Best Friends: Sounds mix, mesh for local band HomeTime

July 19, 2018 | by Yaasmeen Piper

The members of HomeTime

“I’ve watched bands with these people I looked up to, and I always thought ‘Man, I want to do that so bad,’” said Braiden Williams, flicking a cigarette between his yellow-painted fingernails. “I just wanted to play with guys who were my best friends, and, now that I’m doing that, it’s surreal.”

Williams, vocals, along with bassist Jack Feinberg and drummer Gordon “Gordy” Lauffer, make up the slacker rock band HomeTime.

Williams’ wavy vocals are somehow soft and rough at the same time—think a Mac DeMarco and Yellow Days hybrid. Feinberg and Lauffer’s sounds are more versatile. At times, they ride along to the vocals and, other times, they challenge it with a faster beat.

“[Williams] was playing a lot of chorus-y, poppy rock stuff,” Feinberg said. “Me and Gordon were like, ‘Okay we’re going to play faster now,’ and the sounds meshed really well together.”

The Harrisburg natives originally met in high school at Central Dauphin, though they didn’t start playing music together until later. Williams started performing at a few open mic nights, but he felt like his sound wasn’t complete. He messaged Lauffer, asking him if he wanted to perform with him and, together, they started playing at the open mics. Still, something was missing.

“After [performing at River City Blues Club one night], we were, like, maybe we should have a bassist to get a more complete sound,” said Lauffer. “So, I hit up Jack. After that we actually started doing shows and taking [our music] a little bit more seriously.”

Feeling more complete, they started performing at whatever places would take them, writing all three of their names on sign-up sheets. In recordings, their sound is chill and sometimes dreamy; their live performances are packed with energy.

According to Lauffer, after another performance at River City Blues, a guy came up to them and, in a slurred voice, said he loved their energy and wanted to know who they were.

It was an all-around consensus that they wanted to create a band. They wanted keep this feeling forever. But first they needed a name.

During the car ride home that night, they brainstormed names, shouting out anything that caught their eye. There was “Aces” after the hardware store, “Arrows,” and finally “Home-Time,” a sign on a a dingy building. It was a virtual, flipped Snapchat coin that sealed their fate, and they became HomeTime.

The three started officially playing together under the name in December 2017. Their first EP, “Bird,” released this May, features four melodic tracks, all produced, written and recorded by the band. The inspiration behind “Bird” came from a nasty breakup between Williams and his ex-girlfriend.

“Things that are going on in my life, I like to incorporate it,” Williams said. “It’s kind of therapeutic.”

With only a few months of together, HomeTime has already made a stamp in the Harrisburg DIY music scene. They performed shows at Underground Bike Shop, Little Amps, as well as basements and garages.

Along the way, they’ve become close with other DIY bands such as Club 27, Concrete Beach and Grapefruit Cannonball.

“There’s something about the Harrisburg music scene. Before we were in it, we really didn’t know much about it,” Williams said. “There’s so much I love about those DIY spaces. It’s not just playing. You can jump out into the crowd. It’s more personal. The people are right in front of you.”

Up next, HomeTime is performing its first all-ages show at the House of Music, Arts & Culture (H*MAC), then on to Tonawanda, N.Y., then back for a show in Lauffer’s garage. Even though their first EP is out, they’re still working on stretching their sound, which they hope to do in a full album they anticipate releasing in August.

“In so many ways, we are lucky,” said Feinberg. “We’ve met so many people who are like us and who we’ve become friends with, and there are so many people who support us. Yeah, we play a lot and practice a lot, but we wouldn’t be doing that without all of our friends and all the other bands who support us.”

Listen to their music on Bandcamp and follow them on Twitter and Instagram @hometimeband.

Weekend Roundup with Sara Bozich

July 19, 2018 | by Sara Bozich

Happy Weekend!

Hey, we moved this month’s Pop-Up Happy Hour to TONIGHT! So, if you usually can’t join us on Wednesdays, now is your chance to swing by — Free Will Brewing and Harris Family Brewery will be joining us, along with live music and other treats.

Tomorrow is 3rd in the Burg! Plus, Books + Brews with Dauphin County Library System downtown at McCormick Library. Go.

