I think my daughter bought me one of those electronic information pads.And I've been, well, I'm computer illiterate.I mean, I understand computers and stuff like that, but oh my God.
I don't, I don't understand these goddamn computers. My nephew got that thing, it talks back to you.I mean, I can't believe it.
Yeah, I talked to Alexa.I talked to Alexa, yeah.
I can't believe how they did that.And I'll tell you, another 20 years, we won't be here, but it's gonna be more advanced.How?I don't know, but it is.I say transportation in the future is gonna be in the air. I mean, not these big plains.
You're going to have like a little plain of your own somehow.I don't know how, but it will be in the air.That's why I predict that.I won't be here to see it.
The roads, the landslides, the bridges.
Too many cars on the road now.Too damn many of them.Buses, trucks.They're tearing up these roads.
Honey, it's manja time for me.I better beat up my daughters.
We don't go out today.Today's eating.She has got to cook.Wednesday is eat out night for her.And then sometimes if she don't want to cook, Thursday.And then Friday I'm on my own.Saturday I'm on my own.Then she cooks on Sunday.
I'm Jean-Marie Laskas, and this is Cement City.Chapter 6.The Island of Dinara.
Yeah.Feels a little gross to me.The coffee?No, just bringing any food and... You have plants?
Aron and I are down at the sewage plant.We're here for our tour.Yancy Taylor set it up for us.He's meeting us here.We're supposed to meet Tom here.He told us to ask for Tom.Great, thanks.
Wait a minute, I'm not allowed to be recorded.
Oh, you're not allowed to.No, I'm just kidding.I'm just kidding.Oh, man.Hi, Jim Ray.
Nice to meet you.I've never been recorded before.
Oh, you don't need to worry about it.I'm not worried about it.Talk as you would.
Let me find a couple of...
Look at those shirts.Where do we get one of those shirts?
So this guy, Tom, is the big boss at the sewage plant.Although I guess technically Yancey's his boss.He's on the board.I'm not sure what Tom thinks we're here for exactly.What Yancey told him about us.What's our angle on sewage?
You know what I'm saying?Yeah.So, but you know, that tour and Yun's was probably the first ones, again, to be given here that weren't in this field.
Oh, really?Yes.So what grade was it that came?Apparently, we're only the second tour group Tom's ever had.He's clearly not quite sure what to do with us.But the truth is, I'm not quite sure what to do with this either.
Because we scheduled this tour with basically one goal in mind, to spend some time with Yancey.Yancey's become a point of fascination for us, especially since his indictment.I mean, we were already interested in him.
Hell, I had him pegged for mayor someday. But now, I don't know what's going on.We're just trying to figure this guy out.And this is the opportunity that presented itself.We're back in Tom's office, making small talk, waiting for Yancey.
It's cozy in here, like your dad's den, with the chestnut wood paneling and the Salmon Derby posters. You get the sense that Tom's really settled in here.There's a stuffed trophy fish on the wall behind his desk.And the head of a buck.
It's got a friendly face.Kind of like Tom's, actually.
— Now, tell me— — Go ahead, what do you want to know?— Can you tell me just a little bit about you and how long you've been here?
— Okay, I started somewhere in the neighborhood of 1980 as a part-time employee.I lost my job in a steel mill with everybody else.
— What did you do at first?
— Here?— Mm-hmm.— Clean commodes. Started on midnight shift doing janitorial work.Back then, nobody wanted to work at a sewage treatment plant.That wasn't your dream job, you know what I'm saying?
And I'm not sure it's still my dream job, but it raised a family and put two kids through college, which I'm very proud of. You know, it is what it is.
So you had a part-time job cleaning toilets at a sewage plant.I love a good origin story.Someone starting at the bottom, working their way up.But I'm finding this one particularly satisfying.It's just so literally at the bottom.
I mean, cleaning toilets at a sewage plant.It's also, if you think about it, kind of meta.Even the fact that there are toilets at a sewage plant is kind of blowing my mind. I'm just so enamored with this detail.
— Born and raised in Manasseh.
— Well, the whole thing, frankly.
— I'm a triplet.— Really?— Yes.
— We're standing here talking about Tom's two identical brothers, and his two older sisters, and his dad's job at the telephone company.I can feel him starting to get antsy.Pretty soon, it's quarter past 10, and Yancey's still not here.
So I decide to get started without him.— So when they say sewage treatment plant, what are you treating?
A short version of what we do here is we take the human biosolids, that's the new word for it now, it's called biosolids, the crap, okay, we take it out of the water, okay, and basically what we do is... Tom starts explaining how it all works.
The difference between an aerobic system and an anaerobic system.He seems to be giving us the 7th grade version, which I appreciate.
— How about, then, volume?
— As soon as I ask this question, I start to regret it.No one wants to think about volume.Aaron's giving me a look.But Tom doesn't hesitate.
He's on to the combined stormwater system and the three-phase long-term control plan, which is great because it eventually gets us to the economics of sewage and the declining population, which is all connected.I've never considered this before.
