BY: COLIN WILLIAMS
PHOTO: COURTESY OF JOHN GORDON
PHOTO: COURTESY OF DUOLINGO
CP PHOTO: MARS JOHNSON
PHOTO: MARS JOHNSON
CP PHOTO: MARS JOHNSON Amir Mingazetdinov poses for a portrait while holding a "Putin is a Killer" sign on March 13, 2025.
VS. FEAR
Trump’s deportation dragnet extends to Russian and Ukrainian asylum seekers in Pittsburgh
BY: COLIN WILLIAMS // CWILLIAMS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
In late February, ICE began detaining asylum seekers in Pittsburgh’s Russian and Ukrainian immigrant communities. Pittsburgh City Paper spoke to multiple sources with first- and secondhand knowledge of the detentions and, via interviews and online research, has confirmed the upsetting details of at least one that resulted in the separation of family members. Fearing reprisal from U.S. and foreign authorities during sensitive legal proceedings, few would speak with City Paper on record.
“People are afraid of the unknown and uncertainty with Trump’s policy and ICE officers,” says Russian émigré Amir Mingazetdinov, who communicated with CP using Google Translate. “Immigration is already a lot of stress … and then there is the added uncertainty of visiting [ICE] as well as waiting for the courts that something might change.”
U.S. President Donald Trump’s push for mass deportations has resulted in ICE raids nationally and in Pittsburgh , impacting businesses, schools, and families alike. However, the public face of ICE’s targets — some of whom seem to have been erroneously singled out because of their tattoos — has frequently been Black or brown. Much of Trump’s rhetoric surrounding
immigration has centered on Central American drug cartels or Haitian refugees.
“IF I AM DEPORTED, I WILL BE PUT IN PRISON WHERE THEY WILL TORTURE ME.”
But it seems no one is safe from Trump’s deportation dragnet. Mingazetdinov says he’s aware of at least 10 such cases among Russians and Ukrainians in Greater Pittsburgh, although he says some who have been detained were released on bail or have secured an immigration lawyer.
Many Russians come to the U.S. to avoid military service for ideological or political reasons, including support for dissident Alexei Navalny, or simply to avoid death — a recent BBC estimate found evidence of at least 95,000 battlefield fatalities on the Russian side alone. Ukrainians who likewise fled or were displaced by the violence now find themselves on Trump’s bad side following his administration’s White House ambush of Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the nearly quarter-million Ukrainians in America could yet find their legal status in jeopardy.
The ICE detentions have rattled many who previously felt safe, and Mingazetdinov says many asylum seekers face very real threats of
CP PHOTO: MARS JOHNSON
St. Peter & St. Paul Ukranian Orthodox Church and Holy Virgin Russian Orthodox Church in Carnegie.
violence should they return to their countries of origin. He provided CP with screenshots of WhatsApp messages from Russia accusing him of selling out and making veiled threats.
“If I am deported, I will be put in prison where they will torture me,” he says.
For Mingazetdinov, the journey to Greater Pittsburgh, where he has family, was worth it. “I still believe that the USA is a country of democracy and the word of the law,” he says. And he says others in Pittsburgh’s immigrant community work extremely hard to preserve their legal pathway to permanent residence or citizenship — which can take years, if not decades.
In spite of the high barrier to entry (one libertarian policy analysis called legal immigration “nearly impossible”), statistics show foreign-born residents boost the economy and open businesses at a higher rate. Immigrant and refugee communities have also been a major boon to Rust Belt cities — Pittsburgh’s
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population has seen modest growth for the first time in decades in large part thanks to the arrival of over f they have to go back, then that s kind of our loss because a lot of them are very well educated, and they work very hard, says u nn engidore, who teaches nglish classes serving local immigrants. hey re so industrious. engidore says the reports of activity in reater ittsburgh, and the rumors they inspire, have made many of her students nervous, but they re plodding on. She says the ussian and Ukrainian students continue coming to nglish lessons and may feel less profiled than her ispanic students, some of whom have been staying away from work and school out of fear. hey re not coming to class, and that s going to a ect them, their ability to keep moving on in society , engidore says. hey really don t know what their future is.
engidore says local nonprofits like the hristian mmigration dvocacy enter have stepped up, and the county recently interceded on behalf of other local organi ations a ected by cuts to federal aid. eanwhile, green card holders, workers and students with legal visas, and others continue to be harassed, detained, interrogated, and sent home for clerical errors, oversights in travel planning, or tattoos. Foreign governments including anada, the United ingdom, and ermany have issued travel advisories for their citi ens heading to the U.S. Sources for this story describe a climate of fear and uncertainty.
Please send resume and cover letter to Advertising Manager, Nate Niles at nniles@pghcitypaper.com
e are trying our best to legali e ourselves, we follow all the rules, we check in with the , inga etdinov says. f it is an obvious crime, then yes, am for deportation or prison, but if there is a minor mistake in the documents, or an illegal form when crossing the border, which a person made out of ignorance, or mistakes by the udicial system or officers, then this should not be punishable by deportation or prison.
ut, he says, now with rump s policy could end up behind bars because not all my documents were in order. •
CANCELED CARE
BY: COLIN WILLIAMS // CWILLIAMS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
Gender-affirming care had been a literal lifesaver for Salem. After years of dysphoria caused by a mismatch between their body and identity, and after multiple suicide attempts, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and a hysterectomy had dramatically improved their mental health. With their family’s full support, Salem was scheduled for top surgery on March 24.
