December 16, 2020 - Pittsburgh City Paper

INSIDE: A FORMER POST-GAZETTE JOURNALIST’S ALLEGATIONS OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT WERE AN OPEN SECRET. DID THE UNIVERSITIES HE WORKED FOR HELP KEEP IT THAT WAY? FREE EVERY WEDNESDAY PITTSBURGH’S ALTERNATIVE FOR NEWS, N NE WS, ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT SINCE 1991

Pittsburgh activist > Jalina McClarin

What local LGBTQ organizers and legislators say must be done post-election

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THE BIG STORY

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Allegations of sexual misconduct, emotional abuse, and manipulation of college students abound against former Pittsburgh Post-Gazette journalist Michael Fuoco. But despite some warnings, the universities and institutions in charge of protecting students didn’t do much to stop him.

BY RYAN DETO // RYANDETO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

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AST WEEK, the New York Times reported on former Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Michael Fuoco’s history of alleged sexual misconduct. The story detailed accusations against Fuoco of inappropriate behavior, sexual harassment, and mental abuse from several women over several years. Reporting by the Times implied that the Post-Gazette and the union that represents its journalists, which Fuoco was president of from 2010 until a few months ago, didn’t respond forcefully to allegations, failing to stop Fuoco’s alleged behavior.

The Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh has rebuked those implications, saying in a statement “there is no cover-up here,” and claiming the union took action the day that credible accusations had been presented. Post-Gazette management has also defended the level of punishment it levied against Fuoco, and said it was only aware of one complaint, not the several detailed in the New York Times report.

But allegations against Fuoco don’t just span his time at Pittsburgh’s largest paper or his time as union president. Fuoco also worked as an adjunct professor at two Pittsburgh universities, and former students have also lodged allegations against him of inappropriate behavior and emotional manipulation of college-aged women, who were often 30 to 40 years younger than Fuoco.

Pittsburgh City Paper spoke to five sources who say they lodged complaints against Fuoco while he was an adjunct professor at Point Park University and the University of Pittsburgh, as well as times before he was an adjunct at the schools, when he was invited to speak to journalism students. Three women have detailed specific allegations against him that span at least 10 years, and include accusations that Fuoco used his status as a professor and award-winning journalist to pressure them into inappropriate situations.

Diana Kelly first met Fuoco when she was a student at Pitt in 2002. After the semester, Fuoco allegedly invited Kelly out for a drink to discuss her future as a journalist. But while at a South Side bar, Kelly, who was suffering from depression at the time, says it became clear Fuoco was interested in more than journalism. Fuoco, 30 years her senior, slid closer to her throughout the night, Kelly says, and then kissed her. That began an on-and-off again relationship that Kelly says was riddled with manipulation from Fuoco.

CP PHOTO: JULIA MARUCA

Michael Fuoco at a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette press conference in June 2020

“I WAS COUNTING ON THE ADULTS SOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE TO DO SOMETHING, TO SAY SOMETHING.” “I was 22 years old, I was a grown adult, I could have made better decisions,” says Kelly. “But I fault him for exploiting his position as a professor and the emotional case I was in. I think he was specifically using his position as an adjunct professor to meet girls.”

Kelly, two other women, and others who have accused Fuoco say the officials at the universities were informed about complaints against Fuoco. Everyone understands that college students are adults, but say they wish university officials, advisors, and professors would have stepped in at times to counsel them about getting into a relationship with Fuoco. And many of them wonder if the university officials and others

informed about allegations could have done more to prevent or limit Fuoco’s contact between students and collegeaged women.

Complaints against Fuoco likely led to his removal from the University of Pittsburgh in the mid-2000s, but he was later hired at Point Park University in the 2010s. About a year after his hiring, complaints against him also led Point Park to not bring him back as an adjunct. After that, Fuoco was partnered with one of his former Point Park students when she became an intern at the Post-Gazette in 2012. That intern recently revealed accusations of Fuoco being inappropriate with her at the end of her internship.

According to the New York Times, Post-Gazette veterans called Fuoco’s behavior an “open secret,” dating back at least to the 1990s. Multiple women told CP that Fuoco juggled several sexual relationships with young women at the same time, all while maintaining a marriage to his wife. In the Times, one woman called Fuoco “Pittsburgh’s Harvey Weinstein,” comparing the reporter to the Hollywood producer who used his position of power to manipulate women into believing they could get further ahead in their careers.

But it looks as if the open secret was rarely communicated among university officials, not just between separate universities but within their own walls, potentially letting students enter into interactions with a journalist who has been accused several times of preying on impressionable young women.

This September, Fuoco, 69, resigned from his role as guild president and reporter at the Post-Gazette after Pittsburgh-based labor news site Payday Report published anonymous accusations of sexual misconduct against him.

Fuoco did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story.

In the Times report, which includes mention of some of Kelly’s allegations, Fuoco said the accusations of sexual misconduct against him are “false.”

Kelly detailed her story to CP, and provided hundreds of emails between her and Fuoco that confirm there was a relationship between the two. She was a student in Fuoco’s journalism course beginning in 2002. At the time, Fuoco was a star in the Pittsburgh journalism world and received praise and accolades for his 2000 article “The Confessor,” a feature about a Pittsburgh homicide detective.

Kelly, who was about 30 years Fuoco’s junior at the time, says, as a professor, he highlighted that experience, and while some students thought it was a bit much, she enjoyed it.

“All we did was just read his newspaper articles and talk about how wonderful it was,” says Kelly, who is now a high school teacher. “I sort of bought into it. And he told me that I was super wonderful and talented. He said I had this great future in journalism.”

When the semester ended, Kelly says she went out to drinks with Fuoco at the Lava Lounge, a former bar in the South Side. There, she says, they sat in a booth and didn’t really talk about her journalism career like Kelly assumed they would, and Fuoco eventually kissed her after sliding closer to her.

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Point Park University in Downtown Pittsburgh

Kelly says she was suffering from severe depression at the time, and that was a big reason she transferred to Pitt from Penn State University, to be closer to family and her health network. She says Fuoco was aware of her depression and that during their relationship, he even bragged about his ability to detect “drug problems, daddy issues, or mental health issues” in women.

“He is proud of this because he knows he can go after those with mental issues, or drug issues,” says Kelly. “I have a chronic pain disorder.

This is lifelong.”

Brian Washington was Kelly’s boyfriend, who she left to start her relationship with Fuoco. Washington, now a small business owner in Charlottesville, Va., told CP that he contacted the Pitt English Department in Spring of 2003 to issue a complaint about Fuoco. He says he informed the department about what Fuoco was “doing to girls and how

the girls thought he loved them” and alleged to the university that Fuoco was using drugs like cocaine and providing drugs to girls and students.

“There was a lot of emotional manipulation,” Washington recalls telling Pitt officials.

Washington says he also told Pitt about Fuoco impregnating another college student, which was information relayed to him from Kelly. Court records in a child support case show that Fuoco did impregnate a 22 year-old-student at Point Park around the same time that Kelly was in a relationship with Fuoco.

In a statement sent to CP, University of Pittsburgh officials said the public allegations against Fuoco’s actions are “deeply troubling, and the harmful behavior described in news reports is absolutely unacceptable.”

Pitt says that Fuoco hasn’t taught as an adjunct at the university in over a decade, and that records don’t show

any official complaint raised by Pitt students, but the school is aware that “concerns were raised about Fuoco from two people not affiliated with the University.” The school’s records indicated that Fuoco was informed of the concerns. There was no record of formal investigation or sanction, according to the university.

It’s unclear when or if Fuoco was ever officially let go by Pitt. In the time since Fuoco was at the university, Pitt says it has established a new inclusion office in 2015, clarified its policy on inappropriate relationships, and defined a more robust process for reporting and addressing misconduct, including anonymous reporting, mandatory training for students on how to report sexual misconduct allegations, and a peer-topeer program for engaging students about consent and healthy relationships.

