Tag Archives: National Civil War Museum

Tastes & Tunes: Eating well, doing good at Taste of Jazz.

March 31, 2017 | by Priscilla Morales

April is Jazz Appreciation Month, which means you may be looking for a special way to appreciate this quintessential American art form.

If so, be-bop up to the National Civil War Museum for the 3rd annual Taste of Jazz, where you can satisfy your need for great tunes and tastes—and do so for a wonderful cause.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church of Harrisburg organizes the yearly fundraiser to support its community outreach, specifically the St. Barnabas After-School Program and the Beacon Clinic for Health and Hope. The former focuses on youth-centered ministries, while the latter caters to underserved residents in Uptown Harrisburg and surrounding neighborhoods.

“It’s about commitment to community, relationships with each other and the strengths and gifts that make them better,” said Phyllis Hicks, a member of St. Paul’s and an event organizer. “[The goal] is to reach more people, grow, make more friends, become more diverse and have influences.”

She projects that about 300 guests will join in the festivities.

This year, Latin cuisine and jazz-infused tunes will set the mood. The event features food from countries like Mexico, Honduras, Cuba and Ecuador, as well as the music of Tito Puente, Jr., son of the late, great Tito Puente. Percussionist Puente, Jr. has his own sound, which incorporates an electronic twist. He’ll be joined by regionally known artists Shacara Rogers & Kayla Waters.

This fundraiser has come a long way in a very short time.

“Eight years ago, a group of women from St. Paul’s wanted to help support the community mission of the church, so a ticketed backyard buffet was organized,” said Hicks. “This gathering brought together family and friends from the church for prayer, international tastes and funding for youth missions.”

The outdoor barbecues have since expanded into something much greater. The first traditional jazz celebration took place three years ago at Crawdaddy’s in Harrisburg. This format suited the occasion well, as St. Paul’s promotes multicultural awareness and relationships within and outside of the church, which mirrors the diverse nature of jazz.

Aside from tastes and tunes, the event will feature a silent auction, which will include sports memorabilia, fine jewelry from Higashi Jewelry and contemporary jewelry from Imagination In Glass.

A special perk allows early arrivals to take self-guided tours at 1 p.m., an hour before the event begins. This offers a great way to check out the museum exhibits ahead of time, especially for newcomers.

“It is a spectacular event,” said Christyan Seay, a member of St. Paul’s and the musical coordinator. “When you walk into a community, opportunities can arise. In having a heart for these things, we are present in the community and able to expose people to music and encourage community. We may need to move into an even bigger venue.”

“Taste of Jazz” takes place April 30, 2 to 5 p.m., at the National Civil War Museum, 1 Lincoln Drive, Harrisburg. The cost is $65 per person. For more information, visit www.diocesecpa.org.

Author: Priscilla Morales

Sinkhole Solution Nears: City fronts costs for project’s first phase as it waits to receive national grants.

March 29, 2017 | by Danielle Roth

orange road closed sign hanging in middle of street. Can see colorful, newer row homes.

Sinkholes badly damaged these 53 homes on the 1400-block of S. 14th Street in 2014.

Harrisburg will move forward with purchasing houses devastated by sinkholes, even though the city hasn’t yet received the funds into its coffers.

Last night, City Council voted unanimously to move forward with the purchase of 53 of S. 14^th Street properties while it still waits to officially receive federal and state grants.

At the meeting, council President Wanda Williams announced that the city received two letters yesterday from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA), which said that the city soon will receive two grants, one for $2.5 million and the other for $600,000, for the sinkhole project.

“You will soon receive one copy of the grant agreement for this buy-out project,” read the letters from Stephen Bekanich, director of PEMA’s Bureau of Recovery and Mitigation.

The city received this letter from FEMA in September.

Acting on a letter, rather than a grant agreement, means that the city will front the $2.2-million project cost before a May 31 deadline while it waits to be reimbursed by PEMA and the state Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED), which are acting as conduits for federal grants.

“We are doing this based on a letter, not a grant agreement,” Mayor Eric Papenfuse said, describing the risk involved.

He said the city is still waiting for the official agreement from the state, which both parties must sign.

“The city is not sitting on any money,” Papenfuse said. “We do not have a grant agreement.”

In September, the city received a letter from PEMA, which approved $2.2 million of federal and state funds for the sinkhole mitigation project. The city must spend this money by a May 31 deadline in order to be reimbursed for up to $2.2 million.

With the upcoming deadline, the city likely won’t be able spend, and be reimbursed for, the full $2.2 million on both phase 1 and 2 of the project, which covers the acquisition and demolition of these properties.

Federal Housing and Urban Development Agency funds for phase two, which would cover the demolition of the 14^th Street houses, hang in limbo as the Trump administration has targeted the grant program in its draft budget.

“This is an example of a national election

The city received these letters from PEMA on March 27.

affecting local municipalities,” Papenfuse said.

DCED, the state agency that distributes HUD grants, acted under certain assumptions with grant funds under the Obama administration, said city Budget and Finance Director Bruce Weber.

“Those assumptions have changed,” Weber said.

In the worst-case scenario, the city would end up owning an empty city block without being able to demolish it, Papenfuse said. Council considered this risk before voting to move forward with this project tonight, he said.

“Basically, [this is] a promise we made to these folks,” he said.

At last night’s meeting, Papenfuse also discussed with reporters a new contract with the city’s Bureau of Police.

This contract, approved by the rank and file on Friday by an 89-7 vote, includes salary increases for all officers. In six months, officers will receive .5-percent increase. Six months after that, officers will see another .5-percent raise. Then officers will receive a 1-percent annual raise for the next four years, Papenfuse said.

The new contract also gives $1,500 bonuses for current officers as a “thank you for sticking with the city,” Papenfuse said.

“They have been working short-staffed for years, and they’ve suffered for that,” he said.

The bonuses come from 2016 funds slated for officer positions that were left unfilled, Weber said.

Under the contact, officers also will receive a day off for their birthday, which was “important symbolically,” Papenfuse said.

The contact also includes incentives for young police officers to stay with the force, Papenfuse said.

If a police officer leaves the bureau for another police department, he or she will have to give back training costs to the city. This “clawback” comes at $1,000 per year for up to five years, Papenfuse said.

Young police officers can more easily climb experienced-based salary jumps with this new contract, as well. The contract eliminated one rung of a five-part ladder to a top-level position, Papenfuse said.

A top-level patrol officer receives $62,591 while a trainee receives $46,943, according to the city budget.

These two items aim to prevent young officers from receiving training in the city then leaving for high-paying officer positions in the rest of the state, Papenfuse said.

This contract, if approved by council, means “four years of labor peace with the Police Bureau,” Papenfuse said.

“[This is a] clear sign there is more confidence in the future direction of our city,” Papenfuse said, adding that the city and labor union negotiated the contract without help from the state.

Also last night, City Council approved an insurance reimbursement for two pistols stolen from the National Civil War Museum. The city transferred the $175,000 received from the insurance company into a fund slated for Reservoir Park.

“This will be a nest egg we can use when they release the Reservoir Park master plan,” Papenfuse said, adding that the funds could be used to obtain matching grant funds.

Consultants are creating a master plan for the park’s future, which is slated to be released later this year, Papenfuse said.

The city purchased the two pistols that once belonged to President Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of War and Harrisburg native Simon Cameron in the 1990s for about $250,000, Papenfuse said. They were stolen from the museum about a year ago.

This story was updated at 12:30 p.m. to include details about a May 31 deadline for spending $2.2 million on phase 1 and 2 of the sinkhole project.

Author: Danielle Roth

Community Corner: Notable February Events

January 31, 2017 | by TheBurg Editor

February Community Corner

Language Learning

Feb. 2: Fredricksen Library, 100 N. 19th Street, Camp Hill, will offer a language immersion conversation group from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Spanish, German and French sessions are available throughout the day. Visit fredricksenlibrary.org for more details.

Blood Pressure Screenings

Feb. 2: Stop by the food court pavilion at Harrisburg Mall, 3501 Paxton St., 12:30 to 2:30 p.m., for free blood pressure screenings offered by PinnacleHealth. Visit shopharrisburgmall.com/events.

