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DEC. 9-16, 2020

Why support for Biden remained flat in Pittsburgh’s Black neighborhoods

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Residents wait in line along Suismon Street for COVID-19 Curative North Side COVID 19 testing i through h hC i at the h N h Sid Christian Health Center in the North Side on Fri., Dec. 4.

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DEC. 9-16, 2020 VOLUME 29 + ISSUE 50 Editor-In-Chief LISA CUNNINGHAM Director of Advertising JASMINE HUGHES Director of Operations KEVIN SHEPHERD News Editor RYAN DETO Senior Writer AMANDA WALTZ Staff Writers HANNAH LYNN, JORDAN SNOWDEN Photographer/Videographer JARED WICKERHAM Editorial Designer ABBIE ADAMS Graphic Designers JOSIE NORTON, JEFF SCHRECKENGOST Senior Account Executive KAITLIN OLIVER Sales Representative ZACK DURKIN Operations Coordinator MAGGIE WEAVER Circulation Manager JEFF ENGBARTH Featured Contributors REGE BEHE, LYNN CULLEN, TERENEH IDIA, CHARLES ROSENBLUM Interns NARDOS HAILE, LAKE LEWIS, KYLIE THOMAS National Advertising Representative VMG ADVERTISING 1.888.278.9866 OR 1.212.475.2529 Publisher EAGLE MEDIA CORP. In memory of ALEX GORDON 1987-2020

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COVER ILLUSTRATION: MARCEL WALKER SEE THE STORY ON PAGE 4

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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DECEMBER 9-16, 2020

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CP PHOTO: BRIAN COOK

Tanisha Long

POST-ELECTION

EXHAUSTED ELECTORATE 4

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Black Pittsburghers didn’t increase turnout for Joe Biden as much as white Pittsburghers. Why?

BY RYAN DETO // RYANDETO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

CP PHOTO: BRIAN COOK

Khari Mosely

I

N HIS PATH TO A PENNSYLVANIA, and national,

victory, Joe Biden accomplished the best electoral performance of a Democratic presidential candidate in Allegheny County since 1964. He secured 59.6% of the county’s vote, winning Allegheny County by more than 20 points. The only Democratic presidential candidates to perform better in Allegheny County were Lyndon Johnson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

However, Biden’s impressive victory comes with a caveat. The county’s Black community, who are easily the most loyal Democratic group among any demographic, wasn’t the reason for Biden’s astonishing success.

Many of Pittsburgh’s Black communities still supported Biden by overwhelming margins, with several neighborhoods giving Biden 90% of their vote and Allegheny County’s Black neighborhoods slightly increasing their overall votes for Biden in 2020 compared to Hillary Clinton in 2016. But President Donald Trump actually slightly improved his margins in many Black neighborhoods. Biden’s victory can mostly be attributed to his huge gains in mostly middle-to-upper income suburbs of

Pittsburgh, which are overwhelmingly white.

Unlike many premature takes about Biden’s drop in support from urban Black voters, Allegheny County’s drop in Black vote margins for Biden is fairly complex. For one, in neighborhoods with significant Black populations (greater than 30% Black residents), turnout remained basically flat. Any drop in raw votes for Biden in Black areas can mostly be attributed to population loss, which many majority Black neighborhoods have been experiencing for some time. Correspondingly, precincts with more than 30% Black residents lost about 3,200 registered voters between 2016 to 2020.

However, while fewer voters led to a drop in votes for Biden in some places, it didn’t lead to a drop in votes for Trump, who actually marginally increased his vote totals in Black neighborhoods. Additionally, Allegheny County as a whole significantly increased its voter turnout this year compared to 2016, while Black neighborhood turnout remained flat, prompting questions about voter enthusiasm among Black Pittsburghers. Turnout for the entire county jumped about six percentage points between 2016 and 2020, while turnout in precincts with

significant Black populations grew less than a quarter of one percent.

Pittsburgh City Paper spoke with canvassers, elected officials, and advocates who live in majority Black neighborhoods, and who were well engaged with Black Pittsburghers this election cycle. They believe a myriad of reasons led to the subtle shifts in Pittsburgh’s Black electorate. They all praise the efforts of Black elected officials and organizers in getting out the vote for Biden, but acknowledge there was a wall with some potential voters where apathetic notions like “my vote doesn’t matter” were impossible to overcome.

Additionally, they say wide-scale misinformation painting Biden as anti-Black was effective among some Black voters, and that Biden’s own comments about the police didn’t always help. Finally, canvassers admit there were just some marginal gains in support for Trump in Black neighborhoods, particularly among Black men, which could have been thanks to Black celebrities meeting with the president, Trump’s promise of direct payments for a COVID-19 stimulus, or a general incumbency advantage.

And after years and years of population and CONTINUES ON PG. 6

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DECEMBER 9-16, 2020

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EXHAUSTED ELECTORATE, CONTINUED FROM PG. 5

CP PHOTO: BRIAN COOK

Sharon Thomas

economic decline in Pittsburgh’s Black neighborhoods, Black leaders are wondering just how long Black people will continue to show up to vote. They say that this year, in terms of Democratic support, it arguably could have been worse.

“We may have exhausted what we can get out of the electorate,” says Khari Mosley of 1Hood Media, which organized numerous Get Out the Vote efforts and canvassed for votes in Allegheny County’s Black precincts. “Even with someone like Trump in office, it was still difficult to get people to buy in that the political system was legit.”

A

VOTING patterns based on race is not an exact science. Exit polls tend to be inaccurate and shallow. Larger studies NALYZING

require experienced academics, who require time. And by which time those studies are completed, many observers may be ready to move onto the next election. City Paper commissioned the help of local election analyst Ben Forstate to provide data somewhere in between those two analytical devices.

Allegheny County is extremely segregated along racial lines, which allowed CP to more easily compare data based on voting precincts and census tracts. These two data points largely overlap, but not perfectly. Forstate looked at 2010 Census data to determine which precincts were 30% or more Black, and which were 50% or more Black. Populations have likely changed since 2010, but decennial data is the most complete and accurate. As of the 2010 Census, the Black population made

up about 13% of the Allegheny County’s population. Up-to-date census estimates show that percentage hasn’t changed much since 2010.

In all Allegheny County precincts where the Black population is 30% or greater, Biden secured 98,111 votes, which was a 1,239 vote increase compared to Clinton in 2016. Trump received 24,346 votes in Black neighborhoods, which was a 768 vote increase compared to his performance in 2016.

Overall, Biden won Allegheny County’s Black neighborhoods by a margin of about 80-19. Both presidential candidates very slightly improved their vote totals from 2016, but Trump made a tiny improvement of 0.3% of the vote share, while Biden dropped 0.3% compared to Clinton. Trump improved slightly, but the

story is more that Black neighborhoods didn’t increase their turnout for Biden as much as white neighborhoods.

In Allegheny County neighborhoods with less than 30% Black residents, Biden added 62,586 votes compared to Clinton, while Trump added only 23,020 votes compared to 2016. Predominantly white neighborhoods voted for Biden by a margin of about 56-43. In these whiter neighborhoods, Biden improved by a margin of 2.85% compared to Clinton, while Trump declined by 2.85%.

