Harrisburg teachers crowd school board meeting to protest pay for veteran teachers

February 20, 2019 | by Mary Imgrund

The Harrisburg school district’s Lincoln administration building on State Street

A sea of teachers dressed in red and carried homemade signs at a Harrisburg school board meeting on Tuesday night, protesting what they perceive as unfair pay.

Hundreds of teachers flanked the standing-room-only gymnasium and wore “Red for Ed,” demanding to know why the school board denied a grievance settlement last week that would have raised the pay of veteran teachers.

In response, the district claimed that the pay raises would be prohibitively expensive for the struggling district, saying, in a prepared statement, that “the settlement costs would run into the millions of dollars because of its continuing impact on salary costs in the district.”

At the heart of this fight is a set of intersecting problems: the Harrisburg school district’s budget issues, complaints of low pay and high teacher turnover rate. Veteran teachers demand that their pay reflect the time they’ve invested in Harrisburg schools, but the district asserts that veteran teachers are already being paid competitive wages.

“The more veteran the teacher is at Harrisburg, the more competitively they are paid under the negotiated salary schedule,” the statement read, drawing uproarious boos from the crowd. “The board also believes that if the [Harrisburg Education] association was so concerned about the turnover problem in the district, it would have recommended that this be addressed in our ongoing labor contract negotiations where the teachers have refused to make a salary proposal after 14 months of negotiations.”

“We haven’t refused anything,” Barksdale responded. “We have to settle this before we agree on anything.”

When asked if she was surprised by the large teacher turnout, Barksdale gave an emphatic, “no.”

“I’m not surprised at all,” she said, saying that teachers are fed up and want to know why their agreement wasn’t upheld.

The events culminating in last night’s display began in August when the Harrisburg Education Association filed a grievance against the board, claiming that veteran teachers were underpaid.

In it, they stated that the district had hired new teachers at rates higher than veteran teachers with equivalent experience, violating their contract. In January, the union reached a verbal agreement to raise the salaries of some of the lowest paid veteran teachers, but the board voted down that contract last week.

Teachers now are left wondering if their grievance will ever be resolved. In the meantime, the school district continues to suffer persistent vacancies and reliance on long-term substitute teachers to fill in.

At the end of Tuesday’s meeting, resident Douglas Thompson-Leader read a statement from Noel Gsell, a first-grade teacher who recently left the school district. In the statement, she said that, when she started teaching in the district, she was “ready to change the world,” but left after feeling abandoned by the district with little training or support for her classroom.

“The administration made me feel… that it was my fault for not being able to control my classroom,” she said, “Harrisburg school district, it’s your fault for not providing a safe space for our kids. It’s your fault that our students aren’t getting the help they need, and it’s your fault that I left and other good teachers continue to leave.”

With questions about past bills, Harrisburg Council puts proposed lobbying contract on hold

February 19, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

Harrisburg City Council on Tuesday night

Maverick Strategies will need to wait a few more weeks to find out if its lobbying contract with Harrisburg will be renewed.

City Council was expected to vote tonight on a one-year, $60,000 contract with the city-based lobbying shop, but pulled the resolution at the start of the meeting.

At a previous meeting, Council had asked Maverick for detailed billing statements for their prior contract, which ended Dec. 31. That information was just received that afternoon, and council needed time to review the bills, said President Wanda Williams.

“We need clarification on these invoices,” Williams said. “City Council has additional questions they want to ask.”

Williams said that they’ll request that Maverick appear at the next council work session, which is slated for March 5. A final vote on the contract likely will be delayed until the following legislative session on March 12.

Council has already adjusted the proposed contract, limiting it to just one year, retroactive to Jan. 1. It originally was crafted as a multi-year agreement, with automatic renewals unless cancelled with 60 days written notice.

Mayor Eric Papenfuse said that, despite the delay, he didn’t anticipate any problem passing the new contract.

“I believe that council just wants to go over the billing information that was sent,” he said.

He added that he believes that retaining Maverick is vital because Harrisburg needs professional representation before the state legislature.