Love Your Heart

Feb. 2: PinnacleHealth will host “7 Ways to Love Your Heart” at Giant Food Store, 2300 Linglestown Rd., Harrisburg, 7 p.m. Join this community education event for tips and tricks you can incorporate to make a new, heart-healthy beginning. Visit pinnaclehealth.org for more information.

First Friday

Feb. 3: Enjoy First Friday in Hummelstown, 6 to 9 p.m., with shopping, dining, raffle prizes, music and dancing. First Fridays are free, but organizers encourage attendees to bring donations for Morning Star Pregnancy Services. For more details, call 717-991-5105 or email [email protected].

Orchid Show

Feb. 3-5: Visit Hershey Gardens, 170 Hotel Rd., Hershey, for the Susquehanna Orchid Society’s “For the Love of Orchids” show and sale in the newly opened Milton & Catherine Hershey Conservatory. More than 1,000 orchids will be on display, including one that smells like chocolate. Visit HersheyGardens.org.

Vacation Show

Feb. 4: Join AAA Central Penn at the Best Western Premier in Harrisburg, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., for the AAA Vacation Show featuring travel presentations and information from vendors. Book packages at the show to receive special savings. Visit aaacp.com.

Winter HBG Flea

Feb. 4: Shop the HBG Flea for local art, vintage treasures and curated curios at Strawberry Square, 320 Market St., Harrisburg, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visit hbgflea.com for more information.

PPFF Photo Display

Feb. 4-25: Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation will display winning photographs from its 2016 “Through the Seasons” photo contest in the state Capitol, East Wing Rotunda, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Visit paparksandforests.org.

Mindfulness Hike

Feb. 5: Go for a guided, 3.1-mile walk around Wildwood Park, 100 Wildwood Way, Harrisburg, with yoga instructor Traci Wolfe, 10 to 11:30 a.m. The pace will be brisk enough to keep the body warm, with stops to observe nature and a silent walking session to wrap up. For more details, visit wildwoodlake.org.

Have a Heart

Feb 6: Caitlin’s Smiles’ “Have a Heart Volunteer Day and Craft Fair” will be held at New Hope Church, 584 Colonial Club Dr., Harrisburg, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Volunteers will make craft kits and cards for children with chronic or life-threatening conditions. The event includes a craft fair, soup/baked goods sale and a blood drive. Visit caitlins-smiles.org.

Healthy Cooking

Feb. 6: “Family-Friendly Cooking with a Cardiologist” will be held at 5:30 p.m. at Giant Food Store Cooking School, 3301 Trindle Rd., Camp Hill, with PinnacleHealth cardiologists Michael Bosak and Sunil Patel. Cost is $20 per couple. Visit pinnaclehealth.org.

FOM Winter Social

Feb. 6: Friends of Midtown will host its Winter Social and Annual Meeting at Zeroday Brewing Co., 250 Reily St., Harrisburg, 6 to 8 p.m. Enjoy appetizers, a cash bar and raffle auctions of Midtown goods and services and learn about FOM’s 2016 successes and 2017 goals. Cost is $5; free for FOM members. Visit FriendsOfMidtown.org.

Decisions 2016

Feb. 6, 20: The World Affairs Council of Harrisburg will host “Great Decisions,” a program on world affairs organized by the Foreign Policy Association. Sessions are held every other Monday at 1 p.m. at Fredricksen Library, 100 N. 19th St., Camp Hill, through May 15. Cost is $10 per session; $40 for all eight. Visit fredricksenlibrary.org.

Crazy for Coloring

Feb. 6-26: Dauphin County Library System will host “Crazy for Coloring,” two-hour social, adult coloring sessions at Madeline L. Olewine Memorial Library, Feb. 6, 6 to 8 p.m.; William H. & Marion C. Alexander Family Library, Feb. 22, 6 to 8 p.m.; and East Shore Area Library, Feb. 26, 2 to 4 p.m.; Visit dcls.org for details.

Indie Film Friday

Feb. 10: Join Fredricksen Library, 100 N. 19th St., Camp Hill, for “Dum Laga Ke Haisha,” a Hindi romantic comedy. Prem Prakash Tiwari dreams of marrying a beautiful girl with movie star looks, but is pressured into an arranged marriage. Showings are at 2 and 7 p.m. Visit fredricksenlibrary.org.

Ice Art Fest

Feb. 10-12: Spend a weekend amid snowflake lights and ice sculptures for Carlisle’s first Ice Art Festival and enjoy an indoor art show, carriage rides, glass blowing demonstrations, chili cook-off, dessert bake-off and other activities. The event also features food trucks and extended merchant hours. Visit lovecarlisle.com for details.

Truffles for Couples

Feb. 10-14: Hershey Story’s Chocolate Lab, 63 W. Chocolate Ave., will offer an evening of truffle making for Valentine’s Day, 6 to 8 p.m. Participants will hand roll and coat rich, dark chocolate ganache in milk and white chocolate, finishing with sweet toppings. Tickets are $20 per person. Visit hersheystory.org.

Local Lunch
Feb. 11: Join Friends of Midtown at their monthly community lunch, which will be held at Midtown Tavern, 1101 N. 2nd St., Harrisburg, 12 to 2 p.m. Contact [email protected] or visit friendsofmidtown.org.

Meditation Talk

Feb. 11: Kalpa Bhadra Kadampa Buddhist Center, Harrisburg, will host “Meditation and the Art of Happiness,” 1 to 2 p.m., at Midtown Scholar Bookstore, 1302 N. 3rd St., Harrisburg. Learn basic meditation techniques and receive guidance for healthy and positive thinking. Visit meditationpa.org.

Community Free Day

Feb. 13: Join the National Civil War Museum, 1 Lincoln Circle at Reservoir Park, on its free admission day, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., in honor of Black History Month. For more information, visit nationalcivilwarmuseum.org.

Annual Meeting

Feb. 13: Harrisburg Young Professionals will host its Annual Meeting at Gamut Theatre, 15. N. 4th St., 6 to 9 p.m. HYP leaders will share a recap of 2016 and goals for 2017. The meeting will be followed by a reception of drinks and hors d’oeuvres. Visit hyp.org.

Train Talk

Feb. 14: National Railway Historical Society Harrisburg Chapter will host “Trains That I Like and Liked,” an illustrated talk with Gary Sunday at Hoss’s Restaurant, 743 Wertzville Rd., Enola. Business meeting and speaker begin at 7 p.m., with a meal available as early as 5 p.m. Call 717-439-9744 or email [email protected].

3rd in The Burg

Feb. 17: Enjoy the best of Harrisburg during 3rd in the Burg, the monthly arts and culture event at galleries, restaurants and art spaces throughout downtown and Midtown. Check out all the action at thirdintheburg.org.

Sports Cards Show

Feb. 17-19: Pittsburgh Steelers Jesse James and Stephon Tuitt will sign autographs at the Sports Cards Show on Feb. 18 at the Harrisburg Mall, 3501 Paxton St. Former Philadelphia Eagle Vince Papale will sign on Feb. 19. Sports cards and collectibles will be available. Visit shopharrisburgmall.com/events.

Valentine Paint Party

Feb. 14: Create a set of painted wine glasses with “Paint & Create” at Midstate Distillery, 1817 N. Cameron St., Harrisburg, 7 to 9 p.m. The bar opens at 6:30 p.m. and drinks will be buy one, get one free. This event is BYOF (bring your own food). Tickets are $30. Visit paintncreate.com.

Viking Economics

Feb. 18: Midtown Scholar Bookstore, 1302 N. 3rd St., will host a discussion with author George Lakey on his new book, “Viking Economics: How the Scandinavians Got It Right—and How We Can, Too,” at 3 p.m. Visit midtownscholar.com for more information.

Grand Opening Benefit

Feb. 18: To celebrate its grand opening, Ike’s at Holiday Inn Harrisburg East, 815 S. Eisenhower Blvd., will host a menu tasting and auction event to benefit the ALS Association, 5 p.m. Enjoy live music, beverages and a late-night menu. This event is free with a donation. Visit holidayinn/harrisburg.