BY: AMANDA WALTZ //
CP PHOTO: MARS JOHNSON
Cori Fraser hugs their child, Salem at home on March 27, 2025.
Mere days before the surgery, Salem’s family got a call from UPMC: the operation had been canceled because of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Jan. 28 executive order seeking to bar gender-affirming care for anyone under the age of 19.
“Just last Thursday, the surgeon called us and he said, ‘I’m so sorry, but UPMC says I can’t do the surgery until you’re 19 because of this executive order,’” Cori Fraser, Salem’s parent, tells Pittsburgh City Paper . Fraser says the surgeon and other staff at the hospital seemed upset on their behalf. “He was very clearly livid; I think his exact words were, ‘I’m boiling.’”
As an 18-year-old, Salem can legally vote and donate organs. But since Trump’s order, UPMC has decided Salem can’t yet receive a key piece of their treatment. This development follows a Pitt News story finding that the healthcare giant had denied gender-affirming care previously approved
for patients at UPMC Children’s Hospital. Trump has continued issuing broadsides and executive orders aimed at the trans community since his Jan. 20 inauguration.
City Paper learned of the canceled surgery from an anonymous UPMC staff member upset by the decision. “That was pretty disturbing,” they say. “Obviously, the optics are bad, and no one can get a comment from UPMC.”
“UPMC is fully committed to providing exceptional care for all our patients,” a spokesperson for the healthcare nonprofit told CP via email. “We continue to monitor directives coming from the federal government that affect the ability of our clinicians to provide specific types of care for patients under the age of 19. We continue to offer necessary behavioral health and other support within the bounds of the law.”
“We empathize with the patients and families who are directly affected by these
ongoing changes,” the spokesperson added.
The anonymous UPMC employee says the hospital’s decision stems from a March 5 memo circulated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) after Trump’s Jan. 28 order: “It essentially reads, in really offensive language, if your hospitals or doctors are performing genderaffirming surgery and or offering gender affirming puberty blockers or hormone replacement therapy, and you do not stop doing that right now, we will withhold all of your Medicare and Medicaid funding in its entirety.”
Both the employee and Fraser agreed with a description of UPMC’s decision as “obeying in advance.”
It’s not an exaggeration to say that gender-affirming care saves lives. A large majority of trans individuals contemplate suicide at some point in their lives, with 40-56% attempting it. A study by the Trevor
CP PHOTO: MARS JOHNSON Cori Fraser and Salem at home on March 27, 2025.
Project found that anti-trans legislation can be linked to an increase in suicidality. Fraser says that, before beginning gender-affirming care, including hormone blockers, Salem had made multiple “really serious” attempts to take their own life and, at one point, needed to be “fished out of the river.”
“Within a couple months of starting blockers and hormones, [the attempts] completely stopped,” Fraser says.
In a few months, Salem can reschedule top surgery, but the episode has shaken them and resurfaced feelings of dysphoria. Fraser says they have another family member receiving gender-affirming treatment, but, in recent weeks, UPMC has been less communicative about that person’s care plan. The family has discussed safety and a potential exit strategy if receiving care becomes impossible.
“We’re just trying to get through this,” Fraser says. “We’ve been in talks with our loved ones about, where is the line where we have to leave the country?”
Fraser and the UPMC employee say Trump’s executive order relies on misinformation. Gender-affirming care “is a very complicated and long process to go through,” the UPMC employee says, noting that it’s extremely rare for minors to receive gender-affirming surgery at all.
“There’s this idea that a kid says they’re trans, and then you take them to the doctor and they start hormones the next day, and then, next week, they’re sterilized, and the week afterwards they have chest surgery,” Fraser says. “We need education that, for most people, for young people, transition starts with social transition … really reversible things like trying a different name or haircut or a gender pronoun.”
While the UPMC employee says that, to their knowledge, existing care plans for trans patients over the age of 19 will continue, a proposed HHS rule would strip coverage of trans
CP PHOTO: MARS JOHNSON Salem poses for a portrait on March 27, 2025.
“This is how people die, not just from lack of care, but from the message that their lives don’t matter.”
care from the ordable are ct , something Fraser says would deal a massive blow to trans people s ability to receive life-saving treatments without paying out of pocket, as was the case prior to the . eople are like, h no, my ta dollars are going to buying people new genitals, Fraser says, he reality is, yes, edicaid covers trans care, but in the long run, trans care is much less e pensive than repeated psychiatric hospitali ation that tends to happen when people are living in a body that their brain says is completely wrong.
ocal advocates aren t waiting to see what happens ne t rans Uniting, alleging that U is choosing politics over people, is planning a protest in front of U s head uarters on hu., pril . hen institutions target the most vulnerable among us, it s the first step in a much larger and more dangerous agenda. enying gender affirming care is a slow and calculated form of violence, rans Uniting e ecutive director ena Stanley said in a
release. his is how people die, not ust from lack of care, but from the message that their lives don t matter. s a lack trans woman, know how these systems are built to erase us. e re not ust fighting for healthcare, we re fighting for our right to e ist. here s this impression that most people don t support trans people, Fraser says. think ittsburghers need to show electeds that we re ect that narrative.
