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Penguins lose to Capitals 3-2 in OT. SPORTS, E-1

Trumpopen togas-taxincreaseSuggests rise couldfund infrastructure

SEE INCREASE, PAGE A-8

By Josh Boakand Jill ColvinAssociated Press

WASHINGTON — PresidentDonald Trump on Monday saidhe will explore the possibility ofhigher gasoline and diesel fueltaxes, suggesting an increasecould pay for his ambitious infra-structure plan in what was seenas a potentially major policychange as his top advisers try toassemble a plan to finance $1 tril-lion in new projects.

“It’s something that I wouldcertainly consider,” Mr. Trumptold Bloomberg News in one ofseveral eyebrow-raising state-ments he made during interviewsbroadcast Monday.

The president also had a histor-ical question Monday: Why didAmerica’s Civil War happen? Healso declared that President An-drew Jackson was angry about“what was happening” with re-gard to the war, which started 16years after his death, and couldhave stopped it if still in office.

Mr. Trump also said he wouldbe “honored” to meet NorthKorean leader Kim Jong Un, onlydays after he raised the possibilityof a “major, major conflict” withthe reclusive state over its nu-clear weapons program.

Regarding gas taxes, the presi-dent indicated that the additionalmoney would be directed towardhighway construction and repair.That’s been a problem area be-cause fuel taxes have been un-changed since 1993 and created fi-nancial challenges for preservingthe Highway Trust Fund.

The federal government cur-rently finances its trust fund

MAY DAY PROTESTS

Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images

Demonstrators confront police on the annual May Day workers’ march Monday in Paris. Police dealt withviolent scenes in central Paris during the rally near the Place de la Bastille, where protesters shouted“Fascists out!” Story, Page A-5. Protesters also assembled in the U.S. Story, Page A-4.

Tax hike,bond issueproposed foraffordablehousing

SEE HOUSING, PAGE A-3

By Adam SmeltzPittsburgh Post-Gazette

A controversial tax increaseand $100 million in bonds wouldhelp finance scores of affordablehousing units under proposalsexpected Tuesday before Pitts-burgh City Council.

Councilmen Ricky Burgessand R. Daniel Lavelle are spon-soring the legislation, whichwould pay for the affordablehousing trust fund that councilapproved in December. Mem-bers have yet to determine howthey will finance the effort, de-signed to relieve a housingshortage among low- to moder-ate-income families.

“The primary goal is to useaffordable housing to bring themarket into these communi-ties” such as Beltzhoover,Homewood and Sheraden, Rev.Burgess said. He said strategicdevelopment of affordable unitswould set groundwork for mar-ket-rate residential develop-ment nearby, encouragingmixed-income neighborhoods.

To do that well, Rev. Burgesssaid, the city needs a burst of up-front funding. He envisions aseven-year binge that would re-habilitate or build 20 to 100A mother’s quest

SEE MARLEY, PAGE A-3

By Shelly BradburyPittsburgh Post-Gazette

Stephanie Strasburg/Post-Gazette

Jeanna Fisher, 59, right, of Whitehall, and her longtime friend Jan Brophy,59, of Baldwin, post flyers Downtown on Sunday, asking for informationabout how Ms. Fisher’s daughter spent her last days.

Family photoMarley Fisher

Jeanna Fisher has trekkedthrough Pittsburgh for twoweeks, taping up flyers withher daughter’s name: MarleyFisher; her age: 28; and her

end: alone, in a bathroom at PointState Park.

Marley Fisher was found on thefloor of a locked bathroom stall

amid drug para-phernalia, dead ofa suspected over-dose, at 8 p.m.April 9. Ms. Fisherknows her daugh-ter was a heroinaddict, knows thataddiction droveher to steal and goto rehab and re-lapse and cry,knows she was

coming off of a nine-month stretchof sobriety.

But Ms. Fisher, 59, of Whitehall,doesn’t know where Marley sleptthe last few nights before she died,who she was with, who sold herthat last bag of heroin.

