Arena No Oasis

The Phantoms Arena is no oasis for those who live in a “food desert”. Congratulations Mayor Pawlowski, your city is a textbook definition of a worst-case scenario.
Definition as provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA): Food deserts are defined as urban neighborhoods and rural towns without ready access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food. Instead of supermarkets and grocery stores, these communities may have no food access or are served only by fast food restaurants and convenience stores that offer few healthy, affordable food options. The lack of access contributes to a poor diet and can lead to higher levels of obesity and other diet-related diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease.

The image is part of a map devised by the USDA to designate areas of the United States that are severely deprived of access to fresh food. The orange parts on the map are areas in Allentown with less than adequate access to fresh food. Green areas signify the worst-hit areas, called “food deserts” by USDA and other Public Health agencies. Light blue areas show very low income.
The orange dot in the middle of all of this need is the heralded Phantoms Arena. Yes, “the beacon of hope of Allentown” is sited like a feudal lord’s castle, surrounded by people who are being ignored, inconvenienced, and oppressed like so many peasants. Starved for attention you could even say, but are The Players in the middle of this moneyed deal noticing at all?

Grocery stores anchor neighborhoods. Grocers hire, train, offer career paths and not only improve community health but increase the value of housing. Grocery stores attract other businesses, such as dry cleaners, clothing merchants and drug stores. Grocery stores need to be part of an essential development scheme for Allentown and Bethlehem, and that development needs to begin apace with the arena and all of the other City Center plans being touted.

K Mary Hess

guest post by K Mary Hess, a public health consultant

William Allen's Color Change

When I graduated from William Allen in the mid 1960's, the school was lily white. Yesterday, the district attorney filed charges against two juveniles for ethnic intimidation, against a minority there, a white student. This is a story most bloggers would stay away from, especially one running for Harrisburg as a state representative. However, if Allentown is going to have success, beyond some new buildings being subsidized by state-wide taxpayers, it has to embrace it's diversity. The school district in the last fifteen years experienced significant white flight. It is now time, if somewhat overdue, to repackage the assets that Allen has to offer, and make the school attractive to students of all colors. The unfortunate bullying incident should be used as an instrument to begin that lesson plan. Like the school system, the communities of Lehigh Valley, and their elected representatives, have been reluctant to discuss real quality of life issues. While unspoken despair conquers one block after another, in one town after another, their representatives offer little more than a handshake and smile. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending the ribbon cutting for what would have been called a new minority owned business years ago. Who is now the minority no longer matters. What does matter is a frank discussion and assessment of the problems facing our communities. If it's a major grocery store needed for downtown Allentown, or better public transportation for Slatington, it's time Harrisburg concentrates on quality of life issues.
UPDATE: ASD Press Release

Allentown School District’s IBEAM Academy

Receives “No Place for Hate” Distinction

Today, Friday, May 2, at 2:00 p.m. the students and faculty at the Allentown School District’s (ASD) IBEAM Academy will celebrate the school’s designation as No Place for Hate, having completed a year of anti-bias and anti-bullying programs. Jeremy Bannett, No Place for Hate Assistant Project Director, will attend the ceremony and present the school with its official designation banner. To earn this distinction, the school formed a No Place for Hate committee, adopted a resolution pledging to create a more inclusive school, and implemented a number of projects promoting respect for differences.

I can only assume that the above press release, issued only 3 hours before the event, is damage control. The IBEAM Academy, conducted at the Jackson School, is the districts alternative school, for students already identified as having discipline issues.

Trouble In Mayberry

Sources close to City Hall say that Mayor Pawlowski is furious over the commotion that occurred last Friday at the soirée to celebrate Allentown's arena development. Supposedly, the pursuing police officers were told to stand down by a captain, before they reached the accident area by 6th and Linden. The defendant was a minor drug dealer, and the cops had already secured his license plate number. The story goes that the officers ignored the command, for whatever reason, and continued the chase. Had the police car not been stopped by the encounter with the telephone pole, it might have well plowed into the tent full of dignitaries. While the defendant has been charged with reckless endangerment, should the police also face the same charge?

