IS TODAY THE DAY YOU IGNITE YOUR FUTURE? If you have the spark, we have the programs to guide you toward a rewarding career. FORTIS offers programs in the following areas: Nursing • Medical/Dental • Business Criminal Justice • Skilled Trades CALL 1.855.445.3276 TEXT “IGNITE” TO 367847 FORTIS.EDU IGNITE YOUR FUTURE FORTIS INSTITUTE 5757 WEST 26TH STREET, ERIE, PA 16506 Financial Aid Available for those who qualify. Career Placement Assistance for All Graduates. For consumer information, visit Fortis.edu. GENERIC_Erie_10.5x12.25.indd 1 7/7/17 11:20 AM CONTENTS: From the Editors The only local voice for news, arts, and culture. Like a couple of ticking clocks Editors-in-Chief: December 20, 2017 Brian Graham & Adam Welsh here is much to celebrate in Erie, whether we realize it Managing Editor: or not. Our annual Year in Review issue proves that, as Nick Warren 2017 Year in Review – 5 Twe neatly put a bow on 2017, and take time to honor the Copy Editor: winners of this year’s Best Of Erie contest. Matt Swanseger Remember Not to Forget With over 100 categories, and hundreds of thousands of votes Contributing Editors: Ben Speggen cast, these are the people, businesses, and organizations that Jim Wertz Best of Erie 2017 – 9 are defining our overall landscape as a city. We extend a big con- IS TODAY Contributors: gratulations to all the finalists, and especially the winners. The Maitham Basha-Agha hard work and dedication on display here, the overall commit- Mary Birdsong Charles Brown ment to making Erie a better place, is the reason we’re able to Tracy Geibel move into 2018 feeling more optimistic than ever. Lisa Gensheimer Gregory Greenleaf-Knepp But this time of the year generates a lot of feelings. Some- Angie Jeffery times, it’s too much. As we start to “feel the Christmas noose Tommy Link Aaron Mook beginning to tighten,” it’s easy to lose our cool. While the snow THE DAY Dan Schank piles up, and gifts zap any spending money we were lucky Tommy Shannon enough to squirrel away, it can feel like the walls are closing in, Ryan Smith Jen Sorenson like a carnivorous mistletoe-fly-trap. Ti Sumner The arc of the holiday season is a strange one. It’s a roller Cara Suppa YOU IGNITE Bryan Toy coaster with two hills, and a lot of tense, lingering plains con- Cover Design necting these two thrilling plunges. For Christmas-celebrators Nick Waren at least, there’s this rhythmic clicking, a stopwatch counting Photographers: Maitham Basha-Agha down to the 25th. You’re picking out gifts, trying to be creative Ryan Smith and thoughtful, all the while hoping to have enough left over to YOUR FUTURE? Publisher’s Assistant: pay the bills. Things ramp up to a fever pitch all the way until Emily Hanisek Christmas morning. The gifts manage to be wrapped and put Interns: Maddie Hepler under the tree, as they (hopefully) magically multiply over- Libby Rosequist night. And then … the big day. 1001 State St. Suite 901 If you have the spark, we have the programs to There’s the crinkle and rips of paper as the white morning Erie, Pa., 16501 [email protected] light pours through the windows. Disheveled, you lurch to the guide you toward a rewarding career. tree. We’re never ready for our closeup on Christmas morning, The Erie Reader is the local voice for news, Winners and honorees from this are we? You watch with anxiety as gifts are unwrapped and ap- FORTIS offers programs in the following areas: arts, and culture, and is Erie’s only inde- proved of. You’re hoping for shrieks of delight, but in the end pendent, alternative newspaper. Founded year’s voting in 2010, the Reader has quickly become you’ll be happy with an accepting smile. Why are we so con- the region’s award-winning source for arts cerned? In the end, they’re gifts, and they’re going to at least be Nursing • Medical/Dental • Business coverage, a strong cultural compass, and Spotlight on Erie – 17 good, for goodness’ sake. a dynamic resource for news and opinion. With a dedication to long-form journalism This must be it, welcome to the And then … nothing. and a commitment to provoking thought- The drop off is almost immediate. Amongst the red and green Criminal Justice • Skilled Trades ful discussion, the Reader tells the stories new year of the people and places making and carnage of colored paper, you start to put your life back to- shaping Erie, while highlighting the events gether, and maybe enjoy some of your well-earned treasures. and issues influencing life in northwestern Party in the ERI – 22 Pennsylvania. The Erie Reader is published It’s that “high school” holiday vacation. That week-long, ee- every other week and distributed at over Kick off 2018 with a host of rily calm eye of the hurricane between the 25th and the 31st. 250 high foot-traffic locations in Pennsylva- No one seems to want to do too much during this refractory