“While this work is underway, it is far from complete, and we continue to

seek new ways to prevent sexual misconduct, provide support to victims, and investigate and address wrongdoing,” reads a statement from Pitt.

Pitt’s former English Department chair David Bartholomae says he was contacted about Fuoco, but that it wasn’t Washington who contacted him.

Bartholomae says he then met with Fuoco and “made clear the university’s position on sexual harassment and intimate relations with students.” He says he reported Fuoco to the Dean, as well as “alerted those involved with the journalism courses to let me know immediately if they received complaints or concerns from students.”

Bartholomae says he never received another complaint from a student during his tenure.

Kelly says she understands the predicament that universities are in when receiving reports about relationships between students and professors, since CONTINUES ON PG. 8

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The University of Pittsburgh in Oakland

students are almost always adults. She also acknowledges those waters become murkier when college-age people are no longer direct students of professors and lecturers.

Pitt’s current policy prohibits intimate relationships between a faculty member and a student whose academic work, teaching, or research is being supervised or evaluated by the faculty member. If a relationship does occur, the faculty member must remove themselves from all supervisory, evaluative, and/or formal advisory roles with respect to the student. This policy was adopted in 2017, and it’s unclear what the university policy was in the mid 2000s.

But Kelly does believe Pitt could have at least initiated an investigation upon receiving a complaint about an inappropriate relationship. Kelly says most of the correspondence she had with Fuoco was through her Pitt email.

While she felt she was in love with

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Fuoco at the time, she still doesn’t really know if she would have refused to speak to the university if she had been contacted. As she has gotten older, Kelly says she has realized that Fuoco was emotionally manipulating her.

Kelly mentions a time when she says Fuoco wanted to watch her have sexual relations with his brother.

“If the university gets a complaint and a victim’s name is mentioned, like in my case, then maybe I would have talked, and maybe they could have saved me,” says Kelly. “But it obviously didn’t happen.”

Kelly says she isn’t looking to press charges, but does want to raise awareness around these issues of sexual misconduct and inappropriate relationships between college students and professors. She says that perhaps a more stringent background check program could become the standard for college employment, as a way to stop perpetrators from preying on

college students.

Another woman who spoke to CP first met Fuoco when she was a student at Point Park University. Fuoco was 30 years older than her at the time.

“I didn’t know him until he was invited to come and talk to students in fall of 2001,” says the former student, who requested anonymity for this story.

“Our journalism professors were saying this was the person to model after.”

Like Kelly, this Point Park student says she was also told by Fuoco that she was a talented young journalist and asked to review her clips over drinks.

She declined initially, but he emailed and called her several times and praised her more about her journalism.

Eventually, she started a relationship with Fuoco, and she later discovered that she was regularly one of several young women having regular sexual encounters with Fuoco.

She says that Fuoco started to manipulate her, and used his position of

power over her.

“Fuoco didn’t say if I did what he wanted, I would get a job,” says the former student. “But he said if I didn’t do certain things he wanted me to do or if I told the truth about him, I would never work in this town. He also said nobody would believe me.”

Another former Point Park student and former local news reporter who graduated in 2002 and asked to remain anonymous says they were never involved with Fuoco. They say Fuoco was a regular at the River City Inn, a bar popular with journalists at the time, and he would often buy drinks for female students. The former student says many Point Park journalism professors also frequented the bar, and had ample opportunity to observe Fuoco.

“If you didn’t know, you should have known, and if you didn’t know, it was pretty fucking obvious,” says the former student. “Anytime there was anyone young there, even if someone I didn’t

know, he was buying them drinks.

Young women.”

The former student recalls that, one night at an end of the semester party for journalism students, Fuoco was drunk and he hit on at least four different girls.

The former student also says that Fuoco regularly used cocaine, which they say he once offered to them, and would sometimes pressure people to smoke majriuana in his car with him.

A 2010 profile of Fuoco in the Point Park Globe student newspaper reports that Fuoco admits growing close to students, “many of whom came from dysfunctional families and did not have positive male role models.”

“On the weekends I would take them out on my own dime,” Fuoco said in 2010 of college students, “because no one else was going to do that.”

The former student who had a relationship with Fuoco says he claimed he was estranged from his wife, but she says his wife still worked at the PostGazette with Fuoco. The Globe profile of Fuoco quoted his wife in the story.

Another former student, who worked at Point Park’s student newspaper, started to work on a story on Fuoco, after hearing accounts of Fuoco’s behavior towards students. They first reached out to a Point Park professor, who they declined to name, who told them to contact Fuoco directly. When they called Fuoco, they claim he told them that they shouldn’t write the story, telling the student they “would never work in this town” if they did.

The former student who had a relationship with Fuoco says she contacted Point Park journalism professor Bill Moushey in 2005 and informed Moushey about Fuoco, since she knew he was starting another relationship with a Point Park student. She says Moushey, who published a book about Jerry Sandusky and the cover-up of sexual assault at Penn State, was close friends with Fuoco.

“Bill Moushey didn’t ever cross a line, but he basically protected his friend who was the biggest creep in Pittsburgh,” she says.

Moushey didn’t respond to a request for comment for this story. Helen Fallon, the chair of Point Park’s department of journalism and mass communication from 1998 to 2008, says that she was never informed about Fuoco’s behavior and that no Point Park student ever reached out to her about Fuoco.

Despite the alleged complaints by

the former student in 2005, Fuoco was still hired as an adjunct professor at Point Park in 2010.

“I was counting on the adults somewhere along the line, to do something, to say something,” says the former student. “That 30 year age difference is enough. This man is serial, a serial womanizer.”

The former student again lodged a complaint against Fuoco in December of 2011, when she learned he was teaching at the university. She says that Heather Star-Fielder, a professor at Point Park, responded promptly to the complaint.

Star-Fielder didn’t respond to a request for comment, but Point Park spokesperson Lou Caruso said that “Point Park University has zero tolerance for sexual harassment, ethnic intimidation, and gender discrimination” and that when the university was made aware of concerns that, while not a formal complaint, it “led to a decision to not reappoint him to teach at Point Park University.” Fuoco taught two classes at Point Park, one in 2010, and one in 2011.

“Was it illegal? Perhaps not. Was it wildly inappropriate, uncomfortable, and emotionally damaging? Yes,” wrote Petsko in the post.

Petsko says that Fuoco kept buying her drinks throughout the night despite her refusals, and then he pressured her into smoking marijuana in his car with him. She says she refused that, too.

“I remember him saying, ‘You look like the most beautiful woman in the world right now,’ and ‘You must find me attractive, don’t you?’ followed by an insinuated offer to go somewhere else,” wrote Petsko.

Petsko says she rejected Fuoco and says she tried to diffuse the situation, telling him, “I’m 40 years younger than you and this is starting to sound like sexual harassment.” According to Petsko, he then became angry and claimed that he’s received unwarranted accusations of sexual misconduct in the past.

“It was a shock, and a complete betrayer of trust,” says Petsko in an interview with CP. “I really looked up to him, he was a good mentor, and gave

“WAS IT ILLEGAL? PERHAPS NOT. WAS IT WILDLY INAPPROPRIATE, UNCOMFORTABLE, AND EMOTIONALLY DAMAGING? YES.” Caruso says “the policy of the University’s Title IX office is that a victim can file a claim at any time, regardless of how long ago the incident occurred — there is no statute of limitations.”

Even though Fuoco only taught at Point Park for a short time, a former student named Emily Petsko believes his time there was part of what led to an alleged inappropriate encounter she had with Fuoco in 2012.

Petsko was a student in Fuoco’s class at Point Park in 2010, where she says he often praised her. In 2012, while she was still a senior at Point Park, Petsko had an internship with the Post-Gazette, which is confirmed from a 2012 story on Point Park’s website. While interning, Petsko was paired with Fuoco as her mentor.

She recently revealed on Facebook that, at the end of her internship, Fuoco came on to her after she went out with him for drinks. Fuoco was nearly 40 years older than Petsko at the time.

good advice. In hindsight, it was a clear abuse of that power.”

