Pittsburgh Current, Issue Two

Pittsburgh

Current

Volume 1 Issue 2

August 7-27 2018

The

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22ND ANNUAL

o T C Vol. I Iss. II

Aug. 2018

Publisher/Editor: Charlie Deitch

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Haley@pittsburghcurrent.com Columnists: Aryanna Berringer, Sue Kerr, Mike Wysocki

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News

Opinion

Taking a critical look at Crisis Pregancy Centers

Letter from the Editor. Aryanna Berringer on Donald Trump’s disgraceful treatment of immigrant service members. A brand new column on everything dope. The latest from Rob Rogers

ARTS

Music

A preview of Ballet Under the Stars. A review of Steel Magnolias at Little Lake Theater. A new poetry feature, the Dog Pound

Get fired up for the 10th installment of Skull Fest. Checking in with hip-hop artist Pk Delay. A new app for jazz fans.

food

neighborhoods Take a tour through Beechview.

Comedian John Dick Winters loses his brunch virginity. Getting ready for the nation’s first black beer-culture festival. Day

SPORTS Bocce gets a league of its own.

The

Fine Print

Damn print, you fine as hell!

The contents of the Pittsburgh Current are © 2018

by Pittsburgh Current, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

No portion of this publication shall be duplicated or reprinted without the express-written consent of Pittsburgh Current LLC. The Pittsburgh Current is published twice monthly beginning August 2018.

New comics section. News of the Weird.

Puzzle Society Crossword.

The opinions contained in columns and letters to the editors represent the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Pittsburgh Current ownership, management and staff.

The Pittsburgh Current is an independently owned and operated print and online media company produced in the heart of Pittsburgh’s Beechview neighborhood, 1665 Broadway Ave., Pittsburgh, PA., 15216. 412-204-7248.

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News

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False Positive Pro-Life Crisis Pregnancy Centers are intentionally misleading pregnant women and you’re paying for it

ABORTION

By Rebecca Addison Pittsburgh Current Special Project Editor rebecca@pittsburghcurrent.com

W

hen Williamsport, Pa. native Daneya Johnson was 15, she learned she was pregnant. While the news was frightening, Johnson found support at the Planned Parenthood health clinic in her hometown.

There, she learned she had three options: She could have an abortion. She could carry the baby to term and give it up for adoption. Or, she could keep the baby.

Johnson wanted to keep the baby. Johnson’s mother ordered her to have an abortion. When she refused, she was kicked out of her home and forced to bounce from house to house, relying on the charity of others throughout her pregnancy. Ultimately, she came to the conclusion that she would be unable to care for the child and decided on adoption.

Through an open adoption process, Johnson

was able to meet her child’s prospective parents and was given the opportunity to maintain a relationship with her child. Today, nearly a decade later, she still sees her son a few times per year.

Overall, Johnson says the adoption process was a positive experience and the best she could have hoped for in such a difficult situation. Still, she remains traumatized by the experience of being pregnant, giving birth and having to give her child away.

“I do not plan on having children again,” Johnson says. “That experience was heart wrenching and I continue to live with that and I would not be able to do that again.”

So, two years ago when Johnson was a sophomore in college and began experiencing symptoms she believed meant she was pregnant again, she panicked.

Johnson was familiar with the services offered

by Planned Parenthood from her first pregnancy, but says she was hesitant about travelling to the organization’s Downtown location. When

IS A SIN

she heard about a mobile care unit offering free pregnancy tests on campus, she jumped at the opportunity.

“One of the reasons I went to the van was because I could walk. There were no transportation costs and I think for new students travelling Downtown can be scary and that was a deterrent for me. I’d never been Downtown,” Johnson says. “It was convenient because I lived on campus. It was enticing. It was free.”

When she entered the mobile facility, she was greeted by two women, one wearing a lab coat reminiscent of a hospital or doctor’s office.

Johnson was the only person there besides the staff. She says the women were friendly at first and one of them helped her through the process of taking the pregnancy test and gave her the results. She wasn’t pregnant.

While Johnson was relieved to learn the news, the remainder of the interaction did little to put her at ease. After giving Johnson the results, the woman assisting her turned stern.

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Pittsburgh Current, Aug. 2018

“Do you know what God would have wanted you to do if you were pregnant,” Johnson says the woman asked. “If you were pregnant, you know you would’ve had to give birth to the child.”

Johnson quickly left the facility.

“Her tone had completely changed and I realized I was in unsafe territory,” Johnson says.

“If I had been pregnant I don’t know how I would’ve handled it with that kind of advice.

That really scared me to know that’s right there on campus. It was very belittling. I just ran. It was a visceral reaction. I cried, not necessarily for myself, but because that was happening on my campus.”

The mobile unit Johnson visited is what’s known as a crisis pregnancy center. Also sometimes called pregnancy resource centers, these facilities often provide free pregnancy tests, ultrasounds and counseling. But women’s health advocates say the counseling these facilities offer doesn’t provide an accurate and complete picture of the options available to pregnant women.

“CPCs masquerade as medical providers, but most all of the time there’s not a medical provider on staff,” says LaTasha Mayes, executive director of New Voices for Reproductive Justice, a human rights organization. “They give misinformation to women who may not be clear or sure about their options if they think they’re pregnant. They’re trying to dissuade them from seeking abortions and they do it in a deceptive manner.”

In Pittsburgh, local organizers are fighting to raise awareness about CPCs. Nationally, lawmakers have tried to place more restrictions on CPCs. And while lawakers do their best to restrict funding to clinics like Planned Parenthood, these clinics have problems getting public funding from the state of Pennsylvania.

“The only way to get rid of these fake clinics is to expose them for what they are and defund them,” Mayes says. “We can’t afford to have any entity in our community limiting our ability to take care of our own health.”

According to a recent article in the American Medical Association’s Journal of Ethics, CPCs

are “organizations that seek to intercept women with unintended pregnancies who might be considering abortion. Their mission is to prevent abortions by persuading women that adoption or parenting is a better option. They strive to give the impression that they are clinical centers, offering legitimate medical services and advice, yet they are exempt from regulatory, licensure, and credentialing oversight that apply to health-care facilities.”

There are a dozen CPCs in the Pittsburgh area. These include an Image Clear Ultrasound mobile unit, like the one Johnson went to, which visits different neighborhoods in the city. Pittsburgh Current reached out to Choices Pregnancy Center, which operates the mobile units, The Women’s Clinic, Women’s Choice Network, Lifeline of Southwest PA and Birthright of Pittsburgh. The facilities either failed to return calls or declined to comment for this story.

Critics of CPCs say it makes sense that these

facilities would be hesitant to talk to the media.

They say CPCs lure women in by being vague about the services they offer.

“There’s a very insidious kind of advertising they engage in,” Mayes says. “They use words like choice and women’s health which are typically associated with actual health-care centers.

Sometimes you can’t tell the difference between a website for a place that is going to give you all your options and a fake clinic.”

One of Choices Pregnancy Center’s websites, pregnancychoice.org, advertises free “Lab-Quality Pregnancy Testing, Pre-Termination Evaluation, Listening without Judgement and STI Testing and Treatment.”

But the organization’s other website, choicesfor-life.org, where the group solicits donations, tells a different story. There, the organization asserts that its mission is to “provide positive alternative choices to abortion, with the specific goal of preserving the lives of the unborn … to heighten awareness of the sanctity of human life and the benefits of sexual abstinence outside of marriage … to form alliances with the life-affirming community in order to save future generations … to challenge the church to join us at the forefront of the battle, to restore the sanctity of human life.”

In 2015, California enacted a law to stop CPCs from misleading women. The Freedom, Accountability, Comprehensive Care and Transparency Act requires unlicensed CPCs to disclose to their clients that the center is not a licensed medical facility and has no licensed medical provider. CPCs are required to disclose this information in advertising as well. The law also requires these clinics to post a sign that says the state provides free or low-cost access to prenatal care, birth control and other reproductive care, including abortions.

But earlier this summer, the Supreme Court effectively put an end to the law in a 5-4 decision ruling it violated free speech rights.

“So you can lie to a person about whether you’re a healthcare provider because it limits your free speech.” Mayes says. “They’re giving you limited information about your choices.

The way they lure you in is by making you think

Pittsburgh Current, Aug. 2018

they’re going to provide information about all of your healthcare options.”

Misinformation doled out by CPCs has been documented. A 2006 congressional report found that federally funded CPCs informed patients seeking abortions that the procedure “could increase the risk of breast cancer, result in sterility, and can lead to suicide and ‘post-abortion stress disorder.” But despite these findings, federal and state governments continue to fund these facilities.

Pennsylvania was the first state to fund crisis pregnancy centers with taxpayer money. Currently, CPCs receive funding from the Alternatives to Abortion Program, administered by the Department of Public Welfare’s Expanded Medical Services for Women. The program is funded through the federal Block Grants to States for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program.

In 2017, an audit by the Pennsylvania Auditor General found that Real Alternatives, a state-wide CPC organization, misused state funds. According to the office, Real Alternatives admitted to using state funds to support activities outside of Pennsylvania.

“It is outrageous that, by its own admission in court, Real Alternatives used hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvania taxpayer dollars to fund its activities in other states,” Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said in a statement. “It is just as outrageous that the state grant agreement was so weak that it allowed this practice to go on for decades siphoning funds intended to benefit Pennsylvania women experiencing crisis pregnancies.

“We will never know how much money was taken out of the commonwealth nor how many Pennsylvania women and children may have been affected because this company channeled our tax dollars to other states. But, we need to make sure it doesn’t ever happen again.”

However, the state continues to fund the organization today. The state’s latest grant agreement with Real Alternatives for October 2017 to June 2019, was for more than $12 million.

“There’s been this political balance around, we won’t bother your crisis pregnancy center

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“Public dollars should not be used to lie to women about their healthcare options.”

-LaTasha Mayes

New Voices for Reproductive Justice funding if you don’t bother our family planning of Democratic Socialists of America launched dollars,” Mayes says. “That’s been the political a campaign to shine a light on CPCs and the compromise. But public dollars should not be damage the organization says they cause. used to lie to women about their healthcare op“As socialist feminists, our analysis is groundtions.” ed in the interconnected nature of capitalism, Mayes and other CPC critics say public tax cis-hetero-patriarchy, misogyny, and white sudollars would be better spent funding actual premacy. We see CPCs as agents of state-suphealthcare providers and sex education to help ported violence against pregnant people. CPCs women avoid crisis pregnancies to begin with. inflict emotional and financial violence on peo“Women can’t afford to have misinformation ple who need healthcare and support. They about our healthcare. All of these things go to- appropriate the language of the feminist movegether,” Mayes says. “You have fake clinics mas- ment to dupe pregnant people, and they do it querading as healthcare providers and you don’t have enough access to healthcare in communities that need it the most.

These clinics are givDiscreet sexual ing out misinformahealth services with tion and we also don’t no strings attached. have comprehensive sex education in our -Birth Control schools.”

-STD Testing While efforts to -Gynecological Care defund these organi-Pregnancy Testing zations and better reg-Emergency ulate them have failed Contraception at the local and national level, organizers -HIV Testing & PrEP in Pittsburgh say they aren’t waiting for the government to take 933 Liberty Ave. action.

1.800.230.PLAN Earlier this year www.ppwp.org organizers with the Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania @PPWPA Pittsburgh chapter

We’re your friend with benefits.

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Pittsburgh Current, Aug. 2018

with taxpayer money, at the expense of families with children: Pennsylvania invented the practice of diverting TANF (welfare) funds to support crisis pregnancy centers,” DSA said in a statement.

“CPCs in Pennsylvania have enjoyed this support since 2001, while actual abortion and reproductive health care providers struggle to stay open. As socialist feminists, we expose and combat CPCs because they cause real harm: to us as people who can become pregnant, who have had abortions, who have families, and who are fully autonomous human beings. As socialist feminists, we organize to reveal the agenda behind CPCs and to choke off their sources of support at all levels because a socialist future is impossible without reproductive justice.”

Another way activists are working to shed light on the dangers of CPCs is by sharing the stories of women who have been to them.

