Harrisburg City Council strengthens proposed police advisory committee; some say it’s still not enough

October 13, 2020 | by Maddie Conley

A screenshot from Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

A proposed Harrisburg police advisory committee is inching closer to a final vote, after various amendments to the bill were passed by City Council on Tuesday night.

However, some community members think council is still missing a necessary change in language.

“We want a Harrisburg Community Review Board, not a Citizen’s Law Enforcement Advisory Committee,” one resident said. “Language matters. We demand an accountability structure.”

City Solicitor Neil Grover said that Harrisburg doesn’t have the authority to create a review board under state legislation.

“This not being enumerated anywhere,” he said. “There is no place to go to a state statute to say that this is an expressed authorization.”

Grover said the only written authorization the city could find was for advisory boards like the city’s existing Environmental Advisory Committee or municipal authorities such as Capital Region Water.

It could be called something else, Grover said, but he warned against doing that.

“I think calling it something else and claiming it’s more than an advisory board is unfair to the members that get appointed,” Grover said. “I think it misleads.”

Ultimately, council made no amendment to the name of the committee.

They did, however, vote on and pass several other amendments, including designating administrative subpoena power to the committee. Subpoena power was something that many community members asked for repeatedly at town hall meetings and council meetings.

In addition, the statement of general intent of the bill was amended to better communicate the board’s role in exercising accountability over the Harrisburg Police Bureau rather than serving as a liaison between the police and community.

Council member Ausha Green also proposed removing the police commissioner and the chair of council’s public safety committee as non-voting members of the board. They would be replaced with two voting members from the city at large. The nine committee members would serve three-year terms, she added. Both of these amendments passed.

Council voted in favor of requiring that all board members undergo orientation by the city’s law bureau within six months of their appointment. The bill previously required members to be trained at the city’s police academy and complete a police ride-along.

Among other amendments was one to encourage police compliance with requests from the advisory committee for information. If the police bureau doesn’t provide the information within 14 days of a request for information–or if the response is deemed unsatisfactory–the board can recommend that City Council suspend funding for hiring new officers.

Green said that the proposed bill will be discussed at the next council work session on Oct. 20 and will possibly face a vote on Oct. 27.

In other council action, members approved a zoning change for the area of the old Bishop McDevitt School on 2200 and 2300 Market St. The zoning map amendment, submitted by members of development group The Bridge Ecovillage, changes the property from an Institutional zoning designation to Commercial Neighborhood, which allows the developers to proceed with their plans for a mixed-use commercial/residential development.

To view past Harrisburg City Council meetings, visit the city’s YouTube channel.

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Peyton Walker Foundation, UPMC Pinnacle donate life-saving devices to Harrisburg Police Bureau

October 13, 2020 | by Maddie Conley

The Peyton Walker Foundation and UPMC Pinnacle on Tuesday donated AEDs to the Harrisburg Police Bureau.

In 2013, Julie Walker lost her 19-year-old daughter, Peyton, to sudden cardiac arrest. Now, she’s helping to make sure that doesn’t happen to other families.

It was announced on Tuesday that UPMC Pinnacle Harrisburg has partnered with Walker’s The Peyton Walker Foundation to donate 18 Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) to the Harrisburg Police Bureau.

“I’ve met so many families who also lost a child or a loved one to sudden cardiac arrest and most often during cardiac arrest, there was not an AED available,” Walker said. “AEDs are a critical tool to saving someone who is in cardiac arrest.”

The about $40,500 to purchase the AEDs came from funds raised last September at UPMC Pinnacle’s annual “3.2 to Protect the Blue 5k” race, along with additional funds from UPMC.

According to Kathy Hogan Flinn, director of emergency nursing at UPMC Pinnacle, the police bureau only had two AEDs, which is why they decided to direct funds that way.

