'Dishonest' Election Mailer, Pittsburgh Banned Books & New Glamping

Today on CityCast Pittsburgh, if you've gotten any political mailers lately, you might want to fact-check them. And brace yourself because our school district is looking to raise taxes. Plus, Walmart wants to demolish Monroeville Mall, so storefronts and a zombie convention could need new homes. But on the upside, there are a lot of fun ways to celebrate Band Books Week. I'm with producer Sophia Lowe, talking about some of the biggest stories of the week. It's Friday, October 10th. I'm Mallory Falk and here's what Pittsburgh's talking about. Sophia, hello. Hello. We have covered a lot of different things this week. We kicked off the week celebrating all things pumpkin, the best pumpkin treats and the best pumpkin beer in the city. Yes, because it is the season that on Tuesday we talked about how to make friends in Pittsburgh. This, I think, is like the perfect season to do it. I moved here in the winter and like it was hard for me to go out, meet new people. And I think now's the time. Everyone's in hibernation. Yes. People are still outside. You're still like excited about fall. You want to catch the sun before it goes away. Go talk to people while you're at it too. Yeah, listen to our episode, figure out what pumpkin beer you would like to kick back with with a new friend and then, you know, invite them out for a friend date. Yeah, good tip. And then on Wednesday, we talked about something very important that's going to be on your ballot this November, this question about whether or not to retain three state Supreme Court judges. TLDR, how you vote could shape. the composition of our state Supreme Court and have an impact on issues like voting rights and abortion access. It's really, really critical to pay attention to this one. So if you didn't catch it, go back and listen. Absolutely. This helped me a lot just because voting for judges in Pennsylvania is kind of confusing because not a lot of states have this system that we do. So if it is your first time voting to retain a judge, I highly recommend the listen. That's the case for me. Even if it's like your fifth time, I feel like this is something people don't generally pay a lot of attention to, but it's become very, very high stakes this year. Yeah, yeah. And then yesterday on Thursday, we talked with some folks who are being really innovative with, you know, the funeral space and how people die. They're kind of doing it sustainably. Yes, we took you to the first and only fully green cemetery in the state of Pennsylvania, which is right in our own backyard in Verona. So if you want to take a little audio field trip and learn about what green burial actually means and why it's becoming more popular, definitely check that out.

Yeah, so onto some news. I know Mallory, you wanted to talk a little bit more about elections since we've started kicking that off with the judicial retention episode earlier this week. Yeah, because, you know, I think for some people, there's a sense that like this election in November, it's not really a huge one. Like, yes, we will be choosing Pittsburgh's next mayor, but that was pretty much already decided in the primary in May. Yeah, but, you know, the Democratic candidate who is likely to win is Cory O'Connor and then his Republican challenger is Tony Moreno. He ran as a Democrat before, but now he switched sides. Yeah, this is actually his second time running as a Republican candidate for mayor. They actually had their first, and as I understand it, only debate this week. It's at least the only one that I think has been scheduled so far. And I think the fact that there's only this one debate is kind of telling about the state of the race in general. Yeah, because I feel like before the primary, there was like a town hall or a roundtable or a debate or like something pretty much like. multiple times a week leading up to the election. Yeah, there were like some hyper-specific hyper-niche ones like focused on housing and public safety and all these individual issues. So if you do want to know the candidate's stances, there is plenty out there to look for. We also did interviews with them here at CityCast Pittsburgh. We'll put the links for that in the show notes. But Mallory, I know you wanted to talk a little bit more about these judicial races because there's this mailer that's gone out that's been getting a lot of attention. I've only read about it. I have not gotten this mailer. So please describe it to me. Maybe I have gotten this mail. I don't know. I don't check the mail. This is a bad time to say that. Yeah, we didn't really have the space to get into this on Wednesday's show when we talked to Stephen Caruso from Spotlight PA about, you know, why these retention decisions are so high stakes. But I do think it's good to have this mailer on your radar in case it shows up at your house. I mean, I feel like there are always political mailers that go out that. kind of bend the truth, don't tell the full story, frame things in a questionable way. But this one in particular is really being called out and getting a lot of attention. It's one that's telling people to vote no on judicial retention. So don't retain those three judges. It says the liberal Supreme Court gerrymandered our congressional districts to help Democrats win. But what is interesting about this is it includes a picture of a congressional map. It's got red circles around two congressional. districts and those districts do look super gerrymandered. Like they're these weird inexplicable shapes. You know what I'm talking about, Sophia? It's like there's no way naturally this would be a district. Jerrymandered maps always look super weird. Like when I see one, it kind of reminds me of our zoning map in Pittsburgh. Everything's like block by block sort of. I know zoning is a totally separate issue. But point is when I look at both types of maps, I get the same feeling. I'm super confused. Like, who did this?