She says that Fuoco was impaired when he was driving her from bar to bar, and she felt that him driving her probably limited her ability to leave each situation.

Petsko posted her story to Facebook last week, and she says it was the first time she publicly revealed what happened to her. She says she hasn’t filed a formal complaint about Fuoco.

Looking back, Petsko says she wishes she had known about Fuoco, that someone would have warned her, and that she was not assigned as his intern protege. She says she believes she was assigned to Fuoco because she was his former student.

When inquired about Fuoco’s behavior while at the Post-Gazette, the paper didn’t respond to specifics about how Petsko was paired with Fuoco or answer questions about if the paper

received any communication from Point Park about complaints the university had received pertaining to students.

The Post-Gazette said, in a statement to CP, that when allegations came to light this year about Fuoco, the paper had outside counsel investigate the matter. That investigation found “only one complaint had been filed concerning Mr. Fuoco’s behavior towards women which was in 2011” and that the paper “appropriately addressed that complaint by suspending Mr. Fuoco for five days without pay.”

Ed Blazina is the interim president of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, the union representing Post-Gazette journalists. He took over as president after Fuoco resigned in September.

He says that Fuoco’s alleged behavior against Petsko is “disgusting” and says that the union wasn’t aware of any firsthand sexual misconduct allegations against Fuoco until September of this year. The union recently said in a statement that an investigation started this year turned up a mention of Fuoco in 2000 that a third-party described at the time as sexual harassment but provided no details.

Blazina said the guild was not made aware of any complaints against Fuoco from Point Park or from the University of Pittsburgh. He says that P-G internships are situations “where we want to foster younger people in the industry,” and that Fuoco’s alleged behavior towards Petsko “is not a part of having an inclusive workplace.”

He says the Post-Gazette has an intern coordinator on staff, but he is unclear who makes the assignments.

He doesn’t believe the guild had any say on which interns are partnered with which staffers.

In the end, several informal complaints occuring at Pitt, Point Park, and the Post-Gazette over the decades appeared to have little effect on sequestering Fuoco away from students and college-aged women.

According to a post on Point Park’s website, Fuoco was invited back to work with the university in 2019, not as an adjunct, but for a journalism panel for high school students. As part of the panel, he apparently took a group of high school students, including several teenage girls and a high school teacher, on a tour of the Post-Gazette offices.

At time of print, Point Park is still advertising this tour with a photo of Fuoco and the students on its website.

•

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Etna borough councilor Jessica Semler

.POST-ELECTION.

THE WORK CONTINUES What local LGBTQ organizers and legislators say must be done post-election

BY MEG FAIR // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

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HE ELECTION IN NOVEMBER was framed as a crossroads, and while President-elect Joe Biden came out on top on the national level, down ballot races in Pennsylvania showed Democrats losing ground and seats. As many paced around on election night and the days to follow, local LGBTQ activists were already forging ahead with the work that needed to be done — work that existed before the election on issues that aren’t immediately solved by an election, either.

Dena Stanley, CEO and founder of TransYOUniting, has been hard at work. After a summer of marching in the streets, Stanley is currently focused on the survival of LGBTQ community members. “Right now my focus is on making sure every trans person has a place to stay and a hot meal, making sure people are not out in the cold in the middle of a pandemic,” she says.

The pandemic has certainly worsened economic circumstances for many, and members of the LGBTQ community, particularly trans people of color, were already economically vulnerable. According to a 2019 UCLA study, 21.6% of LGBTQ people experience poverty, with that number reaching 30.8% for queer Black people. “Pittsburgh’s Inequality Across Gender and Race” 2019 report demonstrated that Black people living in Pittsburgh face serious health and economic disadvantages, and all of these data points are exacerbated by 2020’s pandemic recession.

CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

Dena Stanley, CEO and founder of TransYOUniting

So while a Biden victory will mean some wins for the the LGBTQ community, such as overturning Trump’s anti-trans policies, local Pittsburgh leaders and elected officials still realize there are many goals to accomplish, and the fight for equality continues.

“When results started coming in, no matter who won, there was gonna be work that had to be done,” says Stanley.

“It would be a little harder with Trump, and with Biden we can have a little more of a fighting chance, but it’s still hard.”

Pennsylvania still does not have any legislation that provides legal protection to members of the LGBTQ community.

Pittsburgh and Allegheny County have passed nondiscrimination protections that protect on the grounds of gender identity and expression, as well as sexual orientation, but the surrounding counties have no protections. That means LGBTQ people are left vulnerable to evictions, housing discrimination, and a lack of

public accomodations with no legal recourse if they are targeted.

“Outside of the county, you can evict trans people, you don’t have to accept them in hospitals, and it’s not against the law. You can treat a trans person any way you want. It’s unacceptable. That’s why we were in the streets [this year], to remind people of that,” says Stanley.

And organizing around trans issues benefits the whole LGBTQ community.

“When you take trans women, since they are at the bottom of the barrel, when you elevate them, you elevate the whole community,” says Stanley.

A Biden victory is a relief for most, but the relief is relative, and some advocates are still skeptical. As Attorney General of California, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris defended the denial of genderaffirming surgery for Michelle Norsworthy, a trans woman imprisoned in a men’s facility. While Biden’s campaign platform did include guidance about inmates

receiving gender-affirming care and being assigned by gender, local organizers are not comforted.

Allegheny County Jail has a record of housing trans women with male prisoners, and trans women of color are disproportionately criminalized and incarcerated. ACJ also tends to use solitary confinement as a way to separate trans inmates when they voice concerns, a practice many consider inhumane.

The Alliance for Police Accountability in Pittsburgh is working on two ballot initiatives, one of which is to end solitary confinement at the jail.

“The elimination of solitary confinement is something that will benefit Black trans people [in ACJ],” says Jalina McClarin, a Pittsburgh activist and abolitionist.

McClarin has spent this year organizing around defunding and abolishing the police, as well as working with Stop The Station, a movement against relocating a police station to East Liberty.

And while elimination of solitary confinement will especially help trans women of color, activists believe it will also help all incarcerated people. State Representative-Elect Jessica Benham of District 36 agrees with that sentiment, that fixing conditions for the most vulnerable translates to fixing societal problems overall. “All issues are LGBTQ issues — we are people who need housing, health care, education, paid sick leave. These all apply to the broad population and impact us too,” says Benham, who openly identifies as bisexual. “It may impact us [in the LGBTQ community] differently, but we all benefit from prioritizing things like public health and economic recovery.”

Benham ran and won as an openly queer woman, as well as the first autistic person to win a representative seat.

Benham feels addressing broader societal issues gives legislators the chance to zoom in on the specific ways that CONTINUES ON PG. 12

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DECEMBER 16-23, 2020

11

THE WORK CONTINUES, CONTINUED FROM PG. 11

WHAT’S NEXT LGBTQ issues in Pittsburgh’s upcoming 2021 election

BY MEG FAIR INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

As LGBTQ organizers continue to forge ahead with the work needed to be done for their community postelection, they’re also looking ahead to local issues in 2021.

In tandem with organizing around issues affecting local trans and queer folks, including ending solitary confinement at the Allegheny County Jail, organizers like Pittsburgh activist Jalina McClarin are also concerned about the impact that the proposed 2021 budget for Pittsburgh will have on the LGBTQ community.

Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto announced the budget in November, with a spending plan of $564 million.

“The budget that Peduto put out is a disgrace,” says McClarin. “The police in this budget are getting a larger share of the budget than they ever had before. The rest of the budget is defunded by like 6 or 8 percent while [the police] are by 2 percent. They drastically cut the emergency medical services budget.”

Dena Stanley, CEO and founder of TransYOUniting, also expresses concerns about the budget. “This budget is putting more money into police, cutting funding for housing and food and committees that ensure people will be in a better position,” says Stanley.

McClarin notes that moving money in that budget back into social services, housing, and health care would benefit LGBTQ people. “Queer people disproportionately face these inequalities. There’s the need for affordable housing, the need for health care because of how often we are cut off from our families, from our support systems,” says McClarin.

