Pittsburg, PA

Review | ‘Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!’ in Pittsburgh and a love letter to NPR – The Pitt News

Published

2 years ago

April 15, 2024

Review | ‘Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!’ in Pittsburgh and a love letter to NPR – The Pitt News

From a young age, I’ve found solace in the Pavlovian pleasure of the brassy “All Things Considered” chime. While other kids were begging their parents to turn the dial to Top 40 pop radio, I preferred to hear two old brothers banter about auto maintenance on “Car Talk.” NPR has been an omnipresent voice in my ear, whispering tidbits of worldly happenings, accompanying me on my walks, drives, rows and rides. The centerpiece of NPR’s catalog is the witty weekly news quiz show “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!”

Last week, I was listening to the sweet sounds of “Wait Wait” when host Peter Sagal, seemingly jumping out of my phone and speaking directly to me, said the cast would venture from their home base in Chicago to record a show at the Benedum Center in downtown Pittsburgh. I studied up on all the headlines until I felt like a news know-it-all walking down Penn Avenue towards the theater.

As I settled into my seat on Thursday night, I realized I had no idea what the cast looked like. They were always just little voices that live in my headphones and gab about Boeing and fiber supplements during my bus rides to Aldi. I don’t know how I expected Sagal to look — I could’ve imagined him as some mousey bespectacled variant on the dad from “Caillou,” but instead he more closely resembled Michael Stipe from R.E.M. with a liberal arts degree.

Hearing Bill Curtis speak sounded like God himself had taken an earthly vacation to Pittsburgh and stopped by the Benedum Center to host a quiz show. I can only compare the sensation of hearing Peter Sagal’s voice come out of Peter Sagal’s body to the uncanny feeling of seeing Tom Kenny do his SpongeBob voice in real life. Likewise, hearing Sagal drop an f-bomb in his opening monologue felt like hearing that SpongeBob voice narrate a reproductive anatomy chart.

The audience was what you might call an “NPR crowd.” These folks love a good charcuterie board and live for Shakespeare in the Park. They sip their coffee over the New York Times crossword on a Sunday morning after posting their Wordle on Facebook. Earlier that day, each one of them had told someone about an article they “read,” although in reality, they just saw the headline on their phone. These were my people.

Before the recording began, Sagal addressed the audience to mark the show’s return to Pittsburgh and lament the change from Heinz Field to Ac — Acri — sorry, I’m so bitter that it pains me to even type the new name. I resent that our sports writers have to call it that A-word, like how news publications are gradually warming us up to calling Twitter “X.”

Contestant Maeve Higgins said Pittsburgh reminded her of home in Ireland because everyone was pale and it was raining. And boy, did it rain — at one point in the show, a jarring flash flood warning alarm erupted from every iPhone in the audience. I figured that if the 71B washed away into the Monongahela on the ride back to Oakland, at least I heard the voice of Bill Curtis in person before I drowned.

Only once the game began, with Sagal and Curtis standing at name-tagged podiums sitting a disco ball away from the three headphone-clad contestants, did I breathe in the absurdity of this show’s premise. A troupe of nerds and news junkies yap about Ozempic and cicadas while some consultant from Connecticut sits on the phone and tries to get a word in edgewise. I love it. I could’ve been born a 12th-century feudal peasant shoveling pigswill until I died of the bubonic plague, but instead I’m lucky enough to live in the same time and place as “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!”

The special guest for the evening was legendary Steelers coach Bill Cowher. A Crafton native, Cowher riled up the niche of NPR Yinzers in the theater with stories about being trapped on the Gateway Clipper cruise and winning the Super Bowl. When Sagal confronted him on Heinz Field’s transition to Ac — nope, still can’t do it — he said in his mind, it was still Three Rivers Stadium.

As contestants pored over the topics and trends of the week, I came to appreciate how much the producers polish each episode before it hits the air. There are so many line rereads, gaffes, awkward pauses and off-color quips that escape the final product. Contestant Mo Rocca even got up to use the bathroom mid-show, sneaking offstage with a Grinch-like gait before reestablishing his presence with a silent ballet routine. These weren’t just disembodied voices emanating from a podcast app — they’re real people who went to the Pittsburgh Banjo Club from their hotel last night and can hear your phone ringing in the mezzanine.

Perhaps the most potent auditory set piece of the show was the audience. When Sagal mispronounced “Primanti,” the crowd chastised him with an instantaneous nasal “a.” Two men presented Sagal and Curtis with hand-drawn parchment portraits. The woman sitting in front of me stood up for an impromptu audition to take Sagal’s job, handing him her heartiest “This is NPR.” I feel like I’ve left a little legacy in my laughter and applause, lost in the sea of sound splashing at the stage, immortalized over the airwaves.

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Pittsburg, PA

17-year-old accused in deadly Kansas shooting

Published

39 minutes ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

17-year-old accused in deadly Kansas shooting

CRAWFORD COUNTY —Law enforcement are investigating another deadly shooting involving a Kansas teen.

Just before 9p.m. Friday, police along with first responder units from Pittsburg Fire Department and Crawford County EMS, were dispatched to a shooting at Schlanger Park, 725 E 6th Street in Pittsburg, according to a media release. First responders found that an adult male had been shot and had subsequently died as a result of his injuries.

