Heather Lyke has been on the job as the director of athletics at the University of Pittsburgh just 17 months, but she's already made an imprint on the program – promoting and hiring coaches, building community beyond the university and encouraging rivalries across conferences.
After a decade of leaders rotating through both the directorship and various coaching positions, especially Panther football, Lyke says she wants to set a standard for stability and continuity going into an exciting 2018-19 year.
And yes, she's looking forward to the much-anticipated game Saturday between Pitt and Penn State at Heinz Field. For now, the game marks the final contest in Pittsburgh between the two schools, but Lyke says she's open to revisiting that relationship in the future. Pitt will rekindle its West Virginia rivaliry in 2022.
Later in the program, 90.5 WESA's Amy Sisk takes a romp through Pittsburgh's colorful history as a former giant in salt production, and in part two of our series on abortion, Lucy Perkins introduces the local health care providers who operated before and after Roe v. Wade legalized the procedure in 1973.
And finally, we talk to the makers behind Pittsburgh Jazz Hub, part of a countrywide initiative to establish an economic ecosystem around jazz history and culture with partners in Phoenix, Washington D.C. and Portland, Ore.
Harry Clark, founder of the Pittsburgh Public Schools' Creative and Performing Arts High School, and drummer Thomas Wendt, join JazzWorks operations manager Bob Studebaker for a discussion on jazz in today’s Pittsburgh.
The Confluence, where the news comes together, is 90.5 WESA’s daily news program. Tune in weekdays at 9 a.m. to hear newsmakers and innovators join veteran journalist Kevin Gavin, taking an in-depth look at stories important to the Pittsburgh region. Find more episodes of The Confluence here.