Planned Parenthood Public Affairs Director Jessica Semler visited a CPC with a pregnant friend a few years ago. The two women had a fair bit of information about the options available to pregnant women, but took the opportunity to find out what CPCs are all about.

Semler says the center had the same appearance as any other woman’s health clinic. The people working there wore scrubs. And upon entering, her friend was asked to fill out the usual intake forms. But there were noticeable differences.

“One of the first questions asked, how many people are with you today, including your unborn baby,” Semler says.

“Immediately, they gave her information about adoption. When she asked for information about abortion, they said they weren’t allowed to provide it because it’s so dangerous and unsafe that the state bans them from providing information about it.”

After the friend received a positive pregnancy test the two women were taken to another room where the friend was encouraged to get an ultrasound.

“They were really pushy about it,” Semler says. “To a lot of patients the language doesn’t

A Crisis Pregnancy Center on the North Side (Current Photo by Jake Mysliwczyk)

strike them as odd because they feel they should be ashamed of what they’re doing.”

Since then, through her work with PP, Semler says she’s heard of similar experiences and worse. One woman was told she had to have an ultrasound at the facility in order to have an abortion. Another was told she was too far along to have an abortion. Another reported that she was told that her baby’s irregular heartbeat she would miscarry anyway and didn’t need an abortion.

“They go to great lengths to present themselves in a particular way,” Semler said of the CPCS. “Seeing the promise of free pregnancy tests and a free ultrasound is appealing. But what they actually provide is judgement and shame.”

Johnson says her experience at the mobile CPC reflects what others have gone through.

Since that time, she has been working with PP to educate women about their health options.

“If you’re looking for comprehensive health, that’s not what you’re going to get here. In these vans, they don’t give you a full list of options,” Johnson says. “I can’t imagine if that was my only option what would’ve happened.”

Looking back on her own experience of getting pregnant at 15, Johnson says she was lucky she knew about all of her options and had the time to make the decision that was best for her.

She worries women victimized by CPCs won’t be as lucky.

“When you’re not given clear and accurate information you don’t have agency over your body,” Johnson says. “I knew about my options and was able to think about what was best for me. It’s very damaging psychologically if you can’t make those decisions for yourself. If you’re forced to make a decision, it’s a lifelong trauma. I think people who experience pregnancy should know it’s ok not to know what to do.”

News

Pittsburgh Current, Aug. 2018

WTF Pittsburgh:

Investing in Female Candidates and the Future

By Kim Lyons Pittsburgh Current Editor-at-Large kim@pittsburghcurrent.com

Bandbox Strategies is proud to support the Pittsburgh Current and the independent press.

E

mily Skopov recalls one of the first articles about her fledgling campaign against Mike Turzai had a headline that referred to her status as a “tattooed mother of two.” She called that a “WTF” moment in her campaign, where her appearance was the focus rather than her political stances.

Skopov shared the anecdote at a fundraiser for the Women of The Future Pittsburgh or, WTF Pittsburgh, where the political action committee introduced its slate of candidates. All are women, all are Democrats, and all are either running unopposed or are challenging longtime incumbents.

Most of them said they were running because they felt like they had to.

For Summer Lee, who defeated longtime incumbent Paul Costa in

Photo: WTF Pittsburgh Facebook Page Courtesy of Caiolinn Ertel) (

the 34th legislative district in the May primary, she wasn’t seeing candidates who represented issues affecting people of color. “We were told we need to vote, keep voting and these issues will finally be fixed,” she told the audience via Skype (she and fellow candidate Sara Innamorato were beamed in from New York, where they were taping a segment for CNN).

Those promises fell short much of the time, to the detriment of the black community and other communities of color.

Lee said she recognized it was time for a change. “I didn’t think it would be me running but here we are.”

WTF Pittsburgh supports female candidates in western Pennsylvania.

It was started by Natalia Rudiak, Ashleigh Deemer, Marita Garrett and Chelsa Wagner, all female politicians (or former politicians) who realized

  

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Pittsburgh Current, Aug. 2018

how little financial support female candidates received in the Pittsburgh area. Pennsylvania’s Legislature ranks 49th for gender equity, and has never had a female governor.

Even with the tide starting to turn and women becoming more confident running for office, a lot of the prejudices that have precluded some women from running at all still persist.

“It’s been a lot like pregnancy; everyone has advice,” said Betsy Monroe, who is running in the 30th legislative district. Comments on their hair, their makeup, their weight, whether to wear a dress, whether to wear a purse, what lipstick is appropriate and so on are a few of the critiques the female candidates have heard (and many more than once).

Knoll is an educator who lists her priorities as jobs, education, fiscal responsibility, health care, the environment and women’s role in government.

Lindsey Williams worked for the National Whistleblowers Center, and was fired for trying to organize a union there. She’s running in legislative district 38, she says, because she’s seen the power of a few voices. “I want to be that voice for working people.”

Betsy Monroe has worked in Pittsburgh’s healthcare industry for more than 10 years, and was inspired to seek office by the 2017 Women’s March. She says it’s time for the GOP hold on District 30 (a Republican has represented the district for most of the past 50 years) to end.

“It’s been a lot like pregnancy; everyone has advice.”

Monroe jumped into the race in the 30th House district against Republican Hal English, who had been unopposed in two prior elections.

At first she worried whether she was qualified. “But when I looked at the issues in this district, I realized my background is what we need more of in Harrisburg.”

English, incidentally, decided not to run for reelection, bowing out early in July. Monroe’s theory: “I think he realized he would have to campaign for the first time.”

Here’s the slate of candidates WTF Pittsburgh is supporting: Summer Lee, now running unopposed for the 34th district, was one of the first candidates to receive funding from WTF Pittsburgh. “Women can’t run strong campaigns if they don’t have access to funds and to networks,” she said. Someone told her early on she’d need to raise $75,000 to campaign. “As a young black girl in Braddock I had never even seen $75,000,” she said.

Michele Knoll is running for House district 44, the seat being vacated by the retiring Mark Mustio, and will face Republican Valerie Gaydos.

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Sara Innamorato defeated incumbent Dom Costa in the primary election for the 21st District. Like Lee, Innamorato is supported by the Democratic Socialists.

The WTF Pittsburgh PAC was instrumental in her election, Innamorato said. “They saw the problems with incumbency and were willing to invest in women in southwestern Pennsylvania.”

When she was 14,her family found out her father had an opioid addiction and saw the impact it had on her family. “I saw how quickly people can fall through the cracks.”

Innamorato and Lee received $5,000 each from WTF Pittsburgh.

Emily Skopov, who’s running in the 28th legislative district says two of the reasons she’s running are “Mike Turzai.”

The other two reasons are her kids. She has a background in screenwriting and directing and started a nonprofit called No Crayon Left Behind, which reused discarded crayons from restaurants. She’s run into challenges fundraising, she thinks, because people in the district don’t want to be seen as not supporting Turzai.

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Opinion Letter from the Editor

Pittsburgh Current, Aug. 2018

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by Charlie Deitch Pittsburgh Current Editor charlie@pittsburghcurrent.com

Welcome to the second issue of the Pittsburgh Current.

You’ll notice a few changes as you make your way through the paper this week, starting with a new look on the cover and some new features on the inside. That’s the beauty of being a startup, I think. You can keep tweaking until you get it right, and I think we’re on the right track.

The biggest change you’re going to see are the four pages in the center spread. Today is our first of bi-monthly comics pages. Each issue, you’re going to read the best local and syndicated cartoons by some of the most talented artists. Some will become regular features like “The Knight

Rob Rogers

Life” by the extremely talented Keith Knight, the political cartoon of Matt Bors, a nationally syndicated cartoonist and former graduate of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, a strip from Cleveland-based indie cartoonist Jim Benton and offerings from local cartoonists like Andrea Shockling, Teresa Logan, DJ Coffman and Joe Wos, who will also curate the page.

Other spots will be rotated between local comics. To submit a cartoon for consideration, email to charlie@pittsburghcurrent.com. The decision to include a four-page comics section in the Current wasn’t really a tough one. For most people, their first interaction with a news- paper was through the funny pages. I learned to read by age four by reading the comics. The comics also started my love with comic books, a fact that friends and family are happy about when, at age 46, I show up to most functions with some sort of superhero on my chest.

I loved a lot of the old standbys, like Snuffy Smith, Peanuts, Calvin and Hobbes, Hagar the Horrible and Born Loser. But I also became weirdly attracted to more serious serial comics like Mary Worth, Prince Valiant and Gil Thorp.

I probably stumped a lot of folks on Gil Thorp.

You likely skipped over it in the daily newspaper because it looked, well, boring as shit. But I tuned in everyday to see what the tough, but fair, sports coach (he coached everything) at Milford High.

Comics were my introduction to newspapers, and I think they will be for a lot of other readers too. It’s also an excellent way to support local artists and give them a platform to share what’s on their collective minds. Having a place to do that is important to me. In fact, without that desire, there likely wouldn’t have been an Issue one of this paper, let alone the second one that you’re preparing to read right now.

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Pittsburgh Current, Aug. 2018

PA Weed Laws 101

M

Opinion

That Dope Column

y name is Lady Jane and I am a pothead.

As you can probably surmise, my real name isn’t actually Lady Jane. But, considering the semi-legal status of marijuana in the state of Pennsylvania … you can understand my desire for a nom de plume.

I’ve been smoking weed regularly for nearly a decade now (with one year living in Amsterdam) and while I guess that technically makes me a stoner, I consider myself somewhat of an expert stoner.

For the past forever-ago, weed has been considered a taboo topic by mainstream culture. But the times they are a-changin’ faster than ever before. As of today nine states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational marijuana use, and 30 states have legalized medical marijuana use, including Pennsylvania. So since this is our first time together let’s review the state of marijuana in the state of Pennsylvania.

In 2016 the PA House legalized the medicinal use of pot, but that doesn’t mean you can stroll into any doctor’s office and expect them to write that golden ‘script anytime soon. First things first, you have to register with the PA Department of Health as a patient. Then you have to find a physician who is registered with the state and has completed the required four-hour training course. With a growing list of state-approved physicians on the pa.gov website, it’s easy to find a doctor who can write a moderately legible weed prescription if you suffer from one of the 21 serious medical conditions deemed weed-worthy.

While this isn’t great news for non-medical stoners, the list is considered somewhat progressive for including conditions like PTSD, Autism, and Opioid Use Disorder. Whether you partake or not, this is a huge step in the right direction for patients’ rights. However, the list does not include disorders like chronic anxiety, depression, insomnia, and anorexia/bulimia. It’s a shame to exclude common mental health disorders like these simply because they are often easier to manage after a nice, hot cup of pot tea.

Once you have your handy-dandy prescription, the third step is to go back to the PA Department of Health website and pay the $50 fee to receive your medical marijuana ID card. This brings us to the fourth and final step of the process, which is hands down the most fun part: going to a dispensary. Currently, your local dispensaries will only be able to

sell you CBD oils, pills, liquids, and gels. This caused some Real Housewives-esque drama in the cannabis community since the decision to not legalize all forms of THC/CBD use was, quite frankly, kinda dumb. In essence, they legalized weed without actually legalizing weed. Eventually, the state’s Marijuana Advisory Board wised up and, this past February, upgraded the legislation to allow for dry leaf weed to be vaporized, not smoked. So you can vape dry leaf weed, but you can’t roll up a joint. Whatever man, I haven’t vaped dry weed since two-thousand-andlate. Lady Jane’s inside sources say that bud leaf intended for “vaping” will finally be available in Pittsburgh dispensaries sometime this September. This is excellent news for licensed weed smokers, since marijuana in flower form requires less processing, making it cheaper than concentrated oils, creams, etc.

But, like, what about the rest of the non-card carrying midnight tokers?

Yinzers are still passing the dutchie under the table on the sly. Within the city limits of Pittsburgh, weed has been decriminalized since April 2016.

