👀 Yinz want to see inside sewers?

Another Shelter Space Is Closed

The overflow section of the Second Avenue Commons shelter in Downtown, which was supposed to be open for up to six months, is now closed. It opened three months ago to accommodate displaced unhoused folks from the shuttered Smithfield Shelter. This shelter will be back open on Nov. 15 for the winter. [PublicSource]

Illegally Fired Starbucks Employee Is Back to Work

After months of legal battles, some union-organizing Starbucks employees are back behind the barista counter. In July, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that Starbucks illegally fired four local workers as an attempt to counter union organization efforts and ordered the coffee company to reinstate them. Tori Tambellini, age 24, of the Market Square location is one of them. I interviewed Tambellini in the early days of their organizing efforts. She returned to her first shift since July 13 on Wednesday. [Pittsburgh Union Progress]

• 🎧 Listen back to that City Cast Pittsburgh episode to see how far the Starbucks Workers United’s fight has come.

Participate in Spotted Lanternfly Research

There’s a new way you can help squash the spotted lanternfly problem — or at least track it for science! Saint Vincent College professor and entomologist Michelle Duennes is leading the Spotted Lanternfly Invasion Archive, a project documenting how the insects adapt to new conditions over decades. Fellow academics and aspiring citizen-scientists can participate; Duennes also wants to partner with area school districts. [TribLIVE]

🎨 Mavuno Festival | Friday-Saturday | 5-8 p.m. & 12-5 p.m.

Celebrate Black artists with vendors, live poetry readers, a beer garden, and more at Sweetwater Center for the Arts. [free to enter, $20-25 for the beer garden, Sewickley]

✨Pittsburgh Fashion Week | Friday | 6:30-10 p.m.

See innovative designs take the runway at the Wintergarden at PPG Place. [$25, Downtown]

🌮 Mexican Independence Day | Friday | 7-9 p.m.

Celebrate with Mexican and Mexican-inspired music — including folk songs, dances, and classical compositions — alongside food and drinks from La Palapa. [free, South Side]

👟 Pittsburgh Recovery Walk | Saturday | 9 a.m.

Celebrate the many roads to recovery from addiction with a walk starting at 11th and Waterfront, plus kids activities, food trucks, and speakers. [free, Strip District]

🌊 ALCOSAN’s Open House | Saturday | 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Ever wonder where the dirty water from your toilet, sink, and bathtub goes? See it for yourself at Pittsburgh’s treatment plant. [free, North Side]

🍅 Roasted Salsa Demo | Saturday | 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Buy veggies from the farm stand, and learn how to cook and can salsa at Grow Pittsburgh’s outdoor kitchen. [free, Braddock]

🛍️ The Terminal Market Takeover | Saturday | 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Shop from more than 30 local and women-owned businesses. [free, Strip District]

🏡 Brighton Heights House & Garden Tour | Saturday | 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Board a Molly’s Trolley to shuttle to each home and garden, and enjoy an artist market and food trucks in Legion Park. [$25, Brighton Heights]

🏭 Iselin Strong LLC | Saturday | 12 p.m.

Tour the former coal-mining town with local officials to share and collect stories. One resident is hoping to raise $4 million in the next four years to help address local blight. [free, Indiana County]

🍺 Oktoberfest | Saturday | 12 p.m.

Try Trace Brewing’s Festbier while enjoying drag performances, live tunes from Polkamaniacs, pretzels from Third Space Bakery, Blue Sparrow’s food truck, and more. [free, Bloomfield]

🛳️ Doors Open Riverboat Tour | Saturday | 1-3 p.m.

Take your last chance to go on the immersive “Bridges and Buildings: Architecture of the Three Rivers” tour on a Gateway Clipper boat. [$15-40, Station Square]

🍻 VOktoberfest | Saturday | 4-9 p.m.

Find vegan eats, beer, live music, a skeeball competition, and Halloween-themed art at Velum Fermentation. [free, South Side]

🍅 Pittsburgh County Fair | Sunday | 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Head to Allegheny Commons Park West for an urban agricultural celebration of handmade, homegrown, fermented fun with workshops, live music, and a Best Tomato contest.

🏘️ Mexican War Streets House & Garden Tour | Sunday | 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Get a peek inside the neighborhood’s beautiful, historic row houses and private gardens. [$30, North Side]

New Irish Centre Bid, Trans Health Wins & COVID Boosters are Here

Pittsburgh is getting a trans-focused fertility clinic, and City Council passed a pair of bills to protect trans health — though it’s not clear how much power the city really has. The new COVID boosters are available and finally hitting shelves in Pittsburgh. Plus, neighbors who are still anxious about plans to build condos at the old Irish Centre site may have an unlikely hero in Phipps Conservatory.