The donation comes during Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month. According to the foundation, SCA is “the sudden onset of an abnormal and potentially fatal heart rhythm that causes the heart to beat ineffectively or not at all” and is one of the leading causes of death in the United States.

The AEDs will be placed in Harrisburg police cruisers. The Peyton Walker Foundation will provide training for officers on how to use the devices. In recent years, the foundation has provided training and over 115 AEDs to schools and organizations.

“The Peyton Walker Foundation and UPMC, we thank you so much,” said police Commissioner Thomas Carter. “This will come in very handy for us.”

In July, Gov. Tom Wolf signed “Peyton’s Law” to educate student-athletes and parents on SCA and the importance of EKG testing for discovering issues that could lead to SCA.

The new law requires the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) to include information on EKG testing on forms that student-athletes receive.

“Working together, we are protecting hearts and saving lives so that the beat goes on,” Walker said.

UPMC Pinnacle Harrisburg is located at 111 S. Front St. For more information, visit their website. The Peyton Walker Foundation is located at 2929 Gettysburg Rd., Suite 8, Camp Hill. For more information, visit their website.

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Home sales, prices up sharply in the Harrisburg area in September

October 13, 2020 | by Lawrance Binda

A house under contract in Harrisburg

Home sales and prices rose strongly last month in the Harrisburg area, continuing a months-long trend.

For the three-county capital region, residential sales shot up to 799 units compared to 672 units in September 2019, according to the Greater Harrisburg Association of Realtors (GHAR). The median sales price also increased substantially—to $200,000 from $180,000 last year, GHAR said.

In Dauphin County, sales totaled 373 units in September versus 333 in the year-ago period, while the median price rose to $178,000 from $166,000, according to GHAR.

Cumberland County saw sales of 376 homes compared to 309 last year, as the median price increased to $226,250 from $209,950. In Perry County, 50 houses sold last month versus 30 in September 2019, as the median price jumped to $180,000 from $149,900, GHAR said.

Meanwhile, houses took an average of 33 days to sell, compared to 44 for the prior September, according to GHAR.

In the Harrisburg area, home sales data has been strong nearly every month since pandemic-related restrictions were lifted on the industry in late spring.

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The Week that Was: News and features around Harrisburg

October 9, 2020 | by Lawrance Binda and Maddie Conley

The Black Burg, a community group run by college students.

We are in the thick of election season, and many of our stories this week reflect that, including our monthly podcast. First, register to vote, then catch up on this week’s news below.

Art season in Harrisburg looks much different this year, due to the COVID-19 crisis. Our magazine story highlights the way that local theaters, art museums and musical groups are adjusting. The show must go on!

The Black Burg, a community group run by college students, is holding “Ballots for the Burg,” a voter engagement day in Reservoir Park. The event on Oct. 10 will feature voting assistance, free food and a concert by young local artists, our online story reports.

Bob’s Art Blog features “Art of the State” winners from around Pennsylvania. Check out a few of the photographs, paintings and sculptures that were honored this year.

Braver Angels was founded shortly after the 2016 election to help neutralize the negative emotions and attitudes between red and blue Americans. Here’s the backstory on Braver Angels and their work in PA.

TheBurg Podcast dives into the political divide with the organization Braver Angels, to bring you survival tips. What does it mean to be civil, and is it possible during election season? Subscribe to TheBurg Podcast on your favorite podcast platform!

COVID-19 cases in PA are again on the rise, our online story reports. On average, there were more than 1,100 new cases each day over the past week.

Gamut Theatre brings back live shows with “The Zoo Story.” Our review presents an honest opinion of this unsettling story performed by a two-man cast.

Harrisburg City Council discussed more potential amendments to a proposed police advisory board, our online story reports. The suggested amendment would encourage the Police Bureau’s compliance with requests for information.

The Harrisburg Fire Bureau swore in 10 new firefighters last week. According to Chief Brian Enterline, this set a record high for the number of personnel in the bureau in over a decade, our online story reports.

