O'Hare Fumbles Assist To Browning

In a post last evening meant to bolster Dean Browning against Scott Ott, Bernie O'Hare inadvertingly raises some questions which could end up hurting Browning. O'Hare's premise was that Browning out-raised Ott two to one, and that half of Ott's donations came from local business woman, and County Commissioner, Lisa Scheller. An analysis of Browning's contributions show that half of his contributions came from out of state, and seem to be dominated by the private aviation industry. An anonymous comment on O'Hare's blog reveals that Browning works for Jeff Citron, a financier who received a monumental fine by the securities exchange. Bernie's fumble was that in criticizing a candidate for being supported by a locally respected business woman, it ended up being revealed that his candidate of choice, is supported by a national figure with a controversial reputation. None of this would normally interest me, except for one of my unwritten posts. In that post, never put to words before, I question if there is an attempt to sabotage The Lehigh Valley Airport. The board of directors seems to make one poor decision after another. Recently, they hired the private company director who failed to retain a major airline. They now have invested in a custom station for international flights, when they cannot even be competitive domestically. Cunningham appointed Pawlowski to the board when he knew that Pawlowski's sole interest was selling Queen City. The future County Executive could have a large role in deciding if that airport will ever serve the interests of the public, or just private aviation. I'll let O'Hare pick up the worms, he's the one who dropped the can.

Bernie's Over Enthusiasm

Occasionally, I have to take my fellow blogger Bernie O'Hare to task for his enthusiasm for one candidate over another. Me, I don't like anybody. Long time readers of O'Hare know that he likes Dean Browing, but dislikes Wayne Woodman and Scott Ott. He currently has a post demonizing Woodman's wife, Lisa Scheller, for contributing half of the funds raised by one commissioner candidate, $5,000. In another post today,  he accuses her of trying to subvert democracy, by contributing to the executive branch race, while she's a legislator. If he would apply the same aspersions to Brown's campaign report, he could report that Brown raised $5,000 each from two sources out of state. He also raised $2,500 or more from 14 more people out of state, many from Texas. He could say that Brown raised over $57,000 from interests outside of the state, almost as much as Ott raised altogether. Expect a long defense from O'Hare.

Angelina Jolie's Courage

This post is out of my normal comfort zone. I seldom use this space to comment on national or international issues, certainly not celebrity news. However, the disclosure by Angelina Jolie that she had a preventative double mastectomy, strikes me as very courageous. It would be courageous for any woman to make such a revelation, but for a sex appeal goddess, it took courage of notable mention. She will be an inspiration to other women conflicted by similar test results, showing the high probability of impending breast cancer. Her husband should be also commended for his support in her difficult decision and public disclosure.

Allentown's Park Dilemma

Last night, I had an opportunity to listen to some environmentalists express their wish list for our park system. I noticed an irony that they would never acknowledge. Although they support, in lockstep unison voice, riparian zones, they are equally concerned about invasive species. Seems as if these riparian, no mowed zones, are ripe for the proliferation of invasives. The control and removal of the invasives requires much more manpower than just cutting the grass; much more manpower than the park department and/or volunteers could ever realistically expend. I have heard, through numerous sources, that even the riparian zones that were supposedly expertly planted,  by the Wildland Conservancy, had no follow up maintenance. Invasives had to be controlled by mowing in the fall. In other words, these are taxpayer, grant funded science experiments, which compromise both the view and access to the streams, for no real purpose other than making the ecology types feel better about themselves. Perhaps, the classic park designers of yesteryear, actually knew more about sustainability than our green friends realize.

This classic postcard, circa 1945, shows Lehigh Parkway's east entrance, with the Boat Landing. In 2009, with help from friends, I uncovered the previously buried Landing. Support our historical park system.

The Barbershops of Allentown's Past

photocredit:molovinsky
I was never a frequent patron, but one of my reoccurring photographic interests was barbershops. Although Allentown now has more barbershops than ever, mine are from a different era. Some of the shops still exist, although the name and clientele has changed. Shown above is the former K&K, on S. 6th Street, still a barbershop. This image was taken in 1996.

All photos on this blog will enlarge when clicked.

The Parkway Bridge

General Harry Trexler hired Meehan and Associates, of Philadelphia, to design Lehigh Parkway's Robin Hood area. In 1935, when the WPA began it's park projects, Allentown was shovel ready. Although the General was killed in 1933, his trust was already established in 35, and helped fund the monumental structures. In addition to the park entrance wall, the WPA built the bridge, to provide a parking and a picnic area for park enjoyment. A dam was built 18 feet beyond the bridge, to complete the magic that has endured during the last 78 years. Although the WPA used experienced stone masons, they were not bridge engineers. The Wildland's Conservancy has received a grant to remove 9 dams, including the Robin Hood dam, by the bridge. How this removal will effect the durability of the bridge piers, and ambience of the Robin Hood, has not been considered. Although generally dam removal improves water quality, in this case, the net result would just be tokenism. A major sewage line runs right next to the stream, which occasionally overflows during heavy rains. To jeopardize the bridge, considering these realities, would be poor park management. The permission to remove this dam was given in the transition period between park directors. This evening, I will attend a meeting and have an opportunity to meet our new Park Director. Let the Conservancy instead remove 8 dams, and ensure that our WPA bridge is not endangered.