Interestingly, Biden’s underperformance among Black voters appears to be concentrated in the City of Pittsburgh and the precincts with the highest percentages of Black residents. Suburbs with 30% or more Black residents actually added more votes for Biden, and limited Trump’s CONTINUES ON PG. 8

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EXHAUSTED ELECTORATE, CONTINUED FROM PG. 6

MAP: BEN FORSTATE

Presidential election results by Allegheny County precincts with 50% or more Black residents

marginal gains to about 0.1%. But Black precincts within Pittsburgh city limits (those with more than 50% Black residents) decreased vote totals for Biden compared to Clinton.

This could be a signal of Black displacement, as many Black Pittsburghers have moved to the suburbs in search of more affordable housing options, and many of those are suburbs with 30%, but not a majority, of Black residents.

However, precincts outside of Pittsburgh city limits with more than 50% Black residents also saw a drop in total votes for Democratic presidential nominees.

And Trump improved on his margins in municipalities with majority Black residents, like Wilkinsburg, Homestead, Braddock, and Rankin, by 2.3%.

APATHY AND EXHAUSTION

M

OSLEY RECOGNIZES THE small

gains Trump received in Black neighborhoods, but he also acknowledges the wide-scale efforts to drum up support for Biden among Black Pittsburghers. 1Hood hosted three events in Black neighborhoods before the election to encourage people to vote by mail, return their ballots, and register to vote. These events included entertainment and free food in addition to voting help.

He notes that “African Americans still vote overwhelmingly for Democrats” and that no other demographic comes close to their amount of support. Black elected officials, advocates, and unions all helped organize voter registration drives and

canvassed Black neighborhoods, but he acknowledges those efforts eventually hit a wall.

“You have a portion of folks that have just totally bought out of the process,” says Mosley. “Even with that effort, I feel like what we did was a success, but there were forces that were working against enthusiasm.”

Olivia Bennett is an Allegheny County councilor and resident of Northview Heights, a majority Black neighborhood in Pittsburgh’s North Side. She says Black organizers were working to get more voters registered and to boost turnout, but voters she encountered were not necessarily excited about Biden.

“The ones I heard that were voting were because they understand that

[voting] is a tool to move to the changes we want to see,” says Bennett. “But those who were not voting, they didn’t believe none of these candidates would move along the Black agenda.”

Hill District resident Sharon Thomas works as a cleaner at the PNC Tower.

She canvassed with her union SEIU in support of Biden and says that most Black people understand that Trump was against their interests and voted accordingly. The Hill District went 94-5 in favor of Biden. But she also acknowledged the difficulties of getting more votes for Biden than Clinton.

“There were a lot of people that did not want to vote at all,” says Thomas.

“There are still people that feel like their vote don’t count.”

CONTINUES ON PG. 10

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The Hill District is Pittsburgh’s most historic Black neighborhood. In 2020, voters there cast 4,870 ballots for Biden, just 33 more than Clinton received in 2016. Trump only received 277 votes in 2020, but 53 more than he received in 2016.

Tanisha Long of Black Lives Matter Pittsburgh and Southwestern Pa. also worked to register and canvass Black voters. She applauds the efforts of Black leaders, and those of 1Hood, but came across similar roadblocks in convincing disinterested Black voters to participate.

She believes the chaotic nature of Trump’s campaign, COVID-19 restrictions, the low-key messaging of the Biden campaign, and general hardships that many Black Pittsburghers experience led to voter apathy. Studies show the disparity between Black and white Pittsburghers’ economic opportunity is among the largest of any metro area in America.

“It is very hard to convince people who have been moved out of their neighborhood to participate in the political system,” says Long.

She recognizes Biden’s strategy as effective overall (his gains in white and suburban Allegheny County are impressive), but notes that strategy doesn’t necessarily also lead to boosted Black turnout.

“I consider him like a vanilla wafer, it’s good in banana pudding, but just meh on its own,” says Long of Biden and his campaign.

round of $1,200 checks to Americans as part of the coronavirus stimulus. The Biden campaign also supported directcash stimulus, as well as student loan forgiveness, and social security payment increases. But Trump hogged headlines in October over his announcement, even though he was unsuccessful in convincing Republicans in Congress to agree with him.

“If Trump wins the election, people are voting for the $1,200,” says Bennett.

“Those were conversations I was having in Northview and in Spring Hill.”

O

MISINFORMATION AND CAMPAIGN STRATEGY

M

OSLEY SAYS THERE wasn’t just one reason for the apparent Black-voter apathy towards Biden, and instead it was a combination of many things. He says misinformation can’t be discounted, and Bennett agrees.

Bennett says people in Northview Heights mentioned social media posts that posited Biden had once referred to Black people as “super predators.”

Those posts were doctored, and Biden never used that specific term, but it was shared enough that many Black people believed it anyway.

“For me, I am trying to have conversations that try to demystify politics,” says Bennett. “A lot of conversations among neighbors included people saying ‘Well yeah, dude called us super predators.’”

Aside from the effectiveness of doctored smears against Biden, the president-elect’s own record of supporting the crime bills of the 1990s and his

PHOTO SUPPLIED

Olivia Bennett

strong repudiation of the “Defund the Police” movement also might have cost him Black Pittsburgh votes.

Biden reiterated several times during the campaign that he didn’t support defunding police departments after Trump repeatedly claimed he did. And while white Americans are generally against defunding the police, Black Americans are in favor of defunding police by an average of 45%, while only 28% are opposed, according to FiveThirtyEight.

Long says after the energy of the local Black Lives Matter movement, which protested for several months throughout the summer, that messaging from Biden was “disheartening” for the Black community.

“We are all marching and taking to the streets for Black and Brown people that have been killed,” says Long. “It feels like an uneven contract.”

TRUMP GAINS

I

T WASN’T JUST misinformation and

Biden’s campaign strategy that led to marginal gains for Trump among Black Pittsburghers. Some of those gains are explained by actual (if extremely small) growth in support for Trump himself.

Mosley and Bennett both cite conversations with voters about how celebrities like Lil Wayne, Ice Cube, and Kanye West took meetings with Trump.

Bennett says the vast majority of Black people criticized these actions, but both Bennett and Mosley say these actions might have moved some voters, and at the very least, it was a topic that was widely discussed in the Black community.

Another incident that Bennett believes had an impact on Trump making minor gains was the president’s tweet in October promising to provide a second

Follow news editor Ryan Deto on Twitter @RyanDeto

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BVIOUSLY, NONE OF this hurt

Biden in Allegheny County. He won the election quite handedly.

But it appears his campaign was mostly viewed as a “back to normal” mindset, which was more effective in swaying and turning out wealthy, white suburbanites than Black Pittsburghers.

Compound that with how Pittsburgh is one of the worst regions for Black people in terms of opportunity, and it’s easy to see why “back to normal” is actually a pejorative sentiment among Black Pittsburghers.

Mosley recognizes this dichotomy, and understands that it takes a generationally talented politician to motivate both white people and Black people in Pittsburgh, even if that isn’t necessary to win Allegheny County and Pennsylvania.

