The 38th annual Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show kicks off Friday at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. John DeSantis, the event’s executive director, says that this year's 10-day event will have more than 1,800 vendors and include a farm-to-table, buy-local conference.
Erin Hart, executive director of Farm to Table Western PA, says the newly formed partnership felt natural. She says this year's visitors can expect a variety of products, from kimchi to beef, plus services like local farm subscriptions. DeSantis says it's a fun challenge to keep the Home and Garden Show growing and improving year-over-year.
Elsewhere in the program:
Randall Taylor is a community activist, former Pittsburgh school board member, and now, a candidate to represent District 9 on Pittsburgh's City Council. He says elected officials aren't doing enough to rein in developers. As a former resident of Penn Plaza, he says he saw firsthand how gentrification impacts neighborhoods. “The answers to Pittsburgh aren’t people coming from outside,” he says. “The answers are right here with these people here. Invest in them.”
Democratic lawmakers are concerned about new numbers from the Environmental Protection Agency that show big drops in inspections, penalties and criminal charges to companies. The Allegheny Front’s Julie Grant reports that there is a clear connection between this decrease in action and low staffing at the EPA. According to law, there are supposed to be at least 200 criminal special agents pursuing these cases; currently only 147 agents are staffed.
90.5 WESA’s Bill O’Driscoll reports on “Out There,” a live “concept album” by the band Princess, made up of art-pop duo Alexis Gideon and Michael O’Neill. The hour-long show includes songs performed live alongside a projected video. Gideon calls the show “a sci-fi feminist rock opera” about two characters who decide that they are going to solve the problem of misogyny on earth. The show premieres this Friday with one performance at The Warhol Theater as part of the Andy Warhol Museum’s Sound Series before going on a 39-city tour.
And PennDOT is supposed to issue its first batch of REAL IDs on Friday, but a growing backlog of documents may complicate the commonwealth's 2020 deadline. Trib Total Media reporter Nicole Brambila explains how Pennsylvania fell behind and what travelers can do to get ahead of the wait.
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 or wherever you get your podcasts.