Peduto is up for re-election in 2021, along with council members Theresa Kail-Smith, Anthony Coghill, Daniel Lavelle, and Erika Strassburger. •

12

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

CP PHOTO: JARED MURPHY

Pittsburgh activist Jalina McClarin

vulnerable communities are impacted.

“But as someone with a disability and a queer person, I know how unwelcoming politics can be,” says Benham.

She seeks to make politics and the political process more accessible by hopping on Facebook Live to break down what’s happening in Harrisburg, explain the processes for passing legislation, and creating transparency.

“It can be confusing, and I want to help people engage with government in a way that makes sense to them. Government is supposed to be of the people, be by the people, for the people, after all,” says Benham. “It’s shameful when elected officials only engage during an election.”

TransYOUniting’s Trans Visibility Thursdays were used as a vessel of education regarding the election and trans issues.

“Demonstration culture is a way for us to educate our people and educate other folks who never experienced our people, to help people get a better understanding of what’s going on and how the system is working,” Stanley says. “A

lot of folks don’t understand how the systems work. It’s a major problem. We have to be educating folks so they know their rights when it comes to voting and getting the right people in office.”

Unfortunately for members of the LGBTQ community, there are several politicians in office who openly do not support LGBTQ rights. State Rep.-elect Rob Mercuri (R-Pine) won his North Hills seat after transphobic mailers were sent out on his behalf by the PA Family Council, a group that openly opposes same-sex marriage and supports businesses discriminating against LGBTQ people. His opponent, candidate Emily Skopov (D-Marshall), ran ads against Mercuri and the mailers. While the district went for Biden, Mercuri won his state representative race.

“The PA Family Institute that put out that mailer is trash,” says Jessica Semler, who is openly queer and an Etna borough councilor. “While Mercuri won, I don’t think the transphobic messaging was a deciding factor.

Conservatives love to demonize folks

who have abortions or are LGBTQ because they don’t see these folks as whole people who have families, friends, and are part of our communities. That’s why it was great that Skopov in no uncertain terms addressed the mailer.”

Benham also believes that the transphobic attacks and Skopov’s response did not help Mercuri win, seeing as Skopov received a higher vote share than she did when she ran in 2018. “We live in a state that has a pro-Republican gerrymander [for state legislative districts], so when we have a red wave and a blue wave on historic levels, the Republican is going to win,” says Benham.

With a Republican majority in the state House and local and state conservative politicians leaning on transphobia to rile up their voter base, the passage of a state-wide protection for LGBTQ people may seem unlikely. Benham, however, believes that if a bill actually made it to the floor, it would pass.

“The majority of Pennsylvanians support civil rights protections, so I think if it came to the floor, there are

CP PHOTO: JARED MURPHY

State Representative-Elect Jessica Benham

enough Republicans who support it and it would pass,” explains Benham. “The difficulty is getting leadership to bring pro-LGBTQ bills to the floor for a vote.”

Stanley believes that a state-wide non-discrimination bill would be very useful.

“Having a non-discrimination bill in the state of Pa., being a model state for the rest of the country — that’s really really important. Only certain counties have ordinances, and if it passed on a statewide level, folks will know it’s against the law to discriminate, and we’re not going to tolerate it,” says Stanley.

Some local boroughs are trying to fill the state gaps until that happens. Crafton and Etna, two suburbs of Pittsburgh, have both passed non-discrimination ordinances to protect LGBTQ residents.

These ordinances protect people based on sexual orientation, gender expression, and identity. On the other hand, Sharpsburg Borough, whose council is entirely Democrats, rejected a nondiscrimination ordinance 4-3 in October.

For Semler, the issue is close to home.

She is a queer woman, and showing other queer people they have a place in public space is important to her.

“Without action from the state, municipalities need to step up to protect their residents. Ross Township passed a non-discrimination ordinance in 2018, and I wanted to do the same in Etna,” says Semler. “Etna passed ours, followed a week later by Crafton. I’ve heard from folks from six other municipalities so far who have asked how they might begin to start something where they are. I really hope this creates a rainbow domino effect.”

While this election season has passed for Pennsylvanians, progressive legislators and organizers stress there is still much work to do on the local and state level. Biden may be entering the White House in a few weeks, but there is still a pandemic, a recession, police and incarceration issues, and transphobia on a national level.

“A small victory is a small victory and does not change any of the work that needs done,” says McClarin.

•

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DECEMBER 16-23, 2020

13

.BLACK-LED COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT.

CENTER OF LIFE STRENGTHENS HAZELWOOD

BY NARDOS HAILE // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

H

AZELWOOD HAS CHANGED Tim Smith for the better, just as he’s bringing positive changes to the neighborhood through his nonprofit, Center of Life.

When Smith’s family first came to the neighborhood in 1980, his father was a pastor at Hazelwood’s Keystone Church and Smith was studying to become a banker. Now, 40 years later, Smith is a pastor in the same church his father once led, changing his career path from an investment banker to an advocate for children and community development.

Smith, the CEO and founder of Center of Life, founded the nonprofit in 2001, when he says there were needs in the community that were not being met.

The organization functions as many different resources for the community in Hazelwood, focusing on empowering people, children, and families through music, arts, and education.

“Our main purpose is to provide families with the tools, resources, and education necessary to become strong and to make their community [strong],” says Smith. “The best people to make a community strong are the people in the community.”

CP PHOTO: LAKE LEWIS

Pastor Tim Smith

14

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

Like many of Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods, Hazelwood has suffered significant population loss, disinvestment, and lack of homeownership since the decline of the steel industry in Pittsburgh. But in recent years, the neighborhood has been experiencing revitalization thanks to organizations like Center of Life.

“Our organization has always focused on people. Economics are a part of people. Our philosophy of empowerment is we want to give people a fish, and we hope they taste it and want more,” Smith says. “But then, we want to teach them how to fish so they can feed themselves and their families and possibly someone else’s family. We want to teach them how to own the pond that they’re fishing in.”

Smith emphasizes the importance of educating the community about wealth building so that, eventually, people can own property, then provide job opportunities to others, and ultimately own their own economy.

“The first value we have is about serving people. Doesn’t matter whether it’s community or economic development, or whether it’s housing, whether it’s jobs or education, it’s all about people,” says Smith. “We have to make sure we get people into a place of success.”

The easiest way Smith says the public can help Center of Life and the community they serve is by donating their time to educate and mentor the young students who participate in the multitude of programs Center of Life offers.

Even during the pandemic, all of the organization’s programs are free, accessible to everybody, and held every day.

Smith says there are kids who come from all over the Pittsburgh area to participate in offerings like their music program.

“For me, the success litmus test is when parents get involved,” Smith says.

“I think whenever you’re a parent and you put your kids in a program, that’s a success for me because they trust us to work with their children. They trust us to take them to another level.”

He expresses that Center of Life’s philosophy regarding kids is to simply nurture their natural talents and then connect them to opportunity.

“Then we take that opportunity and connect it to education because their natural ability needs to be a skill, and education helps that natural ability become a skill,” Smith says. “Then we take that and we connect it to career, so that everything they’ve been learning as they were growing up, they don’t have to see that as some pie in the sky, they

can see it as reality.”

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the priorities of Center of Life have had to adjust just like the rest of the nonprofit world.

When Center of Life first understood the seriousness of the pandemic in March, the Greater Hazelwood Community Collaborative, a service-based group that Center of Life is a part of, began to pull resources together. When the state was shut down on March 16, Center of Life began delivering food to families in need on the same day.

“As soon as we were delivering food, we found that there were people that were disabled in these homes, living by themselves, people living in some seriously deplorable situations,” Smith says. “We found that there were family situations where there was domestic abuse. We found a lot of things that needed to be addressed. Our familystrengthening department started stepping up to the plate. So it became even more of a priority for us to make sure we were in these homes, not just around the homes.”

