Compared to last year, non-fatal shooting crimes were down in Pittsburgh, according to statistics released by the FBI this week. From January 2016 to August 2016, there were 25 less non-fatal shootings and about 70 less aggravated assaults with a firearm compared to the same time frame in 2015. (However, there were 44 homicides this year, up 10 from the same period in 2015.)

In a press conference on Sept. 30, Pittsburgh Police Chief Cameron McLay detailed how community-policing strategies, such as outreach, were effective in lowering these numbers. He said these strategies were  particularly effective in the North Side, given that many neighborhoods there saw significant reductions in violent crime.

“We were very targeted at those who were actually causing the violence,” said McLay. “Since most of the offenders there did not actually live there.” McLay said he wanted his officers to only target those committing the crimes. “I wanted to convey [to residents] that ‘We care about you, we love you, we don’t want you to fall victim to violence.’ That is why outreach is important.”

McLay also explained how in the East End, his officers have worked with the Pittsburgh chapter of Men Against Destruction-Defending Against Drugs and Social-Disorder (MAD DADS) over the last year. He said the work has reduced violent activity in East Liberty and Homewood. “We have seen a dramatic decrease in [complaints] in the East Liberty business district,” said McLay. “In the Homewood business district, businesses have reported less loitering and people are feeling safer.”

McLay said the working relationship with the volunteers at MAD DADS helps to increase communication with the community because “some people are not comfortable talking to the police.”

But McLay says there are still many problems to address. Violence rates are still disproportionately higher among blacks, particularly young black men. And McLay says his department will be paying special attention to Downtown, particularly the area around the Wood Street T Station, which has seen a flurry of criminal activity.

Over, McLay said he will continue to institute community-policing strategies and rejects the notion the department needs to be “tough on crime.” He points to the work with MAD DADS in the East End as proof, as crime rates have dropped there.

‘Community policing is crime prevention,” said McLay. “It reduces crime. It is not just a feel-good strategy.”

Under gray skies, a picket line of yellow-shirted Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra musicians and their supporters circled Heinz Hall this morning to demand a new contract after negotiations between labor and management fell apart the night before.

Picketers held signs reading “On Strike” beneath a stylized Pittsburgh skyline bearing the word “Musicians” — though one placard asked “What would Beethoven do?” The group included every member of the 99-strong orchestra who was in town, plus a few patrons, fellow musicians and sympathetic workers, all protesting a 15 percent pay cut, limits on new hiring and a freeze in the musicians' pensions.

Those cuts had been part of what Michah Howard, a double bass player in the orchestra as well as the chairman of the orchestra’s negotiating committee, labels the symphony’s “last, best and final offer.”

“These draconian cuts will change this orchestra forever,” Howard says, worrying that lowering the labor standard could harm the orchestra’s ability to attract and keep talent. “We want a fair contract that will ensure the excellence of our institution.”

In a press release, Melia Tourangeau, the PSO's president and CEO, defended the cuts as necessary for the long-term survival of the orchestra.

“Our most immediate challenge is that the runway is extremely short to address key financial circumstances,” Tourangeau said. “Which is why we need the musicians of the PSO to participate in the solution.”

Those “financial circumstances” include a $1.5 million budget deficit this year, as well as $11 million in existing debt.

Howard counters that he brought in independent actuaries to look over the orchestra's financials and says they're not as bleak as management says. He also notes that according to the PSO's own press release, ticket sales are 4 percent higher than expected.

“Most symphonies survive without balancing the budget year after year after year,” Howard said. “The financial situation is not as bleak as [the Symphony is] saying.”

The performers are members of Local 60-471 of the American Federation of Musicians, which covers all of Pittsburgh’s professional instrumentalists, accompanists, and troubadours. They have been negotiating with the PSO since February. After management presented its final offer, on Sept. 18, Howard and the musicians' negotiating committee brought in federal mediation, but no agreement could be brokered.

After a final round of negotiations Thursday, Howard says, it “became very clear” that the union had already received the PSO's final offer. So they decided to strike for only the second time in the orchestra's 121-year history. The last time was in 1975.

“We have real resolve [and] we do not take this lightly,” Howard says of the walk-out. The symphony members planned to keep striking until a “fair contract” is reached.

The work stoppage also forced the cancellation of a planned performance of “PNC Pops: The Music of John Williams” over the weekend. In its stead, a chorus of sympathy honks filled the street as the protesters, some in jackets, braved the first autumn chill.