In theory, that means if you don’t have a medical marijuana ID card you won’t get arrested if busted for possession of fewer than 30 grams. However a study of arrests by Chris Goldstein of pot-advocacy group Philly NORML, shows that Pittsburgh Police have actually made significantly more arrests for simple possession in 2017 than they did in 2016. When it’s working properly, decriminalization should mean a citation and a fine On the bright side, the chances of recreational weed becoming legal in PA are looking up. In fact, PA State Representative Jake Wheatley currently has pending legislation to legalize recreational marijuana use.

Wheatley argues that the economic and social impact of legal weed is too significant to ignore. The estimated fiscal benefits could bring a $580 million surplus to Pennsylvania. But I’m still going to approach this with cautious optimism. While some Pennsylvania lawmakers appear to be on the right path to statewide legalization, the vast majority of Pittsburgh potheads will have to continue with our shady “u around?” text messages to our friends with that West Coast kush hookup.

by Lady Jane

That Dope Column will run twice monthly in the Pittsburgh Current. For more marijuana coverage check out This Dope blog on pittsburghcurrent.com. Wanna know more about getting high and stuff? Have questions about weed strains? Need pot advice?

Have suggestions? Tweet your thoughts to @CurrentLadyJane or email: ladyjane@pittsburghcurrent.com.

Opinion

Pittsburgh Current, Aug. 2018

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Trump’s policies are dishonoring immigrant soldiers

By Aryanna Berringer Pittsburgh Current Columnist aryanna@pittsburghcurrent.com

I

’ll never forget the day. It was two months after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.

I raised my hand and swore that I would support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I would bear true faith and allegiance to the same. What the hell did I know about any of that? I was 18 years old. But I knew enough then that I had to serve my country.

In that small, brown room, surrounded by other recruits, we prepared to leave for basic training. Some of the recruits standing next to me that day weren’t American citizens. They were immigrants who swore the same oath as I, with the promise that in doing so, they would earn a pathway to American citizenship. They knew more than enough.

According to the Department of Defense, this promise was kept for nearly 110,000 immigrants who gained citizenship by serving in the U.S. military since September 11, 2001.

However, now this promise is being broken.

While the total number of recruits is unknown, there are now more than 40 immigrants who have served in our armed forces that are being booted and given an “uncharacterized discharge,” thus ensuring that they won’t become citizens.

For the servicemembers to earn citizenship they need an honorable discharge and an uncharacterized discharge is neither honorable or dishonorable. They find themselves in a patriotic purgatory.

This uncharacterized discharge could also affect the legal status of the immigrant servicemember. According to the Associated Press,

the Department of Defense said, “All service members (recruits with a signed contract, active duty, guard, and reserve) and those veterans with honorable discharges are protected from deportation.”

This effectively excludes those servicemembers caught up in the methodical deterioration of immigration policies set forth by the Trump “They find themselves in a patriotic Administration.

Trump campurgatory.” paigned on promises that he would be the best for national security and place restrictions that they would put their lives on the line for a on immigrants coming to this country. What country that they were promised they could be they have failed to realize is that this puts our a part of. country’s national security at risk.

They’ve earned the right to claim American The Military Accessions Vital to the Nation- citizenship. al Interest program ensured that we are able to They’ve done more than President “Bone bring much-needed medical specialists, fluent Spurs” Trump to earn it. speakers of more than 44 languages and other The very birth of our nation relied upon imvital professions into the military. And yes, un- migrants fighting for the shared cause of liberty der the Trump administration that too has been and a place free from tyranny. suspended.

This practice has been carried out for our enIs this how we treat military veterans? Be- tire history. Now, we share a view of the current cause that is who these people are. They are my presidency through a tyrannical lens with the fellow military veterans, all of whom decided rest of the world.

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ARTS

Pittsburgh Current, Aug. 2018

‘Ballet Under the Stars’

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Kicks off New Dance Season with Annual Program

By Steve Sucato For the Pittsburgh Current info@pittsburghcurrent.com

M

uch like the ubiquitous “Back to School” ads that signal the approaching new school year, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s annual Ballet Under the Stars program at Hartwood Acres Park signals the approaching new area dance season.

The bring your own chairs and blankets free outdoor event, Sunday, August 19, at the Middle Road Concert Area will feature reprised ballets from last season by Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre dancer/choreographers along with Jerome Robbins’ 1970 masterwork “In The Night.”

Opening the program will be PBT principal dancer Yoshiaki Nakano’s sweeping neo-classical ballet “Infusion” (2018), set to a suite of music by composers Felix Mendelssohn and Franz Schubert. The 19-minute ballet for two men and three women says Nakano, will use differing movement languages for its four lively sections.

Next, newly promoted soloist JoAnna Schmidt’s first commissioned work for PBT, “Lightworks” is a mod nod to late 1960s fashion and the zaniness of TV show Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In. The 20-minute contemporary dance romp set to an eclectic score including Dorothy Ashby’s harp rendition of the theme from the 1967 film, Valley of the Dolls to and tunes from 1968’s “The Amazing New Electronic Pop Sound of JeanJacques Perrey.”

Of her inspiration for the ballet, Schmidt says she was “motivated to depict ways that relationships can go terribly wrong, but with a touch of humor.” The fun and flirty ballet for

seven dancers contains a more serious undercurrent, driving what Schmidt calls its “weird, sometimes groovy, and sometimes intentionally unattractive” movement.

Rounding out the program will be the Jerome Robbins classic “In The Night” set to music by Frederic Chopin performed live by PBT pianist Yoland Collin. Part of PBT’s contribution to 2018’s worldwide celebration of the late Robbins’ 100th birthday, the 21-minute ballet that tells of “three contrasting sets of

Photo courtesy of Duane Reider

show drinks and dinner by DiAnoia’s Eatery (For VIP tent reservations visit www.pbt.org/ hartwood or call (412) 454-9127).

The concert will also be area dance fans’ first look at six new dancers that have joined PBT’s corps de ballet this season. All six came up through various training programs at the PBT School. They include Pittsburgh natives Tommie Kesten, Jonathan Breight and Caitlyn Mendicino; Christian Garcia Campos of Puebla, Mexico; Colin McCaslino from Vineland, New Jersey and Yu-Chieh Chao from Pingtung, Taiwan.

“It’s very satisfying to know our students are successful and our school is successful in placing dancers within our company and in other professional companies,” says PBT artistic director Terrence Orr. Roster changes for the 2018-2019 season include Masahiro Haneji, William Moore and the aforementioned JoAnna Schmidt’s promotion

“Our school is successful in placing dancers within our company and in other professional companies.” lovers, from innocent to impetuous, who meet beneath a midnight sky,” gets another showing in an atmosphere befitting the ballet’s setting.

Also a part of Ballet Under the Stars, will be free pre-show family activities from 5-7 p.m. that include crafts and dance activities for kids along with photo opportunities with costumed dancers. In addition, there will be food trucks on-site and for $60/person, a VIP tent with pre-

Arts to the rank of soloist.

Entering his 21st season at PBT’s helm and on the eve of the company’s 50th anniversary, Orr has put together perhaps one of his most balanced lineup of programs in years for the upcoming season. It includes several modern masterworks, a world-premiere, a rekindled joint company partnership and a cherished story ballet classic.

It opens with Mozart in Motion with the PBT Orchestra, Oct. 26-28, 2018 at Downtown’s Benedum Center. A marriage of Mozart music and masterful choreography by icons George Balanchine and Jiri Kylian, the program is a must see for any dance aficionado and anyone looking to experience choreographic genius.

Ballets include Balanchine’s elegant “Divertimento No. 15” (1956) to Mozart’s music of the same name; Kylián’s 1986 powdered wig,

comedic work “Sechs Tänze” (Six Dances) set to Mozart’s Six German Dances, and Kylián’s sensual and striking “Petite Mort” complete with floating baroque dresses, fencing foils and silks.

PBT’s locally-flavored, holiday classic “The Nutcracker” returns Nov. 30-Dec. 27, 2018 at the Benedum Center. Then the company kicks off its 50th anniversary celebrations with the world-premiere of Jorden Morris’ “The Great Gatsby” with the PBT Orchestra, February 8-17, 2019, also at the Benedum.

Morris, whose ballets Peter Pan (2011, 2016) and Moulin Rouge - The Ballet (2013) were previously performed by the PBT, brings his considerable storytelling expertise to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s literary classic with music by Carl Davis.

PBT’s partnership with Dance Theatre of Harlem renews March 15-24, 2019 at the August Wilson Center with a joint mixed reperto-

River Separates Water — French & Mottershead Hanna Tuulikki He Xiangyu curated by Justin Hopper thru August 26 — Wood Street Galleries 601 Wood Street, above the “T” / 412 471 5605 gallery hours: Wednesday, Thursday: 11am–6pm; Friday, Saturday: 11am–8pm Sunday: 11am–5pm (free on-street parking) / free and open to the public WoodStreetGalleries.org /woodstgalleries @woodstreetpgh image: He Xiangyu, The Swim, 2017; courtesy White Cube, Hong Kong/London

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Pittsburgh Current, Aug. 2018

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ry program that includes Balanchine’s “Rubies” (1967) and Stanton Welch’s expressive contemporary ballet “Orange” (2001).

Rounding out the season will be Orr’s staging of Marius Petipa’s The Sleeping Beauty with the PBT Orchestra, Mother’s Day Weekend, May 10-12, 2019 at the Benedum Center.

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre presents Ballet Under the Stars, 7:30 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 19, Hartwood Acres Park Middle Road Concert Area, 200 Hartwood, Allison Park. Free. www.pbt.org/ hartwood or (412) 454-9138. For more information on and tickets for PBT’s 2018-19 season visit www.pbt.org.

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Pittsburgh Current, Aug. 2018

Arts

Play Review ‘Steel Magnolias’ at Little Lake is a proper production of familiar material

By Ted Hoover info@pittsburghcurrent.com Pittsburgh Current Theater Critic Have you ever appeared in a production of Steel Magnolias? Were you ever sleeping with someone appearing in Steel Magnolias and, consequently, had to see it? Considering the ubiquity with which this comedy/drama has been produced since its 1987 off-Broadway debut it seems inconceivable to me that one of those statements doesn’t apply to you.

A case in point – me. Not only have I lost track of how many times I’ve reviewed the show but somewhere back in the long ago, I directed a production of this story about six southern women hanging out at a beauty parlor. Another case in point – Lora Oxenreiter. This Little Lake Theatre production is at least the second time she’s directed it (and I believe I’ve sat through all of them). Another example, Italia Nowicki mentions in her program bio that this is the third time she’s played the character of Annelle.

That’s a lot of hairspray!

Watching the show unfurl at Little Lake, however, the reason for its evergreen popularity is clear – Steel Magnolias is a very funny play. The author, Robert Harling, would go on to write funny several more times including First Wives Club, the TV show GCB and a personal favorite, Soapdish.

Harling’s women use humor and a wry smile as defense against life’s vicissitudes, he has a very deft hand at set-up/punch line and knows precisely how to land a joke. And an especially big plus of Steel Magnolias is that it offers six juicy roles for women, something not always true in the art world.

Of course it’s not all rainbows and lollipops in Steel Magnolias-land; Harling also possesses a tendency toward mawkish sentimentality – for instance the doomed Shelby saying: “I’d rather have 30 minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special!” No matter how many times I hear that line it still makes me throw up a little bit in my mouth. Harling indulges himself in several more beats of a similar nature with my eyes in serious danger of rolling up into my head.

But, then again, I’m just a bitch so others might feel differently. Actually, when you think about the show’s popularity, others obviously do.

Joyce Miller, Lynnelle Goins, and Carol Ann Schussler in Steel Magnolias at Little Lake Theater. (Photo courtesy of Carina Iannarelli)

Oxenreiter certainly knows her way around the material and has cast enjoyable performers splashing about in Harling’s comedic sandbox.

Kauleen Cloutier and Joyce Miller are having so much fun as Truvy and Clairee that their delight is infectious and fuels much of the production.

Lynnelle Goins gives the role of Ouiser an amusing snap and growl. The previously mentioned Nowicki has a delirious sense of comedic timing which, due to the nature of Annelle, she doesn’t get to let fly too often.