It's always fun to kind of guess the shapes. Like I feel like there's been an example at some point somewhere of like this looks like Bart Simpson's face. How is this a congressional district? Exactly. Yeah. But so anyway, they're kind of like pointing to these districts as an example of like the current state Supreme Court has really gerrymandered this map to benefit themselves. But the problem is the map that they're showing with those districts that is not our current congressional map. Oh, really? Okay. That that. Yeah, definitely feels like kind of a blatant lie more than stretching the truth. Like that does seem more egregious than the typical like campaign ad or mailer. Yeah. And I mean, what's also interesting is that the map that they use, it's a map that the Republican-controlled legislature at the time drew back in 2011. Oh. And the current state Supreme Court threw it out a few years later because they found that it was gerrymandered to favor Republicans. And reminder right now our Supreme Court does have a Democratic much. Republicans obviously want to change that. And if these judges aren't retained, these seats would just kind of be open until the next election. And Republicans might have a chance to take those seats. Yes, exactly. Katie Meyer over at Spotlight PA did some great reporting on this mailer. In general, Spotlight PA, please go there if you want to learn more about all of this stuff. They're doing great work. She talked to one good government advocate who described the mailer as incredibly dishonest and said, I don't think anybody has seen anything like this. I've seen coverage of this that this feels like, you know, one of the more egregious examples of a misleading campaign material. And like I said, this is the first time I'm voting in a judicial retention race. But my guess would not be that this is the type of race that gets a bunch of mailers. So I feel like that speaks to how much money and attention is being poured into these judicial races. So, you know, when there's a ton of money, things are usually pretty high stakes, like you've been saying. Yeah, so we will link to Katie's reporting in our show notes if you want to learn a little bit more about this and also the money behind this mailer. But, you know, I think, again, this just reinforces how consequential these votes are on whether or not to retain these judges. And so if you think, like, O'Connor's already de facto mayor, maybe I'll just, like, not really bother to show up at my polling place. Like, there is other stuff on the ballot that is really critically important for people to weigh in on. And other stuff on the ballot locally include city council races in districts two, four, and six. There are county council races in a... bunch of districts. There's also an election for Allegheny County Sheriff. And these are more traditional races where there's a Democrat against a Republican in a couple of those city council races. There's also an independent candidate. So there are lots of reasons to show up to the polls. Yes. These races are a little more straightforward than should someone be retained for another 10-year term. Yeah, yeah. But there are also other judicial races that you're going to see on your ballot. So for Commonwealth Court, Superior Court, the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. courts are important. They make important decisions. Like to give you a sense of the kind of decisions, the Commonwealth court, for example, that's who just a couple years ago ruled that the way Pennsylvania funds its public schools is unconstitutional and said lawmakers have to come up with a new funding system. We're going to talk a little bit more about school funding later in the episode, but that gives you a little taste of the kind of things that these, you know, state courts are determining.