“Enthusiasm for Biden was in response to his opponent,” says Mosley.

“Generational political figures are just that. I don’t know when the next [Barack] Obama is gonna come around.”

Thomas recognizes that boosting turnout with a candidate who can break through the apathy is an uphill battle, acknowledging that it was more difficult to persuade people this year than in previous campaigns.

“They have a trust issue, more now than before,” says Thomas. “[Politicians] say one thing and they do something else.”

Long sees Trump’s small gains, and Biden’s flat turnout among Black Pittsburghers, not necessarily as a failure, but as a warning. This year had a historic civil rights movement centered on Black people, as well as energy among Black officials and organizers to do everything they could to bring out voters. She says voter turnout among Black Pittsburghers could have been worse.

“What would it look like if we weren’t out here doing the things that we were doing?”

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11/17/20 PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DECEMBER 9-16, 2020

11

1:19 PM

PHOTO: JAY MANNING/PUBLICSOURCE

.FIRST-PERSON ESSAY.

LIFE LESSONS

I came to Pittsburgh for higher education in 2017. It’s time to undo the harm Trump’s rhetoric and policies brought onto international students.

BY DIVYANSH KAUSHIK // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

12

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

Divyansh Kaushik is a Ph.D. student at Carnegie Mellon University and vice president of external affairs in the Carnegie Mellon University Graduate Student Assembly.

A

S AN UNDERGRADUATE student

applying to graduate school in 2016, I thought of the U.S. election all the time. President Donald Trump was campaigning on anti-immigrant rhetoric, and I faced an important question: Should I go and do research at Carnegie Mellon University during this uncertain time? It wasn’t clear at that time what changes the Trump administration might make over the years, but choosing to be optimistic about the future, I decided to come to Pittsburgh to embark on a new journey.

I was likely making the biggest move in my life — one that would take me over 7,295 miles away from my home in Chandigarh, India. At that time, who knew that Pittsburgh and its people would embrace me as one of their own, but since then, I have graduated with a master’s degree and started a Ph.D., while conducting cutting edge research in the field of artificial intelligence.

In that time, the Trump administration has continued the political rhetoric that often comes across as unwelcoming to international students. Right out of the gate, we saw the first travel ban. That made it clear to me that what I perceived as rhetoric really would translate into actual policy, potentially leading to a tremendous amount of uncertainty and even harm. And it did for Srinivas Kuchibhotla, who first came to the U.S. as an international student to attend the University of Texas at El Paso. He was shot and killed in 2017 by a man who first yelled, “get out of my country” while also using other racial slurs.

The administration has mostly followed through on its political rhetoric by implementing multiple policies gutting immigration to the country. So much that this year, legal immigration to the U.S. was at lower levels than anytime after the World War — the president built his promised wall out of paper.

Now the country has elected a new president. Campaigning on the promise to “Build Back Better,” President-elect Joe Biden gave hope to a lot of people, and as with any election, there were many who disagreed with his message and his vision for the country. Vice Presidentelect Kamala Harris is a daughter of two immigrants, her mother from India and father from Jamaica. Like me, both of her parents came to the U.S. as international students in the hope for a better life and a better future.

But over the last few months, I have talked to multiple students overseas looking to pursue graduate studies,

For more local coverage on international students in Pittsburgh, visit publicsource.org

many of whom despite being highly qualified, are deciding not to apply to the best universities which are right here in the U.S. The biggest reason: a growing unwelcoming environment that has only worsened over the past few years.

Nothing is happening in the U.S. that isn’t being watched or interpreted around the world, including by prospective students. Whether it was the executive order banning the entry of some Chinese graduate students or the ban on H1B visas or trying to kick international students out of the country or reducing the length of student visas, these policies, paired with the coronavirus pandemic, have caused the numbers of new international enrollments to U.S. universities in Fall 2020 to drop by an unprecedented 43%, according to a November report from The Chronicle of Higher Education, continuing a downward trend since the 2015-2016 academic year.

One applicant from India who deferred applying until after the 2020 presidential election said to me, “In the middle of the pandemic, when the Trump administration decided to send back the students, it made us realize

that they don’t consider the concerns of international students, and that we don’t belong in the country.” Another student from Germany, who decided not to come to the U.S. but chose to attend the University of Toronto, told me how Canada’s welcoming nature played a crucial part in his decision. Canada relaxed its rules to allow international students to stay in the country during COVID, contrary to the now-rescinded U.S. policy that would have deported students who didn’t continue in-person classes.

These students are not alone, as we have seen the number of newly enrolled international students decline 8% nationally between the fall of 2016 and 2019, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. Not only that, many international students graduated from CMU and moved to Canada because of the growing anti-immigrant sentiment in the U.S., based on the unfounded belief that immigrants are hurting this country.

Whose loss is it? It is a global market for talent, and the U.S. is falling behind.

The implications of these policies are massive for Pennsylvania and the nation. Over the last four months in particular, international students have seen drastic policy shifts happen quickly. A policy proposed by the Department of Homeland Security in September would reduce the length of student visas, sparking backlash from both Republicans and Democrats on the Hill, former Trump administration officials, as well as leaders in Pittsburgh and other cities. Joined by student governments and student unions representing over 850,000 students at 51 universities, the CMU Graduate Student Assembly asked DHS to withdraw the rule. Unfortunately, this is just one of many issues we have been tackling to counteract the unjust scapegoating of international students.

International students represent a majority of the graduate student population at CMU (approximately 40% overall, down from 44% in 2019) and about 12% of the Pitt student population. They contributed over $2 billion to Pennsylvania’s economy in 2019, supporting over 25,000 jobs. International students at universities like CMU have founded brilliant companies and startups including Duolingo and Sun Microsystems. More than half of American startups that became billion dollar companies, including Google, Tesla, Stripe, and Uber, count immigrants among their founders and top executives.

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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DECEMBER 9-16, 2020

13

LIFE LESSONS, CONTINUED FROM PG. 13

PHOTO: JAY MANNING/PUBLICSOURCE

Divyansh Kaushik

in the global higher education and research and development enterprise, we must make full-throttled efforts towards attracting the best and brightest from around the world. It is no question that America is the R&D brain of the world. But it is crucial that in a Biden presidency, America acts like one too.

More Americans want immigration to increase now than they have in more than 50 years, Gallup found in response to a question it has asked Americans since 1965. And while the United States has raised barriers to immigration, countries such as Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom have been tearing theirs down. There’s a limit to which universities could attract the best talent on their reputation alone. We are approaching that limit soon.

It is a global market for talent, and until now, the U.S. maintained its reputation as a leading destination for talented scientists and foreign students through “sheer inertia,” according to a July report from The Atlantic. As other countries increase their efforts to

recruit and retain these students, it is critical to preserve American competitiveness. Why? “For the same reason the Boston Red Sox don’t limit themselves to players born in Boston,” the President of M.I.T wrote in the New York Times.

“The larger the pool you draw from, the larger the supply of exceptional talent. Moreover, America gains immense creative advantage by educating top domestic students alongside top international students.”