CENTER OF LIFE centeroflife.net

Smith says they provide counseling for youth and families, resource guides, and trips to doctors’ offices, aiming to keep families off the streets, while helping them get access to food and medicine.

“Our priorities really haven’t changed in the standpoint of helping the community, but what we do and what we’re spending more time doing now has been some of these things,” Smith says. “Even though we’re still teaching. We still have our programs for kids, many of them are virtual right now.”

Overall, he reiterated the importance of the people working at Center of Life.

“I can’t tell you how valuable and how powerful they are. They’re mostly young people, but they have been doing outstanding job. They’re just a stellar staff, and they will do anything to serve people,” Smith says. “They’ve embraced the value that everything is about people, from our outcomes and evaluations manager, to the person who delivers food, to the person who teaches music. They all hold that value.

They have loved Hazelwood as much as I have loved Hazelwood.”

•

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DECEMBER 16-23, 2020

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.LITERATURE.

STANZAS AND STEPS

BY REGE BEHE CPCONTRIBUTORS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

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VERY TIME PAOLA Corso’s grandmother saw a church, she made the sign of the cross. Corso adopted her grandmother’s tradition when she crossed a bridge over one of the three rivers in Pittsburgh: “In the name of the Allegheny, the Monongahela, and the holy Ohio, amen,” became Corso’s personal prayer.

In Vertical Bridges (Six Gallery Press), a new collection of poems and photos, Corso brings a similar reverence to one of Pittsburgh’s hidden landmarks: the steps that connect city neighborhoods.

“I think it certainly highlights and builds on what we are growing to recognize as a gem of our city, as well as our bridges and rivers,” Corso says of the steps featured in her collection of poems, and personal and archival photographs.

Corso sees the confluence of rivers as sacred ground and says “steps are what connected the sacred ground of the river valley up to the hills, where workers eventually had to move to when factories filled in at the base.”

Citing Bob Regan’s Pittsburgh Steps: The Story of the City’s Public Stairways as an inspiration, Corso explores how steps act as gateways to other places.

The poem “Ode to Bob Regan” pays tribute to the man who “uncovered these steps in places we didn’t even know they existed,” Corso says.

But Bob is / even he is ruly / and he develops / for the first time / ever the counting / plotting, mapping / and photo snapping / of every stairway / in the city.

Those steps are part of a network of approximately 750 public staircases on the South Side, Troy Hill, the North Side, and almost any other place in the city where there is even the hint of a hill.

Corso became interested in steps after moving back to Pittsburgh a few years after living in New York City. She took her sons to a volunteer clean-up of steps in Troy Hill. With a trash bag in hand, looking at the city from Troy Hill, inspiration struck.

“I saw a stage,” Corso says. “Not steps, but theater seats. I really thought this was a performance space, and we had 739 of them all over the city.”

In 2016, Corso co-founded Steppin’

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP PHOTO: PITTSBURGH CITY PHOTOGRAPHER COLLECTION, 1901-2002 FROM THE ARCHIVES AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH LIBRARY

1922 photo of steps in the Hill District Author Paola Corso PHOTO: PAOLA CORSO

Steps beside the Allegheny River, beside the David. L. Lawrence Convention Center in Downtown Pittsburgh

Stanzas with poet Andrew Edwards.

Featuring musicians, poets, and even a belly dancer performing on city steps, Steppin’ Stanzas became a conduit for Corso’s fascination with city steps, with most of the poems in Vertical Bridges culled from that project.

PAOLA CORSO’S VERTICAL BRIDGES paolacorso.com

She also started researching steps from other parts of the world, including India, China, Italy, and Norway. Corso found that steps are not only utilitarian structures, but symbolic in nature.

“There’s the spiritual facet as a way to a higher place that’s going to take us closer to the heavens,” Corso says. “They are a political symbol, a hierarchy with the have-nots at the bottom and, at the top, you have the very powerful. I also

thought in terms of the historical in tracking these incremental changes that take place over time.”

There’s also a personal connection.

Corso calls herself a “riser that’s combining the two treads” as the daughter of immigrants who connects her family history to her sons. But it wasn’t until a few years ago, when Corso was walking around her father’s old homestead in Brackenridge that overlooked a steel mill that was once an Allegheny Ludlum plant, that the personal connection took root.

As she walked, a path of broken stones was revealed from a pile of leaves.

A connection that had been buried for years was now in front of her.

“These steps were built for steelworkers like my father and grandfather, who were both crane operators,” Corso says.

“They were built so they could climb up and down so they could punch in. … It was such an epiphany for me. What I had processed and internalized on an artistic level, I saw on that day as a personal thing for me.”

Follow featured contributor Rege Behe on Twitter @RegeBehe_exPTR

•

Socially-distancing herself but still broadcasting LIVE Every Monday thru Thursday at 10 a.m. Listen in at lynncullen.pghcitypaper.com .MUSIC.

SOULSHOWMIKE’S ALBUM PICKS

Two 2020 releases that deserved a full listen

BY MIKE CANTON // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

A

S A RADIO HOST with deadlines, there’s a tendency to skim tracks of a new album. Sometimes, there’s a note-to-self that the album is worthy of more attention. Let’s cover two 2020 releases that received the full listen.

Bryony Jarman-Pinto released Fish Factory Sessions as a follow-up to her 2019 debut, Cage and Aviary. After frequently airing “As I’ve Heard,” the title track from the first release, I looked forward to the new EP. Fish Factory Sessions is named for the London studio where it was recorded, and it features new music alongside some reworked arrangements from “As I’ve Heard.”

This album is best categorized as jazz. There’s a just-right breathiness to Jarman-Pinto’s vocal delivery. The instrumentation is beautifully sparse, sprinkled with flute and vibes at times.

Here’s a candidate for The Soul Show’s 2020 Top Ten. Also vying for the top is Down To The Lowest Terms: The Soul Sessions by Steve Arrington. After studying percussion under Sheila E., he joined Slave, a great funk outfit from Dayton, Ohio. Arrington emerged as one of Slave’s signature vocalists, emulating, as he said, John Coltrane’s sax with his extended, semi-nasal attack on notes. Fourteen tracks went from socially conscious to uptempo scat to feelgood summer (reminiscent of Arrington’s “Watching You” with Slave.) Wonderful album. My biggest wish was that the late Slave bassist Mark Adams could’ve been here to collaborate with Arrington one more time.

Join me on The Soul Show for the final Top Ten 20 selections: 91.3fm WYEP and wyep.org, Sat., Dec. 26 at 2 p.m.

•

Mike Canton is the longtime host and producer of The Soul Show on WYEP 91.3FM. He recently launched a syndicated edition of the program, now airing in three markets. Both are produced in his Electric Basement Studios. Canton is also a Pittsburgh-area voice artist.

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DECEMBER 16-23, 2020

19

CP PHOTO: MAGGIE WEAVER

.FOOD.

TAKEOUT REVIEW: THE VANDAL

BY MAGGIE WEAVER // MWEAVER@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

L

AST WEEK, I BROKE my typical resolution of “voicemail first” and answered a call from an unknown number in Pittsburgh. To my surprise, it was Joey Hilty, co-owner of The Vandal in Lawrenceville.

The night before, I had ordered takeout from the Butler Street eatery, and Hilty was calling to get direct feedback, asking if menu items traveled well and how pieces of certain dishes — identified as typical problem areas — came out.

I was impressed. In a year when takeout had become the norm, this was the first time someone from a restaurant had called to follow-up on a meal, rather than settling for the accepted drawbacks that come with to-go dining.

In a pre-pandemic world, The Vandal offered a little bit of everything. During the day, it functioned as a casual brunch spot and coffee shop; on previous visits, I walked away from the counter-service bar with an almost too-pretty-to-drink floral latte (garnished with actual flowers). At night, the cozy eatery blurs the

lines between dining styles, providing high-end dishes in a minimalistic, more formal, modern atmosphere.

