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CONTENTS: From the Editors The only local voice for Life in a changing and news, arts, and culture. March 1, 2017 Editors-in-Chief: dangerous world Brian Graham & Adam Welsh his year, we’re quickly learning to expect Managing Editor: the unexpected. All bets are off. It was Nick Warren Just a Thought – 5 Copy Editor: T77 degrees in February. In Erie. If you Katie Chriest The spice of life think something is going to be a certain way, Contributing Editors: chances are it won’t. Ben Speggen Life presents new changes around the corner Jim Wertz every day. Some of these things are fun and Contributors: Maitham Basha-Agha Harrisburg Happenings – 6 interesting, and are received by us with open Ed Bernik arms, a welcome reprieve to everyday stresses. Mary Birdsong Concerns abound over Wolf budget Some are the opposite. New changes come, Tracy Geibel Lisa Gensheimer proposal too often, in the form of tragedy. Lives are cut Gregory Greenleaf-Knepp short, forever altering those around them. Dan Schank Tommy Shannon Ryan Smith Ti Sumner New of the Weird – 9 This year, we’re quickly learning Matt Swanseger to expect the unexpected. All bets Bryan Toy Fake banks and barfly thanks Cover Design: are off. Nick Warren Photographers: Maitham Basha-Agha Ryan Smith Over the course of this month, our commu- Brad Triana Clearing the Air – 13 nity has been hit by a startling number of Publisher’s Assistant: Emily Hanisek The dark cloud cast by Erie Coke deaths from heroin overdoses. This horrific Intern: Corporation epidemic is cutting down people in the prime Angie Jeffery of their lives. Creative young people with open 1001 State St. Suite 901 minds and warm hearts, who had so much to Erie, Pa., 16501 give, are dying right before our eyes. So many [email protected] things need to be done to curb this troubling tide. Support treatment centers and encour- The Erie Reader is the local voice for age counseling services. Talk to your friends. news, arts, and culture, and is Erie’s only Reach out and make it known that you’re ea- independent, alternative newspaper. Founded in 2010, the Reader has quickly ger to listen, giving help when needed. become the region’s award-winning Don’t be fooled by appearances. Problems source for arts coverage, a strong cul- can live secretly for years, only to manifest tural compass, and a dynamic resource for news and opinion. With a dedication themselves when it’s too late. to long-form journalism and a commit- As frightening as it is, even the air we breathe ment to provoking thoughtful discus- can pose a threat to our health. Join Katie sion, the Reader tells the stories of the people and places making and shaping Chriest as she lays out the facts about the Erie Erie, while highlighting the events and Coke Corporation. The company, along with issues influencing life in northwestern its nearly identical plant in Tonawanda, New Pennsylvania. The Erie Reader is pub- lished every other week and distributed York, has a documented history of environ- at over 250 high foot-traffic locations in mental degradation. These plants emit ben- NICK WARREN Pennsylvania from North East to Girard zene, a harmful chemical and known carcino- to Edinboro. In addition to appearing in print, Erie Reader adds new content dai- gen. Tracing the history of both the Erie Coke ly at ErieReader.com as well social me- and Tonawanda Coke plants, Chriest connects dia sites. All rights reserved. All content Spotlight on Erie – 21 the dots, shedding light on the dangerous im- © Flagship Multimedia, Inc, 1001 State St., Suite 901, Erie, Pa, 16501. No part of For the first time in a long time, I can be plications that go along with this type of con- this publication may be reproduced tamination. without permission. The opinions of myself Now is the time to change things. Do what our columnists and contributors are their own and do not always reflect that you can to reverse the dark tide of illness and of the editorial board or organization. death. Though at times these problems may Direct sales inquiries to 814.314.9364. seem insurmountable, remember that nothing For editorial inquiries, email contact@ Music Reviews – 29 ErieReader.com. is solved by inaction. Despite the terrible cir- Jesca Hoop, Cloud Nothings, Sinkane, cumstances that life sometimes hands us, we Brenna Bone and Seann Clark must persist and persevere. Help those who need it. If you believe you’re being led down the wrong path, do what you can to change the minds of those in power. Write and call Erie Faces Erie – 30 them. Arm yourself with the knowledge you need, and