Pittsburg, PA
Visiting the site of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting
This article was first published in the State of Faith newsletter. Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox each Monday night.
I noticed the colorful drawings first.
They were printed onto pieces of canvas that hung on a long fence. They carried messages like “Rebuild together” and “Be happy,” alongside drawings of rainbows, flowers and trees.
These were the images that welcomed me and others at Religion News Association’s annual conference to the site of the deadliest act of antisemitism in U.S. history.
On Oct. 27, 2018, a man entered a building used by three different Jewish communities and opened fire, killing 11 people and injuring others.
The juxtaposition between cheerful drawings and horrific memories is intentional. Those who oversee the site of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting told us the images serve as reminders of the good and kind acts that came in response to the shooter’s acts of death and destruction. They were sent in by schoolchildren who wanted to do what they could to help.
Throughout the morning we spent with people affected by the shooting, the same message came up again and again: You must remember the good, as well as the bad.
You must celebrate the kindness and compassion in the world, even as you call out the evil.
You can’t forget how those 11 men and women died, but you also can’t forget how they lived.
Today, the site of the 2018 shooting is being transformed into a unique kind of community center. It will host worship services, as well as lectures on antisemitism and the beauty of Jewish life.
It will serve as a reminder of what’s possible when we pull together instead of pulling apart.
And until construction is complete, those drawings will hang from the fence outside, calling us to remember not just what happened on Oct. 27, 2018, but also what happened next.
Fresh off the press
USC canceled its valedictorian’s remarks. Does that promote public safety — or hurt free speech?
Term of the week: Matzo
Matzo is thin, unleavened bread that plays a special role in Jews’ Passover festivities. Made of just flour and water, it’s baked before it rises, which means it looks more like a cracker than a loaf.
“To be kosher for the Passover holiday, which begins Monday evening, the dough has to be prepared and cooked all within 18 minutes,” according to The Associated Press.
By eating matzo, the modern Jewish community commemorates the experience of Jews who fled Egypt during the Exodus story. Those men, women and children were in such a rush that they couldn’t bake normal bread.
The Jewish speaker on a panel about religion and food at last weekend’s conference described how special matzo is to him despite being essentially tasteless. It symbolizes God’s care for the community, he said.
What I’m reading…
Becoming a parent means reckoning with everything you won’t be able to protect your children from. But in the midst of the unexpected heartbreaks and anxiety, you can choose to create moments of immense joy. “Parents cannot shield their children from the world’s cruelty or our failures, but we can try to counter those things. We can provide moments that may become positive recollections to sit alongside harsher ones,” writes Esau McCaulley for The New York Times.
This fall, Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit is going to get serious about limiting screen time. First-year students, who are on the path to becoming priests, will be asked to be more intentional about their relationship with technology and to spend more time socializing with others and in prayer than buried in their phones, according to Catholic News Agency.
My colleague Jennifer Graham wrote a beautiful profile of writer Nancy French earlier this month. The story explores French’s new memoir, her battle with cancer and her place in the unfolding story of evangelical Christianity.
Odds and ends
I was honored to bring home a second-place award from the RNA conference that recognized my efforts to analyze and explain faith-related Supreme Court cases and policy moves. Here are the three stories that were part of my winning entry:
Pittsburg, PA
Thunderstorms, showers possible across Pittsburgh region; warm and muggy trend continues
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A crossing cold front is touching off scattered showers and thunderstorms that will linger through late this evening with showers finally tapering toward morning.
WEATHER LINKS:
Current Conditions | School Closings & Delays | Submit Your Weather Photos
Daily average High: 69° Low: 47°
Sunrise: 6:14 a.m. Sunset: 8:20 p.m.
FIRST ALERT: None
AWARE: T-Storms and showers tonight. We are watching the potential for strong storms on Tuesday late afternoon/evening.
Monday will be mostly cloudy, warm and muggy, but mainly dry until later in the evening when a few showers could develop.
Tuesday will be mainly dry during the morning and early afternoon. Still, we’re watching the potential for strong to severe storms to possibly develop late afternoon into Tuesday evening, depending on how this next system evolves.
Scattered shower and storm chances linger the rest of the week, with temperatures very warm in the 70s before cooling to near-normal 60s next weekend.
Stay up to date with the KDKA Mobile App – which you can download here!
Pittsburg, PA
Kennywood celebrates 100 years of its iconic rollercoaster The Thunderbolt
WEST MIFFLIN (KDKA) – Saturday was a milestone day and a celebration at Kennywood as one of the park’s most iconic coasters turned 100 years old.
The Thunderbolt, originally named The Pippin, wooden rollercoaster opened to parkgoers on May 4, 1924. It was designed by coaster builder John Miller and was one of Kennywood’s first rollercoasters.
That was before the lift hill and helix curves were added in 1968.
The Thunderbolt was then named “King of the Coasters” by the New York Times in 1974.
Along with the Jack Rabbit and Racer, Kennywood’s three wooden rollercoasters have been named a Landmark Ride by the American Coaster Enthusiasts in previous years.
A new plaque has been installed outside of the ride in commemoration of the anniversary and Kennywood said that more is on the way this summer to celebrate 100 years of the Thunderbolt.
For those heading to Kennywood for the first time this summer, the Thunderbolt is in the Kennyville section of the park by the iconic Potato Patch, where visitors can get the park’s famous French Fries.
You can get tickets to the park and see their hours and events on their website at this link.
Pittsburg, PA
Runaway steel drum kills woman walking in US
Crews work at the scene of a fatal construction accident in Oakland, Pennsylvania. Photo / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP
A steel drum weighing thousands of pounds somehow rolled out of a construction site in Pittsburgh and eventually struck and killed a woman who was walking on a nearby sidewalk, police said.
The accident occurred around 10.40am Friday local time in the city’s Oakland neighborhood, where the University of Pittsburgh’s new sports performance centre is being built.
The drum was either knocked over or dislodged from a piece of heavy equipment, police said. It then rolled several hundred feet as it went down a hill, through a fence and onto the sidewalk where the woman was walking with co-workers from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre’s Western Psychiatric Hospital. The drum then went across a road before it came to rest against a pickup truck.
The woman, who suffered a head injury, was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later. Her name has not been released, and no other injuries were reported in the accident, which remains under investigation.
-
Politics1 week ago
GOP lawmakers demand major donors pull funding from Columbia over 'antisemitic incidents'
-
World1 week ago
Hamas ‘serious’ about captives’ release but not without Gaza ceasefire
-
Politics1 week ago
Columbia University’s policy-making senate votes for resolution calling to investigate school’s leadership
-
News1 week ago
Both sides prepare as Florida's six-week abortion ban is set to take effect Wednesday
-
World1 week ago
Brussels, my love? MEPs check out of Strasbourg after 5 eventful years
-
Politics7 days ago
House Republicans brace for spring legislative sprint with one less GOP vote
-
Movie Reviews1 week ago
This Never Happened (2024) – Review | Tubi Horror Movie | Heaven of Horror
-
World7 days ago
At least four dead in US after dozens of tornadoes rip through Oklahoma