March 2022 Est. 1985
The Northside Chronicle
Volume 38 Issue 3 - FREE -
The Community Newspaper of Pittsburgh’s Historic Northside
Northside Business Briefs: March 2022 By Ashlee Green
Caruso Beer Distribution permanently closes its doors Sam Caruso, who’s been in the beer distribution business since taking over for his father in 1968, has retired. Caruso Beer Distribution, previously on North Taylor Avenue in Allegheny City
Photo: Lisa Bakowski
Photo: Debbie Thomas, courtesy of Wagsburgh
A handwritten sign at the former Caruso Beer Distribution in Allegheny City Central announces the owner's retirement.
Northsiders Barret and Morgan Lipkin, pictured here with their dogs, took part in Wagsburgh's fifth annual "kissing booth," a Valentine's Day-themed, in-store photo shoot with photographer Debbie Thomas. Held on Feb. 6, the event sold out and raised $500 for Bridge to Home, a foster-based animal rescue in Eighty-Four, Pa. Read more about it on Page 16.
Central, had various locations throughout its history, but began as a business in 1933 by Caruso’s father. Caruso had limited hours at the shop in its last few years: three days a week for four or five hours at a time. “I’m kind of retired now,” Caruso joked in an article for The Incline back in 2018. This time, though, it’s legit.
Allegheny Elks Lodge #339 to host annual ‘Fat Tuesday’ celebration Tuesday, March 1 marks “Fat Tuesday,” the end of Mardi Gras season. See Briefs, Page 16
INSIDE
The Great Escapes
There's a reason Hollywood loves Pittsburgh's Northside: From penitentiary tunnels to Kodiak the eagle, here's a rundown of some of its (in)famous getaway stories. By Lucia Shen Humans love a good heist. Studies have found that people often process the events they read on a page or watch on a screen similarly to how they experience events firsthand. When you’re taking in that daring escape on the page or the big screen, you can sometimes feel like you’re in the story as well. Imagine it: Suspense builds as a guard walks inches past the story’s protagonist,
- Broadband Improvement Plan, Page 7 STORIES, COLUMNS, - Pittsburgh Olympian Turns 100, Page 9 FEATURES & MORE - Summer Youth Guide, Page 11
who is hanging from the ceiling or plastered to a nook in the wall à la Ocean’s Eleven. The guard passes, the escapee makes a break for it, and the chase is on. In real life, though, things don’t always go according to plan. Sometimes, the protagonist isn’t even human. Sometimes it’s a horse—or five of them. Other times, it’s a sea eagle inadvertently blasted to national fame. This past January in Pittsburgh’s Northside, five police horses broke free
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from their stables on Grand Avenue; and back in September of 2021, the National Aviary made news nationwide when their sea eagle, Kodiak, escaped from his enclosure. Maybe it’s life imitating art, but a number of movies and TV shows filmed in the Northside have centered around the thrill of the chase; the break from the status quo. Be it fiction or reality, the Northside is home to See Escapes, Page 17
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