Harrisburg City Council candidates answer questions, share stance on city issues at debate

May 12, 2023 | by Maddie Gittens

Harrisburg City Council candidates address a crowd at Open Stage.

On Thursday, seven local candidates for public office shared their stances on issues like safety, housing and infrastructure.

Harrisburg City Council candidates addressed a crowd at Open Stage theater for a debate-style forum, hosted by Friends of Midtown, Midtown Action Council and Who’s Running for Office? Harrisburg, PA.

Seven of the eight Democratic candidates were present, each attempting to persuade voters that they deserve one of the three seats up for grabs on city council. Candidates Brad Barkdoll, Danielle Bowers, Crystal Davis, Leslie Franklin, Cole Goodman, Lamont Jones and Rob Lawson attended.

Affordable housing was the most discussed issue of the night, with all candidates agreeing that Harrisburg has a shortage of homes, especially for the city’s low- and moderate-income renters and homeowners.

“The issue with affordable housing is because there’s a lack of housing stock, and we can’t solve that unless we create more stock,” said Lawson, who was appointed to council in January and now is seeking election.

Goodman said he would hold developers accountable to build affordable units, and Barkdoll suggested using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to build and renovate housing.

Another question dealt with safety in the city and improving infrastructure to support multimodal transportation.

Harrisburg City Council candidates

Bowers, currently the president of city council seeking re-election, said that she would like to see better signage to alert drivers to the presence of cyclists and pedestrians on the roads. Jones said he would like to see infrastructure improvements and outreach to gather residents’ input. Davis suggested better street lighting.

Goodman took the time to specifically point out the construction project on State Street in Harrisburg, which has been on hold for about a year after the city decided to halt and re-work the proposal.

“I think that it is criminal that the improvements on State Street were halted, and we need to deal with that,” Goodman said.

To address a question about reducing gun violence in the city, Franklin, who works in the Harrisburg School District, advocated for violence prevention education for youth and for a strengthened relationship between residents and police.

Jones, who runs a re-entry program for residents returning home from prison, said that he wants to build up workforce development in the city, which could help target the root of the violence issue.

“We have to get jobs into these communities; we have to get trades back into our schools,” he said. “A lot of the time crimes exist because there is a lack of resources in those communities.”

Harrisburg resident Leeland Nelson attended the debate and said that, as a business owner himself, he was happy to hear of candidates’ plans to prioritize workforce development.

“We need to upscale our workforce,” he said.

Another resident, Tim Ward, attended the debate with an idea of who he was planning to vote for come election day. However, after hearing from candidates, he said he changed his mind.

“From my perspective, it was very helpful,” he said. “Two of the three that I was going to vote for changed. I guess it’s good news for the two people that got the switch and not for the people that walked in with my vote and are not walking out with it.”

To watch the Harrisburg City Council candidate debate, click here.

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Harrisburg School District breaks ground on Steele School renovation, reopening

May 11, 2023 | by Maddie Gittens

Harrisburg School District officials ceremonially broke ground on the Steele Elementary School project.

Harrisburg is one step closer to reopening a “state-of-the-art” school for students.

On Wednesday, Harrisburg School District officials ceremonially broke ground on the renovation of Steele Elementary School, which they plan to reopen for the 2024-25 school year.

“It feels good to get to a place where you can finally see things coming to fruition,” said Superintendent Eric Turman. “What I want the community to do at this point in time is to get excited about what this is going to look like.”

Steele School, built in the 1930s, closed in 2011 and has since sat vacant on the 2500-block of N. 5^th St. In September, district Receiver Dr. Lori Suski approved a $21.6 million revitalization project and the reopening of the school, at a board meeting.

According to Turman, the district’s decision in April 2022 to move fifth-grade students from the middle schools back to the elementary school level made classrooms fuller, while many of its buildings were already near capacity.

The reopening of Steele would help solve that capacity issue, while also providing a neighborhood school in the Uptown community. Turman noted that many children currently have to walk a far distance to get to Ben Franklin Elementary School.

Steele School will have classrooms for kindergarten through fifth grade.

Steele Elementary School is currently undergoing renovations to reopen for the 2024-25 school year.

The building, which is about 68,000 square feet, has been largely gutted inside for renovations, and the exterior will receive new windows, doors and a deep clean, according to district director of operations Craig Glass.

An addition will also be constructed onto the rear of the building to house a new cafeteria and classrooms. A new playground and basketball court will be constructed as well.

The project is being funded through Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds that the district received during the pandemic.

Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates is serving as the architect and Fidevia Construction Management & Consulting is the contractor for the project.

“They [the students] are going to walk in here over time, and they’re going to see a school like no other,” Turman said. “This will be a model that, hopefully, over time we can look at how can we create these types of facilities for our children, because this is what they deserve.”

Steele Elementary School is located at 2537 N. 5^th St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit the Harrisburg School District’s website.

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Weekend Roundup with Sara Bozich

May 11, 2023 | by Sara Bozich

Plan your weekend with my weekly list of things to do around Harrisburg and central PA!

What you’ll find:

For something new: Oh boy there are a lot of good ones this week — maybe Wild About Dogs in Wildwood Park or Dillsburg Pickle Fest! Worth noting: Enjoy a day in downtown Camp Hill for this year’s Plein Air Art Walk! Sunday is Mother’s Day Things on my agenda this weekend: Plein Air Art Walk in Downtown Camp Hill, HU Presents MUNA at XL Live, then heading to Philly for TS

For your weekend planning

View my local Restaurant Directory or Local Brewery, Winery, & Cidery Directory
See what else you missed on the blog

Below are options for your weekend.

A Look Ahead

Market on Market, downtown Camp Hill’s farmer’s market, opens for the season next week
The SoMa Block Party Series is announced for 2023!
The Best Farmers Markets around Harrisburg
Submit your events for the Weekend Roundup

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Coffee Grind: Harrisburg coffee shop sponsors local up-and-coming skater

May 10, 2023 | by Maddie Gittens

Skateboarder Evan “Juice” Baker and Little Amps CEO Peter Leonard

A local skater is making a splash in the skateboarding scene, and now he has the caffeine hookup to keep him grinding.

Harrisburg’s Little Amps Coffee Roasters shared that it’s sponsoring Evan “Juice” Baker, a Harrisburg native dreaming of becoming a professional skater.

“It’s known around here that he is the best skater in Harrisburg,” said Peter Leonard, CEO of Little Amps.

Baker reached out to Little Amps about partnering, and the staff, many of whom skate themselves, was thrilled, Leonard said. And while the sponsorship means some mutual promotion, discounts, merch and free drinks, like iced coffee and chai lattes, Baker’s favorites, to Leonard it’s a chance to support local.

“I feel like what we are doing here is representing Harrisburg to the broader community,” he said. “We are letting the world know that Harrisburg has something to offer.”

Baker approaches his skateboarding platform the same way—as a chance to show off his city.

Harrisburg’s skate scene is a “hidden gem,” he said, with unique architecture and places to skate. Locations that are ordinary to the general public may be holy ground to the skating community, he explained. Skaters have even traveled from surrounding cities to skate at certain ledges and spots around the Capitol complex and elsewhere in the city, he added.

Baker’s social media is full of pictures of the Capitol building, which he is “obsessed” with. Most recently, he posted a clip of himself skating off the “Welcome to Harrisburg” sign at the entrance to the city, between the I-83 on and off ramps.

“Harrisburg has this weird, magical, underground skater world,” Baker said. “I want to represent the city and showcase how beautiful it is.”

Baker has been skating since he learned from his dad as a kid. He now lives in Steelton and spends much of his time at the community skate park.

He is sponsored by companies like Vans footwear and Baker Skateboards, one of the biggest skateboarding companies in the country. His goal is to eventually skate professionally.

Partnerships like Baker’s with Little Amps might not be as big as others he has, but he’s just as excited. This sponsorship means a lot because it shows his community has his back.

“It’s awesome,” he said. “It’s been a dream come true to see the community support, and everyone’s so excited.”

For Leonard, who also grew up in Harrisburg, the sponsorship is just another way for Little Amps to promote the city and support its entrepreneurs, as the shop regularly does for local musicians, small businesses and artists.

“It’s important to be active in the community,” Leonard said. “I feel a need to shine a light on it and represent it positively.”

Little Amps Coffee Roasters has Harrisburg locations at 1836 Green St., 133 State St. and inside Strawberry Square. For more information, visit their website. To follow Evan Baker’s skateboarding journey, visit his Instagram page @juicelipp.

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Closing the Gap: Steps Toward Health Equity

May 10, 2023 | by THINK Capital Blue Cross

Health disparities are a harsh American reality that increase illness and cost lives.

They are sicknesses and deaths the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) attribute to socially disadvantaged populations’ struggle to equally access healthcare resources and achieve optimal health.