A dying town means a lot of things, but I guess it also means less crap going down the toilet.
has our number of customer base dropped significantly.The only things left in these two towns now are old people.There's nothing to keep our children here.There's no There's no factories to give them jobs.There's nothing to keep them here.
You know what I'm saying?It's sad.You know, I have two kids, you know?And I asked them both, if they're smart, leave, you know?There's nothing to keep them here.You know what I'm saying?There's no jobs and drugs.Drugs is killing these communities.
Do you think there's a way to bring these communities back?Like what's the answer?
I don't know what the answer is.Honestly, I don't.The heroin epidemic and I know that's that's the top of everybody's conversation.There got to be some way for law enforcement to stop it.
Yeah, that's rough.That's rough.Excuse me.
I just seen too many kids.They're dying. Some of them that you know?Mm-hmm.Sure.You have a girl who grew up in my house with my daughter, Kristen.Love her to death.My daughter went to college, and she stayed in Monesson and started messing with dope.
That's what happened.She did dope.They dropped her off on her mother's porch, as sad as that story is, and died.Sad.Sad.
on her mother's porch.She died on her mother's porch.
Tom's got his glasses off.He's wiping his eyes.I'm not sure what just happened.
This is not where I thought we were headed a half hour ago, when I walked through the door with my coffee, admiring the potted plants and making stupid jokes about winning a T-shirt.
It's certainly not where I thought we were headed when I asked about volume.I'm standing in a room filled with taxidermy trophies at a sewage plant and just watching this guy cry.
It's not just another name you see in the newspaper.It's people you know now, you know?Every day, every week we hear of someone in our town dying of freaking heroin overdose, you know?It's just, it's just, but they gotta do something, you know?
But let's change the subject, please.Okay?Of course.Let's go across the hall.
This office is so nice.We just remodeled it.Who's in charge of these plants out here?
OK, this is our conference room.
Tom walks us into the conference room and shows us diagrams of all the tanks and flow valves and equipment upgrades.
And I don't know the precise moment it hits me, but somewhere between the contact stabilization tanks and the sludge thickener, it becomes very clear.Yancey Taylor is not going to show.Part of me wonders if he ever planned on coming.
And actually, I'm pretty sure I just walked by out there.We are processing today, so you will be able to see us process sludge today.
You haven't mentioned the aerobic digester tanks?Come on, we're outside.
So thus, we commence with our accidental tour of the Mon Valley Sewage Authority sewage treatment facility.
Okay, now what are we looking at?
These here are the three The flow comes in here.It's an extensive tour.That's just one of our tanks.This is a sludge thickener.This is just where our, you can see the brown color.Now what's all this gurgling going on?
That's, we have a sludge storage building, or it's biosol, it's how it's supposed to be called. Watch your step, that's all, please.That process there, it's the nastiest smelling.And I can't even get over that one.That's just brutal.
You can smell it now.It comes out of a huge cloth.Nasty.OK.Do you want to go upstairs and see what we have?
You know, I think my imagination will work on that one.That's up to you.Believe me, I'm OK with it.I want to know at what point, like you've worked here so long,
like a lot of it's there's some disgustingness right with the product and like at what point do you like get okay with that or just ignore it like was that quick or i don't know that quite honestly though
I don't know, I'm a guy, so do you wanna touch any of this?No, and that's just natural, okay?The hardest thing I had with was every three months, we go on shutoffs to shut people's water off that don't pay their sewage bill, okay?
And the only way we can control that is to shut off somebody's water, okay?The hardest thing it was for me was old people, Or seeing little kids at the screen door saying, Mommy, Daddy, what's he doing outside?
But that's the hardest thing I had to overcome here.And it sounds like nothing, but it's hard.
Yeah.But this here is the new technology.
Tom the sewage boss is wiping tears away for the second time today.He's trying to regain his composure, pulling off his aviator glasses and squinting into the sun. The other tour Tom gave six months ago was for a group of school kids from Ringgold.
When he mentioned it earlier, I was picturing kids.Like little kids touring the crayon factory with Mr. Rogers.But actually, they were high school juniors and seniors that came.Tom felt really good about this tour.It was important.
It wasn't so much about showing them what happens when they flush the toilet, where it all goes.What he really wanted to show the kids is that there are opportunities in this field.Jobs. This is something I hadn't considered before.
That the sewage plant is a source of employment.It's actually one of the few employers in this town.Tom's got 10 operators working full-time.
And something I'm just starting to understand, but that will really hit home later, is that these sewage jobs aren't just jobs.They're kind of the jobs.People fight over them. Back when Tom started, nobody wanted to work at a sewage plant.
Like he said, these weren't your dream jobs.And maybe they're still not.But they're jobs you can retire on.Jobs you can raise a family on.Maybe even put your kids through college.Put them in a position where they can leave.
And that's our Monongahela River. And it's amazing how much cleaner it has been in the 35 years that I've been here.It's nice to see.