Mixing styles has worked out quite well for The Vandal, which has kept doing a little bit of everything — though pared down — throughout the pandemic.

The current brunch menu, a sandwich list called “Wish You Were Here,” is divided by cities, featuring a Pittsburgh breakfast — a potato roll, hot sausage patty, and egg — and a New York breakfast — an everything bagel — among others.

For dinner, there’s some expected pieces of an American restaurant — garlic bread, confit chicken wings, and a burger — along with pork schnitzel, lamb dumplings, and a unique take on a classic European fish and chips with shrimp, scallops, and cod.

I chose to go à la carte (online-only dinner packages, composed of an entree and two small plates, were also available) making a spread out of two entrees (short rib and The Vandal burger), an order of lamb dumplings, and a Pimm’s

cup cocktail.

The Pimm’s cup was exactly as I hoped, full of fresh cucumber and herbal flavors. A splash of ginger beer made it slightly more winter-appropriate, the lingering spice adding a touch of warmth to the refreshing drink.

THE VANDAL 4306 Butler St., Lawrenceville. thevandalpgh.com

I wasn’t sold on the lamb dumplings, the spiced meat wrapped in a dough that was tough and over-steamed. The blend of spices, though tasty, masked the flavor of the lamb. A very herb-forward yogurt sauce brightened the hearty bites, though it wasn’t quite enough to bring the dumplings together.

Short rib, or osso buco, isn’t something that I’d normally think of for takeout, but even eaten from a paper container, The Vandal did it justice. (This can be said for all dishes. Even after trekking them to

Follow staff writer Maggie Weaver on Twitter @magweav

20

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

my car in the cold and back to my house, they were still warm.) A side of saffron risotto gave a sweet, floral lift to the rich, tender-as-can-be meat, though the rice was a touch underdone. A dusting of crispy shallots added a nice texture, gremolata finishing the lush dish off with a bit of zing.

But the burger stole the show.

Gruyere, a pile of caramelized onions, and a tomato hollandaise sauce topped off the perfectly pink patty, squished between a buttery, crispy-edged bun.

The sweetness of the onions played well with the sharp slice of cheese, rounded out by the creamy, slightly-acidic sauce.

No burger would be complete without fries, and the twice-fried version from The Vandal was top-notch.

In some restaurants, doing a little bit of everything becomes an overwhelming, 27-page menu filled with half-thoughtout dishes. But The Vandal is doing it right, using small, thoughtful menus to bring interesting touches to classic eats, without losing flavor.

•

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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DECEMBER 16-23, 2020

21

.FILM.

MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM

BY HANNAH LYNN // HLYNN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

T

HE EXPERIENCE OF watching the

film adaption of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is intensely bittersweet.

Sweet, because of the privilege of seeing Pittsburgh playwright August Wilson’s work put to film by some of the best actors of this generation. Bitter, because we’re deprived of the experience of seeing it in theaters, and because one of its stars, Chadwick Boseman, died earlier this year and isn’t around for the welldeserved glory this role gives him.

Ma Rainey — streaming on Netflix beginning Fri., Dec. 18 — is the latest film adaption of a Wilson work. Like Fences, the 2016 adaptation of his Pittsburgh Cycle play, Ma Rainey was shot in his hometown. The depth of Wilson’s work speaks for itself, but the film, directed by George C. Wolfe, brings the story to life with vibrancy and vigor.

Set in Chicago in the 1920s, the film unfolds over the course of a tense recording session for a new album by Ma Rainey (Viola Davis), the real-life, legendary singer also known as the “Mother of the Blues.” Ma is accompanied by her band, a set of mostly affable men, save for Levee (Chadwick Boseman), an ambitious trumpet player with eyes set

on his own fame and success.

While Levee thinks he’s too good for Ma’s songs, Ma herself has a (deservedly) big ego. Not only does she know the scale of her talents, but Ma understands that white-run record companies make good money off her songs. She knows her worth and made sure the white record producers know it. (In real life, Ma Rainey was signed to Paramount Records in 1923, just three years after singer Mamie Smith made the first ever blues recording.)

A series of setbacks, like Ma insisting her nephew with a stutter record the intro to her song, prevent the recording session from going smoothly. Ma’s record producer and manager, both white, become frustrated with her demands, but are also desperate to keep their money-making act happy. In the time spent waiting on Ma, Levee pitches his own songs and flirts with Ma’s girlfriend, while the rest of the band members, Slow Drag (Michael Potts), Cutler (Colman Domingo), and Toledo (Glynn Turman), keep their heads down and practice.

Levee’s qualms lie with Ma singing what he feels is outdated music, and, of course, that Ma is the star and not him.

The band mocks Levee for practically begging the record producer to buy his music, saying he doesn’t know how to act around white people. As the audience learns, Levee knows from experience the dangers of white violence, and as a result, has developed his own way of maneuvering around white people.

MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM Streaming on Netflix Fri., Dec. 18.

Through Levee and Ma, Wilson explores race, religion, art, and money. All of which intersect in the play and film’s criticism of the exploitative record industry and its historically (and ongoing) common practice of white record executives and producers undervaluing, overworking, and/or underpaying Black artists. In Ma Rainey, the singer is determined not to be taken advantage of, and defies her manager just to show that she can. In one scene, she refuses to begin singing until she is brought a cold bottle of CocaCola (Davis’ slow and loud chugging of the soda alone is worth an Oscar).

Follow staff writer Hannah Lynn on Twitter @hanfranny

22

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

PHOTO: DAVID LEE/NETFLIX

Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman star in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

The conflicts within the session don’t end after they finally record a successful take. When Ma fires Levee, it’s clear that all the unrequited anger from his life is about to come bursting out like a volcano.

Throughout his several monologues, Boseman gives a shattering performance.

He so obviously gave this part everything he had, like he may have known it was his last.

The film is engaging, not just for Wilson’s work, or Boseman and Davis’ performances, but for the music, the costumes, the makeup — all of it. Davis disappears into the role of Ma, with the help of exaggerated makeup, gold teeth, and padding that stay true to the real singer’s appearance. Claustrophobia in the studio is telegraphed by Ma sporting a constant sheen of sweat, but even as she sweats, and her makeup runs, Ma is glamorous, especially in her long velvet dresses.

The story ends with a literal twist of the knife, but the final shot — one that isn’t in Wilson’s original play — is just as painful. Without giving it away, the ending will make you hang your head in disappointment at how much music has been ruined because white record labels feared the strength of Black musicians.

•

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23

.SANTA.

SANITIZING SANTA

BY AMANDA WALTZ AWALTZ@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

“DR. FAUCI SAYING SANTA IS IMMUNE WAS A GREAT HELP.”

S

TATING THAT THE holidays look

very different from previous years has become a cliché at this point.

But for people like Lance Skapura, a professional Santa Claus who has performed in and around Pittsburgh for the last seven years, the rote sentiment still carries a lot of weight.

“Everything is a little bit more somber than it would be in a normal year,” says Skapura when describing being hired for private home visits, where his contract requires that everyone wear a mask and adhere to COVID-19 safety guidelines.

“Whenever you come into the home, it’s not the explosion of anticipation that it has been in past years.”

As cases continue to spike, the usual practice of children having one-on-ones with Santa have rightfully been put on hold. In Pittsburgh and around the country, the usual in-person experiences — complete with an obligatory photo of a child most likely bawling in a red-suited performer’s lap — have been canceled, replaced with a virtual, or heavily modified, alternatives.

Skapura represents one of the avenues through which parents and caregivers are still trying to bring joy to their young family members this holiday season while still dealing with and, perhaps, addressing the realities of the pandemic. Skapura, who returned to his regular gig at the Waterfront shopping center in Homestead, says that, instead of avoiding the topic, safe COVID-19 practices have been incorporated into his visits with children.

“Whenever we’re visiting children, we include some things about the pandemic to make them feel that the reality of Santa is the reality they’re living in,” he says, adding how young visitors learn a hand-washing song and are told they will get on the “nice list” if they wear their masks and make sure to practice social distancing.

