Febrruary 14, 2024 - Pittsburgh City Paper by Pittsburgh City Paper

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BARRED FROM CARE Incarcerated people at the Allegheny County Jail say they have inconsistent access to medical care and prescription drugs. Legal experts say this likely violates the Constitution. BY JAMES PAUL // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

IN THIS WEEK’S ISSUE: COMMUNITY PROFILE 04 Pittsburgh’s West End has long

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bled wealth and population, but locals see signs of hope

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08 Le Mardi Gras keeps the prices COMMUNITY PROFILE

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22 Classifieds and Crossword HEALTH

Death Comes Lifting brings inclusive workouts, sick merch to Allentown’s corridor of horror BY COLIN WILLIAMS

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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER FEBRUARY 14-21, 2024

COMMUNITY PROFILE

“I HOPE BY THE TIME [MY GRANDSON] IS 10, 15, THAT HE’S ABLE TO GO TO A GROCERY STORE AND NOT HAVE FIVE FAMILY DOLLARS WITHIN A TWO-MILE RADIUS.”

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Acme Stamping and Wire Forming Co. seen through the Corliss St. Tunnel in the West End.

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WHAT’S UP WITH THE WEST END? Pittsburgh’s “forgotten community” is a cradle of local history

that recent waves of prosperity have missed. Could convenient transit and community boosters change that? BY COLIN WILLAMS // CWILLIAMS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

hen I moved to Pittsburgh in 2015, it had been about eight years since my grandparents headed south from the city to Florida, and I’d never been to the West End. I ended up moving there basically sight unseen because our landlady was going to let me and my then-partner bring our chickens. Long story short, a raccoon got to the chickens, my partner dumped me, and I got stuck on a steep, sidewalkless street in Sheraden. There was little to do in the neighborhood, but the efficient West Busway was right there, and I discovered the engineering marvel that is our public steps. I spent what free time I had between shifts of selling museum tickets and frying wings walking up and down Sheraden’s zigzagging streets and taking the busway to the Duquesne Incline to visit friends on Mt. Washington. It was an unsteady, anxious time in my life, but moments, including rare solo

trips up the incline, gave me a huge crush on Pittsburgh that persists to this day. Still, coming back home alone on the G2 — even after I got my cat — always felt a little sad. Sheraden had curving streets with cute storefronts. I lived in Germany for a time, and Chartiers Ave. reminded me of German suburbs. Langley School, a grand gothic edifice, was flanked by charming churches and houses. Yet, then as now, many of the storefronts were vacant or had been hastily turned into housing. Trash clogged the pocket parks. The only watering hole was a nearby VFW. Long after moving to the East End, I make occasional trips back west to see what’s changed. The Village Tavern (amazing pizza) closed; a couple Family Dollars opened; some condemned buildings are now rocky lots. I’ve got a soft spot for the area. The housing stock is amazing, the people kind. But there’s a wariness to the West End, a sense of having been

left behind by the rest of Pittsburgh, that seems to play out in the area’s economics and public safety. Why? Part of the West End’s isolation is physical. A massive railroad berm hides the West End Village from commuters driving on the neighborhood’s titular bridge, and drivers get just a fleeting glimpse before the road shunts them past onto I-376 and Sawmill Run Blvd. The creek that gave the boulevard its name still flows through the area and out a culvert into the Ohio River. Its banks initially hosted Indigenous tribes, then trappers and traders from France, England, and elsewhere, then early settlers who built mills and small factories along its edge all the way up to the muddy Ohio riverbanks. Sometime around the end of the American Revolution, a stone tavern was built, though the settlement that blossomed nearby ironically ended up taking the name Temperanceville. Pittsburgh absorbed

Temperanceville in 1874 and had gobbled up neighboring Chartiers City, Crafton Heights, East Carnegie, Elliott, Esplen, Oakwood, Sheraden, and Westwood by the mid-1920s. The city later annexed Banksville, Ridgemont, and some outstanding parcels in what’s now Windgap and Fairywood. Annexation meant interconnection, with the area’s numerous dirt toll tracks giving way first to plank roads, then streetcars and paved highways. The Pennsylvania Railroad dumped tons of earth on what had been a slum at the mouth of Sawmill Run to create a viaduct that was then perforated by the West End Circle, which directed traffic through the area and onto the West End Bridge. “The West End was a beautiful valley that opened up to the Ohio River until the Pennsylvania Railroad boxed it in,” Norene Beatty, a longtime area resident and self-described “history buff,” tells Pittsburgh City Paper. Then came the automobile. “[U.S. Routes] 22 and 30 went WHAT'S UP WITH THE WEST END?, CONTINUES ON PG. 6

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A lock commemorating a marriage at West End Overlook Park.

straight through the heart of the West End, and when they built the Parkway West and the parkway extension … They tore down all those houses that were on the backside of Duquesne Heights, or Coal Hill,” she says, calling the parkway the neighborhood’s “kiss of death.” “The roads have literally cut the West End off from the city,” Beatty says. (City Paper initially reached out to Beatty to discuss the Old Stone Tavern, but the building’s current owners are still at work on plans for renovation, and both they and Beatty declined to comment on the tavern specifically.) Beatty settled in Elliott in 1959 and remembers a neighborhood replete with grocers, butchers, bakers, several five-and-dimes, a theater, and various restaurants and bars (“one tavern after the next,” she tells CP). The area population was served by numerous schools, worshipped in numerous local churches, and had