Fraser says folks could also support alternative care providers who are less dependent on S funding and, therefore, more eible in the face of the rump administration s attacks on the trans community. n the shorter-term, Fraser says locals who value their trans loved ones need to stand up for their access to care sooner rather than later.
rans people are people s friends and neighbors. e re here. e ve always been here, Fraser says. hen it comes to trans care, this is literally life-saving stu we re talking about. •
WORD PLAY
It’s no secret that Pittsburgh is proud of its homegrown talent, and tech giant Duolingo is no exception. Now heralded as the top education platform on the planet, Duolingo was birthed right here in the ‘Burgh and has continued to invest in the region since its inception. Their newest project is a bilingual learning space called Duo’s Treehouse, which is housed at The Kingsley Association in Larimer.
NEWS of the event focused on how these stakeholders can work together to transform early childcare services in the Pittsburgh region.
Duo’s Treehouse is the latest initiative in the company’s Early Learners First social impact program. The learning space is bright and colorful, with exciting activities including water play, dance lessons with Los Sabrosos, and crafts that encourage children and their caregivers to engage in meaningful play. The programming at the Treehouse focuses on bilingual education in English and Spanish and was developed in tandem with the team at La Escuelita Arcoiris, a Spanish immersion school in Squirrel Hill. Early learning experiences are held on Friday mornings and are available at no cost to all families and caregivers of children up to 5.
Through Early Learners First, Duolingo has pledged to invest $1 million annually in early learning and high- uality, a ordable childcare in the Pittsburgh region. On March 21, Duolingo brought community stakeholders to celebrate the new space at The Kingsley Center. The launch gathered elected officials, members of the press, business owners, and community members to tour Duo’s Treehouse and hear from speakers on the importance of robust early education and childcare. While touring the Treehouse was the impetus, the bulk
Kendra Ross, Duolingo’s Head of Social mpact, kicked o a panel discussion by sharing what her team had learned about the city’s needs when it comes to early childhood education and childcare. Ross said that, traditionally, funding individual childcare slots was the most common way companies supported families with young children. While noble, Ross and her team wondered if that was still the best use of their resources.
“So we asked them,” said Ross. “What do you need? How can we help?”
The answers Ross received from the community were surprising. After speaking to experts in the private sector, government sector, and at nonprofit organi ations, uolingo took that feedback and revamped their approach.
“We found out that the best opportunity for us to support those programs was to provide grants to improve the conditions of their programs and their centers,” Ross said.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF DUOLINGO
Inside Duo's Treehouse at the Kingsley Association
Teacher burnout is an ever-present problem, which leads to fewer childcare slots across the city — and in turn, fewer options for parents who need to work to support their children.
fter defining the current needs, uolingo put their money where their proverbial mouth is. e provide grants to fill those gaps, said oss. Funding benefits, for e ample, improves teacher retention. So they did that and it made an impact. ine grants of , each may be a small line item on a big corporation s budget, but oss says that amount can be transformational to a childcare center or early learning program.
Underwriting high- uality childcare, as uolingo has pledged to do, has a high return on investment for businesses, according to the ennsylvania arly earning nvestment ommission. he commission s e ecutive director, ndrea eberlein, spoke about the critical need to invest in young children in the ittsburgh region and across the state. eberlein says that, in , they asked employers in the commonwealth about how childcare was impacting their workforce. Similar to oss s e perience, eberlein said the answers were not what she e pected. he things that we learned did really kind of surprise us, she said. “We knew that [childcare] was a key factor in recruitment and retention
and that business leaders were really concerned about how insufficient childcare was a ecting their bottom line.” The rest of the conversation encouraged her, though. ather than only thinking about that bottom line, businesses wanted to look at the whole picture. “Businesses wanted to do a better ob of helping their working families, said eberlein. ith the positive impact of robust early childhood investment made clear, attendees were invited to sign a petition spearheaded by Start Strong . rivate investments like those made by uolingo matter, but so does government funding. The petition advocates for $55 million in additional state funding for teacher recruitment and retainment initiatives.
e want as many folks as possible communicating to their legislator that, yes, we want that investment in early childhood, said ara iminillo, e ecutive director at the nonprofit early childhood advocacy group rying ogether.
oss encouraged everyone in the room to keep brainstorming, collaborating, and advocating for the city s youngest residents. She said that this is not a uick fi , but a long game lot of times, you re fighting for things that you won t even see in your lifetime. •
PHOTO: COURTESY OF DUOLINGO
Inside Duo's Treehouse at the Kingsley Association
“MY GRANDMOTHER, SHE KNEW MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. VERY WELL. THEY WERE CLOSE FRIENDS.”
