JoAnne Klimovich Harrop stories, Page 59
Holiday Market in Downtown Pittsburgh to close in response to Gov. Wolf’s covid orders
The Peoples Gas Holiday Market and Santa Zoom Experience in Market Square are closing Friday night, the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership announced. The Merry Market Pop-Up scheduled to open this weekend will not take place. News of the cancellations came after Thursday’s announcement by Gov. Tom Wolf. His orders amid the...
Play it Forward Pittsburgh Toy Drive gives new meaning to children’s fun
Miniature cars are lined up ready to roll. Kitchen sets await that first pretend meal. Bicycles sit ready for that ride around the block. And teddy bears and baby dolls long for that much-needed hug. These are some of the items that will be given to children as part of...
Virtual menorah lighting, scaled-back parade set in Pittsburgh to celebrate Hanukkah
Dark times need illumination. At 5 p.m. Thursday, 1,000 homes in the Pittsburgh area will light the first candle on their menorah celebrating the opening of Hanukkah, the festival of lights. They will do it virtually because of the pandemic. “It is so important that people stay connected,” said Adam...
Holiday window display competition in Pittsburgh to support artists, causes
The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership is adding a twist to holiday window displays with a contest this season. “As a retail store, your window displays are one of the most important marketing tools you have,” said Suzanne Mauro, a Pittsburgh-based retail consultant. “They can make someone passing by, enter your store...
Some Pittsburgh-area restaurant owners have outdoor dining covered amid pandemic
With the colder weather here to stay, many Downtown Pittsburgh restaurants have decided to cover outdoor spaces for continued dining to help accommodate state-mandated capacity requirements. Some outdoor dining structures resemble mini-greenhouses. Others look like plastic domes. Bakersfield Pittsburgh has tents, heaters and picnic-bench seating on Penn Avenue. At Bourbon...
A Daughter’s Promise: An unbreakable bond that withstood the test of a lifetimeVideo
Officials from the Jewish Association on Aging announced last month the Charles Morris Nursing & Rehabilitation Center will close Jan. 12, leaving its remaining 50 residents two months to relocate. Among those residents is Rosie Wyner, who plays a prominent role in this story. The association cited rising costs and...
A daughter’s promise: An unbreakable bond that withstood the test of a lifetime
This is the story of one mother and one daughter bound by an enduring devotion to each other and a lifelong promise to be each other’s protector....
Pittsburgh fiber artist, friends from Vermont, California make rugs, wall hangings to benefit food banks
Fiber artists make rugs from wool. They intertwine the fabric to create decorative wall hangings or functional floor coverings for the home. Three women from across the country are fashioning them — not only for a house’s décor — but to help put food on someone’s table. RFL or “Rugs...
Pittsburgh’s Sammy’s Famous Corned Beef to reopen Downtown
The popular “Sammy’s Special” sandwich — a large portion of hot corned beef, topped with Swiss cheese, coleslaw and Russian dressing on freshly-baked bread – will be available once again. Sammy’s Famous Corned Beef reopened with dine-in and pick up on Tuesday. Located on Liberty Avenue in Downtown Pittsburgh, the...
Winners announced for Pittsburgh’s Gingerbread House Display and Competition, can vote for People’s Choice
Barbara Rothermel received a text message from her daughter Monica Gesk when she heard the City of Pittsburgh’s Gingerbread House Display and Competition was returning this year despite the pandemic. “She told me she had the perfect idea,” said Rothermel of Peters. “She said ‘Mom, we have to make the...
Boston Market customers irked over long waits for Thanksgiving preordered meals
Boston Market declined Friday to address complaints from customers who said they waited up to three hours to pick up preordered Thanksgiving meals at the Green Tree restaurant. A restaurant manager in Green Tree referred questions to corporate headquarters, which didn’t respond for comment. Trib news partner WPXI reported that...
Steelers’ JuJu Smith-Schuster delivers turkeys to seniors after Thanksgiving game canceledVideo
Turkey with a side of JuJu? Thanksgiving turned out to be an off day for Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster. So, he delivered turkeys to seniors. “Giving back to the community has always been a thing in my heart,” Smith-Schuster said. He gathered with volunteers Thursday morning at Dive...