The thankless task of staunching the laughter to inject the teary plot is left to Ellen Emery as Shelby and Carol Ann Schussler playing M’Lynn.

Emery does winsome with huge sincerity and Schussler’s breakdown is worth the wait.

You should definitely check out the show because at some point you’re going end up in a production and the sooner you start learning your lines the better.

Steel Magnolias continues through August 18. Little Lake Theatre, Canonsburg. 724/745-6300. www.littlelaketheatre.org

Welcome to the Dog Pound

Arts

Editor’s note: The Dog Pound is a new poetry page curated by poet/renaissance man/former narcotics officer Jimmy Cvetic. The column looks to highlight poets here and on our online Dog Pound who are diamonds in the rough, a little avant garde and a little on the edge of something. To submit a poem, send an email with contact information to info@pittsburghcurrent.com I would like to introduce myself to you; my nickname is “Dog.” I was a police officer for a long time, and here’s the rub … I never wanted to be a police officer, I wanted to be a poet and walk the earth like a fat Buddhist monk.

However fate and chance sometimes collide and you can find yourself caught on a cog as the years grind away slowly.

Anyway I will be writing for the Pittsburgh Current and sharing my divine wit or nitwit if you prefer, all depending on my mood swings.

Also, I will be showcasing other poets that have stared into the sun,

Pittsburgh Current, Aug. 2018

19

who are sometimes blinded by the sight but never-the-less swing for the fences.

I promise to always be truthful to the readers and not lie even to the dull and ignorant and My writing will always be truthful . . . except for the parts I make up.

I will try to avoid slander and abuse and hopefully I will never belittle anyone no matter how small and trite they may be, I will always be careless on insults, smears and indecent exposure, and govern myself as a less than perfect gentleman.

I will try not to criticize anyone unless they deserve a good lampooning and only if there is a need for a good shaking from a nightmare.

I further would like to assure you that anyone that would wrong my name would be lying and would be subject to civil litigation and I would never stand in the way of any good ambulance chasing lawyer who would seize opportunity of a good lawsuit,

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continued from page 19

especially when it is being litigated against someone else.

The name of my article will be called, DOG POUND because everyone has be subjected to sit-down time at least one in their wonderful unfolding lives.

My mission is to bring to life all the poetry that deserves a moment in the sun even on a rainy day.

I will always be on the lookout for those poets that have their dear sweet mothers to their flat verses where the poor woman mustered all of her strength and energy not to rip her ears from her head.

I finally would like to assure you that I will try not to show off to much, and always do the right thing when everyone is looking … so help me God. Footnote: When no one is looking, I will cut up and carry on and ever so often dance butt naked at Mitchell’s Bar while chugging down a cold Iron City Beer.

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The Can’t Miss:

A list of stuff to do around town

Wednesday August 8

Plum Brass Quintet and Shadyside Brass join forces today for Summer Brasstacular at Heinz Memorial Chapel. After performing works of their own, the two groups will team up to form a combined brass ensemble sure to blow the roof off of the 80-year-old chapel. Plum Brass Quintet is composed of Plum High School alumni. Shadyside Brass was formed in 2013, and is made of five of Pittsburgh’s best brass players.(Amanda Reed) 7 p.m. 4200 Fifth Ave., Oakland. Free. tinyurl.com/brasstacular

bash features a matinee screening of the 1951 film, “An American in Paris,” where Kelly acted as a Renaissance man, dancing, directing, singing and choreographing the work. After the screening, there will be a reception with sweets to celebrate the famous Pittsburgher. (AR) 2 p.m. 5941 Penn Ave., East Liberty. Pay what you want. 412-3633000 or www.kelly-strayhorn.org

Monday August 13 View “Marcus Garvey: Look For Me In the Whirlwind,” tonight at Alphabet City as part of Sembene Film Festival, which presents works to honor the legacy of Ousmane Sembene, an influential figure in the world of African cinema. This particular feature is the first comprehensive documentary dedicated to Garvey, a controversial figure in the Pan-Africanism movement. (AR) 7 p.m. 40 West North Ave., Northside. Free.

412-435-1110 or www.alphabetcity. org

Saturday August 18 The Kelly Strayhorn Theater honors Gene Kelly, famous Pitt grad and song-and-dance man. This birthday

Wednesday August 22 Hop on a magic carpet ride with Disney’s Aladdin, which comes to town as part of PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh at the Benedum Center. Based on the 1992 film, the 2011 musical adaptation follows Aladdin, a poor street boy who falls in love with Princess Jasmine.

But, their love is interrupted by the evil King Jafar. (AR) 7:30 p.m. Through Sept. 9. 237 7th St., Downtown. $35$150. 412-456-6666 or www.culturaldistrict.org

The Can’t Miss:

Friday August 24

Pittsburgh Current, Aug. 2018

A list of stuff to do around town

View costumes from 2018’s “Black Panther” and 1989’s “Do The Right Thing” with Heroes and Sheroes: The Art and Influence of Ruth E. Carter in Black Cinema, presented by Fashion Africana, which celebrates its opening tonight at the Heinz History Center.

Carter is known for developing stories though costuming, and was nominated for an Oscar for her work on Steven Spielberg’s 1997 film “Amistad” and 1992’s “Malcolm X” by Spike Lee. (AR) 8 p.m. (6:30 for VIP reception).

Exhibit through Sunday, Dec. 2. $75 ($150 for VIP tickets). 1212 Smallman St., Strip District. 412-454-6000 or www.heinzhistorycenter.org

Monday August 27

Catch Thought Pockets, a free, pop-up series of slow performance art in public places while you walk downtown today, presented by the Pillow Projects and the Ellipses Condition.

Thought Pockets utilizes uncommon movements and shapes that comment on time and beauty. Also catch the event on Wednesdays at Strawberry or Garrison Way and Fridays at Liberty Ave. and Sixth St. (AR) 2-6 p.m.

Free. Through Aug. 31. Stanwix St. and Forbes Ave., Downtown. tinyurl. com/thoughtpockets

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Friday August 24

Arts

View costumes from 2018’s “Black Panther” and 1989’s “Do The Right Thing” with Heroes and Sheroes: The Art and Influence of Ruth E. Carter in Black Cinema, presented by Fashion Africana, which celebrates its opening tonight at the Heinz History Center. Carter is known for developing stories though costuming, and was nominated for an Oscar for her work on Steven Spielberg’s 1997 film “Amistad” and 1992’s “Malcolm X” by Spike Lee. (AR) 8 p.m. (6:30 for VIP reception). Exhibit through Sunday, Dec. 2. $75 ($150 for VIP tickets). 1212 Smallman St., Strip District. 412-454-6000 or www. heinzhistorycenter.org

Jeffrey the Plant Improv Super Show. Jeffrey the Plant hosts a night of giveaways and long-form improv.

Arcade Comedy Theater. 10 p.m. $12.

BYOB.

August 4:

Aug. 19: LaRoyce Hawkins. 7 p.m. Club Cafe. $15. clubcafelive.com Hasan Minhaj. 6 p.m. Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall. $29.75-$75.

Librarymusichall.com

Aug. 20: Kyle Kinane. 7 p.m. Rex Theater. $25. rextheater.net

August 24:

Monday August 27

The Second City in Made in America: Some Assembly Required. 8 p.m.

O’Reilly Theater, Downtown. $35. ppt.org

Catch Thought Pockets, a free, pop-up series of slow performance art in public places while you walk downtown today, presented by the Pillow Projects and the Ellipses Condition.

Thought Pockets utilizes uncommon movements and shapes that comment on time and beauty. Also catch the event on Wednesdays at Strawberry or Garrison Way and Fridays at Liberty Ave. and Sixth St. (AR) 2-6 p.m.

Free. Through Aug. 31. Stanwix St. and Forbes Ave., Downtown. tinyurl. com/thoughtpockets

August 25: The Second City in Made in America: Some Assembly Required.

5:30 p.m. & 9 p.m. O’Reilly Theater, Downtown. $35. ppt.org

Exhibit: Sept. 28:

Pittsburgh Center for the Arts presents Artist of the Year/Emerging Artist of the Year exhibits. PCA Galleries.

September 28-November 4.

Your Event Here! email listings@pittsburghcurrent.com

Pittsburgh Current, Aug. 2018

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Music A Decade of Decimation and Friendship: The Evolution of Skull Fest

T

by Meg Fair Pittsburgh Current Contributing Writer info@pittsburghcurrent.com

he first time Dusty Hanna went punking in Pittsburgh was in 1994 to see Warpath, a band that’s playing this year’s Skull Fest. Since then a lot has changed, but Pittsburgh’s punk attitude and camaraderie has remained, as represented by the growing notoriety and punk community of Skull Fest.

Skull Fest began in 2008 as a party for Hanna and Jimmy Rose to celebrate their respective 30th birthdays. They called it a fest as a joke, dunking on people who arbitrarily named regular shows ‘fests.’ But when 200 people showed up to Belvedere’s, Hanna and Rose decided that perhaps Skull Fest was something worth sustaining.

Now Skull Fest 10 is approaching (Aug. 16-19), and the original duo has grown into a team of seven -- including Krystyna Haberman, Erica Moulinier, John Villegas, Adam Thomas and Greg Collazi -- that Hanna cheekily refers to as ‘the punk illuminati.” Despite the intrigue of such a title, the team is incredibly down-to-earth and deeply invested in the wellbeing of the festival and all its attendees.

“This really is more than just slamdancing, drinking and doing poppers, but it is that, too.” -Dusty Hanna

With a growing team comes a greater diversity in sounds, each organizer bringing their own expertise to the table.

“This year the music spans from bands like American Nudism, who sounds like DEVO, to death metal,” says Hanna.

Erica Moulinier - also known as DJ Erica Scary - had, for several years, helped with the annual picnic on the last day of the festival, but around Skull Fest 7 she booked her first show. Moulinier brought her impressive array of knowledge about post-punk, new wave and goth music to festival, but she also brought something more transformative: Google Docs.

“In the first year I started to work on the organization, logistics …

I sort of came in and was like, ‘Let’s make everything really organized,’ and I think that’s helped us and hurt us in a way because we’ve actually gotten bigger because of the organization,” Moulinier explains over the soft whirr of a ceiling fan in her homey Polish Hill office. “The main

Skull Fest 9 Photos courtesy of Em Demarco

challenge now is that we are getting to a point where we’re outgrowing our venues.”

This is a matter that Hanna and Haberman both discuss later, sitting around Hanna’s kitchen table as the sun sets on Polish Hill, with Hanna’s dogs Fang and Lord Gnar playfully wrestling at their feet.

“We want everyone to be there,” emphasizes Haberman. “There’s not an attitude of ‘too bad, you didn’t pay.’”

So while the ‘punk illuminati’ is very aware of larger venues like Stage AE that could accommodate larger crowds, the collective considers it against the very spirit of the festival to book a show in a space with that kind of corporate association. They’ll stick to smaller venues if it means keeping it totally DIY. One DIY way to help mitigate the lack of tickets is by recruiting volunteers to help with the many shows, be it cleaning up or working the door.

“I’ve been asking people for help since the dawn of time,” says Haberman. “We have a huge volunteer group this year, which is great because every year the capacity of the work that goes into making the thing happen when it’s going on is overwhelming. Those volunteers are really needed.”

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Pittsburgh Current, Aug. 2018

Collaborative effort over corporate aid and sponsorship is part of the backbone of Skull Fest. The team uses Brown Paper Tickets, an ethical service that allows you to donate ticket sales to various feminist, vegan, anti-racist and anti-fascist causes, and bartenders from various venues sometimes opt to donate their tips to local organizations as well.

“This really is more than just slamdancing, drinking and doing poppers,” says Hanna.

“But it is that too,” he adds with a laugh.

“That’s just the channel we funnel our support for greater social consciousness through; this the form it takes,” says Haberman. “Our agenda is to funnel money to social groups we want to support.”

While some might conceptualize punks as mean, violent, selfish and out to burn the world down, the organizers note the significant difference between rabid celebration (which there will be at Skull Fest) and violence in systemic sense.

