New Pittsburgh TV Show

Ever want to see Pittsburgh from many different angles? Well that perfect opportunity is now able to happen. Beginning last fall PBS started filming Pittsburgh from the air and many different events that occur in the city. Along with filming just downtown Pittsburgh they also filmed Westmoreland, Washington and Fayette County to include many suburbs of the city in the TV show as well. They focused on many different landmarks like Kennywood, Idelwild, Sandcastle, Ohiopyle and many others in the show. It started showing last week on PBS and its called Pittsburgh by Air. It gives viewers many different perspectives of the city that they wouldn't be able to see from driving down the sheet. The show is doing so well that PBS plans to come back and take many more shots of the city to air. Tune into PBS to check the show out!

Peter Pan

Many people are excited to be whisked away to Neverland when they enter the Benedum Center, to see Peter Pan live. The Pittsburgh Ballet Theater is opening its 42nd season with this spectacular show. Families are excited to see this show as it bring interest to all ages. Little kids love seeing Tinker Bell fly where the adults love the whole show. This production is a perfect family gathering to spend a day in the city. Restaurants near the Benedum are excited for the new season to begin as they hope it brings even more business to them. It's great to see things happening in the city even with the economy still down.  

Three Fallen Officers

A horrific event occurred in Pittsburgh on April 4, 2009. Richard Poplawski fatally shot Paul Sciullo, Stephen Mayhle and Eric Kelly leaving all three officers dead at the scene. Many people who did not even know the officers made tons of respect to them and their families as they lost their lives in the line of duty. The whole city of Pittsburgh can't thank them enough. Poplawski trial concluded this summer as the result was he would be given the death penalty. Now the question was what would happen with the house where the three officers were killed? No one would want to live there after such a horrific event occurred at the house. It finally was sold last week in a sheriff shale. That gentlemen decided out of respect to the officers to demolish the house and then build on the ground once all of the debris was gone. All of this finally came true earlier this week when the house was demolished after many delays in the process since the crime occurred in 2009. The families of the fallen officers are happy that this is over with as they hope to try and move on with their lives as best they can. 

Sidney Crosby Cleared for Contact

A big day occurred for Pittsburgh Penguins fans as they all received the news that their star captain was finally cleared for contact. After having to watch their captain be sidelined by a horrible concussion he finally has made huge progress that has many fans hoping he will be back in the line-up soon! Receiving a hit to the head first came on January 1st, at the Winter Classic as the Penguins took on the Capitals. Unfortunately Crosby took another hit to the head in the following game just two days later. He was officially diagnosed with a concussion January 6th and has not played since. Doctors believed that having to hard hits to the head in such a short period of time is what caused the concussion to be so severe. It is still undetermined how long Crosby will participate in practice with contact before he is cleared to play. No matter how long it takes fans are still hopeful it will be relatively soon. Crosby is not only a great leader for the team but when he got hurt last season he also was leading the league in goals. Both fans and the team are excited for Crosby to come back as they hope for big things out of him again. 

Benedum Center Seats to be Remolded

Ever go see a musical, opera, or theater production and by the end of the 2-3 hour event your back kills? Well hopefully that will change if your seeing a production at the Benedum Center. It has just been announced that they will replace the current 2,881 seats with new cushions and will refurbish the framework of the seats. This have been put into the budget after many complaints have come in from guests over the past five years about uncomfortable seats. The theater will close for three weeks in January when this remodeling occurs. The project will cost an estimated $450,000 out of the 2012 Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. 1.4 million dollars will be spent on improvements at the Benedum and Byham theaters. This is just one of large projects in the 2012 budget. They hope by improving the seats it will allow tickets to sell faster which therefore will sell at a higher price. The last time the seats saw any improvements was in 1987 after the whole theater was redone. Hopefully the new seats are more comfortable and allow many more people to relax during the shows. 

Tom Cruise filming movie "One Shot"

The Batman movie has finished filming in Pittsburgh and now we have a new one beginning.  The newest movie being filmed is "One Shot" which is based off of a Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child. The movie began being filmed this week and the filming will conclude in Pittsburgh in January. Lots of filming is taking place though this month before the lead of the movie, Tom Cruise takes a break form this film to promote his late movie, Mission Impossible 4. He has been spotted around the city by fans multiple times since he has arrived in Pittsburgh. Fans have seen him with wife Katie Holmes and daughter Suri at the milkshake factory on the South Side and at a farmer's market in Franklin Park. Every fan has said that Tom Cruise and family have been extremely friendly and also take time to sign autographs and talk to fans. The filming is taking place all month so their are many more opportunities to still see the celebrities around town. 

Head of the Ohio Regatta

Many people would look outside Saturday afternoon and they would just see pouring down rain, but for many college university rowing teams they could be found outside rowing down the Ohio River. It was the 25th anniversary of the Head of the Ohio race which is one of the biggest collegiate rowing races in the country. Only Philadelphia and Boston have had rowing races in their city for over 100 years. The  Pittsburgh has become one of the most competitive events on the east coast and attracts many universities to attend. Their are three different types of races they could be a one man boat, two men boat or eight person boat. Unfortunately the rain kept many spectators away and made it miserable for the ones that attended but the rowers benefited from it raining making it easier on them. The rowers are used to dealing with the cold as it was only a high of 50 degrees since they normally all have practices before class beginning at 5:30am. Look to attend the Head of the Ohio Regatta next year as the race gets more and more competitive every year. Below is a picture of an eight man boat during the race on Saturday.

Demolition of Civic Arena

The fifty year old steel - roof that the Pittsburgh Penguins called home for awhile is now finally be demolished. The Penguins moved to the Consol Energy Center last year and will now call that building home for many years to come. A group tried to keep the building from being torn down because they claimed it was a landmark in the city and wanted to preserve the building. They hoped the city would agree to keep the building and they would be able to use it for other events. Unfortunately for that group their efforts failed and the building began being demolished this past week. The whole first level of seats are already removed from the arena and the construction crew will continue their work until finally the whole building is gone. Once the building is completely demolished the Penguin organization has hopes to build restaurants and stores in its place. Fans look forward to enjoying the new plaza before they cross the street to see the Penguins take the ice at Consol Energy Center.