Carry In/Carry Out Doesn't Work For Allentown

The current national park philosophy, adopted by Allentown, is Carry In/Carry Out.  In our environmentally woke time, the belief is that people will take their trash with them, after they guzzled their sports drink.  Allentown accordingly removed most of the trash containers from the parks, instead installing larger capacity containers, which only have to be emptied once a week.  While previously one man and a pickup truck removed the bags, now a dump truck, two men and crane are used to extract the 8ft. long bags from a pit below the containers. 

It all sounds wonderful, until you drive through downtown Allentown any Monday morning...It looks like there was a parade every weekend.  The litter in Allentown is astounding...Many throw their trash down even if there is a container within several feet.  Parents throw down their trash in front of their children.

Rather than less trash containers in our parks, we should have installed more.  There is nothing Allentown  can learn from national park bureaucrats.  Our traditional park system was second to none.

above reprinted from August of 2021

ADDENDUM JUNE 7, 2022: Early on Monday mornings, a park employee fills large containers gathering all the trash tossed down on both sides of Cedar Park over the weekend.  Although the department did add some containers back since the above post was written last year, littering is a reality in the new Allentown. As the department adds new events and recreational features to our parks, this problem will only increase.

ADDENDUM JULY 26, 2023: Mayor Tuerk, in keeping with both your inclusionary and bi-lingual policies, please don't be bashful about Do Not Litter signs in both English and Spanish, No Bote Basura.

ADDENDUM JULY 23, 2024:Mandy Tolino, the park director, is beginning to see the light, or should I say the litter. She announced that the parks will have more trash containers and that seasonal No Litter signs would be installed in both English and Spanish. Add even a few more containers for good measure, and leave those signs up all year. 

ADDENDUM JUNE 23, 2026:The Rose Garden side of Cedar Park never gets short changed on its share of litter. While there is no guareentee that the denizens would use the additional constainers, no harm in trying.

Republican Treats For Incumbent Midterms

If you don't have a treat to feed a dog in the park, most dog owners will give you one to feed their dog. Likewise, with Trump coming to Mack Trucks, they're allowing Ryan Mackenzie to announce the continuation of the Mack Defense Contract. Although Mackenzie will blab about what he does for the local economy, in truth, Mack Defense has already produced hundreds of these trucks, long before Mackenzie.

I imagine that Trump on his campaign to retain the Republican incumbents will be handing out such treats all over the country. The Trump administration has been promoting defense spending, so Mack Defense would be in good shape, even if Susan Wild was still in Congress.

Will the treat help Mackenzie come November against Bob Brooks? I think that there will be blue wave, and this area is too purple to save Mackenzie.

ADDENDUM: The above post was written before Trump melted down and threatened the Iranian delegates. How Congress and Mackenzie will react to the obvious mental crisis in the White House will govern the midterms.

Twerking OurTaxes And Good Sense

 

On July 25th Archer Music Hall will be hosting a Latino dance party. Recently they had local boxing matches. The Archer is a NIZ project by J.B. Reilly, near 10th and Hamilton. To further identify the intersection as the new arts district, the Allentown Art Museum will move to that corner.

Although that move enhances Reilly and has the blessings of the city, this dour blogger continues to speak out. Last time I checked, the Arts Park was supposed to enhance the art district on 5th Street, which consisted of the park, Baum Art School and the Museum.

The Museum board puppies are going along with Reilly's scheme, and not a yelp out of the Baum board puppies. When the dust settles, we will no longer have a cultural district in either place.

The Huckabee Factor

When Trump appointed an evangelical as ambassador to Israel, I was surprised. Because that evangelical is Mike Huckabee, Trump is getting a surprise. On the right of Israel to pursue its Biblical lands, evangelicals are right up there with ultra religious setters.

Huckabee was a minister long before becoming a conservative politician, and will be more inclined to align with Netanyahu as the rift with Trump deepens. Knowing Trump's tolerance for dissent, Huckabee might want to start packing.

As I pen this Wednesday afternoon, Friday's proposed signing with Iran on Friday is a long way off in the world of Donald Trump. However, if it is signed, and Israel cooperates, the West Bank and Gaza will receive more attention.

ADDENDUM: Trump apparently signed the agreement yesterday at the G7 meeting. Quite a bit of controversy is brewing about how much money we're giving Iran, and exactly what the conflict accomplished.

JDS In South Whitehall

Not too many people living in South Whitehall contracted JDS*, but I did in 2014. I was at a township commissioner meeting when a commissioner told David Jaindl that he knows that what is good for Jaindl is good for the township. 

Now understand that the building we were in was on former Jaindl land, as was everything else between Cedar Crest Blvd. and Rt. 309. The current crop of commissioners came into power opposing the current development at Cedar Crest and Walbert, but that was not a Jaindl project. 

The company birthday card above stresses community, but is community really above business for the company? Do the current commissioners genuflect to Jaindl as did their predecessors? Needless to say, I'm exercising my knack of offending everybody with this post.**

*Jaindl Derangement Syndrome,

** I spend much more time thinking about Trump than I ever did Jaindl, but seeing the birthday card took me back to 2014.                                                                                                                                                                               P.S.  I support the current commissioners, and think that they're doing an excellent job.

Bill White's Review Of The Morning Call

In Bill White's recent column, he reminds us of how important local news is for democracy. I don't take issue with that premise, just with his memory about the Morning Call's objectivity. As someone closely involved with many issues for three decades, I can tell you which side the paper took on any given topic. I can tell you which reporters slanted which stories.

Remnants of that era still exist, Bill White among them. He and fellow Morning Call alumni always circle the wagon defending each other. I guess the notion that they didn't work for a Pulitzer caliber newspaper is more than they can accept. Ironically, one of their best reporter/columnists has been since shamed by scandal.

For outside columns, they have been using the same stable for decades. Don Cunningham, Tony Iannelli, and Alan Jennings still regularly appear. Like fine wines, apparently they improve with age.