Thank You Senator Toomey

As the country is reeling from the cowardly terrorist act in Boston this week, local Senator Toomey exhibited extraordinary courage in co-sponsoring the gun background check. Toomey's base is ultra conservative, and he hurt himself with that constituency. With the proposal failing to pass the Senate, his credit with the gun control advocates will be a forgotten moment. Toomey said he was doing it because He felt it was the right thing to do. Apparently Capital Hill isn't ready for any changes in gun control, because the Toomey-Manchin amendment only closed gaping loopholes.

Lifestyle Coaching

With only an exception or two, I'm not a big fan of the local blogosphere. But, with The Morning Call Blogger night coming up, I thought I would surf around and get reacquainted. I noticed that one blogger has deemed herself a LifeStyle Coach, for vegetable eating or such. She charges $75 a session. She claims that it helped her lose weight and cleared her complexion. I have decided to also become a coach. If you suffer from undue optimism, give me a call. If your friends resent your positive attitude, give me a call, I'm well qualified. In the picture shown,  I'm receiving the Cynic Award, which I didn't deserve.  I charge $65 a session. Most of my students will be disappointed.

The Mutation Called Democracy In Allentown

This coming May 21st will be the fall general election for Allentown City Council. All candidates are of the same party, Democratic, meaning that who wins in the primary, wins. (Unless an independent(s) decide to run before the deadline in July) Although there is only one person running for the two year seat, incumbent Joe Davis, nine Democrats are competing for four seats, including the four incumbents. Today a slate of the anti-water lease candidates held a news conference. My associate, Bernie O'Hare attended the conference and will write about it late this evening. He will paraphrase their speeches, then print their speeches verbatim, also including a video of them giving their speech. I will soon be presenting some posts on what I think of the other bloggers in the Lehigh Valley. UPDATE: Although in Allentown's mutated democracy all candidates are Democrats, not all the Democrats on May 21st are the same. There is an opportunity for those voters who seek change at City Council, but just in the primary election.

The History Of Union Terrace

The area now known as Joe Daddona Park has a rich history. The stone arch bridge dates back to 1828. If Lehigh County had it's way, it would already be gone. I'm proud to have played a part in it's reprieve. Today, I start a series of posts which will eventually lead to another Walk In The Park, this time in the area known for most of my life as Union Terrace. The park consists of the former city ice skating pond and the WPA amphitheater. This blog previously featured the train of Union Terrace, which was near the end of the former Barber Quarry Branch line. Talking of trains, shown above is the Joe Daddona house, which was originally the freight station of the Allentown and Reading Traction Company.

Reilly Gain, Masonic Pain

The Masonic Temple is perhaps the remaining architectural wonder of Allentown. The five story Classic Revival building took over two years to construct, opening in 1926. The large ritual meeting rooms are adorned with murals. General Harry Trexler was a Mason, and largely responsible for Allentown's Temple, which is on the list of significant historic buildings. Unfortunately, after almost ninety years, it's future is in jeopardy. It is essentially supported by one large commercial tenant, an accounting firm which rents the office space on the first floor for $10,000 a month. The accountant will be moving into J.B. Reilly's new office tower when completed. The Masons are hoping to find ten smaller tenants for $1000 each to fill the void, or perhaps twelve at $800. The only certain thing is that their good fortune with a large dependable tenant appears to be over. When Pawlowski cuts the ribbon for Reilly's new tenant, he'll be actually pulling the plug on an important part of west Allentown's history. He'll give mouth service that his department of Musical Chairs will help find them a tenant.

Water Lease Injunction In Order

According to Chris Casey, over at Lehigh Valley Political Blog, Mike Hanlon, Allentown City Clerk, is the one who initially informed Tim Benyo, County Chief Clerk of Voter Registration, that the Water Lease Ballot Petition didn't conform with state law. Previous news reports indicated that this determination was made after the Allentown City Clerk delivered the petitions to the Voter Registration Office. If Casey's allegation is correct, then the city  conspired against it's own citizens. The City Solicitor had reviewed the petition and imposed guidelines. Under this review, the petitioners were misled to believe that their efforts were conforming with applicable timelines and laws.

UPDATE:  This afternoon I discussed the above allegation with one of the leaders of the Water Lease Ballot Petition.  He does not consider the revelation "actionable",   and will not  seek  an injunction.  He's hopeful that some members of council will change their mind  from fear of voter backlash,  and being educated by his group's presentations, which promote Allentown starting it's own water authority.  He has much more faith in the flexibility of council than I do.

The Trains of Allentown

As a blogger, at the moment, I need a rest from those bureaucracies which I find so exasperating, and perhaps visa versa. I suppose it would be a good time to stop and reminisce some more about trains, both model and real. Shown above was the real deal when the 0 gauge was king. Before I go too far, let me state that growing up I never had a train. For a few years I had a friend whose father, looking back, was rather obsessed with the hobby. He had the transformer shown. It was 275 watts, and could operate four trains and an assortment of accessories. For many years, Bloch's Hobby Store, in the 400 block of 7th Street, was a model train expert. Trains were also sold at Pollard's Firestone Tire Store, also on 7th Street.

I've presented a number of Barber Quarry branch line photographs in previous posts. The one below shows the siding at the former Traylor Engineering Plant on S. 10th Street, now owned by the AEDC. About 20 years ago the track was removed for the entire  length of the former rail line.
  photogragh by Mark Rabenold, 1987