🌸 Cherry blossoms in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh Is a Basketball Town?

A visiting sports writer paid homage to Pittsburgh’s deep basketball roots, especially a series of games and summer camps in the 1960s and 70s that propelled basketball talent to the highest ranks, including Moon Township native and Kentucky head coach John Calipari. [New York Times]

• 📊 Mayor Ed Gainey wants a return to those glory days. He’s looking into what it would take to bring a professional men’s or women’s team to Pittsburgh. [🎧 City Cast Pittsburgh]
• 😂 I loved this email a Duquesne professor sent to students on Thursday: "Go celebrate. I'll figure it out." [KDKA-TV]
• 🏀 Are you as excited about March Madness as our contributor Kevin Gavin? [🎧 City Cast Pittsburgh]

Additional Voting Drop-Off Locations

Are you voting via a mail-in or absentee ballot? Then you should know that, in addition to the County Office Building Downtown, you can also drop it off at five staffed locations across the county on Saturday, April 13 and April 20, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., and Sunday, April 14 and April 21, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.

• 🗳️ Drop-off locations: Carnegie Public Library of Squirrel Hill, South Park Ice Rink in Bethel Park, North Park Ice Rink in Wexford, Boyce Park Four Seasons Lodge in Plum, and the 911 Call Center in Moon. [TribLIVE]
• 📣 Election season is always intense, but some people are making it worse by actually fighting against voter access. Meet the man trying to stop nonexistent voter fraud. [🎧 City Cast Pittsburgh]

The Real Names of South Park’s Baby Bison

Last week, I told you about the baby bison that were born at South Park’s Game Preserve, “Riis” and “Roddey” after two dead politicians. Well, it turns out, before the county gave them those names, they had already been given names in honor of their origins: “Elu,” meaning “beautiful,” from the Native American Zuni Tribe and “Takoda” from the Sioux Tribe meaning ”friend to all.” Reader Kaitlin B. wrote in to let me know that the Friends of South Park Buffalo group have always named the animals, and the county never expressed interest in naming them before.

• 🦬 “The people’s buffalo family should remain peaceful and nonpartisan,” the Friends of South Park Buffalo posted on social.

Why the White House Cares About US Steel

Late last year, the Japanese company Nippon Steel announced plans to acquire an iconic Pittsburgh brand, U.S. Steel, for a staggering amount of money: nearly $15 billion. But since then, there’s been a lot of criticism – from the local steelworkers union all the way up to the White House. So what’s behind the pushback, and what’s next for U.S. Steel?

Thanks to our guest, Chris Briem, a regional economist with the Urban & Regional Analysis program at the University of Pittsburgh’s University Center for Social and Urban Research.