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access to the third Carnegie Library that the steel magnate built in the region in 1899. However, car-centric shopping centers on Noblestown Rd. and over the hill in Crafton drew local consumers away. “There were all types of businesses, while everybody got in their car and went to the [CraftonIngram] shopping center,” Beatty laments, “and, one by one, those businesses, they had no more customers.” Compounding this was racial unrest. The Great Migration fueled white flight to the suburbs; luminaries such as Martin Luther King, Jr. were assassinated, and Pittsburgh endured spasms of violence and white resistance to school busing as the area bled population. I went out to Obey House Tavern while finishing up reporting for this story. The tavern is one of the few watering holes still serving drinks and pub grub in the West End. Their

beer’s cheap and cold, and tacos are two dollars apiece on a Wednesday, so I order four. “Elliott used to have all kinds of stuff,” the bartender tells me. “There used to be five bars, a pharmacy, a grocery store.” She now lives in Sheraden and says she’s watched the West End spiral. In particular, she says absentee landlords and a proliferation of Section 8 housing has led to property neglect — Beatty likewise highlighted during our interview that “bring[ing] back homeownership” in the area would foster a greater sense of pride and community cohesion. The bartender confirms the decline with a patron. “Neighborhood’s gone to shit,” he says matter-of-factly.

stems from youth feeling hopeless. “When you walk outside of your home every day, and you’re eight or nine or 10 years old, and all you see is trash … that is going to do something to your spirit, period.” She deplores the West End’s longstanding lack of community centers, as well. “You don’t even have a place … to even sit down and read a book with someone else besides the library,” she says. POWER has been ramping up services accordingly. Last year, the nonprofit partnered with Pitt researchers on a youth violence prevention project. West End POWER has also established a hydroponic “freight farm,” printed affirmational yard signs, encouraged residents to get

“THERE WERE ALL TYPES OF BUSINESSES, WHILE EVERYBODY GOT IN THEIR CAR AND WENT TO THE SHOPPING CENTER.” I finish my tacos and walk back out to the dark parking lot. Lights twinkle from houses on the steep hillsides, and it’s a quick drive back over the bridge home. “We are called the ‘forgotten community,’” Terri Minor-Spencer tells me when I reach her by phone during a day of Zoom calls. “You did know that, right?” I did — it’s something Beatty and others had corroborated. MinorSpencer is the founder of West End Providing Opportunities with Effective Resources (POWER) and is adept at seeing the buds among the jagger-bushes. Having spent 16 years incarcerated, she eschews the term “inmate” as a slur (instead, some people have “colorful backgrounds”), and she fiercely defends the community members she’s helped rebuild their lives after time in the justice system, including the 38 and counting graduates from West End POWER’s career readiness program. Minor-Spencer says part of the area’s ongoing issue with violence

reinvested in local politics, guided the formerly incarcerated through anger management courses, and helped numerous West Enders improve their resumes and learn the “soft skills” needed for a shifting job market. It’s a team effort. Minor-Spencer highlights numerous others doing work in the area, including Christy Porter and her husband Joey, a former Steeler. The pair opened the Jasmine Nyree Campus serving youth and adults with autism two years ago in Sheraden, though it was recently damaged in a fire. Pittsburgh City Councilmember Theresa Kail-Smith says the Porters are “doing some extremely important work not just for Pittsburgh, but for the state.” Kail-Smith has represented District 2, which encompasses all or part of 24 neighborhoods, including the entirety of the loosely defined West End, since 2010. She likewise says the Nyree center, the Salvation Army in Fairywood, Save a Life Today (SALT) Pittsburgh, as well as other

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creativity, kindness, curiousity, and joy FOR ALL LEARNERS

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The twin Sycamores of Sheraden.

community orgs and institutions help hold the community together in the face of change. “We’re home to Pittsburgh Musical Theater in the West End, which has performances at the Benedum and the Cultural District downtown,” she tells CP. “They also have performances here at the Gargaro theater.” There’s also the James Gallery, the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum, several of the city’s best public pools, and, of course, the West End Overlook. Kail-Smith also teases

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plans for new businesses in the West End Village. Meanwhile, Kail-Smith says new families are finding forever homes close to where she lives. “Westwood has grown tremendously in terms of the LGBT community,” she says. “We have a very diverse community here. We have a lot of immigrants here. We have a lot of renters, a lot of homeowners.” She’s also optimistic about investment in a variety of projects. Sheraden Park has seen stream

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Parnassus Way in the West End

daylighting and other improvements. The West End Bridge is slated for upgrades, including state-funded restoration and easier pedestrian and bike access. “I wish I could take people on tours of our district so they can see it because I think they have a misunderstanding of what this area really is,” Kail-Smith says. As for what her constituents want most? “Stability,” she says. Beatty hopes learning the area’s history will foster deeper civic engagement. “A lot of the history of Pittsburgh began in the West End,” she explains. “I just think there is so much of Pittsburgh’s history that Pittsburghers don’t know and should know.” “It’s a hidden gem because it’s so close to everything,” Beatty says. “From the airport, we’re 20 minutes. From Downtown, we’re 20 minutes. Like, we’re 20 minutes from

everything. And so that’s the good,” Minor-Spencer says. What she wants now is more local, sustainable businesses such as Farmer Girl Eb, a Black-owned, farm-to-table grocer in a cute storefront at the West End Village’s edge. Minor-Spencer says the East End Food Co-op offers a model worth emulating, and she’s hoping for something akin to that where the wealth stays in the community — plus, ideally, a bank. “Any neighborhood that’s without a grocery store, without a bank, is not a thriving community,” she says. “I picture my grandson, who’s four today — I hope by the time he’s 10, 15, that he’s able to go to a grocery store and not have five Family Dollars within a two-mile radius.” “We need a safe place where we can build trust amongst each other,” she adds. •

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER FEBRUARY 14-21, 2024

COMMUNITY PROFILE

STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS

Le Mardi Gras turns 70 this year. The cheap drinks and smoky interior hearken to simpler times. BY RACHEL WILKINSON // RWILKINSON@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

