A small team of Pittsburgh filmmakers is raising money for a documentary about fursuiters.

The group from Point Park University intends to visit several destinations, and seeks funds for "transportation, feeding our crew, [and] going from place to place". Despite drumming up support on Facebook, they have only raised $1,735 of their $5,000 goal, with 60 hours to go.

According to a short piece on the Steel Cinema film blog:

... will focus on the unusual hobby by following a diverse group of several fursuiters in the U.S. The students hope to honestly examine this colorful sub-culture by taking a humanistic approach and getting to know the people inside the costumes.

The project is directed by Dominic Rodriguez and produced by Olivia Vaughn. [tip: PeterCat]

It appears that someone had unleashed the 'Bear Cavalry' upon an unsuspecting television station in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

WNEP-TV (ABC 16), like many stations across Canada and the United States, has an outdoor "weather patio"; for doing outdoor weather reports during good weather, and WNEP-TV calls theirs "the backyard".

While any station welcomes new viewers, WNEP-TV was probably not expecting four black bears (a mother and her three cubs) walking in to their weather patio and exploring during the 11 PM newscast, prompting their local weatherman (Kurt Aaron) to run back and do the reports from inside the studio.

Hundreds of furs worldwide have opened up their wallets, giving over $20,000 to a Pittsburgh man who has sold subs, wraps and t-shirts to Anthrocon attendees in recent years.

Business owner Fernando Decarvalho faces financial ruin; his eatery, Fernando's Cafe, was forced to announce its impending closure last month. Fans hope their money will keep it open until Anthrocon 2012, and beyond.

The donations are to be given to Fernando at a planned meetup today (April 21) at his cafe. Over 100 have signed up to eat at the restaurant; several plan to attend in fursuit.

Update: $21,000 was handed over by "Anthrocons"; WTAE coverage - event stream [Dobie] (donations handed over at 33:33). Fernando expressed his thanks, while noting that his landlord has another potential renter in negotiation for his space after June.

As Pittsburgh convention Anthrocon approaches this June, many furs are opening up their wallets, counting up their change, and announcing to friends whether they can be expected this year. Unfortunately Fernando's Cafe, a business dear to attendees, have done the same and found that they will be unable to stay afloat until then. The cafe intends to close its doors on April 27.

The York Revolution, a professional baseball team based in York, Pennsylvania, is holding auditions to find a performer for DownTown, the team's blue, vaguely avian mascot.

Auditions will be held 2–4 PM on Saturday, February 18 at Sovereign Bank Stadium, 5 Brooks Robinson Way, in York City. Applicants must be friendly, energetic, dependable, outgoing, in good physical shape, work well with children, have reliable transportation to and from the stadium, and be at least 16 years old. In order to fit into the mascot costume, applicants must also be between 5'6" and 6'2".

Candidates will have to perform a two-minute skit during the audition. Those chosen to join York Revolution's promotional squad (the Shipley Green Team) will be paid $7.25 an hour, and the person selected to play DownTown will be paid $60 per game.

'One-time' Philadelphia holiday convention Furstivus appears to have been a success, despite being announced a mere six weeks before it was scheduled to begin.

Lead organizer SkippyFox yesterday reported 238 attendees, with 45 fursuiters in its parade.

Furstivus took the place of the New Year's Furry Ball, which is expected to reoccur this December. The event raised $3,243 for childrens' video gaming charity Child's Play.

The state is also home to Anthrocon and the Western Pennsylvania Furry Weekend. Anthrocon was formerly held just over the road from the Furstivus hotel — itself home to 1994's Furtasticon, the first East Coast furry convention.

I wasn’t as proactive as I thought I would be, and I’m pretty sure I missed a couple posted during the first of September, so apologies there. Otherwise, here was last month’s Newsbytes.

The topic of anthropomorphic animals is coming to the Walking Fish Theatre next month, as it shows "Kiss Me Furry" – a Valentine edition of Revival Burlesque. [broadwayworld.com]

When the heir to the Yummy Pussy cat toy company fortune is kidnapped, her stepmother, Mrs. La Prix, hires a Private Jane to solve the mystery. One P.I. Martel and her boy Friday go undercover and infiltrate the secret nightclub, "The Fur Pile".

Explore the seedy underbelly of the world of ..."furries"?!?

The noir burlesque play – described as "like Hitchcock, but Grace Kelly is dead and there is more nudity" – was written by Max Guerin and is guest-directed by Madi Distefano (interview).

The show plays Friday 11th (8 & 10PM), Saturday 12th (8 & 10PM) and Monday 14th (8PM) at 2509 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19125. Tickets are $15 online, or $18 at the door.