The Last Waltz

Feb 18: Susan Giblin Foundation hosts its silent auction fundraiser to benefit Central PA’s animal community at Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center, 1110 N. 3rd St. Some of central PA’s best musicians will perform The Band’s “The Last Waltz.” The event begins at 8 p.m., and doors open at 7 p.m. Visit harrisburgarts.com.

Cabin Fever Walk

Feb. 19: Bundle up and head to Wildwood Park, 100 Wildwood Way, Harrisburg, for a three-mile walk on Wildwood Way and the Towpath Trail to defeat winter cabin fever, 1 to 2:30 p.m. Along the way, learn how to prepare for a day on the trail. Visit wildwoodlake.org for details.

Legislators Forum II

Feb. 23: Join Harrisburg Regional Chamber & CREDC, in cooperation with the West Shore and Perry County chambers of commerce, for the 2017 Legislators Forum II, featuring area members of the state Senate, at Hilton Harrisburg, 1 N. 2nd St., 8 to 10 a.m. Cost is $65; $40 for members. Visit harrisburgregionalchamber.org.

Cuba Talk

Feb. 23: Senior fellow and Latin America expert Ted Piccone will speak on “Cuba Today and after the Castro Brothers,” in a presentation at 7:30 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel Harrisburg, Camp Hill. There will be a reception and dinner prior to the talk. For more information, visit fpa-harrisburg.org.

Music Conference

Feb. 23-25: The 21st annual Millennium Music Conference will showcase more than 300 artists at 30 Harrisburg-area venues, with additional programs like a trade show, industry panels and workshops at Best Western Premier, 800 E. Park Dr., Harrisburg. Admission to shows is free. Visit MusicConference.net.

Oscar Nominated Shorts

Feb. 24-25: Join Fredricksen Library, 100 N. 19th St., Camp Hill, to view this year’s Oscar-nominated short films before the awards are given. The five nominees from these categories will be shown: documentary short films, live action short films and animated short films. Not recommended for ages 17 and under without parental permission. Visit fredricksenlibrary.org.

Winter Star Party

Feb. 25: Join the Astronomical Society of Harrisburg at the Ned Smith Center, 176 Water Company Rd., Millersburg, for “Cruisin the Cosmos” Winter Star Party, 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. Pack snacks and a telescope if you own one. Star Party leaders will have telescopes on hand until 10:30 p.m. Visit nedsmithcenter.org.

Wedding Show

Feb. 26: The AACA Museum, 161 Museum Dr., Hershey, will hold its annual wedding show, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Browse an assortment of wedding vendors to get ideas. Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door. For more information, visit aacamuseum.org.

Oscar Party

Feb. 26: Slip into your tux or gown and stroll over to Midtown Cinema, 250 Reily St., Harrisburg, for its annual Oscar-watching party. The red carpet fun begins at 7 p.m. with the show starting at 8 p.m. Tickets for the event are $35 and include drinks and a buffet of appetizers. Visit midtowncinema.com.

African-American Landmarks

Feb. 27: Historic Harrisburg Association will host “Harrisburg’s Landmarks of African-American History” with historian and author Calobe Jackson at 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. Visit historicharrisburg.com for details.

Networking Mixer

Feb. 28: Join the West Shore Chamber of Commerce and mingle with local business professionals, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at Mission Central, 5 Pleasant View Dr., Mechanicsburg. The event is free and open to Chamber members. Guests may attend up to three free chamber events per year. Visit wschamber.org.

November News Digest

November 30, 2016 | by Lawrance Binda

Martin-Roberts Declares for Mayor

The race for Harrisburg mayor got off to an early start last month, as former City Council President Gloria Martin-Roberts threw her hat into the ring.

Speaking to an enthusiastic crowd of about 100 at the National Civil War Museum, Martin-Roberts said she would seek a unified, prosperous city. She said she hopes to build better community relations with the police, support small businesses and encourage home ownership.

Her platform, with the slogan of “A City of Unity,” aims to include parts of the city that she said have been left out of Harrisburg’s economic growth.

The Harrisburg native, self-described as “homegrown,” grew up in the Allison Hill and Uptown neighborhoods and graduated from John Harris High School. She said she seeks to serve all of the Harrisburg community.

“I do not have a favorite neighborhood,” she said.

Martin-Roberts retired after two terms on City Council in 2011, including one term as council president. In 2012, she ran for 103th district seat in the state’s House of Representatives and lost to now-state Rep. Patty Kim. She also served on the city’s school board.

Shortly after Martin-Roberts declared for mayor, city resident Lewis Butts announced his candidacy. Butts unsuccessfully ran against Mayor Eric Papenfuse in the last mayoral race.

The mayoral primary is slated for May 16. Papenfuse has not yet announced whether he will seek a second term.

3^rd Street Repaving Set

Come next spring, Harrisburg will begin repaving much of 3^rd Street, a major thoroughfare now marked by potholes, bumps and uneven pavement.

Three sections of the lengthy street will be repaved: from Chestnut Street north to State Street, from Forster Street north to Muench Street and from Maclay Street north to Seneca Street.

In addition to street paving, crews will plant more than 150 trees, install sidewalk ramps and expand sidewalks. The changes will ensure walkability for pedestrians, enhance the cityscape and update water infrastructure, said city Engineer Wayne Martin.

Construction will run from April to October, finishing in 2018.

Mayor Eric Papenfuse acknowledged that there will be disruptions due to the project. Parking will be restricted at points along 3^rd Street and construction crews will work during select periods at night.

“This will be a short term inconvenience with long-term benefit,” Martin said.

The project, a partnership between Harrisburg and Capital Region Water, is funded in part with a $6 million grant from PennDOT. Other funding comes from Impact Harrisburg and the city’s general fund, which has contributed about $1 million over multiple years to the project, Martin said.

Papenfuse encourages property owners to make gas line or water infrastructure improvements during the time of the repaving project. Making such improvements will be easier and cheaper for property owners while the city is repaving the road, he said.

Cop Cleared in Shooting

A city police officer will not face charges following the August shooting death of an Uptown Harrisburg man.

Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico said that he will not file charges against Officer Tony Elliott, saying that the shooting was justified.

Elliott shot and killed 20-year-old Earl Shaleek Pinckney after officers were called to the 2300-block of Green Street for reports of a domestic disturbance. When they arrived, they saw Pinckney with a knife to the throat of his mother, Kim Thomas, Marsico said.

Thomas has denied that her son was threatening her with a knife.

Marsico also said that police have responded to numerous domestic calls at the house over many years involving Pinckney allegedly threatening family members.

Following the announcement, Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse said he would independently review police files of the incident to confirm “that the investigation was done fairly.”

Water Rates to Increase

Expect to pay more for water and sewer service, as the Harrisburg area’s water authority plans significant rate increases for 2017.

Capital Region Water proposes to raise 2017 drinking water rates to $8.80 per 1,000 gallons, compared to $7.88 this year, an increase of 11.6 percent. Sewer rates will increase to $6.53 per 1,000 gallons versus $6.05 in 2016, a hike of 7.9 percent.

The monthly “Ready to Serve” water charge also will increase, up to $6.95 from $6.22 this year for most customers.

For a typical residential customer consuming 4,500 gallons per month, these changes will result in an increase of $7.07 per month, according to CRW.

“Our board of directors does not take rate-setting lightly, but the water systems that our families, local economy and environment depend on every day were long ignored,” CRW CEO Shannon Williams said in a statement.

The 2017 budget includes a $12 million investment in the drinking water system and a $31 million investment in the combined wastewater and stormwater systems, with many of the projects driven by compliance with regulations, according to CRW. This work includes renewal and replacement of Harrisburg’s aging, buried pipes and treatment facilities.

“After years of deferred maintenance and lack of investment in our drinking water, wastewater and stormwater systems, we continue to make long overdue improvements to our aging infrastructure to prevent the even higher costs of failure,” said Williams. “Public health and safety is our highest priority and governs the decisions we make.”

Sewer Project Starts

A sewer pipe replacement project that began last month will continue throughout much of December.

Capital Region Water began a $1.3 million project to replace and renew aging sewer infrastructure at 10 locations to protect against sinkholes and ensure reliable wastewater service, said Andrew Bliss, community outreach manager.

The work affects relatively small sections of Green Street, N. 4^th Street, Oxford Street, Crescent Street, Bailey Street, Maclay Street and Parkway Drive.