WHERE KINGS SLEPT
Civil rights history was made at a since-demolished house in Penn Hills’ Lincoln Park
BY: DAVID S. ROTENSTEIN
Awhite supremacist assassinated Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968. Within hours, neighborhoods in cities throughout the United States erupted in ames as grieving and angry crowds vented their frustrations. Pittsburgh was one of 125 cities where uprisings destroyed businesses and entire city blocks in predominantly Black neighborhoods.
Not all Black Americans channeled their grief and anger in the streets. Some, like Christine and Joe Cawthon, mourned by leaning into ing s embrace of nonviolence. he awthons had moved from the Hill District to Penn Hills in 1954. Their former Penn Hills home was
one of several Pittsburgh City Paper documented in an investigation into environmental racism. he Cawthons’ grandchildren read the earlier articles and reached out to share intimate details about their family and their house, of which Penn ills officials wrote, his structure holds absolutely no historical value for the municipality.” hat ust really broke my heart, says Tashieka Russell, Christine and Joe Cawthon’s granddaughter. The former Cawthon home had lots of history, including frequent visits by ing s brother, . . ing. he Cawthons and their extended family played key, undocumented roles in ittsburgh s civil rights history.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF JOHN GORDON Christine and Joe Cawthon.
PHOTO: DAVID S. ROTENSTEIN Christine and Joe Cawthon lived at 301 Jacksonia St. in the North Side after their 1943 marriage.
GREAT MIGRATIONS
Christine and Joe Cawthon’s families moved to Pittsburgh during the Great Migration. Joe arrived in the late 1930s. Born in Milledgeville, Ga. in 1917, his father was a plumber, and his mother died when he was six.
Joe lived on the North Side before enlisting in the Army in 1941, a few weeks before the U.S. entered World War II. He married Christine Johnson while on leave in June 1943. Christine moved to Pittsburgh as a child in the 1920s after her mother died.
Christine’s father, John Kent Johnson, was an educator and acclaimed public speaker. She and her siblings were raised in church parsonages and with family friends. Christine and her older sister, Nancy, spent time at the North Side orphanage called the Home for Colored Children.
Christine was living in a Hill District parsonage when she married her first husband, ill rookins, in 1938. She was 16.
Brookins was a career criminal who had been convicted in 1940 to serve eight years in Western Penitentiary for burglary. Allegheny County Judge John J. Kennedy asked Christine’s attorney in her May 1943 divorce hearing, “You have quite a number of reasons [for the divorce]. Do you elect to proceed on any particular ground and thereby save time?”
Her attorney replied to the judge, “We will proceed on the ground that [Brookins] was convicted of a crime and was sentenced to aggregate terms of eight years in the Western Penitentiary.”
hristine and oe first lived in a rented North Side home she had been
sharing with Nancy, who had married Robert Brookins, Bill’s brother. After leaving the army, Joe went to work for the Pittsburgh Railways Company. He became one of Pittsburgh’s earliest Black trolley operators after the streetcar company began hiring Black drivers in 1945. In 1961, the Pittsburgh Courier described him as “a pioneer motorman.”
In 1946, Christine and Joe bought their first home, a ill istrict rowhouse on Brackenridge Street. They paid $4,850 in cash. A year later, Joe’s father died, and his younger brother Robert moved to Pittsburgh to live with the couple while attending Schenley High School. By 1954, the Cawthons had outgrown their Hill District home, and they bought 1903 Funston St. in Lincoln Park. Again, they paid cash,
PHOTO: COURTESY OF TASHIEKA RUSSELL Marcia, Joe, and Christine Cawthon.
PHOTO: DAVID S. ROTENSTEIN
Funston Street in 2024 showing vacant lots where 1903 Funston and a neighboring house were located.
$12,775, for the suburban bungalow built in the 1920s by a North Side co ee company owner.
CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVISM
Joe ended his workdays at the Lincoln Avenue trolley turnaround just across the city line, and he walked home up the hill into Lincoln Park. Stories told among Cawthon family members say that Christine worked in a shipyard as a Black Rosie the Riveter during World War II. She also worked as a nurse and, later, studied theology.
The Cawthons led an uneventful suburban life until , when five drunk white men brutally attacked the couple. While stopped at a light on enn venue in arfield, the men pulled Joe from the car and beat him while shouting racial epithets. It’s a story that younger generations of the family had never known until reading the City Paper Penn Hills series.
“That was a shock to me,” says John Gordon, Christine and Joe’s grandson. “They didn’t talk about it.”
“That was the most heartbreaking part,” says Russell. “When I read that part, I had to stop reading, and I wept.”
The 1958 hate crime likely propelled Christine to combine her longtime church work with the emerging civil rights movement. In 1965, she worked with other Lincoln Park neighbors led by Dr. Charles Greenlee to remediate sewage spills and dumping in their neighborhood. Their work led them to form a new civil rights organization, the shortlived Penn Hills Association for Racial Equality (PHARE).
“She was instrumental in the development of PHARE,” wrote daughter Deborah Cawthon in Christine Cawthon’s obituary.
Christine’s civil rights work also brought her into the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and Dr. King’s orbit. “In the late 1960s, Mom joined forces with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his brother, A.D. King to take the message of social change and non-violence around the country,” Deborah Cawthon wrote.
“My grandmother, she knew Martin Luther King Jr. very well. They were close friends,” says Gordon.