The canceled performances didn’t bother Alice Gelormino, a Shady Side resident and symphony patron who’s moved from “the peanut gallery to the left box.” She heard about the strike while in a German class, and immediately cut out and headed Downtown to join the picket line.

Standing in the shadow of Heinz’s Hall’s marquee, Gelormino grasped a sign reading “I support PSO musicians.” While aware of the financial difficulties facing the orchestra, Gelormino, who is herself a donor, says there is no excuse for the proposed cuts.

“I think [the musicians] deserve a fair and just wage,” Gelormino says. “We’re a growing city with a lot of support for the arts. [The symphony] has to be creative to find the means and ways to fund it.”

Pittsburgh's long-lasting love affair with the walking dead continued this week as the undead convened on Federal Street for a costume contest during the Pittsburgh Pirates' Zombie Night at PNC Park.

Contestants of all ages donned face paint and went before judges with their best zombie impressions. Mike Wenzel won first place with a blood-splattered shirt and a baseball embedded into his forehead. Coming in second was Lonnie Phillips, an undead pirate wearing a bird on her shoulder. Tied for third were Madison and Sawyer Ketchum, two adorable zombie kids also struck by baseballs. And coming in fifth was Deanne Myres, a zombie mother holding an undead baby.

Check out our photo slideshow from the event below. If you dare.

Yesterday evening, the boards of two of Pittsburgh's animal shelters voted to merge into one. The coupling of the Western PA Humane Society and the Animal Rescue League and Wildlife Center will take effect at the start of the new year in January. 

“Over the years, the Animal Rescue League and Wildlife Center and the Western PA Humane Society have become more alike with regard to philosophies on animal welfare and the programs and services we offer,” Joseph Vater, Animal Rescue League board president, said in a statement. “A merged organization will provide greater [efficiency] in animal-care processes, staff training and bringing best practices to one organization. We will be able to save more animals and serve more animals.”

Both shelters have an open-door policy which means no animal is ever refused. However, the shelters are not no-kill shelters and do euthanize animals for health reasons or because of an animal's temperament.

“Our two organizations have a long history of collaboration,” Humane Society board president David Grubman said in a statement. “Now, by building on the strengths of each group, we will create a singular, more powerful voice that will enhance our outreach to the Western Pennsylvania region. It will be beneficial to adoptions, animal care, animal control and fundraising.”


According to the shelters, both locations — the Humane Society, on the North Side and Animal Rescue League, in the East End — will remain open, and as of now, staff will not be cut. ARL Executive Director Dan Rossi will be the CEO of the merged organization, and Humane Society Managing Director Hala Nuemah will become chief administrative officer of the new organization. Grubman will serve as president of the new board.

“We have a lot of details to work out,” says Rossi, “but we will be launching this new organization with a talented, compassionate staff and a phenomenal group of volunteers. We’re excited about the expanded capacity and potential and the broad array of programs and services that will be under one organizational umbrella.”

Allison Crutchfield is stepping back into the spotlight. As a co-founding member of Swearin’ and P.S. Elliot, she’s spent much of her life making music alongside friends and her sister Katie Crutchfield, of Waxahatchee. In 2014, she released Lean Into It, a seven-track EP that marked the beginning of her solo project. This year she returned to that project, signing with Merge Records, which will release her debut full-length next year. In the meantime, fans can get a sneak peek at that record as Crutchfield hits the road with her backing band, The Fizz. The tour will carry her through much of the United States, including an Oct. 2 stop at Cattivo. Ahead of the Pittsburgh stop, Crutchfield talked to CP by phone about the Merge signing, recording the new album and making time for music.

It was announced that you signed with Merge this year. That must be really exciting. How does it feel to be a part of that label? And was that something you ever imagined when starting out?
I mean, it feels incredible. At the risk of sounding so trite and cheesy, signing with a label like Merge was a literal, like, stare-out-the-window-during-geometry-class daydream fantasy for me, always, and the fact that it’s happening and that, bonus, they’re the greatest people, is just really wonderful. I feel really lucky and grateful.

What was the recording process like for the forthcoming album? What kind of material can fans expect and how might it differ from your EP?
The album is already finished and the recording process was kind of an amazing breeze. I feel like I’m generally an over-preparer when it comes to recording, and so to be working with someone new — the very talented [engineer/producer] Jeff Zeigler — and making my first solo album, it was pretty much ready when we walked into the studio. That left us with lots of time to add overdubs and harmonies, and to just really hone in and focus on what we were doing. I feel like the album is thematically an extension of the EP, but sonically is much more expansive.