And, you know, Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, that's the building downtown, the one, you know, you and me are probably going to be in front of, if we're in front of a court. They do a huge... Don't speak that into existence. Okay, okay, yeah, but they do like a huge range of stuff, like family court. Maybe you have a landlord-tenant dispute, that kind of thing. They also do try- You said it as if that's like a, you know, chill one to be involved in. I don't want any disputes. Well, I think it's chiller than going to a state court. I'm scared to go to Harrisburg for court. And, you know, well, I guess while we're bringing it to the state level, Superior Court is also, you know, a Pennsylvania state court. And they review cases from lower courts like the Court of Common Pleas. And like I am. sure we'll get deeper into this stuff as we get closer to the election. But if you want to start reading up now, maybe you're now you're filling in your mail-in ballot early. There are a lot of really great voter guides out there, like WESA publishes one, city paper and public source teamed up to create a voter guide. And, you know, Mallory, like you said, Spotlight PA, really great for statewide stuff. And a few important deadlines coming up, we are probably going to be smacking you over the head with these in the lead up to the election because we want everyone to be as engaged as possible. So if you are not yet registered to vote in Pennsylvania, the deadline to do that is October 20th. And then if you want to apply to vote by mail, your application needs to be in the county election office by October 28th. And reminder that here in Pennsylvania, you don't need any specific reason to vote by mail. It's not like a situation where you need to be out of the state traveling or something. Anybody can apply for this. Yeah, you can do it if you just don't feel like waiting in line. You want to get your vote in early. Yeah. But if you do want to show up to the polls and go, you know, that extra mile to be extra involved, you could also consider becoming a poll worker. It's a super great way to get involved in our democracy and make a little extra money. It's usually 150 to 175 for showing up on election day. And then you also get paid for training. Yeah, help democracy and get a little extra spending money. Seems like a great thing to do. Basically, the job is to just keep everything running on election day. So that includes, you know, opening the voting machines. You check in voters. Say hello. You make sure the voting site is really accessible and secure. You get training on that. That means like you want to be able to watch out for voter intimidation, that kind of stuff. And then you close up the site at the end of the day. Obviously, the most fun part is handing out the stickers. Bringing people joy all day long. Yes, that is the reason why I show up to vote in person instead of by mail. The one thing to keep in mind that this is a pretty long day, it's usually about 15 hours.

Yeah, I was looking into this. There aren't a ton of requirements around, like, who's eligible. You have to be registered to vote in the county where you want to go be a poll worker. And there is an exception for 17-year-old students. You've got to have parental approval and meet an academic standard. But, you know, obviously. Oh, I would have loved to have the day off to go make money and work at the polls in high school. Oh, I would have loved to get a sticker from 17-year-old Sophia. That would have been very sweet. And then, you know. With some exceptions, you cannot be a poll worker if you are a government official or a government employee. And then generally, you cannot be a poll worker if your name appears on the ballot. Wait, what are the exceptions to that? If you're running to be judge or inspector of election, you can also be a poll worker. So I guess if you're just like really committed to the election process, you can do both. Got it, got it. But if you are interested in becoming a poll worker, we'll have a link in our show notes where you can fill out an interest form. There's not like a strict deadline to apply, but they review applications on a rolling basis here in the county. So the sooner you send in your application, the more likely it is that you'll be accepted. Yeah, I have a few family members who kind of religiously every year work as poll workers. It's very meaningful for them. It's also a great way to socialize with and meet your neighbors, see who's passing through your polling site. So it's a really great experience. And we can always use more people working toward democracy. Absolutely. Okay. Trivia time. Hit me with your question, Mallory. Yes. So this week's trivia is written by our quiz master, Kevin Gavin. It is presented by the Heinz History Center. We have been talking on the show recently about the strip and specifically this fight over adding a bike lane to this one stretch of Penn Avenue in the strip, which would mean taking away a lane of car traffic. You can go back a couple weeks to hear our episode all about this and what it means about the strip's identity and future. of that to build up to today's question, which is about old school strip district. So, Sophia, do you know what is the oldest still operating store in the strip district? Oh. That's a fun question. Okay, now I'm like trying to imagine which storefronts look older and like maybe a little shabbier, not as shiny as the terminal. Yeah, it's for sure not the terminal. Yeah, it's for sure not any of the stores in the terminal. I got that part down. I feel like it's going to be some little shop that I've never walked into, but I do know that Wollies has been open for over 100 years. I don't know how long exactly, but I will lock that in as my answer. Well, you'll find out if you're right after the break.

Thank you. Today's episode is sponsored by YWCA Greater Pittsburgh. They're currently accepting nominations for the 2026 Equity Awards, which honor community members who support their vision of a world where everyone has equitable access to professional and personal opportunities free from injustice. There are five award categories. Ally, Bridge Builder, Creative Arts, and Innovation, Emerging Leader, and Heroin. Nominations are going to be accepted through Friday, July 24th. also encourages self-nominations and especially wants to recognize women of color. So if you or someone you know has been stepping up for your community, this is the perfect opportunity to honor that work. And honorees will be recognized at the Equity Awards Luncheon on Thursday, November 19th, at the Weston Pittsburgh. Learn more about the awards categories and submit your nomination today at YWCAPG.org.