Tom's standing with his fingers interlaced in the chain-link fence, gazing out across the river.It's a poignant image.It catches me off guard.A guy standing, looking out at his life's work, laid out in front of him.
A guy who got his start cleaning toilets.
All right, what else do you want to see?That's my three million gallon tank. You just don't want to walk up there, do you?
That is huge.It is huge.Wow.It was a huge project.Huge project.You know?If you just want to walk up it, I'll be more than happy to take you and zop it.But that's your call.You know?It doesn't stink.You know?Alright.I'm going first?
Yeah, we're following you.Okay.
Tom's leading us up the metal stairs that wrap around his prized tank.
Such a big tank, especially up close.
It's a lot of stairs to climb.Erin's right on Tom's tail, struggling to keep up.I'm bringing up the rear, white-knuckling the handrail.
As we curve around the far side of the tank, I can see out across the industrial part, where the steel mill used to be.The new plastic lid factory is right below us.It's up and running now.I guess they've hired people for those 88 new jobs.
Except we don't know a single person who got one.Everyone who works there commutes.That's what people are saying.They all live out of town.They don't even have to drive through town to get to work.
I imagine it's the same thing with all the little places down in there, whatever they are.There's a lot of demand for jobs around here, in the whole region.It's not just Donora.And I guess the people who get those jobs don't want to live here.
So cool.Okay, that's Manessan right there, right?
And what is that right down there?
— Where the flame is, it's called the coke plant.— We're four stories up, standing on the catwalk at the rim of the tank.Tom's pointing out across the river, at Manessin, the town where he grew up.It also used to have a steel mill.
The only thing left there now is the coke plant.You can see the flare stack burning.It's always burning.Like the eternal flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
— On the other side was the finishing end of the steel mill.
Tom's walking Aaron through the whole saga of what used to be where and what closed down and when.And I'm just taking in the view from up here.I've never seen Donora from above.The topography alone is really striking.
It's like you can see the whole story in a nutshell.The way Donora is formed by the horseshoe curve in the river.How it juts out, almost like a growth.It's dramatic.The town's surrounded by water on three sides.It's practically an island.
People have told us this, but it's another thing to see it. The only thing connecting Denoir to anything is the stand-the-man-musual bridge in Domineson.It was built in the 70s.People here call it the New Bridge, but it's the only bridge now.
They used to have another bridge, the historic Denoir-Webster Bridge, on the other side of town, where the zinc works used to be.They lost that bridge.The state let it slowly crumble, and then they tore it down.
That was just before Aaron and I got here.We never got to see the bridge.But there are framed pictures of it all over the walls at Duke's Cafe.It's on the front of their menu.People still talk about the bridge.How beautiful it was.
The dramatic trusses.The distinctive sound the steel grates made as the cars drove across. It wasn't like a major thoroughfare, but the bridge was a lifeline to the outside world.
A little reason some people might find themselves stumbling through town instead of around it.More than anything, it was a symbolic loss.I mean, people used to get married on that bridge.The way they talk about it, it was like losing a limb.
I see a lot from up here.
Thanks for bringing us up here, I love it.You're welcome. On the way back to the lobby, I find myself thinking back to Yancey.He's the only reason we came here in the first place.Yancey's on the board here.But of course, he's also in the newspaper.
I'm curious what Tom makes of it all, so I ask him about it.And his response is kind and generous.Kind of like Tom, actually.Yancey's always been good to him and to his family.We all make mistakes, if he did make one.And anyway, who is he to judge?
All I ask you to do is please wash your hands.
For the past three seasons of Gone South, we've covered one story per season.We tried to figure out who killed Margaret Coon.
She told me, I'm going to kill you.I said, well, do it, bitch.Go ahead and do it.
We delved into the violent world of the Dixie Mafia.
I'm an outlaw, and I was a thief, but I'm far from being the psychotic nutcase that I've been made out to be.
And we tracked a serial killer in Laredo, Texas.Now, Gone South is back for a fourth season.But this time, we're doing things a little differently. So in Gone South season four, we'll be bringing you new stories every week with no end in sight.
I'm Jed Lipinski.Welcome back to Gone South, an Odyssey original podcast.Listen and follow now on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts for new episodes every week.
Hi.There's a lady up here.Up on the window?On the porch here.Oh, hey there.
Erin and I are downtown.We're just coming out of a lamb roast at St.Dominic's Men's Club, headed to our car, when we notice this woman up on a balcony having a smoke and staring at us.
You've lived here long?I just moved here.Oh.Yeah, I'm not from here.I mean, I just moved in maybe two weeks now.
Oh, wow.What brings you here?
Friends.I like being in a quiet, you know, nice neighborhood.
So this is MC.She just moved here.Which makes her automatically interesting.Most of the people we know here are lifers, born and raised in Donora.You don't really hear about people moving into town.
It's the kind of place that's known for people leaving.
