Philadelphia Free Press - 07-29-20 Digital Edition

City Safari: The old-time religion: paganism

By Thom Nickels Contributing Editor

destroying Draft Board records at a Camden draft board office in 1972. took the high-speed line I last wrote about Msgr. to Camden to chat with Doyle for the Philadelphia Free Msgr. Michael J. Doyle, Press about a year ago. I’m the priest with the Irish brogue writing about him again bewho has been pastor of Sacred cause after decades at Sacred Heart parish for over forty Heart, the 85-year old activist years. Fr. Doyle was an activpriest retired in mid July. ist antiwar priest during the The interview took place Vietnam War era. He was one in his study, also known as of the Camden 28 arrested for ‘The Miracle Room.’ It’s a

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space filled with memorabilia, framed documents, icons and photographs. There are framed photos of Fr. Doyle with Harry Reasoner of Sixty Minutes, of Mother Teresa during her 1976 visit to Sacred Heart, and lots of snapshots of the Berrigan brothers.

Msgr. Doyle’s secretary, Teresa, met me at the PATCO Collingswood station. We drove to Sacred Heart, pass-

Msgr. Michael J. Doyle

Center City Philadelphia's Community Newspaper

July 29, 2020

Center City: A Look at The State of Our Infrastructure

By Daniel T. Pelligrine and Mario Anthony Corsaro Philadelphia Neighborhoods Student Reporters

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or generations, Philadelphia has been a city of residents and commuters, creating a diverse city with a bustling downtown district and thriving satellite commercial centers connected by the original grid of surface streets and the newer web of interstates and expressways.

Trains snake through hidden cuts in the city as buses In the 2015 SEPTA statistics report, an estimated total of more than 180,000 Philadelphians trudge up and down their ride the rails daily. With so many using public transit to get to work, school and otherwise, the routes, and the subway zips demand is outmatching the supply. back and forth. As commutgas, water, sewage, and infor- infrastructure that is just as ers flow in, so does electricity, mation, comprising the utility important as the transporta-

tion one.

Each citizen knows how complex these systems are, yet for most they rarely give it all a second thought.

However, those same people are also feeling the struggles of years of infrastructural decay in ways they may not even realize. The junction of I-76 with US 1 for example, costs commuters a combined 300,000 hours per year, according to a study by the American Highway Users Alliance. The study does not detail what impacts this may have but it does beg the question: how much more work or leisure could be done or had continued on page 6

Homeless population resist efforts to vacate campsite, Pt. II

By Nathaniel Lee Philadelphia Free Press Correspondent

dent. It’s no coincidence that they just happen to find themselves in the shadow of a huge agency whose purpose is to find housing for low-incomed residents, as we reported last week in Part I of this series, these occupants are there purposely and with intention.

They are there to send their message and to show what they consider to be the contradictions of a system which, they say, spends billions on buildings and administration while often residents they exist to serve go homeless and plead for help.

It was this writer’s intention to hear from the members of

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s the heat soars in Philadelphia, dozens of tents still occupied by members of the cities growing homeless population, sit beneath the shade of a few sparse trees at an encampment located at 21st and Ridge Avenue.

Ironically, next to this array of tents and homeless occupants, is a multi-million dollar building owned by the Philadelphia Housing Authority with $400 million in annual assets at its disposal.

The occupants of the tent village aren’t there by acci-

Photo by Nathaniel Lee

continued on page 8

ing St. Bartholomew Catholic Church, with its large outdoor wooden cross and Black Lives Matter sign replacing the traditional INRI inscription. A sign of the times, perhaps; we live in a queer age indeed.

I’m just one of many journalists who have visited the famed priest since the announcement of his retirement.

Articles about his retirement have appeared in The CourierPost and in The Philadelphia Inquirer. As many writers can attest, when one sits down with Msgr. Doyle one never knows where the conversation might go. In my last interview, I got so caught up in the priest’s activist years that I never got around to asking him his thoughts on present day Ireland the state of the Irish Catholic Church.

In my first interview with Doyle he told me that he met Mother Teresa when he attended an address that she gave to women religious. He said that after her talk he went up to her and invited her to come to Camden and meet the poor women that she had been X her address. talking about in ...Mother Teresa said she would visit during the 1976 Eucharistic Congress. Fr. Doyle says he kept the visit secret from the press but word leaked out anyway. Mother Teresa’s name at that time was not a household word. x International EuThe 41st Page charistic Congress was held in the old WestXPhiladelphia ... convention center. A zillion Catholic priests, monks, nuns and lay people arrived from all over the world. The hundreds of exhibits in convention hall included designer and traditional vestment displays, continued on page 4

IS GOD IS

The twin sisters who are the central characters in Is God Is would disagree with...

Page 10

POLITICS.....................................3 FUNDRAISER................................5 NOTES ON MUSIC..........................7 CLASSIFIEDS..............................11

2 • PHILLYFREEPRESS.COM • UCREVIEW.COM • JULY 29, 2020

Announcing health and safety protocols, hotel Sofitel Philadelphia is slated to reopen in Center City on August 6th

By Haywood Brewster ment, this means keepStaff Reporter ing guests and employees safe by preventing ofitel Philadelthe spread of COVID-19 phia at Rittenby partnering with house Square has top experts to impleannounced that the ho- ment new standards of tel will reopen its doors safety and enhanced opto hotel guests and visi- erational protocols and tors on Thursday, Auprocedures which are gust 6, 2020 at 11:00am. among the most strinThe luxury hotel that gent in the hospitality blends French elegance industry. As part of the with American style reopening plans, Sofitel will reopen for overPhiladelphia is offering night stays for guests guests a buy one, get in 306 newly renovated one free offer for a comelegant suites and 67 plimentary night stay newly renovated luxuwith the purchase of an rious suites, plus the equal night stay. For resstunning Presidential ervations with this speSuite. Banquet facilities cial offer and additional will be open for limited reopening information, private events in acplease visit Sofitel Philacordance with local and delphia on Facebook and visit www.sofitelstate guidelines. Hotel restaurants will remain philadelphia.com/happenings/. closed at this time.

“We are excited to Sofitel Philadelphia’s top priority remains the share that Sofitel Philasafety, care and wellbe- delphia is reopening its doors as of August 6th,” ing of hotel guests and employees. At this mo- said Sofitel Philadel-

S

phia General Manager Angela Bauer. “We’ve missed you all and are thrilled to welcome our friends, family and community back into the hotel.”

The new operational standards being implemented at Sofitel Philadelphia at Rittenhouse Square and Accor properties across North and Central America were developed and vetted by a team of expert advisors to ensure maximum efficacy in preventing the spread of all viruses and pathogens, including COVID-19, with oversight by Bureau Veritas, a world leader in testing, inspections and certification; Dr. Amesh Adalja, Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security & fellow with the Infectious Diseases Society of America; and Ruth Petran, Ph.D.,

Photos submitted by Sofitel Hotel

CFS, Senior Corporate Scientist, Food Safety and Public Health, for Ecolab, global leaders in cleaning and hygiene, and trusted advisors to the CDC. At each touchpoint along the guest journey through Sofitel Philadelphia, extensive measures are being taken to protect guests and employees, including physical distancing; mandatory screening for all guests and employees, which may include a temperature check; masks provided to guests and worn by all employees; a 48-hour “settling period” for occupied rooms postdeparture; increased frequency of cleaning & disinfecting, with a focus on high-touch points; and continued use of EPA registered disinfecting chemicals, proven effective in preventing the transmission of COVID-19.

Hands-on training for all employees, a dedicated on-property rollout committee and a formal audit program, validated under the global ALLSAFE Cleanliness label, ensure initial and continued compliance.