Sophia, that was a noble guess, but the oldest still operating shop in the strip district is Penn Mac, Pennsylvania Macaroni Company. Oh, that also makes sense. I guess that would have been my second guest. It was formed in 1902. Okay. That also makes a lot of sense. Well, I'm hungry now. So after this, I will be going to eat some pasta, I guess. Okay. I think I'm going to do that too. You know, for any of you out there, if you enjoy playing along with our trivia, there's always more on our website and in our newsletter every Friday. And you can also catch us in person at the next trivia night at the Heinz History Center. They have their own trivia night once a month, and we always host around. The next one is coming up on Thursday, October 16th, and it has a special theme for Halloween, creepy pop culture, and haunted Pittsburgh history. Very cool. Yeah, so you should definitely check it out. Come say hi to us. And while you're there, you can also check out there Pittsburgh's Hidden History Exhibit. It is very fun. It has a decent number of creepy items on display. So if you're coming for the creepy trivia, you can just take that in, too. And, you know, if you want to show up to trivia super early, you could make a stop because the history center's in the strip district. Go get some pen mac first. Ooh, bringing it full circle. Love to see it. Well, moving back to the news, it is banned books week, not just in Pittsburgh everywhere. This is an opportunity to raise awareness about book bands and just celebrate access to information. You know, I did just say that this is being celebrated everywhere, but band books was actually created by a Pittsburgher. I actually had no idea. This was started by a Pittsburgher, and I'm kind of surprised because we love to claim anyone and anything we possibly can. So I am shocked that it's taken me this long to learn this little tidbit. Well, the person who started it all was named Judith, Judy, Fingerette Coog. I hope I'm saying your last name right. She was born and raised in Squirrel Hill. And then once she became the executive director of the Freedom to Read Foundation, she started Ban Books Week in 1982. And I was kind of surprised to find out Ban Books Week has been around this long. I would have guessed like early 2000s. Yeah. I mean, I guess that's just a sad indication of how long people have been trying to restrict access to books. Nothing is new under the sun, I guess. No, not really, unfortunately. But we wanted to take this time to chat about some of the banned books with a Pittsburgh connection. So I was peeking at the band books list from Penn America. They released this. I think pretty much every year, they're an organization that does a ton of work around literature and free speech. And a Pittsburgher made the top 10 band books list for the 2024, 2025 school year. So the book was perks of being a wallflower by Stephen Chibosky. it placed number six tied with a few other books with 17 bans. And it was banned for reasons. Meaning like 17 different school districts or libraries had it on their band list. Yeah, this list was focused on public schools. Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. So it was banned for reasons like sexually explicit content, having LGBTQ plus themes depicting sexual assault, drug use, profanity, kind of things that you see pretty commonly for book bans. Yeah.

I have actually never read this book, but... I will forever have an undying love for the actress Emma Watson because she starred in the film adaptation. And I remember seeing an interview with her where she talked about like one of the most pivotal moments of her life. I might be exaggerating slightly. But when she filmed the scene, I guess there's an iconic scene in it where you're coming out of the tunnel and seeing downtown Pittsburgh and all its glory. Yeah. She talked about what a meaningful experience it was for her and how much it made her love Pittsburgh. And I just always contrasted that with Sienna Miller who called a Schittsberg. And so this is getting... very far afield from book bands, but Emma Watson, you did Pittsburgh right. Sienna Miller, you are still blocked from ever returning to this city. Well, bringing it back to book bands, another comment. Yeah. Me, Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews is also on these kind of lists a lot. And he's also got Pittsburgh connections. Yep, did not make top 10, at least according to Penn America. But that book has been banned also for sexually explicit content and being degrading to women. Going to be honest, I... did not read this one either. I was a Percy Jackson kid. Like, I read the books over and over and over again. I was actually interviewed once for being such a big nerd about it. Sophia, I love learning that detail about you. Now I can just see you as a poll worker sitting there with your Percy Jackson waiting for people to file through. Well, in high school, I think I probably would have been on to, like, what, the sequels by then, Heroes of Olympus. Percy Jackson was more elementary middle school. I'm very sorry to get that wrong. I apologize. You know, when I think about Pittsburgh books that have been banned by like Pittsburgh authors or about Pittsburgh themes, the one that always comes to mind for me is a children's picture book about Roberto Clemente. I always find it so weird when like children's picture books are banned. Like they're usually, you know, just about like animals or a person's life. And it's like, what's wrong with that content? Yeah, and like an inspiring person who tried to make the world a better place, which is something Roberto Clemente did. But, you know, this isn't just about like a Pittsburgher, a former Pittsburgh pirate. It is also written by a Pittsburgher, the author Jonah Winter. His book got banned in this county in Florida in 2023. And I know Florida like always tops that Pan America list is having a very high number of book bans kind of unsurprisingly. So, you know, at the time, Winter gave an interview to WESA and said he thought that the book was banned because he talked about the racism that Clemente faced during his career because, you know, underlying some of these book bans is an inability to reckon with our country's history. What about his reception in like Pittsburgh or Pennsylvania? Like, do we like him because he's from here?

