Q&A with a March for Our Lives Pittsburgh Student Organizer #MarchForOurLivesPGH

March for our lives Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh is one of more than 800 cities hosting sister marches with the National March for Our Lives in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, March 24. Pittsburgh’s march will kick-off at 11:30 AM at the City County Building on Grant Street. The march route will take you down Grant Street to Fifth, then Fifth to Liberty […]

IUP Assigns ‘First Amendment’ Hawk to Female Led Religious Studies Class

A recent academic situation at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) in Western PA is raising  my concerns about academic capitulation to right-wing proponents who deliberately conflate free speech with bullying behavior. Here’s what happened. On February 28, Lake Ingle, 23, a senior religious studies major from Tyrone, Blair County, attended the class “Self, Sin and Salvation.” The […]

Fish Fry Friday Special Report: Church of the Assumption Launches Recycling Team

This is probably one of the most awesome blogging outcomes I’ve ever discovered. The folks at the Church of the Assumption in Bellevue have regularly followed my reviews and always taken time to thank me for constructive feedback. Recently, I learned that the volunteers met sometime after the first Friday in Lent and decided to […]

Pittsburgh Wildlife Strategy & Urban Residents: Q&A with Scrap the Trap

In the past week, we’ve seen a groundhog in our yard, a raccoon on our back porch, and our regular opossum visitor. None of this is new. But it is early and as we are in the process of trapping, neutering/spaying & releasing feral cats, so this creates some challenges. Some of our neighbors have […]

My Hysterectomy, Ledcat’s Paid Sick Days, and Pittsburgh International Women’s Strike 2018

This is a story of how Paid Sick Days saved my life. I’m sharing this because of an upcoming important event in Pittsburgh. Women from across the Pittsburgh region will gather on March 7 and 8 to underscore the need for paid sick days and call on people to pledge support for the local Paid Sick Days […]

Q&A with Erika Strassburger, Candidate for Pgh City Council District 8

Erika Strassburger yard sign

The Special Election to fill the City Council seat for District 8, formerly held by Dan Gilman is many things. It is a contested election with Democratic, Republican, and Independent contenders. It is a race full of big ideas on everything from pothole repairs to clean water and rent control. It is also a genuine […]

Why Are the Girl Scouts of Western PA, Woodland Hills High School Accepting Grants from the NRA?

Pennsylvania NRA

NRA Lobbyist Dana Loesch is a horrible human being. That must always be said. But she did make me stop and think about how the NRA engages Americans. Today, I dutifully contacted Amazon Prime about their involvement with the broadcast of NRAtv. Then I googled “NRA Foundation” and Pennsylvania. I found their 2016 Annual Report. […]

‘Christian’ Psychic, Dakota James Foundation Sharing Misinformation About Gay Bars in Pittsburgh

A self-described ‘Christian Intuitive Medium and Psychic Detective’ named Troy Williams is contacting members of the local LGBTQ community to help identify a so-called person of interest in the disappearances of Dakota James and Paul Kochu. This person of interest was photographed in Cruze Bar and Williams is circulating the photo looking for a name.  Note, […]

UPMC v Highmark: Chapter 897689

Highmark UPMC

For the past several months, I have been interviewed by reporter Carolyn Johnson for a Washington Post piece on the Pittsburgh healthcare scene. More specifically, she was writing about the impact of two companies ‘stacking’ healthcare insurance with healthcare providers into what we know as UPMC and Highmark/Allegheny Health Network. I think vertical integration is the […]

Humane Action Pittsburgh Defends Collaboration with State Senator Guy Reschenthaler

Last week, I blogged about the plans by Animal Friends and Humane Action Pittsburgh to host State Senator Guy Reschenthaler – R for a conversation about animal rights at a meeting scheduled for Tuesday, February 13 at the Animal Friends campus on Camp Horne Road.  Here is the response of Humane Action Pittsburgh as posted […]