But the country’s recent policies have only added to the already growing uncertainty around America’s crucial higher-education sector that drives the global R&D, while also signaling to prospective students overseas that they might not be welcomed. The drastic impacts of these policies will be here for years to come, and it will be cities like Pittsburgh who will be hurt as a result.

President Biden should work to reverse this harm, and he could start by delivering a major policy address announcing that America will once again be a welcoming destination for international students.

Divyansh Kaushik is a Ph.D. student studying Artificial Intelligence at Carnegie Mellon University. He also serves as the vice president of external affairs in the Carnegie Mellon University Graduate Student Assembly.

14

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DECEMBER 9-16, 2020

17

CP PHOTO: MAGGIE WEAVER

.RESTAURANT REVIEW.

TAKEOUT REVIEW: THAI GOURMET

BY MAGGIE WEAVER // MWEAVER@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

I

N 2005, Pittsburgh City Paper compared Bloomfield’s Thai Gourmet to a 1950’s diner. Fifteen years later, the likeness still stands.

The small Liberty Avenue restaurant carries the same character of an antique shop; walls covered floor-to-ceiling in artwork and shelves filled with ornaments, a similar mix of homey decorations I’d expect from my small town diner. Dining in feels like eating in someone’s home, with the packed-in tables forcing friendliness with your neighbors.

The menu, compared to many city Thai restaurants, is small, filled with Thai staples and a few cuisine crossovers.

There’s the expected: a smattering of appetizers, ranging from spring rolls to satay chicken, noodle dishes, curries, stir-fries, fresh salads and soups, and a couple in-house specials.

And, like any good diner, Thai Gourmet executes staple dishes with excellence.

Due to the pandemic, the restaurant has pivoted to takeout only, featuring

an easy-to-use online ordering platform and quick turnaround on pickup. I satisfied a cold-night craving for curry with a small Thai feast: hoi jaw (crispy tofu skin wrapped around a blend of meat and spices), pork dumplings, Chiang Mai mee, pad kee mow, and Massaman curry.

THAI GOURMET 4505 Liberty Ave., Bloomfield. thaigourmetpgh.com

In the few blocks surrounding my home on Liberty Avenue, there are three Thai restaurants: Thai Cuisine, Pad Thai Noodle, and Thai Gourmet. Naturally, I’ve spent the past few years picking out my favorite dishes from each. At Thai Gourmet, it’s the Chiang Mai mee.

The dish is a delight of textures and flavors; yellow curry, the base for egg noodles, onions, and tomatoes, topped with bean sprouts, cilantro, scallions, and crispy shallots. Yellow curry is more

mild than red or green, the combination of spices a bit more earthy compared to the other two, and a touch of underlying sweetness combats the spice. The online ordering platform did not ask me for my preferred spice level, and thankfully, this dish was tolerably and pleasantly hot, though the heat lingers.

There’s a mix of interesting pieces to the dish, the deep earthiness of the curry brightened with the fresh cilantro and crunchy zing of shallots. Fresh, sunny tomatoes, slightly cooked by the heat of the dish, add a radiant splash, a surge of tangy, acidic juice exploding into the curry with each bite.

Hoi jaw was the surprising winner of the two appetizers, the crispy tofu skin, wrapped around pork and crab meat, a welcome crunchy start to the meal. I was less impressed with the filling than the fried outer wrapping — it was a bit heavy — but a sweet and sour sauce balanced it out. The dumplings were a bit of a miss, the filling too ginger-forward and over-

Follow staff writer Maggie Weaver on Twitter @magweav

18

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

taking the flavor of the pocked-sized bite.

Of the two remaining entrees, the pad kee mow — thick noodles slathered in a spicy basil sauce paired with snow peas, onions, tomatoes, and topped with bean sprouts — was favored. The thick sauce hit immediately with a strong, fresh basil flavor.

Massaman curry, which takes cues from Malay and Indian cuisine, was bolstered with potatoes, peas, carrots, chickpeas, and warm spices. The chickpeas were a nice addition, but when compared to curry of the Chiang Mai mee, I preferred the earthy yellow.

I’ve ordered more takeout than ever this year, and it’s taught me one thing: some food just doesn’t travel well. But my food from Thai Gourmet — as I’ve found with most soups and curries — stayed fresh and hot on the journey back from the restaurant. And the best part is, as the dishes sit in my fridge overnight, and the flavors soak in even more, they’ll be even better on day two.

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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DECEMBER 9-16, 2020

19

CP PHOTOS: JARED WICKERHAM

Park House owner, manager, and chef Zamir Zahavi

.MUSIC.

PLAYING OUT PARK HOUSE

BY AMANDA WALTZ // AWALTZ@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

T

O MANY, IT SEEMS, The Park

House’s ability to work as a popular music venue was an enigma under the ownership of Zamir Zahavi.

And people let him know it. In one memory, he recalls a consultant from Austin, Texas summing up the establishment’s ability to host music.

“He would sit at the bar nightly,” says Zahavi, a native of the small island nation of Curaçao, who has lived in Pitts-

20

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

burgh since 1982. “And I’ll never forget when he wrote, ‘Park House is the worst place to have music but somehow they make it work.’ I was looking at my bartender and I read it to him and said, ‘Look at me with a straight face — this is a compliment, right?’”

If the last 17 years under Zahavi’s ownership is any indication, that opinion was correct. Just look at the steady schedule of musical acts the historic bar

has seen: There were weekly bluegrass nights every Wednesday, plus live music on Fridays and some Saturdays. The bar also served as a venue for the annual Deutschtown Music Festival.

But that legacy is coming to a close at the end of December, not long after Zahavi publicly announced that he was selling the business.

“It was definitely not because of the pandemic,” says Zahavi, who adds that

he first made the decision a year ago. “I was just getting tired of the hours. It was good when I was in my 40s and 50s. Now I’m 61. It’s just not the same.”

While he ushered in an era of live music, it was actually his son, Ari, who suggested he do it in the first place. While Zahavi was hesitant at first, he welcomed the local bluegrass jam group, the Shelf Life String Band, and it quickly changed his mind.

“They played, and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be,” says Zahavi. The band would go on to play every Wednesday night at Park House over the next 10 years.

Before he even started playing there, Shelf Life String Band banjo player and vocalist, Joe Dep, lived a few blocks from the Park House and remembers having one of his first legal drinks there when he turned 21.

“I fell in love with the place,” he says, adding that it reminded him of the famous bar on the long-running sitcom Cheers. “You had regulars who moved away all come back. It was cool to see as the years progressed, how different people would come back and visit the place.”

Dep, who affectionately refers to Zahavi simply as Z, says the owner took care of the local musicians who played in his establishment. Zahavi expands on this, saying he provided money, libations, and food to every act, regardless if they brought in “20 people or 100 people.”

“That was my protocol for all the bands,” he says. “We made all the bands feel comfortable and wanting to come and play again. It was so successful.”

One of the people who noticed The Park House’s charm was Deutschtown Music Festival co-founder Cody Walters, who says the bar was “definitely one of the inspirations for the festival.”