“We have long-term relationships with the commonwealth that we need to maintain,” he said.

Papenfuse has said that he believes that Maverick played a critical role last year as the legislature passed a bill that allows the city to maintain elevated taxation levels even after it leaves Act 47, which it plans to do this year. The legislation also created a five-member financial oversight board, the Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, which is due to meet for the first time next Tuesday.

In other action tonight, council approved several appointments:

Zachary Monnier to the Harrisburg Planning Commission
Gretchen Little to the Harrisburg Human Relations Commission
Kevin Burrell to the Harrisburg Human Relations Commission

City Council also agreed to seek funding from Impact Harrisburg, a nonprofit created as part of the city’s financial recovery plan, for a community and economic development position. The city’s former director of community and economic development, Jackie Parker, left last year for a job in the private sector.

Burg Review: “The Wolves” shoots, scores, in dramatizing the turbulent lives of teen girls.

February 19, 2019 | by Amy Mastrangelo

Adolescence is a turbulent time, and Sarah DeLappe’s fast-moving play, “The Wolves,” thrusts nine girls, all maturing at different speeds, onto the same soccer turf.

This Open Stage production, directed by Rachel Landon, dives right into dialogue while the girls stretch their calves and quads. There’s no time to catch your breath on the bench; the stream-of-consciousness banter is relentless. The teammates have numbered jerseys, pigtails and braided hair. Several water bottles are strewn in the background.

Even though the girls are not referred to by name, it is easy to tell them apart. Each teammate blossoms into a complex individual—much more than a simple trope.

The compelling performances make it is impossible to pick a “main character.” The players are: #11 (Maura McErlean), team captain; #25 (Benny Benemati); #13 (Vanessa Marie Hofer); #46 (Erin Shellenberger); #2 (Carly Lafferty); #7 (Katherine Campbell); #14 (Kalina Jenkins); #8 (Hailey Lockner); and goalkeeper #00 (Lidi Nyambi).

The tone smoothly transitions from serious to playful in mere seconds. While one clique discusses immigration, the others fret over bad grades in social studies class. #2 says, “curse word,” and #7 makes fun of her and swears profusely. Some girls talk about the “Plan B” pill, while others have never heard of it. Innocent #8 proclaims her desire to live in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Middle Earth.”

One shining moment occurs when the girls execute a “spiderweb” passing drill. It looks so natural despite that they are kicking, walking and talking all at once. The pacing is impressive.

But don’t get too comfortable with the recurring warm-up routines. “The Wolves” also serves as a reminder that life is unpredictable. #7 is only the best striker on the team until a better striker comes along. Obscenities ensue.

“The Wolves” is a play about soccer without showing a single character scoring or blocking a goal. A whistle blows offstage to signify the start of a new game. Then, flashes of light in the darkness provide glimpses of the girls running on and off the field.

Watching “The Wolves” is redolent of eating orange slices and strapping off sweaty shin guards, but there is a bigger picture. These teen girls mature at different rates, but they still grow and learn side-by-side. They come together as a team to discuss life’s ups and downs. Once you see this play, it is sure to spark some great conversations of your own.

“The Wolves” runs through March 10 at Open Stage Harrisburg, 25 N. Court St., Harrisburg. For tickets and more information, call 717-232-6736 or visit www.openstagehbg.com.

Pictured above: Cast of the “The Wolves.” Photo by Haley Harned.

Burg Review: Gamut offers powerful, distressing political tale in “All the King’s Men.”

February 18, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

Nick Wasileski as Willie Stark

“As Mark Twain said, ‘History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.’”

So stated Producer Melissa Nicholson as she introduced “All the King’s Men,” a drama that opened on Saturday night at Gamut Theatre Group’s historic theater in downtown Harrisburg.

Read into that statement what you will, as the theatrical adaptation of Robert Penn Warren’s famous novel tells the story of an amoral, populist politician with a soiled personal life and an edifice complex.