Additionally, Sofitel Philadelphia is asking guests to work with the hotel family on health and safety for everyone.

Guests that belong to a risk group for COVID-19 are asked to postpone their travels until the risk period has passed, in order to help ensure the wellbeing of all guests and employees. Guests are asked to practice heightened hygiene measures, observe physical distancing, and follow the guidance of hotel employees, signage and markers while on property. Masks are also required when guests are on property outside of their hotel

rooms, per local and state guidelines and recommendations.

“It seems like yesterday where we were celebrating the dawn of a new year and looking forward to the amazing spring days in the City of Brotherly Love,” said Bauer. “Since then, the subsequent global pandemic has brought challenges unlike anything I have experienced in my extensive career in the hospitality industry – but also, and more importantly, it has demonstrated the unfaltering spirit and unwavering sense of community that surrounds Sofitel Philadelphia. For that and for you, we are forever grateful. As we welcome our friends, family and the Greater Philadelphia community back to Sofitel Philadelphia, please be assured that we are looking ahead, through

continued on page 5

JULY 29, 2020 • PHILLYFREEPRESS.COM • UCREVIEW.COM • 3

Government transparency bill becomes law without governor’s signature, support

By Christen Smith The Center Square

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ennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf allowed a government transparency bill he once adamantly opposed lapse into law Sunday evening without his signature.

In a lengthy statement, the administration minced few words, admonishing House Bill 2463 as “foolish” and “thoughtless” and little more than a talking point for Republican majorities in the House and Senate, even though it was approved unanimously with bipartisan support.

“I will let this bill become law, but it is time for the Republican legislature to hold themselves accountable for their intentional lack of transparency, their failures throughout this pandemic, and their response that has repeatedly endangered employees and

citizens in Pennsylvania,” Wolf said. “It’s time for accountability and reform, and that is what we should all expect and demand.”

The legislation requires state agencies to fulfill Right to Know records requests during disaster declarations. Rep. Seth Grove, R-York, sponsored the bill last spring after the administration denied access to public records to media outlets and others seeking specific data about the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Commonwealth Foundation Vice President Nathan Benefield said the measure shouldn’t have been controversial.

“After a week and a half of threats to veto, it is a relief to know that Gov. Wolf can be pressured into abiding the principle of transparency – a principle which he has claimed to champion,” Benefield said in a

to block the release of almost all information, including basic information such as correspondence and calendars, not to mention any emails that outline their oftenflawed decision-making processes,” he said.

Grove said Sunday he Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf takes questions from the press after a visit to WellSpan York Hospital on July 21, 2020. Commonwealth Media Services and others – in the Legislature, at the Pennsylvastatement. “When put to legislation afforded no nia News Media Associathe test during the state- protections for employtion and the American wide shutdown, Wolf ees who may be forced Civil Liberties Union abandoned the laws that to enter state buildings – debunked all of the guarantee transparency during the pandemic. He governor’s issues with and accountability in also worries the “poorly the bill over the last 10 state government, prefer- drafted” language will days, leaving Wolf with ring instead to pull a cur- compel the release of little standing to pull out tain around his actions sensitive documents his veto pen. and delay publicity of his typically exempt from “It would have meant decisions. Without the the 2010 RTK law. the administration and bold actions of Rep. Seth Besides, he said, state state agencies under its Grove and his colleagues agencies began proumbrella could ignore on both sides of the isle cessing requests again valid questions from the in the General Assembly, months ago, so the bill public and the press,” he Wolf would have likely does little to advance said. taken the same actions to transparency – especially The Office of Open obscure his administrasince the Legislature Records also assuaged tion’s decision making in itself continues to be ex- some of the administraa future emergency.” empt from the law. tion’s concerns about Wolf – who said he “They have created a safety, Wolf said, though supports government category of legislative transparency – said the privilege allowing them continued on page 9

Philadelphia Bar Association Statement Letter: from Lene’s Daily of my families on the Right to Peaceably Assemble Childcare majority could not afford to pay

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hancellor Hon. A. Michael Snyder (ret.) of the Philadelphia Bar Association, the nation’s oldest metropolitan Bar Association, issued the following statement today on the right to peaceably assemble: “The Constitution of the United States contains two significant provisions: the Oath of Office taken by the President in which the President swears to support, obey, and defend the Constitution; and the right of freedom of speech and assembly, including the right to assemble to address grievances.

“Despite these very clear statements, one a Constitutional protection and the other the very oath of Office taken by a President of the United States before he or she can take an action as President, last week the President ordered federal police to Portland, Oregon, arriving with no prior notice to

the Governor of Oregon or the Mayor of Portland. The troops arrived under cover of darkness, wearing no specific identifications on their camouflage attire, and operating unmarked vehicles. Once in Portland, these troops proceeded to swoop people up off of the streets, gassing some of them, shooting rubber bullets at some of them, beating some of them, and throwing them into unmarked vehicles for transportation and detention in the Federal Courthouse.

No arrest warrants were issued, and those apprehended were not provided any reason for their detention.

“The grossly unlawful nature of this conduct, together with the threat by the President to deploy similar federal troops to other cities including Philadelphia is intolerable to the Philadelphia Bar Association.

“As an association of lawyers and judges, we are committed to

defending the Rule of Law, and have been so committed since 1802, when this Association was created. The actions described fly squarely in the face of the protections afforded to all of us by the Constitution.

“The recent actions taken in Portland would appear to convince us of the fallacy of our belief in the protections of the Constitution.

“Therefore, we, the Philadelphia Bar Association, call upon those in power to remove these troops from Portland, to forswear from deploying such troops elsewhere, and to return the powers of local law enforcement to local authorities. We call upon those in power to return to a commitment to defending the Rule of Law.” The Philadelphia Bar Association, founded in 1802, is the preeminent metropolitan association of lawyers in the United States. It is a keystone in the ongoing developments

July 16, 2020

To Whom It May Concern:

I

am so thankful that Senator Anthony H Williams and Representative Dwight Evans supported the stimulus bill authorizing substantial federal resources for childcare! The $116 million to cover COVID-19 losses/expenses is critical to our ability to reopen our site.

My childcare closed on March 13, 2020. In that moment I stopped serving our childcare services to my families and their children. I had to lay off 15 employees. The of the Philadelphia and Pennsylvania legal systems. With more than 200 years of dedicated service to stand on, the Philadelphia Bar Association is firmly rooted in the Philadelphia community as a steady and reliable bellwether.

childcare service out of pockets as their jobs was affected since the City mandated closure.

That means for the last 18 weeks, I have had little/no income. Not only does that mean my family does not have the income but I cannot pay any of my employees or any of my other business costs.

These stimulus funds will be critical in making sure I will be able to bring back my staff, prepare my facility and reopen when this shut down ends and families return to work. Our economy depends on working families and working families depend on high-quality childcare.

Please keep the childcare field in mind for yet another stimulus bill each time you see a small innocent child who has also suffered from this closure.

Sincerely, Charlene Rawlinson, CEO Lene’s Daily Child Care Inc.

