Julia Teufel, 3, waters bugleweeds at the Discovery Garden at the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. The Discovery Garden will celebrate its 13th anniversary next month. "We want the kids to relax, enjoys nature and what is available all around them," Bea Novak, education specialist with the discovery program, said.

feature: flying kite for first time.

feature: silhouette.

missed assignment.

three rivers art fest feature I.

From left, Brianna Simard, 3, her mother Pam Simard, Aaron Ebner, 7, Erin Simard, 8, and Emma Simard, 6, of Shaler, enjoy ice cream during the Three Rivers Arts Festival in Pittsburgh. Pam Simard took the kids to the arts festival as a reward for their last day of school.


three rivers art fest feature II.

sweet adelines, color.

I. Laura Covell of Poland, Oh, sings during the tenor practice session. Many Greater Harmony Chorus singers have met close friends through the group. "Nobody comes to visit me," Covell, who lives the farthest from Valencia, said. "But I get plenty of cards and e-mails."

II. Greater Harmony Chorus' bass singers Marge Pusateri, left, Grace Marzalak, center, and Marlene Betler, right, listen to the next song they will learn, "He Was There At Mardi Gras." The Greater Harmony Chorus is already practicing for next year's regionals, which is Mardi Gras-themed.

III. Marge Pusateri reacts after realizing the difficult tones she must learn in "He Was There At Mardi Gras."

sweet adelines, black & white.

I. Lisa Putney, front center, Linda Smith, back left, and Dee Swierkowski, right, practice the "Camelot Medley" during the Great Harmony Chorus' practice at the Glade Run United Presbyterian Church in Valencia. The a capella group won first place in the regional Sweet Adelines competition in Cleveland.

II. Bonnie McKibben, center, conducts the Greater Harmony Chorus.

III. The Greater Harmony Chorus' tenor practice section uses keyboards, i-pods and digital recorders to improve their singing.

community redevelopment.

Hazel Hastings, left, and Nanda Boyd, right, protest the North Shore redevelopment outside the development hearing at the John P. Robin Civic Building. Residents of all townships came to the hearing to show solidarity against the proposal. "I think you are looking at the city as a destination for suburbanites," Rachel Canning of Perry Hilltop said to the committee. "And not a place where people live."

Lord Stanley.

Set I. Penguins fans follow players to a celebration outside Martini's Wood Fired in Pittsburgh the day after the Penguins win the Stanley Cup. Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma and game 7 hero Max Talbot greet the fans with the Stanley Cup.

Set II. Penguin fans celebrate their Stanley Cup Championship in the Oakland district in Pittsburgh.

Set III. Toby Lang, left, and Heath Strasser, right, react to a play during game 7 of the Penguins-Red Wings Stanley Cup Play-offs at Sports Rock Cafe in Pittsburgh. Strasser, originally from Pittsburgh, drove six hours from Tennessee to watch Game 7 in his home town.
Plus other fan celebration pictures.

One year ago, Amber Shepherd's father, P.J., died in a car accident along Route 28 on the North Shore in Pittsburgh. Her family has adopted a mile stretch where the accident occurred, maintaining the roads and sidewalks along the route. One year and one day after the accident, Amber and her family and friends returned to Route 28 to maintain the roads.

The kids.

20 month old triplets Lily, left, Taylor, center, and Ava Shanefelter, right, enjoy cookies offered to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit “graduates.” The Shanefelter’s were born 29-and-a-half weeks premature.

Hey man, I got my master's!
So what, you my master now?
-Chris Rock

I just defended my Master's project at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. My project, Adjusting to American Life: Refugees' Faith & Community, documents Burundian refugees in Columbia, Mo. You can view it here.

Feature.

Dave Ross, left, Joe Takach, center, and Ray Pfoertner, right, play street hockey on the basketball court at Quarry Field.

Prom for the physically disabled.

I. 12th grader Johnathan Krupitzer, center, talks to her prom date, Darnisha Burney, right, before the prom promenade for physically disabled students at Pioneer High School.

II. Darnisha Burney smiles at her prom date, Johnathan Krupitzer, before the promenade.

III. Peer educator Joann Koslow speaks with Krupitzer before the promenade for the prom at Pioneer High School. “It’s very nerve-wrecking,” Krupitzer said. “You’re not too sure what you are going to do when you are out there.”

Portraits

Installation artist Tom Sarver poses with “Sarver’s Bait & Tackle” exhibit in Pittsburgh. An avid fisherman, the SUNY Purchase master’s student found inspiration after traveling around Pennsylvania chatting with fishing enthusiasts.


Chester Jackson at his mother-in-law’s house in Ross Township. In 1990, after looking at his birth certificate and seeing no name under the “mother” category, Jackson learned that the woman who raised him, Geneva Jackson, was not his biological mother. “I was relieved [when I discovered this],” Jackson said. “Growing up I knew something was different between me and my family. A lifetime of unspoken questions were then answered.”

This is not the picture I used, but I like Jackson's face.

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review first assignment: Penguins Rally.

Pittsburgh, PA. First Impressions.


The Poles in full force.


First misspelled sign in P-town.