“Dr. Martin’s brother, A.D. King, visited Funston Street on several occasions. Your grandfather and grandmother and A.D. planned
strategies,” Deborah Cawthon wrote to another grandson and her nephew, Jerome White. “During those Funston Street visits, I remember your grandfather frying chicken in the kitchen and whistling. This while A.D. King and his [your] grandmother sat in the dining room. They were writing in notebooks, drawing up strategies and plans for our freedom.”
GRIEVING FOR MLK
The Hill District began to simmer in the hours after Martin Luther King Jr. died in Memphis, Tenn.. Four hours later, at 11:30 p.m. April 4, 1968, a edford venue building was firebombed. Soon, people began congregating on Centre and Fifth Avenues, corridors with large numbers of white-owned businesses. Store windows were broken and shops were looted.
By April 7, Palm Sunday, the Hill District was ablaze, and National Guard troops deployed to Hill District properties. The unrest spread to Homewood and Manchester. Civil rights leaders including Rev. Leroy Patrick, Alma Speed Fox, and Byrd
Brown, hit the streets and tried to deescalate the situation. “On Palm Sunday, we had planned a peaceful demonstration starting on Freedom Corner,” Fox told the Post-Gazette in 1988. Fox and her collaborators were met by a phalanx of nightstick-wielding police officers.
Historian Ralph Proctor, who died in 2024, grew up in the Hill District. The day after King died, he attended a meeting at Ebenezer Baptist Church. eople filed in slowly, greeting one another in hushed tones; some embraced; some quietly wept; I was numb,” Proctor wrote in his 2022 memoir, Voices from the Firing Line: A Personal Account of the Pittsburgh Civil Rights Movement.
The uprisings dominate published accounts from this period. Buried deep within the history books and journalism retrospectives are episodes like the ones Proctor recounted. Other responses, like how the Cawthons grieved and honored King, were mostly forgotten.
“They chartered two Trailways buses from Pittsburgh to Dr. King’s funeral in Atlanta,” Deborah Cawthon
PHOTO: DAVID S. ROTENSTEIN.
As a child, Christine Cawthon lived at 1323 Grotto St. with her brother, Norman Johnson, and a church family that helped to raise them.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF TASHIEKA RUSSELL Funston Street in an undated photo with 1903 Funston on the right.
wrote. hristine and oe filled the buses with family members and community members. e traveled through some of the South, through the South, as cities burned all around us in response to the assassination of Dr. King.”
e were able to go, and he was the first dead person ever saw, recalls ordon. m years old and they dragged me everywhere, you know. So went to see his body and everything.
Agnes Green is Christine and Joe awthon s niece. She also went to tlanta for the funeral. She recalls that the Cawthons organized the tlanta trip independently, and that s why it was never reported.
hey got the bus, but the organi ation didn t have anything to do with it, says reen. his is something personal. hey did on their own personal.
HOLES IN THE GROUND AND IN FAMILY HEARTS
ll that s left of the incoln ark home where the Cawthons strategi ed civil rights work and hosted ing family members is a hole where the basement was located and a tangle of invasive bamboo and briars. t s where ordon slept while he lived in the Funston Street house the house that enn ills said had no history.
Christine Cawthon was much more than a local civil rights leader. y grandmother was an artist, and she had her art all around the house, says ussell. here were handmade bead curtains that separated the dining room from the living room, ballerina cutouts, painted ceilings, and lots of books. hristine awthon even penned a play, Hopeless Integration , under a
pseudonym in .
he Funston Street home s backyard was oe awthon s domain. y grandfather created a beautiful backyard, says ussell. e had a whole picnic table set up back there, a brick grill that he built with his own hands where he would barbecue. eautiful owers and shrubs, and a pond with fish in it on the side.
oe awthon died in . hristine sold her home to ordon and moved to alifornia, where she died in .
bought the house to keep it in the family, he says. e was in the army and deployed to ermany. e and his siblings had lived in the house after their mother s marriages disintegrated. n , ordon defaulted on the mortgage, and the property was sold.
ordon and ussell have returned
to Funston Street several times in the past decade.
hen went back to ittsburgh for the first time a few years ago, when we had a family reunion, was devastated to see that the house was gone, says ussell. was ust back there for a conference a couple of months ago and drove up there again and was ust really disheartened to see the neighborhood that was once a thriving neighborhood.
For three generations of awthons, Funston St. was a well-loved home with a history that e tended far beyond its walls and ittsburgh. e all lived in rammy s house on Funston Street, says ussell. he safest place in my childhood was that red brick house. •
PHOTO: COURTESY OF TASHIEKA RUSSELL
Undated Cawthon family photo with Joe Cawthon and his childrent, Marcia, Joan, Carlotta, Joe Jr., and Debby.
PHOTO: DAVID S. ROTENSTEIN
Christine and Joe Cawthon bought this Hill District home at 2703 Brackenridge St. in 1946. They lived there for 8 years before buying 1903 Funston St. in Lincoln Park.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF TASHIEKA RUSSELL Joe Cawthon in his garden at 1903 Funston St.