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very day at 4 p.m., the lights at Le Mardi Gras dim, patrons begin to climb its carpeted stairs, and owner Rich “Richie” Costanzo is there to greet them. On a Monday, after renewing the bar’s liquor license, fielding an early beer delivery, and regaling bartender/manager Zan Naz with all manner of stories — some of which are old standards — a regular arrives at four on the dot. “Hey, what’s happenin’?” Richie asks. “I’m all right, how are you?” “I’m broker than the 10 Commandments! How’re you doing, buddy?” Le Mardi Gras turns 70 this year, and the Shadyside haunt, as led by Costanzo, was always meant to feel vibrant and convivial, a throwback to smoky cocktail lounges of the 1950s. “We’re the place that time forgot,” Costanzo tells Pittsburgh City Paper. Originally located on Bellefonte St. — in a building razed to make way for redevelopment in the early 2000s — the bar has been in its current location at 731 Copeland St. since 2002. Costanzo’s attempted to keep most of the original accoutrements. For those unfamiliar, the bar does seem transported from another era. A chandelier hangs over green antique booths, flanking the vintage bar crowned by a fully functional antique cash register at its center. Richie says the register can only be maintained by one man on the entire East Coast, “Cash Register Bob.” The narrow lounge is adorned with even more heirlooms, including a 1960s cigarette machine, an original Ms. Pac-Man tabletop arcade game from 1982, and, arguably the pièce de résistance, a wall-mounted NSM Cosmic Burst Jukebox that plays actual B-sides (which the bar also “has a guy” to maintain, Costanzo says; no TouchTunes here). Cementing the bar’s New Orleans feel are vivid, colorful murals from 1954, painted by longtime Art Institute of Pittsburgh instructor Tom Kouros. The portraits are of real Pittsburghers who frequented the old bar. Le Mardi Gras is also known for its annual Fat Tuesday party; “strong pours,” Naz says; handsqueezed juices; immovable ‘70s drink prices; and being one of few remaining smoking bars in Allegheny County. In its 70-year run, it’s difficult to catalog all the titles that the bar has claimed. Among them are the city’s oldest, finest, and “last” cocktail lounge, and “world’s greatest bartender,” an honor unofficially bestowed on Richie’s late father, Joe Costanzo, with whom he worked until his death in 1993. A portrait of “Papa Joe’’ lighting up a cigar hangs near the bar in a gold gilded frame.

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF RYAN HOWARD SIGESMUND

Anthony Bourdain visited in 2017 and dubbed Le Mardi Gras “the bar everyone wants in their neighborhood.” City Paper has recognized it as one of the city’s best jukebox bars, the best bar to drink alone, and a favorite “hidden” bar. The bar’s 70th anniversary also isn’t the first that it’s celebrated; in 2004, for its 50th, Pittsburgh PostGazette columnist Reg Henry penned a tribute. Journalists of the 1970s and ’80s were known to “choose Le Mardi Gras as their after-work oasis,” Naz writes in a forthcoming “Le Mardi Gras Obscura” web history. In 2014, Pittsburgh City Council recognized the bar’s 60th anniversary, declaring June 14 of that year “Le Mardi Gras Day.” But despite the bar’s lengthy history and list of accolades, Naz says the upcoming anniversary — with a party tentatively planned for May — will be special. That’s because “this one will be more about just celebrating Richie,” Naz says. Costanzo, he believes, should be honored for his stewardship of a “stalwart” neighborhood bar. “That consistent experience that he brings … The quality of service,

the quality of the drinks will surprise you,” Naz explains. “The prices will astound you. These are all things I think he set up and he’s just been doing constantly.” Costanzo says he “didn’t choose [the bar business]. It chose me.” In February 1975, he reluctantly helped his father — who’d bought Le Mardi Gras in 1960 — work a Friday night shift, declaring it would be a onenight-only favor.

a glassmaker. Back then, with laxer laws, Le Mardi Gras also famously operated after hours, serving as late into the morning as 7 a.m. to friends, VIPs, and those in the know. “You never knew who you were gonna wait on,” Costanzo says. Of the long list of celebrities who have stopped by Le Mardi Gras — supposedly many political campaigns have been launched there and it was where Sen. John Heinz celebrated his

“THAT CONSISTENT EXPERIENCE THAT HE BRINGS … THE QUALITY OF SERVICE, THE QUALITY OF THE DRINKS WILL SURPRISE YOU.” But then, “I liked it. I liked the people,” Costanzo says. “I liked the action. I liked the activity. I liked it. In those days, it was electric.” He was 18 and remembers Rolls Royces, Bentleys, and Ferraris lining the street, which was uncommon at the time. Shadyside was a different community, with ice cream shops, high-end beauty salons, and

inauguration — Costanzo’s had some choice encounters. He remembers his father coming home one morning in the early ‘70s, waking him for school at Central Catholic, and telling him a strange man sat on top of the bar’s booths — rocker Alice Cooper. Two Evil Eyes, a 1990 horror film directed by George Romero and Dario Argento, shot scenes at the bar, also

bringing stars Harvey Keitel and Adreinne Barbeau. Ted Danson, Drew Barrymore, and Julian Casablancas of the Strokes have also meandered in. Once, Costanzo didn’t recognize George Clooney and almost bounced Channing Tatum, who showed up in 2012 (presumably while filming Foxcatcher). As is his wont, Costanzo was working the door and checking IDs. “And somebody said to me, 'Rich, that’s Magic Mike!'” Costanzo says. “I had a guy behind the bar named Dave, and he did magic. And I said, ‘Yeah, and that’s Magic Dave. This guy doesn’t have ID.’” Matching descriptions of his father, Costanzo is an animated storyteller at home in his bar. In the span of about 90 minutes, he reels off anecdotes about: losing out on a billiondollar fortune when he didn’t believe a bar patron’s story about treasure hunting at Rehoboth Beach; his dad preempting the invention of jumper cables while strip mining for coal; and one-time regular Richard Florida writing a bestselling book based on casual conversations at Le Mardi Gras (Bill Peduto was also in the mix). When COVID-19 hit in 2020, Le Mardi

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PHOTO: COURTESY OF RYAN HOWARD SIGESMUND

Rich "Richie" Costanzo

Gras shut down for 19 months. In his mid-60s, Costanzo had still been working the door, and was bereft, unable to interact with people at the bar after 49 years. “It was the most stressed I’ve ever seen you be,” Naz tells Costanzo. “But [when you] came back … the place was just electric … the magic of Richie Costanza was still in this building.” Since then, the bar has hit its stride again, but as it turns 70, the staff is looking toward the future and modernizing where possible. For example, Naz has upgraded their cigar sales, securing the product in temperature-controlled boxes that communicate with his smartphone. “Ha! Talks to [your] phone!” Costanzo bursts out laughing. He has a flip phone. At the same time, “we’re not dummies here,” Naz says. “We’ve talked about the fact that, in the next 10 years, there’s probably not going to be any smoking in Pennsylvania. And we’re preparing for that. We’re working on making slight evolutions

