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Dedicated to a lifetime of women’s health care LECOM Women’s Health physicians and health practitioners are committed to treating their patients with medical expertise, compassion and dignity. From adolescence through pregnancy and beyond menopause, our dedicated team is by your side, every step of the way. For an obstetric or gynecological appointment, please call (814) 868-7830. David Beaton, DO Paula Ballarin, MD Chevelta A. Smith, DO Gary Ritten, MD Stefanie Young, CNM Obstetrics & Gynecology Obstetrics & Gynecology Obstetrics & Gynecology Obstetrics & Gynecology Certified Nurse-Midwife L E C O M Our providers accept all major health insurances WOMENS HEALTH Visit LECOMHealth.com/physicians 2 | Erie Reader | ErieReader.com January 2, 2019 CONTENTS: From the Editors The only local voice for news, arts, and culture. The force of habit Editors-in-Chief: January 2, 2019 Brian Graham & Adam Welsh n hatha yoga, the Salamba Sirsasa- na, or supported headstand, is often Managing Editor: Playing the Council Grinch – 4 Nick Warren Ireferred to as the “king of asanas” because of the premiums it places on Copy Editor: First year in office proves challenging Matt Swanseger the subject’s upper body strength and Contributing Editors: Mapping Our Past: A Bird’s Eye View of balance — which have presumably been Ben Speggen built up through practice of the other Jim Wertz Pennsylvania – 6 asanas, or postures. Executed proper- Contributors: The panoramic story of cartographer Thaddeus ly, the crown of the head will be light- Mary Birdsong ly grazing the floor, with the forearms Charles Brown Mortimer providing a base. Do it improperly and Jonathan Burdick Lisa Gensheimer there will be at least a minor kink in your Miriam Lamey Easing Into The New Year – 9 neck — if you do not topple over first. Tommy Link In life as in yoga, it’s not easy pulling a Aaron Mook Stress-proof yourself and stretch your resolutions 180. To flip things on their head — liter- Kalli Oberlander further Dan Schank ally or figuratively — takes rigorous de- Tommy Shannon votion and discipline, but the payoff of Ryan Smith Spotlight on Erie – 13 an unfamiliar perspective can be signif- Jen Sorenson icant. Of course, sometimes it requires Rebecca Styn This year I’ll live like I’ve never lived before, this is my Cara Suppa others looking at things same way. Take Forest Taylor year for sure it from City Councilwoman Liz Allen, Bryan Toy who brought with her to office a journal- Cover Design: The 2018 Best of Erie Winners – 18 ist’s discerning eye for inconsistency and Nick Warren mistruth. Her no-nonsense approach Photographer: would seem just the antidote for Erie’s Jessica Hunter latest budget crisis, but as she’s learned, Intern: it’s no simple task shaking up an estab- Hannah McDonald lishment. Political organisms, like indi- 1001 State St. Suite 1315 viduals, are creatures of habit. Erie, Pa., 16501 That is not to say that some old habits [email protected] aren’t worth keeping around. One of our time-honored traditions at the Reader is The Erie Reader is published our annual “Best of Erie” awards, a cele- every other week and distributed bration of the most superlative people, at over 350 high foot-traffic places, and businesses the Gem City has locations in Pennsylvania from to offer. Within our list of 2018 winners, North East to Girard to Edinboro. you’ll find both trusted and beloved In addition to appearing in print, Erie Reader adds new content institutions that we can’t imagine life daily at ErieReader.com as well without, as well as newcomers who feel as social media sites. All rights like they should’ve been here all along. reserved. All content © Flagship In this case, democracy worked exactly Multimedia, Inc, 1001 State St., how it was supposed to. Nearly 350,000 Suite 1315, Erie, Pa, 16501. No votes were cast across 111 categories — part of this publication may be JESSICA HUNTER JESSICA reproduced without permission. figures that indicate readers were not The opinions of our columnists merely posturing, but truly cared about and contributors are their Your favorite people, places, and things their opinions being heard. There were own and do not always reflect many hotly contested races that went that of the editorial board Book Review: Artemis – 24 down to the wire — a testament to the or organization. Direct sales quality of the nominees and the pride inquiries to 814.314.9364. For they take in being assets to the commu- editorial inquiries, email contact@ Pardon the Technicalities of Andy Weir’s latest novel ErieReader.com. nity. Movie Reviews – 25 Like Albert Ruger (the Prussian im- migrant, Civil War veteran, and cartog- Two period pieces, one with robots rapher who produced a bird’s-eye-view map of our city in 1870), we are proud Music Reviews – 26 to offer you a panoramic view of the premier places to go, people to see, and Earl Sweatshirt, Ex:Re, Reel Big Fish, and Bruce things to do in Erie, Pa. — not only in Springsteen this issue, but throughout the year. With apologies to all the resolution-makers Crossword Puzzle – 27 out there, we don’t resolve to change our ways anytime soon. This week’s latest stumper from David Levinson Wilk January 2, 2019 ErieReader.com | Erie Reader | 3 NEWS & VIEWS Playing the Council Grinch First year in office proves challenging Erie City Councilwoman Liz Allen has had difficulty disguising her frustrations with some of the inveterate practices of city government during her first year in office. Here, at the final City Council meeting of 2018, she objected to the unusual procedure by which outgoing councilman Bob Merski was replaced, which allowed standing members to cast all six of their available votes for Curtis Jones Jr. I pointed out that in 2005, the state’s Early Intervention Program recom- mended that the city enact a 5 percent amusement tax, but that City Council ended up passing a 3 percent tax in- stead. Mayor Schember’s original pre- liminary budget proposed raising the tax to 5 percent, generating $160,000 in additional annual revenue. Some city residents told me they favored such an increase over other types of tax and fee hikes, because at least it would spread some of the tax burden to suburban residents. NICK WARREN But after protests from Casey Wells, executive director of the Erie Con- vention Center Authority, the mayor By: Liz Allen or embrace it. I opted for the latter, and But the more she did tweak dropped the amusement tax increase. decided that I’d approach my new role It just didn’t jell. Never mind that according to my ho knew that rummaging with humor, too. Hence the Grinch par- In the words of Yogi Berra, it was like rough calculations, the city lost about through a junk drawer would ody, in which I poked fun at my task of déjà vu all over again. $2 million in the last 13 years by enact- Wopen up a cache of memories preparing the newsroom budget. I did my homework on the city bud- ing a lower amusement tax than had about the high and low points of 2018, The Administrative Grinch hated get. I read the 91-page preliminary been recommended. including my first year on Erie City Christmas! The whole Christmas sea- budget and the accompanying 90-page She envied the Whos Council? son! budget workbook. I highlighted star- Whose doors were all decorated. I was searching for instructions for Now please don’t ask why. No one tling facts about salaries, overtime, They worked on the news. an old snow blower when I ran across a knows quite the reason. PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) pro- She sat and she calculated. Grinch parody I wrote a long time ago. It could be her head wasn’t screwed on grams and non-profit assessments. I’ve traded my full-time news career I like filing things and being orga- just right. The payroll was growing. for a part-time job on Erie City Coun- nized, so finding the snow-blower man- It could be, perhaps, that her shoes The overtime, too! cil. But I still hoped that one of the ual where I stashed it years ago made were too tight. Red ink was flowing. principles that journalists fight for, the me happy. My discovery also reminded But I think that the most likely reason Boo hoo, boo hoo! need for transparency and sunshine in me about how tickled we were when of all Earlier in the year, using data from government actions, would also be fol- my husband won a new Ariens snow May have been that her spreadsheets the city finance office, I had created my lowed by my council colleagues. blower from the Erie SeaWolves on La- were two sizes too small. own spreadsheet to show that the Golf My hopes were quickly dashed. bor Day. I had promised a nun friend Eighteen years after I wrote those Fund had lost at least $280,000 in the When council votes on agenda items, that I would give her the old snow lines, I found myself engrossed in last five years. Now I’ve been told that the practice is to be silent when voting blower; now I could make sure she spreadsheets again, alarmed that the maybe the city will look at golf opera- “yes” and only to speak when voting knows how to operate it, too. City of Erie faced an $11 million defi- tions in 2019, too late for savings in the “no.” But I had forgotten that I had saved cit but determined to whittle as much upcoming budget.