SAT., APRIL 5
ART • HIGHLAND PARK
IN PITTSBURGH
THU., APRIL 3
MUSIC • POINT BREEZE
Calliope presents Alla Boara 7 p.m.
The Roots Cellar. 6300 Fifth Ave., Point Breeze. $10-20. calliopehouse.org
MUSIC
• NORTH SHORE
In 2004, 13-year-old singer JoJo released one of the ultimate breakup songs with “Leave (Get Out),” a pop banger that topped charts worldwide. Now an adult performer with a r´esum´e that includes multiple albums, a memoir, and a Broadway show, Joanna “JoJo” Levesque will
THU., APRIL3
APRIL4
appear at Stage AE as part of her Too Much To Say Tour. Relive your angsty tween years with her and opener Emmy Meli 7 p.m. 400 North Shore Dr., North Shore. $35-85. promowestlive.com
MUSIC • MUNHALL
A.J. Croce: Heart of the Eternal Tour. 7:30 p.m. Doors at 6:30 p.m. Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall. 510 E. 10th Ave., Munhall. $49.75-69.75. librarymusichall.com
MUSIC • MCKEES ROCKS
Imminence: The Return of the Black Tour with Landmvrks and JILUKA 7:30 p.m. Doors at 6:30 p.m. Roxian Theatre. 425 Chartiers Ave., McKees Rocks. $38-71. roxiantheatre.com/shows
FRI., APRIL 4
MUSIC • NEW KENSINGTON
Visions of Atlantis: Armada Over North America Tour with Seraina Telli and The Apotrope. 7 p.m. Doors at 6 p.m. Preserving Underground. 1101 5th Ave., New Kensington. $25-30. preservingconcerts.com
MUSIC • DOWNTOWN
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra presents Total Eclipse of the Chart: Music of the 80s 7:30 p.m. Continues through Sun., April 6. Heinz Hall. 600 Penn Ave., Downtown. $25-107. pittsburghsymphony.org
OPERA • EAST LIBERTY
Freshworks: New Performances presents La Voz que Soy by Zuly Inirio. 7:30-9 p.m. Continues through Sat., April 5. Kelly Strayhorn Theater-Alloy Studios. 5530 Penn Ave., East Liberty. Pay What Moves You $15-30. kelly-strayhorn.org
DANCE • DOWNTOWN
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre presents Spring Mix: 5 for 55 7:30 p.m. Continues through Sun., April 6. August Wilson African American Cultural Center. 980 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $25-135. pbt.org
FILM • NORTH SIDE
The Rocky Horror Picture Show with the Junior Chamber of Commerce Players 9 p.m. Carnegie Science Center. One Allegheny Ave., North Side. $16-18. carnegiesciencecenter.org
Another Light: Making Space for Healing. 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Continues through Tue., April 29. Union Project. 801 N. Negley Ave., Highland Park. Free. unionproject.org
MARKET • STRIP DISTRICT
Explore a wide selection of distinctive second-hand goods when The Neighborhood Flea rolls out the Vintage Pittsburgh Retro Fair at the Heinz History Center. A press release describes the event as showcasing more than 60 makers and vendors selling “one-of-a-kind clothing, accessories, home décor, vinyl records, and more.” Shoppers can also explore six floors of exhibitions or sate their appetite with goodies from the on-site PGH Crepes food truck. 10 a.m.-3 p.m. 1212 Smallman St., Strip District. Included with regular museum admission. All ages. heinzhistorycenter.org
MARKET • GARFIELD
Punk Rock Flea Market. 12-5 p.m. The Mr. Roboto Project. 5106 Penn Ave., Garfield. Free. instagram.com/mr_roboto_project
FESTIVAL • POINT BREEZE
Earth Month Celebration. 2-5 p.m. Westinghouse Park. 7051 Thomas Blvd., Point Breeze. Free. All ages. pittsburghparks.org
PARTY • SHADYSIDE
Yinz Can’t Erase Us! A Benefit for History UnErased 3-6 p.m. 5801 Video Lounge and Bar. 5801 Ellsworth Ave., Shadyside. $50. 21 and over. givebutter.com/yinz_cant_erase_us
MUSIC • UPTOWN
Disturbed: The Sickness 25th Anniversary Tour with Daughtry and Nothing More. 6:30 p.m. PPG Paints Arena. 1001 Fifth Ave., Uptown. Tickets start at $37. ppgpaintsarena.com
FRI., APRIL 4
PHOTO: ROBERT EIKELPOTH/BLAKE ARMSTRONG Visions of Atlantis at Preserving Underground
TUE., APRIL 8
PARTY • POINT BREEZE
Quantum Theatre Q Ball: The Scarlet Masquerade. 8:30 p.m. VIP 7 p.m. Rockwell Park. 7514 Thomas Blvd., Point Breeze. $125250. quantumtheatre.com
SUN., APRIL 6
MUSIC • MILLVALE
Ed Schrader’s Music Beat with Larval State. 7 p.m. Doors at 6 p.m. The Funhouse at Mr. Smalls. 400 Lincoln Ave., Millvale. $15. mrsmalls.com
FILM • LAWRENCEVILLE
Burgers and Better O Dead. 8 p.m. Row House Cinema. 4115 Butler St., Lawrenceville. $22. rowhousecinemas.com
MON., APRIL 7
FILM • SEWICKLEY
See Free for All: The Public Library, a PBS documentary described as diving deep into the history of and women behind public libraries, and “how these institutions are still providing crucial services despite ongoing challenges like closures and book bans.” Screening at the Cultural Center
Sewickley Public Library to instill a new appreciation for this valuable community resource.