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to give people a reason to keep coming in.” They’ve launched a new cocktail menu with some less boozy options, a revamped Hurricane, and mocktails. In addition to still hand-squeezing citrus juices, a “staple” of Le Mardi Gras, Naz is now personally making all the bar’s syrups in-house. “ I c a m e i n h e re a n d s a i d , 'Zan, if the ATF ever comes in here, and sees all those powders ... It looks like a chemistry lab down here!'” Costanzo exclaims. Friday Jeopardy! watch parties, vi n ta ge Trivia l Pu rs u i t , ga m e n i gh t s, a n d o t h e r eve n t s a re meant to draw a wider crowd. “This is the place that time forgot. And we’re trying to keep it that way a little bit,” Naz says. “We’re still trying to adapt to what the new generation wants. We’re trying to offer everyone a little bit of something … [But] I think the atmosphere that Richie has set up with the jukebox … the incredible prices, and the fresh ingredients, really will stand the test of time.” •

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SOCIAL JUSTICE

BARRED FROM CARE

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Terry Fluker walks across the Smithfield Street Bridge in Downtown Pittsburgh

Incarcerated people at the Allegheny County Jail say they have inconsistent access to medical care and prescription drugs. Legal experts say this likely violates the Constitution. BY JAMES PAUL // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

erry Fluker’s doctor took him to the back room of a clinic in Atlanta, Georgia and told him he was going to die. Getting diagnosed with HIV in the late 1980s — back when the prognosis was a near death sentence — also instilled in Fluker a depression that would exist alongside the virus for the next 30 years of his life. When Fluker went into the Allegheny County Jail on a shoplifting charge last year with several active prescriptions, including for a once-daily HIV medication and an antidepressant, he says there was a period when he wasn’t able to access any of it. “These are important medications that people should get,” Fluker says. “When a person is suicidal, and you’re not giving them their medication, then that causes the person to harm themselves.”

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Fluker is one of several inmates and activists who say medication access issues plague the Allegheny County Jail, with inefficient distribution and inconsistent dosing damaging inmates’ health and, in some cases, endangering their lives. Legal advocates say the jail’s faulty medical care infrastructure may amount to a series of ongoing constitutional violations. Jesse Geleynse, the public information officer for the jail, told Pittsburgh City Paper in an email that the jail has no comment on the claims by former and current inmates as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) prevents the jail from discussing or releasing any personal information.

to be off his HIV medication for two weeks, month-long periods without it can critically increase the amounts of the virus in a person’s bloodstream. “We recognize that these medications are life-sustaining treatments, and we emphasize to patients the importance of taking those medications every day over the long term to protect their immune system and, therefore, avoid life-threatening infections that can result from AIDS,” McBeth tells City Paper. As for the clonidine, McBeth says doctors are typically hesitant to prescribe the heavy-duty medication because it can cause major spikes in blood pressure if a patient misses a dose. She says in Fluker’s case,

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The Allegheny County Jail on Feb. 4, 2024.

“MOST PEOPLE ARE WAITING FOR DAYS TO BE SEEN WHEN THEY REQUEST MEDICAL CARE.” Fluker says he served roughly five months at the jail before being booked into alternative housing. A diagnosed schizophrenic, he says he rejected medication for two months in that period with the false belief that the jail was trying to poison him. In alternative housing — where he stayed for less than a week before being rebooked at the jail following an altercation — a doctor convinced Fluker to get back on his medication for several health conditions, including HIV, depression, and high blood pressure. Back at the jail, Fluker says he filed multiple prescription requests to no avail. For two weeks, Fluker says he asked for Biktarvy, his once-aday HIV medication, and never got it. For one month, Fluker says he requested his previously prescribed clonidine, a high-blood pressure medication, and never got it. He says for his entire 181 days of incarceration, he never received his antidepressant, mirtazapine. Sarah McBeth, a doctor and the medical director of Allies for Health + Wellbeing, notes that, although it wasn’t acutely dangerous for Fluker

being unable to access his medication for a month could have been potentially dangerous. Muhammad Ali Nasir, an incarceration reform activist also known by his emcee name, MAN-E, says through conversations with people held at the jail — and by way of what he saw when he was held there as a juvenile in 2005, and for protesting the killing of George Floyd Jr. in 2020 — stories like Fluker’s are far too familiar. “Most people are waiting for days to be seen when they request medical care,” Nasir, a recent appointee to the Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board, says. “Some people may come in with prescriptions from their doctors on the outside and will not receive the medication that they need.” A current inmate at the j a i l ( C P h a s c h o s e n t o ke e p her anonymous) told CP she didn’t receive any of her previously prescribed medication for days after her arrest and likened the jail’s intake process to “being thrown in a dog kennel.” She says this was only the start of a long-lasting medication d ro u gh t to co m e fo r s eve ra l o f

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The Allegheny County Jail on Feb. 4, 2024. BARRED FROM CARE, CONTINUES ON PG. 16

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“[THE ALLEGHENY COUNTY JAIL IS] PROBABLY ONE OF THE WORST COUNTY JAILS IN PENNSYLVANIA IN PROVIDING CONSTITUTIONALLY REQUIRED ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE.”