How do you like it in Donora?
I love the kids.It's quiet.But there ain't nothing.Nothing's open.You can't find the rest of the community.But, hey, it's quiet. But the kids alone are worth it.
The kids alone are worth it?
Yeah, they are.They need help, you know what I mean?Especially, like I said, some of them, a lot of these kids belong to... Hey, baby.Hey, Evie!How are you?Good.We're playing a game.Where's the rest of my brat?
We're running around trying to hide from Jacob.He's it.We're playing hide and seek.Hi, Evie.So what'd we learn today?Anything in French?Bonjour, oui, oui. That's the only thing I know.Did you learn any more clouds?
Dang it, we just lined up a couple days ago.I just gave you that a couple days ago.Now you should know it.Come on, come on.I'm coming.
She's our second mother.We knew her like a long time.
It's Kitty from the Pretzel Gang, throwing me the inside out pants.Her shoes are untied.It seems like Kitty's shoes are always untied.The other kids are out here too.
They're popping out of stairwells and from behind dumpsters, like the munchkins in Munchkinland.They're charging at the block.All of them except Jacob, who's apparently it.He's still roaming the alleys looking for them.
Give me a hug.Hold on.That's a time out right here.Back it up.Back down them steps.Come here.
Now you gotta learn to the clowns.What are they?
That's Katie's big sister Nivea.She's sitting down next to MC on the steps.
— You did this, how many days ago?Three days ago?
— She's staring up at the sky.Jacob's trudging toward us, like a soldier coming home from the front.We've run into these kids a few times down here.It hasn't been that long since we last saw them.But you can tell the novelty's worn off.
Erin and I are old news.It's like suddenly there's a new circus in town.A newcomer, who's even newer here than we are.
This is my favorite cloud.Do you want to know why?
Because it reflects the sun.
No, that's not why.What do you see in them clouds?What can you see if you look up into the clouds?
No, pictures of... If you look up into the clouds, there you go.And what else? There you go!You guys are on!
MC's in her socks, sitting on the top step.She's wearing a white tank top and jeans.She looks tired.Not sleepy, just tired.
The kids are huddled in around her, squeezed into the stairwell, leaning on each other, knees and elbows hanging off the handrail.And MC's just sitting here, smiling.Like maybe these kids are the best part of her day.
Now, everybody.Hola.Hola.Como estas?Como estas?Bien.Bien.Bien.Bien.That means hello.How are you?Fine.I just want to be taught, like, sign language.
Hey, look, there's Ed and Dylan.
Okay.You want to learn the basic alphabet and sign language?
Here's Ed.Because Kitty likes to tell my business.I thought you wanted to learn.
N-I-V-E.Sup, Ed?Kitty, wait.
N-I-V-E. Maybe you like to ed.That's why this is why I hate you.This is why he don't like you cuz you're weird and you like to be Nice neither one of you for real ready a B C
Emcee's forming the letters one by one, patiently, deliberately.The kids have gone quiet.They're into this.Repeating the letters, staring up at her, and then down at their fingers, twisting them into shapes.
It's amazing to see Kitty sitting so still.Erin and I are just standing back watching this from the outside.It feels kind of like watching a play, or like one of those heroic teacher movies.Dead Poets Society, or Dangerous Minds.
The way MC is with these kids, it's easy to forget she's only been here a couple weeks.They seem so bonded.She's their second mother.And I just keep thinking, who is this woman?What is she doing here?
Because seriously, this town isn't exactly an obvious place to land. We stand here for a while, watching this little group.The Pretzel Gang and the Cloud Lady.
They're all laughing, speaking terrible Spanish, trying to spell their names with their hands.At some point, MC pulls out her phone and brings up pictures.Of cumulus clouds.And cirrus.And stratus.Then it's airplanes.
Big military airplanes, flying through the sky.
Look, here's where they're going up in the air.See that?Holy crap!Isn't that neat, guys?I'm going to have some pictures sent to them up there of the Navy ships.You would not believe it's like a whole block.
I don't want to go in the military or the Navy.I keep telling my mom that.She said, I'm not going to let you.
You've got to have.She said, I'm not going to let you.
But guess what you've got to have in order to get into the military?
Good grades.You've got to have no record.
I'm not gonna have a record.
Once you get into the high school though, you better be careful.I only had one fight.But listen, hold on guys.Just because after your juvenile record, they can't hold that against you, but guess what?They look at it.
Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
So you can't always go by, oh they're not gonna know because I was a juvenile.Shit. Let's be real.They're going to know.Because they're going to look.It's police.I mean, they can tell if people can.You wouldn't be a scientist.
I wanted to be a scientist, and then I wanted to be an astronomer, because astronomers look at stars.Then you have to be good at math, and I'm terrible at math.And then I said I wanted to be a counselor, because I feel like I'm good with my words.
What's your short-term goals?Do y'all know what those are?