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CITY SAFARI continued from page 1

booths hosted by various religious orders, a Byzantine Catholic vestment display booth (which had Latin Rite Catholics mumbling, “These are way too elaborate! What the Lord wants is simplicity!”). I covered the congress as a reporter and went to the huge Eastern Catholic Mass at the old Veterans Stadium. The Divine Liturgy was held near sunset and began with processions of gold crowned Eastern bishops on the massive field. Banners and flowered icons framed in clouds of incense put the ‘Protestant-simple’ Western Rite to shame. It was at this moment that I discovered the superiority of Eastern Christianity. The Veterans Stadium Liturgy left an indelible mark: I could no longer attend a simple Novus Ordo Mass in the city without mourning what the Church had lost and thrown away, thanks to a Council known as Vatican II. Msgr. Doyle and I began to talk about ritual

in the Mass. I should refer to it as ‘lost ritual’ because 50 years ago the Catholic Mass did not begin with a series of lay readings from the lectern, which is the way it begins today. The Mass at that time did not begin when the priest entered the sanctuary and said, “Good morning.” A ‘good morning’ is a fine opener for a City Council meeting or a company staff meeting, but it in no way compares to the magisterial-prayerful opening of the old Latin Mass.

“There’s very little ritual in the current Novus Ordo Mass,” I told Msgr. Doyle. “It’s mainly all talk. This is why I go to a Russian Orthodox Church. The Orthodox liturgy has an organic weave, like a symphony.

It contracts and expands and puts you in a transcendental state. Its imprint stays with you for days.”

I told Msgr. Doyle that I used to go to the Traditional Latin Mass in various Catholic churches throughout the city but the problem was that these parishes would offer the TLM for a while

but then decide not to offer it. A TLM might pop up in another parish in another part of town so it always became a game of hide-and-seek.

Msgr. Doyle, nodding his head in agreement, informed me that years ago a Greek Orthodox friend of his with a wonderful sense of ritual often spoke to him on how to use and develop ritual in his parish. ‘Words cannot compare with ritual,” Fr. Doyle said, his eyes brightening. “When you try to put words on a par with ritual then priests are reduced to readers.

Ritual is good for the soul. People don’t know they need ritual.”

The use of ritual [in the Mass] is not the use of words. “We are sick of words,” Msgr. Doyle emphasized. “Words are all around us. Words are on TV, the radio, everywhere…we are assaulted by words.”

He described what has become a tradition at Sacred Heart, namely the First Sunday of Advent when the priest blesses expectant mothers. Happily, it is a ritual and not just another liturgical word play. “The expect-

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ant mothers stand with lighted candles around the altar. It’s a beautiful and moving ceremony, especially when I [the priest] says, ‘We bless you and the child within you, in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.’ Yes, it’s ritual that nourishes us,” Msgr.

Doyle emphasized again.

“Protestants—Baptists and others—are so dependent on words. The unlimited gift of life is ritual that nourishes us, and the best attitude of the human heart is gratitude. To be thankful is the best way to be on the planet. “ Msgr. Doyle is certainly thankful for his birth family and his early life in Ireland. When he told me that his mother was one of 13 children, I told him I could relate because my own mother was the youngest of 13 children-- from the Muldoon-Kelly clan with roots in Tyrone County in Northern Ireland.

His sister, Anna May Doyle, was a Mercy nun and nurse named Sister Conception. Anna May died at age 35 when she was hit by a car in a rainstorm on Dublin’s Dublin Road. Anna May and Michael Doyle were very close as children and young adults.

The emotion on Msgr.

Doyle’s face was evident as he told the story.

“On the day that she died an unbelievable sadness came over me.

It was a pain that was breaking out over my chest. I didn’t know why I was so sad. It was overwhelming and I couldn’t shake it. Then I got a call about one and a half hours later. The call came from Ireland.

It was my brother-in-law and he said that he had sad news. He said, ‘Anna May—then his voice broke—“is in a Dublin hospital. She was hit on Dublin Road.”

He adds that the driver

had only one windshield wiper working while driving during an intense rainstorm. “He didn’t see her because half of the windshield was blinded by tears. She was a delightful human being and a great loss to us.”

I asked Msgr. Doyle to give me his thoughts on present day Ireland. “Ireland is sad,” he said. “It’s not a nurturing country anymore. It is affected by marketing and TV…it’s all a question of marketing to get more things.

The Irish in Ireland are too full of themselves to go to church. Ireland has gone pagan.”

The statistics bear Msgr. Doyle out. In 2016, 78 per cent of the population identified themselves as Catholic, down 6 per cent from 2011.

The downward trend is expected to continue, thanks mostly to social liberal modernity.

Almost every writer of note coming out of Ireland today identifies as atheist, agnostic or culturally Catholic only.

I recently discovered the work of Nuala O’Faolain, from the west of Ireland who also lived in New York City before her death in 2008. A beautiful writer, O’Faolain’s work has been praised

by The New Yorker, Vogue (“A reader’s writer”) and The Washington Post Book World. In her book, Almost There, The Onward Journey of a Dublin Woman,” O’Faolain recounts her journey to Belfast, Northern Ireland as a columnist for The Irish Times.

I had hurried across the wintry streets to this monastery in a Republican area of Belfast, and now I leaned forward, yearning to hear what comfort the father-figure up there on the altar might give. I’m not what Catholics mean by a believer, and it was a long time since I’d deferred to pronouncements from pulpits. But I was lonely

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and nervous after a few weeks living in the city, and I longed for the priest to gather me in. It was the beginning of 1998, when individual Catholics going about their ordinary business –a taxi driver, a pizza delivery boy—were being murdered every few days …

Catholic, if only by culture, and I’d come there [to the church] to huddle with Catholics.

Msgr. Doyle’s willingness to say the Ireland is now a pagan country got me thinking of Joseph Ratzinger’s (Benedict XVI), 1958 lecture titled The New Pagans and the Church, which stated that the Church “is no longer, as she once was, a Church composed of pagans who have become Christians, but a Church of pagans, who still call themselves Christians, but actually have become pagans.”

“Christendom may have ended with the Irish May 25 referendum removing legal protections to the unborn. The amendment received two-thirds approval when enacted in 1983.

Thirty-five years later the results are the exact reverse.

What happened?

The New Pagans happened. A phrase that’s been used within and without the Church for at least a couple generations, the new are not like the old pagans but they are still pagans and they reached a sixty-six percent critical mass.

The vote had nothing to do with a new or inordinate hostility to the Catholic Church.

For all their piety and reverence, the Irish have always had an intellectual edge implying Catholicism is all bonkers anyway and daffy priests are part of the package.

So, it wasn’t the priest sex scandals, as lurid and unsettling as they are, nor the orphanage tragedies and careless graves.

These things may have been in the minds of some voters, but that doesn’t explain why the Republic of Ireland decided to toss the baby out with the bathwater. “Get even with the Church: abort babies” wasn’t a campaign slogan.” The Catholic World 2018 No, I think it is worse.

The Western world has defaulted to its old-time religion: paganism

JULY 29, 2020 • PHILLYFREEPRESS.COM • UCREVIEW.COM • 5

City Provides Update on COVID-19 for Tuesday, July 28, 2020 July 28, 2020 Published by: COVID-19 Recovery Office, Board of Health, Managing Director’s Office, Department of Public Health, Office of the Mayor, Office of Emergency Management

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HILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia Department of Public Health today announced 142 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 novel coronavirus in Philadelphia.

That brings the number of confirmed cases to 29,945.

The Department of Public Health confirmed no additional fatalities in Philadelphia. The number of residents who

SOFITEL continued from page 2

and past the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure that our valued guests and employees will always be looked after with the highest degree of safety, care and comfort.”

She added, “For more than 130 years, our loyal guests and employees at Accor properties across North & Central America have entrusted us with their care and safety. Sofitel and Accor have a long-standing tradition of setting new benchmarks for service excellence and today is no different.”

For additional information on Sofitel’s and Accor’s commitment to helping its community stay safe and stay well, please visit ALLStayWell.com.

