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www.newpittsburghcourier.com Vol. 116 No. 24 Two Sections
JUNE 11-17, 2025
Carlos Carter steps down as President, CEO of the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer
There is a vacancy at the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh. A big one. The New Pittsburgh Courier has learned exclusively that Carlos T. Carter is no longer the President
CARLOS T. CARTER
and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh. The Courier has learned that Carter’s final day was May 13. The Courier reported the hoopla around Carter becoming President and CEO of the iconic organization on Nov. 10, 2021. He took over for the Urban
League mainstay, Esther Bush, who was the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh President and CEO for 27 years. Carter left his post as
COURIER EXCLUSIVE REPORT
executive director of the Homeless Children’s Education Fund to join the Urban League, saying at the time that he “felt called” to the position at the Urban League. As recently as May 8, SEE CARTER A2
FATHER’S DAY IS SUNDAY, JUNE 15
Chace’s name never to be forgotten Pete Henderson made that vow, renaming his restaurant, ‘Chace’s Cafe’ by Naomi C. Ilochi For New Pittsburgh Courier
The love of a father transcends time. Pete Henderson, owner of Chace's Cafe on the South Side, has created community, cuisine and comfort one breakfast platter at a time. But for him, what's most important, is fatherhood. In 1978, Henderson attended Brashear High School where he would begin his pursuit in the restaurant industry at just 13 or 14 years old at the infamous “Eddie’s Restaurant,” once located on Wylie Avenue in the Hill District. Henderson learned how to cook from owner Eddie Owens, igniting his love for cooking. Eddie’s was the launchpad for Henderson’s career; Henderson would go on to work in many big restaurants around the city, like “The Original Hotdog." Sydney "Syd" Simon was the owner of The Original Hotdog shop in Oakland at the time, and he taught Henderson a great deal about the industry. Much of
Henderson’s education pertaining to the restaurant industry came from the different owners he worked for throughout the years. "I would change jobs a lot," Henderson, 61, told the New Pittsburgh Courier. "I said, 'I'm not going to keep doing this, I need to start my own.'" In the late '90s, Henderson began cooking in restaurants, bars and nightclubs where it was his duty to man the kitchen and create his own menus. People loved Henderson’s food, and he did fairly well at it. In 1998, he got a gig at the famous "Cotton Club," a bar and restaurant formerly located on Webster Avenue in the Hill District. It was exactly what Henderson was looking for at the time. Eventually, the Cotton Club closed, but Henderson acquired the entity and turned it into primarily a restaurant. On July 9, 2002, the joy of his life, Chace, was born. Chace C.W. Jones Henderson was born healthy, with no complications. At the same time,
Henderson was running the restaurant at the Cotton Club, which was doing very well. Everything changed in a matter of weeks. In August 2002, Henderson received an unforgettable phone call — his 2-month-old son, Chace, was no longer breathing. Henderson dropped everything to make his way to UPMC Children's Hospital where he saw numerous medical professionals providing his son with support. It was a sight he had never seen before being performed on a child. "I've never seen three or four people bumping on a little baby at one time," Henderson told the Courier. Henderson later learned that Chace suffered from SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). Chace's parents were advised by a Chaplain to pray for Chace. That's what his parents, Henderson and Andrea Jones, did. Nearly an hour went by. Then the nurse rushed SEE CHACE’s A3
PETE HENDERSON, IN FRONT OF HIS RESTAURANT, CHACE’S CAFE, ON E. CARSON STREET. (PHOTO BY ROB TAYLOR JR.)
Pittsburgh after-school programs left scrambling Federal cuts have hit the region
by Lajja Mistry PublicSource
A local nonprofit teaching arts and tech to Black
girls in Pittsburgh recently lost a five-year federal grant from the National Science Foundation [NSF] less than two years in.
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The $50,000-a-year grant was a partnership between nonprofit Assemble and the University of Pittsburgh to empower Black girls to create AI tools plus equip educators and out-of-school time providers to teach AI through a lens of racial equity. In April, recipients were notified via email that
the grant had been terminated and no expenses incurred beyond that date would be reimbursed. Now, the organization is unable to continue this partnership and is facing layoffs. “With every executive order, with every cut, it is not only the money, but the continual increase of fear and erasure,” said
Nina Barbuto, executive director of Assemble. The cut came as part of federal funding reductions driven by President Donald Trump and initiatives led by the Elon Musk-inspired Department of Government Efficiency, which aim to eliminate what they consider “wasteful grants and contracts.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Many local after-school providers are now scrambling to adjust as federal funding cuts hit the region. “I really feel that a lot of these decisions, even if they’re a direct cut or an SEE AFTER-SCHOOL A4