This will go on for a while, MC asking questions, following their lead.It's the kind of conversation I wish I had more with my own kids.You know, not the homework or the dishes, but the big stuff.Jacob wants more followers for his YouTube channel.
Kitty wants to run track, like her mom, or play violin. Nivi wants her work permit.She's dying for it.All she needs is a ride up to the office to apply.But no one at home has a car.And as for MC, I don't know what she wants.The kids don't ask her.
Of course they don't.They're kids.But I'm curious.Like, does she have a job here?Or is she looking for one?And where would you even look?I have no idea.
I mean, honestly, when the best jobs in town are at the sewage plant, and there are only 10 of those, where does that leave you? They're the jobs everyone wants.The jobs you can raise a family on, retire on.
And you don't need a car to get to the sewage plant.
MC's standing up, stretching her back, getting ready to head inside.
She tells the kids to quit fighting by the dumpster.She can hear them. Then she gives them an assignment.She asks them to write an essay about their favorite cloud.
When's it due?Due by next weekend.Give me until next weekend.
Next weekend?Can you give me until Tuesday?
Because I'm not going to be in school on Tuesday.
I'm going to give you until next Saturday.Yes!Now, since I'm giving you until next Saturday, I want a page. Okay!Of your favorite cloud.Just one page.An essay?
Can it be any cloud, or does it have to be the column?Everyone needs to know.I have a spelling disability.
Your favorite cloud, and why it's your favorite.
You know what I mean.And there'll be a surprise for all y'all.
Oh, now I'm really getting done.I'm really doing it.I will be helping you.Ready, MC?
Ready, set, go.Go, go.Have fun.Who's it?You?Yeah, just me.
Jacob.I catch them all.How long do they get?A minute and a half.A minute and 30 seconds.And they're walking.This will take a while.Any questions you want to ask me?
Oh, well... Hey, you better find them.
Yeah, I think they start... Okay, I think I know where they went.
That woman, I mean... She's like this angel on the balcony.
Five days, two absent, motion passes.Pass to public safety. It's Thursday.
We're at a council meeting.The first official meeting since the big takeover.Gaby Zakel's president now.The former president, Denny, has been moved to Parks and Rec.Other than that, not much has changed.
We're at the end of the meeting.
It's been an especially boring one.The big news is about this other meeting that's coming up.Some kind of town hall meeting out in Monongahela, the next town over.There's a flyer being passed around.
It says, what can the Washington County Commissioners do for the Mon Valley?
to stand with me on Monday, down at the fire hall, and tell the county commissioners, we want this campus here in Denoir.
— So this meeting has something to do with the community college.I guess they need buy-in from these county commissioners.Donnie's pretty fired up about it.He's talking with his hands.Donnie's not a guy who talks with his hands.
I'm watching him try and rally the crowd from his little corner at the end of the platform.And it occurs to me, this is the first time I've ever heard anyone mention a community college in a council meeting.It feels kind of like a breakthrough.
So I'm begging everybody to be there.So this is going to be like you've seen on TV, the presidential town halls and the congressman and senator town hall.
Bless his heart, Donnie is not the most riveting public speaker, and he knows that.
I really hope people show up to this meeting.
And then this guy stands up.He's the last item on the agenda.A special guest speaker, Mr. Bud Cook, the state representative for Genoa.He's walking up to the podium in a suit, clutching a big binder.
Mr. President, Mr. Mayor, Council, I want to thank you for this opportunity.The Rails to Trails grant.
— And he's here to talk about the bike trail.I feel a facial tic coming on.The notorious bike trail.
— It will be a long haul.This is a journey, not a destination.
— The last guy who came and did this didn't get very far.Mr. Jason White with his posters.It was brutal.I'm worried about what we're all in for here.
— Where are we at today?We put forth a vision. It is not the vision.Denora has to come up with their vision.What do we want Denora to be?
There's a big sign in my office, for those that have been in my office above the screen, it says attack the problem, not the person.We spend so much time attacking each other while we have so many problems.We need to attack our problems.
We need leadership.You guys are up there, our leaders.Together, everyone achieves more.
All of a sudden, this bike trail update has evolved into a kind of pep talk, which is a relief, first of all.But it's also really refreshing.It's like the coach just came in at halftime to rally the team.
— You have a request to be there on Monday.You need to demand more of your elected officials.You need to be at that meeting on Monday.And you need to let the elected officials know how you feel about CCAC coming in here.
— And for one brief, beautiful moment, I'm feeling hopeful.People are listening.This guy's got their attention.
I'm assuming you guys are still committed to it.
He's really selling this meeting with the commissioners.
So we need to work together.
He's talking big picture, the community college.He's talking vision.People don't really talk about vision in these meetings.Like, ever.
So I'm asking you, what do we want Donora to be?
CCAC, that's our number one.That's our number one.
I think right now for Donora, CCAC, — That's where Donora's at right now.That will change our community.
— It's never been fully explained to me.I do not fully understand how exactly this rails-to-trails thing is going to benefit Donora.