“One of the things we wanted to do was highlight the neighborhood live local music, and The Park House was already doing that, showing people what we already did have,” says Walters, who has lived in the North Side for 13 years.

Walters says that at the time he

A sign of Mr. T that reads, “I pity the fool that hasn’t had a Park House Falafel for $5.00 on Tuesdays,” hanging inside the Park House

THE PARK HOUSE 403 E. Ohio St. North Side parkhousepgh.com

and fellow co-founder Ben Soltesz were coming up with the festival before its 2012 launch, Park House was “the heart and soul of live music in the neighborhood,” a distinction that tended to draw in crowds.

“My joke always was if you had to go to the bathroom, don’t go to The Park

House, you’d run into too many people you knew,” says Walters. “That really was how it was.”

Still, Zahavi says in the beginning it was difficult bringing acts in, as the North Side had what he calls a “bad reputation.”

He remembers having to convince local country-bluegrass legend Slim Forsythe

to play there.

“He did not want to play on the North Side,” says Zahavi, who offered to host him for dinner and a drink. “He showed up with his girlfriend. They sat down and had dinner and he said, ‘This place is awesome. I will play here.’ He had to convince his friends and fans to come to the Park House. It wasn’t easy.”

Both Walters and Dep are sad to see Park House go, with Dep expressing regret over not being able to play there one last time, as the pandemic has kept live music out of the venue since March.

They also hope that whoever takes over the Park House makes any necessary renovations to the aging building while still preserving the charm of the bar, the interior of which has changed little over the decades.

“My hope is someone would come along who would have a turnkey vision for the place and want to continue running it as The Park House,” says Walters.

“I can’t see that space not coming back and serving the neighborhood, regardless of whether it remains The Park House or becomes something else.”

As for Zahavi, he foresees embarking on a new venture revolving around his falafel and hummus that became the culinary trademark of The Park House.

He also expresses pride over being part of The Park House’s history and the revitalization of the North Side, saying that, unlike when he first moved in, he now sees more people moving in than moving out.

“I will never have this experience again ever,” says Zahavi. “I actually became part of the community. … It was so much fun. It was just so good to help bring the North Side up.”

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Follow senior writer Amanda Waltz on Twitter @AWaltzCP

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PHOTO: TOM SARVER

International Puppet Festival participant, Sherri Roberts

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ment that, no matter how hard they try, virtual events can’t replicate. But connecting virtually also offers things that in-person events never can, like bringing together puppeteers from several countries for a workshop and theater festival. Tom Sarver, who began his Virtual Puppet Residency earlier in the pandemic, will show off some of the art his group has worked on together during the International Puppet Festival on Sat., Dec. 12.

Sarver, a Pittsburgh artist who has worked with puppets for decades, had several teaching and artist-residency jobs canceled at the onset of the pandemic. So, he decided to put together a call for people to participate in an online puppet residency. At the end of the first residency, participants from around the country, and a few outside it, showed off the projects they’d been working on during a puppet slam.

Now, as the second iteration of the residency wraps up, participants will show off work during a more robust International Puppet Festival, where audiences can view the works on Zoom or on Facebook Live. Sarver compares the feeling to that of the Black Sheep Puppet Festival, a locally run event that lasted a decade, and in which Sarver participated.

“With this event, the excitement is there, kind of like what I had with the Black Sheep Festival and other events over the years,” he says. “It’s just a

little different.”

When Sarver put out a call for the second round of the residency in the fall, word spread much farther than the first time, with participants from all skill levels and varying puppet disciplines (marionettes, shadow puppets, stopmotion) logging on from around the world, with puppeteers from Kenya, Romania, Greece, Canada, South Africa, India, and other countries, as well as artists local to Pittsburgh.

INTERNATIONAL PUPPET FESTIVAL 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Sat., Dec. 12. facebook.com/VPRpuppets

Even though the workshoppers ranged from amateurs curious about the medium to experienced, professional puppeteers, Sarver says the novel experience of it being online “leveled the playing field” for everyone.

“I was just amazed at how well this idea worked,” says Sarver. “Everybody’s kind of starting from scratch and trying to figure out how to present, how to make something that’s interesting to show online.”

The International Puppet Festival is broken up into three categories and times based on content: the children’s show, the all-ages show, and the adult

show. Each group will feature a combination of live and pre-recorded short puppet pieces. Local puppeteers include Sherri Roberts, a fiber artist testing out her material on a new medium for a children’s show, and Catherine Welsh Aceto, who has recreated a scene from The Tempest with puppets made out of plastic bags.

Aside from bringing together artists and ideas from around the world, the residency also gave everyone involved a window into how parts of the world have been experiencing the pandemic.

Fedelis Kyalo, a professional puppeteer from Kenya, created a piece called “Lockdown in the Village,” about how his region has dealt with the virus.

Rachel Sutherland, another participant from Ontario, Canada, created a piece about not being able to visit her grandma in a nursing home.

Sarver says that participants have told him the workshop has been a bright spot among all the difficulties of their year. Even though he wants to get back to live events when the pandemic is over, Sarver says, “For me it’s been this really wonderful thing that’s developed where I’m suddenly communicating with people around the world and I’m learning as I’m teaching this.

“I think there will always be a place, pandemic or not,” he adds, “in just getting to know people from different places, getting to meet a whole new group of puppeteers from around the world.”

Follow staff writer Hannah Lynn on Twitter @hanfranny

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.LITERATURE. Arlan Hess, owner, City Books 908 Galveston Ave., North Side. citybookspgh.com

READING IS FOR THE CHILDREN

Ages 8-12 My Father’s Dragon

by Ruth Stiles Gannett Originally published in 1948 and re-released in 2005, My Father’s Dragon follows Elmer, a little boy who sets out to free a baby dragon being held captive on Wild Island. Taking only his backpack, he stows away on a ship and must MacGyver his way past exotic animals and nefarious grown-ups with only chewing gum, lollipops, and rubber bands. It’s a classic every child must read, and perhaps my favorite children’s book.

BY AMANDA WALTZ AWALTZ@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

Y

OU HAVE, OR perhaps might be, a Book Aunt. You know, that relative who buys books for the kids and teens in their lives. I have purchased my fair share of titles for my nieces and nephews, scouring store shelves for the most eye-catching picture books or engaging young adult lit.

For all those Book Aunts out there (the term, as far as I’m concerned, is genderneutral, and not exclusive to cis women), Pittsburgh City Paper reached out to local booksellers and compiled a list to make shopping a bit easier. So embrace your inner Book Aunt this season and give the gift of reading with these titles, some of which are written by Pittsburgh authors.

All titles and descriptions were provided by the booksellers.

Jen Kraar, bookseller and children’s book buyer at City of Asylum Bookstore 40 W. North Ave., North Side. cityofasylumbooks.org

Ages 4-8 All Because You Matter by Tami Charles, illustrated by Bryan Collier A lyrical heart-lifting love letter to Black and Brown children everywhere, reminding them how much they matter, and that they always will.

Chirri and Chirra Under the Sea by Daya Doi, translated from Japanese by David Boyd Charming illustrations take the reader along with two little girls as they bike beneath the waves, discovering the beauty of coral and seashells, and the deliciousness of marine edibles.

