Category: Faith and Religion

ActivismEducationFaith and ReligionYouth

Pittsburgh Public School Board Proposes Terminating Official Involvement in Pgh Marathon Because of Chick-fil-A Sponsorship

October 18, 2018 by

Wednesday evening, the Pittsburgh Public School Board met for a Special Legislative and Agenda session. One of the topics was a proposed resolution explained by District Solicitor Ira Weiss as follows “The District will not support, officially, the Children’s Marathon so long as those sponsors are involved. The schools will not be authorized to participate officially, […]

ActivismFaith and ReligionSportsYouth

Pittsburgh Marathon Defends Chick-fil-A Partnership

October 4, 2018 by
Chick-fil-A Pittsburgh Marathon

Yesterday, I blogged about the Dick’s Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon bringing on Chick-fil-A as the title sponsor of their youth programming, including the Chick-fil-A Kids Marathon. People began contacting the Marathon offices known as the non-profit, P3R. Early responses indicated that the staff were in a meeting to discuss the blowback. A few hours later, […]

ActivismFaith and ReligionLGBTQ

Why Did @PghMarathon Add Chick-fil-A As a Corporate Sponsor?

October 3, 2018 by
Chick-fil-A Pittsburgh Marathon

UPDATE: Please sign the petition against this turn of events. The Pittsburgh Marathon has teamed up with Chick-fil-A, the new title partner of the Chick-fil-A Pittsburgh Kids Marathon and the presenting partner of the award-winning Kids of STEEL program. Last night we celebrated our expanded partnership w/ @ChickfilA Pittsburgh! The cow came dressed in running gear […]

ActivismEducationFaith and ReligionLesbianYouth

Beaver County Superintendent Comes Out as a Lesbian During School Board Meeting

September 18, 2018 by
Carrie Rowe Beaver County

Carrie Rowe, Superintendent of the Beaver County School District, has been an educator for more than 20 years. She’s also a lesbian and last night, opted to disclose that very publicly to directly address rumors, innuendo, and the fallout of both around a personnel matter involving a suspended Principal. In August, the district has suspended […]

ActivismFaith and ReligionMedia

Casual Catholic Culture & Pittsburgh: No More Glorifying Fish Fries, Pierogies, and the Like

September 17, 2018 by
Pittsburgh Fish Fry

I came across a local online contest for the best local pierogies this weekend, one of those features that media sites run to generate interest and engagement. It was the final round of voting and one of the finalists is a local Roman Catholic parish here in Pittsburgh. My initial reaction was both shock and […]

ActivismFaith and Religion

Mon Valley Catholics Worried About Losing Church Building, No Mention of Grand Jury Report: My Response

August 20, 2018 by
Catholics Sex Abuse Scandal Pittsburgh

On August 16, 2018 – just days after the release of the Grand Jury Report detailing the sexual victimization of more than 1000 children and youth by nearly 300 Pennsylvania priests – the investigative journalism site PublicSource published an in-depth piece on another failure of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. They chose to scrutinize how the […]

ActivismFaith and Religion

The Grand Jury Report on Sexual Abuse in Pennsylvania Catholic Dioceses: First Thoughts

August 15, 2018 by

On Tuesday, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s office released a redacted version of the Grand Jury Report on a two-year investigation into six Roman Catholic Dioceses in Pennsylvania investigating wide-spread sexual abuse of children and the institutional cover-up by the dioceses and the Vatican. I’ve discussed my history with Catholicism many times on this blog, […]

ActivismFaith and ReligionHealth

In the Devil’s Grip and Sick of it All

July 16, 2018 by
In the Devil’s Grip and Sick of it All

I’ve had quite stretch, these past few days. After spending scores of hours covering a big story last weekend, I was not feeling so great by Tuesday. I chalked it up to stress and the ever-present allergies. By Thursday, I felt worse still as if someone had put a belt around my chest and pulled […]

ActivismFaith and ReligionLGBTQPolitics

Anger & Disappointment: Statements From People Who Attended the Meeting with Turahn Jenkins

July 9, 2018 by

The compiled public statements from multiple LGBTQ folks and allies who attended the meeting Friday afternoon with candidate for District Attorney Turahn Jenkins. You can read my summary of the meeting in this post. Here I am simply signal boosting the words of the individuals who were part of the meeting. I do not have […]

AdvocacyFaith and ReligionPolitics

Allegheny County DA Candidate Turahn Jenkins Says LGBTQ People are Sinful

July 6, 2018 by

This afternoon, candidate Turahn Jenkins met with representatives from the LGBTQ community to discuss concerns about his affiliation with a church that has a stated belief that homosexuality is sinful. These concerns were part of a dialogue that took place earlier in the week on my Facebook timeline. I’ve confirmed with four sources that Mr. […]