Few performers draw a crowd as eclectic as Prince, and Dream Catchers Films wants to celebrate those fans—and their favorite artist—with a special event. The film company will turn Dormont’s Hollywood Theater into the Purple Rain Dance Party on June 30, featuring all things that celebrate the famed eccentric artist. In addition to a showing of Purple Rain, the event will include an art gallery of rare photographs of the artist, as well as his music. Guests are welcome to show up in costume. “Last year, while the film was on and we were playing music, people were kind of dancing in the aisles …

When Sewickley Café owner Don Reinhardt opened his restaurant patio to dogs during Sewickley Unleashed two weeks ago, he couldn’t be sure what to expect. Reinhardt said the Sewickley Café ended up hosting 15 dogs on the outdoor garden patio that day. “It went over well,” Reinhardt said. His idea to welcome four-legged patrons for one special day led to an even better idea: the Yappy Lunch. Pet owners are invited to bring their dogs for lunch in the restaurant garden. As a pet owner with a soft spot for Golden Retrievers, Reinhardt knows that dogs are considered part of the family in many …

The 9-year-old special needs boy who was injured when he fell from a second-floor window of his home on Eden Way Court in Cranberry is in stable conditon. Sgt. Chuck Mascellino, of Cranberry police, said the boy was alone in his bedroom when he fell from the window at about 7 a.m. Friday and landed in the home's driveway. Both parents were home at the time. When emergency responders arrived at the home, the boy was semi-conscious, Mascellino said. The child was rushed to UPMC Passavant in Cranberry before being flown by medical helicopter to a hospital in Pittsburgh. "The child is considered …

Canonsburg Borough has a preliminary contract for a building in town that is planned to be the future home of America’s Pop Music Hall of Fame. Canonsburg Mayor David T. Rhome and borough Manager Terry Hazlett announced the plans Friday during the Hot Diggity Dog Days Festival celebrating Perry Como’s 100th birthday. Being the hometown of pop icons Perry Como, Bobby Vinton, the Four Coins and others, Canonsburg is the ideal place for the Hall of Fame to be located, local officials contend. Together, the Canonsburg natives had well over 100 songs on the Billboard charts. During his peak of …

At first glance, Harry Schneider and Moritz Kulenkampff might seem to have little in common, save for a friendly demeanor and gift for the spoken word. Schneider is a septuagenarian who lives in the Pittsburgh suburb of Churchill. Kulenkampff is 20 years old and hails from Berlin, Germany. But they share a common goal: to promote awareness of the Holocaust, with the hope that nothing like it occurs again. Schneider carries on the legacy of Holocaust survivors who provide firsthand accounts of their travails. His story focuses on his family fleeing into the forest shortly after Germany invaded…

When Plum resident Seth DeSabato's wife started watching a show about beard competitions last year, he didn't think a whole lot about it.Fast forward to today, and DeSabato hasn't shaved in seven months and he has founded the Steel City Beard & Mustache Club, a Pittsburgh chapter of Beard Team USA."My wife was watching 'Whisker Wars,' and she encouraged me to get into it," said DeSabato, who is an owner of CHi Signs & DeSigns in Oakmont. "We went to the National Beard and Moustache Competition in Lancaster, and it was a crazy good time. It was the weirdest, strangest thing I've ever seen in …

Students from Robert Morris University are installing a small water-driven turbine at Allegheny Land Trust’s Wingfield Pines Conservation area in Upper St. Clair.  The turbine will be driven from abandoned-mine drainage that flows from abandon coal mines under the South Hills. The turbine is located inside the AMD overflow pipe that runs 24/7. Advisors Dr. Yildrim Omurtag and Dr. Tony Kerzmann led the team of senior RMU engineering students, Eric Balent, Chris Chavez, Ben Schermerhorn and Brian Bevilacqua. The team has worked on the turbine design and fabrication since early January as part …

IHOP, known for its pancakes and omelettes, will open its fourth Pittsburgh restaurant Monday in the McCandless Crossing shopping center.  Doors will open at 6 a.m. Monday in the mixed-use center at the intersection of McKnight Road and Duncan Avenue. Hours will be 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 6 a.m. to 12 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. After the first few weeks of opening, the restaurant's hours will shift to being open 24/7, a spokeswoman for IHOP said.  IHOP is the third restaurant to open in the mixed-use center, which has been under development since the fall of 2009. The…

Spring has been going from cold to rainy the past few years, and we never get an nice early stretch of weather to take care of necessary appearance needs. But we certainly did this year. If you are like us here at Hahn Nursery you took advantage of the Indian Summer weather this March and did some maintenance and repairs. Everything has a fun fresh coat of cheery yellow paint, and now we are ready for spring!! But what next? What should you be thinking about right now to prepare your garden? A few ideas: 1. Start by taking a walk in your yard. Get a game plan by trying to remember where you …

