Ed Pawlowski's Secret

Ed Pawlowski and I belong to the same Facebook group, at which we both visit and comment. On Friday I posted a petition to the site, which requested that Mayor Pawlowski reconsider, and save the Robin Hood Dam. The Petition was pinned to the top of the Page, making it impossible to miss. Both the site administrator and myself posted numerous appeals since then, asking people to sign the petition. Mayor Pawlowski has commented several times, on another topic, since the petition was posted. Unbeknown to me, Pawlowski sent the bulldozer Monday morning to tear down the dam. The dam is gone. It would have been courteous for the mayor to inform the group that the effort to save the dam was futile. Rather, he remained silence on that topic, while commenting about the arena, for his own agenda. I can't tell you the horror that the Parkway was today. Robin Hood Parking lot held the large concrete pieces from the former dam, while a large excavator broke them into smaller pieces, for waiting dump trucks. Elsewhere in the park, large bucket trucks parked on the sensitive ravine slope, to string the Christmas display lights. He may call it restoring nature to our city, I call it degrading our beautiful park. The removal is in violation of the state guidelines against dam removals starting in October. Of course a state that encouraged fracking would hardly care. I saw several consequences to the stream that have already been caused by  the dam removal.  Future posts will document those unfortunate side effects. It's a sad week for Lehigh Parkway.

A Temporary Reprieve For The Dam

Although Wildlands Conservancy managed to tear down the dam by the Fish Hatchery, the demolition season ended October 1, providing the dam at Robin Hood in Lehigh Parkway a temporary stay of demolition. Much like the governor Ed Pawlowski hopes to be, only he has the power now to save the dam. This dam has provided generations of park goers with both the sound and beauty which make this section of the park a magic place. I have started a petition to Save The Dam. Your signature would be greatly appreciated, and please consider sharing it with your friends. Thank You.

SIGN HERE

The Vilification of Julian Stolz

For someone so young, Julian has been through the wringer in the last two days. Although he has announced his resignation from the East Penn School Board this afternoon, the storm will continue through the week. I had no intention to write about this, but an off topic comment about Scott Armstrong, on an Allentown nostalgia website, brings me to this post. Although the public complains about school taxes, it can't abide conservative school board members. Although teachers conduct workshops about tolerance and bullying, they want to lynch any school board member who dares question any of their motives. As for Julian, he's a 25 year old man dating a 20 year old woman. Because of his conservative views, his activities from five years ago have now been misconstrued as current events. Likewise, Scott Armstrong has been misrepresented in his dealings with fellow board members, teachers and students. When you write that check out for school taxes, don't blame Stolz and Armstrong.

A Cookie For Old Allentown

About once a year, Mayor Pawlowski gives the boys and girls of the Old Allentown Preservation Association a cookie. Last year, he gave them new historic street signs. Unfortunately, they didn't have much structural integrity, and within 3 hours every one of them was bent. This year we're dressing up the corner where the Association has it's office. Brick crosswalks will be added to 10th and Turner, and the the stoplight and other utility poles will be painted a more historic color. The boys and girls have been good. There hasn't been one peep from them about the demolition of the historic mercantile district, and the construction of the Great White Elephant. More important, they're behaving about the traffic cluster that the arena will bring their way, when all the patrons exit at the same time. I see more cookies in their future.

Tom Muller, Business As Usual

I really wanted to stay out of this election; Trying to keep the barbarians from destroying our history is enough work for me. The first brochure from Tom Muller was a slick 4 page production, touting his business acumen. But it was the second flyer that annoyed the editorial staff here at molovinsky on allentown. In it Muller again portrays himself as the business guru, while Scott Ott is pictured as an uninformed school bus driver. In reality, Tom Muller has been the County's administrator for years, sanctioning an overspending administration. In reality, his motto should be Business As Usual. Meanwhile, covering the taxpayer's back, Scott Ott has been actually looking for spending cuts. Looking for savings is not without consequences. You're accused of wanting to starve old ladies. You're accused of being against the criminal justice system. You're accused of being homophobic. If you refuse to spend $228,000.00 per apartment on renovation, you're accused of being against the mentally ill. Lehigh County cannot afford Muller's business as usual experience.

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.