COVID-19

I’m a Bellevue mom with COVID-19, coping with a lack of air and separation from my daughter

By |

It seems like a year ago, but it was only three weeks ago that things began to fall apart. On Friday, March 13, my first-grade daughter did not have school. It was planned, and had been on the calendar all year for the Northgate school district. 

We had started to hear different reports about COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, but I was like everybody else, thinking, “Oh, it’s just a virus, we will see.”

That planned three-day weekend became the start of a new normal. The district canceled school for two weeks, and the murmur was that it would be much longer. My daughter's father and I do not live together and we were both working at the time.

COVID-19
Illustration of novel coronavirus. (Graphic by Ryan Loew and Natasha Vicens/PublicSource)

Why municipal fragmentation makes the wider Pittsburgh region especially vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic

By |

Compelling personal stories
told by the people living them. As a health and development economist, I study how households make decisions under uncertainty. Specifically, I look at how bureaucracy, social stratification and place affect those decisions. The coronavirus pandemic is that sort of uncertainty. And looking at the Pittsburgh region through the lens of my expertise, I worry that our region will be hit especially hard by COVID-19.

ENVIRONMENT

Family history, loss and hopes for a bright future fuel my fight for clean air in Clairton

By |

Compelling personal stories
told by the people living them. I live in a third-generation family home. It sits on a ridge at the top of the hill overlooking U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works. My father worked hard on this house; he added onto it, extended it out, lacing it with gorgeous stained glass windows that he procured from local churches or schools when they were being torn down in our area. As long as the curtains are drawn back, I can see the smoke billowing from the stacks.

COVERING CLIMATE NOW
Earth melting into water

Recognizing the climate crisis through focused journalism in Pittsburgh and around the world

By |

“Where were you when you first heard about [insert tragic event]?” 

We all have our stories and memories for the biggest crises of our time. Usually, it’s a specific moment seared into our minds. I’m sure many of you were recalling one recently on the 18th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. I know I was: I was in a high school French class, gasps and wide eyes around me as the announcement came over the speaker.

SOCIAL JUSTICE
Harriet L. Schwartz is a professor at Carlow University and author of the forthcoming book “Connected Teaching: Relationship, Power, and Mattering in Higher Education.” (Photo by Ryan Loew/PublicSource)

When I said ‘white,’ I meant ‘white:’ Why white Pittsburghers should care about racism and what to do about it

By |

The work of confronting racism has historically been left to people of color. As such, the very people who are oppressed hold the responsibility of transforming the power structures that subjugate them. Imagine lying on the ground with someone’s foot on your neck and you alone are left to overpower your aggressor.

DEVELOP PGH

Industrial buildings tell Pittsburgh’s story. Preserving them is costly and takes dedication.

By |

In some cases, fragments of historic sites survive based on their value as industrial heritage or their adaptability into venues for culture and tourism. In a few other cases, factory sheds are reused as office or light manufacturing spaces, if they can compete in the real estate market.But most often, it seems these relics of our industrial roots are razed.