“In reality, there are people on the spectrum of punks that come [to Skull Fest] who may fit the stereotype, like punks rolling in broken glass and slashing each other,” says Hanna.

“We’re cool with that part, as long as they’re not hateful in a bigoted way,” adds Haberman.

“Rolling around in glass is part of Skull Fest,” says Hanna. “Bigotry is cent unexpected loss of Francesca Araya, a member of the Pittsburgh/New not.”

York punk communities and guitarist for bands Lost Tribe and D.O.G. Araya, referred to as Fran or Franimal by her friends, was an extremely esides giving back and creating a space for activism, Skull Fest is well-loved member of the punk family that assembles at Skull Fest. about giving to each other. Not all punks have rocky relationships Behind the abandoned school in Polish Hill, a large group of friends with their blood relatives, but for many folks, punks are their chosen collaboratively painted a mural of Araya and left candles, offerings and family. During Skull Fest, many local attendees and performers will open mementos. For many attendees, a pilgrimage to this mural will be an imtheir homes to those visiting from out of town. At the annual punk picnic, portant part of their weekend, and a poignant one -- the photo projected friends can get together and share a free vegetarian meal and exchange art and painted onto the wall is an image of Fran performing at Skull Fest 9. with each other. If a show is sold out, there are always other opportunities “I think for a lot of people, going to her memorial will really be a way to hang out with a bunch of friends, new and old. to see her again, at least in spirit,” says Moulinier.

This year that familial energy will be especially important with the re“I’m glad there’s a place for people to come together,” says Haberman.

“Every time I go down there, candles are lit, people are tending to it, someone’s been there. All of us take a little time to clean it up.”

“You can feel her down there,” Haberman adds. “She was very loud and very strong and very funny, and her presence is so strong.”

As the weekend approaches, Moulinier, Haberman and Hanna reflect on what keeps people coming each and every year from all over the world.

“I honestly think people come back to Skull Fest because it’s so much fun,” said Moulinier. “It’s super DIY, and we really are seven people doing this fest without any sponsors or advertising. It’s based on word of mouth that people come here.”

“As much as people party their asses off, it’s honestly a time for people to relax,” says Haberman. “People can really just be themselves.”

B

Check out the article online at pittsburghcurrent.com to see a full list of Skull Fest events

Music

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Music

Hill District’s PK Delay delivers a confident, honest hit with Silver

F

By Margaret Welsh Pittsburgh Current Music Editor margaret@pittsburghcurrent.com

or Pk Delay, emotional vulnerability has always come easy.

“When I first started out … I was just making music in my room,” recalls the Pittsburgh-based rapper. “It wasn’t like I was in a studio where people were around, and I would care about what they would say. I would just be in my room with my emotions, and I never had trouble putting that out.”

Inspiration came from artists like Lil B and Curren$y, who stuck out to Delay (in part, at least) for their willingness to talk about everything from being broke, to feeling weird and out of place, to regretting bad decisions, while also, Delay notes, “being so confident in themselves that it [didn’t] matter.”

That kind of confidence is echoed both in Delay’s writing, and in the sheer volume of his output. In addition to his recent full-length record Silver, he’s constantly dropping new tracks, including the EP The 2w0,

Pk Delay Photo courtesy of Xavier Thomas (@artlikeus)

formative sensitivity in favor of solidarity.

Emotional balance, too, is a big part of Delay’s appeal, and he’s a major advocate of taking care, both physically and mentally. “We run around all day, our generation is all text and drive, texting, texting, texting, texting, drive, drive, drive,” he says. “Our minds don’t really get to take a rest. So I would just say, even if its five minutes, 10 minutes, just for some mindfulness, to sit down and listen to yourself. Just let your thoughts flow and get a minute to yourself.”

For Delay, who occasionally collaborated with Wopo, the rapper’s death was a blow both on a personal level and to the larger scene. “He was definitely on his way to greater things. His swag was so unique,” Delay says. “He was from the Hill District, I’m from the Hill District, so beyond just the music, that’s a loss to the neighborhood. I know there was a lot that he planned on doing for the [area].”

But, overall, Delay remains optimistic about Pittsburgh hip hop. “We’ve got a lot of creative artists. You can tell who’s been serious about it for a long time, and

“I was in a couple deep dark places and that comes out in the music.”

which came out last month.

In many ways, those releases are polar opposites: Recorded at ID Labs with Wiz Khalifa’s go-to producer and engineer E. Dan, Silver – which came out in April -- is easily Delay’s best sounding, most professional effort. “I got to work with the big dogs,” he says with a laugh.

Sonically-layered and punctuated with ear-catching instrumentation, that record was influenced by the heavier hip hop of his childhood, like G-Unit and DMX , as well as alt rock and new wave (“Alternative music, there’s just something about it,” Delay says. “If I could make that music, I would make it!”)

Thematically, Silver deals with issues of fame, purpose and self-worth. “This world is fucking up my energy and I can’t blame it/it’s not like I pretend to be wannabe famous,” he opens on “The World,”; “Famous” serves as a kind of mission statement: “I don’t care about this fame shit … I’m just tryna be the greatest.”

The 2w0, in contrast, was written more-or-less on the fly and recorded in a week. “Those are nowhere near my best songs,” Delay is careful to mention, but even so, the tracks feel up-to-the-minute and viscerally resonant, a result of “just stepping back, looking at the world and all this stuff that’s going on,” he says. “I was in a couple deep dark places and that comes out in the music.” In the wake of -- among other things -- the June 19 murder of rising hip-hop artist Jimmy Wopo, “It’s just been a rough year. You know what I mean?”

Plenty of modern hip hop trades in melancholy navel-gazing, but even at his weightiest Delay seems more concerned with working hard, getting his shit together, and encouraging the people around him to do the same. “Lately I’ve been under pressure/stepping out of my depression ... If you’re going through a hard time/Well I’m going to try to lend a message,” he offers on “Dead That,” avoiding any kind of Drake-style per-

they’re starting to get [more of a] spotlight. I think that the scene is really thriving right now,” he says, “I feel like the door is open and we’re going to step up and hopefully be able to work together, keep the egos out of the way.” Questions of the scene’s future are often posed in terms of who will be the next Wiz or Mac – an oddly persistent narrative that suggests that Pittsburgh only has room for one successful rapper at a time. “That just puts a limit on everything,” Delay says. “The world is bigger than Mac and Wiz. They’ve definitely done big things for the city of Pittsburgh, music-wise, they showed that it was possible.”

But, he adds, “When people try to put that on me, I’m like, I understand what you’re saying, but I’m trying to be me.

“I’ve got my own values and my own image that I’m trying to portray. I don’t want to be in nobody’s shadow.”

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Summer Jams

By Mike Shanley Pittsburgh Current Contributing Writer info@pittsburghcurrent.com Jazz drummer Thomas Wendt hears two things on a regular basis in his line of work.

People often approach him and ask where they can find a schedule of jazz events and venues in Pittsburgh. While jazz station WZUM-FM 101.1 and some websites offer some information, a comprehensive list is hard to find. While that feels disappointing, it’s nothing compared to the other comment he gets all too frequently.

“The worst thing to hear is, you played a great gig and then, four days later somebody says, ‘Oh, man! I didn’t know about that. I would’ve come to that!’’ wendt says. “And you’re thinking, ‘Dammit!’”

But a local task force of people from the jazz community are working to change that. Just over a year ago, Wendt and Dr. Harry Clark — the founder and former principal of the Pittsburgh School for the Creative and Performing Arts, as well as a trumpeter — were approached by Peter Gordon, of Thirsty Ear Records. In his role as CEO of the Jazz Forward Coalition, Gordon was organizing a Jazz Hubs project in four cities: Washington, D.C.; Portland, Oregon; Phoenix, Arizona; and Pittsburgh.

He explained at 2017’s Jazz Connect Conference that the goal was to

“The worst thing to hear is, you played a great gig and then, four days later somebody says, ‘Oh, man! I didn’t know about that.” create “a hub in markets around the country where the jazz community gets together on a regular basis to work on common issues and common goals, work with each other to help develop the market… to ultimately build audience demand.”

While the Jazz Hubs Project, and the connection with the Jazz Forward Coalition has officially ended, out of it came a local task force of musicians, educators and promoters committed to achieving these goals in Pittsburgh. Meeting each month, they’ve been able to set up a page on an international online database which will be celebrated during a series of events called Jazz Days of Summer. Running from Aug. 11 through Aug. 19, it encompasses every jazz event happening in Pittsburgh during that time frame.

Thomas Wendt Photo courtesy of Devon Rowland Photography

A big part of the task force’s effort came together when research revealed that Pittsburgh hosts between 35 and 55 jazz performances a week. “For a mid-size city like Pittsburgh, it’s pretty impressive,” Wendt says. Jazz Days “is a way to show the region just how rich the jazz community is on a regular basis, and to present a united front to the region.”

Rather than limit the Jazz Days banner to a select list of performances, it seeks to include everything from straight-ahead jazz to more experimental, free improvisation. To that end, the events coincide with the launch of the website Pittsburgh.Jazznearyou.com, where jazz fans can access information about performances and musicians. The site has similar pages for cities ranging from New York to Paris, and its founder, Mark Ricci, is also the creator of the web resource All About Jazz.

“Hopefully in the next couple of months, that will become the place where folks will go to see what’s happening in the jazz community,” Wendt says. “It’s a platform that was already built and is already in use, and it’s going to link us with other cities globally and nationally.”

In addition to helping audiences find the music, Wendt says the website provides a tool for musicians who can make sure their bookings don’t fall on the same night as a show that can take all the audience away. “It’s really a great thing that a city like Pittsburgh in 2018 has three, four or five good jazz gigs on one night. But it’s not a good thing that they’re all scheduled in a way that each event can’t benefit from having a good audience,” he says.

Following the efforts of the Pittsburgh Music Ecosystem Project, it’s significant that people like Wendt and Clark have already begun to take action, albeit independent of that report. But Wendt says the time is right. “We have to work together in order for everyone to be able to succeed,” he says.

For more information visit Pittsburgh.Jazznearyou.com.

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Music ELECTRO -PSYCH

Earlier this summer, Pittsburgh’s own Black Moth Super Rainbow released Panic Blooms, its first fulllength since 2012’s Cobra Juicy. As the title suggests, Panic Blooms is a record for the modern era (is it possible not to put out at least mildly apocalyptic records in 2018?), but long-time fans will likely also find a place of rest in BMSR’s distinctly exquisite electronic psychedelia: as frontman Thomas Fec (a.k.a. Tobacco) puts it in “Bad Fucking Times,” “Feels even better than depression.”

The band appears Friday, Aug. 10 at Mr. Smalls Theatre along with the Stargazer Lilies and Air Credits.

8 p.m. 400 Lincoln Ave., Millvale. $18-20. www.mrsmalls.com

INDIE ROCK Fans of David Bazan have been pretty well sated over the years, in terms of live performance. Fans of Pedro the Lion (a band which is essentially Bazan) have, on the other hand, been waiting for this day for some time. For many an angsty, lo-fi indie-rock-loving young evangelical, Pedro the Lion served as a gateway to questioning both God and His alleged blessing of America.

Bazan -- who chronicled his eventual loss of faith throughout his solo career – has said that resuscitating Pedro the Lion was the most natural way to regularly play in a band again. For those of us who still listen to Control on a weekly basis, that’s very good news. 8 p.m., Thu., Aug.

Music Tracks:

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Live performances in-and-around the Pittsburgh area 16. Mr. Smalls Theatre, 400 Lincoln Ave., Millvale. $20-35. www. mrsmalls.com

HIP HOP In a 2016 review, the New York Time’s Jon Caramanica described Playboi Carti as “almost an incidental rapper,” better at embodying the role of rapper than at actually rapping. As backhanded as that might sound, it seems to be meant as kind of a compliment, and goes a long way in explaining Carti’s appeal.

The 21-year old ATL-born artist’s record Die Lit is a zeitgeist-y and hypnotic collection of minimalist mumble rap, as atmospheric as it is boldly and aggressively youthful.