spread the word. Above all, be safe. A look through photographer Ed Make sure the time we have here is the best Bernik’s lens that it can be, because it’s a precious, wonder- ful thing. March 1, 2017 ErieReader.com | Erie Reader | 3 4 | Erie Reader | ErieReader.com March 1, 2017 NEWS & VIEWS Just a Thought The spice of life KATIE CHRIEST KATIE By: Katie Chriest trition to produce the buxom cloves The early sprouts of this year’s garlic, ome call it vampire repellent. that cooks lust after. pushing their way through a bed of straw to reach toward the late-winter light. Some call it the Stinking Rose, Accordingly, garlic planting also in- Sor Russian Penicillin. But if you volves a little Darwinian culling: You tend to vascillate between season- save the biggest bulbs from the last of the sun to beckon them into the ally-affected depression and claw- year’s crop – regardless of how badly light. your-eyes-out cabin fever come early you want them in your soup – so that Once they get the cue, they’re off March (like yours truly), you might your future bulbs will have the best and running. They slough off win- want to call garlic preventive medi- genes. ter’s heavy hibernation like college cine. You head out on a short Novem- students donning flip-flops the sec- Garlic’s health benefits are widely ber day and plunk a bunch of bro- ond the snow melts. recognized, whether cooked or cap- ken-apart bulbs into the soil, clove by In our backyard, they’re now about sulated. But I’ve not yet come across clove. Then, you lightly cover the tops four inches tall. Ahead of schedule, anyone touting its very growth as a of the cloves with soil, mulch the bed but hardy enough to survive whatev- panacea. Maybe it’s time to change with straw or leaves, and wait. er’s left of this season. Come late May that. And wait. And wait. or June, they’ll sprout flowery scapes Garlic growers – or planters of any Temperatures drop, winds blow, that make a killer pesto. By late July, bulbs, really – know the magic of it’ll be time to dig the bulbs for drying those little life-containing papery and curing, first setting aside those bundles that bravely withstand the So you put a tiny little standouts that’ll carry on the lineage coldest of winters and heaviest snow- thing in the ground, and it next fall. falls, only to sprout delightfully come knows what to do. It trusts So you put a tiny little thing in the spring (or, in some cases, February). ground, and it knows what to do. It But garlic is exceptional. Where we in the earth and in life to trusts in the earth and in life to go live, I sow it around Veterans Day. go on, even when you’re on, even when you’re questioning Sometimes in snow boots, sometimes questioning such things, such things, yourself. It harbors no in shorts. This year, I planted just af- yourself. existential angst. It just feeds you, in ter the tumultuous election cycle every sense of the word. that challenged all of us, regardless Admittedly, I’m not always much of of which candidate we supported. frost heaves the ground, snow blan- an optimist by nature. But it’s in na- But when you feel ungrounded, get kets everything. Holidays come and ture that I find that little voice that closer to the ground. And plant some- go, playoffs come and go, New Year’s says, be patient. See the good. And thing in it, if you can. resolutions come and go. Inaugu- know’s that there’s always good to In fall, you prepare the soil, with rations, Oscar nominations, winter see. composted kitchen scraps and shed vacations … and through it all, those leaves you’ve raked up. Garlic is a little cloves hang out, waiting along Katie Chriest can be contacted “heavy feeder,” and needs a lot of nu- with you for the lengthening reach at [email protected]. March 1, 2017 ErieReader.com | Erie Reader | 5 NEWS & VIEWS Harrisburg Happenings Concerns abound over Wolf budget proposal all of our chil- services. Of the $8.4 million in state dren deserve. I funding received by GECAC, $6.8 mil- am committed lion was channeled from the Depart- to working with ment of Aging ($4.4 million) and the Senate leaders Department of Human Services ($2.4 to find addition- million). Certainly, we need more in- al supplemental formation about how this vital fund- funding for the ing for important senior citizen and Erie School Dis- family support programs would be trict as part of impacted by the merger of those state budget negotia- agencies. tions. The budget now on the ta- These are just a few of ble represents KEV72 the concerns I have with a significant change by Gov.

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