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The Northside Chronicle Blog

FREE admission to local attractions

September 7th, 2010

RADical Days 2010 features free admission to a few Northside museums as well as several free events.  RADical Days is annual event hosted by the Allegheny County Regional Asset District fund.  For information on RAD and RADical Days, plus locations and organization websites, check out the website here.  There are many non-Northside museums and events with free admission, as well!

Sunday, Sept. 19
Carnegie Science Center
Free Admission 10AM-5PM
General admission is free on RAD Day — includes all exhibits, Highmark SportsWorks®, mini-railroad,submarine. Omnimax films not included.

RiverQuest
Free Admission 11AM-3PM
RiverQuest presents free walk-on activities on Explorer at dock. Visit the world’s first green educational vessel and take part in free science activities. There is a fee for parking.

Wednesday, Sept. 29
Heinz Field
Free Admission 10AM-3PM (tours only)
Tours on the hour; last tour starts at 3PM. Limit 50 guests per hour. First come, first served. Enter under the Coca-Cola Great Hall sign along Art Rooney Ave.

Sunday, Oct. 3
Prime Stage at the New Hazlett Theater
Free Admission for Open Rehearsal 6PM
Be the first to experience FJ Hartland’s world premier adaptation of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Irving’s spooky classic is interwoven with children telling ghost stories. Directed by Mark Calla. Appropriate for middle school through seniors.

Thursday, Oct. 7
PNC Park
Free Admission 10AM-3PM (tours only)
Tours take place on the hour from 10AM-3PM with the last tour starting at 2PM; 60 guest maximum, on a first-come, first-served basis. Please enter at the Left Field Gate on Federal Street, by the Willie Stargell statue.

Saturday, Oct. 9
MCG Jazz Youth Arts Open House
Free Admission 2-4PM
From 2-3PM: Make It and Take It. Engage in fun projects in ceramics and design arts with MCG Youth Arts teaching artists. From 3-4PM: MCG Jazz Aurora jazz fusion performance for all ages provides a unique and memorable understanding of jazz’ influence on contemporary music of the 1970s and 1980s.

Sunday, Oct. 10 - Charm Bracelet Free Admission Sites
Venture Outdoors
Free Admission 10AM-Dusk
Experience Pittsburgh’s three rivers in a flat-water kayak. No experience necessary. You’ll receive a PFD and basic safety and paddling instruction. Restrictions: Must be at least 35 pounds. Minors under 18 must have a parent/guardian sign a risk waiver. A driver’s license will be held as a deposit while you’re on the water.

National Aviary
Free Admission 10AM-5PM
Get nose to beak with flamingoes, penguins, macaws, owls and more. Watch as birds eat, bathe, fly and play in free-flight exhibits. Immerse yourself in the sights and sounds of a real penguin colony at Penguin Point.

Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh
Free Admission Noon-5PM
Take off on fantastic flights of imagination at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh and return to earth to slide down a bowling alley, build and launch a boat, ink your own silkscreen, catch words that fall from the sky and much, much more. Performances by Children’s Festival Chorus and Children’s Museum Outreach performers We’re Holden Puppets, Storytellers Alan Irvine & Tim Hartman and musician Lee Robinson.

Mattress Factory
Free Admission 1-5PM
The Mattress Factory is a museum of contemporary art that presents art that you can get into: room-sized environments created by in-residence artists.

Saturday, Oct. 23
The Andy Warhol Museum
Free Admission 24 Hour Opening Celebration
10AM October 23 – 10AM October 24, 2010
Join the Warhol and celebrate the opening of their newest exhibition, Marilyn Monroe: Life as a Legend, with a free 24 hour RADical Days opening featuring Marilyn look-a-like contest, curator tours, art making, documentary screenings, author talks, and more. Over 300 works capture Marilyn’s rise to stardom in styles ranging from fashion photography to Pop Art.

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New bus routes for September

September 3rd, 2010

Starting Sunday, Sept. 5, 5 Northside bus routes will change numbers and service routes, and 3 will be eliminated.  Links lead to .pdf schedules.  Monday, Sept. 6 is Labor Day so all bus routes will operate on a holiday schedule.  These were planned route changes, and are not part of the Port Authority’s large budget shortfall that could potentially cause even more route and service cuts.

Major changes

A few Northside bus routes will have minor service changes. Those with minor changes are the the 6 Spring Hill, 16 Brighton and 18 Manchester.

If you were planning on waking up early tomorrow to take advantage of the nice fall weather we’ve got coming, maybe you should think again. Much of the North Shore will be shut down in the morning and early afternoon for a race.

These Northside bus routes will be detoured ON SATURDAY ONLY:

1 -Freeport Road
11 -Fineview
11D -Perrysville
12A -North Hills Shopper
14 -Ohio Valley
15 -Charles
16 -Brighton
18 -Manchester
1D -Mount Royal Boulevard
500 -Highland Park-Bellevue
6A -Troy Hill Road

The following roads will be closed in part or full from around 5 a.m. to 1 p.m., according to the Port Authority: North Shore Drive, Allegheny Avenue, Reedsdale Street, Lacock Street, Federal Street, Sandusky Street, West General Robinson Street, Mazeroski Way and Art Rooney Avenue. For more details, visit the Port Authority website here.