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Former Allegheny County Jail inmate Terry Fluker poses for a portrait on the Smithfield Street Bridge as fog fills the river

her prescriptions. Her medical records confirm that, for nearly eight months between April 2023 and December 2023, she did not receive her previously prescribed gabapentin to treat the pain resulting from diagnosed neuropathy. Back on the oral medication since January of this year, she says she receives it at inconsistent times and often only two out of her three prescribed daily doses. McBeth characterized neuropathy as a painful condition that can lead to a lack of function due to numbness in the hands or feet. Not receiving pain medication can worsen its effects, and receiving it at inconsistent times can leave gaps of unmedicated pain or result in overmedication if it’s administered too soon after the last

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dose, McBeth says. Geleynse told CP in an email that the jail automatically gives inmates any medication that was prescribed to them in the last 30 days before their arrest, but only if it’s on the county government pharmacy’s formulary. “If the medication is not on the jail’s formulary, the jail makes a priority appointment with a jail healthcare provider to assess symptoms and obtain the appropriate replacement,” Geleynse said. “In these instances, there is not a standard replacement for a medication not on the formulary — it is all individualized.” If the medication wasn’t recently prescribed, the inmate must visit the jail healthcare provider for a new script, Geleynse said. Alexandra Morgan-Kurtz, the

deputy director of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project, says the Eighth and 14th Amendments require jails and prisons to provide inmates with their medication as prescribed. The ACJ’s actions rise to the level of “deliberate indifference” to inmates' needs under the Eighth and 14th Amendments to the Constitution, Morgan-Kurtz tells CP. “[The Allegheny County Jail is] probably one of the worst county jails in Pennsylvania in providing constitutionally required access to health care in a timely and adequate way,” Morgan-Kurtz says. Gregory Dober, a medical ethicist at the University of Pittsburgh Center for Bioethics and Health Law, is quick to point out that jail medical malpractice charges under the Constitution

are incredibly rare, and for a prosecutor to claim deliberate indifference requires them to prove that the risk of harm was objectively serious and that the facility was acting recklessly. Still, Dober notes that the cases at the jail “may be a constitutional violation” and agrees with MorganKurtz that the Allegheny County Jail is “absolutely the worst” jail in Pennsylvania in terms of healthcare. Geleynse said the jail has no comment on Dober’s and MorganKurtz’s claims. Four of the six people who died while in custody at the jail in 2022 died due to medical reasons, according to a database created by PennLive and the Pittsburgh Institute for Nonprofit Journalism. Allegheny County was the only county in the

CP PHOTO: MARS JOHNSON

Former Allegheny County Jail inmate Terry Fluker looks out over the Monongahela River

state where the majority of in-jail deaths were due to medical reasons and not suicide. Frank Smart Jr. arrived at the jail in 2015 with a twice-daily script for anti-seizure medication, and he died 48 hours after arriving, according to a $950,000 settlement the county reached in 2018 with Smart’s children. Smart never received his medication on his first day at the jail, resulting in a seizure, the suit alleged. Instead of rendering care, the responding officers handcuffed Smart and pushed him to the ground, where he was held for 30 minutes until he died, according to the suit. Early last year, Denzel Kendrick, another inmate who has multiple illnesses, including sickle cell disease, had a stroke after the jail refused him necessary medication for two months, according to a letter from the Abolitionist Law Center, a public

interest firm, to the County Law Department in January 2023. Aaron Tipton, a current inmate at the jail, filed a lawsuit on Feb. 7 alleging that guards at the jail broke his arm and threw him in solitary confinement in September 2023 after he complained he wasn’t receiving his prescribed pain medication for neuropathy. Fluker, who, since leaving the jail is continuing to devote part of his life to HIV/AIDS advocacy, says that in jail, people are striving for a routine they can take with them back to society. For those with medical conditions, consistent medication is necessary for their rehabilitation. “In that type of environment, people are trying to get back on track, to get their life — get on their meds or whatnot,” Fluker says. “Not having that support can be a struggle and frustrating.” •

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PHOTO: DANIELLE SHIELDS

Nowhere Like Home author Sara Shepard

PRETTY LITTLE COMMUNE BY REGE BEHE // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

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ara Shepard only lived in Arizona for about three years. But the state’s tawny landscapes, sere vegetation, and seemingly endless vistas were very much on the bestselling author’s mind while writing Nowhere Like Home. “I was interested in the idea of setting something in a community where you sort of go to escape and you think all your problems are going to be solved,” says Shepard during an interview with Pittsburgh City Paper. Currently a resident of Mt. Lebanon, Shepard, who’s best known for the hit Pretty Little Liars book series, infused Nowhere Like Home with escapism, as it follows three women, all disaffected to some degree, drawn to a remote outpost in an Arizona desert where men are not permitted. Outside phone call are banned, as are questions about past lives. There’s even a padlock on the gate that surrounds the property that keeps the women secure — and locked in. “I’m interested in these off-the-grid communities anyway, and when I lived in Arizona there’s a lot of emptiness. It’s beautiful, but you can walk out into the desert and there’s just nothing,” says Shepard. “Even where I lived in the suburbs of Tucson, you can walk into the desert and there are snakes, wild dogs and wild pigs called javelinas. There are all kinds of creatures, and also some strange people.” Shepard will appear at White Whale Bookstore in Bloomfield on Mon., Feb. 19 during a double book launch event for Nowhere Like Home and author Kit Frick’s new work, The Split. In addition to Pretty Little Liars — which spawned 17 novels, eight companion novels, and a television series that ran for seven years — Shepard also published Penny Draws a Friend, a book for middle grade readers; The Lying Game YA series (six books); nine novels for adults; and eight other YA titles.

If her impressive resume wasn’t proof enough, Shepard, like a middle distance runner adept at 800-, 1600-, and 3200-meter races, has no problem transitioning between genres. “When I started thinking I wanted to write books while getting my MFA … I always thought I would write for adults, literary fiction,” Shepard says. “I kind of fell into YA, and when I started writing it, I really liked YA. And when I was starting out, there was not a lot of it.”

“I’m sure there are a lot that are great and a lot that work,” she says. “But I have talked to people on Reddit forums who have tried that way of life. The people who choose to live in or try out these communities are often running from something. They have a lot of baggage and think this is going to solve their problems. There’s often not a lot of mental health support in place, and often that’s really what people need.”