Unstoppable Octobia May

by Sharon Flake This latest entry by award-winning Pittsburgh author Sharon Flake follows Octobia May, a nine-year-old sleuth who lives with her non-traditional Auntie in a 1950s boarding house. The story blends childhood adventure with the contemporary themes of colorism, racism, and feminism.

Legendborn

by Tracy Deonn

young readers into a whimsical romp.

Auggie, the young caretaker of magical creatures, must rescue newborn wisp Willa from three robed hunters.

Ages 8-12 Black Brother, Black Brother

by Jewel Parker Rhodes In this emotionally gripping and relevant story by a Pittsburgh native, Black Brother, Black Brother follows two brothers, one who presents as white, while the other as Black, and the complex ways in which they are forced to navigate the world, all while training for a fencing competition.

Ages 6-9

The List of Things That Will Not Change

by Rebecca Stead In these days of uncertainty, it is easy to identify with Bea as she refers to the list her parents gave her when they divorced. Although she has the support of her loving family, she also has great anxiety about the new changes her father’s remarriage is bringing.

Willa the Wisp (The Fabled Stables series) by Jonathan Auxier, illustrated by Olga Demidova Pittsburgh author Jonathan Auxier takes

A Thousand Questions

by Saadia Faruqi Told from two points of view, this

The Day Saida Arrived by Susana Gomez Redondo, illustrated by Sonja Wimmer, translated from Spanish by Lawrence Schiel Stunning pictures depict two girls forging a forever-friendship by learning each other’s language.

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compelling story of friendship crosses class and cultural boundaries. While Mimi visits her grandmother in Pakistan for the first time, she meets Sakina, the girl who works in the kitchen. At first, the two girls are like oil and water, but after time they find that each of them can play a key part in helping make the other’s dream come true.

Ages 10 and up Everything Sad is Untrue (a true story)

by Daniel Nayeri Daniel tells stories Scheherazade-style to his fifth-grade class, hoping to gain acceptance. His tales of dramatic episodes in his Iranian ancestors’ lives are remarkable in content in form, and woven into anecdotes of his new Oklahoma life.

Coral Reefs and Other Colorful Creatures

by Matt Holbein Part pop-up book, part textbook, Coral Reefs is an educational, interactive folding book that features more than 100 species of marine life found in the world’s four largest coral reef systems.

The work is from Pittsburgh designer, illustrator, and artist Matt Holbein, who co-founded The Foliage Library, which creates projects that incorporate elements of art, geometry, engineering, and environmentalism.

Nadya Skylung and the Cloudship Rescue

by Jeff Seymour and Brett Helquist Middle In this otherworldly pirate-fantasy novel, Nadya Skylung must rescue the crew of the cloudship Orion and save her chosen family from attack. It’s perfect for a strong reader and budding writer to read alone — but also suitable to read as a family on long winter nights.

Ages 12 and up Legendborn by Tracy Deonn In this captivating mix of Arthurian legends and Southern Black magic, Bree Matthews joins a secret society to unravel the mystery of her mother’s death and ends up discovering her own unique powers. The love triangle and unexpected twists will have readers begging for the next installment of this trilogy.

Ages 10 and up Prisoner 88 by Leah Pileggi Inspired by the shocking true story of 10-year-old Jake Oliver Evans, a prisoner in the Idaho Territorial Penitentiary in 1885, Prisoner 88 is a chronicle of right and wrong set in the Old West. It’s also the debut novel from Pittsburgh author Leah Pileggi.

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SEVEN DAYS IN PITTSBURGH THU., DEC. 10

students from around the city for the Big Spin Dreidel Competition, hosted by the Hillel Jewish University Center of Pittsburgh.

8 p.m. Online registration required. hilleljuc.org/event/thebigspin

ART • VIRTUAL The Westmoreland Museum of American Art gives some insight to its Diversity Billboard Art Project with a virtual talk featuring participating artists Shane Pilster and Tina Williams Brewer. Both artists will discuss their perspective works – CommUNITY

by Pilster and Embracing Collective Cultures by Brewer – which were inspired by the theme “Make Our Differences Our Strengths.” The talk will be moderated by the project’s lead artist, Sheila Cuellar-Shaffer.

7-8 p.m. Free with registration. thewestmoreland.org/events

SUN., DEC. 13 LIT • VIRTUAL Join Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures for an event with Lauren Tarshis, author of the I Survived series, which tell the stories of scary historical events through the eyes of children who lived through them. Her latest, I Survived the California Wildfires, follows an 11-year old boy who suddenly finds himself caught in the path of the devastating 2018 fires.

2:30 p.m. Video available for one week. Free. pittsburghlectures.org

FRI., DEC. 11 THEATER • VIRTUAL

OPERA • VIRTUAL PHOTO: DAVID BACHMAN PHOTOGRAPHY

^ Yazid Gray in Pittsburgh Opera’s Soldier Songs

SAT., DEC. 12 ZOO • IRL The family may not be able to travel for the holidays, but you can still take a trip to the tropics with Season’s Greetings Saturdays at the National Aviary. The event will feature meet-and-greets with some of the Aviary’s birds, as well as holiday crafts, and dropping letters in a “North Pole-approved mailbox.” This event requires timed tickets. 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Continues through Sat., Dec. 19. 700 Arch St., North Side. $14.95-17.95. aviary.org

FILM • IRL

LIT • VIRTUAL

Small town = Butler, Pa. Nostalgia = Starlite Drive-In. Outdoor Christmas activities = check! It’s practically a Lifetime holiday movie come to life!

Head up north for Starlite’s Fifth Annual Christmas at the Drive-In, featuring Polar Express and It’s a Wonderful Life. There will also be lots more holiday fun, including a socialdistance friendly visit from Santa Claus, Christmas llamas, and horse and carriage rides. 6 p.m. Also Sat., Dec. 12. 1985 N. Main St. Ext. Butler. $6 per person. starlightdrive-in.com

The portrayal of so-called “Middle America” tends to be limited to one that is working class and white. University of Minnesota professor Terrion L. Williamson wants to change that image with Black in the Middle. Belt Publishing describes the anthology as “a collection of personal narratives, thought-provoking art, and searing commentaries” encompassing the Black Middle American experience. White Whale Bookstore will present the first of a three-part Virtual Conversation Series about the book with a panel that includes Williamson and several contributors

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representing Pittsburgh and other places.

7-8:30 p.m. Free with registration. whitewhalebookstore.com/events

HOLIDAY • VIRTUAL Hanukkah is a holiday about making do with what you have, so in the middle of a pandemic, it only makes sense to celebrate on Zoom. Join college

^

When Pittsburgh Opera realized it had to shift its scheduled in-person production to a virtual setting, it chose not to abandon its original performance plan. Soldier Songs, a 60-minute opera focused on “combat and its impact on members of the military and their families,” is being live-streamed from the Opera’s headquarters with a complete live orchestra, providing at-home audiences with “all kinds of neat angles and close-ups.” The story follows the main character “The Soldier” (played by Yazid Gray) from his time as a child playing with toy soldiers to his time as a veteran looking back at his years in the service. All songs will be sung in English. 7:30 p.m. Free. youtube.com/user/PittsburghOpera and facebook.com/PittsburghOpera

The team behind Verdi by Vegetables: the Movie are pretty sure it’s the first-ever Vegetable Puppet Opera Movie. And there is no sense in arguing because the virtual event includes the film premier and interludes for veggieopera trivia, cocktails, bingo, prizes, raffles, and virtual mingling with the artists and creators. And it’s all a fundraiser for performing arts group Resonance Works Pittsburgh.