Hear for yourself (and maybe prove that you’re not too old) when Carti comes to Stage AE on Wednesday.

Sheck Wes and Duwap Kaine open.

7 p.m., Aug. 8. 400 North Shore Drive, North Side. $29.50-35. www.stageae.com

Playboi Carti

ARENA PUNK

PASSAFIRE, Roots of Creation, The Flow Band, and more. AdAug. 9: When it comes to punk cred, mission is free (there’s a suggested Teresa Suarez – better known as donation of $10) and VIP packagClub Cafe. Jim Avett. 8 p.m $12.

Teri Gender Bender—is legit. As a es are available. Sat., Aug. 25. 242 clubcafelive.com Indie: teenager growing up in Guadala- Forbes Ave., Downtown. www. jara, Mexico, her band Le Butch- rockreggaerelief.com erettes railed against the patriarAug. 11 chy using fake blood and, more Club Cafe. Campdogzz with Deinfamously, a real pig’s head. Since Ongoing: then, Le Butcherettes – who opens Backstage Bar at Theater rider and Vulfblitzer. 10:15 p.m. $8 for the Flaming Lips on Friday, Square. Live music Fridays. 5 p.m. clubcafelive.com Aug. 24 at Stage AE -- has more- performers vary.

Belvedere’s Ultra Dive. Coven or-less hit the big time, or at least the medium-time. The band’s Dark Dance Night. Blood Blush most recent record, the glammy, (nyc), Death Instinct, and Erica Aug. 11: garage-y A Raw Youth, features Scary. Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. $5. an appearance by Iggy Pop and it’s belvederesultradive.com Mr. Smalls Theater. Arcane Havhard to imagine a better match: en with Deathbed, 156/Silence and Suarez possesses a similar swagger, Onyx Eye. 7 p.m. $10. mrsmalls. and – despite some arena-ready com polish – she, like Pop, remains Aug. 11: Aug. 18: firmly in touch with her roots. 400 North Shore Drive, North Side.

Club Cafe. Suitcase Junket with Rex Theater. Summer of Screams $42.50-45. www.stageae.com Zak Trojano. 6 p.m. $12. Club- Tour with Mushroomhead, The cafelive.com Browning, Psychostick, Kissing Jergel’s Rhythm Grille. The Candice, Unsaid Fate, Voodoo TerCharlie Daniels Band. 8 p.m. ror Tribe, Shrouded in Neglect, East $69.75-$99. jergels.com Koast Craziez. 4 p.m. $28-$30.

Rex Theater. The Travelin’ McFor the second annual Rock Courys. 8 p.m. $20-$25. rextheReggae & Relief festivals, orga- ater.net nizers decided to raise money for Aug. 12 a still-urgent cause: disaster aid for Puerto Rico, which is still ravaged The Funhouse at Mr. Smalls: Aug. 17: from Hurricane Maria. The festi- Michigan Rattlers. 8 p.m. $10.

Hard Rock Cafe. Soil with Parval is also partnering with Asking mrsmalls.com adigm, 9 stitch Method. 9:30 p.m. for Change and the Pittsburgh $12-14. www.hardrock.com/cafes/ Downtown Partnership with an pittsburgh aim to help support various homeJergels Rhythm Grille. Dee less ministries. So feel good about Snider with Killcode, Chip and the that while you feel good about the Charge Ups. 6 p.m. $55.75-$79.75. lineup, which includes headlin- Aug. 8: jergels.com ers G. Love and the Special Sauce Club Cafe. Eric Sommer. 8 and Donavon Frankenreiter, plus p.m. $10 clubcafelive.com

Hardcore:

Folk:

ROCK & REGGAE

Hard Rock/ Heavy Metal

Singer/ songwriter:

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Pittsburgh Current, Aug. 2018

Punk/ New Wave: Aug. 14:

Mr. Smalls Theater. The Psychedelic Furs with Liz Brasher. 7 p.m. $32.50. mrsmalls.com

Aug. 26: Rex Theater: Strung Out with After the Fall, MakeWar. 6 p.m. $18.50-$20. rextheater.net

Rock/Pop: Aug. 9:

Jergel’s Rhythm Grille. Safety Last. 8 p.m. $11-$25. jergels.com

Aug. 10:

Aug. 16:

Club Cafe. Ferdinand the Bull.

Stage AE. The Avett Brothers.

6 p.m. $10. clubcafelive.com 6:30 p.m. $47.50. promowestlive.

Cattivo. Within the Ruins, com PHINEAS and Great American Ghost. 5:30 p.m. $15-$17. cattivopgh.com Jergel’s Rhythm Grille. The Sept. 14: Fixx. 8 p.m. $23-$38. jergels.com John Oates with The Good Aug. 11: Road Band. 7:30 p.m. Carnegie Heinz Hall. Jeff Beck, Ann Wil- Lecture Hall, Oakland. www.callison. 7 p.m. pittsburghsymphony. opehouse.org com

Blues:

Aug. 14: Black Forge Coffee House.

Rivals. 6 p.m. $10 p.m. blackforgecoffee.com

Reggae: Aug. 23:

Rex Theater: Freddie McGregor with Chino McGregor, Truth

& Rites. 7 p.m. $20-$25. rextheater.net

Other:

Aug. 18: Club Cafe: American Cancer Society Benefit with Ray Powers, Brian Genovisi, Fetish Noir, Pal McGinty, Megan Pennington and Carrie Collins. 7 p.m. $15. clubcafelive.com

September 9: St. Nicholas Church. River City Brass Band Concert. 3 p.m. brownpapertickets.com

This Tastes Funny John Dick Winters loses his brunch virginity at Pie for Breakfast

S

By Charlie Deitch Pittsburgh Current Editor charlie@pittsburghcurrent.com

ince he’s a standup comedian, I didn’t believe John Dick Winters when he first told me by email that he’d never been to brunch before.

“I’ve been to breakfast before and I’ve been to lunch, but I swear I’ve never been to brunch,” Winters tells me as we meet up at Pie for Breakfast on North Craig Street in Oakland Aug. 5 for his first time. “Or if I have, it must’ve been so bad that I don’t even remember it. To be honest, I’m rarely awake at this time of day [it was noon.]”

It didn’t take long for Winters to get into the spirit of brunch when he ordered a mule with bourbon. I opted for a mimosa and although it’s not the manliest drink, it’s perfect for the guy who hates Bloody Marys and thinks it’s a little early for whiskey.

Pie for Breakfast is the latest establishment from Pittsburgh restaurateurs Trevett and Sarah Hooper. They already own Legume, their

food

Pittsburgh Current, Aug. 2018

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Pie For Breakfast 200 N. Craig St., Oakland fine-dining spot and Butterjoint, a more casual eatery with a top-notch bar program. All three places sit beside each other on North Craig.

The feel at “Pie” is Early-American diner, but the farm-to-table food is elevated to impressive heights.

It was an interesting spot for Winters to pick because a few years ago, he too was a chef and even did a stint at Legume. Of the three restaurants, Winters says “Pie” may be the one that most lives up to its name.

“Legume, most people think it’s a fucking vegetarian restaurant but the menu is very meat-focused,” Winters explains. “Butterjoint, it’s great, but nobody knows what the hell that name means. But, Pie for Breakfast? This one makes sense.”

Winters was a stay-at-home dad who started cooking for his twin daughters. He always worked in restaurants, but never as a cook until he went back to work a decade or so ago. From there, he decided to get into comedy and has been doing mainly that for the past three years, even though, he says, when he got into it, “I didn’t think I was funny. I still don’t think I’m funny,” he says laughing. While two different disciplines, Winters says there are some similarities between cooks and comics.

“Learning to cook and learning to do comedy is a lot of trial and error,” Winters says. “It’s a lot of trial by fire; it’s a lot of failing, terribly. It takes a lot of resilience to do either.”

We talk about stand-up comedians as our selections from the menu quickly turn into a one-table brunch buffet. We dine on chopped lamb steak with eggs on the sunny side, a meatloaf quiche (a quiche with chunks of meat, but not meatloaf ) with a cucumber salad that draws Winters’ eye. “Now, the cucumbers,” he asks a

John Dick Winters tries the fruit at Pie for Breakfast with extreme prejudice.

(Pittsburgh Current photo by Charlie Deitch)

nearby server pointing to the non-uniform sizes, “were these chopped by a blind person?” It seemed like sacrilege to not have actual pie for breakfast so we got a slice of peanut butter pie and a slice of vinegar pie, a pecan-pie-like dessert that is sweet and a little tangy, the perfect amounts of both.

While the pies and quiche were delicious, the stars of the table were locally sourced lamb, ham and sausage. “This is the best lamb in the city,” Winters says as he forks off a generous serving and thinks about the overall dining experience.

“You can get eggs and sausage anywhere in the city, but with the locally sourced, ethically raised product they use here, this place is probably does this style of food better than anyone.”

Are you a comedian looking for a free meal? Email the Current at charlie@pittsburghcurrent.com

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food

Day Drinking: Keeping an eye on Pittsburgh’s craft beer scene

By Day Bracey Pittsburgh Current Columnist opinions@pittsburghcurrent.com When the Pittsburgh Current hit me up about writing a beer column, my first thought was, “I don’t really know shit about beer.” They told me I can write about the culture. I think they mean chronicle my path to cirrhosis. Sort of like “Fear & Loathing in Pittsburgh,” minus the Rolling Stone budget.

For those of you who aren’t familiar, I’m a paid drunk. I tell jokes for beer money, record inebriated conversations with brewers and artists in an Allentown basement, and co-founded Fresh Fest -- America’s first Black Beer Fest -- for the sole purpose of someday running into a negro at a brewery that I myself didn’t bring. So, I figure the worst that can happen is I get fired from a job I never applied for.

“I’m in,” I said.

July 22, 3p.m.: The lovely ladies of Leona’s Ice Cream are in the Work Hard Pittsburgh studio with coolers full of local beer to pair with their wares. I don’t typically drink and desert and I certainly don’t mix dairy and alcohol. Ever see Irish cream curdle in a car bomb? But, I’ll try anything once. They start with a tangerine- blackberry ice cream on bergamot shortbread cookies, paired with Hitchhiker’s Tangerine Whole Punch: a fruity, vanilla milkshake New England IPA (NEIPA).

Mouthgasm.

July 22, 5p.m.: Shannon Harris, aka Brew Brotha, & Mike Potter of Black Brew Culture surprise us with a visit. Shannon is in town to brew a collaboration with Dancing Gnome for Fresh Fest. He has a seat on the couch as we record our second, much sloppier, episode of Drinking Partners. We were gifted a bevy of rare beers from across the country at our show last night, and Shannon is the perfect person to provide some education to go along with this entertainment, none of which we will be sober enough to retain. Good thing it’s being recorded.

July 23, 12 p.m.: Sarah Huny Young, director of Supreme Clientele Design Agency, asked Mike and me to come try her collaboration with Rock Bottom for Fresh Fest. Mike and I are happy to oblige. We sit with her and Meg Evans, Rock Bottom’s head brewer, for [redacted] ale with [redacted]. “Don’t tell anyone what we’re brewing. It’s a secret,” they tell me. They aren’t women I want to cross.

This beer is something I want five of though. It’s only noon, so I cap it at two.

This column will be sort of like ‘Fear & Loathing in Pittsburgh,’ minus the Rolling Stone budget.

“We wanted to go bold.” Meg says. “Being a female brewer, people always want to talk to me about being a female brewer, they never want to talk about the product that I’m brewing. So, coming into this, I wanted to brew something that is going to make no one think of anything else but that beer.” Huny is more focused on bringing like-minded individuals to the craft. “It’s a true collaboration. I wanted to make something that beer people would respect Meg for, but also for women like me. Women, who may not really like beer, but are willing to try it. And that’s how we’re approaching the name and the branding of the beer.”

July 24, 9 a.m.: Shannon invited us down to Dancing Gnome for their brew day. He’s wearing a shirt that says “Earn Your Booze,” and looks like he’s been living those words. He, Ryan Janusko, and Scott Mitchell have been brewing a Double IPA (DIPA) for the fest since 7a.m. Shannon cracks open a Spindle Tap Candy Green DIPA pounder from Houston, TX, and shares it with the group.