Potential impacts of the construction include street closures, parking restrictions, construction noise and temporary sewer service interruptions, Bliss said. When pipe replacement is complete, the road will be temporarily patched until repaving next spring, he said.

No Smoke Zones

Harrisburg last month put up 45 new signs in city playgrounds, deeming them as “tobacco-free zones.”

The statewide “Young Lungs at Play” initiative aims to eliminate the exposure of second-hand smoke to children in public places. Those who violate the tobacco-free zone are subject to a $50 fine.

“Even a brief exposure to second-hand smoke can be dangerous,” said Deborah Brown, president and CEO of the American Lung Association of the Mid-Atlantic.

Roughly 11 percent of Harrisburg’s infants, children and teens have asthma. About 7 percent of adults in Harrisburg have chronic lung conditions, Brown said.

Harrisburg joins the ranks of cities like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in implementing this initiative in its 27 parks and playgrounds, said Dr. Loren Robinson, deputy secretary of health promotion at the state Department of Health.

So Noted

Aroogas Grill House & Sports Bar has purchased a building at 1591 S. 19^th St., just outside Harrisburg, for a new headquarters, training facility and central kitchen. As the restaurant chain has expanded, it has needed a larger facility and the ability to centralize certain labor-intensive food preparation, according to a news release from the Harrisburg Regional Chamber and CREDC, which helped Aroogas secure a $673,440 PA Industrial Development Authority low-interest loan for the project.

Boneshire Brew Works joined the rapidly expanding Harrisburg craft beer scene last month, opening at 7462 Derry St., a few miles outside the city. A large crowd greeted the new brewery, which offers a wide selection of both traditional and non-traditional beer styles.

The Federal Judiciary last month declared a new courthouse for Harrisburg its top priority for the next round of construction funding. Congress is expected to fully fund the $194.4 million project at N. 6^th and Reily streets next year, after which a timeline will be set for the building phase.

Lyft launched its car-sharing service last month in central Pennsylvania, including in Harrisburg, Lancaster and York. Lyft competes against Uber, which has been in the local market for almost two years.

Ougi’s Cocina debuted last month in the stone building of the Broad Street Market in Harrisburg. The eatery offers home-style Latin food, such as pork, chicken, plantains, empanadas and rice and beans.

Third Street Café last month purchased the building next door, the former home of the Taproom. The Taproom closed last year after Harrisburg revoked its business license. The city also targeted the Third Street Café for closure. However, that bar has remained open following a so-far successful court fight.

Changing Hands

Berryhill St., 1619: R. Deitzel Jr. to Slatehouse Group LLC, $40,000
Berryhill St., 2416: D. & M. McNaughton to D. Tran, $37,000
Boas St., 410: I. Rosenblum to F. & V. Piscioneri, $36,000
Brookwood St., 2633: T. McGarrity Jr. to M. Rodriguez, $108,000
Cumberland St., 218: M. Myers to D. MacGregor, $117,000
Green St., 1123: R. Kushner to C. Stephens Sr. & T. Lott, $109,900
Green St., 1732, L1: AJ Fedore and Co. Inc. to A. Christian, $144,500
Hamilton St., 633, 635, 637 & 639: M. Allen to Commonwealth of PA, Dept. of General Services, $71,988
Harris St., 344: PA Deals LLC to MidAtlantic IRA LLC FBO & Phillip Sachs IRA, $55,000
Harris Terr., 2469: Dobson Limited Family Partnership to J. Sparkman Jr., $64,000
Holly St., 2014: T. Poole to M. Diallo, $52,000
Hudson St., 1246: PA Deals LLC to G. & J. Modi, $123,000
Kelker St., 236: T. Jackson to D. Zurick, $195,000
Kelker St., 628: PA Deals LLC to S. Orr, $55,000
Kensington St., 2220: A. Roland to IRA Club LLC & T. McDougal, $42,500
Marion St., 1414: J. Stauffer to T. Andrews, $72,000
Meadowlark Pl., 3000: US Bank NA Trustee to P. Murphy, $33,000
N. 2^nd St., 29: Woori America Bank & S. Moon to C. Yi, $170,000
N. 2^nd St., 2137: R. Alexander to M. Larkins, $79,900
N. 2^nd St., 2633: M. Weldon to C. & D. Peter Fritts, $310,000
N. 6^th St., 1500, Unit 502: A. Gulotta to P. Stier, $400,000
N. 6^th St., 2983: PA Deals LLC to G. & J. Modi, $119,900
N. 6^th St., 3116: G. Peck to F. Arkhipov & A. Holmes, $97,900
Sassafras St., 261: M. Doyle to E. Shultz, $106,500
S. 3^rd St., 15: M. & S. Yeh to Dewberry LLC, $135,000
S. 13^th St., 1417: H. Nguyen to HT Properties LLC, $30,000
S. 19^th 20: S. Orellana to J. Gonzalez, $55,000
S. 28^th St., 700: C. & J. Bernard to Y. & A. Caro & R. Melchor, $133,000
S. Front St., 25: Dauphin County General Authority to County of Dauphin, $2,610,000
Southfield Rd., 2217: J. Brown to R. & J. Alpert, $278,000
State St., 1727: Gary Neff Inc. & City Limits Realty to N. Holvick, $42,900
Susquehanna St., 1608: C. Frater to P. Klein, $140,000
Susquehanna St., 2136: TLG Investments LLC to E. & R. Killeen, $41,000
Swatara St., 2104: V. & M. Cecka to J. Riggs, $38,500
Swatara St., 2113: PA Deals LLC to S. Orr, $56,000
Verbeke St., 212: Lynn & Ryan Investment Properties LLC to Kingdumb Properties LLC, $43,000
Verbeke St., 224: J. & J. Woland to S. Crossin, $125,000
Vernon St., 1347: D&F. Realty Holdings LP to Urban Lighthouse Ministries, $92,000
Vernon St., 1356: R. & C. Schwartz to J. & C. Peters, $35,000
Wayne St., 1616: J. Strickler to C. & J. Caraballo, $64,900
Wyeth St., 1417: D. Drabik to PA Deals LLC, $89,900

Author: Lawrance Binda

Enemy of My Enemy

November 15, 2016 | by Lawrance Binda

City Council President Wanda Williams (back, center) looks on as Gloria Martin-Roberts announces her candidacy for Harrisburg mayor.

In the long, storied run of “The Simpsons,” one of the most famous episodes is a hilarious parody entitled “Who Shot Mr. Burns?”

In this two-part episode, police question the resentful citizens of Springfield as they search for a suspect in the shooting of nuclear power mogul C. Montgomery Burns. It turns out that nearly everyone in town is a suspect because they all feel wronged by him.

That episode strangely came to my mind yesterday as I watched former City Council President Gloria Martin-Roberts announce her candidacy for Harrisburg mayor. To my knowledge, Martin-Roberts has never had a personal falling out with Mayor Eric Papenfuse. However, those gathered around her—her supporters—were a veritable who’s who of people who might find reason for targeting (politically, that is) the often-combative first-term mayor, who has not yet declared for reelection.

City Treasurer Dan Miller sat quietly in the audience. He lost to Papenfuse twice in the last mayoral race.

Current Council President Wanda Williams held high a “Gloria Roberts for Mayor” sign. She’s called Papenfuse a liar and much worse.

The owners of the Third Street Café stopped by to applaud and offer support. Papenfuse has tenaciously tried to put them out of business.

There was vocal critic/former school board President Jennifer Smallwood, former political rival Nate Curtis, one-time Broad Street Market Manager Rafiyqa Muhammad and several old supporters of Steve Reed, whose legacy the mayor has tried to dismantle piece by piece. And, speaking of which, the event was held at the National Civil War Museum, which Papenfuse has famously tried to shut down, making it perhaps the most delicious setting in the city for his enemies to gather together.

I didn’t spot any of the county commissioners, nor anyone from the Harrisburg Chamber, DCED or the regional visitor’s bureau, who all have done battle with Papenfuse. However, PennLive—which Papenfuse is boycotting—was represented, if just by the website’s ubiquitous city reporter doing her job.

