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  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette sportswriter emeritus Bob Dvorchak gives us a recap of the Frozen Four weekend in Pittsburgh and talks about Pitt's new women's basketball coach Suzie McConnell-Serio.   

  Call it thrifty or frugal, people watching their budgets are always on the hunt to save a few dollars. If you’re looking for things to do that won’t cost you a dime Matthew Spangler is making it his mission to tweet about free deals.  He’ll tell us how his Twitter account ItsFreeBurgh is helping people find free deals in the Steel City.  

  Money, everybody wants it, everybody needs it, yet we struggle to understand it and to talk about it. Especially those of us who have never had much money to speak of. At this point in financial literacy month we want to take a look at money management from the perspective of generational poverty. What circumstances and financial habits perpetuate poverty and how can families prevail? Tammy Thompson is a Community Liaison and Certified Housing Counselor for NeighborWorks Western PA, she works with adults, kids and families on financial planning at all socioeconomic levels.

A new insurance plan from Highmark allows employers to nudge their employees toward particular hospitals when they need risky surgeries.

Employers using the "Blue Distinction" program can give incentives, such as waived deductibles and co-pays, to employees who choose hospitals that have proven track records for certain surgeries.

The company can also choose to increase co-pays or even “carve out” coverage for any other hospital when the specialty surgery is needed, according to Highmark Vice President of Regional Sales Eric Hays.

Each weekend, 90.5 WESA Weekend Edition host Noah Brode previews some interesting events going on in the Pittsburgh Area.

Under a new state bill, any Pennsylvania company contracted by the state that’s also investing in Iranian energy would be forced to make a choice.

Rep. Dan Frankel’s (D-Allegheny) legislation, which passed the state House Tuesday, would bar any company that invests more than $20 million in Iran’s energy sector from entering into a state contract worth more than $1 million through the Department of General Services (DGS).

Gov. Tom Corbett's tax reform plan is getting a closer look from state lawmakers.

The proposals would lower the state’s corporate net income tax and complete the elimination of another tax on businesses.  

Department of Revenue Secretary Dan Meuser said the net effect will be more than $1 billion in new tax revenue over the next 17 years.  

"That comes from personal income growth, that comes from employment, and that comes from sales tax revenues that are derived from those who are now working that weren’t before," he said.

The number of venture capital dollars and deals across the U.S. has been generally declining over the last several years, but Pittsburgh is bucking that trend.

“Since 2009 we’ve had the credit crisis, and probably the most severe national recession we’ve ever had, and during that period Pittsburgh has seen an increase in early stage capital and the number of financings," said Lynette Horrell, managing partner with Ernst & Young Pittsburgh. "The number of financings has grown over 50 percent.”

The company that collects the trash from businesses at the Pittsburgh International Airport is overbilling its users according to an Allegheny County Controller’s audit released Thursday.

Controller Chelsa Wagner said Allied Waste Service of Pittsburgh incorrectly billed tenants from December 2007 through August 2012 resulting in extra charges of about $195,000.

Wagner’s office launched the audit after a customer complained to the Airport Authority, which then passed the complaint to the county’s fiscal watchdog.

"There's this huge disconnect where both sides need each other, but we've got to find a way to get there," said US Attorney for Western PA David Hickton about the need to improve relations between residents and law enforcement.

The new owners of Heinz are tapping Burger King CEO Bernardo Hees as the company's next top executive, a move that installs one of their own at the helm of the ketchup maker.

It also signals other big changes could be in store for the 144-year-old company, which had been run by CEO William Johnson for the past 15 years.

A state Senate committee has passed a proposal to restrict abortion coverage in health insurance plans provided through Pennsylvania's federally mandated exchange.

Last session, similar measures passed the House and Senate independently, but neither one made it through the entire legislative gauntlet.

But with the 2014 operational date for health care exchanges right around the corner, Senate GOP spokesman Erik Arneson said this measure may go to the finish line.

As talks about gun legislation continue in the U.S. Senate, groups have descended on the state capitol in Harrisburg urging legislators to close a loophole in Pennsylvania's gun laws. State Reps. Steve Santarsiero and Dan Frankel join us to talk about balancing Second Amendment rights with public safety.

A growing protest movement has triggered discussions about our country's emphasis on public school standardized testing. According to parents such as Kathy Newman, a Pittsburgh Public School parent, CMU English professor and volunteer coordinator for the grassroots education group Yinzercation, the pressures and stakes of assessments like the PSSAs are too high. So they're opting their kids out. Kathy joins us for a discussion about how standardized testing impacts the quality of a public school education.

Canonsburg, PA, is the home of singer Perry Como, and more recently, Wiz Khalifa. And the town is proud of its connection to American popular music. The borough is now capitalizing on its musical heritage with the establishment of America's Pop Music Hall of Fame. We'll talk with borough manager Terry Hazlett about plans for the museum and the first inductees.

Several dozen Rivers Casino workers, elected officials, union representatives and clergy members gathered on the North Shore Thursday to call on the casino management to allow employees to organize.

“We’re worried about some of the backlash, but at the same time we feel protected – we have a lot of community support," said Lisa Washington, a server at the casino’s Grandview Buffet. "We have a lot of support from our congressmen. We know we’re in for a long fight, but we’re ready.”

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey is calling on the federal government to get regional offices that assist military veterans into shape.

The Democrat says the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs have been too slow in responding to the concerns of the VA’s own inspector general, as well as veterans who have had to wait for months to receive disability benefits.  

State administrators, health care providers and researchers gathered in Pittsburgh Thursday to work on building a comprehensive plan to do battle with cancer in Pennsylvania. 

The five-year plan is required by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute Director Nancy Davidson said the plan is being built with the center’s input. 

Davidson said the group is using the standards put forward by the CDC to set the tone, but she stressed that it is Pennsylvania’s plan, not the CDC’s plan.

On Saturday morning, construction will begin on a new playground in Homewood.

That same afternoon, according to KaBOOM! spokesman Mike Vietti, the playground will be ready to use.

“We’re going to start off with a kickoff ceremony at about 8:30 in the morning, and then by 2:30 in the afternoon, we’re going to wrap things up in time for a ribbon cutting ceremony,” he said. “So, start to finish, all in the span of about six or seven hours.”

KaBOOM! is a nonprofit that builds playgrounds for kids who don’t have easy access to them.

Pittsburgh police say an officer is in surgery after being shot in the shoulder while pursuing a suspect, who was also shot by police.

A police spokeswoman, Officer Diane Richard, says the officer is expected to recover.

Investigators say the shooting happened around 1:30 a.m. Thursday in the city's Homewood section when two officers on patrol when saw a car speed by.

There’s so much to do and see in Pennsylvania’s Brandywine Region you may run out of time before you run out of things to do. The area has been immortalized on canvas by artist N.C. Wyeth and  is home to museums, public gardens and more. Travel contributor Elaine Labalme ventures to this area just below Philadelphia.

Find out more about some of the places mentioned in this segment:

For the first time in nearly 50 years, Cubans no longer need a special permit to travel outside the country. With the new potential for travel freedom, how does one's view of the world change? Because of the relaxed restrictions, Cuban writer and photographer, Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo is now visiting Pittsburgh and the United States for the first time. He joins us to talk about his work for City of Asylum's Sampsonia Way Magazine, publishing Voces, Cuba's first independent e-zine,  and what it took to travel to the U.S.

Earlier this year the Postal Service announced plans to cancel Saturday mail delivery. Now comes word the Postal Service has canceled its cancelation plans. Joining us to talk about the continual struggles of the U.S. Postal Service is Rich Geddes an associate professor in the Department of Policy Analysis and Management at Cornell University.