Q&A with Aerion Andrew Abney, Candidate for PA State House District 19

A few years ago, I answered a knock on my door in Manchester and met this energetic young man who was running for a committee seat. His enthusiasm was contagious and we became Facebook friends. I’ve followed his career and continue to admire his enthusiasm, his leadership in Manchester, and his passion for service. Aerion […]

Northside Food Pantry Launches Food Drive Blitz To Meet Holiday Needs

The food pantry hosted by Northside Common Ministries on Brighton Road is the largest pantry in Western Pennsylvania. Each month, they distribute food to over 1,000 families and households in the Northside zip codes. The pantry is set up in a ‘shopping model’ which allows clients to select the items they prefer from whatever is […]

Neighborhood Welfare, the Animal Rescue League and Examples from Manchester

Western Pennsylvania Humane Society

I didn’t intend to write this post because I don’t live in Homewood and I can’t articulate what would be in the best interests of those who do. Then I saw the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette weighed in on the matter so I thought I would, too. You can read more details here about community response to […]

Strongly Afraid

Marge Piercy said: “A strong woman is a woman determined to do something others are determined not be done.” Tell us about a time when you did what couldn’t be done. As I review various advocacy projects in my mind that fit this criteria, I realize how the devil is in the detail. For example, […]

A Confession – I Reported You to the U.S. Postal Service

USPS

We all hate junk mail, yet through the mail slot it comes almost daily. So I scoop it up, sort it and don’t worry about it for another 24 hours. Except, the post man is not the only perpetrator. There’s a whole slew of folks who like to use my mail slot to deliver their […]

Elementary School Library in Pittsburgh’s is Unstacked

The story broke on Facebook this week … Manchester Elementary School in Pittsburgh’s Northside has less than 40 decent fiction books for the entire school. The response has been swift. Yinzercation has written about it. Within 24 hours, over 600 people had seen that original post and over 118 people had shared it on their […]

To Protect My Body, I Must Have a Voice – An Open Letter to Western PA Representatives

Dear Jake Wheatley, Adam Ravenstahl, Harry Readshaw, Dom Costa, Dan Frankel, Joe Preston, Dan Deasy, and Paul Costa. Gentlemen. As you are aware, my House District (22) has no Representative in your august body. Nor is there any realistic hope that we will have a special election in April to ensure we are represented in […]

Is This Disenfranchisement or What? The PA House 22nd District Loses Again

Is This Disenfranchisement or What? The PA House 22nd District Loses Again

Caught this today: But state House speaker Sam Smith says his immediate problem is that he must call special elections for six vacant state House seats and is stuck with an outdated map that is “so wildly out of proportion -– one person, one vote-wise, population-wise -– that I don’t want to be calling special […]

Lesbian Bashing on FourSquare

Lesbian Bashing on FourSquare

Hey, this is fun. I logged into FourSquare after a three month hiatus and found that someone had set up a new “venue” at my house … Hag Bag Headquarters “Welcome to whore ville all dykes get in free.” (sic … on so many levels.) Well, isn’t that nice? The Mayor of Hag Bag Headquarters […]