The Harrisburg School District gave student-athletes the “OK” to play fall sports, after previously canceling the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Athletic Director Calvin Everett believes their teams will be behind, but he’s excited they can now participate, our online story reported.

Harrisburg United, an open coalition of Harrisburg region civic, labor, religious and community organizations, issued a statement of support for victims of recent hate behaviors in the city. They encouraged Harrisburg residents to respond by reporting hate activity and supporting those who are targeted.

Our October recipe is centered around the versatile zucchini. Rosemary tells you how to prepare the perfect sausage-stuffed zucchini the Italian way.

Power to the Hill is an organization in Allison Hill focused on increasing civic engagement in the area. Read about the ways that they have helped residents find a voice through exercising their right to vote.

Sara Bozich has a “fall bucket list” for you to check out and plenty of other fun October events. Take a look through her Weekend Roundup, here.

Do you receive TheBurg Daily, our daily digest of news and events delivered right to your email inbox? If not, subscribe here!

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2020 HBG Book Festival goes virtual, but snags Grisham

October 9, 2020 | by Lawrance Binda

Midtown Scholar Bookstore in Harrisburg

Book-lovers not only love to read books; they also love the sight, the touch and even the smell of books.

In recent years, area bibliophiles have gotten all of that—and more—from the annual Harrisburg Book Festival, organized each October by Midtown Scholar Bookstore.

This year, the book festival, like so much in our lives, will be virtual, so some of that sensory experience may be lost. But where there’s something lost, there’s also something gained.

Partly due to the format, the festival will feature bigger literary names than ever, starting with one of the bestselling authors of all time—John Grisham.

“The virtual format has allowed us to reach authors we may not have been able to get before, both for the festival and our continuing author series,” said Alex Brubaker, Midtown Scholar’s manager.

The festival is slated to start on Friday, Oct. 16, and wrap up on Monday, Oct. 19 with Grisham’s live-stream conversation, which will focus on his new novel, “A Time for Mercy.”

Other notable author conversations will include NPR personality Diane Rehm and New York Times bestselling author, Mychael Denzel Smith. The festival will feature numerous other well-known and local authors, some making a return engagement, including Ibram Kendi, Stephen Chbosky, R.O. Kwon, Imani Perry and Liz Moore.

Most events are free, but the Grisham appearance is ticketed, with the $30 ticket price including a first edition, signed copy of the book.

The festival’s opening event is notable locally. On Friday, Midtown Scholar will host the authors of the recently published book, “One Hundred Voices: Harrisburg’s Historic African American Community, 1850-1920.” This book accompanies the newly dedicated Commonwealth Monument, which honors, in part, the city’s Old 8th Ward.

The virtual events will take place via the Zoom and Facebook Live platforms.

There also will be an in-person portion of the festival. From Friday through Sunday, Midtown Scholar will hold an outdoors book sale in front of the store featuring new releases, discount books, used books, CDs, DVDs, audiobooks, etc.

“Even with the surreal backdrop of 2020, we thought it was more important than ever to bring the festival back, with some socially-distanced modifications,” Brubaker said. “Our goal remains the same — to amplify and celebrate literature for all ages, and to build a community of readers, writers, and life-long learners.”

For more information, visit www.hbgbookfest.com. Midtown Scholar Bookstore is located at 1302 N. 3^rd St., Harrisburg.

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Harrisburg organizations seek state grants for large-scale development projects

October 9, 2020 | by Maddie Conley

The Hudson Building on N. 6th and Maclay Streets.

Several Harrisburg companies and organizations soon will find out if they will receive state grant money for their large-scale redevelopment projects in the city.

On Friday’s edition of Community Conversations with Mayor Papenfuse, the city’s weekly Facebook Live event, the mayor spoke with several Harrisburg-based applicants who are seeking funds under the state’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP).

“Some of these aging, larger structures in Harrisburg have tremendous fixed costs,” Papenfuse said. “Those costs can really overwhelm an organization which is trying to maintain them.”