And she needs to know. Shehopes someone will see the flyersand reach out.

“I may never get the answers,”she said in her Downtown office,where she is a construction man-

ager for Allegheny County. “But Ihave to try. I have to do something.”

Marley Fisher is one life lost in aswelling tide of opioid overdoses inPittsburgh — at this year’s pace,one person is dying from an over-dose in the city every 36 hours. Atleast 70 people have died from sus-pected overdoses within Pitts-

burgh so far this year, comparedwith 130 in all of 2016, according toPittsburgh police.

“It’s a generation getting wipedout,” Ms. Fisher said.

On the night Marley died, Ms.Fisher got the call at 12:30 a.m. She

Jeanna Fisher seeks information about her daughter’sfinal days before a fatal overdose

PEACEOF MINDFunding agreementincludes permanent

health carefor retired miners

SEE MINERS, PAGE A-8

By Tracie MaurielloPost-Gazette Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — A newgovernment funding agreementpermanently protects thou-sands of retired miners’ healthcare but doesn’t resolve pensionshortfalls that also worry coalworkers.

Legislative leaders haveagreed to the provisions as partof a $1 trillion government fund-ing bill, and rank-and-file mem-bers are expected to approve itlater this week.

More than 22,600 “orphan”retirees whose employersclosed or declared bankruptcywill lose health benefits immi-nently if Congress doesn’t inter-vene as expected.

‘Romaine calm’: Nationallettuce shortage hits Pittsburgh

SEE LETTUCE, PAGE A-2

By Anya Sostekand Bob Batz Jr.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Hello Bistro restaurant isasking its customers to “RomaineCalm,” as it and other Pittsburghfood providers deal with the fall-out of a national lettuce shortage.

A warm winter in Arizonaand a wet spring in Californiahave combined for a nationwideshortage of romaine, iceberg andgreen leaf lettuce, as well asbroccoli and cauliflower. Theshortage began several weeks

ago and is ongoing.“It is affecting everybody from

grocery stores to restaurants,”said John McClelland, chief oper-ating officer for Paragon Foods, aproduce supplier to about 800 lo-cal restaurants, hospitals andschools. “It’s a more volatile mar-ket on leafies than we usuallysee.”

About 95 percent of the lettuceeaten in the United States comesfrom either Yuma County in Ari-zona, which produces from

Lake Fong/Post-Gazette

WET RIDE Hasan Colon, 34, of the North Side braves the rain Mon-day while riding his bicycle with his daughters in tow at West Park. Aftersevere storms Monday, cooler weather is expected. Story, Page B-1.

Governmentrelaxes somestandards forschool meals

SEE LUNCHES, PAGE A-2

By Mary Clare JalonickAssociated Press

LEESBURG, Va. — Schoolswon’t have to cut more salt frommeals just yet and some will beable to serve kids fewer wholegrains, under changes to federalnutrition standards announcedMonday.

The Trump administration ispartially rolling back ruleschampioned by former firstlady Michelle Obama as part ofher healthy eating initiative.

As his first major action in of-fice, Agriculture SecretarySonny Perdue said the depart-ment will delay an upcoming re-quirement to lower the amountof sodium in meals while con-tinuing to allow waivers for reg-ulations that all grains on thelunch line must be 50 percentwhole grain.

Schools could also serve 1percent flavored milk instead ofthe nonfat now required.

“If kids aren’t eating the food,and it’s ending up in the trash,they aren’t getting any nutri-tion — thus undermining theintent of the program,” said Mr.Perdue, making the

PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE • TUESDAY, MAY 2, 2017 • WWW.POST-GAZETTE.COM A-3

Tax hikeproposedfor afforablehousingHOUSING, FROM A-1

homes at a time, with an em-phasis on renovating run-down houses.

