Kelly Strayhorn Theater Executive Director Janera Solomon wants Pittsburghers to step out and try something different.

She is making that possible with an eclectic mix of dance, music theater and interactive events that will be featured during the theater’s 2010-11 season, which begins Sept. 18.

CREATORS—Hallie Donner, left, director of the Alumni Theater Company, and Staycee Pearl, director of Staycee Pearl Dance Project, founded and lead their own companies.

“We’re starting with Shristi Dances of India that was founded in Pittsburgh in 1995 and they did a lot of their shows at the Kelly Strayhorn while they were still in Pittsburgh,” Solomon said. “It’ll be great to start with them because they are an original group using the Kelly Strayhorn Theater and we wanted to bring something different but also familiar to Pittsburgh.”

Thursday 9

Jazz jam

CJ’s Restaurant & Lounge presents “The Roger Humphries & RH Factor Jazz Jam Session” at 8 p.m. at 2901-2911 Penn Ave., Strip District. There will be live jazz and fun every Thursday night. Must be 30 years or older and there is a dress code that will be enforced. No tennis shoes, sweats or athletic gear. For more information, call 412-642-2377.

My first stop was the Shadow Lounge where DJ J. Malls held his annual event called “Title Town Soul & Funk Party” featuring Gordy G. and Robert Wells (Ann Arbor Soul Club) on the 1’s and 2’s. Everyone came out to this event and it was a packed house.

Birthday girl and King celebrating her birthday at Mr. Kenny’s Place in the Hill District.

(NNPA) – Former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young has weighed in on the arrest of T.I., claiming the rapper may have been stopped for "DWB - Driving While Black."

T.I. and his wife Tameka "Tiny" Cottle were arrested after they were stopped in the rapper's Maybach on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, for allegedly making an illegal U-turn.

Police allegedly smelled the odor of marijuana, searched the vehicle and uncovered a small amount of ecstasy and what is reported to be meth-amphetamines.

Young questioned the police's initial intent when they stopped the chart-topping rapper/actor, who recently starred in the #1 hit movie, Takers.

“There’s another culture in L.A. that I don’t understand,” Young told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Most people in Los Angeles would wonder why he was stopped. I don’t know why they should have been stopped ... When a Black man is stopped and not speeding … you call that driving while Black.”

Young, who officiated T.I.'s wedding to Tiny in July, also counseled T.I. after the rapper pleaded guilty to federal drug charges.

T.I. immediately notified his probation officer of the arrest, as required by the terms of his probation.At press time, T.I. is heading back to Atlanta. He will most likely have to appear in court where Judge Charles Pannell Jr. could revoke his probation and send the rapper to jail.

"T.I. is going to be back on his way to Atlanta in the next 24 hours," Don Samuel, one of T.I.'s lawyers, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "It's almost certain he'll end up appearing before the court here. But without knowing all the facts, it's premature to speculate what the court is likely to do."

According to the terms of T.I.'s probation, the rapper cannot possess or use any narcotic, or frequent any place drugs are sold, used or administered.

Special to the NNPA from the St. Louis American