Moon native Brooke Annibale is nominated for a 2012 Independent Music Award. The singer-songwriter and Moon Area School District alum's latest release Silence Worth Breaking is up for the best adult contempory record of the year category.  Annibale, who performed at Moon Park at the township's 2011 July 4 festival, released the 10-track album last March. She performed recently at Backstage Bar in Pittsburgh's Strip District.  More than 300 self-released and independent-label music artists have been nominated for this year's Independent Music Awards. Judges for the honor include Tom Waits, …

Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald estimated 500 residents attended last week's town hall meeting on the new assessments. Fitzgerald and Allegheny County Councilman Vince Gastgeb organized the informational meeting at Bethel Park High School for South Hills residents confused about the county's reassessments. Many people in attendance said they were angry and wanted answers. An Upper St. Clair single mother told Fitzgerald and the crowd that her assessment increased by 60 percent and she was no longer going to be able to afford her house. Another Upper St. Clair resident expressed his…

Washington County native Adam Brock left the American Idol stage Thursday with no regrets. He deservedly made it to the top 24, however—after one live-show performance—did not advance to the top 13. During his last days in sunny L.A. with his family, Brock dished (in an exclusive phone interview) on his experience, his Pittsburgh roots and what's next for his career. Patch: If you could sum up your American Idol experience in one word, what would it be? Brock: Roller coaster. Patch: How was it working with Jennifer Lopez, Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson? Brock: They are incredible people. …

Erica Burg was leafing through her daughter’s Guinness Book of World Records, a one-time Christmas present, when the record for most people gathered in costume as superheroes caught her eye. “Basically, you have stay in one location for 10 minutes is how that record works,” she said. DreamWorks Animation holds the current record, for a promotion it did in 2010 for the megahit movie Megamind. To break the previous record, the studio gathered about 1,600 costumed people in the Staples Center in Los Angeles. While that might seem like a hard number to top, Burg already has the perfect …

David Newell had just started getting comfortable with his part-time role as Mr. McFeely on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood in the early 1970s when the show’s creator had a project for him. Newell, who lives in the North Hills, had been using a somewhat mismatched delivery uniform he found on a costume rack in Pittsburgh and needed an upgrade with some pizzazz. So Fred Rogers asked the Speedy Delivery man to go on a field trip to find someone to create a new postal costume that could also be used in a segment on the show. He settled on a Bridgeville tailor named Nino Petrocelli. Newell said he …

In January, the White House Office of Digital Strategy reached out to Patch to obtain questions from its users. In return, Sewickley Patch put out the call for questions from Sewickley and neighboring communities. One of the responses chosen was directed to John Luff, a television technology consultant who opened his home Jan. 24 in Sewickley for a local gathering to view the president's State of the Union address. His question to the White House: "I ran a small business for 20 years but am concerned about the long-term prospects for American innovation and manufacturing. What can we do to …

After 10 years in the making, Cranberry is moving forward with plans to build a public safety training facility for its firefighters, police officers and EMS workers. “We’re thrilled,” said Bruce Hezlep, president of the Cranberry Township Volunteer Fire Company. “It will be very well used.” Designs for the 5,537-square-foot building were unveiled at Thursday’s board of supervisors meeting. A rendering of the brick structure — which will be located near the township’s public works building off Route 19 — displays two garage bays for fire engines and a training room that can seat 125. The room…

Milana "Mim" Bizic stepped away from the classroom more than five years ago, but the Moon Township woman said teaching isn't something she'll quit any time soon.  In the late 1980s, the former librarian and teacher in the Quaker Valley school district helped to shape its early computer education program. Now she continues to turn to her computer as she dedicates herself to becoming an amateur historian with a decidedly new-media twist.  Bizic, whose grandparents emigrated from Serbia to Western Pennsylvania, said preserving and sharing her ancestors' culture has become her life’s passion. …

Around the Rivers features stories from Patches in the region. This story originally appeared on Chartiers Valley Patch. Whether you were born and raised in Pittsburgh or just moved here, the steel industry has touched your life. To celebrate the region's rich history of steel, Point Park University and the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area are featuring a display available for viewing by the public at the school's Lawrence Hall Gallery at the corner of Wood Street and Boulevard of the Allies, Downtown. The exhibit, which originally was scheduled to close Dec. 30, has been extended until…

Around the Rivers features stories from Patches in the region. This story originally appeared on Cranberry Patch. In a split verdict, a Butler County jury Thursday found ex-Junior ROTC instructor Kevin Johnson guilty of molesting one of his former cadets in the Seneca Valley school military program but not guilty of assaulting a second. After a four-day trial, jurors found Johnson guilty of charges including involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, a first-degree felony, in a case involving a former student who contended they had had a four-year sexual relationship. Jurors found him not guilty…

Around the Rivers features stories from nearby communities. This one was originally published on Chartiers Valley Patch. When Henry Nutbrown’s parents wanted to make some extra money to put him and his two siblings through college, they had three choices on their small farm: Breed chinchillas, sell earthworms or grow Christmas trees. “I’m eternally grateful my mother decided Christmas trees over the earthworms and chinchillas,” Nutbrown said of his family farm’s tradition. Emmanuel and Mary Nutbrown moved to the Collier Township farm in 1939 from Carnegie to try something different. They …