Saturday is market day, and my weekend is low key beyond that (and maybe finally grooming my garden??)

What are you doing this weekend?

(more…)

Harrisburg High School principal placed on leave as district investigates concern about grading.

July 18, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

The principal of Harrisburg’s largest public school has been placed on leave following a concern about grading, district officials said today.

School board President Judd Pittman confirmed this morning that Lisa Love, the principal at Harrisburg High School’s John Harris Campus, is on administrative leave pending investigation.

Pittman declined to comment on the nature of the investigation, but a district spokeswoman said it was spurred by a concern about adherence to the district’s grading policy.

“District officials have shared that a new grading policy and procedure were implemented during the 2017-2018 school year, and they are looking into an expressed concern to ensure that the policy and procedure were applied with fidelity,” spokeswoman Kirsten Keys said in a written statement. “Please note, any and all administrative leaves were procedural in practice and in no way imply any wrongdoing by the staff impacted by our decisions.”

Keys did not name any other staff who were placed on leave. She could not comment on personnel matters due to the ongoing, internal investigation, she said.

Love joined the Harrisburg school district in July 2016 as an assistant principal at Rowland Academy, according to school board minutes.

She became principal at John Harris High School in January 2017 after serving as a grant-funded transformation specialist at the same school.

As principal at John Harris, Love’s crackdown on unexcused absences led the school to issue more than 500 suspension notices on a single day in March 2017. At least 100 students served one-day suspensions, while others disputed the disciplinary action, according to PennLive.

She also hosted a series of community outreach forums, including public meetings with parents and “Dinner with the Principal” events.

Pittman did not say if Love is being paid while on leave. She is the second-highest paid employee in the district, taking home a $114,000 annual salary, according to documents obtained through a Right to Know request.

John Harris is the city’s largest public school, serving 1,056 students in 2017, according to Pennsylvania Department of Education enrollment data.

A Pennsylvania School Performance Profile shows that 83 percent of John Harris students are economically disadvantaged and 24 percent are English language learners. The school reported a 55 percent graduation rate in 2017.

Attempts to reach Love today were unsuccessful, as her address and phone number are not publicly listed. The district also declined a request to share her contact information with a reporter.

City-wide affordable housing study could inform long-term development policies, Harrisburg officials say.

July 18, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

Historic row homes on Boas Street in Midtown Harrisburg.

How far do you travel to get to work in Harrisburg?

That’s one of the questions that the city is asking as part of its first comprehensive housing study, which will examine the availability of affordable rental housing in the city across different neighborhoods and income brackets.

The project was jointly commissioned by the city, the Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority, the Harrisburg Housing authority and Harristown Enterprises.

Members of that coalition say that affordable housing close to employment centers has become increasingly rare, especially after the 2008 recession.

“What was once a large supply of rather nice, unsubsidized housing for the workforce is gone,” said Bryan Davis, executive director of the Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority. “In today’s market, we want to know what residents’ income is and have a sense for what their rent is so we can understand their needs as we plan for future development.”

The study will help officials plan for several large building projects expected to create jobs and boost demand in the city’s housing market, according to Community and Economic Development Director Jackie Parker.

As examples, she pointed to the $15 million renovation to the Harrisburg Transportation Center, the Paxton Creek reclamation project and the construction of the federal courthouse.

As the city economy grows, public officials ought to ensure that workers in the service industry have access to affordable, quality housing close to their place of employment, Parker said.

To that end, city officials are asking employees across Harrisburg where they work, how far they travel from home to their job, and what they pay for rent and transportation. They have distributed surveys to retail and service workers across the city and are accepting responses online.

The Maryland-based Real Property Research Group will compile the survey responses with census and housing market data. Parker said that RPRG has compiled studies for Harristown before, so much of the research is already on-hand.

Parker said that the city, the Redevelopment Authority and Harristown will split the cost of the project. The city has committed only $1,000.

The final study, which Parker expects will be published by the end of the summer, will include socioeconomic and demographic profiles of every neighborhood in the city; an inventory of the city’s current housing stock by unit type and value; and a summary of rent trends since 2000.

It will also describe economic and workforce trends on neighborhood, city and regional levels and compare them to the pipeline of proposed housing projects. Its authors will ultimately offer an opinion on the availability of affordable housing relative to the need of city workers.