— And enter Mrs. Trozzo, the grumpy councilwoman at the end of the bench.She just can't get off this bike trail.It's starting to feel like an unhealthy fixation.I'm having flashbacks.
— Nobody's explained to me how is this going to benefit Donora.Tell me how.
This is the point where I feel like I'm going to have a heart attack, an actual heart attack.This whole thing might be funny if it weren't so freaking frustrating.
I'm ready to go out and buy Mrs. Trozzo a bike, a Schwinn 10-speed, and launch her down McCain Avenue.Show her how much fun a bike can be.
Quality of life and jobs is a chicken egg scenario.25 to 35 year olds are not rushing home to watch Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy.If you can't understand that we have to increase our quality of life, I can't convince you.
I feel for this guy, Mr. Bud Cook, and for Mr. Jason White who came before him.These outsiders coming in with these newfangled ideas, sacrificing themselves at the feet of the Genoa Borough Council.
I have to wonder how many more will come and fall on the sword of Mrs. Trozzo.
— I'm going to share with you an observation here.The unusual pooch parade in Monongahela.
— And now we're onto the pooch parade.The unusual pooch parade in Monongahela. Apparently it's a big draw.
I don't know what to do with the pooch parade.Is it a vision?I'm not sure.But it's something.And I guess that's sort of this guy's point.He just wants them to do something.Anything.He wants action.
leadership.And yeah, he wants a bike trail.But I feel like this really isn't about a bike trail.It's like the bike trail is a symptom of something deeper, more intractable.Some kind of disease that I can't quite name.
I am so tired of hearing what was and what is.It's time to move on and talk about what could be and what can be.
Well, if you love the lawyer, Like you say you do, you can achieve that.You have the support.You have the people.We want to see results.
We're tired of all these politicians running— — For the record, that's Yancey Taylor, speaking from the audience.I'm sitting right behind him.He's wearing a neck brace.I'm not sure why he's wearing a neck brace.But he's been very talkative all night.
He wants to know why Bud Cook doesn't have an office in Donora.He wants to know what the deal is with CCAC. And I have to say, I'm impressed with Yancey.That's the other big takeaway from this meeting.
This is the first time I've really seen Yancey in action.And he's pretty good at this.Which is actually kind of frustrating.It just makes this whole indictment thing feel even worse.
Because it really seems like Yancey could have been good for this council.
You're doing a great job, but you have a lot of energy CCAC.CCAC is going to make a big difference in our community.So you're a state rep.You're a voice.You should be on the phone with them commissioners, pounding them in every day.
You're our state rep.We're the voter, but everybody voted you in.
It took me six months to get a meeting with our commissioners.That's terrible.Thank you.Go to your commissioners, please.I'm doing my job. And I'm, quite frankly, busting my butt.— It took you six months to get in with commissioners.— That's correct.
— Wow.There's something wrong with that picture.
— Okay, let me tell you how this is going to work.
— When the meeting's finally over, Mr. Budcook shuts his big binder and heads toward the back of the room, to shake hands with his constituents.
— Hey guys, thanks for coming.Appreciate it.
— I feel compelled to go talk with him.I need answers. I just need to know.I need to know what the hell's the deal with this bike trail.— I'm trying to understand the resistance.I don't understand what's there to lose from the rails to trails.
Why wouldn't people just embrace that?Like, okay, let's go for it.
Do you remember the program Fraggle Rock?Remember the Fraggles never left Fraggle Rock?Remember Uncle Traveling Matt?I sent a postcard back from outer space.That's the best I can explain it to you.If this is your world, this is your world.
Hey!Woah, this is looking great!
We're downtown at Jim McDonough's diner, or his soon-to-be diner.It's two doors down from Duke's Cafe, where we just finished up our post-meeting dinner.It's late.Jim's here.
We caught him up on a ladder in his car hearts, scraping down some duck work.
You girls want a drink?You want a beer or anything?Or a coffee?Want a beer?
I would have a beer.Let's have beer.Yeah, thanks.Oh my gosh.Oh my.
Go on back, say hello to Ant. I'll bring you a beer.You want one?Sure, that'd be great.
Last time we saw Jim's wife, Ange, she was pregnant.Very pregnant.Wearing an oversized campaign t-shirt, getting out the vote for Jim's campaign.We'd heard she had the baby, but we haven't met him yet.
Say hi, Lincoln.Oh my god, when was he born?July 14th.He was due the 4th of July, but...
I really want to hold this baby, except I don't.He's still really tiny, still in the floppy head stage.A little dumpling wrapped in a blanket.I love that his name's Lincoln.I think he looks like his dad, right?That's what everybody says.
A lot has happened since we last saw you.
We sit down with Jim at the counter with our beers.He looks surprisingly chipper for a guy with a newborn.Not to mention the diner and the full-time iron worker gig out in Pittsburgh.
We've only seen him once since the primary, briefly after the council work session, on his way out to band practice, which is another whole thing.So the diner opening is going to be when, do we think?