We first meet Willie Stark, the semi-fictional, Depression-era governor of Louisiana, as he stands tall on a balcony and delivers a stemwinder before a fawning crowd of poor, yet proud, self-described “hicks.”

As usual, he’s promising them something—in this case, a $10 million ($175 million in 2019 dollars) medical facility—“the best and biggest hospital,” he boasts, with characteristic hyperbole. His motivation, as always, is self-serving and his words insincere. Stark is less interested in providing world-class health care than he is in buying people’s loyalty through a massive public project.

The play then ventures into the past to show Stark’s ascent to power, a rise marked by increasing professional corruption and personal debasement.

Core company actor Nick Wasileski stars as Stark, and he captures the ambitious politician soundly in the character’s two incarnations—as a principled, small-town lawyer and as a Machiavellian predator. This transformation, sparked by crushing disillusionment and fueled by demon rum, takes root because, well, it works, and Stark soon claws atop the rat heap of Louisiana politics.

Of course, no man can rise alone, and Stark surrounds himself with a circle of enablers and fixers who themselves are troubled, conflicted and, increasingly, compromised. In fact, the play becomes as much about this group of satellites and sycophants as about Stark himself.

Ross Carmichael delivers a standout performance as Jack Burden, a stoic newspaperman who, despite his depth and detachment, falls disastrously into Stark’s orbit. And Tara Herweg-Mann’s spectacular turn as aggressive, carpet-bagging political adviser Sadie Burke is worth the price of admission alone.

Judge Irwin, played powerfully by Gamut veteran Jeff Wasileski, inhabits the other end of the moral spectrum. He refuses to allow himself to be co-opted, though that does not shield him from calamity.

In this way, Director Clark Nicholson shows us the disease that is Willie Stark. If you get too close, either by choice or by circumstance, you become infected. It may be because of his professional corruption (bribes, kickbacks, mendacity) or it may be because of his personal failings (boozing, womanizing, bullying). Nonetheless, once in his presence, you cannot escape contamination.

Nicholson also demonstrates how little humankind changes, even as the decades pass. “All the King’s Men” takes place in the 1930s, yet it recalls circa-1600 Shakespearian tragedies: a powerful man, blind ambition, obsequious followers, inevitable disaster. Meanwhile, comparisons with today’s politics are practically unavoidable.

The play’s larger message appears to be that all actions have consequences, as, in the end, the characters seem to reap what they sow. For optimists, this message may prove hopeful. But, if you’re a realist, you may leave the theater, brace yourself against the cold winter air, and think to yourself, “At what price?”

“All the King’s Men” runs through March 3 at Gamut Theatre, 15 N. 4^th St, Harrisburg. For more information, call 717-238-4111 or visit www.gamuttheatre.org.

Harrisburg police tout progress in removing illegal weapons from city streets

February 15, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

Flanked by seized firearms, Harrisburg police Commissioner Thomas Carter today explained his bureau’s progress in taking illegal weapons off the streets.

Harrisburg police have seized hundreds of firearms over the past few years, following a department-wide push to take illegal guns off of city streets, officials announced today.

At a press conference, police lined three long tables with handguns, rifles and shotguns, which they said was a small sample of the 646 illegal weapons confiscated from 2016-18.

Capt. Gabriel Olivera said that, in 2016, city police Commissioner Thomas Carter instructed officers to focus on the epidemic of illegal weapons in the city.

“All these guns were seized mostly without officers engaging these individuals with gunfire,” Olivera said. “Our officers have shown great restraint.”

According to Olivera, 196 guns were seized in 2016, 252 in 2017, and 198 in 2018. The far majority of these weapons have been handguns.

Carter said that, even before 2016, his officers routinely seized illegal firearms. But he wanted them to be more mindful of illegally owned guns, most of which have been stolen, as they patrolled and made arrests.

“I work with these amazing men and women on a day-in and day-out basis, and I know their capabilities,” he said, referring to his officers. “It’s something the entire agency bought into.”