So not here in our region, but over in New York County, there was a school he says that pulled his book that was about Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. But that ban got reversed thanks to student advocacy, which I think we've seen a lot of that, like students kind of rallying to point out the ridiculousness of banning books about like baseball legends, Supreme Court justices. And actually. both when this Roberto Clemente book got unbanned and when this Sonas Sotomayor book got unbanned, sales for both of them went up, which I think is also something people have pointed out a lot that often banning a book just like draws more attention to it and helps it do well. And that's part of the purpose I think of banned book week. Yeah, silver lining for those authors. And now that we've been talking about Winter for a second, I think I know how I've recognized his name. He also wrote a picture book called Bandbook. I think this was also around 2023 because he said that... the book wasn't a response to his books getting banned. It just sounded like he wanted to do it. It's a cool concept. Again, children's book, but obviously dealing with banned books and censorship. So, like, as you're reading, there's a bunch of stuff that is blacked out, which I feel like is more meta than the children's books I was reading. Yeah, I'm going to have to look into that one. And actually, if as you're hearing this, you are inspired to purchase any of these books that have been banned, now is the time to do it. Yes, you can buy banned books from so many of our local bookstores. A lot of them have, like, big displays around this time of the year with their favorite band books, that kind of thing. But if you want to save a little money and still support local, I recommend buying from bookshop.org because they are doing a 20% off sale. site-wide on banned books. This is going through October 19th, and some of our local booksters are on Bookshop.org, like White Whale and City Books. So you can go directly to that bookstore on the site and order specifically from them. Mm-hmm. Yeah. You could also check a book out from the library. The Carnegie Libraries all have really great lists with recommendations for band books, different categories, like if you're looking for a children's book versus an adult. You could also buy a banned book for someone else. State Gold Books in Regent Square is doing a match program for the prison book project, which sends books to people in prison. If you don't have ideas for what to buy, you can talk to a bookseller. They've got lists of what's commonly requested from folks and can help you make suggestions. I don't think the books you buy have to be exclusively like books that made it on a banned books list. Like I volunteered with the prison book project before. Some common requests are like true crime and thriller. Makes sense. They're universally very popular or like books about like entrepreneurship, starting a business, stuff like that. Got it. Got it. That makes sense.

And then Vintage Max and Bellevue also has some activities specifically for kids. So this Saturday from 9 to noon, you can check out a story time and breakfast. They have juice and donuts if you want to know what's on the menu. There's also coloring. And then there's a viewing of a wrinkle in time, which I did not know was a commonly banned book, but it's been around for a while. So I guess that's unsurprising. And according to like a CMU blog, because I was poking around to why, it has been banned for. being too religious and not religious enough. So I don't know. I guess if you're mad, you can get a book band is really what I'm learning. And then at this event at Vintage Max, band books are 10% off. Great. So happy shopping, happy celebrating of band books week. We are back and it is time for our favorite part of the show, a shout out from a citycast Pittsburgh neighbor. Yes, this week's recommendation is coming in from Amy D. Amy is shouting out the Southside Farmers Market. So this is a pop-up farmer's market. It's not happening every single week. But it is happening this Saturday, October 11th. It's going to be at Vellum Fermentation or from 9 to 1. And, you know, besides the usual stuff, produce, artists, and goods, etc. There is also going to be live music. So I think that's super fun. And this is a project from the Southside Community Action Network. So if you're interested in events like this, I recommend peeking at their website for cool things to do in the neighborhood. Thank you so much, Amy, for letting us know about this. Thank you so much to Amy. And thank you to all of our new neighbors who joined during our fall membership campaign. We are so grateful for everybody who joined the neighborhood. And we want to shout out our newest neighbors. Louise R. Monica S. Mandy H. Sonia S. Ed H. Sarah U. Carrie W. Jean P. April J. Megan P. Lena I. Beth M and Lisa F. We are so grateful to have you in our circle. Yes, welcome. We got a nice note from Carrie W., which said, I feel so smart and well informed whenever I listen to your podcast, and I want to support the important workans do. Thank you so much. And also, if you're listening and we've been helping you become the most in the no person in your friend group, please, please consider supporting us. We love helping make you smarter, you know, maybe do better at trivia, that kind of stuff. You can sign up to be a neighbor anytime at membership.com. And I know like the fall membership campaign is officially over, but I am just saying I have had a little birdie told me if you sign up today, you will still get a link to get a tote bag.

