.m. Lounge at the Greer Cabaret. 655 Penn Ave., Downtown. Free. trustarts.org
THEATER • DOWNTOWN
The Hip Hop Nutcracker. 7:30 p.m. Benedum Center. Seventh St. and Penn Ave., Downtown. $25-90. trustarts.org
WED., DEC. 18
MUSIC • STRIP DISTRICT
A Charlie Brown Christmas with Jody Nardone Trio: A Tribute to Vince Guaraldi. 7:30 p.m. Doors at 6 p.m. City Winery. 1627 Smallman St., Strip District. $25-35. pittsburgh.citywinery.com
FILM • ALLENTOWN
Christmas Bloody Christmas: Bad Movie BINGO with Neo-Trash Video 8 p.m. Bottlerocket Social Hall. 1226 Arlington Ave., Allentown. $5. bottlerocketpgh.com
PARTY • DOWNTOWN
Black and Bold Party: The Holiday Get Together. 8 p.m. August Wilson African American Cultural Center. 980 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $35. awaacc.org
PHOTO: COURTESY OF TRAFALGAR RELEASING
5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem by Daft Punk and Leiji Matsumoto at Harris Theater
HELP WANTED CHAPLAIN
West Penn Allegheny Health System, Inc. seeks a Chaplain to work at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA, to provide and coordinate pastoral care to patients, families, and employees, including direct client contact with the provision of sacramental support, pastoral counseling, and/ or referral to community religious resources. Apply at: ahn.org/careers Job Code J254038.
ESTATE NOTICE
ESTATE OF CISLO, NANCY, J, A/K/A IF NECESSARY
CISLO, NANCY JEAN DECEASED OF DRAVOSBURG, PA
No. 022405348 of 2024.
Susan Marie Cislo
Extr. Or to Ian Petrulli, Esq Attorneys. 12239
US Route 30, North Huntingdon, PA, 15642
LEGAL
MARKET PLACE
FINANCIAL
Need Help with Family Law? Can’t Afford a $5000 Retainer? Low Cost Legal Services- Pay As You Go- As low as $750-$1500Get Legal Help Now! Call 1-844-821-8249 Mon-Fri 7am to 4pm PCT (AAN CAN) https://www.familycourtdirect. com/?network=1
NAME CHANGE
IN The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: No. GD-24-009716
In petition of Brigette Marie Marshala-Davitt for change of name to Brigitte Marie Maraszil
To all persons interested:
Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the 27th day of December 2024, at 9:30 a.m., as the time and the Motions Room, City-County Building, Pittsburgh, PA, as the place for a hearing, when and where all persons may show cause, if any they have, why said name should not be changed as prayed for.
FINANCIAL
SAVE BIG on HOME INSURANCE! Compare 20 A-rated insurances companies. Get a quote within minutes. Average savings of $444/year! Call 844712-6153! (M-F 8am-8pm Central) (AAN CAN)
NAME CHANGE
IN The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: No. GD-24-10194
In petition of Emily Jayne Jones for change of name to Cody Stephen Jones.
To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the 27th day of December 2024, at 9:30 a.m., as the time and the Motions Room, City-County Building, Pittsburgh, PA, as the place for a hearing, when and where all persons may show cause, if any they have, why said name should not be changed as prayed for.
STUDY SMOKERS WANTED
The University of Pittsburgh’s Alcohol & Smoking Research Lab is looking for people to participate in a research project. You must:
• Currently smoke cigarettes
• Be 18-49 years old, in good health, and speak fluent English
• Be right handed, willing to not smoke before two sessions, and to fill out questionnaires Earn up to $260 for participating in this study.
For more information, call (412) 407-5029
OFFICIAL ADVERTISEMENT
THE BOARD OF PUBLIC EDUCATION of the SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PITTSBURGH ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS
Sealed proposals shall be deposited at the Administration Building, Bellefield Entrance Lobby, 341 South Bellefield Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15213, on Tuesday, January 07, 2025, until 2:00 P.M., local prevailing time for:
PITTSBURGH CHARTIERS EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTER
• Electrical Service Replacement
• Electrical and General Primes
PITTSBURGH VARIOUS LOCATIONS
• Fire Alarm System Repairs • Electrical Primes
PITTSBURGH WESTINGHOUSE HIGH SCHOOL
• Lighting Replacement for Carpentry Shop and Cosmetology
• Electrical Primes
Project Manual and Drawings will be available for purchase on Wednesday, November 27, 2024, at Modern Reproductions (412-4887700), 127 McKean Street, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15219 between 9:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. The cost of the Project Manual Documents is non-refundable. Project details and dates are described in each project manual.
