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Articles by Alayna Getchell
Erie At Large: August 30, 2017
For decades Erie City Code Enforcement has operated by way of a system that protected the friends of political bosses while allowing code enforcement officers the culpable deniability necessary to operate in a city that was eroding by way of flight and blight. The city’s population has declined by roughly 10,000 people during the past three decades and poverty levels are now near 30 percent.
It’s Back to School Week
For many children, “back to school” and “existential dread” become fast companions at an early age. I should know — before the onset of gradual physical and cognitive decline that began in my 20s (and has accompanied me into my 30s), I was one of them. Each year, my heart plunged as I realized that months of hard-earned sloth had slipped away, leaving me face-to-face with the immediate threat of industry.
The Quiet Race to City Hall
Did you hear that this summer in Erie? No, not the sounds of hundreds of volunteers showing up to help transform Erie Central Tech into Erie High School. No, not the sounds of both blues and jazz rippling outward from their previous two-day festival in Frontier Park to a three-day jubilee at various sites. And no, not the sounds of 3 Doors Down playing three blocks down from City Hall, as Celebrate Erie punctuated the transition from summer to fall with a long dash.
Still Plenty of Love Between Sister Cities
Turns out that our sisters are not so far apart after all. Since examining the seemingly tenuous state of affairs between Erie and its sister cities in our “Distant Relatives” (Vol. 7, No. 15) feature, a few organizations within the community have stepped forward to inform us of continuing, healthy involvement with our international counterparts. Although citywide initiatives are slow to develop, the relationships are still actively promoted on a smaller scale.
Intermode-All In
If you build it, $18,000 will come -- such was the premise of the Green Bus Shelter Design Contest sponsored by the Erie Metropolitan Transit Authority (EMTA) and the Sisters of St. Joseph Neighborhood Network. The organizations came together to select one talented individual to build a bus stand that blends both environmentally-friendly technology and artistry.
What to Expect From the New BayHawks
By December of last year, it seemed that BayHawks basketball was nearing its end in Erie. The team was set to depart to Florida and the future was anything but certain. Luckily, the new year has continued to bring new opportunities for basketball in the city. The BayHawks are back, now affiliated with the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks.
Uplifting Spirits
It’s taken years to assess tolerances, but Pennsylvania is finally learning to hold its liquor. This past March, Cart/Horse Distillery (Edinboro) and Luminary Distillery (Summit Township) opened their doors, simultaneously becoming the first two legal distilleries on record in Erie County history. Encouraged by (and very much informed by) the success of the microbrewery boom, the microdistillery movement is quickly gaining steam.
From the Editors: August 16, 2017
The world seems like it’s a complete mess right now, and maybe it is. We’re living in a country where our president refuses to openly condemn white nationalists committing acts of domestic terrorism until days after the fact. That shouldn’t be a difficult decision. It shouldn’t have to even be a decision. Human rights and equality for all should not be a political issue.
Erie At Large: August 16, 2017
Here we go, again, on our own. It’s a familiar refrain in this community, but instead of being accompanied by sex symbols grinding to a soundtrack upon luxury vehicles, the lasting image symbolizing Erie’s journey is that of a sacrificial laborer strapped to the pilot of a locomotive rolling out of GE Transportation in Lawrence Park. That enduring imagery – the laborer, not the sex symbol – keeps people up at night, and rightly so.
No Longer Focused Plan
Are you there, Erie? It’s me, Alayna. What would you think of me doing an op-ed on Erie’s Refocused Plan and our local government administration? You wouldn’t mind would you, Erie? I’ll tell you all my perceptions and concerns about it, and I won’t state anything without researching it first. I think it’s time for me to stick up for our community. I can’t go on saying nothing forever, can I? No, I can’t.
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