Now, most politicians, if they stay in office long enough, accumulate a pile of critics, naysayers and downright haters. It’s the nature of the job. However, Papenfuse has managed to tick off, at one time or another, members of nearly every power center in the region outside of his own administration.

It will be fascinating to watch how this plays out in next year’s election. In my opinion, Papenfuse has done a good job in his core duties as mayor: the budget, finances, service delivery, economic development, management—the things I care most about. He’s also a passionate advocate for the city and can be almost amusingly jovial at public events. But, in doing his job, he’s stepped on a lot of toes and vociferously criticized a host of the important and self-important.

Papenfuse has told me that he’s taken often-controversial positions out of principle and believes his strong, vocal tactics were correct and defensible. However, what he calls justified, others have seen as unnecessary in substance and pompous in style.

Interestingly, Martin-Roberts didn’t speak Papenfuse’s name at all, allowing her criticisms to be implicit. For more than a half-hour, she took her rapt audience on a nostalgia trip of old Harrisburg, naming store after store that made up a part of her childhood (Martha’s Turntable, anyone?). She also said she would seek to unite the entire city.

“I don’t favor an individual neighborhood,” she said, in a clear dig at Papenfuse.

Martin-Roberts even complimented Steve Reed, with whom she often battled, for helping to revitalize downtown, even though Reed was frequently criticized for paying too much attention to white, wealthy downtown, a similar criticism now directed at Papenfuse and Midtown.

Perhaps Martin-Roberts’ appeals to nostalgia and unity will have some takers—and certainly there remains a contingent resentful that Dan Miller did not become mayor three years ago.

But, in the end, most reelection bids are a referendum on the incumbent. Therefore, I expect this campaign to hinge on how folks feel about Eric Papenfuse, especially his strong personality and his governing style. Given his administration’s success in returning a degree of normalcy to the city’s fiscal funhouse, he may have had a pretty easy path to reelection. However, due, at least in part, to his confrontational manner, he’s cracked open a window for his enemies, who now have banded together behind a genial, formidable opponent.

Author: Lawrance Binda

Capital in Conflict: Civil War Days stresses Harrisburg’s role in the war.

May 31, 2016 | by Phyllis Zimmerman

Camp Curtin

Harrisburg’s relationship to the Civil War is a complicated one.

The city was targeted, but never invaded. It played a vital role as a logistics and training center, but never saw battle itself. Today, Civil War buffs and tourists flock to Gettysburg, but usually bypass Harrisburg.

This month, the city’s story will be in focus during the first annual Civil War Days, a widespread historic celebration touching on many aspects of Harrisburg’s important place in the war, particularly in the Battle of Gettysburg.

“A National Civil War Museum was built (in Harrisburg) 15 years ago and a lot of people said, ‘Why?’” noted Joe Benish, a member of the event’s organizing committee, noting the need for public education.

The three-day extravaganza overflows with events, including a Civil War narrative cruise on the Susquehanna, a re-enactors’ encampment at the National Civil War Museum and historic site bus tours.

Civil War Days is the brainchild of Gary Crowell, event chairman and a Civil War history enthusiast since relocating to Harrisburg from California in 1969. Although he initially focused his interest on Gettysburg, he eventually realized that Harrisburg, too, played a significant role in the events that led to the battle on July 1 to 3, 1863.

“I found out that (Confederate Gen. Robert E.) Lee came into Harrisburg three days before Gettysburg,” Crowell said. “Then I thought, we should just dedicate a whole weekend about this for the whole community.”

To publicize the events, organizers have coined the slogan, “Before Gettysburg, Lee headed for Harrisburg. So why don’t you?”

Cooper Wingert, already a prolific author of 10 Civil War books at age 17, said it was an easy choice for him to join the gala’s organizing committee that’s comprised of a dozen local Civil War enthusiasts.

“Gary had the best plan ever,” the East Pennsboro High School senior explained.

Wingert, who begins studies this fall at Dickinson College, said Lee’s initial plan before Gettysburg was to burn and cripple Harrisburg, which was the capital of the second-most populous state in the North.

On June 28, 1863, Gen. Richard S. Ewell and 1,500 Confederates were based in Carlisle in anticipation of a Harrisburg attack. On the same day, Gen. Albert Jenkins and 1,200 members of the Virginia Calvary arrived in Mechanicsburg, ready for a fight.

On June 29, Confederates became engaged in battle with the Union militia at Oyster Point at 31^st and Market streets in Camp Hill. The next day, the Skirmish of Sporting Hill occurred at the Carlisle Pike and Sporting Hill Road in Mechanicsburg, the northernmost town to surrender to Gen. Jenkins’ troops.

The South’s next goal was to overtake Fort Washington, a Union fortification site on Lemoyne’s heights, and Fort Couch, situated about a half-mile west. The Confederates, though, were ordered to leave for Gettysburg due to encroaching Northern troops.

“(The Confederates) were only a couple of minutes away from attacking Fort Washington,” Wingert said, which could have marked a Battle of Harrisburg instead of Gettysburg’s famous fight.

Harrisburg also played a notable part in the Underground Railroad, a network that helped slaves escape from the South, Wingert noted. President Abraham Lincoln was no stranger to Harrisburg, either. In 1861, the president-elect was welcomed with a citywide celebration. In 1865, Lincoln’s funeral train stopped in Harrisburg, as well, and his body lay in state at the Capitol building.

Civil War Days kicks off on Friday, June 17, with “Breakfast with Mr. Lincoln” at the Hilton Harrisburg, followed by a historic Harrisburg bus tour, a bus tour of historic Civil War sites on the West Shore and a Civil War narrative cruise on the Pride of the Susquehanna.

Friday also offers Civil War dance demonstrations, a Civil War social at the Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center, a Civil War artist and author gathering, and the re-enactor encampment at the National Civil War Museum.

Several panel presentations take place on Saturday, including “Harrisburg’s Black Community,” “Camp Curtin,” “Lee’s Second Invasion of Pennsylvania” and “Abolitionist John Brown—PA and Harrisburg Connections.” A historic Harrisburg walking tour also is available on Saturday, and the re-enactor encampment continues at the museum.

On Sunday, June 19, a Civil War commemorative church service will feature Negro spirituals and other songs of the era, and the re-enactor encampment concludes. A Civil War tour of the historic Harrisburg Cemetery also is available that day.

David Morrison, acting executive director of Historic Harrisburg Association, hopes that the weekend will help people not only understand Civil War-era Harrisburg, but modern-day Harrisburg, as well.

“If people have a stronger understanding of Harrisburg’s history, it leads to a greater understanding of what makes this town tick,” he said.

Civil War Days takes place June 17 to 19 at locations throughout the Harrisburg area. Many events are open to the public at no cost, but some require advance registration and a small fee. More information is available on Facebook: Civil War Days in Harrisburg.

News Digest: April Fool’s Edition

March 31, 2016 | by Lawrance Binda and Paul Barker

Under a new proposal in Harrisburg, this family will pay more in taxes.

Line Divides Market Street

The Dauphin County commissioners last month painted a solid white line down the middle of Market Street, just daring Mayor Eric Papenfuse to cross over it.

“I got the idea from ‘The Brady Bunch,’” said Chairman Jeff Haste. “You know, the episode where Peter and Bobby divide their bedroom in two?”

Haste laid claim to everything on his side of the line, including the Citizens Bank branch and the bus station. Papenfuse immediately retaliated, saying that Bacco and the Pita Pit belonged to him.

“Let’s see him try to get a chicken wrap now!” said the clearly excited mayor.

At last report, Haste and Papenfuse were making faces at each other from across the street, occasionally running up to the line like they were going to go over it, but then scurrying back at the last moment.

Budget Talks Start

Pennsylvania legislators began work today on the 2017 state budget, vowing to complete it before all life on Earth ceases to exist.

Sen. John DeSantos, R-Beaver, made a bold pledge that a bipartisan budget agreement would be reached by the time our sun expends all the hydrogen fuel in its core and swells to 166 times its current mass.

“Mark my words: This will be done before our planet becomes a stark, lifeless desert,” said DeSantos.

Sen. Joshua Tyrell, D-Allegheny, said he would “up the stakes,” setting a timeline for a preliminary budget accord while vast seas of lava were still melting down the Earth’s mountains.