Olivera mentioned that, for 2018, Harrisburg had about a 10-percent drop in “Part 1” offenses, which include the most serious crimes like murder, robbery and aggravated assault, compared to 2017. He also cited a 5- to 6-percent reduction in “Part 2” crimes, such as simple assault, disorderly conduct and most drug possession offenses, which are generally considered to be less serious. Detailed crime data for Harrisburg should be publicly available next month, he said.

“I can’t tell you that the number of guns have reduced the homicide rate,” Carter said. “But I can tell you that it has reduced violent crime.”

Olivera said that, after police seize a stolen gun, officers try to determine the rightful owner, so it can be returned. If no owner is identified, the gun eventually is destroyed, he said.

While Carter praised the work of his department, he admitted that the three-year seizure tally represented only a fraction of the illegal weapons in the city.

“This doesn’t even shake the basket of what’s out there,” he said. “We’re just going to do everything we need to do to be able to make sure elderly people and young people can walk down the street without fear of being mugged or robbed or something like that.”

Court action may delay Harrisburg school board appointment for months

February 14, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

The Harrisburg school district’s Lincoln administration building

It may be months before Harrisburg residents learn who will be the newest member of the district’s school board, as a court hearing in the matter isn’t slated to take place until late April.

Court of Common Pleas Judge John McNally has scheduled an April 23 court date to hear a citizen’s group response to a petition supporting Ralph Rodriguez, a city resident who wants to fill the vacant seat.

The group known as Concerned about the Children of Harrisburg (CATCH) responded to the petition filed on Jan. 24 on behalf of Rodriguez. As part of its response, CATCH asked the court to appoint its own preferred candidate, Cornelius Chachere.

This petition response appears to have triggered a series of events that will take several months to resolve.

CATCH now has until Feb. 21 to file its answer to Rodriguez’s petition, followed by 45 days for discovery and an April 23 court hearing.

Jayne Buchwach, a member of CATCH, said that her group opted to respond to Rodriguez’s petition, as opposed to filing an original petition in support of Chachere, after they saw that Rodriguez’s supporters had filed first.

“The response states our objections,” she said. “It also tells the court—this is who we think should be on it.”

The response touts Chachere’s qualifications and, like an original petition would, asks the court to appoint him.

“Respondents say that Mr. Chachere is the most qualified candidate that has expressed interest in being appointed by the Court for the existing vacancy on the HSD Board of Directors,” according to CATCH’s response.

To add further complexity to this issue, former school board Director James Thompson also has filed a petition with the court for the seat. Technically, this makes four candidates for the seat: Rodriguez, Chachere, Thompson and Marva Brown. In their petition, Rodriguez’s supporters mention that appointing Brown also would be acceptable to them.

The board seat became empty following the Dec. 16 death of school board Director Melvin Wilson. The remaining board members, split between Rodriguez and Chachere, failed to muster a majority of five votes to replace Wilson within a 30-day time period, throwing the matter to the court.

Buchwach said that she wasn’t concerned about having only eight members on the board for an extended period.

“The board is contentious,” she said. “So, having eight there or nine there—it really doesn’t matter.”

Meanwhile, five of the nine school board seats will be up this election this year. Next week, on Feb. 19, candidates can begin circulating nominating petitions to run. Completed petitions are due by March 12. The primary election is May 21.

CATCH has vowed to put up its own slate of candidates for the board seats.

E-sports organization selects Harrisburg as host city for 2019 convention

February 14, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

HU President Eric Darr speaks during today’s press conference announcing the 2019 NACE convention.

First, Harrisburg got an e-sports team; now it’s getting an e-sports convention.

This summer, the city will host the 2019 National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) Conference, a three-day gathering that will attract 300 to 400 university-level administrators, directors, coaches and others associated with the quickly growing field of e-sports.

At a press conference today at Whitaker Center, NACE Executive Director Michael Brooks said that Harrisburg was selected from more than 100 applicants to be the host city.

“Harrisburg University’s exceptional e-sports program and state-of-the-art facilities made Harrisburg a natural fit,” he said. “The city and surrounding community have been unwavering in their support of e-sports with HU really leading the charge.”