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Carnegie Library’s community conversation

September 2nd, 2010

Since May, the Carnegie Library has been holding community workshops to engage those it serves on how best to preserve and sustain its future success.  The third part of this three-part process happens in September.  You can read summaries of part one here, and part two here.

These final workshops will gather community input on strategies the library developed after the first two workshops.  The library is encouraging everyone to attend, including those who did not participate in the first two sets of workshops.  For more information on the Community Conversation, visit the library’s website, here.

Although the Northside is not losing any libraries, hours and staff are affected by budget cuts and shortfalls.  We will have more coverage on this important issue later in September.

Here is a list of community workshops to be held this month:
Saturday, September 18 | 10 am - Noon
St. Catherine of Siena Church • 1915 Broadway Avenue, 15216 •
Across from CLP - Beechview

Saturday, September 18 | 2 - 4 pm
Providence Family Support Center • 3113 Brighton Road, 15212 •
At the intersection of Brighton Rd. and Schimmer St.

Sunday, September 19 | 2 - 4 pm
CLP - Squirrel Hill • 5801 Forbes Avenue, 15217

Monday, September 20 | 6 - 8 pm
CLP - Downtown & Business • 612 Smithfield Street, 15222

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Trees need more love than you might think

September 1st, 2010
Photo courtesy Caitlin Lenahan and the Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest

Photo courtesy Caitlin Lenahan and the Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest

Did you know that young trees need 40 gallons of water per week?

“A lot of people seem to forget that trees need water,” said Caitlin Lenahan, the Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest’s education and outreach coordinator.

If you are one of those people, perhaps you should consider taking the organization’s Tree Tender course this month.  The $40 cost covers course materials, three dinners (that’s right, they feed you before they try to teach you anything), a T-shirt and an official Tree Tender card.  Plus, after 8 hours of volunteer work, they give you a set of pruners.  Scholarships are also available.

This month’s course, the last of the season, takes place at the Riverview Park Activities Building in Riverview Park on Sept. 16, 23 and 30.  Each class runs from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., but because they give you dinner to start with, Caitlin said actual instruction starts around 6 p.m.

Aside from learning how many gallons of water trees need, students will learn a brief history of the Pittsburgh urban forest, basic tree biology and identification, pests and diseases, how to plant a tree, how to care for a tree, pruning basics and more.  The organization also holds occasional workshops for its Tree Tenders so they can further their tree care abilities.

“The benefit of taking [the class] is knowing how to care for trees, so the trees planted on our streets have a better chance for survival,” Caitlin said.

The city requires a permit to care for public trees, but since Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest has one of those permits, all Tree Tenders are covered as long as they’re working as a part of the organization.  Which they want to do, since Friends provides tools and mulch and will haul away dead branches and debris at the end of every Tree Care Day.  Tree Tenders are in charge of organizing these events, but Friends is always there to help them and give them what they need to ensure the health of the trees in their neighborhoods.

There is a Tree Care Day in Troy Hill on Sept. 11, from 9 a.m. to noon.  All volunteers are welcome to come help out, and it’s a good way to test the waters to see if you want to become a Tree Tender.  For more information, contact Sally Joe Gruzik at sallyjoe@pittsburghforest.org.

To register for the Tree Tender course, call 412-362-6360 or register online at www.pittsburghforest.org/treetendercourse.

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Tell the Port Authority what you think

August 30th, 2010

Tomorrow is the last day to comment on the Port Authority’s proposed fare increases and service cuts.

Comments may be submitted online at PortAuthority.org using this online form or by sending mail (postmarked by 4 p.m. on Tuesday) to: Port Authority Fare & Service Proposals, Heinz 57 Center, 345 Sixth Avenue, Floor 3, Pittsburgh PA 15222-2527.

For more information check the Port Authority’s web page on the transportation funding crisis here. Proposed fare changes would increase the base fare for both Zones 1 and 2, the cost of passes and tickets and introduce premium pricing for light rail service and 13 express bus routes.

Service hours would be reduced by 35 percent, cutting the number of routes from 129 to 85 and forcing the closure of two bus divisions. At least 500 Authority jobs would be cut. About 90 neighborhoods throughout Port Authority’s coverage area would be left without any public transit service or see significant service loss, including Troy Hill.

The Authority’s Board of Directors will consider final approval during its Sept. 24 meeting. The proposed fare increase would be implemented on Saturday, Jan. 1, 2011, and service changes would take effect on Sunday, Jan. 9, 2011.

Source: Port Authority press release.

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922 Middle Street • Pittsburgh PA 15212
Phone: 412-321-3919 • Fax 412-321-1447
email: editor@thenorthsidechronicle.com