As a welcome back to Sofitel Philadelphia, the hotel is offering guests a buy one, get one free complimentary night offer with a minimum of a two-night stay. The special offer will be available when you visit Sofitel Philadelphia on Facebook, and when a potential guest visits https://www.sofitelphiladelphia.com/happenings/.

In order to help travelers book with con-

today’s press briefing.

The Department has posted a webpage on this new contact tracing program. He described the process as follows: Health Department staff call people who test positive for COVID-19 and ask them to isolate.

Staff ask for the names and contact information of anyone that they’ve had close contact with. have succumbed to the asymptomatic positive Health Department virus in Philadelphia cases in Philadelphia staff then call those conremains at 1,678. Of the prisons are now posted tacts, inform them that 1,678 total deaths, 855 on the testing and data they may have been ex(51%) were long-term page of the City’s COposed, and ask them to care facility residents.

VID-19 website. quarantine for 14 days.

Note: Today’s count is Contract Tracing: Staff will then follow one less death than reHealth Commissioner up with these contacts ported yesterday due to Dr. Thomas Farley introdata cleaning. Current duced the Department of every day to see if they have symptoms or any and cumulative totals of Public Health’s contact both symptomatic and tracing program during outstanding needs.

To facilitate this process, the Department of starting on August 6th fidence, flexible rates Public Health has hired please call the hotel diare always available 108 diverse, new staff to rectly at 215-569-8300. for booking, allowing build an entirely new diFor immediate phone change or cancellavision.

This new division inquiries, please call tion up to 24 hours Director of Sales & Mar- is 57 percent Africanin advance of arrival.

American, 25 percent keting Anthony GeistFor guests who have White, 6 percent Latino, wite at 215-564-7980. booked a non-flexible Sofitel Philadelphia is and 11 percent Asian. rate directly with Sofitel Sixteen percent of the located in the heart of Philadelphia for travel Rittenhouse Square and through June 30, 2020, Center City at 120 S. the hotel has adopted more flexible modifica- 17th Street, with ample outdoor dining, retail tion and cancellation and cultural offerings policies to help guests just minutes away. and clients shift their travel plans as needed.

Name: For more information,

for a site by address, click on a map location for specific site informanew staff were born out- tion, and filter by day of side of the United States, week and by drive-thru and 35 percent report or walk-up. speaking a language other than English. Of COVID-19 Resources: the five teams of contact • City’s COVID-19 tracers, one entire team homepage: phila.gov/ is Spanish-speaking to covid-19. facilitate communica• COVID-19 resources tion with non-English translated into mulspeakers. The Departtiple languages. ment of Public Health • Greater Philadelhas developed a video phia Coronavirus highlighting this staff Helpline: 1 (800) 722in an effort to encour7112. age Philadelphians to • Residents can text answer the call.

COVIDPHL to 888Since July 6, the 777 to get updates Department of Public sent to their phones.

Health has attempted • Find out more about to contact 554 cases that testing for COhave phone numbers VID-19. and completed inter• Businesses with quesviews with 53 percent tions about reopening of them. Of those cases using the Department who reported contacts, of Public Health’s contact tracers have guidelines should reached and interviewed email business@ 72 percent of those conphila.gov. tacts.

• The PHL COVID-19 Testing Site Map: Fund continues to A testing site finder at solicit donations to phila.gov/testing helps aid nonprofits that people find a free COare on the frontline of VID-19 test in Philadelthe pandemic. phia. Anyone can search

Celebrate our 32nd Year with us!

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You can also go to GoFundMe.com and search for “Keeping Community Papers Alive in Philadelphia”.

6 • PHILLYFREEPRESS.COM • UCREVIEW.COM • JULY 29, 2020

INFRASTRUCTURE

provide a letter grade.

While Philadelphia continued from page 1 and its population of with 300,000 extra hours more than one million is lumped somewhat spread around? unfairly with the rest of Many factors work the commonwealth, such together to shape the current state of the city’s as the far less populated Wayne and Greene infrastructure.

Businesses rely on the counties where these categories are magnified, import and export of the report card’s findgoods coming through ings are not exactly off the regional seaports and freight rail systems. the mark.

According to the most Businesses boost the recent ASCE report card economy, allowing for for Pennsylvania in 2014, better healthcare and the state is below avereducation for workers. age or average in every Those service industries thrive and require more infrastructural institution, with only the parks infrastructure, which leads to a benefit for the system, freight rail, community. And above and hazardous waste all else is fuel extraction, treatment receiving a transportation, distribu- B- and B for the latter. tion, and generation into Wastewater bottoms out the list with a D-, with power, a necessity for making all else possible. everything else falling somewhere in the high C But unlike many cities to high D range. which rely on imports, Matt Cabrey, the exthe future seems to be ecutive director of the pointing to Philadelphia Greater Philadelphia becoming an energy Chamber of Commerce, exporter with the rise of rejects the ASCE’s refracking in Pennsylvaport, countering that nia’s Marcellus Shale. compared to other major What many do not cities, Philadelphia and see are the underlying the region are much betdeficiencies of the utility ter off. infrastructure that has “There are of course as much, if not more of some issues,” he said. an impact on quality of “But since we live here, life. From stormwater we aren’t able to comand sewage managepare ourselves with anyment to critical pieces where else.

The Greater of telecommunication Philadelphia region is infrastructure, these in fact in a much better constructions are the place, comparatively vital organs of the city; the many moving parts speaking, than most others.” that work in unison to When judging how make it function. But Philadelphia fares in despite often being well comparison to the rest of designed, because of the the commonwealth, take stresses associated with public transportation for a city of such a size, this example.

Pennsylvania infrastructure is in dire was issued a dismal D. condition.

In the 2015 SEPTA The evidence is in the statistics report, an estiAmerican Society of mated total of more than Civil Engineers’ report 180,000 Philadelphians cards, in which they analyze each aspect of a ride the rails daily. With state’s infrastructure and so many using public

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transit to get to work, school and otherwise, the demand is outmatching the supply. Too many SEPTA stations become overcrowded and people are left with the frustration of waiting for the limited number of trains that pass through.

On-time rates become compromised and the archaic underground railway becomes a bane of everyone’s existence.

Many millennials, now in their adult years, are returning to the city to live, study and work alongside the baby boomers. This generation is the face of its future. The time is now to think ahead in terms of the necessary steps in restoring the infrastructure to its former beauty and improving the transportation and technology in a way that benefits everyone. The dilapidated infrastructure of decades past must give way to a stronger, safer and mobile world. From the simplest of renovations, such as patching potholed streets, to the most advanced, such as the laying of fiber optic cables and creating energy hubs, the seeds of the future must be planted now. There is hope on the horizon, and it begins with the new generation.

Young activists and community leaders are leading the charge on the forefront of change, and organizations such as Engineers Without Bordersencourage local college students and residents to become the voice of their respective neighborhoods. The hope is that communities that are often overlooked in their needs can have them met and satisfied.

“We are hoping to take on long-term domestic projects,” said Walt Walker, president of Engineers Without Borders’ Philadelphia chapter. “We want to apply some engineering expertise, perhaps under the theme of the Philadelphia Water Department’s ‘Green City, Clean Waters’ initiative or potentially partnering with SEPTA. We want to do something that bring communities together to expand our capacity and have a bigger impact in the city.”

Many organizations,

grassroots and through government, have made strides in correcting many of the infrastructure dilemmas the city is facing.

The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce has encouraged infrastructure revitalization through the development of their “Roadmap for Growth.”

This plan tackles some of the key issues with Philadelphia’s education and healthcare systems, and provides insight into improving the business sector, which in turn could trickle down to the civic community.

Improving the economic state of the city helps with revitalizing neighborhoods and ridding them of blight and deterioration.

