What Happened Last Week

@brooksstephens5 provides a meal to a man for a chance to win tickets from @tpolamalu

@brooksstephens5 provides a meal to a man for a chance to win tickets from @tpolamalu

  • The mayor of Braddock, PA was arrested at the Steel Building on Monday. Reports claimed that John Fetterman was trying to get the attention of the UPMC execs that inhabit the penthouse of the historic (and now polluted) icon of Pittsburgh’s skyline. He was holding a sign asking “Please UPMC open an urgent care center like the one in Shadyside.” He makes some good points, but it’s a little late. Maybe he could ask Levi’s to open an emergency center in his hood since UPMC made up their minds to abandon Braddock over a year ago.
  • Troy Polamalu held a contest to give away tickets to the Steelers game last week. Instead of simply begging people to follow him or tweet about their love for the Steelers, Troy asked his fans to hit the streets and help people. The touching picture above is from one of the contestants.

    Troy Polamalu tpolamaluFeed the Homeless. RT this message to enter. Post a picture of you providing a meal for the Homeless. 2 tickets for 2 winners. Randomly picked for the Steelers vs Ravens game on Sunday Night. RT please.

  • Tuesday evening, we started a local trend on Twitter with the tag #thiscityneeds. It all started with a few tweets about how we want a reliable cab company, better radio stations, a new mayor, bike lanes, etc. It’s Twitter, so there were a few douchebags (as could be expected) that chimed in with negativity, but our followers rocked the topic with some thoughtful responses about stuff they’d like to see improve in the Burgh. Thankfully we attract readers who feel that true love for a city means confronting what’s wrong with it and offering ideas about how it could be improved. Facebookers were slightly more receptive to the topic – as usual.
  • On Wednesday morning, Las Velas, a restaurant owned by @JanePitt‘s husband, caught on fire. They just celebrated their one year anniversary and now they are forced to rebuild – “better than ever,” as promised by a note posted to their homepage. Talk about turning avocados into guacamole. Best of luck to everyone involved.
  • Glenn Beck was in town Wednesday evening for a book signing at the Barnes & Noble in Robinson. Upon arrival, not only did he spell Pittsburgh without an H, but he also insinuated that this city is fat:

    Glenn Beck glennbeckJust landed in Pittsburg. On my way to B&N, 800 settlers ridge center drive Pitts. 7:30 book signing. I could gain 10lbs in 24hrs here.

  • We saw the first snow of the season and Pittsburghers freaked out as if they never saw the stuff before. If only they knew Snowpocalypse 2011 is just around the corner.
  • DJ Bonics (you know the guy from KISS FM and also Wiz Khalifa‘s official DJ) had a heart attack. Yeah, the guy is like 30 years old and he had a freakin’ heart attack! He is quickly recovering and will be back on the Technics in no time. Hopefully this will give his DJ career a boost, sort of like when a rapper gets shot. Get well soon!
  • Speaking of Wiz Khalifa, he was featured on the cover of The Source magazine as the rookie of the year.
  • Despite a concussion and a broken nose (neither of which were flagged btw), the Steelers beat the Baltimore Ravens 13-10 on Sunday night after Troy Polamalu saved their asses. Thank you, Troy.

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Find it in Pittsburgh Friday: Snow

Remnants of Snowpocalypse, do you know where it is?

Remnants of Snowpocalypse, do you know where it is?

The pic above is of what we believe to be the last remaining remnants of snow from the Snowmageddon blizzard of 2010 in Pittsburgh. Do you know where it is??

  • The name of the game is Find it in Pittsburgh Friday
  • The mission is to try and figure out where the place or thing is by commenting below
  • Every hour or so, we will update the pic with more hints and when the contest is over, we will post the original picture.
  • The first, most specific correct answer wins the prize!

So what is this prize we’re talking about!? (See the pics below!)
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What to Do at the Airport During a Blizzard

This is old news but in case you haven’t seen this video from Ashley Klinger (aka productsofhearts) have a look on the TV above. Ashley is a dance major at Point Park University and was on her way to an audition when she got stranded overnight at the airport during Snowmageddon 2010. Her video has become a hit on YouTube and already racked up close to 25,000 views!

Does this remind you of that Tom Hanks movie Terminal?

My adventures in the Pittsburgh International Airport during the worst snow storm of the century. After arriving late for a flight at 7:40 PM to LGA I decided to stick around my gate until my flight at 5:40 and had a BLAST!

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Pittsburgh Parking Chair Museum

Classic Pittsburgh parking chair

The Classic Pittsburgh Parking Chair

Welcome to Pittsburgh’s Official Parking Chair Museum. We’ve compiled this gallery to celebrate a local phenomenon that has become the universally accepted no parking sign in the Burgh – or should we say “sNOw parking” sign. Thanks to the Blizzard of 2010, the streets of Pittsburgh are starting to look like a cross between Ikea and a flea-market. Help us add some witty captions to the pictures below…

If you’re proud of your parking chair, send a picture to snOMG@boringpittsburgh.com and we’ll feature it here!
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Creation Rex Snowball Fight at CMU

CreationRex over at CMU engaging in an epic snowball battle

CreationRex over at CMU engaging in an epic snowball battle

While everyone was crying about the blizzard, a little bit of snow wasn’t stopping Creation Rex from having fun. The students at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh were being boring, so he took a stroll all the way over to CMU to see “how the smartypants were doing”. He found fun all right… a massive snowball fight with 15 against 1!

Who do you think won the battle?
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How’s My Street? Snow Removal Progress

How's My Street road condition map

How's My Street road condition map

The snow plows are doing a lousy job of clearing the streets, don’t wait for the news to tell you which streets are ok. CityZenMobile recently launched a free service called How’s My Street that allows you to instantly report road conditions and snow removal progress in Pittsburgh. Perfect timing in light of the blizzard and countless unplowed streets!

How’s My Street was invented by the creators of YinzCam and iBurgh. It’s easy to use and does a great job of spreading the word about which streets are passable or not passable. Just find your street on the map, click, then fill out the report. Your report is sent to Twitter so all of the @howsmystreet followers are automatically notified of local road conditions.
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