“EVEN WHERE I LIVED IN THE SUBURBS OF TUCSON, YOU CAN WALK INTO THE DESERT AND THERE ARE SNAKES, WILD DOGS AND WILD PIGS CALLED JAVELINAS. THERE ARE ALL KINDS OF CREATURES, AND ALSO SOME STRANGE PEOPLE.” She explains that the YA market happened to explode when the first Pretty Little Liars book came out in 2006. “But I always thought, even then, I still want to write for adults,” she continues. “It’s a little bit different mindset, it’s a little bit different voice, and the topics you cover. You need to be a little careful writing YA.” While Nowhere Like Home may seem skeptical (Penguin Random House went as far at to describe the premise as “a group of mothers living in a mysterious ‘mommune’”), Shepard says the book is not meant to be a comment on off-the-grid communities and the people who choose that way of life.

Double Book Launch Sara Shepard’s Nowhere Like Home and Kit Frick’s The Split. 7 p.m. Mon., Feb. 19. White Whale Bookstore. 4754 Liberty Ave., Bloomfield. Free. Registration required. Livestream available. whitewhalebookstore.com

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NEIGHBORHOOD

SEVEN DAYS IN PITTSBURGH BY CP STAFF

SAT., 7 1 FEB. PHOTO: COURTESY OF PITTSBURGH OPERA

Proving Up

THEATER • DOWNTOWN

SA FEB T., . 17

A Persian tale comes to life in Song of the North, a new production at the Byham Theater. Presented by Iranian artist Hamid Rahmanian, the large-scale, multi-disciplinary live performance combines shadow puppetry, animation, and music to tell the story of the heroine Manijeh, as taken from the epic poem Shahnameh. The show promises to challenge “the Eurocentric worldview of art and storytelling” by bringing ancient Persian culture into the 21st century. 7 p.m. Byham Theater. 101 Sixth St., Downtown. $12. trustarts.org

PHOTO: COURTESY OF KINGORAMA

Song of the North at the Byham Theater

THU., FEB. 15 ART/TOUR • OAKLAND

Friends and Lovers. 6-9 p.m. Carnegie Museum of Art. 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. $35. 21 and over. carnegieart.org

THEATER • NORTH SIDE

Teaira Whitehead. 8 p.m. Continues through Fri., Feb. 16. New Hazlett Theater. Six Allegheny Square East, North Side. $20-30. newhazletttheater.org

FRI., FEB. 16 CONVENTION • DOWNTOWN

Pittsburgh International Auto Show. 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Continues through Mon., Feb. 19. David L. Lawrence Convention Center. 1000 Fort Duquesne Blvd., Downtown. $7-15, free for kids under 6. pittsburghcc.com

FILM • NORTH SIDE

Carnegie Science Center imagines how urbanites will live in the next 50 years with Cities of the Future. Narrated by actor John

Krasinski, the documentary examines the transformation of urban landscapes, depicting aerial highways, smart buildings, green infrastructure, and more, all in an effort to envision a more sustainable world. 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Continues through Sept. 29. One Allegheny Ave., North Side. $8-10. carnegiesciencecenter.org

COMEDY • MUNHALL

John Crist: The Emotional Support Tour. 7 p.m. Doors at 6 p.m. Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall. 510 E. 10th Ave., Munhall. $29.75-149.75 librarymusichall.com

DANCE • DOWNTOWN

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre presents Beauty and the Beast. 7:30 p.m. Continues through Sun., Feb. 25. Benedum Center. 237 Seventh St., Downtown. $29-129. pbt.org

MUSIC • LAWRENCEVILLE

Sunny Daze & the Weathermen Album Release Party with Century III and Tony From Bowling. 8 p.m. Spirit. 242 51st St., Lawrenceville. $12 in advance, $15 at the door. spiritpgh.com

SAT., FEB. 17

FRI., 16 FEB.

WORKSHOP • HAZELWOOD Microplastic Mania Art Workshop. 12-2 p.m. Arts Excursions Unlimited Office. 5125 Second Ave., Hazelwood. Free. Registration required. instagram.com/creative_reuse

OUTDOORS • NORTH SHORE

Cupid’s Undie Run. 12-4 p.m. McFadden’s Restaurant and Saloon. 211 N. Shore Dr., North Shore. $45. my.cupids.org

MUSIC • DOWNTOWN

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra presents RE/ CREATE: Disturb the Silence. 7 p.m. Heinz Hall. 600 Penn Ave., Downtown. $25-60. pittsburghsymphony.org

PHOTO: RIEDER PHOTOGRAPHY

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre presents Beauty and the Beast

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, SUN. 8 1 FEB.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF THIRD WORLD NEWSREEL

Litany for Survival: The Life and Work of Audre Lorde at Carnegie Museum of Art

OPERA • STRIP DISTRICT

Proving Up. 8 p.m. Continues through Sun., Feb. 25. Bitz Opera Factory. 2425 Liberty Ave., Strip District. $50. pittsburghopera.org

COMEDY • DOWNTOWN

Khairy Creek and Kadeem Richardson. 9 p.m. Arcade Comedy Theater. 943 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $15. arcadecomedytheater.com

SUN., FEB. 18 FILM • POINT BREEZE

Water Lilies of Monet: The Magic of Water and Light. 2-4 p.m. Doors at 1:30 p.m. The Frick Art Museum. 7227 Reynolds St., Point Breeze. $5-15. thefrickpittsburgh.org

FILM • OAKLAND

Head to the Carnegie Museum of Art for a special Black History Month tribute to a radical Black feminist. activist, academic, and poet. See Litany for Survival: The Life and Work of Audre Lorde, a documentary from Michelle Parkerson and Pittsburgh filmmaker Ada Gay Griffin. The event also includes a post-screening conversation with Griffin and Parkerson, as well as work by dancer Jasmine Hearn and writer Alexis Pauline Gumbs. 3-7 p.m. Doors at 2:30 p.m. 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. Free. Registration required. carnegieart.org

MON., FEB. 19 MUSIC • NORTH SHORE

Machine Killer Tour with Static-X, Sevendust, Dope, and Lines of Loyalty. 5:30 p.m. Stage AE 400 North Shore Dr., North Shore. $35-75. promowestlive.com