A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association provides an alarming illustration, finding that an average of 74,402 more Black people than white people died each year from 2016 through 2018 in America’s 30 largest cities. That’s more than 223,000 Black deaths over white deaths in three years, and represents only a portion of the U.S. population.

“One of the most tragic elements of this issue is that many of the conditions leading to these outcomes are preventable,” said Capital Blue Cross Vice President of Population Health Shelley Grant. “These disparities arise because many groups have historically had less access to health resources.”

The latest statistics underscore the gap. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation study found:

Hispanics, along with nonelderly American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) people, were more than twice as likely as white people to be uninsured.
AIAN people had an 11.2-year shorter life expectancy, and Black people a 5.6-year shorter expectancy, than white people.
Black infants were more than two times as likely to die as white infants, and AIAN infants were nearly twice as likely to die as white infants.
Black and Hispanic children were roughly three times as likely to be food insecure as white children.

Big Dollars, Better Data

Health inequities take an enormous economic toll, costing the U.S. economy an estimated $93 billion in excess medical care and $42 billion in productivity losses each year, according to a study from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Altarum. If left unchecked, they could cost $1 trillion or more by 2040.

There’s no quick fix, but many efforts to diminish disparities are underway. Health advocates, policymakers, providers, academics, and insurers are coalescing around the concept that enhanced data collection can target and shrink gaps.

Capital Blue Cross supports the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association’s recently released recommendations to pinpoint data about race, ethnicity, language, sexual orientation, and gender identity to reach better health outcomes.

Collecting and leveraging data to build understanding is among Capital Blue Cross’ broader health equity strategy, which also includes:

Leveraging data with healthcare providers;
Establishing community-level partnerships that address inequities; and
Scaling effective programs that target improved health equity.

Capital acted upon health-gap information in 2021 to expand COVID-19 vaccination efforts, hosting pop-up clinics in minority and underserved neighborhoods to increase vaccine access.

Other steps

While better data is part of tackling health disparities, it will take more to tackle the problem.

Innovative technological tools also can help. Capital Blue Cross recently began offering its members a trio of family-planning apps to guide families through everything from planning conception and pregnancy to balancing life as a working parent. Maternal mortality and complication rates are significantly worse for certain minority and disadvantaged populations, and these apps may help narrow gaps in care.

Capital also works with area food banks and sponsors programs to increase health awareness and job training in underserved populations.

It will take a team effort to move toward more equitable health for all. Public health experts, policymakers, community advocates, providers, payers, industry leaders, and employers are all part of the solution.

“Health disparities are more than a problem for the socially disadvantaged,” Grant said. “They impact the public’s overall health, and that impacts the communities we all call home, making health inequities an issue for us all. That’s why we all must play our part in striving for the solution.”

THINK (Trusted Health Information, News, and Knowledge) is a community publication of Capital Blue Cross. Our mission is to provide education, resources, and news on the latest health and insurance issues.

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Report: Home sales, prices dipped in Harrisburg area in April

May 10, 2023 | by Lawrance Binda

A building for sale in Harrisburg

After several hot years, the local housing market is showing signs of cooling off, with both sales and prices falling in April.

For the three-county Harrisburg region, 448 previously owned homes sold last month, a drop from 628 houses in April 2022, as the median sales price fell to $245,000 from $250,500, according to the Greater Harrisburg Association of Realtors (GHAR).

In Dauphin County, 233 homes sold versus 314 in the year-ago period, while the median sales prices declined to $213,900 from $230,000, GHAR said.

Cumberland County sales totaled 193 homes compared to 268 in April 2022, as the median price dipped to $285,000 from $290,950, according to GHAR.

In Perry County, 19 houses sold versus 36 a year ago, as the median sales price rose to $219,000 from $208,900, GHAR reported.

The pace of home sales slowed significantly, as “average days on market” for the region dropped to 34 days last month versus 16 in April 2022, according to GHAR.

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Bob’s Art Blog: The Art of Bonsai

May 9, 2023 | by Bob MacGinnes

Nature’s Way Nursery

The word “bonsai” is Japanese, although the art form originated in China. By the year 700 A.D., the Chinese had begun using special techniques to grow dwarf trees in containers.

“Well done grasshopper” could have been a line from the 1972 television series, “Kung Fu.” It aired for three seasons just about the same time master Bonsai artist, Jim Doyle, opened Nature’s Way Nursery, the ultimate garden center dedicated to the eternal tree in all its forms. David Carradine played the protagonist Caine (Grasshopper), learning at the side of a blind Shaolin monk who travels through the American old west employing deft martial arts skills while dispensing Eastern wisdom along the way. “Grasshopper” was the name of endearment given to him by the monk who oversaw his tutelage and training.