“The other side wants to delay until the sun runs out of helium,” he charged. “Our side will wait only until the Earth is a burnt-out cinder.”

Pa. Something Something

A horrific, yet offbeat and hilarious crime occurred recently somewhere in Pa., PennLive reported today.

A Pa. man and a Pa. woman committed their dark, if comical and somewhat lewd, act in Pa.

The Pa. couple’s felonious, kinky hijinks occurred nowhere near Harrisburg, in a Pa. county that may be near Bradford or maybe Ohio—no one really knows. Still, it made local Pa. readers feel superior to what are clearly total pieces of Pa. trailer trash.

“It happened in Pa., Pa., Pa., Pa., Pa., Pa., Pa.,” remarked the writer-robot before someone hit the on/off switch to reboot it.

Everyone’s a Winner

Every person in the greater Harrisburg area will receive an award this year, according to a joint announcement last month by the Central Penn Business Journal, Harrisburg Magazine and Susquehanna Style.

The three publications have expanded their annual awards deluge to include 631,000 people in 55,000 categories, including “Best of” and “People’s Choice” awards for notable achievements in cutting the grass, watching TV and driving.

“My plaque points out how I usually pass on the left,” said Sheila Wyler of Mechanicsburg. “I’m so happy that someone finally noticed.”

Wyler’s 8-month-old son, Evan, is himself a proud recipient of a “10 under 10 Months” award.

“He would say he was honored,” Wyler said, “if he could speak.”

Goose Tax Passed

Harrisburg’s Canada geese will pay more in taxes under a new Goose Services Tax (GST) passed last month by City Council.

“These birds use our city to eat, mate and excrete, but don’t pay their fair share,” said Council President Wanda Williams.

The GST is aimed at the city’s migratory geese, though resident geese also will see their taxes go up.

Council is also said to be considering several other revenue enhancement proposals, including a groundhog tax, a squirrel tax and a tax on the garbage that drifts by the city on the river each day.

“Honk,” said some random goose in Riverfront Park before flying off to hunt for roots and grubs in a different municipality.

Chief Talks Down Lightning

Catastrophe was averted during a storm last night, as Harrisburg Police Chief Thomas Carter talked an impending lightning strike out of the air without incident.

“Think about your electrons,” Carter could be heard calling calmly towards the sky, where a dark cloud floated menacingly with a dense load of electric charges. “You don’t want things to go any worse than they have to.”

Officials said the ball of static energy was initially ready to lash out at random, but that the police chief’s courteous tone and gentle assurances convinced it to proceed safely down a distant plasma channel and into an uninhabited patch of ground.

“I grew up with these storms,” Carter said with a shrug, as officers moved to surround the site of the discharge. “They know I’ll treat them with respect.”

Stadium To Be Shared

FNB Field on City Island can expect a lively month, as its owners have announced plans to share the stadium with additional sporting and entertainment events as part of a plan to make the venue more financially sustainable.

Rugby, field hockey and a three-ring circus are expected to draw additional fans to the island ballpark, which is already being shared between the Harrisburg Senators minor-league baseball team and the City Islanders professional soccer team.

Skeet shooting, gladiator fights and the modern pentathlon will round out the packed schedule, increasing ticket sales and helping to pay back the city for its investment in the facility.

“Obviously, the occasional overlap will take some getting used to,” said groundskeeper William McGowan as he loaded up the clay pigeons that will be launched from an elephant’s back in the outfield during scrums. “We are hopeful the gladiators and circus will at least share their tiger.”

Museum Exhibit Opens

The National Civil War Museum last month announced plans to open a second exhibit sponsored with grant money from the National Rifle Association.

The exhibit, called “Cold Dead Hands,” will combine the museum’s collection of antique firearms and the lifeless, desiccated hands of Civil War soldiers from which visitors are tauntingly encouraged to try to pry them.

“Total coincidence,” said museum board member Gene Barr, when asked about the overlap between the exhibit’s title and the famous NRA slogan regarding the right to gun ownership. “We came up with it ourselves.”

The guns will be shown for three months or until stolen, whichever comes first.

City Recriminalizes Vices

The administration of Mayor Eric Papenfuse last month made it a summary offense to engage in previously-legal vices, including cigarette smoking, drinking, swearing and adultery, as part of a sweeping upgrade to the city’s criminal code.

The reform efforts began with plans to reduce the penalty for marijuana possession from a misdemeanor to the lower-grade summary offense.

But they quickly expanded when observers noted that the consuming the drug was no more harmful than many other behaviors.

From now on, it will also be a minor crime to tell a white lie, take the Lord’s name in vain, exchange lusty glances with a member of the opposite sex and play poker except for the purpose of wholesome bonding during family game nights.

“This is about internal consistency,” Mayor Papenfuse said, as he approached a young woman dancing suggestively at a downtown bar and slipped a citation into her pocket.

Monument Erected

A monument to honor Harrisburg commuters was unveiled last month, recognizing decades of unsung contributions by non-residents to the capital city.

Four square residential blocks were flattened to make way for the memorial, which consists of a giant sculpture of a frowning man in an SUV pointed towards the closest exit from the downtown.

“Finally, a little gratitude,” said local commuter John Friedberg, speaking from one of several suburban viewing towers that were built so honorees could appreciate the memorial from a safe distance.

The monument is slated to be open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Crazy Shit Day

All the crazy shit that happens in Harrisburg over the course of a year will be condensed to a single day this year, the city announced last month.

Harrisburg Police Chief Thomas Carter is asking all ISIS wannabes, fraudulent Ukrainian high school students, wilding youth and museum robbers to wait until Crazy Shit Day, which will be June 17.

“Do you plan to have sex on the roof of an office building? Do you want to harass someone about your stolen valor? Are you a former mayor with a house full of Wild West artifacts?” asked Carter. “We’ve reserved one day just for you.”

A lawsuit against the resolution was immediately filed by former mayoral candidate Lewis Butts.

Editor’s Note: All the crazy shit examples in this story actually happened. We made up everything else on this page. Happy April Fools!

February News Digest

February 29, 2016 | by Lawrance Binda

Budget Passed Again

For a second time, Harrisburg has passed a 2016 budget, which was largely unchanged from the version approved last year.

By a 6-1 vote, City Council last month OK’d a $60.4 million spending plan that adds 36 new positions, most in a newly created Neighborhood Services division. Councilwoman Shamaine Daniels was the sole member to vote no, stating that she believed the budget total was too high.

Council passed a budget in December, but reopened it a month later after three new council members took their seats. The new version is almost identical to the original, but it does give raises to a handful of city workers pending a study of pay equity in city hall.

The budget factors in about $3 million from a planned tripling of the local services tax (LST) to $156 per year for each person who works in Harrisburg and earns more than $24,418 annually. At press time, council still needed to approve the LST increase.

Commonwealth Court Judge Bonnie Leadbetter, who must approve changes to the city’s financial recovery plan, already has signed off on the tax hike.

Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse regards the LST increase as a way for commuters to contribute more to the city’s financial stability and to fund improved services, particularly for sanitation and road maintenance.

Stolen Firearms

Three antique guns were stolen from the National Civil War Museum in Reservoir Park last month, taken from an NRA-sponsored exhibit there.

A pair of Colt revolvers, dating to 1860 and 1861, was owned by the city, while an engraved Henry rifle from 1861 was on loan from a private donor, according to museum CEO Wayne Motts.

All three firearms were claimed to have once belonged to Simon Cameron, a Harrisburg native who served as President Abraham Lincoln’s secretary of war at the beginning of the Civil War. They were on display together as part of a “Guns & Lace” exhibit that was sponsored by a $25,000 grant from the National Rifle Association.

Police Capt. Gabriel Olivera confirmed that the thief made entry by breaking through a window and then breaking into the display case to remove the guns. The theft was not detected until hours later due to an apparent failure in the museum’s alarm system. Olivera added that the precise nature of the security lapse was not yet clear.

Olivera said surveillance footage captured images of a male thief, but that the images are not clear and that police are not yet releasing them because they “would not be of any use.” Police have not ruled out the possibility of an inside job, Olivera said.

