Category Archives: Personal

More Emergencies In Our Midst – Adventures in Notification

Posted on May 14, 2024 by John Linko

We are drowning in information, while starving for wisdom. The world henceforth will be run by synthesizers, people able to put together the right information at the right time, think critically about it, and make important choices wisely. – E. … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, Government, History, Internet, Local, Media, Personal, Politics, Public Safety, Schools, Security, Technology | Tagged Aleppo Township, Aleppo Township Authority, Ambridge Water Authority, Barges, Bell Acres Borough, CivicPlus, CodeRED, Crescent Township, EAS, Edgeworth Water Authority, Glen Osborne Borough, Hermitage, IPAWS, Lahaina, Leet Township, Leetsdale Borough, National Weather Service, Northside Action News, PennDOT District 11, Quaker Valley COG, Quaker Valley School District, RAVE Mobile Alert, Sewickley Borough, Sewickley Water, West View Water Authority, Wheatland, Wilkinsburg, Wireless Emergency Alerts | Leave a comment

Winter Digest – Reorganization, Resolve, Revelation…and Rachmaninoff

Posted on March 10, 2024 by John Linko

I hope you’ve had a good year thus far. Over the last few months I’ve been collecting ideas for new stories, revisiting old ones, and reviewing developments locally and elsewhere that stand to embellish both. They will make their way … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Liberties, Community, Development, Energy, Environment, Government, History, Local, Media, Money, Music, Personal, Politics, Public Safety, Schools, Technology, Zoning | Tagged Big Sewickley Creek, Big Sewickley Creek Watershed Association, DEP, Devlin Robinson, Edgeworth Borough, Elder Vogel Jr, Emily Kinkead, Hadley Haas, Harshman CE Group, Leet Township, Leetsdale Borough, PA Environmental Hearing Board, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Quaker Valley School District, Rachmaninoff, Rob Matzie, Sewickley Borough, Valerie Gaydos, William Jasper, Yuja Wang | Leave a comment

2023 Campaigns and Beyond – Quaker Valley School Board

Posted on December 1, 2023 by John Linko

Your Quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little and it will fail, to the ruin of all. Yet hope remains while all the Company is true. – Galadriel, from The Fellowship of the Ring by … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Censorship, Civil Liberties, Community, Economics, Education, Government, History, Local, Media, Personal, Politics, Public Safety, Schools, Security, Youth | Tagged Bud Smith, Edgeworth Borough, Gianni Floro, Jessica Webster, John English, Leet Township, Leetsdale Borough, Melissa Walls, Muottas, Quaker Valley GOP, Quaker Valley High School, Quaker Valley School Board, Quaker Valley School District, Sewickley Valley Historical Society, Thomas Tull, William Jasper | Leave a comment

October Shorts – Books, Babies, Backpedaling, and Basketball

Posted on October 17, 2023 by John Linko

Banned Books Week – Muted Locally? This corner has made banned books a focus, especially over the last year or so. As such, the recognition of Banned Books Week here should be of no surprise to any regular visitor. This … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Community, Development, Economics, Environment, Government, Growth, Health, History, Local, Media, Personal, Politics, Public Safety, Schools, Sports, Youth, Zoning | Tagged Allegheny County Library Association, Allegheny Health Network, Andy Sheehan, Ashley Birtwell, Avalon Public Library, Banned Books Week, Blacksmith's House, Buncher Commerce Park, Citizens Concerned for EMS, Edgeworth Borough, Heritage Valley, KDKA-TV, Kris Mamula, Leetsdale Borough, Leetsdale Industrial Park, Little Sewickley Creek, Miller's House, Moon Township Public Library, Norm Mitry, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Preserve Edgeworth, Rize Sports, Ruth Neely, Sewickley Academy, Sewickley Public Library, Sewickley Valley Historical Society, Thomas Tull | 1 Comment

Election Postscript: I’d Rather Have a Ballot in Front of Me than a Cholecystectomy