We are an equal rights and opportunity school district.
“A” MAN ON THE INSIDE
ACROSS
1. Howled like a hound
6. Some moshers
11. Place for loaded people
14.
Love to bits
15. Flying toy
16. French article
17. Writer Oz in a flat cap?
19. Supplements chain
20. Yellow dog with an extremely large tongue
21. Burnout
23. J.D. Vance side-eye, e.g.
25. Representative Schi into nuts?
28. ___ wrestling
29. Harissa container
30. Cartoon collectibles
31. NHL star Ovechkin in the middle of a test?
35. “Hello, I Love You” band
37. With 64-Across, sports gambling line
38. One to look up to
39. Cut (down)
41. Prayer opening featuring singer Guthrie?
45. Count on one’s fingers?
46. Fix the squeak
47. Argentine aunt
48. Actor Alda showing up in a
perspective for newsreaders around here?
52. Chain with a Froyo Club
53. Parallelism
54. Word said while tipping one’s cap
56. Part of a baseball glove
57. Speak convincingly about Beverly Hills Cop’s Foley?
62. It’s an electric part of an aquarium
63. Ties things up
64. See 37-Across 65. Frequent Snoop collaborator
66. Fix, as the grounds
67. Sailing DOWN
1. Cricket equipment
2. Letters on an Act bottle
3. Joke that skewers one’s family
4. Break down
5.
Like South Asian culture
6. Smooching on the street, initially
7. Decaf container
8. Just around the corner
9. Form gluten, perhaps
10. Perfect Sleeper company
11. With more problems, as code
12. Best-of-theyear issues
13. Time for cops and robbers
18. Waver
22. “Fine by me”
23. Great Leap Forward chairman
24. Get things wrong
26. Allowing for a breeze to get in
27. Zoomer’s gizmo
32. Cosmetics company with an apostrophe in its name
33. Second person
34. Marked o
35. Fentanyl trackers
36. Only airman to escape in Catch-22
38. “___ is full of musical amateurs” (George Bernard Shaw)
39. First person?
40. Soundbar-to-TV
connector
41. Archaeologist’s job
42. You don’t need scrips for them
43. Tease mercilessly
44. Leg ___ (gym session)
45. Covered in bugs
46. Cameo stones
49. Word said while hanging a picture
50. Tequila plant
51. Genre for Piebald or Karate
52. Tease mercilessly
55. Blue hue
58. “Baby’s on Fire” singer Brian
59. Drug that triggers flashbacks
60. Previously went by
61. Singing syllable
LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS
Many Americans are fortunate to have dental coverage for their entire working life, throughemployer-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.
When you’re comparing plans ...
Look for coverage that helps pay for major services. Some plans may limit the number of procedures — or pay for preventive care only.
Look for coverage with no deductibles. Some plans may require you to pay hundreds out of pocket before benefits are paid.
Shop for coverage with no annual maximum on cash benefits. Some plans have annual maximums of $1,000.
Medicare doesn’t pay for dental care.1
That’s right. As good as Medicare is, it was never meant to cover everything. That means if you want protection, you need to purchase individual insurance.
Early detection can prevent small problems from becoming expensive ones.
The best way to prevent large dental bills is preventive care. The American Dental Association recommends checkups twice a year.
Previous dental work can wear out.
Even if you’ve had quality dental work in the past, you shouldn’t take your dental health for granted. In fact, your odds of having a dental problem only go up as you age.2
Treatment is expensive — especially the services people over 50 often need.
Consider these national average costs of treatment ... $222 for a checkup ... $190 for a filling ... $1,213 for a crown.3 Unexpected bills like this can be a real burden, especially if you’re on a fixed income.
PRT is improving transit for every rider. We’re adding QR codes to bus signs so you’ll know when your bus will arrive. We’re making it easier to get on board with our new Ready2Ride® mobile ticketing app. And, we’re investing in all electric buses to help reduce emissions today-to help improve air quality tomorrow. Yes, PRT is making changes. But more importantly, we’re making a difference. Learn more at rideprt.org