Sewickley. Free. RSVP required. Q&A included. thelindsaytheater.org
FILM • OAKLAND
SCREENSHOT Silent Asia: Silken Web Room 125. 650 Schenley Dr., Oakland. Free. Open to the public. calendar.pitt.edu
TUE., APRIL 8
MUSIC • ALLENTOWN
Fust with Justin Bennett 8 p.m. Doors at 7 p.m. Bottlerocket Social Hall. 1226 Arlington Ave., Allentown. $12 in advance, $15 at the door. bottlerocketpgh.com
WED., APRIL 9
LIT • OAKMONT
Nancy Drew: The History Behind the Mystery with Tara Rotuna 7 p.m. Mystery Lovers Bookshop. 514 Allegheny River Blvd., Oakmont. Free. Registration required. mysterylovers.com
GAMES • STRIP DISTRICT
Speed Jigsaw Puzzle Event. 7-9 p.m. Aslin Beer Co. 1801 Smallman St., Strip District. $20-40. aslinbeer.com/events
MUSIC • NORTH SIDE
Devils Cross Country, Justin Bennett and
PHOTO: CHARLIE BOSS Fust at Bottlerocket Social Hall
PHOTO:
ESTATE NOTICE
ESTATE OF WYNN, POWELL, P , A/K/A IF NECESSARY, LANELLE POWELL DECEASED OF PITTSBURGH, PA No. 022501430 of 2025. Michelle Wynn Extr. 212 Gilliland Pl, Bellevue, PA, 15202
NOTICE
ESTATE OF BOYLE, DOROTHY, J, A/K/A, IF NECESSARY, DOROTHY J. HEGEDUS DECEASED OF SPRINGDALE, PA No. 022501624 of 2025
Adrienne Virostek Extr. 621 Glengary Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15215
MARKET PLACE
NAME CHANGE
PUBLIC AUCTION
Extra Space Storage, on behalf of itself or its a iliates life Storage or Storage Express, will hold a Public Auction to sell the contents of leased spaces to satisfy Extras Space’s lien at the location indicated: 902 Brinton Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15221 on Wednesday April 16th, 2025 at 11:30am, Carmella Locke 2013, Cicely Hurt 2249, Cicely Hurt 2250, Tarayon Austin 3282. The auction will be listed and advertised on www.storagetreasures.com purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse and bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the property
PUBLIC AUCTION
Extra Space Storage, on behalf of itself or its a iliates, Life Storage or Storage Express, will hold a public auction to sell the contents of leased spaces to satisfy Extra Space’s lien at the location indicated: 1005 E Entry Drive Pittsburgh, PA 15216 on 4/16/2025 at 11:30 AM. Goldman Pierce & Stern GP 3124, Mark Siyufy 4113. The auction will be listed and advertised on www. storagetreasures.com. Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.
PUBLIC AUCTION
Extra Space Storage will hold a public auction to sell the contents of leased spaces to satisfy Extra Space’s lien at the location indicated: 1212 Madison Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15212. April 16th, 2025 at 1:30 pm. Ozioma Ochim 6004, Maria Mings 6065. The auction will be listed and advertised on www.storagetreasures.com. Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction.
Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.
PUBLIC AUCTION
Extra Space Storage, on behalf of itself or its a iliates, Life Storage or Storage Express, will hold a public auction to sell the contents of leased spaces to satisfy Extra Space’s lien at the location indicated: 880 Saw Mill Run Blvd Pittsburgh, PA 15226, April 16, 2025, at 1:15 PM. George Logan 2055, The auction will be listed and advertised on www. storagetreasures.com. Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.
PUBLIC AUCTION
Extra Space Storage, on behalf of itself or its a iliates, Life Storage or Storage Express, will hold a public auction to sell the contents of leased spaces to satisfy Extra Space’s lien at the location indicated: 141 N Braddock Ave, Pittsburgh PA, 15208 on April 16th, 2025 at 11:00 AM. 2051 Jessica Gainey. The auction will be listed and advertised on www.storagetreasures.com. Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction.
Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.
PUBLIC AUCTION
Extra Space Storage, on behalf of its a iliates, Life Storage or Storage Express, will hold a public auction to sell the contents of leased spaces to satisfy Extra Space’s Lien at the location indicated: 3200 Park Manor Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15205 on April 16, 2025 at 1:00pm. 2277 Helen Loar; 3147 Mia Mwale. The auction will be listed and advertised on www.storagetreasures.com. Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.
PUBLIC AUCTION
Extra Space Storage will hold a public auction to sell the contents of leased spaces to satisfy Extra Space’s lien at the location indicated: 6400 Hamilton Ave Pittsburgh, Pa 15206 April 16, 2025 at 1:45 pm. Anita Drummond-3040, Brian K Moore-3049, Tavia Moore-4026, Tavia Moore-4100, Micheal Lentini-L007. The auction will be listed and advertised on www. storagetreasures.com. Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.