TUE., FEB. 20 MUSIC • DOWNTOWN

James Johnson III Group. 5 p.m. Lounge at the Greer Cabaret. 655 Penn Ave., Downtown. Free. trustarts.org

WED., FEB. 21 PODCAST • MCKEES ROCKS

Expect booze, creepy content, and plenty of laughs when the podcast And That’s Why We Drink comes to the Roxian Theatre. Cohosts Em Schulz and Christine Schiefer continue to dive into true crime and the paranormal during the Pittsburgh stop of their North American On the Rocks tour. Enjoy a few rounds and settle in for ghost hunting adventures, haunted locales, and more. 6 p.m. 425 Chartiers Ave., McKees Rocks. $35-53. roxiantheatre.com

MUSIC • SHADYSIDE

Chatham Baroque presents Apollo’s Fire: Violin Fantasy. 4 p.m. Calvary Episcopal Church. 315 Shady Ave., Shadyside. $20-40. chathambaroque.org

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER FEBRUARY 14-21, 2024

MARKETPLACE MARKET PLACE TO PLACE A CLASSIFIEDS ADVERTISEMENT, CONTACT SIERRA CLARY AT SIERRA@PGHCITYPAPER.COM OR 412-685-9009 EXT. 113

HELP WANTED

SENIOR QUANTITATIVE ANALYST Stock Snips, Inc. has an opening for Senior Quantitative Analyst in Pittsburgh, PA. Resp. for analytics & predictive modeling using Sentiment signals, stock fundamentals data & technical indicators. Also performs following duties: Validate Sentiment datasets; Research, implement & back test investment portfolio models that leverage Sentiment as a factor; Perform statistical analysis of dynamic, nonlinear time series data w/emphasis on machine learning techniques; Lead efforts to develop custom scalable reinforcement learning platform for training, evaluation & hyperparameter optimization; Implement & debug highly parallelized & performant code base, which interleaves both R & Python code; Local telecommuting permitted up to 2 days per week. Reqs: Bachelor’s degree in Statistics & Machine Learning or related field. Must be knowledgeable of: (1) Probability & Dynamic Processes; (2) Statistical Graphics & Analysis – including: regression, non-parametric tests, logistic regression & high dimensional inference; (3) ML Modeling – including Deep Learning, Reinforcement Learning & Graphical Models; (4) Algorithms & Data Structures; (5) Python; (6) R; & (7) PyTorch neural network library. Email resumes to: Mr. Ravindra Koka at info@stocksnips.net with job title Senior Quantitative Analyst in subject line.

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HELP WANTED

SALES ACCOUNT REPRESENTATIVE - ELASTOMERS

Covestro LLC’s Pittsburgh, PA, office seeks a Sales Account Representative – Elastomers to be responsible for managing the sales and profitably growth of the systems and equipment business for the Elastomers business through both direct and sales agent methods. Apply at www.covestro.us.

HELP WANTED

DATA ENGINEER II

Data Engineer II, Pittsburgh, PA. Support data acquisition by locating datasets & software produced by MIDAS researchers. Maintain data & software records. Quality check MIDAS datasets & software. Standardize datasets into defined format developed for MIDAS program. Apply online w/University of Pittsburgh at https:// www.join.pitt.edu/

FINANCIAL

SERVICES

PUBLIC AUCTION

Struggling With Your Private Student Loan Payment? New relief programs can reduce your payments. Learn your options. Good credit not necessary. Call the Helpline 888-670-5631 (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm Eastern) (AAN CAN)

Switch to DISH and get up to a $300 gift card! Plus get the Multisport pack included for a limited time! Hurry, call for details: 1-877-857-5995

Extra Space Storage, on behalf of its affiliates, Life Storage or Storage Express, will hold a public auction to sell the contents of leased space’s lien at the location indicated: 3200 Park Manor Blvd, Pittsburgh Pa, 15205 on 02/21/2024 at 1:00pm 3034 Allison Yates, 4027 Spencer Calloway and 7017 Patrick Grago. The auction will be listed and advertised on www.storagetreasures.com purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.

NAME CHANGE

IN The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: No. GD-23-12512 In re petition of JeNeanne Ellen Solenday for change of name to JeNeanne Gentille Kelly. To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the 28th day of February, 2024, at 9:30 a.m., as the time and the Motions Room, City-County Building, Pittsburgh, PA, as the place for a hearing, when and where all persons may show cause, if any they have, why said name should not be changed as prayed for.

IN The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: No. GD-23-13086 In re petition of Shane Andre Walls for change of name to Shamel Abdul Rasheid Bey. To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the 6th day of March, 2024, at 9:30 a.m., as the time and the Motions Room, City-County Building, Pittsburgh, PA, as the place for a hearing, when and where all persons may show cause, if any they have, why said name should not be changed as prayed for.

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Product/features not available in all states. Contact us for complete details about this insurance solicitation. To find a network provider, go to physiciansmutual.com/find-dentist. This specific offer not available in CO, NV, NY, VA – call 1-800-969-4781 or respond for a similar offer in your state. Certificate C254/B465, C250A/B438 (ID: C254ID; PA: C254PA); Insurance Policy P154/B469, P150/B439 (GA: P154GA; OK: P154OK; TN: P154TN).

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OFFICIAL ADVERTISEMENT

THE BOARD OF PUBLIC EDUCATION of the SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PITTSBURGH

ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS Sealed proposals shall be deposited at the Administration Building, Bellefield Entrance Lobby, 341 South Bellefield Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15213, on March 05, 2024, until 2:00 P.M., local prevailing time for:

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• Water Cooler Replacement Phase 7 • Plumbing and Electrical Primes

VARIOUS SCHOOLS

• EM Generator Maintenance Inspections • Electrical Primes Project Manual and Drawings will be available for purchase on February 12, 2024, at Modern Reproductions (412-488-7700), 127 McKean Street, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15219 between 9:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. The cost of the Project Manual Documents is non-refundable. Project details and dates are described in each project manual.

We are an equal rights and opportunity school district.

