Recession Indicator of the Week: I just got a podcast ad for a car insurance company that lets you pay for coverage by the day.

I was out in the smoke for most of the day on a story and I can confirm: it's really bad out there! My head hurts and my chest feels tight and my eyes are burning! And I was wearing a KN95 for most of the time. Just overall Do Not Recommend Being Outdoors.

This is the view looking across the river at Downtown Pittsburgh. Those white squares are the roof of the convention center. You can barely make out the skyline behind it. That Purple Air map is the worst air quality I've ever seen in our area.

🚨🚨ALERT🚨🚨 TINY WHEELCHAIR DOGS IN THE NEWSROOM

Finally: bridge go boom. The Commercial St. Bridge in Pittsburgh is no more. Here's the implosion from three angles this morning:

Okay, set your alarms for tomorrow at 8:00AM. ALLEGEDLY.

I've just left the newsroom; we're supposed to get a 30 minute warning via email but I've got obligations tonight & won't be able to keep an eye on it. We're now in the last hour of today's demolition window, so if you wanna see Bridge Blow Up, probably wise to start streaming or turn on KDKA-TV.

PennDOT timing update for all my Blast Buddies out there: Demolition now scheduled to take place between 6:00PM and 9:00PM! PennDOT will send out an additional update with a 30 minute warning. So if you were refreshing the livestream, you can relax until 6:00PM.

It's Demolition Day! KDKA-TV will be carrying the demolition of the Commercial St. Bridge live on air and online. We're waiting to hear from PennDOT about the official blast time -- right now the window is 1:00PM to 9:00PM. I am a little giddy with excitement for this. Love a (planned) explosion!

When I was working in Kentucky, Pope Benedict resigned and a colleague asked me if I was sad "because you worship him, right?" Dog, I hadn't been to church in years but I was suddenly THE MOST Catholic I could probably have spontaneously led a Latin Mass in that moment

Found the person I feel sorry for this morning: the MTP producer who got woken up by a phone call and is scrambling for a replacement booking.

BIG BOY TRAIN BIG BOY TRAIN

It must be so weird to be the operator of a train running ahead of the Big Boy. Every train nerd in Pittsburgh (affectionate) is out lining the tracks but they are very much not there to see you.

I told him if he's stuck he might as well go do some citizen reporting for me.

My beloved husband, who does not watch the news lmao, went to the gym in the Waterfront before I could warn him about the Big Boy train coming through/the detour. He now says the area is gridlocked. He's resigned to hanging out there all day. Anyone know what time the Big Boy is due in Homestead?

Left the newsroom and was struck by how everything's the same color on this rainy evening in Downtown Pittsburgh. Just the trees to liven things up. Have a good weekend, everyone.

A certain municipal agency dragged its feet responding to my open records request. They finally got back to me and said they found 700+ pages of responsive documents. They want to charge me $1 per page. My bro, I am a humble local TV news journalist. To the PA Office of Open Records we go!

I talked with @opensecrets.org for insight into why two campaigns from opposing parties would want to create a mechanism to fundraise together. The answer: it may be more about messaging than money.

Sending up the yinz-signal for Pittsburgh people.

I talked with @opensecrets.org for insight into why two campaigns from opposing parties would want to create a mechanism to fundraise together. The answer: it may be more about messaging than money.

Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) and Senator Dave McCormick (R-PA) launch a new joint fundraising committee for their re-election campaigns. Something something "new meaning to bipartisanship" something.

Parkwaygeddon/Trafficalypse/Ragcarok/the Commercial St. Bridge Parkway Closure starts tomorrow. PennDOT says drivers who typically use the Parkway East between Downtown Pittsburgh & Monroeville should expect heavy traffic & extreme delays. Is your commute affected? Are you changing plans? (Me: 🚴‍♀️🚌)

I thought travel agents used to be like car dealers -- you can't walk up to the Toyota factory and buy a Corolla, why would you walk up to the airport and buy a plane ticket? Or is that really how people used to book flights? (I guess I could ask Google, but I am interested in hearing experiences.)

Tonight the role of Pittsburgh Pirates Offense will be played by Ryan O'Hearn. That is the funniest stat block I have seen on a game with a score this high maybe ever.