In particular, Rev. Bur-gess said, he hopes for a re-volving loan program andgrants to help place low- tomoderate-income families inthose dwellings. His legisla-tion with Mr. Lavelle wouldauthorize the Urban Rede-velopment Authority to is-sue $100 million in bonds tokick-start the endeavor.

Council would supportthe push by increasing therealty transfer tax in the cityto 5 percent, up from 4 per-cent now. The change wouldgenerate about $10 million ayear in added revenue, thecouncilmen said.

That’s enough to supportabout 700 new and rehabili-tated affordable units eachyear, although the city couldmove much faster with theupfront bond issuance, Mr.Lavelle said. Pittsburghfaces a housing shortage ofmore than 17,000 such units,according to city estimates.

“We passed a bill sayingaffordable housing was im-perative, that the stabiliza-tion of our neighborhoodswas imperative, that fixingup vacant, dilapidated prop-erties for affordable homeownership was critical. Wesaid all of this,” Mr. Lavellesaid, referring to the trustfund. “Now be true to it.”

The trust legislation ap-proved by council sets a $10million annual funding goal.Offerings under the trustcould range from down-pay-ment assistance to home re-habilitation and foreclosureprevention. It also could helprehabilitate vacant housingowned by the city into af-fordable homes.

While those conceptshave found broad consensusamong city policymakers,the idea of a tax increase al-ready has opposition. CityController Michael Lambflayed the pitch as a non-starter. In a news conferenceMonday, he said Pittsburghrecorded an eight-figure sur-plus for 2016.

“In a year where we’regenerating 37 million in sur-plus dollars, that someone isactually talking about rais-ing taxes in the City of Pitts-

burgh is just a ridiculousconversation,” Mr. Lambsaid. He said taxes are un-competitive in the city,which already has the high-est realty transfer tax rate inAllegheny County.

His argument echoed theRealtors Association of Met-ropolitan Pittsburgh, whereexecutive vice presidentJohn Petrack said leaderswould advocate against thetax proposal.

“It just makes absolutelyno sense to increase the costof buying a house to helpmake housing more afford-able. I can’t stress thatenough,” Mr. Petrack said.

Councilwoman TheresaKail-Smith said she needs toknow more about implica-tions in her district, whichincludes the West End. Al-ready, she said, observersthere have noticed homebuyers choosing houses justbeyond the city line.

She said she believestaxes or unflattering percep-tions of the city schools maybe to blame, at least in part.

“I want to know how [a taxincrease] would have an effecton the district that I rep-resent,” Mrs. Kail-Smith said.

Advocates defended thetax idea, with Rev. Burgessarguing the burden wouldfall heavily on “wealthyhomeowners and wealthycorporate-building owners.”Mr. Lavelle said the trustfund could offer assistanceto eligible first-time homebuyers and offset their taxburden.

“I’m simply asking the cityto do what it’s already donefor wealthier residents,” Rev.Burgess said, alluding to theformer Pittsburgh Develop-ment Fund that backedlargely commercial develop-ment. He said the fund di-verted earlier property tax re-lief to encourage projectssuch as SouthSide Works“that are fairly segregatedand fairly wealthy.”

Mr. Lavelle said he expectsa city council majority willsupport the new legislation.Mayor Bill Peduto has saidhe would endorse a transfertax increase “if that’s what ittakes to get the fund started,”mayoral spokesman Timo-thy McNulty said.

As for a $100 million bondissue, Mr. McNulty said hehad not seen that legislation.In an interview last month,Mr. Peduto endorsed URAinvolvement.

“Our priority now needsto be how to keep everyoneas a part of this growth thatwe’re seeing in the city,” Mr.Peduto said at the time. “Sothe priority should be fromthe URA to be able to createthis fund.”

Mother seeks information about her daughter’s final hoursMARLEY, FROM A-1

The flyer Jeanna Fisher isposting about her daughter.

got up from the couch whereshe had been sleeping andwalked upstairs to tell Mar-ley’s older sister. She calleda few relatives.

Then she sat down andcried until morning.

“There were times I justcouldn’t breathe,” she said.