“What is unique about the ‘Roadmap for Growth’ is that the initiative began not knowing who the candidates for mayor were going to be,” said Cabrey. “The desire was to provide, as the name suggests, a roadmap. They would then have the potential to utilize this information and depending on their views, implement it in different ways.”

More than a decade ago, former mayor Ed Rendell pushed strongly for investment in fixing infrastructure. Only time will tell what plans Mayor Jim Kenney has to fix the city. One thing is certain: He certainly has a viable starting point thanks to these resources.

The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC), an organization that dedicates itself to regional planning, business growth and analyzing new and innovative ways to make greater Philadelphia better, is looking towards the future with great promise.

They are responsible for the entire tristate area, while also focusing on Philadelphia through a hyperlocal lens.

Mike Boyer, the Associate Director of Planning with the DVRPC, has a hand in the regional planning process and has worked alongside projects such as the “Future Forces” study, analyzing conditions that will change the state of infrastructure, hopefully for the better.

Similar to the chamber of commerce’s roadmap, “Future Forces” lays the foundation for city growth. From community demographics to modes of transportation, the entire infrastructural spectrum is being addressed.

“They came up with five future forces that are going to have an impact on our region,” Boyer said. “The first one is being called ‘Enduring Urbanism,’ which is the impact of Millennials with Baby Boomers moving back into urban areas and really invigorating a lot of our older towns. The second is ‘Free Agent Economy.’

We’ve seen a lot of restructuring of the work environment. The third is ‘Transportation on Demand.’ Zipcar, Uber, Lyft. These companies are revolutionizing how we transport ourselves.

The fourth is the U.S. energy boom. Oil and natural gas from North Dakota and Northern Pennsylvania are empowering cities to reshape their economic profiles. And the fifth is severe climate disruption, which without the proper precautions could radically alter the economic and societal landscapes.”

The Philadelphia Water Department has launched its “Green City, Clean Waters” initiative, reducing stormwater pollution and managing overflows through the implementation of green infrastructure, benefitting not only the quality of water but also the environmental landscape of the city. Since its inception in 2011, more than 1,100 green infrastructure tools have been added, and the city is saving an estimated $5.6 billion in stormwater management.

“It involves building a lot of rain gardens,” said Adam Levine of the Philadelphia Water Department. “There are all sorts of ways the department is devising in using parkland and street-side tree trenches, where the water, instead of going down into the sewer and causing overflows, goes into a tree trench and then it soaks into the ground.”

PennDOT recently provided more than $33

million to repair roads, walkability and bridges, which comparatively are some of the worst in the entire country. Massive overhauls of the bike lanes, the parkway and I-95 will make commutes quicker and safer for drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians.

“We have a program that goes through our metropolitan planning organization, the DVRPC, and as part of their mandate, there are limits on the amount of new vehicular capacity the region is committed to build,” said (name) of PennDOT. “The program is for extensive multimodal facilities, trails, and bike lanes. These large scale sustainability issues come through our planning partners.”

As the building of new infrastructure continues, protecting historical infrastructure should coincide.

The Northeast section is home to some of the oldest historical landmarks in the entire region, dating back to early colonial times.

These churches, meeting houses, and homes need constant care in order to preserve them from extinction.

“A lot of the resources from the government and organizations goes to Center City and Old City, but there is a lot of history that goes up the ‘King’s Highway,’ Frankford Avenue, all the way to Bucks County, “said Jason Sherman, director of the documentary The King’s Highway, which highlights the history of Northeast Philadelphia on what is now Frankford Avenue. “In a lot of these places, the buildings that are threatened are three or four hundred years old, so that is focus of the film, telling the story from the 1600s to the present day.”

Many landmarks have already been lost however, as have countless neighborhoods for superhighways or bungled residential zoning. Going forward it will be important to remember lessons such as the Logan Triangle or the misconceived I-695 while we continue to improve, replace, and redesign our ever expanding infrastructure.

JULY 29, 2020 • PHILLYFREEPRESS.COM • UCREVIEW.COM • 7

I

t’s almost August and time to get out of the house and make up for already missing a large chunk of summer. Our city is filled with lovely, inviting and soothing oases for a bite, a sip or just some sweet outdoor resting, all of course masked and six feet apart from anyone else.

Dilworth Park on the west side of City Hall offers all that and more.

In addition to foods and beverages, it boasts a vast lawn, a spray pad, free Zumba and boot camp, fun events such as live weekday hour-long musical performances at Noon on weekdays.  Sister Cities Park at 18th and The Parkway is studded with shady trees, Children’s Discovery Garden and the coolness of the Splashing Earth Fountain.

Nearby is Cret Park in the 1600 block of The Parkway, named for the distinguished French architect and designer who contributed so much of his genius to making out city as famed for its outdoor natural beauty as is Paris. Here the amenities include a cafe and an outdoor patio. Updates on all the above at centercityphila.org  West Philadelphia is greatly beautified by the green UPenn campus and the attractions of Locust Walk with its benches and sculptures.

Nearby is the popular Porch at 30th and Market Sts. nestled against Amtrak’s 30th St. Station whose majestic interior offers respite from the heat, numerous fast food offerings, and public restrooms. Outside on the Porch is a daily series of different food trucks offering varieties of ethnic and other fare as well as tables

and chairs and Noontime musical offerings., M/F. Check the truck schedules on Twitter and Facebook.  A bit further west are Laurel Hill and W. Laurel Hill Cemeteries open daily free from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Both are paradise for nature lovers and the attractions include 3,940 species of trees and 373 plant species , all visible from comfy benches and easy strolling paths, a combination of natural history and beauty as well as occasional special programs. Phillyfunguide. com.  Manual Cinema is celebrating its Tenth Anniversary Retrospective with a series of on-screen productions through Aug. 23, free, These multicamera, high-definition videos include four of their seminal creations: “Lula Del Ray”(2012), “The End of TV(2017), “No Blue Memories: the Life of Gwendolyn Brooks”(2017), and “Frankenstein”(2018) all of them “vivacious shows that feature puppetry and projections”. info@broadwayasia. com.  Something new to add to your westward strolls on Walnut St. A brandnew mural now shimmers on the exposed wall at 24th St., , a tribute to the Phillies and to baseball and its millions of followers. This one is especially appealing as it is in a highly visible and photogenic spot on the Walnut St. Bridge. Don’t forget your camera!  Bartram’s Garden and its spectacular acreage at 54th and Lindbergh on the Schuylkill is welcoming visitors as always to its centuries’ old trees and plants and gardens and benches.

Its charming shop is another amenity there and it is good to report that their new on-line store boasts all the familiar classics: home-made vinegars and oils and bitters from their own plants, books on botany and Pa. history, tee shirts, field guides, jewelry, seeds and other reminders of the past and the wonders of nature. bartramsgarden.org  A true reminder of the good old days is the new trend slowly reviving parts of our missing entertainment values.

Drive-in theatres are springing up throughout the nation and quite a few are in Pa. The newest pop-up is The Greater Philadelphia Expo Theatre in Oaks, taking advantage of the Expo Center’s paved area which can accommodate 233 cars. The programs are nightly at 9 p.m. and change daily Thursdays through Sundays. Here’s a brief preview: July 30, “Shazam!”; 31, the brand-new hit “Palm Springs” starring Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti, Aug. 1, the original “The Wizard of Oz” from 1939; Aug. 2, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”. Details and directions at info@valleyforge.org or 610-834-1550.  The Metropolitan Opera’s free screenings of HD videos from their stunning vast collection are nightly at 7:30 p.m. and on view through 6:30 p.m. the next day.