The City of Harrisburg is requesting the most money of the nine local applicants. It is asking for $8 million to renovate the MLK City Government Center.

The RACP funding would push forward a plan to increase accessibility and community use of the building, explained Marc Woolley, the city’s business administrator.

Starting at the first floor, the city plans to soften the current cold, brutalist architecture with an overhang on the exterior of the building and a more welcoming lobby space with tables inside. Woolley said the city would add a small business incubator space, as well. Improvements to the other three floors would follow.

“We want to take hold of the namesake of the building—the Martin Luther King Jr. Government Center,” Woolley said. “It’s really about community fairness and accessibility.”

Many types of organizations, both public and private, are eligible for RACP funding. The annual program is for regional economic, cultural, civic, recreational and historical improvement projects, according to the PA Office of Budget.

Leaders of The Bridge Ecovillage hope to secure a significant amount of funding for their renovation of the former Bishop McDevitt school building in Allison Hill. Chief Executive Officer Gary Gilliam said the requested $2 million would go towards beginning construction, installing HVAC and sprinkler systems, roofing and electrical work, among other items.

“Getting that initial funding is paramount to getting the project to succeed,” Gilliam said.

The historic improvement aspect is emphasized in applicant Mighty Group Holdings LLC’s Hudson Building project. Owner Adam Maust is asking for $3 million to renovate the 45,000-square-foot building at N. 6^th and Maclay streets.

“For projects of this scale, the cost grows quickly,” Maust said. “This would allow us to get started soon.”

Maust said that he is still considering ideas for what the building will hold, but he is leaning towards an educational aspect and a grocery store.

Marc Kurowski, president of city-based K&W Engineers, also spoke of how the grant money would help fund plans to update and upgrade the historic King Mansion on the 2200-block of N. Front Street. The building serves as K&W’s headquarters, but includes event space, which is used for weddings and large events.

In Harrisburg, other projects that have applied for RACP funds include:

Judicial Office Center at Midtown, $3.7 million, to partially fund a five-story, 75,000-square-foot office and retail building, with a separate five-story parking structure, on a 1.5-acre site between Reily, Boyd and Fulton streets, by KevGar HoldCo LLC
Harrisburg Scottish Rite Cathedral, $1.38 million, for extensive building renovations and upgrades
Presbyterian Apartments, $2.5 million, for rehabilitation to the senior citizen high-rise downtown
Whitaker Center, $1.45 million, for building upgrades and renovations and to construct a new STEAM education and innovation studio
Olde Uptown Neighborhood Revitalization, $5 million, to continue acquisition and renovation of blighted properties, by WCI Partners LP

Typically, about one-third of applicants statewide receive RACP funds each year and often in lesser amounts than requested.

“We really have a wide array of really interesting projects being proposed for Harrisburg,” Papenfuse said. “For large-scale building projects, there is a need and role for this program.”

Local representatives including Sen. John DiSanto, Rep. Patty Kim (D-Dauphin) and Gov. Tom Wolf’s office will have the say in who is selected for the grant, Papenfuse said. A decision is expected by the end of the month, he added.

“From the city’s perspective, we hope we can fund all the projects,” Papenfuse said.

To view past Community Conversations, visit the city’s YouTube channel. For more information, visit www.budget.pa.gov/Programs/RACP.

Disclosure: Alex Hartzler, co-publisher of TheBurg, is a principal with WCI Partners.

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New COVID-19 cases on the rise around PA, weekly update shows

October 9, 2020 | by Lawrance Binda

COVID-19 cases and tests, over time. Source: PA Department of Health

New COVID-19 cases reached their highest weekly rate in several months this past week, increasing to a daily average of more than 1,100 new cases.

Since last Friday, the commonwealth recorded an average of 1,146 newly diagnosed cases per day, according to the state Department of Health.