Potential for new policy
Parker said that the study will help city officials craft data-driven policies to promote equitable development across Harrisburg.

One option they could consider is an inclusive zoning ordinance, Parker said, which would require developers to set aside a quota of units for low- to moderate-income renters.

Inclusive zoning laws have become common across the country since the 1970s, when they arose in response to racially segregated zoning laws. They compel private developers to subsidize some units by renting them at below market rates.

Those units are available to renters who meet an income threshold, usually set at 80 percent of the area’s median income.

Harristown CEO Brad Jones said he wants to see the study data before he starts talking policy.

“The details matter on these things,” Jones said, when asked about a set-aside requirement for developers.

The city’s busiest downtown housing developer, Harristown has developed dozens of apartments in downtown Harrisburg and plans to add hundreds more.

“If there is interest in an ordinance like that, we’d be happy to see if we can make it work with what we’re doing going,” Jones said. “I think that rather than committing to something now, let’s get the study, see what market looks like, and have a conversation among public and private stakeholders.”

Harristown announced its own workforce housing program in April that sets aside units for employees of Harrisburg Property Services, the Harristown subsidiary that provides janitorial, security and maintenance services to its properties.

Any HPS employee whose household earns $40,600 per year, which is 80 percent of Dauphin County’s median household income, gets a $50 to $75 reduction on market-rate rents between $700 and $800, Jones said.

While that program mirrors some aspects of an inclusive zoning program, Parker pointed out that units set aside under the law would be open to any renter—not just one who works for the property owner.

The “set-aside” requirement would also be attached to the property in perpetuity, Parker said.

Policy researchers debate whether inclusive zoning ordinances actually increase housing costs by decreasing the supply of market-rate rentals. Critics, including some developers, also say they violate private property rights.

While eligibility and subsidy requirements vary by city, some affordable housing advocates also say that inclusive zoning does not help enough people in the lowest income brackets.

Even so, inclusive zoning remains one of the most frequently used tools for policy makers to bring the private sector into the affordable housing market. A report from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy says that 886 municipalities in the United States had adopted inclusive zoning laws by the end of 2016.

Are you a retail or service worker in Harrisburg? Complete the housing study survey here.

Home at Last: PAIRWN cuts the ribbon on new Front Street office

July 18, 2018 | by Yaasmeen Piper

The ribbon was cut today at PAIRWN’s new Front Street office.

After nearly two decades, the Pennsylvania Immigrant & Refugee Women’s Network (PAIRWN) has finally found a place to call its own.

With the help of a grant from the federal Office of Violence Against Women, the organization celebrated the grand opening of its new office space on Front Street this afternoon. Previously, members operated from wherever they could find space–homes, community centers, coffee shops, etc.

“I am so happy that I can be a voice for the immigrant and refugee community, especially the women because they have no voice,” said Ho-Thanh Nguyen, founder of PAIRWN. “I didn’t have a voice before, and this gives me the platform to work and to help.”

PAIRWN was created in May 2001 by Nguyen and nine other women who wanted to advocate for and educate women who recently arrived in United States, helping them gain life and work skills.

The organization specializes in finding and developing resources for immigrant and refugee women. Some of their services include life coaching, networking, referrals and resources for stalking, domestic violence and sexual assault survivors. They also hold meetups, during which women in the network share personal stories of survival, do arts and crafts, share the skills that they have learned and more.

“The resources that we offer the women is to educate them [on] what is out there, help them empower themselves and to have a voice,” Nguyen said.

In 1975, Nguyen came to Pennsylvania as a Vietnamese refugee herself. She learned the ropes of the new culture and worked her way up through the community. Now, she says, she wants to offer new immigrants and refugees that support.

“I learned so much and everything is in my brain, and now I want to pass it on—pay it forward,” she said. “I want to give back to the community that I have been living in, to help the new immigrant and refugee woman who come here.”

The organization has a multitude of partners including YWCA, Women of Color Network, the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape (PCAR), the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) and others. According to Nguyen, these partners are pieces of a puzzle that helped create PAIRWN.