Upcoming: July 29, Verdi’s “Rigoletto”; July 30, Verdi’s “Il Trovatore”; July 31, Dvorak’s “Rusalka” available until Noon the next day; Aug. 1, Verdi’s “Ernani”; Aug. 2, Wagner’s “Die Walkure”. Another Met Opera innovation has begun every Sunday at

5 p.m., a series of $20. ticketed solo recitals and duets by the world’s greatest stars from their homes or studios. On Aug. 1, superstar sopra-

no Renee Fleming with pianist Robert Ainsley, perform in the luxurious Music Salon of Dumbarton Oaks, offering arias

by Puccini, Massenet,

Handel, Korngold, Gounod, Strauss, Cilea and ending with Harold Arlen’s “Over the Rainbow”. www.metopera. org 

8 • PHILLYFREEPRESS.COM • UCREVIEW.COM • JULY 29, 2020

HOMELESS

Cobbs an occupant of the camp who escorted continued from page 1 me around the area on a sweltering hot 90-plus the Philadelphia Housing degree day.

Authority (PHA) to get The garden in questhere take, to hear their tion was a in its infancy side of the story. Afterall, stages and consisted of a that is what real jourshovel embedded in the nalism is, an unbiased soil being dug for plantreview of all sides. And ing. Signs of a prolonged for a moment it looked stay? as if this would happen.

“I’ve been here for We contacted PHA who about 2 weeks. I was a seemed willing to make chef and working under a statement and we even the table and couldn’t get held up this story waitunemployment,” said ing for that statement, Cobbs. and then, for no reason, When Covid-19 hit and they seemed to have restaurants closed their changed their minds. doors, Cobbs found himNo, they didn’t refuse self homeless and unable us although they might to get unemployment. as well have. They sent “I had a slum landlord a one-line statement via and he wanted his monemail which read: ey. I was paying $650 a “PHA has postponed month and I couldn’t the removal of encampafford it. I didn’t have ment in hopes to find a a lease, I went there on mutual resolution.” good faith and have only Yup, that was it. That been there a month and a was the statement made half,” he said.

by PHA’s CommunicaThe landlord took tion person Nichole Till- Cobbs in as a favor and man. Yes, we can see the when he was unable to people’s frustration with continue paying the rent, this organization.

Cobbs chose to leave So, we chose to focus instead of burdening the on the residents instead. owner. He’s been at the Far more interesting and camp since. communicative by the “Anyway, I’m here and way and they weren’t God has blessed me,” shy about how they felt. said Cobbs who says he “There may be about has a job interview toclose to 30 tents here and morrow. right now we are build“We have testimonies ing a garden,” said T.C.

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here; lives are being saved. We have clothes, food, showers, haircuts, everything you want is here and it gives you a little boost to go out and look for a job,” he said.

When it comes to the PHA, Cobbs positive attitude turns negative and his bright demeaner gets a little darker.

“I’d be all day talking about them, but what I’ll do is take you to some people who really want to talk about issues like this,” he said as he took me to the other side of the camp where more occupants were gathered.

As we walked through the camp, Cobbs explained that all of the occupants have been tested for Covid-19 by visiting medical professionals and there was a tent which served as hospital area. There was also a tent for food and donated food boxes were gathered outside the campgrounds fence.

“It’s like being home without no roof but it’s alright,” said Lakesha Parnell has been at the campsite for nearly two months.

“We all get along,” said Parnell when asked about the people at the camp.

“We get a lot of support though, we get whatever we need,” she said in reference to the organizations, groups and individuals who support them with resources and encouragement.

Like others, Parnell has

a dim view of PHA. “They can’t evict people on public property.

It’s illegal,” she said.

So, what would she like the government to do?

“Find us housing.”

Ronald Story has been at the camp for seven weeks and says he was there to get permanent housing.

“Everybody out here has PHA and some of the people out here have their keys but have to start the process over again which I don’t think it is right,” said Story.

Story said that Covid-19 didn’t mess up paperwork, it didn’t mess up computers and so PHA’s failure to continue its work of finding suitable housing couldn’t be placed on the back of the virus.

Parnell said she and her young son waited 8 years on PHA’s housing list when she lost her identification and was made to start the process over again. Instead of getting the keys to a home, she now finds herself at the camp, waiting.

“That’s why we are out here, we’re all fighting,” said Story.

“We’ve been putting out a lot of straight facts and proof about PHA that a lot of people don’t know about like, you have the CEO making over $300,000 a year and they get a $300 million or billion dollars a year for properties that they aren’t even fixing up.”

“They [PHA] have

properties that they took over that they aren’t even fixing up and they got land that they aren’t doing nothing with.

They’ve been taking land since the beginning of time,” he said.

That message is getting out. Both Parnell and Story say that, while the PHA itself has been quiet, of this we can attest, other officials and organizers have come to hear their message which is resonating not only across the city and the state but is gaining attention around the country.

We asked Story what he, if anything, would like the public to know or do and he had this to say: “Come out here and fight with us. Learn more about it. Do your own research and actually understand [what’s going on],” said Story.

“We aren’t just fighting for our benefits we’re fighting for everyone, to pass a law on how PHA is,” said Parnell.

“Permanent housing matters, the city would be a lot better if they would stop being so stingy. That’s why a lot of these council [members] are getting locked up because they are stealing from us,” she said.

“We have families out here; we have people who are pregnant with kids. We have people 66 years old with heart monitors and a whole lot of health issues and shouldn’t even be outside sleeping in a tent

because PHA took their house, because they can’t afford to keep up with their houses because they have more medical bills and they can’t pay their other bills.”

Unlike PHA, the office of Mayor Jim Kenney has no problem communicating with the people they represent and in a previous statement said: “We’re postponing the closure because conversations with the group are ongoing and I plan to meet with several camp representatives next week,” said Kenney.

“A mutual resolution has always been our preferred outcome. We appreciate their willingness to engage in productive dialogue, and I’m hopeful that we will reach a peaceful resolution soon.”

In a Press release dated July 16th, Kenney’s administration published an update announcing efforts to continue its push to help those in the city confronted with the problem of homelessness.

“For the last week, outreach teams representing Merakey, Northeast Treatment Centers, veterans’ services, the Department of Human Services, Office of Homeless Services, and the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services have been part of an outreach effort called ‘Homeless Connect,’ which brings appropriate supports to those in need.”

JULY 29, 2020 • PHILLYFREEPRESS.COM • UCREVIEW.COM • 9

TRANSPARENCY continued from page 3

he still worries the bill “will needlessly put commonwealth employees in possible danger retrieving records to meet an arbitrary timeline.”

He blames his hesitance on fringe elements of the Republican Party – and calls out Grove specifically – for “wantonly” endangering legislative staff by making them come into the Capitol when “telecommuting would be adequate.”

“Some members of the legislature have repeatedly said they do not take this virus seriously,” he said. “In fact, the author of this legislation has appeared in the chamber almost exclusively mask-less around staff and colleagues. They have rallied the fringes of their movement to needlessly endanger the residents of Pennsylvania for the approval of President Trump.”

In a statement, Grove did not respond to the governor’s criticism, but rather praised all the voices that lent support to his public campaign to save the bill from certain veto.

“House Bill 2463 has a simple goal,” he said. “To ensure the public has a route to hold its government accountable, even in times when a state of emergency declaration has been declared.

A crisis is no reason for elected officials to ignore questions from the public.

“This bill becoming law could not have happened without the support of all those who raised their voices in defense of an open government and the freedom of the press,” he continued.

“I am eternally grateful for the support this law received.”