This compares to an average of 1,011 new daily cases last week, and 788 and 828 new daily cases per day for the prior two weeks, respectively. The department also reports that testing has generally increased over this time (see chart).

The health department reported that much of the increase originated from outside of south-central PA. Locally, diagnosed cases over the past week are as follows:

Adams County: 916 cases (prior Friday, 864)
Cumberland County: 2,049 cases (prior Friday, 1,945)
Dauphin County: 4,093 cases (prior Friday, 3,897)
Franklin County: 1,875 cases (prior Friday, 1,807)
Lancaster County: 8,421 cases (prior Friday, 8,102)
Lebanon County: 2,265 cases (prior Friday, 2,112)
Perry County: 260 cases (prior Friday, 239)
York County: 5,333 cases (prior Friday, 5,008)

Recently, counties that host major college campuses have seen their case numbers rise.

“We know that congregation, especially in college and university settings, yields increased case counts,” health Secretary Rachel Levine said. “The mitigation efforts in place now are essential to flattening the curve and saving lives.”

Today, the department reported 1,380 newly positive cases throughout Pennsylvania for the past 24 hours ending at midnight.

With today’s update, 169,308 Pennsylvanians have now been diagnosed with the coronavirus, an increase of 8,024 over the past week, according to the state Department of Health.

The department also reported an additional 129 deaths since last Friday, meaning that 8,308 Pennsylvanians have died from the disease since March.

Around central PA, COVID-19 fatalities now stand as follows:

Adams County: 26 deaths (prior Friday, 26)
Cumberland County: 77 deaths (prior Friday, 77)
Dauphin County: 183 deaths (prior Friday, 182)
Franklin County: 52 deaths (prior Friday, 51)
Lancaster County: 462 deaths (prior Friday, 459)
Lebanon County: 63 deaths (prior Friday, 60)
Perry County: 6 deaths (prior Friday, 6)
York County: 176 deaths (prior Friday, 161)

Statewide, Philadelphia County continues to have the most confirmed cases with 33,784 cases. Allegheny County ranks second with 13,102 cases, and Montgomery County is third statewide with 12,703 cases.

PA nursing homes and personal care facilities have been particularly hard hit by the virus. Of total deaths, 5,548, or 66.8 percent, have occurred in residents from nursing or personal care facilities, according to the health department.

In nursing and personal care homes, there are 23,717 resident cases of COVID-19, and 5,252 cases among employees, for a total of 28,969 at 1,002 distinct facilities in 61 counties, according to the health department.

In addition, about 11,220 of total cases in PA are in health care workers.

Statewide, 2,169,073 individuals have had coronavirus tests, with 1,999,765 people testing negative, according to the state health department. Last Friday, the state reported that 2,066,255 people had been tested for the virus.

The state reports a total of 3,276,114 PCR tests, which includes many people, such as health care workers, who have been tested more than once.

Of the patients who have tested positive to date, the age breakdown is as follows, according to the health department:

About 1 percent are aged 0-4
Nearly 2 percent are aged 5-12
Nearly 5 percent are aged 13-18
Nearly 14 percent are aged 19-24
Nearly 36 percent are aged 25-49
About 21 percent are aged 50-64
About 21 percent are aged 65 or older.

Most of the patients hospitalized are 65 or older, as are most of the reported deaths, according to the state. However, the health department has emphasized that, increasingly, more younger people are being diagnosed with COVID-19.

Levine continued to emphasize that Pennsylvanians should do the following:

Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or use hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available.
Cover any coughs or sneezes with your elbow, not your hands.
Clean surfaces frequently.
Stay home to avoid spreading COVID-19, especially if you are unwell.
Wear a mask whenever out of your house.

“Wearing a mask, practicing social distancing, and following the requirements set forth in the orders for bars and restaurants, gatherings, and telework will help keep our case counts low,” Levine said. “Together, as Pennsylvanians, all of our efforts are designed to support our communities to ensure that cases of COVID-19 remain low.”