Bullying In The Allentown School District

Last month I posted about a young lady who was victimized by both bullies and the Allentown School System. When she complained to the school principal about the bullying, his solution was to throw her, in mid term, into the advanced honor's class. While this didn't protect her from her antagonists, she still had to walk to and from school, it did interrupt her scholastic accomplishment. She had been only one marking period away from making the Jr. National Honor Society, in regular classes. Her mother feels that her daughter should be allowed to retake the finals for that marking period, but the school administration refuses. I share the mother's pride in updating you about her next marking period. This remarkable girl, named Jalonda, tutored herself on the internet for the advanced math classes, and once again made honor roll, even in the advanced honor class. A college professor told me that the school district's decision is defective. Putting the girl into the advanced classes, instead of dealing with the bullying problem, was the school's decision, not the girls. She has since proven to be a true honors student, who deserves the opportunity to retake those exams, and restore her scholastic record.

The Express Times informs us that some bullies at William Allen picked on the wrong kid, the son of an Allentown School Director. I wish the best solution for the director's son, but also want the District to do right by Jalonda, even if her mother isn't a school director.

An Independent Comes Home

My voter registration has changed back and forth between Republican and independent for several decades. Although most of the candidates I have voted for have been Republicans, independent reflects my mindset. Periodically, I became frustrated at being disenfranchised in the primary elections, and then re-registered as a Republican. As previously noted on this blog, I have decided to run for the State House, against long time incumbent Julie Harhart. She is being opposed in the primary by Marc Grammes, and is also opposed in the general election by Democrat Terri Powell. Pennsylvania has become a mess. It is for that reason that current Governor Corbett faces a stiff challenge this fall. Our legislators are now scrambling to fix the electric deregulation mess that they had created. It should be no surprise that these new electric companies, in name only, which have no generation or transmission infrastructure, raised their rates. They are only gloried post office boxes, with fancy literature. The take away lesson from this electric fiasco is to leave the State Store liquor system in tact, rather than to need more regulations and bureaucrats, to deal with new problems created by another privatization.

To Whom Do The Park Features Belong

There are those of us who remember the greenhouse in Trexler Park, but that does not include the current mayor, the park director or his predecessor. Unfortunately, there's a tradition in Allentown of park directors making unilateral decisions, which effect generations to come. The Trexler greenhouse was understandably the pride of Mrs. Trexler. It was a lush tropical paradise, complete with a full grown banana tree. About 30 years ago, the park director decided that it should go, as part of a cost saving measure. A couple years later, the same director planted the wetland area by the intersection of Cedar Crest Blvd. and Cetronia Rd.. That planting cost $750,000. I recall the price, because Longwood Gardens built a new greenhouse for that same amount, and we had just lost our greenhouse and only had some new creek weeds to show instead; Even back then, I was an advocate for the traditional park system. Recently, visitors to Trexler Park have noticed that this Wetland area has been cut down, although very few know that they had also lost a beautiful greenhouse.

The current issue of the park magazine mentions that an engineer has been hired to plan some restoration on the stonework at Fountain Park. I take pride in knowing that my efforts and this blog are behind that long overdue attention to the WPA structures.

Allentown's Reality Show

On Friday afternoon there was a collision between political spin and reality in downtown Allentown. As  Governor Corbett and Mayor Pawlowski toasted The miracle that is Allentown, a police cruiser crashed right outside their gilded tent, while chasing a drug suspect. Pawlowski had said "I want to thank the state, this unique tool has created unprecedented investment in the City of Allentown." What he should have said is that he wanted to thank the taxpayers of surrounding communities, who are subsidizing Allentown's miracle. Although the state income tax rate may not increase, that money is being made up one way or another. If it's more tax on gasoline, or higher fees on renewing their driver's license, the state budget reaches out in many ways to make up for this unprecedented investment in Allentown. Allentown's State Representative wasted no time spinning the fiasco by restricting his comment to the Allentown police. Although the police acted heroically, the representative should have also thought about the residents in his district. While they were not invited to the banquet tent, every day they live with the drug violence. If I'm fortunate enough to be elected to represent the citizens of the 183rd District, I will not be attending such banquets of self praise, but will be out in the district, fighting for a better everyday quality of life.

photocredit:The Morning Call