Back from Pittsburgh — Ready to rumble

Thanks so much to the readers who offered great advice on what to do in my family trip to Pittsburgh.

Have to say I loved what I saw of the city. We sampled just a few of its cultural offerings, including Fallingwater (one of a kind), PNC Park (as beautiful as advertised), the Mattress Factory Museum (half-closed unfortunately), and the Monongahela Incline (the wrong one, I think – the Dusquesne is probably better).

 

I didn’t have the famed Primante Brothers sandwich stuffed with french fries on the theory that you have to save something for next time. Plus, damn, fries in the sandwich?

A highlight was having lunch in Market Square with Jim O’Toole of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, a wise and seasoned Pennsylvania political reporter and a gentleman of the highest order. He told my wife, my sister and me the story of Pittsburgh’s boy mayor, and many others.

I recommend a visit.

It’s great to be back, rested and ready for the fall election season, with nominal races in Philadelphia and New Jersey, and the fall school crisis, anything but resolved.

On the subject of Philadelphia’s public school calamity, we are blessed in this city with some talented journalists working this story, at the Inquirer and our content partner The Notebook, and right here at WHYY. Kevin McCorry and Holly Otterbein are reporters of talent and hustle, and will be all over this story.

Check out Holly’s piece today on whether Philadelphia’s school teachers are underpaid, and Kevin’s report on the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers’ meeting.