The city released the following information identifying the weapons:

A .44 caliber M1860 Colt Army Revolver with serial number 11708.
A .36 caliber Colt M1861 Navy Revolver with serial number 1825.
An M1860 Henry Repeating Rifle with serial number 115, manufactured by the New Haven Arms Company and engraved with the word “Cameron” on the receiver.

Council Rethinks Pot Penalties

Harrisburg’s marijuana laws may soon change as City Council last month introduced a bill to reduce penalties for possession of the drug.

The city administration’s proposal would change possession from a misdemeanor to a less-serious summary offense and ease penalties to $100 for a first conviction and $200 for a second. After a third offense, possession again would be considered a misdemeanor crime.

Mayor Eric Papenfuse supports the change, saying too much city police time is occupied by low-level drug cases. He said he also doesn’t believe the change would encourage drug use, a charge leveled by some opponents.

At press time, a council committee was slated to consider the issue for further action.

Serious Crime Declines

The rate of serious crime in Harrisburg fell significantly last year, the Police Bureau said last month.

“Part 1” crimes declined by 17 percent in 2015 compared to 2014, the police said. These crimes include murder, rape, assault, burglary, theft and arson.

Of these, robbery fell from 283 to 228 reported incidents; assault decreased from 1,328 to 1,233 reported incidents; and theft dropped from 1,235 to 875 incidents.

Harrisburg tallied 19 homicides in 2015, the same as in 2014. However, three of those murders were categorized as self-defense, meaning that criminal homicides actually went down.

New Home for City Islanders

The Harrisburg City Islanders will make FNB Field (formerly Metro Bank Park) their home stadium for the 2016 season.

The city-based soccer team will play 10 home matches at the City Island ballpark, which also is the home stadium for the Harrisburg Senators. Another five home matches will be played at Clipper Magazine Stadium in Lancaster.

For the past two years, the Islanders have been looking to move out of the Skyline Sports complex, also on City Island, because the team considered it too small and lacking in basic amenities, such as bathrooms.

Mayor Eric Papenfuse said that the city, which owns the stadium, may benefit financially through increased ticket, sales and parking fees, especially if the move leads to greater attendance at Islanders’ matches.

Separately, First National Bank last month announced the stadium would be renamed FNB Field, as F.N.B. Corp. recently merged with Metro Bank’s parent company, Metro Bancorp.

Housing Sales Improve

The Harrisburg area continued to see improvements in housing sales, the Greater Harrisburg Association of Realtors (GHAR) reported last month.

Region-wide, sales totaled 557 units in January, compared to 501 in January 2015 and 448 in January 2014. The median price increased to $152,000, $4,000 more than in the year-ago period.

In January, Dauphin County tallied 185 sales at a median price of $134,000, compared to 177 units and a $132,000 median price in January 2015.

In Cumberland County, 201 units sold for a median price of $174,000 against 179 units at a price of $160,800 in January 2015, GHAR said. Perry County sales were also up, totaling 27 units for a median price of $147,000 versus 18 units at a price of $144,950 for the year-ago period, according to GHAR.

So Noted

Bricco, a downtown Harrisburg restaurant, plans a series of events and specials to celebrate its 10-year anniversary. These include special pricing, dining events and a new menu. For all the details, visit www.briccopa.com.

Changing Hands

Berryhill St., 1249: R. Eisner et al to E. Graves, $37,000

Berryhill St., 2116: Secretary of Housing & Urban Development to M. Wijaya, $31,000

Cumberland St., 1322: E. Brinkman to D. Brotz, $114,900

Derry St., 2416: S. Moose to I. Class & Y. Aguayo, $45,000

Derry St., 2513: L. Parker to R. Tortorelli, $59,900

Edgewood Rd., 2300: B. & C. Mark to T. Paradise, $195,000

Green St., 1425: M. Araujo to J. Miller, $95,000

Green St., 1701A: R. Myers to J. & V. Wills, $180,000

Green St., 2959: D. Jamieson to D. & V. Moore, $202,900

Hoffman St., 3214: M. Angelo to J. Gantt & H. Mahmood, $109,900

Hunter St., 1609: T. Vo to D. Vo, $160,000

Kelker St., 422 & 434, 1821 Fulton St. and 1820 N. 5^th St.: Hamilton Health Center to Christian Recovery Aftercare Ministry, $250,000

N. 2^nd St., 321 & 209 South St.: B. Hattingh to VMV Smart Solutions LLC, $425,000

N. 2^nd St., 1509: J. Tang to Vortex Properties, $105,000

N. 3^rd St., 3205: Secretary of Veterans Affairs to H. Pontius, $42,000

N. 4^th St., 3211: J. Kardisco to D. Cameron, $89,000

N. 17^th St., 1001: Miracle Group Inc. to E. Price, $80,000

Parkside Lane, 2906: R. & V. Eaton to R. & K. Riley, $210,000

Penn St., 1522: S. Faridi to M. Lindsay, $133,000

Regina St., 1414 & 2139 N. 4^th St.: SNL Realty Holdings & Touch of Color to NJR Group LLC, $71,500

Rudy Rd., 1916: R. Wagner to J. Burno, $53,000

Rudy Rd., 2413: J. Boutselis to PA Deals LLC, $55,000

Rumson Dr., 2586: PA Deals LLC to J. Tucker, $80,000

S. 19^th St., 14: C. Butler to M. Martinez, $45,000

S. 25^th St., 729: R. Wylie Jr. to 729 25^th Street LLC, $170,000

S. 26^th St., 733: T. Navas to E. Lowe & S. Fuentes, $72,000

State St., 213: Douglas, Hassler & McKillop to Legion Premier Properties LLC, $247,000

Susquehanna St., 1725: M. Gojmerac & C. Roma to B. & K. Martin, $94,000

Verbeke St., 309: S. Rosso to R. Green & D. Govender, $113,000

Wyeth St., 1406: A. Van Dyke to PA Deals LLC, $82,000

Harrisburg property sales for January 2016, greater than $30,000. Source: Dauphin County. Data is assumed to be accurate.

Armed Conflict

February 11, 2016 | by Paul Barker

How do you describe a man who orchestrates a massacre of civilians in a time of war?

William Clarke Quantrill, the head of a band of guerrilla fighters known as Quantrill’s Raiders, led a campaign of retaliation and mischief around the bloody Kansas-Missouri border during the Civil War. A 1996 PBS program, “New Perspectives on the West,” described Quantrill’s Raiders as “perhaps the most savage fighting unit” of the era. In 1863, during a nighttime raid of Lawrence, Kansas, they dragged 183 men and boys from their homes and murdered them in front of their families. But to his supporters, PBS added, Quantrill was a “dashing, free-spirited hero.”

Quantrill’s legacy surfaced in Harrisburg this week, prompting local partisans to attach their own descriptions. The occasion was a new exhibit at the National Civil War Museum, called “Guns & Lace: Firearms and Apparel of the Civil War.”

The exhibit is sponsored by a $25,000 grant from the National Rifle Association. Among the displayed artifacts is a revolver Quantrill owned. Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse, who has sparred with both the NRA and the museum since taking office in 2014, questioned the memorialization of a “mass-murdering, racist sociopath.” The gun’s presence also disturbed Homer Floyd, a local civil rights leader and past director of the state Human Relations Commission. He organized a protest outside the museum Wednesday night, during a reception for the exhibit’s opening.

You’d have thought, from the uproar, that Quantrill’s gun held a prominent place in the display. But you could easily have missed it. In fact, the exhibit had no curatorial focus at all. It was simply an assemblage of firearms and dresses—42 guns, 11 gowns, and a plain frock once worn by a slave.

Neutrality is a point of pride for the museum, which aims to present a “balanced” view of the Civil War. One of the first exhibits in the permanent collection is a pre-war timeline, with events color-coded as being about “slavery,” “states’ rights,” or a “convergence of issues.” What school of history this is meant to appease I can only guess, but it results in an odd parsing of the record. The Missouri Compromise, a temporary fix to the problem of regulating slavery in the western territories, is coded as purely “states’ rights.” So is Prigg v. Pennsylvania, the Supreme Court decision overturning a law that made it a felony to forcibly retrieve runaway slaves.

