🎃 Where to pick pumpkins in Pittsburgh

PA House Up for Grabs in Special Election

If you live in the Strip District, Lawrenceville, Etna, Millvale, Reserve, or Shaler, it’s time to head to the polls. Tuesday’s special election between Democrat Lindsay Powell and Republican Erin Connolly Autenreith in the 21st House District will determine which party controls the narrowly divided Pennsylvania House. The special election was scheduled after Democrat Sara Innamorato left her position to run for Allegheny County Executive. [Associated Press]

Racial Disparities at Pittsburgh Public Schools

Advocates for African American students first took racial discrimination complaints against Pittsburgh Public Schools to the state in 1992, and three decades later, there’s still a lot of work to do. A new equity audit highlights racial gaps in suspension rates and suspension lengths; majority-Black schools had a suspension rate 5 times greater than majority-white schools. [90.5 WESA]

Art Stolen in the Holocaust Could Return Home

Egon Schiele’s pencil-on-paper “Portrait of a Man” was identified by New York law enforcement as likely stolen during the Holocaust from Jewish art collector and performer Fritz Grünbaum, who died in the Dachau camp in 1941. Officials at the Carnegie Museum of Art, who’ve had the work, say they’re committed to helping the investigation. Two other pieces were identified at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College in Ohio. [TribLIVE]

Giant Art Brings Awareness to Child Refugees

Little Amal, a 12-foot puppet representing a 10-year-old Syrian refugee, will travel through Pittsburgh this week in a public art project called The Walk. Join her Downtown on Wednesday alongside the music of Billy Strayhorn and the words of August Wilson or at sunset at the Carrie Furnaces in Rankin. On Thursday, she’ll be at a naturalization ceremony Downtown, on the North Shore’s great lawn for World Peace Day, and at a Wilkinsburg playground. [Pittsburgh City Paper]

🎶 Billy Strayhorn: Something to Live For | Tuesday - Oct. 21 | 8 p.m.

Take in “the remarkable true story of one of the greatest composers of all time” produced by Pittsburgh native Billy Porter at O'Reilly Theater. [$35-88, Downtown]

🐕 Pups and Pints | Wednesday | 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Join Humane Action Pittsburgh and Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh for a community happy hour. [donation, Homewood]

🎤 Steel City Storytellers | Wednesday | 7:30-9:30 p.m.

Listen to humorous, thrilling, ironic, and poignant tales at Kingfly Spirits. [$12, Strip District]

🍻Oktoberfest Drag Bingo | Thursday | 6-9 p.m.

Head to Penn Brewery for an evening of glamorous performances and prizes. [$25, Troy Hill]

💐 Bouquet Basics | Thursday | 6:30-9 p.m.

Become an expert flower arranger with WorkshopPGH and Sol Patch Garden. [$60, Wilkinsburg]

Hazelwood Grapples with New 'Bio Valley' Bids

South of Schenley Park and just across the river from Page’s Dairy Mart, there's a blank plot of land — currently known as Hazelwood Green — that the city, its foundations, and developers have been dreaming about for a long time. It used to be a center for industry, one of dozens of steel-making hubs along our waterways. But what should it become next?

PublicSource reporters Emma Folts and Eric Jankiewicz share new plans to transform the site from “Steel Valley” into “Bio Valley,” and concerns about whether Hazelwood residents will benefit from new development.