NEXTpittsburgh

La-la-la lavender season has arrived! The fragrant floral herb can be found as an ingredient on summer cocktail menus throughout Pittsburgh: The Spritzery, for example, offers a Lavender Espresso Martini. Alta Via Ristorante celebrates with Lavender Bees Knees. Urban Tap’s brunch menu proffers Violet Dawn that features lavender along with elderflower, crème de violette and vodka. And the beat goes on. Here are some standout lavender-inspired stunners that caught our attention.

Looking for a new job? Check the NEXT Job Board every Monday for the latest openings across the Pittsburgh region curated by the NEXT editorial team from a range of fields and industries. Hiring? Post your job here to be guaranteed access to more than 20,000 local job seekers weekly.

What’s going on in Pittsburgh this weekend, July 16-19? Find out here. And don’t miss our Summer Concert Guide for music festivals and shows on the horizon, plus our NEXT in the Gallery series for more art happenings around the region. Know of a cool event? Email us. Thursday, July 16-Sunday, July 19 Picklesburgh in Downtown Pittsburgh Noon-10 p.m. & noon-6 p.m. Whether you prefer them sour, sweet or spicy, there’s a flavor to please all palates at Picklesburgh.

David Cohen grew up playing on a wooden field. “You had to be sure-footed,” he recalls about pickup games on Shadyside’s Roslyn Place, one of the nation’s few surviving wooden streets. Cohen often talks up Roslyn while chauffeuring movie actors around town. “Inevitably,” he says, “they want to come see the street.” It also draws many walkers, bicyclists, bachelor and bachelorette parties, photographers, artists and people who make rubbings of its oak blocks.

Location: Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall in Carnegie, PA Featured guests: Marlee Gallagher, executive director, Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall; Walker Evans, library director; Nate Wyrick, associate library director/facility manager; and Heidi Matthews, music hall director. 3 things that surprised me: 1. In the late 1890s, the towns of Chartiers and Mansfield went to Andrew Carnegie with a proposition.

Looking for a new job? Check the NEXT Job Board every Monday for the latest openings across the Pittsburgh region curated by the NEXT editorial team from a range of fields and industries. Hiring? Post your job here to be guaranteed access to more than 20,000 local job seekers weekly.

The benches lining the North Promenade at the North Side’s Allegheny Commons Park were designed to give visitors a place to rest. Now, 30 of them, which stretch the quarter mile between the fountain and the statue of George Washington, offer something more: stories. Six years ago, as part of the promenade restoration project, the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy created a bench dedication program. Today, there are dozens of memories written in black and bronze and anchored to the benches.

Pittsburgh’s Public Source is an independent nonprofit newsroom serving the Pittsburgh region. Sign up for their free newsletters. By Aakanksha Agarwal, Pittsburgh’s Public Source July 6, 2026 On Tuesday afternoons, my 6-year-old son comes home from school expecting tacos. So I make them. In my kitchen, the filling isn’t seasoned ground beef. It’s chicken tikka. I marinate the chicken in yogurt, ginger, garlic and spices before cooking it until the edges char and the meat stays succulent.

What’s going on in Pittsburgh this weekend, July 9-12? Find out here. And don’t miss our Summer Concert Guide for details about this weekend’s fourth annual Northside Music Festival and the brand-new Pittsburgh Music Festival, two top Pittsburgh events in July. Know of a cool event? Email us.

Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters. By Kate Huangpu of Spotlight PA HARRISBURG — Republican Stacy Garrity is trying to differentiate herself from incumbent Gov. Josh Shapiro on something that’s top of mind for many Pennsylvanians — data center development.