“Everybody says that I did all this—no, I did not do all this,” she said. “I’m just planting the seed. I plant the seed, and the community helps me water them and to grow.”

With their new office space, the organization is working on increasing its life coaching, continuing their empowerment and story circles, and of course, advocating for immigrant and refugee women, she said.

“This is their home now,” Nguyen said. “As you look around and see all the different pictures of women there, their pictures hanging in there, some of them are still alive, some of them already gone, but they’re here in the spirit with us and I love them. I love them.”

PAIRWN is located at 2101 N. Front St., Building 2, Harrisburg. For more information, visit www.pairwn.org and follow them on Facebook at @PAIRWN1.

New CEO Named for Capital Region Water

July 18, 2018 | by Lawrance Binda

Following an extensive search, Capital Region Water has a new chief executive officer, the Harrisburg-area water/sewer authority announced this morning.

Mark Kropilak (pictured left) began work Monday heading up operations at CRW, which provides water, wastewater and storm water services to some 120,000 residents in and around Harrisburg, said Andrew Bliss, CRW’s community outreach manager.

“It is an honor to be selected CEO of Capital Region Water,” Kropilak said in a statement. “I have joined a team of employees dedicated to providing high quality water, superior customer service and operational excellence.”

Kropilak is CRW’s second CEO since it separated from the Harrisburg Authority in late 2013. He replaces Shannon Gority, who left last year.

According to CRW, Kropilak has extensive experience in both the private and regulated sectors of the industry, including as CEO, board advisor, general counsel and in business development roles.

“After a comprehensive search process, Mark impressed the board of directors with his 30 years of experience in the water industry and understanding of complex issues facing Capital Region Water, including infrastructure investments, regulatory mandates and utility resilience,” said Marc Kurowski, CRW’s board chair. “He is capable of taking these issues head on in the most efficient manner to best serve our customers.”

Kropilak holds a law degree from Columbia University, a master’s degree from Villanova University and a bachelor’s degree from Saint Vincent College.

For more information about Capital Region Water, visit www.capitalregionwater.com.

Coming to HBG: Memoirist describes chaotic, exciting years in the White House.

July 16, 2018 | by Yaasmeen Piper

Beck Dorey-Stein in her parents home in Narberth, Pa. (Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

Even after eight years, the moment is surreal for Beck Dorey-Stein.

The author had stumbled into the land of D.C. creatures while working as a teacher in an elite school there. You know, those people who live and breathe politics. Those who ask, “So what do you do?” with their business card already between their fingertips, before even asking your name.

In 2011, the 20-something, now-former-teacher sat at her kitchen table sending out cover letters that got her no response, with as little savings as she had confidence. Then, one answer to a stenographer ad on Craigslist landed her a job in the White House under former President Barack Obama, and that experience became the backdrop for her first book, “From the Corner of the Oval.”

The memoir shows Dorey-Stein as a fish out of water in the D.C. world, living out the chaos of her 20s aside the chaos of the White House. During her five years working for the president, Dorey-Stein developed unlikely friendships with D.C. elites, fell in love with a White House insider, got her heart broken—more than once—and eventually found her voice.

The book has already received praise from Lauren Weisberger, author of “The Devil Wears Prada” and Piper Kerman, author of “Orange is the New Black,” as well as other authors and news outlets.

“It’s quite empowering to go from holding the microphone up to other people to now holding the microphone and actually speaking into it,” she said. “I much prefer this.”

Dorey-Stein’s portrait of her life in the White House is as chaotic as it is fascinating. On an average day, she is found racing among a pool of reporters and photographers in her bright pink flats to get to the president. She travels across time zones, following the POTUS with a recorder and mic in hand. Of course, there are the occasional run-ins with White House elites such as Hillary Clinton, David Plouffe, Joe Biden and Obama himself.

But not everything is always glamorous.

Not only does “From the Corner of the Oval” reflect on pounding down drinks with her colleagues and flying in Air Force One with POTUS, but Dorey-Stein writes about what it’s like to feel like an outsider, her battle with depression, loving a married man and even national disasters like the Pulse and Sandy Hook shootings.

Since she was a kid, she said, her writing style has always been raw and honest. So, of course, her memoir follows.