She couldn’t go to seeMarley’s body that night be-cause the medical examinerwas performing an autopsy.

“For the first 24 hours, all Icould do was wait,” she said.“And hope that when I didsee the body, it wasn’t her.”

• • •As a teenager, Marley

Fisher failed the writtendriver’s license test threetimes before she finallypassed, and even then she wasjust one wrong answer awayfrom another failing score.

She could drive just fine— but she was dyslexic, andno matter how much shestudied, she got mixed up onthe written exam. Most booklearning was like that for her,Ms. Fisher said, but the baby-faced brunette made up for itin street smarts. She was afree spirit with an air of inno-cence who looked youngerthan she was. She had healthissues — collapsing disks inher back, a tumor on herovary. She could be reckless.

“She’d say the thing thatwould raise eyebrows, andshe loved that,” Ms. Fishersaid.

In her early 20s, Marleywas working, but her pay-check always seemed to gotoo fast. She’d ask to borrowmoney from Ms. Fisher andher husband, Frank Fisher,and they’d give it to herwithout thinking twice.

Then one day six or sevenyears ago, Marley was ner-vous, pacing about thehouse. And then she just an-nounced it.

She was using heroin.Ms. Fisher sent her

daughter to detox and rehabas many times as her insur-ance would pay for — threesessions each year — andwhen that coverage ran out,Marley checked herself intofree programs. Sometimesshe’d tell her mother thather physical pain was gonewhen she was high. Some-times she’d call from thestreet, crying, wanting out.

“She’d tell me she wasafraid to leave [rehab],” Ms.Fisher said, “Because usingwas the first thing she feltshe wanted to do when shegot out.”

Marley stole to supporther habit. She spent time inand out of jail. She swipedher mother’s gold and silverjewelry, then grabbed powertools, cameras, yard equip-ment. “Whatever she couldget her hands on,” Ms.Fisher said.

Marley’s father, FrankFisher, became terminally illand died in August 2014. Mar-ley was in jail at the time, butthe family bailed her out.

That day, she went intothe room where he had beenstaying and stole his TV.

“She walked out my doorwith a TV set the day herfather died,” Ms. Fisher said.“And that seemed to be heronly concern.”

In December 2015, Ms.Fisher allowed Marley andher boyfriend to live in herhome in Whitehall. Within amonth, the pair drilled intoher safe and stole the onlyvaluables she had left, then

covered their tracks andmoved out. Ms. Fisher didn’trealize anything was miss-ing until weeks later. Shefiled a police report andpressed charges.

In May 2016, Marley calledher from jail, asking for helpagain. But Ms. Fishercouldn’t do it. She’d just re-cently found the emptiedsafe.

“I said, ‘That’s it, don’t callme again. I shut you off.’”

Eventually, Marleymoved in with a womanshe’d met in rehab, and thewoman’s family in Taren-tum bought her new clothes,helped her find a job. Marleyearned a nine-month sobri-

ety marker.And then she used again

early this year.The family kicked her out.

• • •Ms. Fisher estimates she

has posted 300 flyers askingfor information on Marley’sfinal days. She has blan-keted the areas where Mar-ley used to hang out and theneighborhoods — Brent-wood, Carrick, Downtown,North Side and MountWashington — where shewas recently seen.

She has reached out to Mar-ley’s friends and acquain-tances on Facebook. And shethinks she is starting to piecetogether what happened thenight Marley died.

An hour-and-a-half beforeMarley was found in thePoint State Park restroom,park rangers responded to aman unconscious on anearby bench, said TerryBrady, a spokesman for thestate Department of Conser-vation and Natural Re-sources.

The rangers gave the manCPR and two doses of Nar-can, a nasal spray that blocksthe effects of opioids. Theywere able to revive him andhe was taken to a hospital.

Ms. Fisher believes thatman, who has not been pub-

licly identified, may havebeen using heroin with Mar-ley. Because for all her trou-ble, Marley was still cau-tious, Ms. Fisher said.

