City Cast Pittsburgh
🌒 How to watch today’s eclipse
April 8, 2024
Happy Eclipse Day! City Cast editor Natalia Aldana here, filling in for Francesca.
Erie County falls within the 124-mile path of totality, which means the blackout will last for nearly four minutes starting around 2 p.m.! Check out our guide for how to experience this once-in-a-lifetime event 🌒
What's CITY Talking About?
Possible Academic, Infrastructure Changes at PPS
Consolidating buildings, changing feeder patterns, and reverting some schools to a traditional middle school model are among the dozen recommendations presented to Pittsburgh Public Schools board members last week. Officials will review these proposals and present their recommendations — which could include school closures — as early as August. [90.5 WESA]
Plans to Expand Pgh’s Deer Management Program
The city may expand its deer bowhunting program to Schenley, Emerald View, and Highland parks in September. Despite some initial public pushback on the pilot, Mayor Ed Gainey said it was a “tremendous success” in Frick and Riverview parks, where 30 bowhunters killed 108 deer; almost half were donated to food banks. The bowhunting program aims to manage the overpopulation of white-tailed deer in city parks. [Pittsburgh Magazine]
Mayor, County Exec Urge State Lawmakers to Take on Reassessments
Allegheny County’s recent property value reassessment led to millions in refunds for property owners — and also negatively impacted revenues for school districts, county, and municipal governments. More appeals are pending, and PPS is threatening to sue for a countywide reassessment. In an interview with WESA, Mayor Ed Gainey and County Executive Sara Innamorato called for state lawmakers to take on the issue, with Innamorato noting that Pennsylvania is the only state that doesn’t regularly reassess properties. The last countywide reassessment took place more than a decade ago, in 2012. [90.5 WESA]
What To Do
Monday, April 8
- 🌑 Eclipse Extravaganza at the Science Center | 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. | $15-25 | Chateau
- 🌌 Eclipse Party at Space Bar | 1-6 p.m. | $5 | Downtown
- 🌕 Eclipse on the Rooftop at Hotel Monaco | 2-4 p.m. | $10 | Downtown
- 🔭 Solar Eclipse Viewing at the Allegheny Observatory | 2-4:30 p.m. | free | Perry North
- 🌟 Pittsburgh Opera’s Annual Fashion Show at the Bitz Opera Factory | 6:30 p.m. | $20-195 | Strip District
Tuesday, April 9
- 🌼 Native Plans Workshop with Grow Pittsburgh | 5:30-6:30 p.m. | $10 | Larimer
- 🎤 Story Club PGH Story Slam: Fight or Flight at City of Asylum | 7-8:30 p.m. | free | Central North Side / virtual
Wednesday, April 10
- 🍻 Three Rivers Beer Week at Sly Fox Brewery | 11 a.m. - 8 p.m. | pay as you go | South Side
- 🌿 Workday at Kincaid Street Garden | 4-6 p.m. | volunteer | Garfield
- 🌎 2024 City Nature Challenge Webinar with Allegheny Land Trust | 5-5:45 p.m. | free | virtual
- 👟 Panther Hollow Watershed Walk in Schenley Park | 5-7 p.m. | free | Oakland
- ✂️ Origami with Assemble at Two Frays Brewery | 6:30-8:30 p.m. | $30-$40, or free for Garfield residents | Garfield
- 🍻 Three Rivers Beer Week at Church Brew Works | 7-9 p.m. | $19 | Lawrenceville
- 📽️ Weird Paul’s 10,000th Movie Party at Bottlerocket Social Hall | 7:30 p.m. | free | Allentown
Today on City Cast
Why Gray Homes Are Red Flags and More Pgh Homebuying Tips
Interest rates are really high as we’re headed into peak real estate season — so what does that mean for Pittsburgh homebuyers?
On City Cast Pittsburgh, local real estate broker Jessica Baker shares tips for both buyers and sellers and talks about which pockets of the city are still somewhat affordable. Plus, host Megan Harris puts Jessica to the test and sees how she would describe some zanier home features … as seen on Zillow.
Wasn’t that fun!? Let’s do this again tomorrow 🤗
– Natalia Aldana
City Cast Pittsburgh’s Mallory Falk edited this newsletter.
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