The Morning Call Massaging

The Morning Call has been massaging the local news over the decades... Yesterday's Ce-Ce Gerlach story is just one of the latest examples. When the paper gets caught in these awkward positions, they do damage control. Yesterday they put Gerlach's disclaimer in their headline... I have not committed any crimes.  The paper knows that it has already been established that she dropped the boy off at the tent city, and that as a mandated reporter she failed in her duty, and that is legally a crime.  Nevertheless, they printed her disclaimer in the headline as damage control, not for Gerlach, but for themselves.  Ce-Ce was one of their go to people, whom they have quoted dozens of times about affordable housing.

But exactly who is the Morning Call? The Morning Call for the last number of years is mostly Mike Miorelli. As the long time editor, and now as publisher, these omissions and decisions reflect his opinions.  The amount of verification necessary for a story depends on his attitude about the person or topic.  While I disagree with him, and him with me, on numerous topics,  I must admit he still puts out a good paper with ever decreasing facilities and staff.

AMENDMENT JULY1, 2021: A lot happened overnight at virtual 6th & Linden....The corner is still there, but the paper isn't. Emperor Miorelli has now given Gerlach the thumb down, and the new city beat reporters (Shortell and Hall) have started to dig her political grave.  I seldom now link to Morning Call stories because too many of my readers hit a paywall, and recently the paper has started exclusive articles, only visible to their subscribers.

Morning Call's Go To People

I have often complained about the Morning Call's go to people.  They ask the same people over and over for their opinion about certain topics....Tony Iannelli about business, Alan Jennings about the poor, Chris Borick about politics and Ce-Ce Gerlach about the NIZ and affordable housing.

While Ce-Ce came in fourth in the May 18th mayoral primary,  many had considered her the person to beat. While the separate candidate election treatment was fair enough,  Ce-Ce's name had long become a regular in the paper.

When the news broke today about Ce-Ce being charged by District Attorney Jim Martin for her less than responsible action with a runaway youth,  frankly, I suspected that the paper had purposefully sat on the story until after the election.  However, I've been assured by the reporter that although the allegations were widely known on facebook and O'Hare's Ramblings,  they could not be confirmed independently by the paper.

I do believe the reporter that he couldn't go with a story that couldn't be confirmed.  Unrelated to the Ce-Ce story, there will now be a new reporter for the city (Allentown) beat, because the current one is coincidentally taking a management offered buyout.*  He hadn't been on the job long enough to have what I would consider institutional knowledge of the city or players. The same was true for his predecessors...it has been at least a decade since anyone had the beat long enough to know the back stories.  That problem with the paper only gets worse.

* The city beat reporter's departure actually occurred this past Friday, but he is credited as a contributor to today's MC story.

UPDATE 5:25 PM:  The Morning Call story has been amended with quotes from both Gerlach and her attorney, but with no indication of such amendment.  Ironically, Gerlach's attorney calls the charges politically motivated.  From my viewpoint,  the editor not insisting on the story before the election, despite it breaking on social media in early May, was politically motivated. 

Blogger LVCI also reports on the Gerlach case

UPDATE JUNE 30 1:58AM: In addition to the Morning Call updating the story, they also changed the headline to include Gerlach's denial of any criminal act. After using Gerlach as one of their go to people for so long, the charges must be awkward for the paper. Blogger Bernie O'Hare also notes the paper's shortcomings in regard to Gerlach in his post today.

The Fountain Pool Of My Youth

While I've been involved in many issues in Allentown over the years, defending the park system of my youth is the one I find the most rewarding.  It's not my personal memory lane I care about, but rather an iconic park system that was in itself a designation. 

I remember the picture postcard racks in the dime stores on Hamilton Street.  They were full of postcards of the Allentown parks,  including the rose garden, and along the different creeks. The card shown above is the former Fountain Park Pool, now closed for many years.  Although most of my swims took place at Cedar Beach Pool,  our gang would visit the other four pools when one of us could borrow the family car.

Although budget and staffing concerns have closed several of the pools, wanton destruction now ruins the remaining.  Cedar Beach had to close because of broken glass in the pool. The spray park at Bucky Boyle closed because of a contaminant dumped into the drain. 

We're now in an era when we need police in the schools.  I suppose we'll soon need them at the park pools as well.