“I love when someone says, ‘I feel like you were talking just to me,’” Dorey-Stein said. “That was my goal, to make it feel like I was just writing to a best friend.”

Looking back on these moments, she regards some of them as therapeutic.

“Even if I was down on myself at the time, it was a really good opportunity to forgive myself and learn the lessons I wanted to learn, which was, ‘You have to be kind to the people around you’ and, ‘You’re going to fall in love with the wrong guy,’” she said. “You got to keep working and living through that and what you can take away from that.”

For Dorey-Stein, the most special moment came during a 2016 visit to Vietnam, when she was amazed by the throngs of people who came out to greet Obama.

“I just remember tearing up because it was just so exciting to think this president means this much to so many people halfway around the world that they all turned out to see him,” she said. “I just remember thinking, ‘I can’t believe this is ending because this is the moment I want to have every time we go abroad.’”

After Obama’s term ended, Dorey-Stein stayed in the White House, but only for two months.

“They were the worst two months of my life,” she said. “The workload had decreased, and we barely did anything. Having to go there and type things I not only didn’t believe in, but was admittedly opposed to, it was extremely difficult.”

Ironically, it was the Trump presidency that pushed Dorey-Stein into creating her memoir.

“Trump winning—that was the ultimate kick in the pants of, ‘Okay, it’s now or never. If I’m not going to take my writing seriously right now, when am I going to?’” she said.

The book basically wrote itself, she said. Through the years, she kept a journal, phone memos, texts and emails to her mother and patched them all together to become “From the Corner of the Oval.”

“I didn’t write this book for the D.C. insiders,” she said. “I wrote this for the outsiders and people who are navigating their first and second jobs and feeling maybe a little overlooked and unlucky. You just have to persist, and you never know when a Craigslist ad might be your ticket.”

See Beck Dorey-Stein this Saturday, July 21, 6 to 8 p.m., at Midtown Scholar Bookstore, 1302 N. 3rd St., Harrisburg. For more information visit www.midtownscholar.com.

Tyrell Spradley resigns from the Harrisburg School Board, creating its second vacant seat in just one month.

July 16, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

The revolving door at the Harrisburg school board just keeps on swinging.

School board director Tyrell Spradley resigned today, board president Judd Pittman has confirmed.

Spradley was appointed to his two-year seat in February to replace board director Matt Krupp, who was elected Dauphin County prothonotary in November.

Spradley is the second director to leave the board since June, when Percel Eiland resigned just six months into his two-year term. On Thursday, the board selected former Director Patricia Whitehead-Myers to replace Eiland.

In May, Spradley became the subject of an inquiry by a citizen-led school reform group, CATCH (Concerned about the Children of Harrisburg.)

Members of CATCH accused Spradley of misleading the board about his legal residence and called on him to resign his seat, threatening to file a quo warranto petition with the Dauphin County district attorney if he did not.

Spradley denied the allegations but admitted spending time at a residence he owns with an ex-girlfriend in Penbrook. He insisted that his home on South Allison Hill in Harrisburg had been his fixed, legal residence for years.

Pittman said that the board will fill Spradley’s seat “very quickly.” Pennsylvania school code requires the board to name a replacement within 30 days.

In 2016, Spradley was appointed Harrisburg treasurer, but resigned that post after just 18 months on the job.

Spradley could not be immediately reached for comment.

Harrisburg School Board appoints Patricia Whitehead-Myers as new member; delays action on dozens of personnel items.

July 12, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

School board member Patricia Whitehead-Myers (right) shortly after she was sworn in by Magisterial District Judge Sonia McKnight (left).

The Harrisburg School Board gained a new member tonight when it appointed Patricia Whitehead-Myers, a former board member and charter school employee, to serve a two-year term.

Whitehead-Myers fills the seat vacated by Percel Eiland, who resigned in June after just six months on the board. She was sworn in tonight after a three-and-a-half hour board meeting.

As a board director from 2010-16, Whitehead-Myers was one of the first members of the reformed school board that wrested the district back from mayoral control. Former Mayor Stephen Reed took direct oversight of the school district in 2000, the first arrangement of its kind in the commonwealth.

Mayor Linda Thompson assumed his role briefly in 2010 before community members reconstituted the elected board of directors.