Did any of the previous work you did with Swearin' or P.S. Eliot influence this recording?
Sort of. Every other band I’ve been in has revolved in some way around a very close relationship, and that dynamic has been the main creative driving force. So this project kind of finds me without that; I’m motivated by something different, and finding the motivation is a new experience for me.

You're touring with your band, The Fizz. Who are some of the members and how does the band help to bring your songs to life for a live audience? Will you be performing any new songs live?
Right now we’re kind of a power trio, which I’m super into. I play synth and guitar, Sam Cook-Parrott plays bass and Catherine Elicson plays drums. I really love being in a rock band, and I think we play these sad synthy pop songs like a rock band. We’re definitely playing a chunk of the new songs on this tour.

You're also part of your sister's live band for Waxahatchee, so it would seem like you’re often on the road. Do you enjoy touring and how do you balance life on the road with creating new material?
I have my moments where I really love being on the road, and I’m so thankful that I get to travel so much and play music, but I’m also such a creature of habit, so sometimes being on tour can be a challenge for me. I do enjoy it a lot of the time, though. I feel like I find balance by allowing myself to take breaks; putting pressure on myself to write is the absolute worst thing I can do to actually make songs I care about. Usually by the time I’m feeling like writing again, I’m so ready and it’s all easily accessible in my brain.

ALLISON CRUTCHFIELD & THE FIZZ, SPACE BUNS FOREVER, RUE 7 p.m. Sun., Oct. 2. Cattivo, 146 44th St., Lawrenceville. $10-12. 412-687-2157 or www.druskyentertainment.com

Anti-fracking advocates and environmentalists rejoice, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court just issued you a win.

On Sept. 28, in the state Supreme Court case of Robinson Township v. Commonwealth, judges struck down many provisions of Pennsylvania’s oil and gas law, Act 13. The law passed in 2012, during Gov. Tom Corbett’s administration, and established regulations and zoning rules on natural-gas drilling. But some rules drew ire from environmentalists, and the recent state Supreme Court ruling addresses some of them.

Drillers are no longer permitted to use eminent domain to seize private, subsurface land for storage of natural gas; private wells must now disclose hazardous spills; and doctors are now allowed to inform patients of side effects associated with fracking sites, overturning the "doctor gag order."

“The Supreme Court’s ruling will restore to all Pennsylvanians the power to regulate natural gas fracking in their own communities as they see fit,” wrote state Sen. Daylin Leach (D-Montgomery County) in a press release. “It lifts the senseless and unconstitutional restriction on physicians that barred them from discussing how proprietary fracking chemicals may be affecting patients’ health.”

Before the court decision, frackers didn’t have to disclose all the chemicals they used in their drilling process (chemicals that could make their way into groundwater). Doctors could gain access to a list of the chemicals only if they signed a confidentiality agreement preventing them from telling their patients. Fracking companies claimed that revealing all the chemicals would tip off competitors to their methods.

This led politicians including Leach to promote bills that would force frackers to publicly disclose all their chemicals. But those efforts were held up in committee, and never saw votes. State Rep. Dan Frankel (D-Squirrel Hill) was among those who attempted to pass such legislation. He praised the court’s ruling in a statement made on Sept. 28.

"The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has protected patients and doctors by striking down the gag rule in Act 13,” wrote Frankel. "Patients trust that their doctor is telling them the truth, the whole truth, and that their health is the doctor’s primary concern. We should protect that trust.”

The fracking industry was not as thrilled with the decision.

“We’re disappointed in aspects of the court’s ruling,” wrote David Spigelmyer, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, in a Sept. 28 statement. “[It] will make investing and growing jobs in the Commonwealth more — not less — difficult without realizing any environmental or public safety benefits.”

For months, since the culmination of the presidential primary election, polls have indicated Americans aren't too thrilled about their choices for president: Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump.

In the Republican primary, the American people cast votes for twelve different candidates. And while Trump came out the winner, there are many Republicans so against him, they're switching parties.

Many Democrats were pulling for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a candidate they say would've shaken up Washington with his liberal ideas. Now many say they'll throw their vote to a third-party candidate or simply won't vote at all. 

 "A lot of my peers feel like Hillary is the lesser of two evils," says Ebe Ewere, a college student who attended a Clinton rally today. "We have to get them to see the long-term effects of voting and the long-term effects of not voting."

In light of the country's collective state of ennui, Clinton and Trump's campaigns are now tasked with getting their bases excited about the November election to ensure more people make it to the polls to cast votes in their favor. And at an event at the University of Pittsburgh today, First Lady Michelle Obama focused on doing just that.