Skapura says he also talks to children through a glass separator, and that all children are required to wear masks no matter what.

There’s also the issue of kids being worried about Santa getting sick, which Skapura says has been addressed

24

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

CP ILLUSTRATION: ABBIE ADAMS

through some creative means.

“Dr. Fauci saying Santa is immune was a great help,” laughs Skapura.

Adding to this is the myth that Santa is “half-elf” and, therefore, immune to the COVID-19 virus.

While the time-honored tradition of mall Santas may seem like a no-go, some are still trying to keep it going through the crisis. Kristina Circelli, marketing director for Monroeville Mall, says people have been asking about Santa as early as September and “wanting to know what the holiday season would look like and if they’d still be able to have their photos taken.”

In order to avoid long lines and crowding, Circelli says the mall implemented an online system where visitors could reserve a time to meet with Santa.

A press release reads that all visitors must also wear masks before, during,

and after photos.

Even with these safeguards, however, some Santa experiences in Pittsburgh have been shut down, especially after the most recent order put through by Gov. Tom Wolf last week. This includes the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership deciding to end the Santa Zoom experience, along with the closure of the annual Peoples Gas Holiday Market in Downtown.

Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership CEO and president Jeremy Waldrup says that, while the “health and well-being of visitors Downtown has been a priority throughout the implementation of this seasons’ programs and attractions,” the Holiday Market “had to be cut short, but we understand the need to adhere to these new requirements for the safety of both our shoppers and vendors.”

For those still concerned about being exposed to the virus, there are virtual

visits, an option many companies are more than happy to accommodate.

Circelli says the mall offers virtual Santa visits through Cherry Hill Programs, a third-party vendor described as an “industry-leader in experiential photography” that operates holiday experiences in “over 800 venues across the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico during the Christmas and Easter seasons.”

Currently, Cherry Hill offers Create Holiday Magic packages where, for the low, low price of $59.99, kids can have a personalized VIP Live Video Visit with Santa from the North Pole, aka the Cherry Hill corporate office, a quarter of which was heavily converted to resemble the jolly old elf’s headquarters. Other perks include digital photos with Santa, a sugar cookie kit, a Christmas Story Time book, and more.

Cherry Hill chief technology officer,

WE ARE

PHOTO: 9ORANGE PHOTOGRAPHY

Santa performer, Lance Skapura

Graham McFarland, says the virtual experience came about after the company surveyed their customers back in May and found that 30% of them “may not feel comfortable visiting Santa this year or may not be available given the restrictions.”

“We took this information and ran with it, accelerating our plans for a digital platform capable of providing alternatives and options for our customers this holiday season,” says McFarland.

Much like Cherry Hill, the Orlandobased marketing agency 82 South can put kids in touch with the big man through Chit-Chat With Santa, a 10-minute live, interactive, one-on-one video call priced at $35. There’s also a similarly priced 15-minute meeting where Mrs. Claus reads one of three Christmas stories.

Skapura says being able to conduct virtual visits has made a big difference for him, as he lost a significant portion of his income. This includes the complete loss of corporate parties, which he says accounts for about 20% of his business.

“I’ve had a lot of long time clients walk away because they want to continue having an old-fashioned Christmas, and we have to live up to the social distancing and mask wearing to make sure that we keep the children safe,” says Skapura.

Many of his contemporaries have not been so lucky. Skapura belongs to You Sleigh Me, a social organization of about 50 professional Santas, Mrs. Clauses, and other holiday performers from western Pa., Ohio, and West Virginia. The group is an affiliate chapter of the International Brotherhood of Real Bearded Santas,

which, among other things, represents 2,200 performers, many of whom are committed to maintaining real facial hair and other physical traits as a way to look more like Santa.

Skapura, who defines himself as a “real beard and belly Santa,” says the pandemic has led to some Santa performers quitting.

“It’s heartbreaking because some folks who are older and have more underlying medical issues have hung up the suit this year,” says Skapura, emphasizing that the forced retirement means more than losing a source of income. “In this community, it’s not just a job, it’s also a lifestyle. ... You are Santa 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You look the part all year long.”

Still, Skapura says he and his fellow performers are committed to bringing joy to children and families, even if it means breaking with tradition. This includes foregoing Santa’s signature red velvet suit because the costume needs dry cleaned, and therefore can’t be repeatedly laundered to rid the fabric of any viral contaminants. As a result, Skapura says visitors will see Santas wearing more durable, washable cotton garments like overalls.

While precautions like requiring masks and costume changes are key to keeping him safe and healthy, Skapura says he’s more concerned about the people he serves.

“I know that I’m just as apt to get it as everyone else,” says Skapura. “I just really don’t want to be a spreader to children.”

•

Follow senior writer Amanda Waltz on Twitter @AWaltzCP

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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DECEMBER 16-23, 2020

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27

SEVEN DAYS IN PITTSBURGH

PHOTO: ED DEARMITT

^ Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre dancer in Pittsburgh Symphony’s Tapestry of Light: A Holiday Celebration

THU., DEC. 17 DANCE • VIRTUAL Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre dances into your living room with Fireside Nutcracker, a virtual production following a young girl swept into a holiday adventure full of romance, danger, and magic. Even though it’s not on an in-person stage, the show still features all the elements that have made it a favorite for generations, including stunning choreography by the PBT company and the timeless Tchaikovsky score. The opening night includes a virtual celebration, as well as a front-row seat to a beloved seasonal tradition from the safety of your own home. 7 p.m.

Continues through Thu., Dec. 31. Free.

Registration required. pbt.org

FILM • VIRTUAL You may think you know Pittsburgh, but there is still plenty of history to be uncovered. Out of the Archives: Pittsburgh Revealed 2020 can help.

This unique selection of moving images, presented by City of Asylum, was created in or about the Pittsburgh region from the 1930s through the 1990s. The 90-minute

28

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

film even includes home movies from legendary Pittsburgh photographer Charles “Teenie” Harris. 7-8:30 p.m. Free with registration. alphabetcity.org/events

FRI., DEC. 18 LIT • VIRTUAL Join the August Wilson African American Cultural Center for Lit Fridays, a virtual salon featuring conversations and guest performances. This week will focus on mental health with educator, writer, and activist Lacrisha Holcomb, licensed counselor and author, Crystal Joseph, and Rowana Abbensetts, a Guyanese-American fiction and poetry writer who founded Spoken Black Girl, a mental health and wellness platform for women of color. The event will be moderated by the Center’s literary curator, Jessica Lanay.

6 p.m. Free. Registration required. aacc-awc.org/event/lit-fridays

MUSIC • VIRTUAL One of Pittsburgh’s most anticipated yearly holiday performances can still be experienced this year at home as the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra brings its

principal pops conductor and soloist Byron Stripling to the virtual stage with Tapestry of Light: A Holiday Celebration.

Recorded in Heinz Hall, the traditional performances include “old favorites and new surprises,” with a sensory-friendly version also available. 7:30 p.m. Free. pittsburghsymphony.org

SAT., DEC. 19 KWANZAA • VIRTUAL Celebrate Kwanzaa 2020 style with a virtual event from pottery studio Kolor-n-Kiln. With the Virtual Kwanzaa Chalkboard Class, participants will make a “purpose board” to write down the different meanings of the holiday.

While the class is virtual, all materials are provided in a kit to paint from the comfort of your home. 4 p.m. $30. kwanzaaknk.eventbrite.com

SUN., DEC. 20 FILM • VIRTUAL The Harris Theater @ Home cinema program will stream a special presentation

of The Hip Hop Nutcracker, a familyfriendly, pre-recorded show that adds a new spin to an old favorite. Directed and choreographed by Jennifer Weber, The Hip Hop Nutcracker is described by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust as a “contemporary dance spectacle set to Tchaikovsky’s timeless music” and taking place in modern-day New York instead of 19th-century Germany. The eveninglength production features a cast of all-star dancers, a DJ, a violinist, and an appearance by hip-hop legend MC Kurtis Blow. Shows at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Available to stream through Jan. 3, 2021. $20. trustarts.org/film

MON., DEC. 21 TOUR • VIRTUAL Since we’re temporarily unable to drink in bars because of the pandemic, pour a glass of wine at home and join Doors Open Pittsburgh for a night in with new friends online. With “A Virtual Storytelling Experience: Holiday Cheers with Enginehouse Wines, a Truly Unique Winery Experience,” wine aficionados can get virtual access to the

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^ Virtual Stories with Santa with Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

famous wine cellar under the Roberto Clemente Museum, and, if you like, enjoy a tasting with wine experts.