Yes, final chance. Final, final, final. I know we've been saying this, but truly final chance to get your tote bag. So do it now. And of course, one of the great perks you will get is being able to shout out a business, a nonprofit, an event that you love and have us read it out loud on the podcast, feature it in the newsletter, just like we did with Amy's phenomenal recommendation. So one more time, if you want to do that, you can become a neighbor now at membership.citycast.fm. We are going to close out as always with a thing to know, a loss, and a win. So starting with a thing that is important to know, budget season continues. Sophia, I know that you and Megan on the show last week talked about the first draft of Pittsburgh's next budget, and there were some really spicy takes on that. People do not like Mayor Ganey's proposal. Megan pulled out so many creative critiques. critiques might be too nice of a way. Some were just like straight up insults. So definitely go back and listen to what people think is wrong with the budget. Yes. So county executive Sarah and Amarado released her draft budget proposal for Allegheny County this week. The takes are not as spicy. This seems a lot more straightforward. You probably remember that. There was a lot of debate about the last county budget because the county ended up raising property taxes for the first time in over a decade. That is not going to happen this year. There is no tax increase proposed in the county's 2026 budget. Good, good. And the proposal does not include any layoffs. But the proposal does eliminate some job positions. These are ones that are quote unquote chronically vacant. So they just haven't been filled. Like you said, no one's getting laid off. Yeah. And so this budget, it's for $3 billion and it includes a slight increase in operating expenses. Something that stood out to me about this was official said that costs have gone up due to inflation and due to tariffs, which like no surprise is there. But apparently they've also gone up because our jail population has gone up a lot, which is something I imagine we will be digging into in a future show. Yeah, I have some questions about that. For sure. There's going to be public hearings on the budget, though. If you have thoughts, the budget has to be approved by December 6th. Yes. So bottom line, no proposed tax increase from the serious county budget cannot say the same for Pittsburgh public schools. So the district hasn't put out its like official official budget proposal yet. That happens next month. But at a meeting this week, the district CFO recommended a tax increase. He said the district is facing a $25.7 million deficit. He places a lot of the blame on that on people winning their property assessment appeals, which Sophia, you and Megan, talked about that on last week's show. But PPS has actually had to pay real estate tax refunds. So not only is it like taking in less revenue, it's actually having to pay people back. And also the district is dipping into its cash reserves right now because the state still hasn't passed a budget. We've talked about that a whole bunch. They are so late. Yeah, they were supposed to do it early summer. Yes. So the district, there's funding that it's not getting right now while there's this budget hold up. I was reading WESA's coverage of this meeting. And apparently the school board president, Gene Walker, he was pretty blunt. And his message to local state and federal officials was, quote,