We then try the DG Loud Sounder a day before its release, and I remember why I commuted from Beaver during rush hour traffic to be here. “Is Big Shot Bob’s open yet?”

July 24, 11 a.m.: The last stop on my Booze-a-Palooza tour is Hitchhiker.

They’ve paired with BOOM Concepts to brew BOOM Shandy, a blackberry shandy, and the first of its style that I’ve seen locally. Andy, the head brewer, finds time to pour me a Tangerine Whole Punch on nitro. If my mom let me try this on New Year’s Eve as a kid, instead of that cheap champagne, I may not have made it to adulthood with both kidneys. Gary Olden, the owner, walks in with pizza and dry wit. We talk about beer culture and the harsh criticisms that come with the industry. “I try not to read the comments.” He is smart. He is kind. He is important.

I share all of this to reiterate my earlier statement; I really don’t know shit about beer. But I know a lot of interesting people who do, and for some reason they share their knowledge and experiences with me. My goal with this is column is to pay it forward to you, highlight some of the lesser-heard voices in the industry, and add my own copper coins to the discussions. If you see me out and about, feel free to tell me how much you love beer and hate Trump. I can think of no better way to spend a day drinking.

Cheers!

Opinion

Pittsburgh Current, Aug. 2018

Criminal Defense & Personal Injury I DON’T WANT YOU TO NEED ME DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE

(412) 532-6805

FrankWalkerLaw.com

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Pittsburgh Current, Aug. 2018

food

Fresh Fest founders want to make craft beer industry more accessible to black consumers

By Haley Frederick Pittsburgh Current Staff Writer haley@pittsburghcurrent.com

Mike Potter, Day Bracey and Shannon “Brew Brotha” Harris Photo Courtesy of Mike Potter

E

arlier this year, before any of them mentioned creating a beer festival, Mike Potter was chatting with Day Bracey and Ed Bailey, hosts of the Drinking Partners Podcast. They wanted to come up with something they could do to serve the black community in Pittsburgh.

“We just wanted to see where our individual platforms could be of service to adversity and help in the community as a whole,” Potter says.

One of those areas was trying to make the craft brewing industry more accessible to African Americans..

“Some of these guys, they don’t really go into these craft beer places because it’s not the scene that’s most comfortable for them and a lot of brewers don’t really know how to communicate with their African-American customers or just people in general,” Potter says. “So we just wanted to make an introduction and say, ‘hey, you probably have more in common than you know.’”

A craft beer festival celebrating black-owned

breweries is coming to Pittsburgh this weekend thanks to the combined efforts of Mike Potter of Black Brew Culture magazine and local comedians Day Bracey and Ed Bailey of the podcast Drinking Partners. Fresh Fest 2018 will take place on Saturday, August 11 at Nova Place and Alloy 26.

More than 30 breweries will be serving up their brews at the event. Several black-owned breweries are coming in from around the country, like Cajun Fire Brewing Company from New Orleans and Sankofa Beer Company from

in 2005, when he stopped by East End Brewing Company and met owner Scott Smith.

“He kind of showed me the process of making beer and what different ingredients mean and do,” says Potter. “That led to a good friendship between myself and the guys at East End and now we’re doing this collaboration for Fresh Fest.”

East End and Potter’s Fresh Fest collaboration will take the form of a Brut IPA. It’s fitting that Pennsylvanians are leading the charge in supporting black-owned craft breweries since Pennsylvania is the biggest producer of craft beer in the country, according to a study from the Brewers Association, a national trade group. Even though the local craft beer community is booming, it’s lacking in diversity, Potter says. Potter hopes that Fresh Fest will help to start the conversations that need to be had about the culture around craft beer.

In addition to the beer, Blowfish BBQ, The Coop Chicken and Waffles, Leon’s Caribbean Restaurant, and Leona’s Ice Cream Sandwiches will be on site to serve up food at the event.

The entertainment lineup includes Homewood singer-songwriter and emcee Clara Kent, guitarist Byron Nash of the bands Formula412 and Plan B, and bassist Jonny Goood who’s played with artists like Lady Gaga and Wiz Khalifa. VIP ticket holders will see Bracey and Bailey record an episode of Drinking Partners live.

“It’s all a way to connect people that typically would not have been connected had we not done something like this,” says Potter. “It’s all taking place organically through craft beer which is a really cool thing.”

“It’s all a way to connect people that typically would not have been connected” Washington DC. Many local breweries will be at Fresh Fest, too. More than 20 new beer collaborations between breweries and black business owners and artists will debut at the event.

“It’s a really great opportunity for beer enthusiasts that are local in the African-American community to get to know some of the breweries that are around the city and start the conversation of future collaborations or just making new friends,” says Potter.

Potter’s personal journey through the craft beer scene is coming full-circle. He was introduced to the Pittsburgh craft beer scene back

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Beechview Photos by Jake Mysliwczyk

After a history of bad deals, Beechview is on the road to recovery

Sorg and his wife Missy have been longtime

by Kim Lyons residents of Beechview, and used to host their Editor’s Note: As part of a regular business feaPittsburgh Current Editor-at-Large daily podcast from their basement before movture in the Pittsburgh Current, we’re planning to kim@pittsburghcurrent.com ing to the storefront on Broadway. Missy Sorg highlight business districts across the Pittsburgh says there’s some cohesion among the businessarea. Few neighborhoods have dealt with a more chaotic set of circumstances than Beechview, which is where the Current’s new es, which in addition to Sorgatron include Tolin FX, a special effects studio, and Cut ‘N Run, a video production studio. office is located. So we thought we’d kick off the feature close to home.

In addition to longtime businesses like The Huddle and Las Palmas People in Beechview are sick of talking about it, so we’ll get the BernarIGA grocery store, new companies have begun sprouting along Broadway do Katz bit out of the way because it’s really the backstory of Broadway Avenue in Beechview over the past year. It’s been a long row to hoe for Avenue.The developer bought a slew of properties along Broadway AveBeechview’s business district. But with formerly title-clouded properties nue and got a $750,000 loan from the Urban Redevelopment Authority. now available for sale and being renovated, the city’s only neighborhood Then, he fled to Brazil in 2007. He was indicted on conspiracy and fraud with working light rail has finally turned a corner. And yes, to the glee of charges and accused of defrauding several local banks out of $20 million. many residents and business owners, it will soon be getting a new coffee The properties were tied up in legal entanglements for several years beshop. fore the city finally extricated them and were able to offer them for sale “We see thousands of people going by our window every day,” says beginning in 2015.

As part of the Broadway Avenue Public Realm Project (BAPR),BroadMike Sorg, of Sorgatron Media. His podcast and video production studio is housed in a building at 1619 Broadway. “The businesses in this neigh- way Avenue is now in the design phase for construction based on the borhood can draw people’s eyes up from their phones. Now we have to 2011 SMART TRID study. The overhaul will include ADA-accessible figure out what gets them off the train.” transit stops, infrastructure improvements and beautification efforts.

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Pittsburgh Current, Aug. 2018

But the long process that the community suffered through made many in Beechview wary of any other developers. Daniel Berkovitz of Atlas Development is mindful of this wariness even as he pushes ahead with development efforts in Katz’s wake. Among the former Katz properties Atlas purchased was 1600 Broadway, which has been renovated into apartments. The long-awaited senior center at 1555 Broadway finally has come to fruition as well.

Berkowitz said he’s taken time to get to know Beechview and its residents, which is why he thinks things are moving along so well now.

“Any time anyone gives me a statistic based on the city of Pittsburgh I think they’re a liar,” Berkowitz says. He says to look at the East End and think that what’s happening there tells the entire Pittsburgh story is false.

“We are a loose confederation of 90 principalities. Each neighborhood is demographically different and statistically different and if you don’t understand that you completely misread what’s going on in Pittsburgh.”

He says he chose Beechview after studying census data that showed the neighborhood had a rapidly changing demographic of younger people, and was safe and affordable. Along with the beginnings of development in the neighborhood, Berkowitz said, Beechview was an ideal choice. “As a developer you can make things happen a little faster, and help the community achieve what it wants to be.”

In addition to Sorgatron moving in along Broadway, La Catrina Mexican restaurant and the renovated senior center at 1555 Broadway have given the street a new look. Berkowitz added that the Hispanic Development corp is working on opening a business incubator for Latino businesses on the second floor of the senior center. Beechview has the city’s highest concentration of Latino residents.

Atlas’ plan has been to seek out businesses that don’t rely too heavily on foot traffic, but that will attract attention just by virtue of having the lights on. “It starts to change the whole perception of the neighborhood,”

Berkowitz says. “We’re trying to brand it as a small business maker corridor.”

He’s mindful of the perception that development always equals gentrification, Berkowitz added. “When the barista and the coffee shop owner can’t live together in the same neighborhood it’s not a vibrant neighborhood,” he said. “In the short term you might have development, but in the long term the next time a neighborhood is shiny and new, people are going to move there. There’s no stickiness. Neighborhoods need souls.”

Pittsburgh City councilor Anthony Coghill has lived in Beechview his entire life. “When I was a kid it was hustling and bustling, we had a movie theater and ice cream shops,” he says. While the neighborhood is moving forward, he cautions that it’s not quite back to its heyday yet. “We’re not ready for businesses that are counting on foot traffic just yet,” he says. “All these dumpsters you see along Broadway are a beautiful thing, though, because you know people are moving in.”

The senior center building also will again house a coffee shop soon, Coghill adds: Muddy Cup, which has locations in Dormont and Bellevue, has signed a lease to open in the former Brew on Broadway space in October.

But there are still stumbling blocks to deal with in reimaging Beechview’s business district; some of the buildings along Broadway are not structurally sound enough to sell to a developer yet, Coghill says.

And making Broadway safer is a high priority too, says Moira Kaleida, Coghill’s chief of staff, with the slip lanes along the T track among the areas to be addressed as part of the BAPR work. She says keeping developers like Berkowitz accountable to the community is also a priority.

Coghill adds that he likes the unique personality of Broadway’s business district, which is sort of divided into clumps, with Slice on Broadway at one end and the Fallowfield Station at the other, with some residential in between the businesses.

“I think people’s eyes are open to Beechview now, because you can purchase a property on Broadway and open a business,” he said. “I think when people see what’s happening, it’s going to draw more and more interest.”

Disclosure: The author runs a podcast produced at Sorgatron Media.

neighborhoods

neighborhood

Focus

Beechview business district bouncing back

As part of our exploration of Beechview’s business district, we spoke to Bryan Szafranski, 9-year resident who’s vice-chair of BRAG, the Beechview Revitalization Advisory Group. Here’s our Q&A. How would you describe Beechview to someone unfamiliar with the neighborhood?

Beechview is a quiet, safe neighborhood and we definitely have the potential to have a busy business district. We think that once the Atlas Development project at 1600 Broadway gets underway, it will draw more attention to Beechview, and other individuals and/or developers will see the potential in our business district.

What’s your take on the new businesses on Broadway? What other kinds of businesses do you think would benefit the community or be of value?

We are very excited to see the new businesses coming to Beechview.

Hopefully the new restaurants will draw more people to the neighborhood, and will show any businesses hoping to relocate to the Beechview/ Banksville/West Liberty corridor that our neighborhood is starting to bounce back from years of stagnant growth.

Bryan Szafranski (photo by Bethany Ruhe)

Some of the conversation we have heard in the neighborhood as to what people would like to see seems to center around a diner/breakfast spot and a coffee shop. While that would be a great start, we also feel that Beechview needs more non-retail businesses in the area in order to draw more people coming to Beechview during the working day, who will patronize our retail businesses.

Pittsburgh Current, Aug. 2018

Do you think officials are doing a good job taking into account what residents need and ask for?

How is Councilor Coghill doing so far?

Councilman Coghill and his Chief of Staff Moira Kaleida have consistently provided quick responses to neighborhood issues and concerns.