Christen Smith Staff Reporter Christen Smith follows Pennsylvania’s General Assembly for The Center Square. She is an awardwinning reporter with more than a decade of experience covering state and national policy issues for niche publications and local newsrooms alike.

Science Fiction for August 2020

By Henry L Lazarus

supposed to leave with the last captain, but n Science Fiction somehow has to restore and Fantasy not her ranks as the sister only are the charac- ministering to the Capters created by the writer, tain. Lito val Lucius is an but also the society they Icarian specialized sollive in. dier wounded when the Linden A. Lewis has Gaens took Ceres. His an amazing first novel old partner has turned that hopefully will find traitor and he and a new its way to an award partner have a mission nomination. After a cen- to work their way into tury long war in which Ceres and kill his old the artificial intelligences partner with whom he quit is disgust, Earth and had been linked with a Mars have combined brain implant. They also into the Geans, and are have to kill the mother of served by a mute sisterthe sisterhood. Nothing hood who both bless that either character has the soldiers and serve as been told is correct. There their prostitutes. Oppos- are so many twists here ing them are the rich Ica- that the tale just blew rii of Venus and Mercury me away. Sequels are whose discovery of a promised, but the current metal on Mercury allows tale stands enough on its anti-gravity. Our heroine own. Excellent. is The First Sister (hard Marie Brennan tells from Skybound Book) of a universe of postof the spaceship Juno apocalyptic worlds, which had been captured slowly disappearing like from the Icarii. She was Driftwood (paper from Tachyon Publications) into a central core of final destruction. One constant of this group of worlds is a guide called Last. He may have finally disappeared, so a group of people who knew him gather together to tell their tales. This is a fascinating universe and I suspect this group of tales will find its way to be nominated for something.

I

Princess Isabelle des Zephyrs is a genius who only survived because the musketeer Jean-Claude stopped the midwife from killing her because of her deformed hand. Curtis Craddock sets the action on a broken world with floating islands and continents Nobility is defined by having one of the defined magical talents, like shape shifting or mirror walking, and at the beginning of An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors (paper) Isabelle is chosen to wed the second son of the king of one of the two known continents but this is all a plot by an ancient sorcerer and stopping him reveals Isabelle’s rare magical right arm. Then The celebration of the King of Isabelle’s home continent’s birthday, reveals a plot to overthrow him with a disease that removes magic. Isabelle and Jean-Claud have to navigate through a An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors (paper) to save the kingdom. As a result, there is a discovery of a third continent that may contain the vault of the savior. Granted captaincy of an expedition to this The Last Uncharted Sky (hard from Tor), Isabelle has to not only deal with treachery, her mental

PCA reminds all to stay vigilant of older sdults sheltering in homes during heat

A

s temperatures continue to rise, Philadelphia Corporation for Aging (PCA) encourages residents to continue their communication with older loved ones and friends.

Elevated temperatures have the potential to cause heat related illness that can be especially harmful to older adults.

Phone, video chat, email and textng are ideal methods to keep in touch with loved ones and friends.

“As summer temperatures increase, the concern is that many older adults who are still isolating in their homes

could potentially be experiencing the effects of extreme heat without anyone knowing,” says PCA president and CEO Najja Orr. “As a community we have to be vigilant for one another.”

PCA estimates that 36% of all people aged 60 and older in Philadelphia live alone. PCA is also doing its part to maintain contact with older adults, while adhering to social distancing guidelines.

The agency’s long-term care assessment workers, service coordinators and Older Adult Protective Services (OAPS) investigators are conducting “visits” by phone.

While physical loca-

tions remain closed, senior centers are also conducting regular wellness calls to existing members and those who are newly receiving meals through PCA’s Grab & Go meal program. In the event that a Heat Health Emergency is declared in Philadelphia, PCA also establishes a Heatline, which is conducted through its Helpline call center and is accessible through the Helpline phone number at 215-765-9040.

For more information on PCA’s Heatline, heat related tips or additional resources, visit pcacares. org/SummerTips and pcacares.org/Heatline.

health as a consequence of what happened in the previous book, but also stop the man who wants access to the vault to destroy the world. Very exciting and an interesting and well-defined unusual world. I can only hope for more tales set in this interesting universe.

I can only hope that terrorists don’t read Ben Bova and Doug Beason’s exciting tale of a Space Station Down (hard from Tor) because they show a plausible way for terrorist to get aboard the ISS. The only survivor, Kimberly Hasid-Robinson, is at first disconnected from NASA support and watches as her astronaut friends are murdered so the station can be set to de-orbit as a potential bomb. The technical details feel accurate and make for an edge-ofyour-seat thriller. Good way to take your mind

off current events.

Micaiah Johnson tells of a future earth ruined by corporations. Travel to 372 alternate earths is possible only for people whose doppelganger has died. Most of Cara’s alternate selves died young in the harsh reality of the Ashlands. Then Adam Bosch, inventor of the technology, hired her and others like her to collect data on the other worlds, That gives her a job and a temporary visa. She has a deep secret, family ties to the Ashland and is trying to get citizenship In the socialist walled Wiley city. Then reports of her alternate on Earth 175 dying, lets the corporation send her, almost killing her in the process.

Her alternate is actually alive. Earth 175, however, reveals a secret about Adam Bosch, something worth stopping him. The Space Between Worlds (hard from Del Rey) is a tense thriller that kept me up late finishing it. I hope this gets nominated for an award.

Sucker Punch (hard from Berkley) is Laurell K. Hamilton’s twentyseventh tale of Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter.

Ms. Hamilton practically invented the genre of vampires and werewolves in an alternate world where they are continued on page 12

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When Revenge Is Bitter : Wilma Theater’s IS GOD IS

By Richard Lord Contributing writer

T

he twin sisters who are the central characters in Is God Is would disagree with the folk wisdom that assures us revenge is a dish best served cold. The sisters in this contemporary revenge tragedy like their revenge served piping hot.

Or as close to piping hot as they can get it when they reach the final target of their winding revenge excursion.

Is God Is was originally slated to close out Wilma Theater’s 2019-2020 season. An intricate, striking set had already designed, costume designs, lighting plot and mood boards were well underway.

And then Covid-19 descended on Pennsylvania, forcing theatres throughout the area to scupper their plans for the entire Spring period. But with so much already invested in the play, the Wilma team was loath to just drop their treatment of this powerful piece, for which Aleshea Harris won a 2018 Obie Award for best playwrighting.

The solution was to record an audio version of the play and offer it this past weekend as a radio play – except that it was available not on any stop on the radio dial, but via online transmission.

This solution involved obvious limitations, but much of the fierce power of Is God Is came through even so.

Now about those two sisters at the heart of

Danielle Leneé and Brett Ashley Robinson in IS GOD IS. Photo by Wide Eyed Studios.

the play: Racine and Anaia are not only twins, they are a unique sort of conjoined twins.

Unique because they’re not attached at any part of their bodies, but at the wound in their souls inflicted on them when they were still pre-schoolers. There are, however, physical signs of those deeper wounds: both were physically scarred when trying desperately to put out a fire that engulfed their mother.

Racine’s scars are more easily hidden: hypertrophic scars on her back, a bit creeping up her neck. Anaia was not so lucky; her face has been badly disfigured, making her life much more difficult than her sister’s.

She habitually keeps her

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head down and is not as outgoing as Racine.

Strangely, she also notes that her disfigurement has “trapped her in a prison of sweetness”.

The twins grew up believing they were orphans as they were shuffled from one unpleasant, even abusive foster home to another.

Now, as young women, their whole world gets turned upside down when Racine receives a letter revealing that their mother is not dead. She’s confined to an assisted living facility somewhere in “the Dirty South”, an amorphous region encompassing large swaths of Dixie.