PUBLIC AUCTION
“Extra Space Storage will hold a public auction to sell the contents of leased spaces to satisfy Extra Space’s lien at the location indicated 110 Kisow Drive Pittsburgh, PA 15205 April 16, 2025 at 11:15AM. Change Energy-118, Robert Knollinger-181, Robert Knollinger-184. The auction will be listed and advertised on www.storagetreasures.com. Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.”
IN The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: No. GD-25-000325, In re petition of Vishwa Subramanian for change of name to Vishwa Palani. To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the Wednesday, April 30, 2025, at 9:30 a.m, as the time and the Motions Room, City-County Building, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as the place for a hearing, when and where all persons may show cause, if any they have, why said name should not be changed as prayed for
PUBLIC AUCTION
Extra Space Storage, on behalf of itself or its a iliates, Life Storage or Storage Express, will hold a public auction to sell the contents of leased spaces to satisfy Extra Space’s lien at the location indicated: 700 E Carson St, Pittsburgh, PA 15203 on April 16 @ at 12:15 pm. 2068 Monay Cowan, 3057 Debra West, 3129 Byron Rice. The auction will be listed and advertised on www. storagetreasures.com. Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.
MISCELLANEOUS
LA MOVIES
ACROSS
1. Lupin star ___ Sy 5. One on the horse 9. Energy
14. ___ Singh (Pip’s boyfriend in A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder) 15. Storage cylinder 16. Fish served in kabayaki
17. Objets d’art 19. Bend below one’s sink
20. Lesley who won the 2013 Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence in Television
21. Calligrapher’s holders
23. Simpson in the “Old Man Yells At Cloud” meme
25. Hold back 26. Graceful birds
29. First stage in the Kübler-Ross stages of grief
32. Ideal place to play street hockey
34. Drooping eyelid, medically
36. “The Ocean State” sch.
37. What an andiron holds
39. Shit ___ shingle
40. Cancer is a part of it
44. Showman who supposedly said “there’s no such
thing as bad publicity”
48. Nissan compact
50. Some Lumon employees o the severed floor in Severance
51. Not moving 53. One of the Little Women 54. They might hold pipettes, bunsen burners and a balance
58. With one’s mouth wide-open 62. Composer Albéniz
63. Arctic chicken-like bird
65. Oscar-winner for The King’s Speech
66. Hold the throne
67. Dweeb
68. Woman’s name that means “star”
69. Oil-producing overseers: Abbr.
70. Fully groks
DOWN
1. Royal circles
2. Place to shop
3. Sneaker brand
4. Boyhood director Linklater
5. Kind of computer port
6. She answers a lot of iPhone calls
7. African spiralhorned antelope
8. Gently moved
a cradle
9. Camper’s spot
10. Hamilton’s home
11. Raise red flags
12. “That sounds bad, old chap”
13. Jeans problem
18. Three Tall Women playwright
22. Put one’s foot down?
24. Interplanetary visitors, for short 26. Currencies with an architectural theme on its notes
27. Move e ortlessly
28. “Erie Canal” mule
30. Joined at the hip
31. Peanuts character with a secuity blanket
32. “___ I says so”
33. Case worker?
35. Mr. Robot
creator Esmail
38. Sporty Pontiac
41. Cheaper tuition category
42. Embassy aide
43. Cheater’s paper
45. Freeloader
46. Best-of-the-best crew
47. Ropes on a boat
49. Elite, in the NFL
52. Back o
54. Run on sentence?
55. “WYSIWYG”
56. Boston : T :: San Francisco : ___
57. Saving time?
59. “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men” coauthor James
60. Hair line?
61. Concludes
64. Word with hall, room, or center
LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS
Many Americans are fortunate to have dental coverage for their entire working life, throughemployer-provided benefits. When those benefits end with retirement, paying dental bills out-of-pocket can come as a shock, leading people to put off or even go without care.
Simply put — without dental insurance, there may be an important gap in your healthcare coverage.
When you’re comparing plans ...
Look for coverage that helps pay for major services. Some plans may limit the number of procedures — or pay for preventive care only.
Look for coverage with no deductibles. Some plans may require you to pay hundreds out of pocket before benefits are paid.
Shop for coverage with no annual maximum on cash benefits. Some plans have annual maximums of $1,000.
Medicare doesn’t pay for dental care.1
That’s right. As good as Medicare is, it was never meant to cover everything. That means if you want protection, you need to purchase individual insurance.
Early detection can prevent small problems from becoming expensive ones.
The best way to prevent large dental bills is preventive care. The American Dental Association recommends checkups twice a year.
Previous dental work can wear out.
Even if you’ve had quality dental work in the past, you shouldn’t take your dental health for granted. In fact, your odds of having a dental problem only go up as you age.2
Treatment is expensive — especially the services people over 50 often need.
Consider these national average costs of treatment ... $222 for a checkup ... $190 for a filling ... $1,213 for a crown.3 Unexpected bills like this can be a real burden, especially if you’re on a fixed income.
