Michael Vick Protest /  by Justin Merriman

Nicole Shoff of Bethel Park, front, and Brian Kuhn of Shaler, center, protest against Michael Vick outside of Heinz Field prior to the start of the Steelers final preseason game against on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015.
Tony Tomasi, 20, of New Brighton, right, argues with Connie Bartins of the North Side, left, as she protests against Michael Vick outside of Heinz Field.  "Steelers nation is ashamed," Bartins said of the hiring of the controversial quarterback. Tomasi asked, "Why doesn't he deserve a second chance?"
Clair Smith of Oakland bares her tattoo of her dog, Odie, a pug, as she joins in the protest against Michael Vick .

New Orleans: Still Rebuilding /  by Justin Merriman

 Robert Green Sr., 60, holds a flag near the site of his mother's home in the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans where she perished during Hurricane Katrina.  His granddaughter also died in the storm.  "This is ground zero," he says.
 Joshua Felix stands with his daughter, Raven, 29, and grandchildren, Tyran Carrie Jr., 4, and Nevaeh Felix, 7, at a welcome home party at his house in New Orleans East on Aug. 24, 2015.  
 Ben Quimby, 25, of Concord, MA, points out an area to sand to Harold Bailey, 27, of New Orleans at a home they are renovating for Johnny Jackson Jr., 72, in the Upper Ninth Ward of New Orleans on Aug. 24, 2015. 
 Volunteers with Event Pros Take Action, Monique Jeffrey, 29, of Boston, MA., left, and Kimberly Sheridan, 21, of Warwick, RI., right, take a break from work at a home that they are renovating for Johnny Jackson Jr., 72, in the Upper Ninth Ward of New Orleans on Aug. 24, 2015. 
 Garrett Wilkinson, 32, of Dallas, Texas volunteers with Event Pros Take Action (EPTA) at a home that they are renovating for Johnny Jackson Jr., 72, in the Upper Ninth Ward of New Orleans.
 Nevaeh Felix, 7, stands with her grandfather, Joshua Felix, at a welcome home party at his house in New Orleans East on Aug. 24, 2015.  
 Mark Wells, 46, of Orlando, Fla., left, a designer with Event Pros Take Action, stands with Joshua Felix, right, as he reacts after walking into his home for the first time at a welcome home party for him at his house in New Orleans East on Aug. 24, 2015.  Felix has been displaced from his home for nearly a decade since Hurricane Katrina. Felix who lived in the home since 1966, experienced contractor fraud twice since the storm.  He tried to live in the home briefly, but it was deemed uninhabitable.
 Keion Smith, 38, is handed the keys to her home in Algiers, New Orleans after being displaced from it for years following Hurricane Katrina.  Smith received funding from the Road Home Program to have her house elevated, but the job was not completed by the contractor. 
 Catherine Dezort, 23, of Oakmont, a volunteer with St. Bernard Project, carries Nevaeh Felix, 7, after she got a treat from an ice-cream van in front of her grandfather's New Orleans East home on Aug. 24, 2015.
 Nevaeh Felix, 7, sits on her bed with Linkie Marais, 32, of Mansfield, MA., a volunteer with Event Pros Take Action, at her welcome home party at her grandfather, Joshua Felix's home in New Orleans East.
 Harold Bailey, 27, of New Orleans East takes a selfie with volunteers from Event Pros Take Action in front of a home in Algiers that was renovated for Keion Smith.  The home was rebuilt by St. Bernard Project and Event Pros Take Action, a nonprofit co-founded by Susie Perelman of Pittsburgh. Bailey, who's family home was damaged by Hurricane Katrina, and rebuilt by SBP and EPTA now volunteers with the groups to help rebuild other homes in New Orleans. "The past 10 years have been draining. The places that need the most help really haven’t gotten it. The lower Ninth Ward, which was posted all over the TV screen, really didn’t get the help that it needed,” he says.
JaQuan Wright, 16, walks through his newly finished home at a welcome home part for him and his mother, Keion Smith, in Algiers, New Orleans. Wright and his mother were displaced for years following Hurricane Katrina.  Smith received funding from the Road Home Program to have her house elevated, but the job was not completed by the contractor.  She was later  diagnosed with a brain tumor and left her unable to work.

To read more about New Orleans efforts to rebuild a decade after Hurricane Katrina and to see a video about Event Pros Take Action's work in the Big Easy visit the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Parrotheads /  by Justin Merriman

Tim Scherm of Elkins, WV., wears a flamingo hat as he walks through the parking lot of First Niagara Pavilion before the Jimmy Buffett concert on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2015. 
Nellie Spencer of the North Side holds up a sign in the parking lot of First Niagara Pavilion.

"We Like Worms!" /  by Justin Merriman

Freddy Goellner, 5, looks over a worm during "We Like Worms!" a lesson created by the Science Center for Pre-K children at Carnegie Science Center’s summer camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2015. 

Welder /  by Justin Merriman

Duke Lundahl, 21, of Troy Hill, a recent North Allegheny graduate, welds at Armin Iron Works at the RJ Casey Industrial Park on the North Side on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2015.