90.5 WESA: Features & Special Reports

Musicians in Pittsburgh, like artists everywhere, had to learn to live without in-person concerts and play from behind a screen when the pandemic arrived. While many say they’re excited to return to the stage, they did discover some surprising upsides to performing online.

The Port Authority of Allegheny County is on a quest to build a transit system that is equitable, sustainable and improves people’s lives . A new round of public meetings on its long-range plan, NEXTransit , comes at a time of uncertainty and fiscal constraint.

In poet Yona Harvey’s latest collection, “You Don’t Have to Go to Mars for Love” (Four Way Books), several poems feel equal parts composition and collage. And there’s a reason for that.

An increasing amount of scientific evidence suggests that in-person learning, especially for younger students, presents a low risk for spreading the coronavirus. But last month, Pittsburgh Public Schools delayed reopening at least until April, a move that frustrated many working parents.

One person’s antagonist is another’s protagonist. It’s true in life, and also in the award-winning young-adult fiction of Sharon G. Flake.

After the state expanded phase 1A of its COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan last month, elderly Pennsylvanians began looking for appointments to get a shot. But since almost all vaccine appointments are booked online, many of the state’s oldest and most vulnerable residents are relying on loved ones to help them get booked.

Pennsylvania certified Democrat Joe Biden as the winner of the presidential election weeks ago. But President Trump’s campaign and some allies are still fighting the outcome in court. For the final installment of our Split Ticket series, 90.5 WESA asked four Western Pennsylvania voters – who we’ve been following for the last year – how they feel about the outcome.

Puerto Ricans have been immigrating to the U.S. for generations. Yet many mainlanders know little about this Caribbean island. For example, in 2017, in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, some Americans seemed surprised to learn that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens .

Susan Uffelman, 53, of Pittsburgh and Michele Charmello, 51, of Pitcairn, Pa., stand on opposite ends of the political spectrum—Uffelman to the right, Charmello to the left.

While it’s almost cliché to call western Pennsylvania an election battleground, local political organizers do not take the status for granted. And as this year’s campaign comes to a close in the age of COVID-19, members of both parties are mobilizing voters in their own way.

Two years ago this week, a gunman killed 11 members of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Squirrel Hill. In their conversation for One Small Step, a partnership between StoryCorps and WESA, Amber Neider, 34, of Baldwin and Dan Leger, 74, of Squirrel Hill—who was one of those injured in the shooting—reflect on how they responded to the event as Pittsburghers. They also discuss how it has informed their views on gun rights.

Voting rights activists – as well as Democrats – are pinning their hopes for a big turnout in this year’s election on mail-in voting. But some voters in Black communities don't plan to just sit back and mail it in.

Trains still carry coal past the now-abandoned Mathies Mine, located on the Monongahela River in Washington County. Metal fencing blocks the mine entrance, a cave-like opening where hundreds of miners once trod miles of tunnels.

On a chilly October evening, Vicki Potter stands in a gravel parking lot in Pittsburgh’s Strip District. The scent of popcorn mixes with the gasoline from nearby idling cars. Patrons are masked and sitting in the beds of trucks and trunks of minivans as an old-timey concession stand advertisement blares over the loudspeakers.

Aaron Weidman, 32, of Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, says the idea of “luck” plays a limited role in how likely a person is to realize their potential. But Tawnya Davis, 53, of Monroeville, Pa., says not everyone has access to the same resources.

Election Day is in just two weeks. But concerns about slow mail delivery, voter suppression, and baseless claims of fraud have voters on both sides wondering if the results can be trusted.

Suburban Pennsylvania voters may reshape the national political landscape this year, and that’s especially true in places like the 17th Congressional District outside of Pittsburgh, where Democrat Conor Lamb is being challenged by Republican Sean Parnell.

State Senator Jim Brewster, of McKeesport, is one of Allegheny County’s last old-school Democrats — friendly to labor, but socially conservative — to serve in Harrisburg. And now, after his district went narrowly for President Donald Trump in 2016, the lawmaker faces a reelection challenge from first-time Republican candidate Nicole Ziccarelli, of Lower Burrell. A win for Brewster is considered essential to enabling Democrats to flip control of the Pennsylvania legislature .

Pittsburgh’s poetry community is large but tight-knit. One big reason is Jan Beatty, the award-winning poet and educator whose sixth collection was just published by the University of Pittsburgh Press.

During this contentious and divisive election season, taking place on top of a global pandemic and a year of nationwide civil protests, it often feels the opposing political sides are so at odds, no middle ground can be found in between.