The analogy of a young student growing into manhood and adopting a different culture’s ideologies can be viewed through the lens of the Nature’s Way founder, as they now eclipse 50 years of success. Half-a-century ago, he fervently believed that the time, 1973, was right and the area ripe for opening a revolutionary new educational garden center in the Harrisburg area. By 1980, Jim had traveled to Japan to learn about the bonsai tree and its cultivation. Studying under Chase Rosade, a learned practitioner of the art, the nursery’s appeal and reputation grew with each passing year. Today, classes are held on a monthly basis with Jim and Chase and Seth Behner sharing technique with a never-ending stream of “grasshoppers” eager to learn. The selection of the Yamadori species affords a wide variety of trees ranging from 20 to 500 years old. The hundreds of classes that Nature’s Way has dedicated to the art and the thousands of miles Jim has logged lecturing is a true testament to the qualities that have made him and his nursery a world of wonder and a leading expert in the field.

An example of bonsai

Jim had just graduated from Delaware Valley College with his degree in horticultural science, armed with knowledge and a true passion for the beauty found in nature. He recently revealed the name derived from Spirit’s 1970 hit song, “Nature’s Way,” a lament on the mortality of man and for the fate of the Earth in the forthcoming decades. The nursery was dedicated to preserving the beauty in the natural world through his vision for landscape, interior scape and the bonsai tree. Our son, Beau, as a teenager, took bonsai classes from Jim and, as an offshoot of that experience, has become a master at creating land art at Wildwood Park for “Art in the Wild” since its inception. I like to think that Jim planted that seed in Beau, and it germinated into the artist he is today–no longer a grasshopper but a young father who in turn will hand down his love for nature to his baby girl.

Among his accomplishments, Jim founded the Susquehanna Bonsai Club and has traveled to Canada and Europe lecturing and teaching. To celebrate this momentous occasion, Nature’s Way Nursery is throwing an anniversary bash with an all-day open house on Saturday, May 13 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. with guest artist, Tony Tickle from England, speaking to the hearts of all nature lovers. Music from the band, Rivers, plays from 5 to 8 p.m., with great food and an all-day sale at the nursery.

Lastly, Jim and I graduated together from a local high school over 50 years ago, and I would like to share, “well done grasshopper” too. It is a rare thing indeed for a “student” to find his calling early in life and follow that path through to its natural end. But for Jim and Nature’s Way, not only does the journey keep getting better, he will be leaving a legacy of beauty with every bonsai tree he helps to cultivate.

Nature’s Way Nursery is located at 1451 Pleasant Hill Rd., Harrisburg (Lower Paxton Township). For more information, visit their website.

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Park Harrisburg offers new text-to-pay option, aims to make parking easier

May 8, 2023 | by Maddie Gittens

Parking meter on N. 3rd Street in Harrisburg

Finding a spot to park may be tricky, but feeding the meter just got easier.

Park Harrisburg, which operates the city’s parking meters, announced on Monday that motorists can now text to pay for parking.

Through a new initiative, people can text 30202, and enter their parking zone number, parking length of time and license plate number.

Drivers can still pay at the 168 street parking meters or use the Park Mobile app.

According to Park Harrisburg Senior Manager Nancy Keim, the text-to-pay option was created to make parking easier.

“What we’re seeing in the parking industry is people do not want to keep downloading apps (on their phone),” Keim said. “We wanted to provide an additional contactless payment option.”

Park Harrisburg staff will begin posting new signs above meters in the coming days, starting in Harrisburg’s downtown central business district, and working their way out.

Street meters are enforced from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. On-street parking is free for much of downtown from 5 to 7 p.m.

Rates in the central business district are $4 per hour, while all parking south of the central business district and in Midtown is $2 per hour.

For more information about Park Harrisburg, visit their website.

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Longtime Harrisburg Vietnamese restaurant rebrands, refreshes menu, keeps favorites

May 8, 2023 | by Maddie Gittens

Owner Lambent Nguyen at The LA Squared Vietnamese Restaurant in Harrisburg

Lambent Nguyen knows there are a lot of positive and sentimental memories associated with his restaurant.

One married couple first met there, families have had kids grow up eating there, and it’s become a favorite spot for locals—especially for the pho.