Posted on June 20, 2023 by John Linko

(Apologies to Dorothy Parker et al) With all of the lead-up to the May 16 primary election, I was looking forward to working that morning and coming home afterward so that Leslie and I, as is our past practice, could … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Civil Liberties, Community, Government, Health, Justice, Local, Media, Personal, Politics, Public Safety, Schools | Tagged AHN Wexford, Allegheny County, Bud Smith, Carolyn Verszyla, Corinna Garcia-Skorpenske, Donna Adipietro, Dorothy Parker, Franklin Park Borough, Geoff Bsarnes, Gianni Floro, Giuseppe Rosselli, Jessica Webster, Joe Rockey, John English, Joseph Bellissimo, Katherine Longwell, Kristie Shelton, Leet Township, Leet Township Police, Magisterial District Judge, Martin McDaniel, Matt Dugan, Melissa Walls, Michael Molinaro, Quaker Valley High School, Quaker Valley School Board, Quaker Valley School District, Robert Ford, Sara Innamorato, Stephen Zappala, Suzanne Filiaggi, Todd Hamer, William Jasper | 3 Comments

In Praise of Libraries – New Pathways vs. Old Attitudes

Posted on April 25, 2023 by John Linko

If you’ve followed this blog for any length of time, you know that my family is rather enamored of our local library. The Sewickley Public Library is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year – my wife has held a library … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Censorship, Civil Liberties, Community, Family, Government, History, Justice, Local, Media, Personal, Pittsburgh, Politics, Schools, Youth | Tagged American Library Association, Andrew Carnegie, Banned Books, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Carolyn Toth, Jessica Whipple, Judy Blume, Kathleen Madonna-Emmerling, Leetsdale Borough, Moms for Liberty, Moon Township, Moon Township Public Library, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Quaker Valley School Board, Quaker Valley School District, Sewickley Public Library | Leave a comment

New Year Marked by Multiple Media Missives

Posted on January 17, 2023 by John Linko

The last two weeks of December were typically hectic, punctuated by the bitter cold that enveloped the Christmas holiday, and included a visit from my son, who we hadn’t seen in 4 years. He brought his new girlfriend. Some of … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Civil Liberties, Government, History, Human Rights, Internet, Justice, Local, Media, Personal, Politics, Public Safety, Radio Hobby, World | Tagged Amanda Knisley, Columbia Journalism Review, Gazette 2.0, George Santos, Legal Notices, Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, North Shore Leader, Photography Is Not A Crime, PINAC, Pittsburgh City Paper, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Radio Garden, RadioResource Media Group, Sewickley Herald, The Citizen, Trib Total Media, West Virginia Public Broadcasting | Leave a comment

Post-Election, Pre-Holiday Observations and Other Things

Posted on December 19, 2022 by John Linko

A little girl is singing for the faithful to come yeJoyful and triumphant, a song she loves,And also the partridge in a pear treeAnd the golden rings and the turtle doves.In the dark streets, red lights and green and … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, Development, Government, History, Local, Personal, Politics, Public Safety, Schools, Zoning | Tagged Christian Nationalism, Democratic Party, Doug Mastriano, Edgeworth Borough, Fire, Fundamentalism, Leet Township, Leetsdale Borough, Lyric Keys, Preserve Edgeworth, Quaker Valley School District, Republican Party, Sewickley, Sewickley Academy, Valerie Gaydos, Wylde Lightner | Leave a comment

A Helicopter Flies Overhead, and the Rest is History

Posted on November 2, 2022 by John Linko

November is upon us. Along with all of the rhetoric flying across the airwaves (which I will get to in some fashion soon), I’d like to digress for a moment to other subjects of an airborne nature, which in turn … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Government, Local, Media, Personal, Radio Hobby, Schools, Sports, Technology | Tagged ADS-B, Central Catholic, Chartiers Valley, Elon Musk, Football, Helicopters, James Franklin, Penn State, Seneca Valley | Leave a comment

From Columbine to Uvalde – The Years of Living Dangerously

Posted on August 3, 2022 by John Linko

It’s August already. Hard to believe that it’s been over two months since the May 24 shooting incident at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas. This tragedy has produced levels of scrutiny, criticism, and incredulity not typically seen in the aftermath … Continue reading →