“She’s seen overdoses,” shesaid. “She’s overdosed before.But she always had someoneto save her. She would neverdo that drug alone.”

Someone reported seeingMarley with a man the dayshe died — a white male,about 5 feet, 10 inches tall, inhis 20s or 30s. Ms. Fisherwants to find that man,wants to ask him if he knewMarley, and ask why hedidn’t call for help when hewas revived. She wants toknow where he bought hisheroin, wants to see thatdealer arrested.

“Whoever this is is sellinga lethal injection,” she said.

Pittsburgh police, whoare investigating Marley’sdeath, declined to commenton Monday.

• • •When Ms. Fisher finally

saw Marley’s body, herdaughter was still wrappedup in something from the au-topsy. Her mouth was gluedtogether awkwardly; shedidn’t look at all like herself.

Marley’s sister lost hercomposure as soon as theystepped in the room, so Ms.

Fisher got her out quickly.When they left, the funeralhome staff told her thatwould likely be the last timeshe would see Marley’s bodybefore the cremation.

But the next day, Ms.Fisher called and told themshe was coming back.

She picked out a whitegown with a little black thatMarley had worn to a highschool dance, a gown herdaughter had saved to wearagain. And she brought Mar-ley’s purse, the one parkrangers found with her inthe bathroom stall, filledwith her makeup, perfume,earrings.

Then Ms. Fisher wipedthe funeral home’s pink lip-stick and pancake makeupfrom her daughter’s face.

She put Marley’s lipglosson her lips, bronzer on herface. She found perfume inMarley’s purse and sprayed iton her. She slipped Marley’searrings back into her ears,put her sunglasses on herhead and brushed her hair.

And then, when Marley fi-nally looked like herself, Ms.Fisher let her go.

Shelly Bradbury: 412-263-1999, sbradbury@post-ga-zette.com. Twitter:@ShellyBradbury.

Call 412.DOCTORS to make an appointment or visit AHN.org.

Welcomingto Allegheny Health Network

Masaki Tsukashita, MD, PhD - Cardiac Surgery

Dr. Tsukashita is a board-certified, fellowship-trained cardiacsurgeon with particular clinical expertise in coronary arterybypass graft surgery, heart valve reconstruction, repair andreplacement, aortic root and aortic arch surgery, mechanicalcirculatory support (ventricular assist devices) and extracorporealmembrane oxygenation (ECMO), heart transplantation, minimallyinvasive heart surgery and structural heart disease. He practices withthe physicians of AHN Thoracic and Cardiovascular Associates withan office at Allegheny General Hospital.

Jessica Embrescia, DO - Internal Medicine

Dr. Embrescia is an internal medicine physician offering adultpatients comprehensive and compassionate primary medicalcare. She encourages health and wellness and preventive care,and treatment and management of chronic medical conditions.She practices with the physicians of West Penn MedicalAssociates with an office in Bloomfield.

Valentyna Ivanova, MD, FACC - Cardiology

Dr. Ivanova is a fellowship-trained, board-certified cardiologist withspecialty expertise in noninvasive cardiology, cardiovascular disease,echocardiography, cardiac imaging, nuclear stress cardiology,aortic disease, heart valvular disease, arrhythmias, atrial fibrillation,hypertension, carotid artery disease and peripheral vascular disease.She diagnoses and treats adult patients with cardiovascular disease.She practices with the physicians of AHN Cardiovascular Institutewith offices at Allegheny General Hospital and the Wexford Health +Wellness Pavilion.

Ramneek K. Rana, MD - Obstetrics & Gynecology

Dr. Rana is board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology. Sheprovides health care services for women and their developingnewborns, and for women throughout their lifetime. Sheencourages preventive health and wellness and offers routinegynecological care for women’s changing health needs andconcerns. She practices with the physicians of Allegheny Women’sHealth with offices at Allegheny General Hospital andWest Penn Hospital.