The victim, who was identified as 18-year-old Adam Basauri, of Girard, was pronounced deceased at the scene. Basauri’s body was sent to Kansas City for an autopsy.

The scene was secured and investigators with the Pittsburg Police Department responded to assist with the investigation. Witnesses on scene advised the suspect had fled the scene in a vehicle. Witnesses were transported to the police department to be interviewed while the search for the suspect was ongoing.

At approximately 9:46 p.m. the suspect and suspect’s vehicle were located in Arma, Kansas, by deputies with the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office.

The suspect, who was identified as a 17-year-old juvenile, was taken into custody and transported to the Pittsburg Police Department for questioning. The juvenile suspect’s vehicle was secured and towed to the Pittsburg Police Department to be processed.

After interviewing the witnesses’ investigators were able to determine that a brief altercation took place between Basauri and the juvenile suspect. During the altercation, the suspect shot Basauri.

As a result, the 17-year-old juvenile, of Pittsburg, was placed under arrest. Juvenile Intake responded and processed the juvenile suspect. The juvenile suspect was transported to the Southeast KS Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Girard. He is being held on a requested charge of murder in the second degree.

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Pittsburg, PA

Masontown Borough unanimously votes to reinstate police department

Published

13 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Masontown Borough unanimously votes to reinstate police department

During an emergency meeting on Saturday night, Masontown borough council voted 6-0 to reinstate its police department after council initially voted on Monday to lay off the entire department, citing budgetary reasons as the leading factor for the decision.

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Pittsburg, PA

Pittsburgh Pirates Swap with A’s That Makes Sense For Both Clubs

Published

1 day ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Pittsburgh Pirates Swap with A’s That Makes Sense For Both Clubs

The Pittsburgh Pirates could use some bats, and the A’s are still looking to add some pitching this winter, so how likely is it that these clubs come together on a deal?

According to Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pirates are still on the lookout for some help on the left side of the infield. Over at Roster Resource, their starters at short and third as listed as Nick Gonzales (82 wRC+ in 2025) and Jared Triolo (86).

While the A’s are having a little showdown of their own at third base this spring, they have a number of players in the mix. Perhaps they could move one of them in a deal with Pittsburgh in order to land a relief pitcher with some upside.

The proposed deal that we have in mind is the A’s sending third baseman Brett Harris, who may be starting as the third option at the hot corner this spring. Harris has a tremendous glove at third, and statistically it appears to be at least on par with the glove what Triolo provided last season.

In just 183 2/3 innings with the A’s in 2025, Harris put up a +5 DRS, and +2 in both OAA and FRV. Triolo, in roughly 80 extra innings finished with a +7 DRS and +4 in both OAA and FRV. Both players are solid defensively.

Triolo has had more experience in the big leagues, which does account for something, but if you’re the Pirates, do you consider making a change and taking a chance on a similar defender with more upside in the bat? Their current option hit .227 with a .311 OBP and an 86 wRC+ last season in 376 plate appearances. Harris could put together a double-digit home run season at the very least.

Harris played in just 32 games (84 plate appearances) and hit .274 with a .349 OBP and a 96 wRC+. While he certainly looked like an improved player over his initial stint in the big leagues with the A’s in 2024, there was also some luck involved in his improvement—mainly his .377 BABIP. The risk for the Pirates would be taking the chance on that bat being for real.

In exchange, the proposed piece that the Pirates would send back in 30-year-old Yohan Ramírez. The right-hander ranks in the 94th percentile in extension on top of sitting at 96.4 miles per hour with his heater, which is quite appealing. He also held a 5.40 ERA (3.80 FIP) last season, so he’s far from a finished product, and given his age, he’s a flier himself.

This is the type of pitcher that the A’s have had success with in recent seasons—guys that can collect strikeouts but also tend to issue free passes. In 2025 with the Pirates, he struck out 29% of the batters he faced and walked 10.3%.

There are two interesting tidbits in his profile that could cause a little worry. The first is that he’s bounced around quite a bit in recent seasons, including spending time with the Dodgers, Mets, Orioles and Red Sox in 2024. Those are all teams that love to pull extra value from guys, and if they all gave up on him, then that’s not the greatest track record.

All of those teams seemed to view him as a guy that could provide a few innings when their bullpens were gassed, which led to him having short stints with each club, totaling a 6.20 ERA (4.26 FIP) across 45 innings.

The other interesting piece here is that when he has been with the Pirates, in both 2025 and back in 2022, his velocity has ticked up considerably. In 2022, he also spent time with the Mariners, and he was sitting 94.2. But with Pittsburgh, that went up to 96.5. In 2024, he topped out at 95.3 mph with the O’s and Mets.

This past season he was back to 96.2 mph. Is there something special for him about pitching in Pittsburgh? Do their radar guns run a little hot? Is this more of a time of year situation that gets hammered out over longer stints (like with the Pirates)? It’s unclear.

But if he’s truly a 96-mile-per-hour reliever that the A’s could add to their ‘pen, then this trade may be worth some heavy consideration.

Of course, Ramírez is out of options which would make this a little tricky, and Harris has roughly double the amount of team control, so the value may have to be squared away by adding another piece or two to the ledger. But these two players, Harris and Ramírez, could do a lot of good for the opposite clubs.