Do Local Zombies Read The News

When AOL expanded the Patch local news websites a number of years ago, I couldn't comprehend the business plan. Although it provided employment to a number of laid-off former Morning Call reporters, how could the Lehigh Valley support 12 local news sites, when it could barely support the two remaining newspapers? Did Upper and Lower Saucon really justify a site, much less two separate ones? This past summer AOL cut back the number of local editors to five. Yesterday, The Morning Call reported another massive layoff at Patch, which AOL has spun off to Hale Global, a turn around specialist. Although the Morning Call reports only one surviving editor, two others are still listed on the local sites. When AOL purchased The Huffington Post, more than one experienced national blogger questioned the price. The web makes it easy for anybody to produce a newsletter. Getting people to read it is another story. Getting them to monetize it by clicking on advertisements, is a third story.

In Her Blood

When my grandfather first arrived in Allentown, he lived in the Ward, on 2nd. Street. It was around 1895 and the neighborhood was full of immigrants. Some groups came from the same area in the old country, most noticeably the Syrians, from the villages of Amar and Zweitina. They were members of the Antiochian Orthodox Church, a Christian minority in a Muslim country. The congregation of St. George's Church on Catasauqua Ave., largely is descended from those immigrants. Well known names in Allentown, such as Atiyeh, Haddad, Hanna, Makoul, Koury and Joseph are among their members. They were among one of the first groups to organize, and those organizations still exist. The photo above was organized by the Syrian American Organization in 1944. Note that Jewish, on the left, is treated as a nationality.

click on photo to enlarge

UPDATE: While announcing Kim Makoul's appointment as Public Defender, County Executive Tom Muller said that it's in her blood. I grew up in the era when George Joseph was district attorney. He inspired Kim's dad, Richard Makoul, to attend law school, and become one of the valley's most successful defense attorneys.

This post is reprinted, using a different title

State of The City Called Allentown

When Mayor Pawlowski gives the State Of The City speech on Friday at the Hilton at 9th and Hamilton, will he say next year when I speak at the new hotel, this place will be a flop house? Speaking of flop houses, lately the local news has been dominated by the poor and the homeless. What a juxtaposition these new buildings make with Allentown's walking poor. While community activists demand that some of the new jobs in the Arena Zone  go to the local underemployed, and many public dollars will be spent on administering such training programs, the actual hired employees wouldn't be able to fill a closet at the new hotel. Nobody need worry about those realities at the speech on Friday. Nobody need worry about the difficulties facing the already challenged Allentown School District. Friday's speech, which will be limited to figures, numbers, and graphs about the new buildings and the promise of Transformation, will be applauded by the cheerleaders, and reported by the media.

The Return of Governor Pawlowski

Last year when cities all over Pennsylvania were clamoring for the type of development occurring in Allentown, and with Governor Corbett's dismal polling numbers, a Pawlowski run made sense, at least to Ed Pawlowski. With campaign contribution reports due at the end of the month, this blog believes that Governor Pawlowski will return to being a mayor. Unless a number of very deep pockets came forward, Ed's viability as a candidate will have waned. His campaign manager, Mike Fleck, has given no indication to the contrary in a recent local television show. Although the imported office jobs will increase the lunch traffic for downtown eateries, the sought after dinner crowd will not materialize. Despite Obama's speeches, the economy remains impaired. Locations which do not have Allentown's perceived grime and crime, such as the Promenade Mall, could not support more than a couple upscale restaurants. Much hype has gone into the Transformation of center city. The suburban middle class people populating the artist renderings will not turn into real people on the street. Let's hope for the sake of  Pawlowski's career plans that he finds another ticket to ride out of town, before the new arena becomes a white elephant.

Code Blue Warming Center

The Lehigh Valley Council of Churches has decided to open a code blue warming center in Alliance Hall, at 6th and Chew Streets. That's wonderful, but their email blast announcing the service is very disturbing

You have most likely seen press coverage concerning the plight of the homeless during this recent spell of dangerously cold weather. We have chosen not to participate in public debates about how "others" should solve this problem, particularly since the Conference has for the past decade been doing the heavy lifting when it comes to stabilizing the lives of "the least of these, my brothers and sisters" without the need for shining a media spotlight on that work. Instead of being divisive and derisive, we joined with partners who are problem solvers. Our initial plan is to open the Alliance Hall gym only when needed for emergency Code Blue weather conditions. Funding for this initiative is not guaranteed. Staffing details have not been determined.

 If they had been lifting as much as they think, such a center  would already exist. It's particularly offensive to refer to those who illuminated the problem as divisive and derisive. I keep thinking of Diane Teti's comment that nobody owns the homeless. Apparently, the established charitable institutions think that only they should be credited with good deeds.

The Homeless and The Odd Couple

Yesterday, I praised those advocates campaigning for the homeless. In eight days their efforts resulted in another shelter venue for the homeless, the YMCA, opening it's doors. More importingly, they motivated some elected officials, from both the city and county, to visit Safe Haven at St. Pauls. I also noted the about face taken by the city, which has been slow poking on this issue for eight years. The ink had barely dryed on the memo about adequate shelter space already being available, when Pawlowski announced that the YMCA would be joining the shelter options. But this post is about the man who joined Pawlowski, Tom Muller. When the advocates for the homeless pleaded with City Council last week, Muller sat quietly in the back of the room, studying the situation. This Wednesday evening one of the advocates, Rich Fegley, found County Commissioner Scott Ott sitting on the floor in St. Paul's basement, conversing with a homeless man. Ott has a background in lay ministry. Tom Muller apparently has a heart. Although these two men opposed each other this past November for County Executive, and see the mission of the county much differently, their mutual concern could have a positive result for the homeless.