7:30 p.m. $5 minimum donation. $95 for pre-ordered wine sampler. doorsopenpgh.org/virtual-tours

TUE., DEC. 22 ART • VIRTUAL This is the last chance to see Delta Hill Riders and Magicicada at the Silver Eye Center for Photography. The two photography exhibitions offer a compelling look at two very different worlds. For Delta Hill Riders, Rory Doyle captures the historically overlooked subculture of African American cowboys and cowgirls in the rural Mississippi Delta. Sue Abramson focuses on the strange life-cycle of cicadas, following their 17 years of growing underground, then using the exoskeletons shed by the insects after their short time on earth. Silver Eye is currently closed, but you can take a virtual walk through the galleries on the Silver Eye website. On view through Thu., Dec. 31. 4808 Penn Ave., Bloomfield. Free. silvereye.org

KIDS • VIRTUAL

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What’s better than mom or dad reading bedtime stories? Having them read by Santa! With Virtual Stories with Santa, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens has created a fun holiday activity for kids stuck at home during the pandemic. Get the little ones dressed in their favorite PJs and let the big guy from the North Pole read them Penguin and Pinecone: A Friendship Story, a tale about a little penguin who finds a lost pinecone in the snow. 6 and 7 p.m. Free. RSVP at phipps.conservatory.org for Zoom link.

WED., DEC. 23 THEATER • VIRTUAL There’s something special about going to the theater around the holiday season.

While you may not be able to physically be in a theater, the next best thing is experiencing actors over a livestream production, like Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. PICT Classic Theatre will perform Dickens’ classic tale as a RadioPlay, streamed through Broadway OnDemand.

Continues through Sun., Jan. 3. $18.95 per household. picttheatre.org •

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“Medicare & You,” Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2020 Includes the Participating (in GA: Designated) Providers and Preventive Benefits Rider.

Product not available in all states. Acceptance guaranteed for one insurance policy/ certificate of this type. Contact us for complete details about this insurance solicitation. This specific offer is not available in CO, LA, NY; call 1-800-969-4781 or respond for similar offer. Certificate C250A (ID: C250E; PA: C250Q); Insurance Policy P150 (GA: P150GA; NY: P150NY; OK: P150OK; TN: P150TN); Rider kinds B438/B439 (GA: B439B).

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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER DECEMBER 16-23, 2020

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1. Canary Islands owner 6. One-masted boat 11. They play in booths 14. Cheesy dip: Var. 15. One who takes a lot in?

16. “That could be promising” 17. Contribute lightly during a bull session 20. ___ Scott v.

Sandford (landmark 1857 Supreme Court case) 21. Thai restaurant starter 22. Have a touching experience 23. Bird that can eat small frogs and lizards 25. Actor Crompton 26. “Sorry if I offended” 34. “Dust Tracks on ___” (Zora Neale Hurston’s autobiography) 35. Strummer’s instruments 36. Nonspecific amount 37. By ___ of (due to) 38. Side that means the start of 44-Across 40. First two notes of a downward scale 41. Word of approval 42. Bumble Bee product 43. Game of light entertainment?

44. Where very important company matters are discussed 48. 1970s–’80s sitcom planet 49. Lumberjack’s tool 50. Hiker’s protection 52. English, in a way 54. Pampering spots 58. 50% more 61. Conclusion 62. Come undone 63. Head of the Gambino crime family 64. Word of approval 65. Mineral used in abrasives 66. Industry giant

DOWN 1. Nob Hill force: Abbr.

2. Serve, as drinks 3. Chips on a man cave table?

4. Uneasy question asked after a night of heavy partying 5. Side that means the start of 26-Across 6. Fixing a hole, maybe 7. Kips are spent here 8. Other, in 1-Across 9. Ref. work that added “oobleck” and “stromboli” in 2020 10. Say openly 11. Show excessive love 12. Part of a saggy chin 13. “Your Honor” channel, briefly 18. “You got that right”

19. City outside of Sparks 24. Remove 25. Singer/ songwriter Jacques 26. Prison guard played by Tina Fey in “Muppets Most Wanted” 27. Type of window 28. Pleasing to the ear 29. Four-time Grammy-nominated rock band Black ___ 30. Scrape (out) 31. Tennis star Osaka 32. Composer Bruckner 33. Pulling a fast one 38. Scuzz 39. Pol. maverick 40. “South Pacific”

song sung in French 42. Raw, like some steak 43. Pronounces poorly 45. Horseshoe’s spot 46. For the most part 47. Dame of comedy 50. Cause of harm 51. Pioneering auto maker 52. Exciting part of a penalty shootout 53. Place you might throw out a line 55. Green stroke 56. Court minutes 57. Side that means the start of 17-Across 58. Side that means the start of 58-Across 59. Cheesecake leg 60. 1-Down rank: Abbr.

LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS

FINANCIAL

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HELP WANTED

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MISCELLANEOUS

SENIOR SYSTEMS ANALYST PPG industries, Inc. seeks Senior Systems Analyst in Pittsburgh, PA responsible for participating in app. development, maintenance & enhancement IT projects. In this highest-level role in Systems Analyst Family of Jobs, this position focuses on maintaining integrations & configurations w/in HR Workday System.

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APPLICATION ARCHITECT-IV The United States Steel Corporation seeks an Application Architect IV to join our Digital Technologies Plant Analytics Team located at our Pittsburgh Service Center in Pittsburgh, PA. The Application Architect IV will be responsible for design, development, testing and production support of custom developed software applications, including data analytics, dashboards and reporting, and will guide, influence and lead our efforts to expand our Data Analytics efforts and our Big Data footprint. Apply at: www.ussteel.com/ uss/portal/home/careers/ jobopportunities

HELP WANTED APPLICATION DEVELOPER II The United States Steel Corporation seeks an Application Developer II to join our Digital Technologies Plant Analytics Team located at our Pittsburgh Service Center in Pittsburgh, PA. The Application Developer II will be responsible for technical design, development and production support in Oracle Application Express (APEX) for custom interactive reports, dashboards and forms. Apply at: http://www. ussteel.com/uss/portal/home/ careers/jobopportunities

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NAME CHANGE

HOME SERVICES

IN The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: No. GD-20-11560. In re petition of Faith Majilika Pohlod Miller for change of name to Faith Majilika Pines. To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the 19th day of January, 2020, 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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LEGAL Need Help with Family Law? Can’t Afford a $5000 Retainer?

Low Cost Legal Services- Pay As You Go- As low as $750-$1500Get Legal Help Now! Call 1-844-821-8249 Mon-Fri 7am to 4pm PCT (AAN CAN) https://www.familycourtdirect. com/?network=1

AUTO CASH FOR CARS! We buy all cars! Junk, high-end, totaled – it doesn’t matter! Get free towing and same day cash! NEWER MODELS too! Call 866-535-9689 (AAN CAN)

Call 412.685.9009 to advertise in City Paper.

FINANCIAL

FINANCIAL AUTO INSURANCE STARTING AT $49/ MONTH! Call for your fee rate comparison to see how much you can save!

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Metro Community Health Center offers full dental services to everyone regardless of identity, income, insurance status, or the ability to pay. Make an appointment by calling 412-247-2310 and visit our website, www.metrocommunityhealthcenter.org, to learn more.

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OFFICIAL ADVERTISEMENT

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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

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• 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 16-23, 2020

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