The conference, which takes place, July 17-19, will tackle a variety of subject areas related to e-sports, such as facilities, capabilities, scholarships and legislation, Brooks said. Events will take place primarily at Harrisburg University and at Whitaker Center, which houses the practice and competition areas for HU’s e-sports team, the Storm.

“You’re seeing Harrisburg emerge as a hub for e-sports,” said HU President Eric Darr. “This doesn’t happen without community support and community engagement.”

At 130,000 square feet in total, HU and Whitaker Center have the largest e-sports venue in North America, said Ted Black, Whitaker Center’s executive director.

“This facility doesn’t exist anywhere else in North America,” he said

Mayor Eric Papenfuse said that all the players—the city, Dauphin County, HU and Whitaker Center—worked hard to bring the convention to Harrisburg.

“They’re coming here because of our parks . . . because of our facilities, because of our restaurants,” he said. “We’re really looking forward to hosting the convention this summer.”

Last year, the convention was held in Atlanta.

At the press conference today, Darr added that HU plans to host the second annual Harrisburg University Esports Festival later this year. Last year, the inaugural HUE Fest featured a weekend of e-sports tournaments, a block party and a day of music.

Weekend Roundup with Sara Bozich

February 14, 2019 | by Sara Bozich

Happy Valentine’s Day, lovers!

We have a bunch of recommendations from you, including how to celebrate at home, a millennial-friendly budget version, and cocktails to attempt. I’m making heart-shaped pasta I bought at Aldi, opening some good wine, and binging the rest of Russian Dolls. We’re actually going out for dinner on Saturday because I a) am a big fat liar, and b) never get to do anything.

Friday is 3rd in the Burg, which is a fun way to celebrate the love for Harrisburg, your friends, and sweetheart. See below for what’s going on.

What are you doing this weekend?

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A story of heroism, remorse (and a tank), coming soon to Midtown Scholar.

February 13, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

Next week, you may see an unusual sight in Midtown Harrisburg: a Sherman tank parked right on N. 3^rd Street.

Don’t worry—it won’t be there in any official capacity.

The demilitarized tank will serve as an apt prop to help illustrate the life of Army veteran Cpl. Clarence Smoyer, whose life is recounted in a new book, “Spearhead: An American Tank Gunner, His Enemy and a Collision of Lives in World War II.”

The 95-year-old Smoyer, a coal country native, will be on hand at Midtown Scholar Bookstore, along with the author, Adam Makos, and the tank’s owner, Gettysburg resident and collector Frank Buck.

“We’re very excited they’ve chosen Harrisburg for the book launch,” said bookstore Manager Alex Brubaker. “Originally, they were going to launch in Washington, D.C., but they got such a response from Pennsylvania, where Smoyer is from, that they shifted it to here.”

The book recounts Smoyer’s experience as one of the war’s premier tank gunners, known for his uncanny accuracy, according to the book.

Following the near-disastous Battle of the Bulge, Smoyer’s 3rd Armored Division was given a new weapon, the state-of-the-art Pershing tank, just one of 20 deployed in the European theater.

Soon, Smoyer’s unit led the invasion into Cologne, Germany’s “fortress city,” in the largest urban battle of the European war, much of it caught on film by a U.S. Army combat cameraman. For this, he earned the nickname, “Hero of Cologne,” destroying a German Panther tank right at the Cologne Cathedral.

Smoyer’s unit also was featured in the 2014 film “Fury,” which starred actor Brad Pitt and told of the unit’s role in the final days of the war, deep inside Nazi Germany.

In 2012, working off a tip, the book’s author, Makos, found Smoyer living in Allentown, one of the last living members of his unit. He then learned of the latter-day friendship Smoyer had forged with his long-ago enemy—a German soldier behind the gun of an opposing Panzer IV tank.

Makos also learned of the deep remorse that Smoyer felt for the fate of a young German woman, Katharina Esser, whose accidental death during the Battle of Cologne was filmed, footage that Smoyer had watched repeatedly and that had rekindled horrible memories from the war. Smoyer eventually returned to Cologne, where he met the woman’s family, the visit featured recently on “CBS Sunday Morning.”