For more information, visit the PA Department of Health’s COVID-19 website.

Currently, we are providing a COVID-19 update weekly, each Friday, or as breaking news warrants.

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Reservoir Park Greenhouse Project members offer update, encourage community involvement

October 9, 2020 | by Maddie Conley

The Reservoir Park Greenhouse

The Reservoir Park Greenhouse Project continues to blossom in Harrisburg, as the working group steering the restoration seeks community input and participation.

On Thursday night, members of the project held a town hall to discuss plans for the greenhouse and to update the public.

“We want to make sure we are doing things that people in the city agree with,” said Christopher Nafe, the city’s sustainability manager.

The project includes the restoration of a 1,500-square-foot greenhouse built in 1929 and about a half-acre of garden space surrounding it. This area on the south side of Reservoir Park sits just off Whitehall Street. The Reservoir Park Greenhouse Project is an initiative of the Harrisburg Parks Foundation, a project of The Foundation for Enhancing Communities. They are working to make it function again, after it sat idle for 20 years.

“A lot of people are excited to see something being done,” said Rafiyqa Muhammad, a member of the City’s Environmental Advisory Council and the owner of Sustainable Human Environment, who has been a member of the greenhouse renovation working group since its inception. “It’s an educational site, and we will always learn something when we come up there.”

Muhammad said the gardens and greenhouse will provide access to healthy fruits and vegetables for residents in the surrounding Allison Hill community, as well as teach them how to grow their own food.

“The Black community really deserves a state-of-the-art greenhouse,” she said.

The project will focus on landscaping, preparing garden beds and planting seeds first, with work on the greenhouse to follow, Muhammad explained. Eventually, the group hopes to renovate the Brownstone Building near the greenhouse for use as a food demonstration kitchen, Nafe said.

Homegrown Harrisburg Community Gardens Network, Tri-County Community Action, Messiah University Center for Sustainability, Harrisburg Young Professionals of Color, Sustainable Human Environment, LLC, and Harrisburg Urban Growers are some of the organizations in the Greenhouse Working Group.

Funds for the project are already coming in through private donors like the Whitt Family Foundation, which has given $50,000 and the Rotary Club of Harrisburg, which donated $5,000.

Nafe said they are looking into applying for grants, as well. They have already received a $25,000 “Better Food, Better Access, Better Together” grant from the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank.

While planting won’t begin until spring, Muhammad and Nafe said they will be hosting community workshops on topics like composting.

“People seem excited about the idea of growing food in the community,” one Harrisburg resident said.

To watch the Reservoir Park Greenhouse Project town hall, visit the city’s YouTube channel. For more information, visit harrisburgpa.gov/greenhouse.

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Burg Review: Live theater returns to Harrisburg with Gamut’s distanced, unsettling “The Zoo Story”

October 9, 2020 | by Gina Napoli

Gamut’s “The Zoo Story” debuts this weekend.

I once took a college communications class in which our incredibly unhinged professor assigned us social experiments to perform off campus.

In most of my team’s experiment designs, you could find me panhandling at the mall on Saturdays, adjusting variables for styles of dress, words I used, eye contact, etc. My coward of a study partner observed and giggled from 10 feet away. Only one bad sport ever called the mall cops on us.

The social experiments in “The Zoo Story” remind me a lot of those misspent Saturdays, except the one-act play’s humor is dark and incidental. Its author, Edward Albee, is the same writer who penned the drama, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.” Any laughs from the audience spring more from discomfort, or even from the gallows where you will find me inelegantly holding back a snort—a.k.a. my goofy laugh.

The play opens with Peter [Jeff Luttermoser] reading on a bench in Central Park. Soft jazz is piping in over the speakers, with the setting portraying the leisure of an idyllic Sunday afternoon. We watch him read a book for all of 20 seconds before Jerry [David Ramon Zayas] initiates an uninvited conversation about going to the zoo. It doesn’t take long for the conversation to become uncomfortable for Peter, with Jerry delving into inappropriately personal questions and judgments about Peter.