Around The Corner

Yesterday's post about the zoning hearing for Rite-Aid, out on North 7th Street, showed a classic 1950 black and white photograph of Hamilton Street. Today, we go right around the corner, on South 7th Street. Being the oldest blogger in the valley, and being an aficionado of old photographs, you will be submitted to these excursions. Before we begin, a few notes about yesterday's image. Notice that there are many more shoppers on the north side of Hamilton, than the south. This phenomenon always existed. Were the better stores on the north side? Real estate prices and rents were always higher on the Hess's side. OK, lets go around the corner. The Suburban Line Bus is getting ready to head west, the county poor home being the last stop; Today it is known as Cedarbrook. The Lehigh Valley Transit Company had their main stop a block west, on S. 8th Street. The bus is parked in front of the YMCA, which housed a market at street level. If the photograph was extended on the right side, you would see the monument. Across Hamilton Street is Whelan Drug Store, that location currently occupied by a bank. The billboard above, then advertising local Neuweiler Beer, was a prime sign location. Behind the drug store stands the Dime Bank, which will remain as part of the new transformational Arena Complex. Glad you could join me, now get off the bus, and back into 2011.

reprinted from November of 2011

Morning Call Columns Part 2

Yesterday, I took chocolate cake recipe columnist Bill White to task for a little bark with no bite.  I think much more of Paul Muschick, but even he seems to walk the Morning Call Line, which is always to go gentle on the establishment and its shakers.  Muschick rightfully questioned the concept of rail from Lehigh Valley to New York City.... It would be an enormous cost for not that many riders.  He even mentioned that the money could be better spent on local roads.

What Muschick didn't mention was the Route 22 bunnyhop.  The clogged highway was finally set to be widened,  when Pat Browne had the funds diverted to build an additional interchange west of Allentown, which would enhance Jaindl and other developers' warehouse portfolios. Although there was a pretense that Rt. 78 is an interstate, and that is the federal funding priority, local taxpayers had already paid for the engineering for 22's widening.

Drive over Rt. 22 on the Cedar Crest Blvd. overpass any afternoon at 4:30, and see the highway bumper to bumper. 

Adorable Columns In The Morning Call

Mike Schlossberg's opinion piece in the Morning Call was rich in irony. He was rallying against House Bill 1300, which he called a vile attempt to undercut our democracy. Mike felt that the bill would make voting less convenient, something that he knows about and cherishes. Mike likes voting to be easy, even when he's casting a vote for someone else.

In 2015, Mike was caught voting for a representative who was not in attendance at the state house. Furthermore, it was determined that he had no permission from the missing representative to do so, and that the vote cast didn't even reflect that representative's preference. This being Pennsylvania, Scholossberg's punishment was a silent reprimand. 

Adding to my amusement was a column by Bill White. In it Bill claims that he always advocated for term limits. I don't recall Bill ever saying that Mike has been there too long... Bill never gets that specific.

Mike went directly from college to the state house, and into the Morning Call's good graces.

Allentown's Vanishing History

Years ago a reader sent me the above image.  It looks down the hill from 7th and Hamilton, north, toward Linden Street. He had been attempting to locate the old Lafayette Radio store on 7th street, because of a pleasant memory from his childhood. By my day the store had moved onto the southern side of the 700 block of Hamilton Street. History is quickly succumbing to the wreaking ball in Allentown. All the buildings shown above, on the unit block of 7th Street, have been knocked down for the arena and Reilly's Strata complexes.  When Salomon Jewelry departed,  Tucker Yarn remained one of Hamilton Street's last remaining businesses from the glory days.

Phil and Rose Tucker opened their first yarn store on N. 7th St. in 1949. That first store can be seen on the left side of the above photo. The Tucker Yarn Company had been at its current location at 950 Hamilton Street for over 50 years. For knitting enthusiasts the endless inventory was legendary. Phil told me years ago how even in May, traditionally a slow month for the industry, Hess's annual flower show kept Hamilton Street and his store busy. A busy Hamilton Street is a memory now, shared only by a couple of surviving merchants. Although many of Tucker's customers were elderly, the business was much more than a time capsule. His daughter Mae, nationally known in the trade, gave classes and operated a large mail order web site.

Tucker Yarn has closed.  In the near future you will see the building replaced by one more new office building.  This blogger will continue his downtown recons, but I will no longer be sitting in a familiar place with familiar faces.

The above image can be found in Doug Peters' Lehigh Valley Transit

reprinted from November of 2019

Two Ton Galento

In an era of tough men, Tony "Two Ton" Galento was a standout. Although he would never win a Mr. America contest, his left hook could knock down any man, including the legendary Joe Louis. Tony owned a bar in Orange, New Jersey, didn't train, drank beer and ate large meals before he fought. Between 1928 and 1944 he fought 110 times, knocking out 56 of his opponents.

He met the Baer brothers in back to back fights later in his career, losing both bouts, but not before knocking 6'7'' Buddy Baer down. The famous fight with Louis occurred at Yankee Stadium in June of 1939, before Galente beat Lou Nova in the infamous dirty fight. Tony was king of the world in the third round as Louis lay on the canvas, but he got up at the eight count, and knocked Galante out in the next round. Louis would later say that Tony Galante was one of the toughest men he ever fought.
post reprinted from May 30, 2010, bottom photo, after Lou Nova fight, added