“This is such a great story,” Brubaker said. “It’s so special that they’re coming right here to the bookstore to launch this book.”

Clarence Smoyer and Adam Makos will appear and sign books on Tuesday, Feb. 19, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Midtown Scholar Bookstore, 1302 N. 3^rd St., Harrisburg. The tank will be parked outside of the bookstore. For more information, visit www.midtownscholar.com.

First Stop, Harrisburg: Fetterman kicks off statewide “listening tour” for recreational cannabis.

February 11, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman listened as Dauphin County residents spoke up on the legalization of recreational marijuana.

A packed room and dozens of speakers greeted Lt. Gov. John Fetterman in Harrisburg tonight, as he kicked off his statewide listening tour on the proposed legalization of recreational marijuana.

Despite a snowy evening and long security lines, some 300 people filed into the auditorium of the Harrisburg Jewish Community Center for the first of 67 such events, as Fetterman begins to wind his way through every county in the commonwealth.

For about two hours, Fetterman, joined on stage by state Rep. Patty Kim, listened patiently and respectfully as speaker after speaker rose either in support of or in opposition to the proposal, often sharing with him emotional stories from their lives.

One young man named Darryl said that he was arrested and jailed for possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia and now can’t find a full-time job because of those convictions.

“That’s why I’m struggling so badly, because of a stupid possession charge,” he said. “It’s time to end this.”

To that end, a few speakers recommended not only legalization but expungement of criminal records for those previously convicted.

Les Stark, executive director of Reading-based Keystone Cannabis Coalition, a pro-legalization advocacy group, said that, in Pennsylvania, about 25,000 people a year are arrested for marijuana possession.

“How many lives have been ruined in Harrisburg alone?” he asked. “Over the next 10 years, will we ruin the lives of 250,000 more Pennsylvania citizens?”

Several speakers identified themselves as users of medical marijuana, which is legal, and testified to the effectiveness of cannabis for treating their conditions.

One man said he was a disabled veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. The use of marijuana, he said, has helped relieve his anxiety and is a better choice for treating pain than opioids.

“My life has been changed for the better,” he said. “I can’t say more emphatically that I am for this.”

While most attendees spoke in favor of legalization, some did not.

Several speakers said they feared that legalizing recreational marijuana would lead to greater threats to public safety—from the potential of more car accidents to the possible greater use of harsher drugs.

“My main concern is that I have a grandchild turning 16,” said one man. “My concern is that I believe recreational marijuana is a mind-controlling substance. I’m afraid for her to be driving out on the highway when some other driver’s mind is being controlled by marijuana.”

A few speakers cited their experiences in Colorado, where recreational marijuana has been legal since 2012. One woman said that her sister, a Colorado resident, has complained that marijuana use there has become ubiquitous, while a man, who said he supports legalization, said that Pennsylvania should study and learn from the Colorado experience, which, he said, has been mostly positive.

“On the bad side, does it get into the hands of teens?” he said. “Yes, it gets into the hands of teens.”

Other speakers accused the state of wanting to legalize recreational marijuana as a revenue-raising tool.

“I’m not against medical marijuana, but I am against use of recreational marijuana,” said one man. “I believe the administration just wants to create a new revenue source to tax and spend.”

Throughout the lengthy event, Fetterman said little from his seat on the stage, listening attentively as people spoke their minds.

At one point, he asked would-be speakers to allow a woman, who was holding an infant, to move to the front of the long line. The woman, who said she drove in from Hummelstown, offered a moving story about surviving AIDS then, relatively late in life, giving birth to her baby.

“Medical cannabis helped me survive by the skin of my teeth,” she said. “It can’t be denied to others.”

The listening tour continues on Tuesday at the Newport Public Library in Perry County, then, on Wednesday, moves on to Cumberland County to American Legion Post 109 in Mechanicsburg.

For Fetterman tonight, it was one county down, 66 to go.

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