COVERING CLIMATE NOW

Single-use plastic and air pollution: Two leading experts share their knowledge about climate change

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This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story. Read PublicSource's stories here. Climate change is a crisis that impacts us at both the global and local levels. The decisions of local and state lawmakers determine the type of materials that end up on our shelves and in our environment. The impact of pollution can vary depending on where you are, not just on a regional level but on a neighborhood level — meaning Pittsburghers don’t all experience the same consequences from pollution in the same way.

Religion
Rev. Jack Bendik, Lois Campbell, Mary Swindal and Frank Almade spoke on a Monday panel on parish consolidation. They are sitting at a table looking resigned.

With mergers looming, Pittsburgh-area Catholics wrestle with the impact of shrinking parishes

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When Monsignor Jack Bendik first learned about parish mergers and closures in the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, he thought, “I couldn’t believe it could be so dramatic. I was shocked that you were going from 188 parishes to 57. That’s almost obscene.” 

Bendik spearheaded the merging of four parishes in Northeast Pennsylvania near Scranton —  building what he sees as a successful church community — and, on Monday night, he aimed to lift the hopes of about 70 people who gathered in Allison Park to learn about his experience with parish mergers and closures. 

Bendik said he helped to create The Parish Community of St. John the Evangelist out of four parishes in Pittston, a Luzerne County city with a population of about 50,000. The new parish invested its resources into starting a free health clinic for the poor in 2007.

Let's talk about RACE

Pittsburgh’s Black women have global reach. Five creative voices discuss their lives and work.

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Making a path and space for yourself is a challenge for all of us. In Pittsburgh, it is an even bigger challenge for a Black woman. All too often, when we talk about Pittsburgh, our reference points and icons are usually white. If they are Black, they tend to be male.

To begin to shift this story and present the important role that Black women in Pittsburgh are playing in media and the arts locally, nationally and internationally, I spoke to several Black women based in Pittsburgh. All are entrepreneurial and experts in their own path-making.