With that in mind, Nguyen was careful to keep enough of the old, while bringing updates to his mother’s restaurant, Vietnamese Garden, in Midtown Harrisburg. After over 20 years of business with his mom Phuong Phan at the helm, Nguyen took over as owner, picking up where his mother left off.

And while much of the restaurant remains the same, a lot has changed, including the name, which Nguyen changed to The LA Squared, a nod to his wife’s, daughters’ and his first initials.

“I realized my mom’s restaurant needed an update, but I didn’t want to change too much,” Nguyen said. “I want customers to know we are still here, and I’m her son.”

Last summer, Nguyen renovated the space, located on Reily Street, to modernize it and brainstormed how to make the menu more expansive, easier to read and easier to mix and match items.

The new menu features a build-your-own style, where customers can choose, for example, which type of noodles, meat and broth they’d like in their dish. The menu includes the classic pho soups, rice and noodle dishes, while adding items from other cultures like Korean-style tofu soups, Thai fried rice, Taiwanese-style lo mein noodles and Vietnamese hoagies.

There is also a whole new drink menu with offerings like ginger herbal tea, fruit, boba and Thai tea, smoothies, Vietnamese coffee and juices.

Inside The LA Squared

“I learned from the customers,” Nguyen said. “They requested items, and I generated the menu that way. Customers are surprised. They love it.”

When his mother, Phan, opened the restaurant in 2001, she didn’t have much experience cooking. The family moved from Vietnam to the United States about five years before, and she was determined to build a business of her own. Phan would travel back and forth to Vietnam to learn to cook in the early days of the business. But running the restaurant was tough, and the area on Reily Street was largely blighted and undeveloped at the time.

With help from her husband and sons, she stuck it out through the challenges, most recently, the effects of the pandemic, and grew a following of loyal customers.

As she got older, Phan was ready to step away from the business, and Nguyen decided to take over operations. Like his mother when she first opened the restaurant, Nguyen had little experience with business or the food industry. His wheelhouse was mechanical engineering, as he still holds a full-time position with Lockheed Martin, one of the top U.S. defense contractors. Also like his mother’s early days, Nguyen has realized the difficulties of owning a business, especially while balancing it with another job and a family. But still, he’s hopeful about how the restaurant could grow.

“I never had a restaurant before, but I have a dream,” Nguyen said.

His goal is to eventually open more LA Squared restaurants in the area.

But for now, he’s happy to see old customers enjoying the updated restaurant and new customers checking out their food for the first time.

“Owning a business is very tough,” he said. “But I’m motivated by success. I’m thinking about the goal.”

The LA Squared is located at 304 Reily St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit their website.

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Harrisburg vintage retailers to move down the block, expand business as Found Collab

May 5, 2023 | by Maddie Gittens

The future home of Found Collab, a new curator, artist hub featuring vintage retailers Stash Vintage and Midtown Dandy, located at 25 S. 3rd St., Harrisburg.

Something old and something new.

Harrisburg retail partners The Midtown Dandy & Stash Vintage have a little of both as they announced the coming move and expansion of their vintage clothing business.

The store, located in Harrisburg’s SoMa district, will move down the block to 25 S. 3^rd St., the long-time home of Walker’s Art & Framing, and open their new venture, Found Collab.

Found Collab will feature Midtown Dandy and Stash Vintage’s vintage clothing and household goods, while expanding to include additional wares from curators, artists and small-batch makers nationwide. In addition to clothing and household items, customers will be able to purchase greeting cards, unique gifts, Harrisburg-specific items, local coffee and teas, body care and art.

The store is slated to open on May 26.

The current home of The Midtown Dandy and Stash Vintage at 11 S. 3rd St., Harrisburg.

“We are very much looking forward to this new venture and the challenges and opportunities a bigger space will allow us,” said owners Andrew Kintzi and Anela Selkowitz, in a statement. “Our goal is to create a destination to help improve Harrisburg and our community, not just to sell vintage clothes.”

According to the owners, they also plan to host art shows, music nights and workshops.

“The SoMa neighborhood has been revitalized and has become a downtown destination, with a host of activities happening throughout the year,” said Brad Jones, president and CEO of Harristown Enterprises, Inc., which owns the building. “We are so pleased that Midtown Dandy and Stash Vintage are expanding, creating an even greater draw to S. 3rd Street.”

The Found Collab will be located at 25 S. 3^rd St., Harrisburg. For more information about Midtown Dandy, visit their website. For more information on Stash, visit their website.

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Plan your weekend with my weekly list of things to do around Harrisburg and central PA!

What you’ll find:

For your weekend planning

A Look Ahead

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

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