Pittsburgh’s 53rd Light Up Night Continues Grand Traditions

A map of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with its neighborhoods labeled. For use primarily in the list of Pittsburgh neighborhoods. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The 53rd-annual Light Up Night on Nov. 22 will offer an additional performance stage in Mellon Square, another new show in Market Square and a three-block area of Smithfield Street where you can enjoy nostalgic dancing in the street. And the Peoples Gas Holiday Market, returning for its sophomore year Nov. 23 to Dec. 23, will be twice the size of last year’s European-style Christmas market.

Mellon Square will host the new Northwest Savings Bank Stage, where Pittsburgh classic-rock bands The Elliotts and Totally 80s will perform on Light Up Night, overlooking Smithfield Street.

Nearby, at the Macy’s Stage on Smithfield Street, Gloria Gaynor will perform to coordinate with the unveiling of the famous Macy’s windows. And on Smithfield Street, visitors can “Dance Through the Decades” as they enjoy live music from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, along with laser effects and bubble machines.

Read more: http://triblive.com/aande/moreaande/4989209-74/market-street-downtown#ixzz2k0I6sLMw 
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Apparent Homicide In Wilkes-Barre

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WILKES-BARRE, PA— Authorities are considering the death of Eduardo Daniel Madera a homicide, pending a formal autopsy scheduled for this afternoon.

If the autopsy turns out as expected, the city’s murder count for 2013 rises to 12 in just over 10 months. No one has been charged as of Wednesday night in connection with the death.

Identification papers indicate Madera, 46, moved to the house at 320 Northampton St. from Kansas City, Mo., and Luzerne County’s acting Coronor William Lisman said he had been living there for a few months.

Read more: http://timesleader.com/news/local-news/965660/Apparent-homicide-in-W-B

10 Best Cities In Pennsylvania

Map of Pennsylvania, showing major cities and roads (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  Some very surprising results, especially the tie for number 10! Two are in Montgomery County, two are in Chester County and two in Delaware County.

The real-estate company Movoto is searching out the best cities in each state, and says six of the top 10 Pennsylvania cities are in the Philadelphia region.

Movoto says it looks at criteria that include amenities, cost of living, crime, education, median income and home value to determine its rankings. Here are what the company says are the 10 best cities in Pennsylvania:

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillylists/10-best-cities-in-Pennsylvania.html#FbOpcUwPJtHbrC05.99

How Heroin Abuse Has Become Epidemic

Editor’s note:  And the last two paragraphs are about a heroin death in Pottstown!  Wake up borough officials!!!!! Stop denying this problem exists! The man who robbed National Penn Bank on High Street was a heroin addict and high at the time.  It’s not a “bump in the road” or a “perception problem” as your soon-to-be ex-mayor likes to tell people.

Heroin-related overdoses jumped nearly 250 percent between 2010 and 2012 in Philadelphia and, depending on how they are measured, slightly more in Montgomery County. In Kentucky, they quadrupled in just one year.

Experts say the culprit is actually prescription painkillers. Abuse of the expensive narcotics leads to tolerance – and cravings for more and more. Heroin is the cheap and more powerful alternative.

Experts point to a series of events that began when the Food and Drug Administration in 1997 proposed easing the way for advertising of prescription medications on broadcast television, which almost no other country does as freely. Industry spending on direct-to-consumer advertising rose tenfold in five years. Prescriptions written for opioid painkillers such as Vicodin and OxyContin soon rose more than 500 percent.

“As a culture, we are just very used to, ‘You have a problem, get a prescription,’ ” said Jay Unick, an assistant professor at the University of Maryland School of Social work, who studies how public policies affect behavioral health outcomes.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/health/20131107__We_lost_an_entire_generation__to_heroin.html#oec76sPDSpAZbJT2.99

U.S. Economy Grows At Surprising 2.8 Percent Rate

Seal of the United States Department of Commerce (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy expanded at a 2.8 percent annual rate from July through September, a surprising acceleration ahead of the 16-day partial government shutdown. But much of the strength came from a buildup in company stockpiling.

Home construction also rose, and state and local governments spent at their fastest pace in four years. But businesses spent less on equipment, federal spending fell and consumers spent at a slower pace. All are cautionary signs for the final three months of the year.

Overall, growth increased in the third quarter from a 2.5 percent annual rate in the April-June period to the fastest pace in a year, the Commerce Department said today.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=518462