Get off your asses and do your job so that we can serve the people of our communities in the way that they deserve. Ooh, hot take. But also, like, agreed. Like so many places are worried about funding and trying to figure out how they're going to work their budgets while, you know, the states at this impasse. One thing I thought was kind of notable in this WESA article, like, while the CFO was talking about the state of the budget, is that there wasn't really a mention of like how potential school closures would affect things. Obviously, PPS right now is considering a bunch of closures. And this is in part, I think, a money saving measure. So we'll have to see kind of how all of that factors in. I'm sure we will be talking more about this once the official proposal comes out. But something, you know, important to have on your radar right now. And moving on to our loss, something I have seen a lot of people talking about this week is the Monroeville Mall. Because we learned that. Soon to be RIP. Yes, soon to be RIP. Because a few months ago, we learned that Walmart bought the mall. But plans were kind of up in the air with what was going to happen, whether the mall was going to get demolished or not. And now we know Walmart wants to demolish the mall and start from scratch. Yes. And we know that they, like, for sure, want to demolish the mall because they applied for a state grant to get funding to do that. So we kind of know more. about their plans now. Yeah, and that grant is $7.5 million. I saw a Reddit comment where someone was talking about how it's kind of wild that Walmart paid, you know, out of their own pockets for the property, but want like state taxpayer money to demolish it. I'm not surprised, quite frankly. Corporations always want some kind of like tax break, government help. So, you know, I guess it is what it is. We'll see if they get the grant. But once that building is gone, the idea is to put in a mix of retail, restaurants, like open outdoor space, presumably a Walmart, you know, got to sell more of their stuff. And Walmart has tapped this real estate firm called Cypress Equities to sort of take charge of the whole project. Yeah, this story actually got picked up in the New York Times this week. I think because like this is Walmart's first venture into doing something like this, getting into real estate. And so I think like this is sort of their trial run to see is this a model that they're going to start replicating. Personally, I don't want to see more Walmarts, but that's just me. In terms of a timeline for demolition, it's still going to be like a while away. And we still get to see if they even get this money to do it, I guess. That's true. That's true. But, you know, if they wanted to, they could just pay out of their own pockets. I'm just saying. But someone who owns a restaurant in the mall told the New York Times that, you know, they were told tenants have until 2027 to leave. RIP to all the businesses that need to find a new space, but also. RIP to zombie fans because Monrovo Mall is the site of the Living Dead weekend. This is a convention. It's taking place this year from October 24th to 26. This is, you know, to kind of honor that the mall is the main filming site for Dawn of the Dead, one of, you know, George Romero's many iconic films. So, you know, the convention has screenings, tours, celebrity appearances, all that kind of fun stuff. So if that's your jam, consider getting tickets this year if you want to see the mall and it's like,

horrifying glory because I don't know how often this is going to return. Yes. And I mean, malls across the U.S., there's this whole like dead mall phenomenon. This is a trend happening in a lot of places. But I think what makes Minrova Mall so unique is its place in horror film history. And so you're losing something more than just like a home for hot topic. Yeah. Well, let's end with good news. Yes, a win for the week. Pennsylvania State Parks, a bunch of them, are getting glamping sites, which if you're not familiar, this is like glamors camping, upscale camping. So our state parks have been getting a ton of visitors lately. The governor's office reported that about 25 million people visited this summer. I'm part of that around 25 million. I want to sum this summer. Sophia, doing your part to prop up the state economy. I know. They're getting glamping sites because I did a good job visiting. Yes. So right, eight of these parks, they're going to get glamping sites next year. The state is working with this group called Timberline Glamping. And these tents are pretty swanky. They're equipped with air conditioning and heating. You can get a queen-sized bed. You get access to curing machines. This is like my house. Yeah, I don't have a curing machine in my house. This is like one-uping where I live. So, yeah, most of these glamping sites, they're going to be on the eastern part of the state, unfortunately. But we'll have two that are about like an hour and a half drive from us. So Laurel Hill State Park in Somerset County is getting one. And Pimetuning State Park in Crawford County, that's right on the Ohio border. So if you've been wanting to camp, but you cannot live without your freshly brewed coffee, maybe this is something to check out. I would actually really consider this. So many people have tried to get me to go camping and I refuse. We have spent so many years making the inside so nice that seems disrespectful to sleep on the ground. But this sounds like the inside. I'm in it for the queen size bed.

That is all for today here on CityCast Pittsburgh. Our music is by Benji, All the Camonos, Chanterell, and House of Say, with additional music from EpidemicSound.com. Our regular host is Megan Harris. Sophia Lowe and Elizabeth Kama produced the show this week. Francesca DeBecco writes our newsletter and I am the team's executive producer, Mallory Falk. We are off on Monday in Observance of Indigenous People's Day, so we will be back on Tuesday with more news from around the city. Have a great weekend. No, because I was trying to eat like the fettuccini yesterday at like dish looking like a normal person, but I was absolutely slurping it up.