Your Daily Guide

Local Lawmaker Pushes for Second State Bird

State Rep. Mandy Steele introduced a bill that could make the scarlet tanager PA’s official state migratory bird. The ruffed grouse has been our state bird since 1931, but Steele — along with members of the Audubon Society of Western PA — say adopting this new state symbol could generate more public support for our hardwood forests where scarlet tanagers nest. [City Cast Pittsburgh]

UPMC Children’s Opens $85 Million Heart Institute

Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh has a new state-of-the-art facility featuring three cardiac catheterization labs and the region's first pediatric cardiac rehabilitation area. It’s the first addition to the hospital since it moved from Oakland to Lawrenceville in 2009. A second phase of construction is underway to include a rehab gym, an outpatient clinic, and eight echocardiography labs. [WESA]

PRT Bus Expansion Continues in Uptown

Look out for new road closures on Fifth Avenue as Pittsburgh Regional Transit continues work on the University Line — a rapid transit bus route connecting Oakland to Downtown. The final phase of construction is expected to end in 2027. [TribLive]

• Explore Uptown (aka The Bluff) with visits to a coffee shop / brewery, a community makerspace, mosaic murals, and more. [City Cast Pittsburgh]

Event Series Encourages Outdoor Exploring

The First Try Collective is helping locals enjoy the outdoors this summer with a free, beginner-friendly event series. Register for an outing, like a mushroom identification hike, full moon forest bathing, disc golf, mountain biking, and more — and use our guide to exploring Pittsburgh parks for more tips. [First Try Collective / City Cast Pittsburgh]

• Good news, bad news: A report from the Trust for Public Land says 93% of Pittsburghers live within a ten-minute walk of a park, but there's less park space within easy reach of low-income neighborhoods. [WESA]

Let’s play a game! Where can you find this mesmerizing display?

🌟 Shout out to Sam H. and Avocet G. for being the only readers to correctly guess last week’s photo challenge ⬇️

Find this cute stationery at DooBoo, a new shop that sells goods made by Asian artists and small businesses. I could spend hours browsing the fun colored pens and highlighters, stamps of all shapes and sizes, notebooks for writing and drawing, greeting cards, art prints, stickers, and more. Don’t miss special pop-ups at the shop, like drinks from Mandarine Matcha or adoptable cats with Trash Cat Rescue.

💌 Explore more local stationery stores here.

Looking for more things to see and do?

• ☀️ Make plans for summer with our guide to June
• 🚲 Pedal in Pittsburgh at these summer biking events
• 🏡 Be nebby at upcoming home and garden tours
• 🎶 Jam out at 10+ Pittsburgh music festivals
• 🥞 Dig in at our team’s favorite brunch spots in the city
• 🍕 Save room for these food and drink festivals
• 🛼 Take advantage of Downtown’s post-draft glow
• 💡 Test your knowledge with my latest Pittsburgh crossword