nia from North East to Girard to Edinboro. In addition to appearing in print, Erie Read- activities period. Chances are you’ll watch no less than one season of a er adds new content daily at ErieReader. TV show while trying to think of something productive to do CALL 1.855.445.3276 com as well social media sites. All rights reserved. All content © Flagship Multime- The Best Movies of 2017 – 26 during this odd annual purgatory. TEXT “IGNITE” TO 367847 dia, Inc, 1001 State St., Suite 901, Erie, Pa, And then … New Years Eve. 16501. No part of this publication may be A foray into film’s finest reproduced without permission. The opin- This, like Christmas, can mean different things for different ions of our columnists and contributors are people. There’s another ticking clock, and this time the count- their own and do not always reflect that of Best Locally Made Albums of down is much more literal. If you’re looking for something fun the editorial board or organization. Direct FORTIS.EDU IGNITE YOUR FUTURE sales inquiries to 814.314.9364. For editorial 2017 – 26 to do, check out our New Years Eve rundown of events for a few inquiries, email [email protected]. choice locations to spend the last evening of 2017. As you rush Three top picks from area artists to be with your family and friends before the ball drops and the clock strikes midnight, it’s easy to be contemplative, to look The Best Albums of 2017 – 29 back on the past year in retrospect. Read Ben Speggen’s year in review to help jog your memory and provide a little perspec- Highlighting a magnificent year in tive, and don’t forget to check out our year-end best of lists. FORTIS INSTITUTE music And then … rest. All is quiet on New Years Day. But before we know it, it’s time 5757 WEST 26TH STREET, ERIE, PA 16506 Crossword Puzzle – 31 to start again. As this new millennium is ushered into adult- hood, let’s look forward to all the possibilities in store, all the Financial Aid Available for those who qualify. Career Placement Assistance for All Graduates. This week’s puzzler courtesy of resolutions we will keep, and all the better things ahead as the clock resets and we begin our new timeline. For consumer information, visit Fortis.edu. David Levinson Wilk December 20, 2017 ErieReader.com | Erie Reader | 3 GENERIC_Erie_10.5x12.25.indd 1 7/7/17 11:20 AM SOMETHING WONDERFUL HAPPENS When you SHOP LOCAL From the local pizza shop and grocery store to barbershops and boutiques, when you buy local your dollar stays local. Businesses grow. More jobs are created. And more money is reinvested to help make our community a better place. This holiday season, make a difference. Make it a point to shop local. It feels – wonderful. LECOM Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine Empowers patients with better health! Gregory W. Coppola, DO Karl Falk, DO Kevin Falk, DO Our specialists can boost your immune system to avoid fatigue during the winter months. They optimize diet, stress level and sleep patterns and relieve pain through non-prescription and non-surgical treatments. LECOM Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine offers: • Osteopathic Manual Medicine • Ultrasound guided joint injections – including Prolotherapy and Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) • Medical and sports acupuncture • Lux light therapy • Intravenous vitamin and nutritional infusion therapies • Intravenous chelation therapy and heavy metal detoxification • Dietary and botanical guidance • Meditation and mindfulness techniques Call (814) 866-8610 to schedule your appointment. LECOM Health doctors. Choose one today to join a health system that will focus on your overall wellness for life. Visit LECOMHealth.com/physicians Empower patients with better health! LECOM Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine 5215 Peach Street, Erie, PA 4 | Erie Reader | ErieReader.com December 20, 2017 NEWS & VIEWS 2017 Year in Review Remember Not to Forget the entire country headed outside to Yuccas and her crew descended upon witness The Eclipse — a breathtaking Erie to snag sound bites, like “Erie is experience for some, a blinding one definitely a sinking ship, and you’d be for others (hey, we were told to wear crazy not to get off a ship that’s sink- glasses!), and an otherwise boring but ing” and to get a tour down Erie’s 12th good excuse to put down work for a Street Corridor — which they were half an hour for still others? told was desolate, but had they only Admittedly, it may have been hard gone into any one of the buildings, to remember that, given that in the they would’ve found that while larger same month, two hurricanes hit the industry in Erie may be shrinking, in- U.S., wracking Texas and then Florida dustry as a whole remains a vital and (a month before another hurricane significant part of our economy.