Stephanie Kalina Metzger

Making it to Oprah’s Favorite Things list is no small feat. Products must first be discovered by Oprah Winfrey’s internal team, then evaluated for quality, originality, usefulness and emotional resonance before being passed along to the celebrity herself, who makes the final decisions.
Philip Given, Co-Founder of The Pretzel Company, was thrilled when he heard the news.
“When we started out, all we hoped for was to share a truly authentic, bakery-fresh product with our neighbors. To see our p...

Gettysburg and American history go hand in hand, but one group of people often has been left out of the story.
Soon, that will change, as the Hopkins House Museum is set to become the town’s first museum devoted entirely to Black history.
Once home to Jack and Julia Hopkins, the 1840s log cabin is the last surviving Civil War-era house in Gettysburg historically owned by Black residents. The cabin, which was dilapidated and condemned just a few years ago, is in the process of being restored a...

Artificial intelligence is no longer a distant disruptor of the legal profession. It’s here and is already being used by attorneys for researching, drafting motions, reviewing cases, billing and advising clients, among other tasks.
As AI improves, it will become even more useful for lawyers to use in all aspects of their profession. For now, however, lawyers face real risks by relying too heavily on the accuracy of generative AI tools.
Jim Sullivan, author of The Book on AI Doc Review and the...

After more than a century of performances, the Pelzer Auditorium is undergoing an ambitious upgrade to address aging infrastructure while improving comfort and accessibility for audiences and performers.
“Pelzer is on the verge of a rebirth,” said Will Ragland, founder of Mill Town Players, the nonprofit professional theater company that operates the historic venue. “Water and sewer systems are being upgraded and new residential construction is underway, so this $1.2 million renovation couldn...

/Entertainment
If you haven’t heard of “Wicked” by now, you might be living under a house.
The Tony-winning musical, based on Gregory Maguire’s bestselling 1995 novel, has become a pop culture phenomenon and now ranks as the fourth-longest running show in Broadway history.
“Wicked” returns to the Benedum Center starting Wednesday and continues through Feb. 15. It reimagines what transpired in the Land of Oz before Dorothy arrived and reveals what happens when a smart, feisty, misunderstood gr...

/Entertainment
Those who remember the clock on the wall being the most interesting thing in the history classes they slogged through in their school days might lament that Greg Jackson never had his hands on the curriculum.
Jackson, who has a knack for making history interesting, will be teaming up with the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra to present “The Unlikely Union: A Storytelling Symphony of America” at the Palace Theatre in Greensburg on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The performance blends imme...

Photo: Provided.
All it took for Madhavan Swaminathan was a little encouragement to jumpstart his career in innovation. The new head of the Department of Electrical Engineering in Penn State’s School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science comes to Penn State by way of Georgia Tech, where he spent 28 years leading the 3D Systems Packaging Research Center and the National Science Foundation Center for Advanced Electronics through Machine Learning.
Swaminathan, who was born in India, sai...

/Entertainment
Trey Kennedy, comedian and content creator, is bringing his brand of clean, family fun to the Palace Theatre in Greensburg Thursday, Jan. 8 at 7:30 p.m.
His Relatable Tour promises a night of laughter with his humorous takes on everyday life and the quirks that we all share.
Finding funny in the ordinary
Trey Kennedy wasn’t set on comedy; comedy seemed to choose him.
“I was in college studying finance and was goofing off on social media when one of my videos went viral,” he sai...

Greenville’s culinary reputation continues to grow, with national accolades stacking up like reservations at a Saturday-night hotspot. Over the past two years, the city has drawn growing attention from food media and culinary travelers alike. Now, a nonprofit has joined the mix — focused on assisting the next generation of entrepreneurs as they move from pop-ups to permanence.
Mill Village Ministries recently launched a restaurant incubator called Hone, a collaboration between the nonprofit a...

/Entertainment
The Harlem Globetrotters-set to celebrate their centennial season in 2026-will bring high-energy post-holiday family fun to the PPG Paints Arena on Friday, Dec. 26.
For generations, the Globetrotters have wowed audiences with their unique blend of athleticism, comedy and showmanship. Older fans may remember stars like Meadowlark Lemon and Curly Neal, while younger audiences cheer for more recent Globetrotters like Jet Rivers and Hot Shot Swanson.
Much has evolved over the years...

Sometimes the mere act of making a declaration can help bring it to life — perhaps not immediately, but eventually.
When Colombia native Claudia Amezquita found herself in downtown Greenville, she declared that she would someday reside in the area. Years later, that prediction has come true. Today, she stands among the growing ranks of small business owners in the region, having recently opened Luna Bakeshop & Coffee at 401 N. Main St. in Simpsonville.
Childhood visits and early roots
Amezqui...

For 100 years, the Strand Theatre has stood as York’s cultural crown jewel, even as it adapted to significant changes in the entertainment industry.
From vaudeville to talkies to today, the Strand has remained woven into the city’s cultural fabric for a century.
Now part of the Appell Center for the Performing Arts, The Strand stands alongside the Capitol Theatre, which was built in 1906. This past summer, the community celebrated The Strand’s centennial, paying homage to this lasting cultura...

/Entertainment
As the nation prepares for its 250th anniversary in 2026, the Senator John Heinz History Center has partnered with the Pittsburgh Society of Illustrators (PSI) on a new exhibition exploring the meaning of freedom, justice and liberty.
The exhibit, “My America: An Illustrated Experience” is located on the museum’s fifth-floor Barensfeld Gallery and features 63 original works by 35 illustrators-each addressing the question: What Does America Mean to Me?
This year also marks the 3...

If you live in the Greenville, South Carolina, region and have yet to visit The Kilgore-Lewis House, the holiday season offers an especially inviting reason to go. Built in 1838, the stately home is dressed in its winter finery this time of year, thanks to the dedicated members of the Greenville Council of Garden Clubs, which has maintained the property as its headquarters since 1974.
One of the earliest surviving structures in Greenville County, the Kilgore-Lewis House originally stood near ...

/Entertainment
Creating holiday traditions is part of what makes the season so memorable. For many families, seeing the Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) is a treasured tradition that kicks off the holiday season. This year, the multi-platinum group is returning to the PPG Paints Arena on Saturday with performances at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.
TSO’s winter tour includes a reimagined and expanded presentation of “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve,” a product of the imagination of TSO’s late founder Paul O’ Ne...