| Soundoff: Carrie Rodriguez steps out on her own
A year and half after playing in Ithaca with Chip Taylor, Carrie Rodriguez returns to Ithaca Sunday night to perform at Castaways. This time around she'll be leading her own band, and she'll also be joined by a couple of special guests: her husband, saxophonist Javier Vercher, and local banjo wizard Richie Stearns, both of whom contributed to Rodriguez's new solo debut, "Seven Angels on a Bicycle." (Both sat in with her and Taylor at the Nov. 2005 show, along with Harry Aceto.) .
Weekend Hotlist
Although mankind has been anything but kind to the Earth, it would be nice if the Earth could do us little people in Pittsburgh one little favor and treat us to one nice Saturday this spring. That way, we could get out of the house on Earth Day and enjoy the Earth, thereby working up some good will to be repaid in the future -- with such things as less gas usage, more vigorous recycling and more planting. It is, after all, Earth Day on Saturday. In the event there is not a blizzard or some other ridiculous weather event, Venture Outdoors invites people to spend Saturday hiking in the woods at McConnells Mill State Park in Portersville, Butler County. It runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $10; $5 for members. Go to www.ventureoutdoors.org. The Carnegie Science Center presents its first-ever Earth Day celebration Saturday with the Rachel Carson Environmental Film Festival, which features "EarthDance," a juried collection of more than 20 comedies, documentaries, animations, thrillers and family-friendly films on environmental themes.
Penguins Notebook: Players working on some magic for playoffs
You could find all sorts of factors to weigh in the Penguins' first-round series against Ottawa, reasons one team or the other should win. Some might say the youthful Penguins will need to find a bit of magic in their locker room. Well, they have. When defenseman Ryan Whitney missed his only game of the season Tuesday because of a groin injury, he was killing time when he wandered into a magic store on the South Side called the Cuckoo's Nest. Whitney had seen a former teammate, Matt Murley, do some tricks and thought he was pretty good. After visiting the shop, Whitney began doing the familiar disappearing ball trick for teammates. "I guess it could be a hobby if you do become good at it," Whitney said. Wingers Ryan Malone and Colby Armstrong thought it was interesting and also visited the store.
Language teachers face crisis
The number of foreign-born students who must be taught English in Montgomery Public Schools has doubled since the opening of the Hyundai plant two years ago. Their numbers have grown so fast there aren't enough teachers to help them learn a new language, and not enough money to hire more. This year, 915 foreign-born students are enrolled in the school system's English as a Second Language program. That's 12 percent more than the 814 enrolled a year ago. They come from all corners of the globe, speaking everything from Creole French and Laotian to Urdu, a language of Pakistan and India, and the West African language of Yoruba. The largest groups are Latino and Korean students, with 558 Spanish-speakers last year and 124 whose native tongue is Korean.
Comments, corrections, clarifications, and c*ckups
John Goldbaum writes: Re. "John Howard turns climate pessimist" (Friday, item 3). John Howard says "we should all pray for rain" but we did that on the national day of prayer on 26 November and it didn't work. Perhaps we didn't pray hard enough or maybe the gods are angry with us but I think, just like Iraq, we now need a new Government policy. .
Things to do this week and beyond
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T O D A Y
VIOLIN CONCERT Gerald Elias will give a free violin concert at 7:30 p.m. at the Midvale Performing Arts Center, 695 W. Center St. (7720 South). For information, call 801-567-7200.
"ROCKIN' INN ON ROUTE 66" AUDITIONS Midvale Copperview Theatre Arts Youth Program will conduct auditions for this late June production from 7-9 p.m.
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