Then Jerry opens his own book of life, socially manipulating Peter into listening to his cringe-y stories. Among the many things we learn about Jerry: he has a gin-soaked landlady who physically corners him and makes him listen to her ramblings, he brags about a years-old fling, he tried to poison his landlady’s dog, and he has empty picture frames in his small room that is divided from another small room with beaver-board.

Zayas’ delivery of multiple monologues and his use of space impressively captures the spirit of a lunatic in the park out to assert his animal dominance, to make himself superior in the world by making someone else inferior. His performance made my inner monologue mentally dial up the mall cop—it was that disturbing.

So what makes Peter sit and listen when he should grab his book off the bench and run? His body language clearly has him looking for a socially acceptable exit, but he doesn’t act on it. Does he stay seated on the bench because he, like most of us, was raised to be polite? Is it because he thought maybe Jerry was lonely? Is it because one of the social obligations that accompany a civilized society calls for sometimes listening to unsettling tangents? (Did you know using the word “because” is a subtle form of manipulation? Now you know.)

Whatever Peter’s initial reasons are for staying, his motivations shift when mental manipulation turns into a spatial power play. Luttermoser expertly pushes and pulls his character’s own quest for physical and territorial dominance back and forth between fight and flight.

With the play being set in 1959, Gamut Theatre’s Director Clark Nicholson made sure to play up the fact that “Jerry was an extremely closeted man, which drives him to act out violently.”

Nicholson cautioned against bringing your children to see this play.

“The title of ‘The Zoo Story’ might sound like it’s in line with our children’s plays,” he said. “But it’s not.”

But the show is like family in a different sort of way. As part of the troupe’s pledge to safety, the two-man cast is a couple—undoubtedly the source of their marvelous chemistry. Their dog even came to watch the dress rehearsal, although I hope someone covered the pup’s ears during Jerry’s dog-poisoning story.

“The Zoo Story” runs through Oct. 25 at Gamut Theatre. Tickets are available for purchase through Gamut Theatre’s website at https://www.gamuttheatre.org/tickets. Tickets must be reserved online in advance, and will not be available at the door.

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Surviving Election Season: TheBurg Podcast, October 2020

October 8, 2020 | by Karen Hendricks

Have opinions about reds and blues? Do you even attempt to talk politics? Whether you answered these questions with a sigh or snark, this podcast is for you.

It’s your survival guide to election season, with tools and tips for holding civil conversations, maintaining relationships and navigating social media.

Three guests, all members of the nonprofit organization Braver Angels, offer their advice and wisdom for bridging the political divide:

Linda Beck of Harrisburg, Dauphin County’s first moderator for Braver Angels

Karen Cotter, Braver Angels’ blue state coordinator, eastern Penn.

Karen Ward, Braver Angels’ red state coordinator, western Penn.

This episode is an expansion of “On the Side of the Angels,” from the Oct. 2020 pages of TheBurg.

And “The Most Harrisburg Thing” for October is a colorful counterpoint to pandemic life, according to TheBurg Editor Lawrance Binda.

TheBurg Podcast is hosted by Karen Hendricks, a lifelong journalist who also dabbles in PR/Marketing. Visit her website here.

TheBurg is a monthly community magazine based in Harrisburg, Pa.; Lawrance Binda, co-publisher/editor.

Interested in sponsoring TheBurg Podcast? Contact Lauren ([email protected])

Meet some of the Harrisburg area’s most fascinating people, and hear their own authentic stories, expanded from every month’s magazine, on TheBurg Podcast—because there’s always “more to the story.”

A few more show notes:

Linda Beck can be contacted at [email protected].

The With Malice Toward None pledge can be found at this link.

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