When they get to the facility, they discover their mother is indeed still alive … but only just.

The mother explains that the horrific burns over much of her body is why she disappeared from the twins’ lives. And then comes the major shocker: that fire was set by the girl’s father, who carried out this crime with a casual, almost cheerful cruelty.

Mama (who the girls dub ‘God’ because she “created” them) then issues a deathbed plea: that the girls find that runaway father, now living somewhere out west,

and make him pay with his life for his unpunished crime.

Accordingly, the sisters take off as a pair of avenging angels on a “mission from God”.

Their mother doesn’t actually know where the father has disappeared to, but she knows who might know: lawyer Chuck Hall, who defended their father and got him acquitted. Hall (credibly voiced by Akeem Davis) is himself scraping through the burnt-out ends of his life, but is able to give the twins a lead as to where they might find their estranged father. When they locate their father’s current residence, they find he’s started a second family, with a sophisticated lady of a wife and another pair of twins – this time, boys.

Those at all familiar with Jacobean revenge tragedies (which clearly influenced playwright Harris) know what to expect – gore galore as the revenge spins out of control and the body count rapidly mounts.

Playwright Harris is working not only out of the revenge tragedy tradition, but also manages to blend in elements of the Spaghetti Western and Greek tragedy.

(“Mama, are we cursed?”

Anaia asks when she returns to see her dying mother following the revenge spree. And that question unleashes echoes of the unwashed sins plaguing numerous Greek tragedies.)

Harris also infuses her dialogue with rich rivulets of darkly lyrical writing that work well in the audio-only format. This street lyricism not only defines the characters, but also adds a subtext of menace which makes the main themes that more alarming.

James Ijames, who had prepared himself to helm the full staged production had never directed anything like a radio play and was wondering if he was up to the challenge. The product shows he was quite up to the task, as he led his cast to a finely textured sonic rendition of Aleshea Harris’ knotty script.

The stars of this production were, not surprisingly, Danielle Leneé as Racine and Brett Ashley Robinson as the haunted Anaia. The rest of the cast also contributed significantly to the success of this rendition.

Melanye Finister was totally convincing as the revenge-driven mother (a.k.a., God) as was Tay-

sha Marie Canales as Dad’s second wife, Angie. The twin half-brothers were quite good: Anthony Martinez-Briggs was suitably annoying as the self-absorbed Scotch, and Aaron Bell was even better as Riley, a sympathetic victim of circumstances and his own duty to avenge.

Lindsay Smiling’s brief appearance was outstanding. Smiling delivered his malicious lines with a voice like honied sandpaper and came off as a seasoned practitioner of routine evil.

There are obvious drawbacks to turning such an animated piece of stagecraft into a radio play, and this production was not able to escape those drawbacks. Yes, the entire cast delivered their lines admirably throughout, but body language is the mother tongue of theatre and it usually delivers an important subtext to the way lines are delivered. That was, necessarily, missing here.

Even the commendable soundscape (with pinpoint sound effects) and by sound co-designers Daniel Ison and Chris Sannino weren’t able to fill the visual void that any radio play must accept as part of the bargain.

More significantly, because we couldn’t see what was actually happening, the climax of the play was at points hazy, at other points simply confusing. While we could be sure of the ultimate fate of the characters, it was not clear exactly how they met their fate.

After listening to this rendition (and I listened twice), I was gratified, stirred, and impressed.

But I was also filled with a strong urge to experience Is God Is in a full stage production. I’m sure I’m not the only one hoping that the Wilma Theater will be able to mount such a production when public performances are again allowed.

Note: This production was a collaboration with Die Cast, an experimental theatre collective, and its radio play division, 2X2L.

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SCI-FI

continued from page 9

part of the landscape.

After the first ten, the tales added enough sex to edge into porn.

This tale has no sex, but there is a lot of relationship talk that wasn’t

necessary. Anita has been called to a small Michigan town where another U. S. Martial has a problem with a warrant of execution against a wereleopard thought to have killed his uncle.

The guy is locked in jail, but the Marshal thinks that the execution would be murder, especially if the young man was framed for the murder.

The uncle was very rich, with relatives eager for their share of the fortune.

Of course, the judge who issued the writ, will only extend the writ for a few hours. Anita’s friends and friend-enemies somehow make it to add their comments. This is a minor addition to a fun

long-running series and a must for fans of the series.

Modern Earths with magic can create horrible

and contaminates the area it infects. Nell Ingram is one of the agents of PsyLED sent to investigate and has an ability to work with nature to make things grow. Faith Hunter’s tale of Spells for the Dead (paper from ACE) is a solid police procedural in which the PsyLED agents not only have to discover who was responsible, but also the motive and the real intended victim. They also have to discover how to stop and eventually contain the contamination. Lots of fun. murder weapons. A muJon Hayes is merely sical super-star is murBystander 27 (paper dered at her ranch by a from Angry Robot) spell of death and decay when his pregnant wife that attacks like a disease is killed during a fight

Staying home saves lives.

is so caught up in superhero battles. While the solution is a bit odd, Rik Hoskin tells an exciting and centered tale of a Navy Seal veteran using all his skills to probe the impossible. Lots of fun.

In the second half of Anthony Ryan’s tale of Vaelin Al Sorna who has gotten himself caught in a fantasy version of the Chinese Mongol invasion, Vaelin has to battle the The Black Song (hard from ACE) within him, a spirit that gives him advance warning of sword blows, but sometimes turns him into a berserker unable to distinguish between friend and foe. His alternate with the same power has turned himself into a god, sacking cities and, with magic, turning most of his foes into warriors who worship him. Since the new emperor of China has been pushed out of the continent into the nearby islands, the exciting battles at the end are fought at sea.

Very exciting.

Arcane America surmises that Haley’s comet in 1759 brought with it a between Captain Light return of magic. Before and the Jade Shade. He that Ben Franklin had can’t let well enough become The Caller of alone, slowly realizing Lightning (hard from how inane his world’s Baen) because of the logic is. Villains somespecial metal in the key how have access to super which was also found in science to commit stuthe Liberty Bell. Peter J. pid crimes. Damage is Wacks and Eytan Kolcleaned up the next day. lin have fun with Ben He even visits the Jade Franklin’s investigation Shade, only to discover into magic in both Philaan empty space instead delphia and London. He of a jail. Stealing weapencounters magical socions from minor villains, eties, but also an immorhe plans to confront Cap- tal man who has spurred tain Light at the ceremo- these societies over the ny honoring him to help ages, and a plot to use discover why his world the Bell when the comet

was directly overhead, to create more immortals.

Light fun.

Outland Entertainment has an anthology from Neverland’s Library edited by Roger Bellini, Tim Marquitz, & Rebecca Lovatt in trade. Baen books has an anthology Give Me Libertycon (trade and edited

by Christopher Woods and T. K. F. Weisskopf) with new tales by Baen authors who are celebrating the Chattanooga convention.

Paper reprints from Baen include Charles E. Gannon’s Marque of Caine, the fifth of that fun series; David Drake’s RCN tale, To Clear Away the Shadows; and D. J. Butler’s Witchy Kingdom.

Dr. Henry Lazarus is a retired Dentist and the author of A Cycle of Gods (Wolfsinger Publications) and Unnaturally Female (Smashwords).

Check out his unified field theory at henrylazarus.com/utf.html that suggests fusion generation requires less energy because only one frequency is needed rather than a full spectrum. It also explains dark matter, the proliferation of subatomic particles, and the limit of light speed for matter.

LOOKING FOR COMMUNITY ORIENTED FREELANCE WRITERS

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