Whitehead-Myers served with board vice president Danielle Robinson from 2012-16. Robinson nominated her tonight, and voted with board directors Tyrell Spradley, Melvin Wilson, Lionel Gonzalez, and Ellis Roy to secure her appointment.

The former Premiere Arts and Science Charter School employee beat out four other candidates for the seat: Cornelius Chacere, a non-profit director; Claude Phipps, a retired business executive and community leader; Steven Williams, a researcher for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives; and James Thompson, an architect and fellow board veteran.

Chacere had the endorsement of the Harrisburg Education Association president Jody Barksdale. After Williams was knocked out in the first round of voting, Chacere secured votes from board directors Carrie Fowler, Brian Carter and president Judd Pittman.

Phipps did not receive a nomination, and Thompson was unable to appear at the special meeting for an interview. Robinson, Spradley, Wilson, Gonzalez, and Roy voted to deny Thompson the right to interview via telephone.

Just before adjourning, the board president was alerted that Whitehead-Myers’ job at a charter school in the district disqualified her from board service. During a last-minute recess, Whitehead-Myers assured the board that she no longer worked at Premiere Arts and Science. She was sworn in shortly after.

Whitehead-Myers told a reporter that she stopped working at Premiere Arts and Science at the end of the most recent school year. But a school website still lists her as an employee.

After filling the vacant seat, the board tackled an agenda that included dozens of personnel and fiscal actions. Some board directors and members of the public objected to last-minute amendments to the personnel actions, which were in flux as of late this afternoon.

The district is in the process of shuffling employees after eliminating 52 positions in its most recent budget cycle. Some union teachers are still waiting on reassignments, but the district did determine today that it could avoid teacher furloughs.

Fowler motioned to table all of the personnel items at the start of the meeting. She argued that directors and HEA teachers had not had time to review the outcome of human resources meetings that lasted late into this afternoon.

Copies of the updated personnel actions were not available to the public at tonight’s meeting.

The board voted 5-3 against Fowler’s motion, but later decided to postpone the votes anyway.

After Robinson motioned to table a single item that reduced a full-time administrative post to part-time, Fowler insisted that they should exercise the same scrutiny on personnel actions affecting teachers and support staff.

“This is a slap in the face to our teachers,” Fowler said. “I made this motion at the very start of this meeting.”

Pittman agreed, and after a series of procedural missteps, Robinson amended her motion so it would postpone all personnel actions. The board passed it in a rare unanimous vote.

The employees awaiting personnel action include scores of summer school teachers. But HR Director Curtis Tribue said that none of their appointments, reassignments or resignations will be interrupted, since the board can retroactively approve them at an Aug. 6 meeting.

The board also shot down a resolution that would have appointed a professional search firm to find qualified candidates to replace its business manager and chief financial officer.

Robinson said that the resolution was unnecessary, since the jobs were publicly posted on the district’s website.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education [PDE] requested in June that the district find a permanent, full time CFO and business manager. Current CFO Jim Snell works part-time, and business manager Bilal Hasan lacks the certifications for his role.

Robinson previously said that she does not think the district needs to replace Snell or Hasan. Spradley agreed with her tonight, saying that people who previously held those roles left “clusterbombs” for the district.

“We have a CFO and business manager that didn’t rely on credentials, but put in the work — and now we want to look for someone else?” Spradley said. “I can’t support that.”

The board voted 5-3 against the resolution, but Tribue and Pittman confirmed that the district has already hired a search firm that will fulfill its contract.

The resolution by the board was a formality, Pittman said, meant to codify its approval of the professional search.

“We need to make a good faith effort,” Pittman said. “I don’t want [PDE] to to say to us that we didn’t do our due diligence and introduce a receiver.”

Weekend Roundup with Sara Bozich

July 12, 2018 | by Sara Bozich

Happy Weekend!

We had a great night at Al’s of Hampden + Pizza Boy Brewing Co. last night — Cheers to everyone who joined us for some great pizza and beer.

Looking for a way to get outside on Saturday? It’s festival season! Check out Steelton Fest on Saturday. Free to attend, loads of live music, food trucks, plus beer, wine + spirits for sampling and sale.

Sunday is National Ice Cream Day, and you know what to do.

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