Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Shooting in Masontown

Four people were shot this afternoon, including the suspected shooter and a police officer, at Judge Dan Shimshock's office in Masontown this afternoon.

The identities of the most victims have not been released, but none suffered life-threatening injuries.

The shooter has been identified as Patrick Shawn Dowdel, who had a hearing scheduled with his wife. Witnesses reported seeing a woman running across the street followed by a man, who began shooting.

Dowdel was charged last month with aggravated assault, terroristic threats, strangulation, simple assault and harassment for allegedly trying to choke his wife with a belt, according to Pittsburgh station WPXI. They also confirmed that a protection from abuse order was filed against him, but police aren't specifying who filed it or why.

The scene is contained, the shooter was killed by police, and no threat remains, but police are asking witnesses or anyone who might have information to call 724-439-7111.

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Night on the Town: 'Million Dollar Quartet'

Like I said, I'm living over in Washington now. Typically, if I'm coming into Uniontown to go to the State Theatre, it's for Geibel's annual music, but their shows have been getting more and more impressive. They almost reeled me in with Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal of Rent fame in the spring, and the only reason they didn't is because I already spend tons of money on event tickets and just didn't get that one squeezed in. But they got me for Million Dollar Quartet next weekend!

(I keep making the typo "quarter" instead of "quartet," so if you notice it anywhere...)

I saw this show a few years ago when it came through Pittsburgh and I won tickets through my job, and my brother and I loved it. And I think Fayette County will love it, too. For starters, the whole thing revolves around the classic music of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins, who all famously were together one night and one night only for a recording session. It was probably the most epic jam session in music history, really, and the show is a fictional retelling of what happened that night with a little plot thrown in. It's technically a musical, but not in the big song-and-dance-number way--it's more like watching a very, very good tribute concert, so if you're not a fan of musicals, don't worry! I think you'll enjoy it. It's also short, I believe clocking in at around an hour-and-a-half long without an intermission. It's a great choice for the State Theatre to host, really, and you should go.

Tickets are also quite affordable, with the most expensive being $40 and the cheapest at $25, plus some options in between. And there are still plenty available on sale now through the theater's website.

The show is next Sunday, Sept. 23, at 7. And look, I've been in Fayette County blogging retirement for months and my two posts this week were about this and Nguyen's and no one's paying me to do this, so you know I really want to see a packed theater next Sunday night. Go have fun! I promise it's great!

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Fine Dining: Nguyen's (Reborn!)

My family failed me.

See, like many, I was (am) a big fan of Nguyen's, and news of their closing was sad. In fact, I've been in a sort of Fayette County blogging retirement, and my last post was lamenting the loss of such a treat. So imagine my surprise when I found out that not only had Nguyen's reopened and I missed the news, but no one had bothered to tell me, either. I found out the way we all learn of important, life-altering news these days--on Facebook.

One of the reasons for my semi-retirement was the fact that I no longer live in nor regularly visit the Nam. I moved (a whole county over!) a few years ago, and after my husband moved in with me, I spent significantly less time in the area. Yes, we're back often enough visiting both of our families, but we're usually at one of their respective houses and that's about it. On top of that, keeping up with the news was depressing. I do intend to pop back in with news from time to time, but honestly, I forget.

While I'm living in another county, a lot of my stuff isn't. After upgrading from a mediocre one-bedroom apartment to a little house, my mom was like, "Hey, come get your shit out of my basement," except she didn't actually say that, so I ended up spending a day off doing just that. And with Nguyen's on my mind, I said, "Hey, I'd like to go there for dinner," and my parents were cool with that despite having gone days before. Another betrayal. "I want you to see how nice it is inside now," she said, rubbing salt in the wound.

It always was a nice restaurant, but she was right--the decor now is even classier, and I was glad we didn't just order take-out.

Again, everyone but me probably knows this by now, but the restaurant didn't just change the decor. The menu got an upgrade, too. A lot of things were chopped off, our waitress told me, because ingredients would go bad and get wasted faster than the dishes were being ordered, even in some cases where a dish was relatively popular. There's also more traditional Vietnamese food now, like pho, and a lot of favorites remain, particularly sushi. I always loved their cucumber rolls--it's my favorite sushi to get just about anywhere because I love cucumber and am a simple creature--so I couldn't leave without one. Narrowing down a meal was a struggle with so many great-sounding options, even with a smaller menu, but I settled on a mango drink and orange shrimp because I thought a mango drink and mango shrimp would be too much mango, except I know myself well enough to know there's no such thing as too much mango.

It was delicious as always, and I look forward to making my way back sometime for the mango shrimp. I do not, however, look forward to having to choose between it and my other UT food love, Meloni's.