I used to have a boss whose lock screen & phone wallpaper were both selfies of herself. Just her. Not like "me & bae!" or "me & my pupper!" Just her. I want to use that as a detail when I write a novel one day. It's this microcosm of a person's character. As is having a wallpaper of Trump.

Not sure if the NHL isn't getting mentioned because it's not as starkly corrupt as these other sports, or because no one watches hockey 🥲 If a bag of money falls in George Parros' bank account but no one is there to see it, etc. etc. etc.

SI SE PUEDE

MEXICOOOOOOOOOOOO

Happy 4th of July and happy 250th birthday, America. I am glad this country has beautiful places like this in which to celebrate. Now: creek. Later: hot dogs, beer, sparklers. No news for 48 hours, please. See you Monday.

Oh, wow, if you saw that story making the rounds about how a single corporation had killed 47 small Alabama newspapers, it’s worth reading this piece about how it — and multiple similar stories — are entirely fake.

FURRIES IN THE NEWSROOM Anthrocon is underway and it's the hottest day of the year in Pittsburgh! I hope everybody drinks a lot of water.

Pittsburgh, if you made an Anthrocon Bingo for non-Anthrocon attendees, what would be on it? E.g., I would include "furry uses newsroom window as selfie mirror" and "line at Yinz Coffee is 3+ furries deep"

I have seen several people mention that Kroger left Pittsburgh in the 1980s because of the unions. And that's true! But, like most Giant Eagle stores, most Kroger stores are now unionized through UFCW. So it's unlikely we'll see union-busting efforts when they take ownership.

PITTSBURGH'S FAVORITE TIME OF YEAR RANDOM FURRYSPOTTING DOWNTOWN BEGINS TOMORROW EVERY GLANCE OUTSIDE THE WINDOW OF MY NEWSROOM IS A DELIGHT

So far I can report that you really, REALLY should not get the contents of a ruptured squish in your hair unless you are happy to cut off literally every strand that came in contact with the stuff RIP chunk of my hair

🎶 It's gettin' hot in herre, this squish guy might explode 🎶

My story today involves sticking NeeDoh cubes all over a hot car and pointing a GoPro at them. Journalism!

The Union Organizer -- boy, that's an apt result.

I had just moved to Pittsburgh and was sitting on my bed refreshing Twitter when I saw Bob McKenzie's post and shrieked "oh my GOD" so loudly that my neighbor knocked on my door to make sure I was okay. That was the first time we'd met each other.

Pittsburgh: women's hockey team (lol jk it's more mass transit)

In case anyone's wondering what a "true threat" looks like under First Amendment doctrine, I give to you: guy who just got charged w/ "threatening public officials" by the feds in WDPA. He maybe, MAYBE could have argued the online posts. But, uh, don't do this.

$800,000 for sports journalism what the fuck am I doing with my life (yes I know they were paying for her connections but I also have connections and for the low low price of $800,000 I can promise not to have a years-long tabloid affair with any of them)

A guy in cutoff jean shorts, sleeveless Steelers t-shirt, and a backwards ballcap just came rollerblading down the middle of East Carson Street while ripping a dart. God I love you Pittsburgh never change

Also one of my very oldest friends (and wonderful journalist) @taylorkatebrown.bsky.social let me crash at her house post-conference and I found the book by another pal who goes way back (and also wonderful journalist) @tkdano.bsky.social and I discovered my friends have met! It made me so happy!

Home from #IRE26 and I feel simultaneously like every single one of my brain cells has been crammed full of information until they all burst and dribbled out my ears, but also like I want to run through a wall, but also like I have so very much work ahead of me. Journalism conference! Whew.

This was one hell of a powerhouse panel. I am gonna be thinking about it probably forever.

Downside of attending a whole bunch of off-the-record panels at the Investigative Reporters & Editors conference: I have learned so many cool things and heard so many cool stories and met so many cool people and I can share NONE OF IT #ire26

Last time I was at IRE someone said you can ID the TV reporters by their jewel-toned clothes and the print reporters by their coffee stains. Joke's on them, I'm in TV and I've already spilled coffee on myself. #IRE26

Just arrived in DC for #IRE26 and I'd like to preemptively apologize to my followers for the amount of journalism conference posting that's about to occur for the next three days.

It survived being hucked into Mario Lemieux's pool multiple times. It can handle some dents.