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SAVE YOUR HOME! Are you behind paying your MORTGAGE? Denied a Loan Modification? Is the bank threatening foreclosure? CALL Homeowners Relief Line NOW for Help 1-855-4395853 Mon-Fri : 8:00 am to 8:00 pm Sat: 8:00 am to 1:00 pm(all times Pacific) (AAN CAN)

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LEGAL NOTICE

ESTATE NOTICE

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Letters of Administration in the Estate of Charles L. Clark, late of the City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, who died on January 2, 2020, have been granted to Pamela Lawton-Clark, Administratrix. All persons indebted to said Estate are requested to make payment and those having claims or demands are requested to present the same without delay to: David E. Schwager, Esquire 183 Market Street Suite 100 Kingston, PA 18704-5444

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Letters of Administration in the Estate of Brenda Souaiby, late of the City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, who died on November 29, 2018, have been granted to James B. Ballew, Administrator. All persons indebted to said Estate are requested to make payment and those having claims or demands are requested to present the same without delay to: David E. Schwager, Esquire 183 Market Street Suite 100 Kingston, PA 187045444

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Letters of Administration in the Estate of Walter J. Tavis, Jr., late of the Township of Baldwin, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, who died on March 2, 2019, have been granted to Shelley Inez Tavis, Administratrix. All persons indebted to said Estate are requested to make payment and those having claims or demands are requested to present the same without delay to: David E. Schwager, Esquire 183 Market Street Suite 100 Kingston, PA 187045444

To whom it may concern this is legal/lawful notice That TORRELL LAMONT JONES and all derivatives Of Trade-name/Trademark is copyrighted. This is public notice and I can be contacted at Email: Torrell.jones068@gmail.com Number:4124980018

PUBLIC NOTICE

ACROSS

1. Strip in a sammie 6. Preceded 11. With 52-Across, mic check phrase 14. Rub the wrong way 15. Broadway star Menzel 16. Member of a skulk 17. What one does for ice cream, in a saying + FOUR = 19. “___ effect” (raising of forensic science due to pop culture) 20. They assign G’s and R’s 21. What a firewalker might step on 23. Zonked out 26. ___ vivant (pleasure seeker) 27. Hold the throne 28. 1990’s post-punk band with the classic album “Spiderland” 29. Hit the treadmill 30. Denim worn in the summer 31. Miso soup protein 32. Burning activity? 34. Award for Damon Albarn: Abbr. 35. What you should to each of the theme answers formulas to get their answers 36. I as in Intro

to Psychology 39. Questionably named 41. From the top 42. All grown up 44. Raging hot 45. Identical twin 46. Deal with 47. Something to shoot for 48. Gave, as a shock 49. Leaves, as an unwanted responsibility 51. A lot 52. See 11-Across 53. Ophelia’s brother in Hamlet + FOUR = 58. The Storting’s nat. 59. Green grunts in fairy tales 60. Area 51 being 61. Make a choice 62. Formal dress shoes 63. Hemorrhage

DOWN

1. Dating letters 2. [finger snap, points upward] 3. It’s always tired 4. Like special orders? 5. Virtual dog, say 6. Capital served by Jorge Chávez International Airport 7. Temple address part 8. Brought

shame upon 9. Dues collector 10. Agreement 11. SNL’s driving cat + FOUR = 12. Margarita request 13. People kicked out of their country 18. Ice Spice song 22. Swamp creature 23. Regarding 24. Mess maker 25. Painting technique using lots of dots + FOUR = 26. One taking thing the wrong way 29. “Why don’t you act your age!” 30. Comic Gaffigan 32. Navarro of The View

33. Ill-behaved 35. Partake in play time? 37. Hereditary unit 38. Was obliged to 40. Cries during El Clásico 41. Everybody in the South 42. Check fig. 43. “___ (That Thing)” 45. Informal discussion 47. Ger rid of 48. Place for change 50. “But let’s consider,” initially 51. Forest carpet 54. Fish in unagi sushi 55. Create whoppers 56. Make sure 57. Where this clue is, appropriately LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS

A petition for Involuntary Transfer of Ownership of a Vehicle has been filed by Sayfatova, Sanam, Case No. GD-24-000319 for a 2016 Mazda Miata, Vin# JM1NDAB71G0117347. A hearing is scheduled on the 18th day of March, 2024, at 11:30 a.m. before the Civil Division Motions Judge of Allegheny County.

LEGAL NOTICE

DISTRICT COURT CLARK COUNTY, NEVADA CASE NO.: D-23-678339-D, DEPT: R Diana Kamami, Plaintiff, vs. Ronnie Garrett, Defendant. SUMMONS NOTICE! YOU HAVE BEEN SUED. THE COURT MAY DECIDE AGAINST YOU WITHOUT YOUR BEING HEARD UNLESS YOU RESPOND IN WRITING WITHIN 21 DAYS. READ THE INFORMATION BELOW CAREFULLY. To the Defendant named above: A civil complaint petition has been filed by the plaintiff against you for the relief as set forth in that document (see the complaint or petition). The object of this action is: Divorce. If you intend to defend this lawsuit, within 21 days after this summons is served on you (not counting the day of service), you must: 1. File with the Clerk of Court, whose address is shown below, a formal written answer to the complaint or petition. 2. Pay the required filing fee to the court, or file an Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis and request a waiver of the filing fee. 3. Serve a copy of your answer upon the Plaintiff whose name and address is shown below. If you fail to respond the Plaintiff can request your default. The court can then enter a judgement against you for the relief demanded in the complaint or petition. STEVEN D. GRIERSON, CLERK OF COURT, By: Amber-Leigh Otero, Deputy Clerk, Date 11/13/2023. Family Courts and Services Center, 601 North Pecos Road, Las Vegas, Nevada 89155, Issued on Behalf or Plaintiff: Diana Kamami, 1290 8236 W. Ocean Terrace Way, Las Vegas, NV 89128, In Proper Person. Published in Pittsburgh City Paper: Feb 14, 21, 28, March 6, 13, 2024.

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER FEBRUARY 14-21, 2024