"When people say they're not excited about this election, I have to disagree," Obama said. "There has never been a candidate more qualified to be president than Hillary Clinton." 

As she has done often throughout this election cycle, Obama criticized Trump without actually mentioning him by name. But her speech was filled with highlights from this week's presidential debate, including Trump's comments about having a good temperament 

"When making life or death decisions, you can't just pop off," Obama said. "Being president isn't anything like reality TV. It's not an apprenticeship."

But Obama's speech wasn't all clever comments about Trump's reality television show, The Apprentice. Obama also cited statistics from her husband's first election, that demonstrate the power of each individual voter. According to Obama, the number of votes her husband won Pennsylvania by, can be divided to equal 17 votes per precinct.

And that's why Clinton supporters are working hard to register voters. 

"I'm going door to door. We've been registering people and I'm going out this Saturday too," says Donna Nelson of Penn Hills. "When we saw people who weren't registered we said to them, 'do you see what's going on with Trump? Do you want this?' Donald Trump is racist. He is a disgrace and he is ignorant."

"We've been getting out registering people. The next step is calling Democrats to make sure they come out," says Sharon Ricketts of Monroeville. "Whatever we need to do, we need to do it."

Every Wednesday, we make a Spotify playlist containing tracks from artists mentioned in the current music section. Grab a paper and listen along:

Sjón, a novelist, poet and playwright known for working with fellow Icelander Björk, reads tomorrow as part of City of Asylum’s Jazz Poetry Month.

Sjón is an award-winning writer whose novels include The Whispering Muse, The Blue Fox and From the Mouth of the Whale; his books have been translated into 35 languages. His latest novel is Moonstone, released in August by FSG.

His history of collaborations with Björk include his lyrics for the 2000 Lars Von Trier film Dancer in the Dark.

Sjón reads at the City of Asylum tent, on the North Side, at Thu., Sept. 29, at 7:45 p.m. Admission is free but reservations are recommended here.

And FYI, this week’s Jazz Poetry Month performances conclude with two nights of shows by acclaimed European jazz musicians making their U.S. debuts.

Russian saxophonist Alexey Kruglov and Estonian guitarist Jaak Sooäär’s trio will perform at the COAP tent on both Friday and Saturday. They’ll be joined between sets and for jazz-poetry collaborations by poets Ediwah Adler-Belendez, of Mexico, and Lithuania-born, Pittsburgh-based Rita Malikonyte Mockus.

Those shows are at 8 p.m. nightly this Friday and Saturday. RSVP here for Friday and here for Saturday.

The City of Asylum tent is located at 318 Sampsonia Way.

It’s National Voter Registration Day, and there are just two weeks before Pennsylvania's voter-registration deadline on Oct. 11. (For those not registered and interested in voting in this year’s general election on Nov. 8, visit the state’s voter-registration website by Oct. 11.)

Many pundits, politicians, bar-goers, bus riders and just about everyone has said this is one of the most important presidential elections ever. The two presidential nominees, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, squared off last night in New York state for their first debate, and portrayed two starkly different assessments of the state of the U.S and the world beyond.

Clinton portrayed mostly positivity and said the country needs to follow in the steps of President Barack Obama; she advocated for increasing taxes on the very wealthy and providing debt-free college for students. She also attacked Trump directly quite a bit. Trump painted a bleaker picture, saying the U.S. had many problems that required a strong leader to tackle, including mentioning at least a dozen times that many cities needed more “law and order.”  

Pennsylvania voters also have some big statewide decisions to cast votes for, including who will be the next state Attorney General and U.S. Senator. Heck, there's even an opportunity for a new state Speaker of the House, for anyone upset with current Speaker Mike Turzai. Not to mention a bunch other state legislators up for election.

With all this commotion over the 2016 election, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald is requesting volunteers to staff county election booths on the big day. “The heaviest-trafficked election is always the presidential election,” said Fitzgerald in a sit-down with City Paper last week.

Fitzgerald expects popular polling spots to have very long lines, and he doesn’t want wait times to deter anyone from voting.

“We want everybody to vote,” said Fitzgerald. “Participation in democracy is a very positive thing, and hopefully if we have enough workers at all the different polling places, then lines [shouldn’t] back up. Presidential years, that is when everyone shows up.”

Those interested in volunteering can visit the county’s website at alleghenycounty.us. Volunteers are paid about $100 for their day of service.