We're hoping.We're hoping that's the goal.We're going to be as realistic as we can.I mean, now that Lincoln's here.
At this point, Jim's basically mayor-elect.He's running unopposed in November.It's got to be a funny place to be.Maybe like waiting for your baby to be born.You know what's going to happen, but there's nothing you can do but wait.
I've been wondering how Jim's feeling about it all.I mean, it's a big job he's taking on.The town's $100,000 off on their budget.The council seems to be moving back and forth between petty infighting and total obstructionism.
And then, of course, there's the community college, which seems like it's at a crossroads with this big meeting coming up.
It's starting to hit me more and more whenever people talk to me, like it just came out about the $100,000 problem and people are talking to me saying, what are you going to do to solve this?We know you're going to solve this.You can do this.
And I'm thinking, wow, be careful how high of a pedestal you put me on.It's going to hurt when I fall.I'm not a politician.I'm a person who wants to get things done and I'm going to. But I need the help of my town.
Because the great idea can fall flat if it's not everyone involved.So if we pick just one thing that we can get done, that's where it's going to start.
What's this mysterious meeting on the 18th in Mon City that everyone's talking about?Do you know anything about this?
Oh, yeah.It's not a mysterious meeting.What it is is the county commissioners are coming in to talk to the Mon Valley.
I've been thinking a lot about this meeting ever since Donnie announced it last week and sent that flyer around.What can the Washington County commissioners do for the Mon Valley?
I don't know much about these commissioners, but it sounds like they're very busy people.So getting some face time with them seems like a big deal.
And the way Jim's explaining it, right now these commissioners hold the key to the kingdom, as far as the community college goes.
The college people just need the county to get on board, to pony up some funding, to help subsidize tuition for county residents, among other things.
Which seems reasonable enough, especially considering that they don't have a community college in this county.So I guess this would be a big deal for everyone, not just Donora.
What I'm afraid of is we want CCAC and it's been told to us time and time again that one of the main reasons we can't get it is our county commissioners don't want it here. I don't know if that's true.I've never spoke to any of the commissioners.
So the 18th would be a great time to go and be a great time for, I would hope someone like me, a mayor to be hopefully, um, to stand up and say my name and where I'm from and the Mon Valley is important to me and I'm just a citizen right now, but I, you know,
I'm running for election of mayor of Donora.And where do you stand with helping us with CCAC?Can I get your word right now as three individuals saying, yes, we back this and we want this to happen.
Get them to commit with the actual words and the funding that we need.
So are you going to do that?Are you going to say that?
I'm going to go to the meeting.And if need be, I will speak.
My question then is, like, the way you just said it right now, like, I would, like, if I'm at that meeting, that's, I hope you are the one that stands up and says that, as opposed to some maybe other people.I'm overstepping my bounds here, big time.
Even in the moment, I can see myself doing it.I'm injecting myself where I really don't belong.I'm a journalist, not a political advisor.I'm not supposed to be giving advice.But I don't even care anymore.I just really want this meeting to go well.
I want someone to get up there and say all the right things. I want those commissioners to be falling all over themselves, to be fighting each other for the chance to support this college.
But I'm picturing Mrs. Rails-to-Trails Trozzo up there at the mic, making their case.God help us.And I mean, Donnie could do it, but he's not the best spokesman.And Yancey would be great, even in his neck brace, if it weren't for the headlines.
And I'm sure they've read the headlines. I'm starting to feel like if you want anyone to do the talking, it's this guy.
That Charleroi and that Donora and that Mon City and New Eagle, this Mon Valley that you've come down here to see us for is first and foremost in your mind.I want to hear it from your lips right now.What, what's the deal?
It's hard to get a read on whether Jim will actually say anything at the meeting.But there's no question he can talk.I mean, I got that sense when I first met him.That whole iron worker monologue.But it's not just how he's talking.
It's what he's saying.He's saying things that I've never really heard people here say before.Like the Mon Valley, for example.Even just talking about Donora in the context of a larger region feels like a revelation.People here don't seem to do that.
The problem, and it is, the pride of the Mon Valley.There is no pride in the Mon Valley.Don't let them fool you.You're going to hear that a thousand times.We're proud of being from the Mon Valley.No, you're not.You're proud of being from Denora.
You're proud of being from Monongahela.You're proud of being from Charleroi.But no one will stand up and speak for the whole.And I think the first person that does that needs to be someone strong enough to speak that way and to show that leadership.
And to be honest with you, at this meeting, I am a citizen.I am not a leader yet.I'm just a person.I'm just, I have no role in any of this. But to start showing it now, I think we could play tenfold if the election goes the way we see it.
Because then it's, I can be a leader and approach Mauna Keala and say, I come from the island of Donora, and I asked to come upon your humble shores of the island of Monongahela, and why don't we build a bridge?
You know, there's nothing that separates us, nothing.But you would think we are just miles and miles and miles apart.We share borders, but you would never know that.
