South Whitehall's Speed Trap

I don't write too often about South Whitehall, actually, this is the first time. I don't consider it a place, just a bedroom community. There's no downtown, there's no old town, there's no nothing, except excessive regulations. They have at least one cop who parks on the concrete island on Tilghman Street, by Cedar Crest Blvd.. He's trying to catch traffic violators, of one sort or another. Often he turns around and chases a car down Tilghman, catching them just before they hit Allentown, in one half block. It always reminds me about the speed trap in Coopersburg, when I was growing up. Does South Whitehall need the money that bad? Lately, I have been particularly annoyed about Smokey up there on that concrete island. Seems as if there has been a wave of burglaries in the township, not reported to the public. The police chief says that it's the media's responsibility to inquire about such statistics. South Whitehall has no problem communicating about every new regulation, think they could warn the public, and get Smokey off the island and patrolling the neighborhoods, looking for the bandit.

UPDATE: I've been informed that identifying expired auto registrations and inspections is the primary objective of officers monitoring Tilghman Street. There is a high correlation between these types of violations and lack of auto insurance. Furthermore,  South Whitehall is one of the few local police departments enrolled with CrimeMapping.Com, which provides the public easy access to crime reports.

The Fifth Estate-Blogging

Occasionally I post a comment on The Morning Call website. Invariably, Future Downtown Arena Attendee comes on to say that I live beyond the city borders and only received so many hundreds of votes in my independent bid for mayor. Last time he attributed my criticism of the mayor's initiative on sour grapes, for having lost the election. Of course there could be no other rational reason to oppose all those enlightened plans coming from city hall. In this town, with one party only on city council, and no scrutiny from the local press, this blog is often the epicenter of opposition. Certainly my associate from Nazareth, Bernie O'Hare, adds a larger voice on some issues. The noise Bernie and I make is eventually heard by our newspaper friends. Although you will seldom see mention of our blogs, they eventually adopt the issues.

reprinted from August 3, 2012

UPDATE: There is a new movie about Julian Assange and Wikileaks called The Fifth Estate. I first used the term on this blog on November 25, 2011.

Saving The Bridge

Allentown and Lehigh County aren't much for history. Last year Allentown celebrated it's 250th anniversary by having someone rewrite the lyrics to the Billy Joel song. The County actually commissioned a whole music program for their 200th, also last year. Believing our history should be more than a tune and a speech, I've been using this blog to advocate for the preservation of our historic structures. During the County Commissioner committee meeting last night, the project manager said that if the bridge is repaired instead of replaced, it might last two months, or it might last six months. Considering that the bridge has endured everything that has come it's way for 189 years, that statement clearly demonstrated that he was never a fair broker for options concerning the bridge. Recently, the Commissioners expressed support for preserving the King George Inn, but noted that they had no say in it's fate. Last night, I pointed out the durability of the bridge, and reminded the Commissioners that they do have the say concerning the bridge's fate. By a 7 to 2 vote, the Commissioners decided that the historic Reading Road Bridge should continue to provide passage over the Cedar Creek, by Union Terrace.

Mayor Pawlowski, Remove These Signs

Last night a very eager Democrat installed signs on city owned property, in violation of city policy. The signs were placed on the triangle at 28th and Tilghman Streets, on which sits the monument to our Spanish American War Soldiers. The same four signs were placed on all three sides of the island. Ironically, two of the signs are for City Council candidates, who have no opponents in next month's election.

Cannibal Valley

During the summer of 1952, Lehigh Valley Transit rode and pulled it's trolley stock over to Bethlehem Steel, to be chopped up and fed to the blast furnaces. The furnaces themselves ceased operation in 1995, and are now a visual backdrop for young artists, most of whom never saw those flames that lit up that skyline. Allentown will now salvage some architectural items documented on this blog, and begin tearing down it's shopping district, which was serviced by those trolleys. As young toothless athletes from Canada, entertain people from Catasauqua, on the ice maintained by a Philadelphia company, Allentown begins another chapter in it's history of cannibalism.

photo from August 1952, showing last run on St. John Street to Bethlehem Steel

reprinted from November 2011

Barbarians At The Bridge

Although both Cunningham and Pawlowski hosted celebrations of our regional birthdays this year, neither cares about our history, nor do their minions. Glenn Solt, Lehigh County's project manager, and supposedly aspiring County Executive, seems contemptuous of our history. He repeatedly claimed that the 188 year old Reading Road Bridge is neither historic or unique. He states that there were 14 such bridges in the county when he began his watch. Unfortunately, for our history, this is the only one that this blog has concerned itself with. When the effort to preserve the bridge began, Cunningham said that if the community wanted to keep the bridge, the plans could be modified; But, by this past Wednesday, Solt was putting on a full court press for a new bridge. Perhaps, he sees the aggressive bridge replacement program as an accomplishment for a future political campaign. Downstream, Schreibers Bridge is now being jeopardized by Pawlowski. Because Allentown allowed the beams on the 15th Street Bridge to rust away from lack of paint, the northbound traffic now uses Schreibers, another stone arch bridge, also 188 years old. Car and trucks now line up for a block to cross the historic bridge. Three weeks ago, I personally informed Pawlowski that an outside stone on the northwest approach had come off, and others were being stressed. When the 15th Street Bridge is closed this summer for replacement, the traffic flow on Schreibers will be overbearing. History is more than blowing out a candle at Agriculture Hall, or hosting a dinner at the Holiday Inn.

The old postcard shows Schreibers Mill from the east. Although the mill has been gone since the beginning of the 20th Century, the bridge in background is still serving Allentown.

reprinted from March 11, 2012

UPDATE: Since this post  appeared in March of 2012, there has been some changes on the political scene;  Don Cunningham resigned his position as County Executive, and Scott Ott and Tom Muller are running to fill that position for the new term starting in January 2014.  Although the Commissioners did grant the bridge a reprieve from demolition last winter, the bridge's future is once again in jeopardy. State guidelines have changed, and bridges with 3 Ton limits are now slated for closure and/or demolition.  Muller and assorted Democratic candidates for Commissioner are using the bridge as a campaign issue, saying that it should have already been replaced.  Missing from their self serving opportunism is any awareness of the historical significance of the bridge.  Because the bridge is not on an official historical register, Glenn Solt actually stated that the bridge is not historically significant.  On the original route between Easton and Reading, it's one of the most historically significant bridges in Pennsylvania, and an icon of Lehigh County.  Meanwhile, downstream, it's sister Schreibers Bridge also faces the 3 Ton State mandate.  Schreibers has been carrying truck after truck this past  two years, including fire trucks, as it provides the detour for the new 15th Street Bridge under construction. It's approach walls have been repeatedly smashed by tractor trailers trying to turn off the bridge onto Martin Luther King Drive.  Both bridges need to be preserved.  The historical significant of these bridges to our community should not fall victim to  blind general state mandates or local politics.