Mark Rand

17 minutes ago, Steve said:

The prior post makes me wonder if there might be an Under-Pittsburgh where mutants and monsters lurk, or perhaps an entire community, some good and some bad, all going about their business in abandoned tunnels beneath the city.

Parts of the city are over old coal mines, a few theaters were built below ground level, and some buildings have underground parking.

Two from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

When Point Park University debuted its new Pittsburgh Playhouse Downtown in 2018, it came with the requirement that an outdoor courtyard and second floor terrace would be open to the public.

But with some now treating the spaces as a “Downtown urinal,” the university is seeking to fence the area in and close off access overnight — a proposal that doesn’t sit well with city planners.

Under the proposal, the public would have access to the courtyard and terrace from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. After that, the spaces would be closed off to the public unless someone is attending an event or is a guest of the university.

In making the case for the changes, Shawn Gallagher, Point Park’s attorney, told the commission that the spaces have become “a haven for criminal activity” after hours.

“If you walk by, it’s like a Downtown urinal,” he said. “It’s been very problematic keeping it clean and getting rid of the smell. If you walk by, it’s kind of overwhelming.”

A parking lot collapsed in Penn Hills on Tuesday night, taking over a dozen cars with it.

No injuries were reported.

About 125 yards of pavement along the 11000 block of Frankstown Road sank in the ground around 6:15 p.m.

According to Penn Hills police Chief Ron Como, the lot fell into what used to be an underground parking garage and is now an abandoned warehouse. Emergency workers were searching below ground to make sure no one was in the space, as squatters have been located there before, according to Chief Como.

There is an apartment building next to the site of the collapse, and it has been condemned, according to Post-Gazette news partner KDKA-TV.

Chief Como said he got a call around 6:30 p.m., alerting him that parts of a parking lot had collapsed, taking 14 cars with it.

One woman was in a car in the lot at the time, but she was rescued by responders and sustained no injuries.

The lot is in front of an apartment building that houses about 50 people, the chief said. Code enforcement is in the process of determining the structural integrity of the building and surrounding structures.

35 minutes ago, steriaca said:

I think, unless your 20 years old or younger, this would be more celebrated than tragic. Force everyone to get face to face again. 

Yeah, but the companies that provide these services, and a lot of customers, especially politicians and celebrities, would be angry.

Here's two more.

Triggering a country's earthquake faults.

Wiping out social media and/or streaming services.

In real life,since 1983, Schenley Park has been home to a vintage motor sports car race, the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix, that takes place annually in mid-July.  However, in the Champions Universe, this might be its first year.  Think of the havoc a guy like Ted Knight's character from Caddyshack could create if he's the chairman  of the race committee and he and his friends, none of which race, are the race committee, especially when he wants his grandson to drive the Lamborghini pace car instead of the Sports Car Club of America driver that should. 

I'm going to use the fourth edition rules along with the Ultimate series books from the fifth edition rules.

One other idea is to threaten to blanket the world with electromagnetic pulses, wiping out everything electronic.  As a demonstration, Moscow, Beijing, New York City, or Washington, D.C. would be hit with a pulse.

Washington,. D.C., or New York City would be better.

6 minutes ago, dmjalund said:

I'm afraid to see a Giant Ernie pick up the rubber duck sculpture

A reference to, I think, Sesame Street.

1 hour ago, SCUBA Hero said:

Now I want to see an epic battle between the rubber duck sculpture and an animated giant ketchup bottle...

It should be something to see.

The following is from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The Heinz Red Zone will remain at Acrisure Stadium. And one of the big ketchup bottles could be returning as well.

Kraft Heinz and the Pittsburgh Steelers have reached a verbal agreement on a new five-year deal that will maintain the global food giant’s presence at the North Shore stadium even after it lost a naming rights battle to Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Acrisure.

“We’re happy to say we’re going to continue to work with Heinz. Heinz is going to continue to be a corporate partner of ours,” Ryan Huzjak, Steelers vice president of sales and marketing, said Thursday.

47 minutes ago, steriaca said:

The thing is, both can be true because, well, comic books. The train and tracks are out of phase from the normal dimension, this the area is considered "haunted" by a "ghost train".

 

The villain who created it is Bad Baron Blackard, who is rather hi-tech but styles himself like a turn of the last century Robber Baron. He seeks out various properties, and acquires them by hook or by crook. And he has no qualms about what the properties are used for.

Nice.  The film studio could be a front for some criminal enterprise.

Interim superintendent Wayne Walters has been picked as the Pittsburgh Public Schools’ next permanent leader.  (Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

11 hours ago, steriaca said:

Sounds like the perfect place to tie a captured superhero to. Yes, a train hasn't been in service in 40 years...till tonight! Bahahahaha!

In real life, the rails have either been removed, are being removed, or are going to be removed so that it can be used as a vehicle/pedestrian/bicycle bridge.  In the CU, who knows.

40 minutes ago, Steve said:

It looks like the sort of place one of Batman’s enemies might use as a lair.