3 p.m. $25 minimum donation. resonanceworks.org

PHOTO: ELLIOT CRAMER

Celebrate the holiday season at the National Aviary.

PHOTO: PITTSBURGH DOWNTOWN PARTNERSHIP

^ Peoples Gas Holiday Market in Market Square

MON., DEC. 14 MARKET • IRL Strap on your face mask and head to the outdoor Peoples Gas Holiday Market for some festive shopping in Downtown Pittsburgh. Now in its ninth year, the Market Square event features a variety of vendors, food, and activities. Browse traditional gifts from around the world and from Pittsburgh shops like 837 North, Keystone Steel Co., and love, Pittsburgh. Kids can stay safe while checking off their wish list during a Zoom call with Santa — even better, a suggested donation of $5 for each call benefits the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank. 11 a.m.-8 p.m.

Continues through Wed., Dec. 23.

Market Square, Downtown. Free. downtownpittsburghholidays.com/ peoples-gas-holiday-market

TUE., DEC. 15 THEATER • VIRTUAL Two African American families, one gathering for a traditional Christmas and the other celebrating Kwanzaa, join together in Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre’s Ubuntu Holiday. The comedy is an encore streaming of the company’s

popular 2014 performance, written

by Kim El and directed by Mils James.

Continues through Jan. 3. Free. pghplaywrights.org/ubuntu-holiday-video

WED., DEC. 16 FILM • VIRTUAL The 2011 documentary Dark Girls draws inspiration from filmmaker Bill Duke’s childhood experience of being called names for having dark skin. “I tried to put bleach on my skin to lighten it because I thought it was ugly,” Duke recalls in a 2015 inteview with the L.A. Times. His film examines the impact of colorism in the Black community, especially with women, who are judged and valued based on the lightness of their skin color. The Heinz History Center will present an online screening of Dark Girls as part of its From Slavery to Freedom film series. Dr. Huberta Jackson-Lowman will also discuss the film and “place into cultural and psychological context the impact of colorism on women of African descent,” according to the website.

5:30-8 p.m. Free with registration.

Ticket holders receive a YouTube Live link for the screening event. heinzhistorycenter.org/events

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DECEMBER 9-16, 2020

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ADVERTISEMENT

MINI PUZZLE

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Meet the Medical Assistants on the Central Outreach Wellness Center hepatitis C squad

JENNA PANHORST, MEDICAL ASSISTANT A typical, or “normal” day being a part of the Hep C Cure squad is everything but normal. I am very proud of the work that this position has allowed me to do, as it is a great feeling knowing that I am part of a team that can assist with curing patients from Hepatitis C. We have accomplished many things as a team. We find new clinics each and everyday to test at to prevent the spread of Hepatitis C. We have tested more than 8,000 people since 2017 and have cured over 3,000 people.

My long term goal in this company is to expand our services to Ohio, as we have recently got approval for us to start testing and curing in that state. In the last couple months, I have been able to share our team goal with many different doctors and nurses at various clinics, and have also been able to schedule repeat visits. My goal is to find as many clinics/rehab facilities as possible to stop the spread of Hepatitis C.

HALEY MILLER, MEDICAL ASSISTANT I can confidently say I am improving my skills and knowledge on a daily basis with the opportunity I was given working on the hep c team. I have grown as a person, teammate and caregiver. I never thought I’d get involved working with infectious diseases; it was never my plan with caregiving due to the high risk level of infection. I can only be blessed to continue to grow with the company to help/cure as many people as possible and to stop the spread of hepatitis c and hiv. My long term goal is to proceed in the field that never stops growing, the medical field, and to always put a smile on my patients face guardless the news they are given.

LEXI FONTANA, MEDICAL ASSISTANT A normal day for me is waking up and heading to a clinic (Methadone, Suboxone, Inpatient or Outpatient) doing an education and then rapid testing people for Hep C and HIV. Pending results, the patient then works with me until they are completely cured of hepatitis C. As a team we change lives everyday by educating, testing, and curing. That is one of my biggest accomplishments and I’d love to continue helping people.

ALEX YOUNG, MEDICAL ASSISTANT/DIRECTOR OF MARKETING My position at Central Outreach was offered to me post graduation and it has been the start to my career. I am grateful for the opportunity to help others in the way that we do-- improving their quality of life with access to great healthcare.

We rely on community organizations to host us at their facilities so we can then test and find people with hepatitis C. This service is convenient for patients because we meet them where they are, even if that is their own home, and send medication to their doorstep if they need it. Easy access to the hep C cure is important because hepatitis C is one of the most deadly infectious diseases in the world according to the CDC, and many people don’t know they have it.

Central Outreach is still offering testing at their North Shore location.

All tests – COVID, HIV, Hep C, and STI – are free.

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1. Simply not true 6. Huge chunk 10. Dead zone?

14. No longer sleeping 15. Where it all begins 16. Military chopper 17. Run-of-themill flirt?

20. Looked over 21. “’Twas just a scratch” 22. Galileo Galilei Airport city 23. Grazer’s spot 25. Broken ground?

26. Puppet that cleans up around the house?

34. Comic Gardner of “SNL” 35. They know every corny joke in the book 36. Missing from the post 37. “___ happening!”

38. “Sevastopol Sketches” author 41. Bother 42. Low end of the Mohs scale 44. Bread served with hummus 45. Bulletproof protections 47. French bread made of sludge and grime?

50. Pilot product 51. Pretoria’s land: Abbr.

52. Finished

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EMILY NOLAN, MEDICAL ASSISTANT I originally started working with Central Outreach Wellness Center while completing an internship in my final semester of college. It was clear within my first week of working how impactful this job is, not only to my life but others as well. Offering competent LGBTQ health care to the community is a truly amazing opportunity, and I was absolutely thrilled when I heard I was hired to be part of this fruitful team.

Everyday I wake up, go to work at one of our multitudes of locations, composed of suboxone and methadone clinics, rehab facilities, out-patient facilities, county jails, and house visits.

At each facility my team tests for hepatitis C and is a link for the cure. I really just get to help people take a step in the right direction everyday.

We take the pressure off of the patient and alleviate many of the difficulties to actually receive treatment. Our outreach program does not make our patients jump through hoops in order to receive the cure. We do our outreach by coming to the patient at either a facility they are at or by scheduling house visits. My team is there for the patient each step.

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MEGAN ACKERMAN, MEDICAL ASSISTANT I got involved with this by getting my husband cured by Central Outreach Wellness Center and thoroughly enjoying the services that they offered. Providing compassionate care to a population of humans that are often looked over is really what this is about.

