🏡 How you can tour historic Pittsburgh homes

GOP’s Nominee to Replace Innamorato

Republican Erin Connolly Autenreith, chair of the Shaler Republican Party committee, will run against Lawrenceville nonprofit manager Lindsay Powell in the Sept. 19 special election for House District 21. According to her Facebook, Autenreith was in D.C. at the time of the Capitol riots to support former President Donald Trump, not take Congress. The seat vacated by Sara Innamorato will determine control of the state House. [90.5 WESA]

• Related: Because of the ongoing state House impasse for the annual budget, Pennsylvania is going to miss major payments for education and human services, like public school disbursements and child welfare programs. [SpotlightPA]

Astrobotic Gets NASA Award

The North Side-based space robotics company received a $34.6 award through its NASA Tipping Point partnership to develop a product to, for the first time, transmit high-voltage electricity on the surface of the moon via solar panels and other systems. [Pittsburgh Business Times]

SAG-AFTRA Strike Rallies in Pittsburgh

Regional members took to the North Shore on Monday to raise awareness of their strike against Hollywood’s major studios, alongside the Writers Guild of America. The unions and studios are at a standstill over issues like regulating artificial intelligence, streaming transparency, and residual pay. [TribLIVE]

• 🎧 What do you know about Pittsburgh’s history as a union town? [City Cast Pittsburgh]

While most Pittsburghers follow parking chair code like it's in the city’s constitution, the act of reserving a spot with an object isn’t a true legal placeholder. Someone could certainly remove your chair and take your spot, but then that would make them a jagoff, wouldn’t it? (Especially if you dug out a pile of snow to mark your spot!)

We’re not the only ones who use parking chairs. Other dense cities like Philly, Boston, and Chicago do, too. But in Pittsburgh, the parking chair has become a symbol of our culture — an object that can signify both our neighborliness (saving a spot for someone) and our age-old perseverance to snag parking in a city of narrow streets and mighty hills.

I wonder if other cities get creative with their parking placeholders, too. Aside from the photo above of the stuffed narwhal, what’s the weirdest thing you’ve seen used as a parking chair?

📚 PulpFest | Thursday-Sunday | 10 a.m. - 11:30 p.m.

Celebrate mystery, sci-fi, and adventure fiction at the DoubleTree by Hilton. [$50-80, Mars]

🍔 Soft Power | Thursday | 6-9 p.m.

Grab a meal and see Brian Gonnella’s new artwork addressing the global systems of exploitation and violence in the fast food industry on display at Scratch & Co. [free to enter, Troy Hill]

🎉 Happy Birthday, Andy! | Friday | 5-10 p.m

Celebrate with free admission to The Andy Warhol Museum and a cupcake. [free, North Side]

🌙 Garfield Night Market | Friday | 5-10 p.m

Dance down Penn Avenue to DJ tunes while grabbing food truck grub, watching live art, and shopping from local artists, craftsmen, and local businesses. [free, Garfield]

Why are People So Mad About the Irish Centre?

Developers want to build a 162-apartment complex at the site of former Irish Centre at the edge of Frick Park, but neighborhood and community groups are not having it. So what's at the heart of this? Reporter Ryan Deto with the Tribune-Review explains the environmental and traffic challenges, plus his experience with a certain faction of Pittsburgh NIMBYs.