From the Editor: A Fork in the Road

AngrySun

These days, I find myself wondering if those random Facebook "friends" in my feed who voted for Trump because their grocery bills were so expensive are feeling good about their votes right now. Not the raging, red-hat MAGA cult members, but just the casual Trump voter. You guys are cool with aligning ourselves with Russia and against the rest of the world? The vilification of federal employees? The guy who helps you get a replacement Social Security card or the therapist who serves disabled veterans with PTSD — they're public enemy number one all of a sudden? These federal employees are not just Democratic voters — the Trump administration is alienating their own constituents with these chainsaw cuts. This is the time for dissatisfied Republican voters to speak up. Because it is increasingly feeling like the checks and balances in place to protect the American people from this kind of takeover are not as strong as we thought they once were.

So where are we left? At a fork in the road, one could say.

One road leads to the destruction of a government that functions in service to its people. The other? Radical community building? Economic and labor withdrawal? A revolution? History has proven time and again that, despite so many attempts to repress it, the power ultimately lies with the people. And if we're going to have a revolution, we're going to need to eat (how about that segue?).

Our Food Issue is, among our writers and editors, always a favorite. A palate cleanser. A chance to support some local establishments and enjoy the pleasure of good company over a satisfying meal. And our Food Issue this month highlights that — we have our annual Can't Miss Dishes list of some off-the-beaten-path fare that we'd hate for you to miss out on. We've also done a local Food Fight, where our writers and editors go toe-to-toe in a favorite Erie food standoff (all for fun — we still all love each other, I assure you). And, food-wise, we're highlighting some of Erie's immigrant-run restaurants like Kang's Steak and Grill and our booming Mexican food scene, as well as a local bakery that is as focused on mutual aid and community building as they are on creating mouth-watering, flaky pastry.

Additionally, and still revolution-adjacent, we're introducing a new reporter in this issue. Alana Sabol has been a contributing writer for the Reader since 2023 and, due in large part to your support and subscriptions (check out the SUBSCRIBE link on our homepage to contribute), we've been able to hire her on part-time to expand the Reader's local news coverage. Alana will be attending and reporting on ALL City and County Council meetings as well as select special committee meetings, press conferences, public input sessions, and more. The Reader Beat (as we've dubbed it) will be constantly updated on our website and a monthly summary will appear in print (see within). This kind of local government reporting has effectively gone away in our community over the past decade or so and now, more than ever, it is important that the people of Erie stay informed about what's happening in our own backyard.

Supporting local journalism is paramount right now — the way people get their news will be increasingly railroaded, silenced, or skewed and, as you may have heard, the Erie Reader is Erie's ONLY local voice for arts, news, and culture. And while our content is and always will be free to read, it is not free to make. We deeply appreciate your support as we move down one of those forks in the road together.