Which one?

The bridge closest to the blast furnaces is the Carrie Furnace Hot Metal Bridge (also known as the Union Railroad Rankin Hot Metal Bridge #35).  It is out of service and it hasn’t seen a train in almost 40 years.  The other bridge is the George Rankin Jr. Memorial Bridge.

The Carrie Furnace site

44 minutes ago, SCUBA Hero said:

Very nice!  So which supervillain agency or supervillain mastermind is behind it???

In real life, none, but in a superhero universe, the studio could be a front for any mastermind.  Who knows what they might put in the old blast furnace complex.

The state has awarded $7.6 million in grants and loans to the Regional Industrial Development Corporation to help with the redevelopment of the Carrie Furnaces, with the bulk of the money targeted for the creation of a sound stage to bolster the local film industry.

Don Smith, RIDC president, said the $3 million grant and $4.6 million loan will help to fund the site preparation, infrastructure, road, parking, and utility work needed to pave the way for the construction of the sound stage.

“We’re extremely confident with this latest award that [state] Sen. [Jay] Costa championed for us that we’ll be in construction next year,” he said.

The new building will total about 52,000 square feet and will house two sound stages. They will represent the first sound stages built from ground up in the Pittsburgh region.

Dawn Keezer, director of the Pittsburgh Film Office, said old warehouses and other repurposed sites currently are used for sound stages needed for movie and TV productions filmed locally.

The project is part of a much broader vision known as the Pittsburgh Film Furnace — a film studio campus that will house six more sound stages, a carpentry shop, production facilities, and others for make-up, wardrobes, and the like.

Ms. Keezer said the goal is to bring together at one location much of the filmmaking process in the region, one that is now scattered over multiple sites.

“We want to try to centralize all of that,” she said.

Both she and Mr. Smith said most of the money is in place for the construction of the first building once the site work and infrastructure have been completed.

“We’re ready to go to start bringing jobs to Rankin and Swissvale,” Mr. Smith said. “People are starting to see that it’s real.”

Boom is a Boom Boy of average size.  He can create loud booms that can temporally deafen people and shatter glass, thus permitting him to do smash and grab robberies.

Edit: Boom usually wears a costume and mask to hide his identity.

On 7/15/2022 at 1:00 PM, Steve said:

The Boom Boys (along with nearly as many Boom Girls) are members of a growing network of teenaged street gangs that have somehow acquired a mutagenic serum called “Boom Juice” that awakens superpowers in a very few of those who receive it (in the 200-300 point range for less than 1% of recipients).
 

Nothing much seems to happen to most recipients (90% have a mild improvement no better than a typical VIPER agent), and some die in various horrible ways after taking it (9%). For some reason, it has no effect on anyone too old (over 19) or too young (under 13), so seems to be affected by hormone levels found during puberty.

 

Boomers are a new addition to the street scene and it is unknown if any of them will keep their powers into adulthood or they will fade away as their hormone levels change. It is unknown who is supplying the Boom Juice. Most of them do smash and grab robberies or muggings to get cash.

 

The vast majority of Boomers are physically enhanced types, so tend to be Bricks and Martial Artists along with a few low-level Speedsters. Animal-like powers have also been observed. Some possess energy-based powers with special effects like electricity, fire or cold. None seem to have any mental abilities other than varying degrees of Mental Defense.

 

The gang members are intended to be a low-level villain group for teenaged superheroes to fight. As the superpowered members of the gang gain experience with their abilities, this opposition could continue into adulthood, with some of the gang members becoming full-fledged supervillains.

This could also be an origin for a heroic teen super.

On 7/13/2022 at 3:56 PM, Mark Rand said:

Great ideas, Spark.  Heinz may still be involved as an associate sponsor, so the catsup bottles might stay.  I loved the video and saved it to my computer.

One of the catsup bottles has been removed.  The other is being removed today.

The Penguins play at the PPG Paints Arena, which is known as "The Paint Can".

One of the staffers is known as "The Ice Princess".  Although she wears an Ice Crew uniform, she isn't a part of the Ice Crew.  Instead, she drives a Zamboni.

Edit: She may be part of the Ice Crew, but, except for driving a Zamboni, she does very little on-ice work.

For a while, Pittsburgh was home to a giant rubber duck sculpture and there were a lot of duck-related merchandise.

What if, in the CU, the duck's still there, floating between Roberto Clemente and the Andy Warhol Bridges.  If they were two-leaf bascule drawbridges, the tenders would've made duck-related puns while updating everyone on the duck's status.

I've been wondering if the fourth edition is still in use and your opinion of it for a play-by-post game.

Grunt, a Bulldozer type, who thinks he's God's gift to females, might take more damage from a female super than a male one because he doesn't think a female super would hit him.

Female super: "Hey, Grunt, do you know the name of the Christmas ballet?"

Grunt: "What are you talking about, Doll?"

Female super: "NUTCRACKER!"  He then gets a punch, kick, or knee to the groin.

Grunt: pained noise before vomiting and passing out.