The Pittsburgh Progress

Lequay Fuller said she takes the 20 Kennedy bus four or five times per week to see her girlfriend near Groveton in Robinson. By the time the 29-year-old South Side resident gets to her stop, she’s the last rider off. The bus doesn’t pick anyone else up for the rest of the route. It ends at the Kennedy Center Giant Eagle. This particular part of the 20’s usual sprint averages about three riders per day, according to Pittsburgh Regional Transit — and some stretches of it don’t have any riders at all.

If you look only at the closed eyes and the serene expression on the woman’s face you would think perhaps she is simply sleeping. But you can’t ignore the forehead, the way it collapses inward just above the eyebrows. The question that arises: Is this grotesque evidence of a horrific injury? Just below the hairline is a dark wound the size of walnut. Who is this person? And what happened to her?

What does Western Pennsylvania high school football mean to you? To some, it signifies the tough, blue-collar work ethic and attitude that has become synonymous with our region. To others, it represents the dawn of a new school year, with a batch of unsung names and unfamiliar faces aiming to make their mark and cement their place in history alongside icons like Tony Dorsett, Dan Marino, Bill Fralic, LaVar Arrington and Aaron Donald.

A single dad needs to dash to an emergency doctor’s appointment but has no care lined up for his young daughter. A working mother is unexpectedly assigned overtime at her job, and her babysitter can’t stay the extra hours with her toddlers. A couple suddenly facing homelessness needs safe, short-term care for their infant. These are the types of stressful situations that Jeremiah’s Place, a crisis nursery founded in 2014 in the city’s East End, encounters daily.

Christopher Ranallo is as Bloomfield Italian as they come: He attended Immaculate Conception for grade school and was a St. Maria Goretti altar boy until high school. He grew up on Cedarville Street and attended the first Little Italy Days festival. In fact, he’s even worked the event, slinging drinks at the Pleasure Bar and keeping an eye on vendor tents at night. These days, he still puts Little Italy Days on his calendar months out of the festival — but not to attend it.

Neat racks of gently worn shirts, pants and other clothes fill the center aisles of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Council’s new thrift store in West Mifflin. Beyond apparel, shoppers can peruse furniture, including dressers, tables and chairs. Shelves are stocked with glassware, dishes, lamps, small appliances, books and holiday decorations. Natural light bathes the store through tall, stained-glass windows.

Arts & Culture — 15 min read A Works Progress Administration worker receives his paycheck in 1939. (National Archives) Ninety-one years ago today, on July 27, 1935, the Federal Writers' Project was born during the second wave of the New Deal, smack-dab in the middle of the worst economic crisis in the United States' 250 years of existence.

Wherever Donta Green goes, his players follow without hesitation. The revered Westinghouse football coach commands his troops with the intensity of a seasoned drill sergeant, but there is no cursing around these parts. Anybody who violates that rule owes 25 push-ups on the spot, and repeat offenders will be sent home for the day.

The Pittsburgh Progress, the city's first modern-era news cooperative, will offer a glimpse of its future as an information source for the region on Monday, July 27. Community reporting that centers Pittsburgh's working class is at the core of our mission, and on Monday, you'll be able to read a sampling of the kinds of stories and reporting we hope to bring to you as a publication.

The setting was modest, but the cause was noble. Mere minutes after England defeated France in an epic World Cup third-place match in Miami Gardens, Florida, fewer than a dozen players took to a soggy practice field under dark clouds at the Schenley Oval in Squirrel Hill. Some members of Iron City FC might have missed practice to watch the game. But that’s fine.