Typically we go to drug and alcohol facilities. About 70% of IV drug users have hepatitis c. We go anywhere from inpatient to outpatient. We participate with other organizations in events where our services are needed.

Many other doctors’ offices don’t want to “deal” with HCV or the person that has it. They make it a complicated process and most people end up giving up seeking treatment through those providers and inevitably put others at risk for infection.

We provide a service that has saved thousands of lives already and thousands of more to come.

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ince 2017, Central Outreach Wellness Center has been running a hepatitis C outreach program, focusing on the addiction recovery communities. Testing sites, which use rapid test kits, have been set up at methadone, suboxone, pain management clinics, and homeless shelters across Western PA. Today, Central Outreach is the leading curing center for hepatitis C in the U.S. But, this outreach wouldn’t be possible without a team.

Today, we’re meeting the Medical Assistants who are part of Central Outreach’s Hep C Cure Squad. Medical Assistants: Emily Nolan, Lexi Fontana, Haley Miller, Jenna Panhorst, Megan Ackerman, and Alex Young, who is also the Director of Marketing.

This article is second in a two-part series on the Central Outreach Wellness Center hepatitis C squad.

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54. Guest Post piece 57. “My stars!”

61. Gambling game that doesn’t last very long?

64. Woman’s voice 65. “I’ve ___ thinking” 66. Dolphins coach Flores 67. General atmosphere 68. Poses questions 69. Practical jokes

DOWN 1. The bestest one evah!

2. Departed 3. Where you might strike 4. Helmet, in slang 5. Sashimi fish 6. Did a crawl 7. Crazy in the coconut 8. Loopy 9. Messy meal that comes with a Wet-Nap 10. “Why, I never!”

11. Some require tags 12. Suggesting explicit awareness of itself 13. Top seed’s benefit, maybe 18. Hemsworth of Hollywood 19. At the top of 24. Polish for publication 25. Not bad but not great

26. Power Trip’s genre 27. Stewardesses’ workspace 28. Go off script 29. One who smokes marijuana religiously 30. Name plate?

31. Unexpected ending 32. Rich dessert 33. Certain lodge members 34. Most-streamed songs, presumably 39. Unfilled, as dates 40. ___ Tumor (experimental electronic musician) 43. Provincetown’s locale 46. Knickknack holder

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48. Total number of Oscar nominations for Marilyn Monroe 49. Language of Lahore 52. Capital on a fjord 53. Canceling power 54. Poems detailing heroic deeds 55. Class in a church basement, for short 56. Mind-numbingly long time 58. Escalator company 59. Yards after the catch, e.g.

60. Coop residents 61. Three hours before school often starts 62. Magic league 63. “Daisy” ad pres.

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NAME CHANGE

NAME CHANGE

IN The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: No. GD-20-11480.

In re petition of Willie Bell Barnes for change of name to Willa Bell Barnes. To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the 15th day of January, 2021, at 9:30 a.m., as the time and the Motions Room, City-County Building, Pittsburgh, PA, as the place for a hearing, when and where all persons may show cause, if any they have, why said name should not be changed as prayed for

IN The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: No. GD-20-10822. In re petition of Milton Lee Banks, Jr. for change of name to Makaio Tendaji Bey. To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the 6th day of January, 2021, at 9:30 a.m., as the time and the Motions Room, City-County Building, Pittsburgh, PA, as the place for a hearing, when and where all persons may show cause, if any they have, why said name should not be changed as prayed for

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Metro Community Health Center offers a complete set of health care services to everyone, regardless of identity, insurance status, income or the ability to pay.

Services include full medical care, mental health care, dentistry, and other supportive services. Make an appointment by calling 412-247-2310 and visit our website, www.metrocommunityhealthcenter.org, to learn more.

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1789 S. Braddock Ave, #410 Pittsburgh, PA 15218 To make an appointment: (412) 247-2310

OFFICIAL ADVERTISEMENT

Free confidential testing HIV • stD • hep c

OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PITTSBURGH

ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS Sealed proposals shall be deposited at the Administration Building, Bellefield Entrance Lobby, 341 South Bellefield Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15213, on January 12, 2021, until 2:00 P.M., local prevailing time for:

SERVICE & MAINTENANCE CONTRACTS AT VARIOUS SCHOOLS, FACILITIES, FACILITIES & PROPERTIES: • Gas and Oil Burners, Boilers and Furnaces Inspection, Service, and Repairs (REBID) • Concrete Maintenance (REBID) • Fire Extinguisher and Fire Hoses Service and Maintenance (REBID)

VARIOUS SCHOOLS

• Carbon Monoxide Detectors Phase III • Mechanical and Electrical Primes

PGH. MIFFLIN PREK-8 • Various Asphalt and Concrete Repairs • General Prime Project Manual and Drawings will be available for purchase on December 7, 2020 at Modern Reproductions (412-488-7700), 127 McKean Street, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15219 between 9:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. The cost of the Project Manual Documents is non-refundable. Project details and dates are described in each project manual.

We are an equal rights and opportunity school district.

Dr. Stacy Lane, D.O. • 412-515-0000

HELP HEal all WITH NO JUDGEMENT

your body & soul

are welcome

• ALL INSURANCES ACCEPTED • WALK INS WELCOME • tRANSPORATION PROGRAM • NO INSURANCE? WE CAN HELP North Shore - 127 Anderson Street - Suite 101 Timber Court Building, PIttsburgh, PA 15212 Phone: (412) 322-4151 washington, pa - 95 Leonard Avenue Suite 203, Washington PA 15301 Phone: (724) 249-2517 beaver county - 2360 hospital drive Suite 1, aliquippa, pa 15001 Phone: (724)707-1155

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DECEMBER 9-16, 2020

31

y a d i l Ho

FUN REIMAGINED! ys DowntownPittsburgh.com/Holida

HOLIDAY GIFT SHOPPING MERRY MARKET: Pop-Up On Penn

LAST E! C CHAN

PENN AVE. DEC. 12-13

SMALL MALL 922 PENN AVENUE

POP-UP ON FIFTH 230 5TH AVENUE

You can choose a Black Santa or White Santa for your family experience.

PEOPLES GAS HOLIDAY MARKET™ MARKET SQUARE

n w o t n w Do RATED

Find Safe Holiday Fun!

DECO

USE THE QR CODE!

Cocktail Trail: Holiday Edition Enjoy festive cocktails at Downtown Restaurants until the end of the month.

MORE

FUN

At select garages through the end of the year.

Staying Safe Is A Priority Health and safety remain a top priority for the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership. Our reimagined holiday attractions help ensure safe experiences so that the spirit and wonder of the season may continue.

Eat, D E Drink & Be Merry 24+ restaurants will keep you warm, cozy and safe as you dine outdoors. Reserve your own private igloo!

ENJOY $3 PARKING!

HOLIDAY KIDSPLAY. SELFIE GARDEN

Strike a pose in Heinz Hall Courtyard with backdrops and cut-outs featuring children’s TV characters .

Go to DowntownPittsburgh.com/HolidayParking