Who gets to decide a museum’s interpretive bent—its angle on history, its bias? Certainly not the NRA, said museum director Wayne Motts, as he hustled back and forth across the lobby in the minutes leading up to the reception. “This exhibit, we have been able to curate it the way we wanted to curate it,” he said. The museum claims to have exercised editorial independence, though it defines the term rather narrowly. “No one told us that we couldn’t put out certain guns or certain weapons,” Motts said. That is not the same as saying no one asked for certain things to be put in. The exhibit includes a replica 1860 rifle, one of two donated by the Henry Repeating Arms Co., with the other set to be raffled to benefit the museum.

The exhibit also shares the “Guns & Lace” name with an online magazine that the NRA identifies as a partner on its “Women’s Channel.” (“What’s hotter than an awesome gun? An awesome gun in the hands of a beautiful girl,” the site advertises.) The channel itself is sponsored by Smith & Wesson, which happens to be one of the half-dozen gun manufacturers whose histories take up a significant portion of the exhibit’s copy. (The aforementioned Henry Repeating Arms Co. is another.)

Motts said he wasn’t aware the exhibit shared its title with an NRA partner program. Neither was Gene Barr, a museum board member and the president of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry. “Well, gee, I guess there’s only so many words in the English language, and I don’t know where it came from,” Barr said of the name.

Jeffrey Poole, the managing director of the NRA’s “Shows and Exhibits” division, saw his group’s role somewhat differently. “We approached the museum about supporting their programs,” he said. “They could come up with the exhibit, and if it met the NRA’s criteria we would fund it.” Those criteria, he said, could be found on the website of the NRA Foundation, the organization’s grant-making arm. A mission statement there says the foundation supports activities “designed to promote firearms and hunting safety, to enhance marksmanship skills of those participating in the shooting sports, and to educate the general public about firearms in their historic, technological and artistic context.”

Just outside the exhibit door was a television screen, cycling through images of the museum, shooting ranges, and tips for gun safety. But the “Guns & Lace” name, Poole said, was just “coincidence.” “Certainly the makeup of the exhibit is well-described by the title,” he added.

“Coincidence” is an important concept for the NRA. It’s what allows the country’s high rates of gun violence and the wide availability of guns to be causally unrelated—they’re simply two things happening at the same time. But sometimes, just placing things side by side can speak volumes. At the reception, I met an older white couple who live in the city. The husband, a Republican, complained that a person of his party and his race couldn’t run for office in Harrisburg. Servers were circulating the room with hors d’oeuvres, and as we spoke, one of them approached and recognized me. It took me a moment to place the face. He was the stepfather of Rayon Braxton, the 26-year-old shot to death in an Allison Hill warehouse last fall. He wore a button-down shirt and a black apron. He carried slices of sausage stuck through with toothpicks on a small ceramic tray.

I thought of him later when, giving a speech at the reception, Dauphin County Commissioner Jeff Haste referred to one of Papenfuse’s criticisms—that the exhibit was “tone deaf.” “Thank you all for being tone deaf with me,” he said, to laughter. Down the hall, as a complement to deafness, was the exhibit: mute dresses, mute weapons, small plaques with nothing in particular to say. And, by sheer coincidence, standing among all those guns, the father of a murdered son.

Conflict and Interests: Is confrontation an effective governing strategy?

October 30, 2015 | by Lawrance Binda

Illustration by Rich Hauck

A few years back, then-ordinary citizen Eric Papenfuse introduced me to the works of Paul Beers.

Papenfuse had selected a series of essays by the former Patriot-News columnist as the inaugural title for his just-formed Midtown Scholar Press, and, to celebrate the book’s publication, held a series of events at his bookstore.

At the time, I had scant knowledge of Beers, who had recently died, having left the newspaper business some years earlier. The book, “City Contented, City Discontented,” reprinted a series of columns that he had penned for the Patriot, each one transformed into a short, punchy book chapter that offered a tutorial (with Beers’ cynical slant) of the city’s history over about 100 years.

It’s all there: the rapid rise, the concentrated wealth, the struggles, the flood, the fall. But, to me, the most fascinating chapters were near the end, the ones that focused on former Mayor Steve Reed.

Reed had been mayor for just two years when Beers wrote his last column, but he captured perfectly both the promise and the peril of the man who eventually would reign for seven terms.

“This columnist has heard hundreds of curbstone and barroom opinions that place Reed anywhere between Herod and St. John the Divine, but never a satisfactory explanation of who the man is,” Beers wrote.

He went on to point out what he considered to be Reed’s virtues—a quick mind, an unfettered optimism, confidence, creativity and a commitment to hard work—as well as his perceived faults—an all-knowing attitude, a stubbornness, a Machiavellian streak and a predilection for conflict over compromise.

Beers described a man of extremes, one who possessed both great strengths and tremendous weaknesses. So, Reed was a whirlwind of action, but was given to impetuousness and lack of preparation. He was pragmatic, yet “mulish.” He had sound ideas, but possessed an “irritating all-knowingness.” He wasn’t taken by flattery, but always insisted on asserting himself as the smartest man in the room.

Beers would not be the last journalist to analyze (psychoanalyze?) Steve Reed, but I think it’s fair to say that, over time, Reed allowed his weaknesses to overwhelm his strengths. By the end, he was left fighting a rearguard action to keep the city from financial collapse, his most evident traits no longer his optimism or his ability to get things done, but his arrogance, pugnaciousness and tendency to blame anyone but himself.

We’re now almost two years into the tenure of Mayor Papenfuse, the man who encouraged me to read “City Contented, City Discontented.” In other words, we’re at about the same place in his mayoralty as when Beers wrote about Reed.

I have stated in the past that Papenfuse and Reed are very different men, and, indeed, they are. Whereas Reed was condescending and didactic, Papenfuse is more frank, straightforward and accessible. Whereas Reed was obsessed with a pharaonic vision of great projects at tremendous cost, Papenfuse believes that putting the city on a sustainable financial course is about the best thing he can do.

I find, however, that these two different men (and, let’s face it, bitter enemies) do have some things in common. Both are whip-smart and are willing to take big risks; both can be obstinate and perhaps too quick to make enemies.

“The mayor can be divisive, accusatory and possessive, an infighter who often prefers confrontation to conciliation,” Beers wrote of Reed.

More than 30 years later, largely the same can be said of Papenfuse.

In his columns, Beers tells of an early (now largely forgotten) battle over a new convention-grade hotel for Harrisburg. The circa-1983 brawl pitted Reed against two of the city’s most important actors and power centers, Harristown Enterprises and City Council, in a struggle over how to construct and finance what would become the Hilton Harrisburg.

That skirmish reminded me of the current contretemps over the National Civil War Museum. Papenfuse believes deeply that the museum is a liability—that it takes money from the city and gives little in return. He’s even called the museum “a monument to corruption” and said it should be shut down entirely.

His fight against the museum, however, has not gone over well with other powerful players, including the county commissioners, the regional visitor’s bureau and some key business leaders. The heat was turned up further last month when the visitor’s bureau said it would use its share of hotel tax money to implement, without the administration’s involvement, a marketing plan for the city, leading Papenfuse to denounce both the bureau and the Harrisburg Regional Chamber & CREDC.

While I respect Papenfuse’s position on the museum, I don’t believe that this issue (and the use of hotel tax money in general) is worth going to the mat for, poisoning relationships with people and entities that the city needs as its allies.

His relationships with certain City Council members have become similarly fraught. Papenfuse and council President Wanda Williams can hardly hide their mutual contempt, and his rapport with the school board is also bad.

When Papenfuse first became mayor, he went on something of a goodwill tour, saying he wanted to have friendly relationships with everyone.

At the time, I told my colleague: “Don’t be fooled. That old firebrand is still in there.” And, increasingly, Papenfuse has shown little patience for those he believes cooperated too much with Reed, facilitating the city’s demise, or for those he believes stand in the way of his initiatives now.

“This Harrisburger should be honored for having some of the enemies he has,” Beers said of Reed.

Papenfuse is making enemies quickly. Should he be honored, as Beers suggested with Reed? Is embracing conflict a sustainable strategy for getting things done?

If there is a lesson to be learned from the Steve Reed years, it may be this: Build upon your strengths, minimize your weaknesses and don’t let your flaws come to define you.

Lawrance Binda is editor-in-chief of TheBurg.

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