Latest Stories – Point Park News Service

Breaking Bread in the ‘Burgh

January 23, 2019January 23, 2019 Francesca Dabecco, Nick Malburg

By Francesca Dabecco A version of this story ran on NextPittsburgh. Every Monday at 4 a.m., Nick Malburg rises like the bread he makes to begin an age-old baking style in the kitchen of his Stanton Heights ranch home. He pulls heaping piles of dough prepared the day before from his refrigerator, cut and shaped into rounded molds, ready to be scored and baked to a crispy... Read More

The Person Behind the Artist

January 17, 2019January 23, 2019 dance, Jordyn Hronec, Point Park University

By Jordyn Hronec, Point Park News Service Before class starts, there’s a specific energy buzzing in the air. When the teacher opens the door, dancers quickly file into the large, echoey studio with sunlight filtering through the tall windows that reveal the ghost of a once industrial city looming outside. The dance students are eager to get stretching. One student... Read More

Pittsburgh’s Pickle Craze: How the city’s relishing the past and future of pickles

December 18, 2018December 18, 2018 Grandpa Joe's Candy Shop, Lauren Clouser

By Lauren Clouser The owner of Grandpa Joe’s Candy Shop woke up in the middle of the night with an idea for pickle cotton candy. Wigle Whiskey created over 30 tests before finally getting the right combination for their pickle-flavored spirit. And, most famously, Pittsburgh is home to a three-day festival dedicated entirely to pickles. Since the time of H.J.... Read More

The Strange Science of the Center for PostNatural History

December 18, 2018December 18, 2018 Center for PostNatural History, Lauren Clouser

By Lauren Clouser Richard Pell has traveled to Utah to pick up a taxidermy goat, received mice embryos in the mail and currently has a great dane in his freezer waiting to be stuffed. These are just a part of over 60 exhibits that make up the Center for PostNatural History, a storefront museum in Garfield founded and operated by... Read More

Vinyl Stacks of Steel City: The historic record stores that make Pittsburgh a music worthy city

December 18, 2018December 18, 2018 Chris Grauzer, Fred Bohn Jr., Jerry's Records, The Attic

By Amanda Myers Chris Grauzer planned on opening his own record store when the opportunity to buy the legendary Jerry’s Records, where he had been working for around ten years, came up. Back in the 1990s when Fred Bohn Jr. went to work at The Attic, his father’s record store, he had no ambitions to keep with family tradition. Growing... Read More

WorkshopPGH: A do-it- yourself school taught by local makers right in the heart of Pittsburgh

December 18, 2018December 18, 2018 Bailey Penrod, Heather Carson, Jenn Newara, Kelly Malone, WorkshopPGH

By Bailey Penrod After recently founding a do-it-yourself craft enterprise called WorkshopSF in 2016, Kelly Malone found herself randomly visiting Pittsburgh. Heather Carson couldn’t wait to get to WorkshopPGH to continue building her own decorations and furniture for her house. Jenn Newara sews the inside seam of her halfway finished tote while taking a swig of her PBR and chatting... Read More

Pittsburgh’s Remaining Collectible Stores Offer Lifetime of Novelty Fun

December 18, 2018December 18, 2018 Jacob Berlin, S.W. Randall Toyes and Giftes, Shadyside Variety Store

By Jacob Berlin Jack Cohen wasn’t happy with the monotony of his day-to-day lifestyle of numbers-crunching math and science. It was work, not play. So he decided to open a toy store. “I used to be an engineer. I hated my job,” Cohen says. “My wife felt that there was no place to buy toys for the kids. And we... Read More

School Spirits: The Haunted Campuses of Pittsburgh Universities

December 18, 2018December 18, 2018 Community College of Allegheny County, Ghost stories, Point Park University, University of Pittsburgh

By Nicole Pampena When the ghost of Martha Jane Poe rocks the cradle in the Cathedral of Learning’s Early American Room, she does so slowly, and exactly four times — no more, no less. When conservatory students at Point Park University see The Lady in White, they learn she gets her name from the wedding dress she wears and the... Read More

Pittsburgh Holiday Desserts You Must Try

December 10, 2018December 10, 2018 Katie's Kandy, Millie’s Homemade Ice Cream, Pittsburgh Popcorn Company, The Milkshake Factory

By Lauryn Nania, Point Park News Service For Ethan Griffin, the holiday season doesn’t arrive until he heads to Market Square to sell his “moonshine” bars and other sweet delicacies at the Pittsburgh Christmas Market. Angela Carnicella loves selling Prantl’s Burnt Almond Torte cake during the holidays as much as she likes to eat the treat called “one of the... Read More

Pennsylvania’s Lack of Teachers of Color is Worsened by an Educator Shortage

December 10, 2018December 10, 2018 Education, Sabrina Bodon

By Sabrina Bodon, Point Park News Service Of the 31 teachers in the elementary school where she teaches, Pharlan Ives is the only teacher of color. She tries not to think about it. LaRita Stewart, a fourth grade teacher at Highland Elementary in Ambridge, Pa., understands what that’s like; she’s the only African-American teacher her whole school district. “Nobody needed... Read More