The 2025 Political Q&A Series: Judge Matt Rudzki, Candidate for Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas

I often joke that all former mayors deserved degrees in social work. My time in local  government taught me a lot about what makes people tick, their struggles, their hopes  and fears, and most importantly how to meet them where they are. Many people coming  to court are often there because something bad happened to […]

The 2025 Political Q&A Series: Judge Hilary Wheatley, Candidate for Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas

I agreed to complete this Q&A for several reasons: Meet the Candidate Welcome to the 2025 election season series ‘Political Q&A’ – interviews with candidates throughout Pennsylvania. Since 2013, we’ve published nearly 150 of these interviews. We use an email Q&A format to allow the candidates to speak directly to you, the readers. Candidates can […]

The 2025 Political Q&A Series: Amanda Green-Hawkins, Candidate for Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas

Everyone is entitled to dignity and respect, people have a right to due process, and the government should help and serve the people – especially those who may lack the resources to fully participate in our society and economy. On the bench, I would see people in light of their full lives and not reduce […]

The 2025 Political Q&A Series: Amy Mathieu, Candidate for Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas

It is crucial that we keep acknowledging that these day-to-day decisions may affect the lifetime of the litigants in the courtroom. The outcome of these court cases changes the trajectory of everyone involved. These decisions do not matter any less, even if we are exhausted by changing national circumstances. Meet the Candidate Welcome to the […]

test

click once if you see the new logo. click twice if you don’t.

What Happened to the Political Q&As?

I am behind in publishing the Q&A’s, I know, I know. The ACDC endorsement is Sunday, I know, I know. It has just been a very hard month so I am behind. I will catch up this week. It is my primary goal. Housework, laundry, and Q&A’s. And cats. I got some good news today […]

This Past Week Pittsburgh Donated 823 Pounds of Dry and 736 Cans of Cat Food

Kudos to you, Pittsburgh and dear readers. In a short period of time, you donated enough cat food supplies to stock the Dr. John P. Ruffing DMV Pet Food Pantry through the end of April (and perhaps beyond.) Every month, we try to provide 12-15 pounds of dry and 20 cans of wet food to […]

My supervisor made me cry, but refused to let me get a tissue

When I was a younger social worker, I had a boss whom everyone thought was wonderful. Smart, savvy, all the things. One morning, he took me aside to discuss comments I had made at an event the previous evening. I was out of line – I was complaining about the boss of bosses at a […]

The First Anniversary of My Father’s Death

Today marks one year since my father, my Dad, died. He was 83 years old. I don’t know what to say, but it feels important to mark this day. Part of me wants to share anecdotes about him,the good memories and the funny stories. Another part of me wants to continue pointing out his traumas […]

Showing Up for the Big Show

Sunday, my youngest nephew, E, made his theatrical debute in Legally Blonde, JR. He played the villainous law professor. The evening show curtain opened at 6 PM. I had seated myself with his mom’s, turning off phone alerts. So it was only after the show that I found this text from him. 2 minutes after […]