Same way with Charleroi and Roscoe and all the little townships down through there, each has their own little thing.I don't know if I, I'd have to ask the mayor now, do you guys ever have a meeting like with the mayor?
Do you ever go have breakfast and say, how's things in Monongahela?What's going on down there?What can we do to help?Or how can we work together on this?
And until we get used to that, it's always going to be the island of Donora and the island of Monongahela.And they're going to have their king with his scepter, and we'll have our prince with his sword, and so on and so forth.
But until you get together... The island of Donora.
Hearing Jim say it that way, it's like he's putting into words exactly what I've been feeling.For a long time, really.But certainly ever since I stood on the rim of that sewage tank and looked down at the town, down at their kingdom.
The island of Donora. And I'm starting to wonder if that might be the whole problem. When you're a tiny voice on an island calling out across an ocean, who's going to even hear you?I guess part of me kind of knew this already.
It's like Wally the Constable told us.They're too small.No one even knows they're here.But what Jim's saying here feels more specific than that, more symptomatic of a broader issue facing the region as a whole.
It's like Denoir is an island among islands, an archipelago of forgotten towns, with everything in common but nothing holding them together.I'd never thought about it that way before.
Right now you are sitting in about 5,000 people here in Donora.To talk to a county commissioner and say, I represent 5,000 people, that's impressive.Don't get me wrong.But a county commissioner doesn't have to deal with 5,000 people.Let's face it.
But if you say I represent 50,000 people, and that it's a strong voting base, and these people have a say, and they will be heard.That's a whole different ballgame.Now, now we can do something.Your islands unite.
You become the same thing that, like I said, our forefathers saw with the United States.That's why they did it.They gave them each an identity, but as a whole, we're untouchable.I don't know why it hasn't spilled over to us yet.
Boy, I'll tell you, if you could crack that one,
In a few days, we'll go to the town hall meeting at the fire hall out in Monongahela.And we'll see all our friends there.Donny and Deanne.And Jim and Cindy.Chantal, the town do-gooder.And thrift store Trish with her petition with 50 signatures.
It's the first time we'll see them out of context.And it'll be weird.Like when you're a kid and you see your third grade teacher at the grocery store.They'll just seem so out of place.So small.
This scrappy group with big dreams, off to see the wizard. The meeting will start off hopeful.Donnie will stand up and make an impassioned case for the project, where it's at and why it matters.Jim will be his number two.
He'll give this rousing speech about the value of vocational training and a skilled workforce.Then Mrs. Traza will get up there and say her piece. And honestly, she'll do great.She'll call CCAC the biggest thing to hit this valley since U.S.Steel.
And the three commissioners will sit up there and listen, and smile, and nod.They'll express support, but promise nothing.No funding.Nothing but a conciliatory thumbs up.The people of Donora will leave the meeting disheartened, but mostly confused.
Confused about why their commissioners don't seem to care what happens to them.Confused about where to turn next.
The meeting won't be a death sentence for the college, but it will feel like a punch to the gut, a reminder of how alone they are, how small they are in the scheme of things, how everything always just comes back to them to fix themselves.
After the meeting, Jim McDonough will approach one of the commissioners and introduce himself as the soon-to-be mayor of Donora.The commissioner will shake his hand and say, good to meet you, Jimmy, and then turn the other way.
But all that's still a few days away.For now, walking out of Jim's diner, or what will someday be Jim's diner, we have another brief, beautiful moment of hope.We have our hero.Oh my god, he's amazing.He has no idea how good he is.
Cement City was written and produced by Erin Anderson and me, Jean-Marie Laskas for Odyssey with Cement City Productions.Our story editor is Michael Benoit. Sound design and engineering for Cement City is by Mike Woolley.
Production assistance by Kira Witkin.Research and fact-checking by Tim Maddox.Our credits music is by Donora. Cement City is an Odyssey original podcast from executive producers Jenna Weiss-Berman, Leah Reese Dennis, and Maddy Sprung-Kaiser.
To learn more about our series, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and X, at Cement City Productions, or visit our website at cementcity.org.
You will hear my voice It's just one voice Sometimes I wonder what's the point In a world that feels destroyed But as I scream into the void This is still my choice
I can't even begin to tell you how bad it was.It was Lord of the Flies in a building.It was called Straight Incorporated.
This is the story of Straight Incorporated, an experimental drug rehab for teenagers that infiltrated communities across the country in the 1980s during the height of the war on drugs, where kidnapping, brainwashing, and torture were disguised as therapy.
It's the origin story of the troubled teen industry, which continues to profit from the desperation of parents and the vulnerability of their children.And its roots can be traced back to a cult called Synanon.How do I know this?
Because I lived through it.My name is Cindy Etler, and this is Season 2 of The Sunshine Place. Listen to and follow The Sunshine Place, an Odyssey original podcast in association with Robert Downey Jr.and Susan Downey.
Available now on the free Odyssey app and wherever you get your podcasts.
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