The major project that is currently in the works is the Broadway Avenue Public Realm project. There have been several community input meetings to show the possible options for Broadway Avenue and to get community input on those options. The neighborhood is currently waiting on the design outcome of those meetings and a possible construction schedule.

How about the advisory group: is there something that makes BRAG different from other community organizations?

BRAG endeavours to be a a group for all demographics represented within Beechview to have their voices heard. We would like members of all segments of Beechview to be involved in helping with the renewal of our neighborhood.

Our Promotions Committee is currently looking for additional community members that want to get involved. It meets monthly at Sorgatron Media, and if anyone is interested in working with us, that’s a great place to start.

- Kim Lyons

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Pittsburgh Current, Aug. 2018

SPORTS

Pittsburgh Current Photos by John Altdorfer

Pittsburgh’s Major League Bocce is a rolling success

I

t seems like it’s always raining this summer in Pittsburgh, but on this overcast evening, the rain held off long enough for the teams with Major League Bocce to roll onto the Bloomfield courts. The players arrive a little before 6:30.

Some have carpooled. Some are carrying in a six pack or small cooler.

Bocce is simply Italian lawn bowling, or, as Lou Biancaniello of Friendship tells me, “Italians just call it bowling.” His team, G.L.L.O.B. (Gorgeous Lou and the Ladies of Bocce, a punny riff inspired by the Netflix show “GLOW”)

by Jody DiPerna Pittsburgh Current Contributing Writer info@pittsburghcurrent.com are rolling and as I watch, Angelica Runova says that Lou is the Italian ringer of their team. “I cannot, for the life of me, actually bocce,” she adds.

There are two courts here and both of the early matches are going strong as the tail end of rush hour traffic begins to slow down above us on the Bloomfield Bridge. At the end of Darsie Street, the last house is just a few feet from the bocce courts, separated by a chain-link fence.

Lou Scanga steps out onto his stoop with his daughter Kenley and watches the matches for a

while. Scanga grew up here, one house over, in fact and, as a lifelong Bloomfield resident, has watched bocce for all of his years.

Sometimes called ‘the sport of kings,’ bocce is derived from the Latin ‘bottia,’ which is simply the word for ball. To play, you toss a small ball called a pallino onto the court. Then, players toss their balls and try to get closest to the pallino. It requires pretty good eye-hand coordination, but the nature of the game allows for all ages and genders to compete equally, which is important to this league.

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Pittsburgh Current, Aug. 2018

“What can we do that doesn’t require so many people, that doesn’t have a gender requirement?

Because part of the challenge had been that, for kickball for example, you had to have x-number of women. We wanted to avoid that [to make it easier to participate],” said Rachel Preston.

Preston is one of the founders of Major League Bocce, the umbrella organization of which this league is a part.

When the league was conceived, Preston was living in D.C. and working at a high stress job.

A group of friends was looking for ways to socialize and blow off steam. Someone suggested bocce. They started playing, then formed a league. It took off. Eventually they branched out to other cities, such as Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Richmond, Charlotte and Austin.

Pittsburgh has a rich history with bocce. In neighborhoods like Bloomfield and Morningside, you can still find bocce being played regularly -- these Bloomfield courts are in frequent use. Preston is aware of some of these histories.

“We’re not trying to displace the regulars from their courts,” she says.

Giuseppe Francioni, captain of the Lucchesi Rosso team, gets out a contractor’s tape measure the distance of the green and red balls surrounding the pallino. Bocce may not require you to train like LeBron James, but it sometimes does require fine measurements to determine scoring. While he measures, I chat with two of the women from another team. They’re older than

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most of the folks here, but the league has players of varying ages, from youngish tech workers to Pam Glaser and Paula Sokolow, who both come over to Bloomfield from Wilkinsburg.

When the early matches are over, some players hang around the courts as the later matches get rolling, but most head up to Lot 17 for a few drinks. Glaser and Sokolow decline, joking that they’re “the grandmas of this.”

Bocce was played by Roman soldiers during the Punic Wars against Carthage. It survived the Dark Ages is thought to have been played by the likes of a couple of guys named Galileo and DaVinci. And it’s been played in Bloomfield since the first Italian immigrant set foot in the neighborhood to start life in America.

Bocce is an ancient sport and some of the people who use these courts are, themselves, quite ancient. When Anthony Bourdain was in town, he met a man at the bocce courts who was 103 years old. The sport may be ancient, but in the modern era, I frequently hear things like, “Hey Nick, get off your phone, you gotta play.”

These are folks who aren’t fighting wars, but often are working in IT doing things like software development and software architecture, (whatever that may be.) But like soldiers, what brings them to the bocce courts is a sense of camaraderie and a chance to let go.

“We don’t play for the sport,” Runova says.

“We play for the fun.”

/PGHCurrent @PGHCurrent pittsburghcurrent.com

Pittsburgh Current, Aug. 2018

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News of the Weird From the editors at Andrews McMeel Syndication Among the gazillion other products and services available from Amazon is the behemoth’s facial recognition software, Rekognition, marketed as providing extremely accurate facial analysis. But when the American Civil Liberties Union gave it a go, the results were startling. Using Rekognition, the ACLU scanned photos of every current member of the U.S. House and Senate and came up with 28 matches to a mugshot database of people who had been arrested for crimes. The ACLU announced its findings July 26 and admitted it used Amazon’s default settings, to which Amazon responded, “While 80 percent confidence is an acceptable threshold for photos of hot dogs, chairs, animals or other social media use cases,” Amazon would advise customers to set the threshold at 95 percent or higher for law enforcement. The ACLU told NPR that the legislators who were falsely matched were men, women, Republicans and Democrats of all ages. However, the software did misidentify people of color at a higher rate.

• You thought you were old? You’re just a twinkle in a nematode’s eye. Russian scientists have revived two ancient, frozen roundworms, or nematodes, from samples collected in Siberian permafrost, The Siberian Times reported on July 26. The worms, which were found in cores taken from 30 meters and 3.5 meters deep, are believed to be female and 41,700 and 32,000 years old, respectively. After collecting the samples, scientists slowly thawed out the worms, which eventually started eating and moving. Scientists from the In-

an hour earlier that night, a prowler had summoned a woman from her home to ask for access to her Wi-Fi network also. She told him to go away, and he rode off on a bicycle -- which she realized the next day he had stolen from her backyard. She called police, who recovered the bike near where they had arrested the teen.

•

stitute of Physico-Chemical and Biological Problems of Soil Science in Moscow believe the nematodes have some adaptive mechanisms that may be of scientific importance.

• During a July 23 debate among mayoral candidates in Key West, Florida, Sloan Bashinsky, a perennial contender, took a minute to answer a call from God. “Hello? What? God?” Bashinsky said, speaking into his cellphone. According to FLKeys News, it wasn’t the first time he’s heard from a higher power: “I have said every time I ran, I ran because God told me to run,” Bashinsky explained. “I think anyone who wants this job is insane.”

Bashinsky has a law degree from Vander-

bilt University and was once among the island’s homeless. He joins six other candidates on the ticket.

• Just after midnight on July 22, a couple in Palo Alto, California, were awakened in their bedroom by a 17-year-old burglar with a garment obscuring his face.

Instead of demanding money or jewelry, though, the intruder asked for their WiFi password. According to the Sacramento Bee, the homeowner forced the teen out of the home and called police, who tracked him down a block away and arrested him for felony residential burglary.

Police later determined it wasn’t the teen’s first attempt at connectivity. Less than

Jeffrey Jacobs, 37, thought he had a great thing going. Last year, when a tree fell on his White Plains, New York, home, he told the owner of a tree service (and big hockey fan) that he was the owner of the NHL’s Boston Bruins, reported The Hour.

Impressed, the tree service owner sent a crew in the midst of a storm, then billed the actual club owner, 78-year-old Jeremy Jacobs, $5,100 for the service. Police in nearby Wilton, Connecticut, heard about the deception when they received a call in May from security officials at a company chaired by the Bruins’ owner. The story sounded familiar: In November, Jacobs had been pulled over in Wilton, and he told officers he owned the Bruins in an effort to get out of the ticket. On July 20, Jacobs was pulled over for using his phone while driving in Poughkeepsie, New York, sent back to Wilton and charged with criminal impersonation.

• Diamonds are SO 20th century. In Japan, Warp Space is offering newlyweds the chance to make their union universal with wedding plaques launched into space. According to United Press International, the startup company, founded by faculty mem-

46

Pittsburgh Current, Aug. 2018

News of the Weird cont’d bers from the University of Tsukuba, will print a titanium plate with the names of the betrothed and put it, along with a few hundred other plaques, in one of a series of small cubes to be released into space from the International Space Station. Astronauts will memorialize the launching by taking photographs, which will then be sent to the newlyweds. The service costs $270.

• Painesville (Ohio) Municipal Court Judge Michael Cicconetti has a reputation for serving up unusual sentences, and he delivered again on July 24 when 18-yearold Bayley Toth appeared in his courtroom.

Toth was convicted of two misdemeanor criminal mischief charges for toppling a portable toilet at Painesville Township Park in June, among other things. Cicconetti sentenced him to 120 days in jail, but suspended it in lieu of Toth shoveling ... manure at the Lake County Fair. “You act like an animal, you’re going to take care of animals,” Cicconetti told Toth. The News-Herald reported Toth will also have to perform 40 hours of community service and pay restitution for damage to the park.

• Brody Tyler Young, 25, was arrested in a Nashville, Tennessee, McDonald’s on July 23 after spending “all day” locked in the women’s restroom, dancing naked, doing jumping jacks and hitting the wall. According to WFFA TV, when officers managed to enter the restroom, they found Young locked in a stall, smelling of “chemical fumes, as if he had been huffing.” Young was taken into custody and charged with public intoxication and public indecency.

A weird in-air experience for passengers traveling from the Canary Islands in Spain to the Netherlands on May 29 ended tragically. The Transavia flight was forced

to land in Faro, Portugal, after passengers began fainting and vomiting in reaction to the overpowering smell of another passenger, 58-year-old Russian rocker Andrey Suchilin. “It was like he hadn’t washed himself for several weeks,” Belgian passenger Piet van Haut said. CBS News reported that Suchilin had sought medical attention in Spain and was given antibiotics for an “ordinary beach infection.” Taken to a hospital in Portugal, his condition deteriorated, and he was diagnosed with tissue necrosis. Doctors induced a coma and performed several surgeries, but his wife reported on his Facebook page that he died on June 25.

The airline assured fellow passengers that “there has been no risk of infection.”

• Kyle McAleer, 20, a Chicago Cubs fan from Iowa, adopted a goofy “rally cap” idea from former Cubs player Starlin Castro a few years ago -- a plastic bucket.

But no one’s laughing now: As McAleer and his family watched a game from seats under Wrigley Field’s manual scoreboard on July 24, a 6- to 8-inch metal pin fell out of the board and onto McAleer’s head, where he had only moments earlier secured the bucket. Although he suffered a cut requiring five staples, McAleer is crediting the bucket for saving his life: “It might have fractured my skull. It definitely could have been fatal. I am extremely lucky,” he told the Associated Press. Cubs spokesman Julian Green said the incident has been ruled an accident, not a structural issue, and the team has sent McAleer some swag, including a jersey.

• Send your weird news items with subject line WEIRD NEWS to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com.

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Nicky’s Thai Kitchen

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856 Western Ave. Pittsburgh, 15233 412-321-8424

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1026 Mt. Nebo Road Pittsburgh, 15237 412-438-8424

Celebrate your Birthday Present Valid Picture ID

Celebrating over 10 years of bringing traditional Thai Cuisine to the Pittsburgh Region

Visit us online for Locations, Hours, Menu and now DELIVERY!!!

on your Birthday for FREE Pumpkin Custard Dessert *Only Available with Dine-In Purchase of Dinner Entree (no coupon necessary)

Redeem This Coupon for FREE Order of Crispy Egg Rolls With any Dinner Entree *Limit One per table or Take Out Order, not available with delivery orders

www.nickysthaikitchen.com THANK YOU!!! For voting us BEST THAI RESTAURANT & BEST OUTDOOR DINING in Pittsburgh!