Soured: Pittsburgh pickle balloon popped when it was being installed for the holiday seasonVideo
2020 continues to deflate. A giant pickle ornament that was supposed to be the perfect backdrop for a selfie in Downtown Pittsburgh was canned before its planned debut Friday, according to the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership. The ornament was being tested Wednesday for a final time when installers heard a loud...
Steelers’ JuJu Smith-Schuster donates Thanksgiving meals to seniors
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster fondly remembers Thanksgiving dinners growing up. “The older people would always be served first,” said Smith-Schuster on Tuesday. He’s making the sure the seniors are taken care of this year, especially when they might not be able to have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner and...
Rachel Carson Bridge reopens in Pittsburgh after lengthy closure
The Allegheny County Department of Public Works announced Monday that the Rachel Carson Bridge, formerly known as the Ninth Street Bridge, has reopened. It’s been closed since February 2019 for a $23.3 million rehabilitation project. During the closure, the bridge had repairs to its steel structures and construction of a...
Harrison World War II veteran celebrates 100th birthday with a bona fide paradeVideo
A slight drizzle didn’t dampen Howard Traenkner’s party on Saturday. A parade was held in his honor for his 100th birthday outside his Harrison home. There were police cars and ambulances and firetrucks. More than 60 vehicles filled with old friends and family members drove by with their windows down,...
Break bread from Pittsburgh’s Pane e Pronto bakery this ThanksgivingVideo
Baking bread from scratch takes flour, yeast and the most important ingredient … time. “It’s a process,” said Nick Malburg, head baker at Pane e Pronto, an Italian takeout, bread and catering kitchen in the Strip District. “You can’t rush it, because if you do, people will notice.” Malburg has...
Steelers’ Cam Heyward donates cleats in honor of Tree of Life victims
The Squirrel Hill neighborhood is close to Cam Heyward’s heart. The Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle used to live there. He was devastated after the Oct. 27, 2018 shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue. Helping the area became his focus in “My Cause, My Cleats,” an initiative throughout the National...
Pittsburgh Carnegie Science Center’s Buhl Planetarium reopensVideo
See craters on the moon in a much clearer picture. That’s just one of the close-ups you can view inside the Carnegie Science Center’s updated Buhl Planetarium on Pittsburgh’s North Side. A multi-million dollar renovation was unveiled Tuesday. The attraction — the country’s fifth-oldest planetarium — will show more realistic...
The Rink at PPG Place in Pittsburgh opens for a 20th season
It’s 2020 for the The Rink at PPG Place. It opens at 11 a.m. for its 20th season on Friday on what would have been Light Up Night. The pandemic halted the annual kick-off event to the holiday season. But gliding on outdoor ice is still happening. “We are glad...
Toast the season with festive twists on holiday spiritsVideo
You don’t have to go to the bar to get a well-made drink. Many can be served in your house. “With most people spending the holidays at home because of the pandemic, there are easy ways to make cocktails in your house,” said Barry Young, co-founder and master distiller at...
Women of Alle Kiski Engaging distribute items collected for HOPE, HAVIN domestic violence shelters
Inside the box was a sauce pan. “That one pot could be used to make dinner tonight for a woman and her children who have just fled an unsafe home,” said Laurie Johns, assistant executive director of Helping All Victims in Need (HAVIN), a domestic violence shelter in Kittanning. Johns...
Guided by faith, Lower Burrell couple opens home to 4th adopted child
Lacie and Eric Hooks became emotional when their foster son’s first-grade teacher at Bon Air Elementary mentioned something peculiar about Jayden. “His teacher told us he wouldn’t write his last name,” Eric Hooks said. “He was writing our last name.” The shy little boy with the contagious smile can now...
Kennywood introduces chaperone policy for guests under 18
Kennywood Park announced a chaperone policy beginning with the opening of the 2021 season. Anyone under 18 years of age who enters after 4 p.m. must be accompanied by someone 21 or older, who is also a paying customer. In the past few years there have been incidents — from...
Carnegie Science Center unveils latest model for its miniature railroadVideo
Dr. Earl Douglas Childs recalled visiting the Carnegie Science Center’s Miniature Railroad & Village as a young boy, when it was located at the Buhl Planetarium. The trains mesmerized him. On Tuesday, the grown man was drawn to something else. The miniature model of his childhood home was unveiled at...
