Bill Whitewashing At The Morning Call

In his recent column, we learn that Bill White is worried that what he calls the MAGA candidates are going to win come November.  He goes on to clarify that these are the Trump people.  Now, I'm not a Trump person myself, but I sure hope that there are some wholesale changes in Harrisburg. 

Bill claims that he was a long time critic against the Democratic corruption in Harrisburg, but that these MAGAs will really undermine our state's progress. Of course in this Valley of Incumbents Voted for Life, White never put a name to any of these Democrats. It's easy to complain about corruption in the state house when never naming a culprit. 

While White claims that he wanted to see improvement in Harrisburg, he's still worried about any of the status quo being changed out. Over the years White has labeled me misguided and dour for actually naming bad people and programs.  There is a reason that the FBI spent two years investigating Allentown, and practically every contract signed at city hall. It took that long because there were no clues from Bill White or anybody else at the Morning Call.

The West End Train Branch

The Lehigh Valley Railroad operated a train branch line which served Allentown's commercial west end. It ran along Sumner Avenue servicing the scrap metal yards, warehouses and numerous coal dealers located there. The line then crossed Tilghman Street on a diagonal at 17th, before looping back east by Liberty Street at the Fairgrounds. The line ended at a rail yard now housing the small shopping center at 12th and Liberty. Although many of former commercial buildings still exist, all now house more retail type businesses. The B'nai Brith Apartments occupy the site of the former Trexler Lumber Yard. These historical shorts are difficult to write, because most current residents have no frame of reference to our former commercial past. True historians, such as the local railroad buffs, cringe at the lack of detail and specific location of the tracks. Suffice to say that once upon a time, the mid-section of Allentown had much more commerce.

photo of train crossing Tilghman at 17th Street taken by Kermit E. Geary in 1974, from the Mark Rabenold Collection.

reprinted from December of 2012

Palin Fair Game

Sarah Palin has been fair game with the press since McCain nominated her in 2008. In the case against the New York Times, she lost before the trial, during the trial, and when the verdict was read. The judge dismissed half the case before the trial, and publicly declared that he would dismiss the charges of libel against the Times, regardless of the verdict. 

Even the Times, although a libel defendant in the case, besmirched her further during the trial. Their reporter wrote that Palin is back in the public eye in a way that is "wholly fitting" with her political persona. 

As a blogger I certainly appreciate freedom of the press.  However, the New York Times purports itself to have standards of objectivity much higher than the gonzo world of words in which I dwell. Although entitled to make a mistake, associating someone with shootings is not something which can be squared away with a correction. 

They certainly did damage her. The real problem is that they in their arrogance consider her fair game. Apparently, the judge also had that same elitist attitude.

A Voice And Style Is Silenced

Patrice Sidoione passed away suddenly earlier this week. When Allentown began the property acquisition program several years ago for the arena, the methods were not nice. Straw buyers were sent into the properties, making offers with threats of eminent domain to those who would not cooperate. Although these tactics were ignored by The Morning Call, this blog reported the process, threat by threat. Patrice, who owned a hair salon on 8th Street, keep me updated on this process and invited me, as did other merchants, to attend their meetings with city officials. Although the administration was hoping that the merchants would go quietly, they didn't know Patrice Sidoione. She championed for her rights, and encouraged the other merchants to stand up for theirs. Those who knew her are saddened by her untimely death. An obituary notice appears in today's paper.

photo of Patrice by Ramy Song

above reprinted from March 21, 2014

An Allentown Cheesesteak Story

Readers of The Morning Call have seen several photo spreads of Tony Luke's opening on Hamilton Street. Two spreads in a row showed Mayor Pawlowski and the owner hyping the new cheesesteak spot, along with at least two articles in recent weeks announcing that the business was coming. The same readers have also seen paid for coupon ads by Zandy's, which have been advertising in the paper for maybe 20 years. Zandy's, on the intersection of St. John and Lehigh Streets, is a third generation Allentown business. Yesterday, a reader commented on a different blog topic that the NIZ is crony capitalism, supported by crony journalism. Submitted comments about which cheesesteak you think is better will not appear, I don't care about that. What I do care about is a mayor and a newspaper, who now seems to think that Allentown starts and stops at the NIZ portion of Hamilton Street.

above reprinted from November 18, 2014

UPDATE FEBRUARY 14, 2022: Since I wrote the above post over seven years ago, not only has Tony Luke's come and gone, but also local cheesesteaker Vince's, in the same spot, has come and gone--- not to mention Pawlowski himself.  However, Zandy's is still on St. John Street, serving up its famous cheesesteaks, without the paper's promotion or any NIZ subsidized rent. Until last week the Morning Call has stayed faithful to NIZ, with no questions asked. However, lo and behold they revealed that their right to know inquiry about NIZ taxes was stymied by Pat Browne's latest NIZ amendment.  On the surface it might appear that the paper is finally doing what it should have been doing for the last decade. However, having a smudge of cynicism,  I see another possible motive. The Morning Call editors have embraced Mark Pinsley and his political ambitions. Bashing Browne now serves the paper well with that agenda.

Hasshan Batts Not A Bashful Man

Hasshan Batts was on my radar a few years ago, when a video emerged with him angry about a parking ticket. He was ranting about racial discrimination. I can assure him that the Parking Authority also victimizes white, yellow and brown people

He also made this blog page previously when Cynthia Mota repeatedly nominated him to be appointed Pawlowski's replacement mayor. Cynthia forgot to mention that she was at the time in his employ at Promise Neighborhoods. Although I broke the story here, the Morning Call gave no attribution when they reported the same story several days later, but that's another complaint, for another day.

I'm back on Hasshan's case today because of his current editorial in the Morning Call. It concerns Black History Month and he's certainly a qualified representative. My issue is his conclusion...to support Black leadership, local Black businesses and Black-led nonprofit organizations... I personally don't think that support should be automatic because a person or group is black, but because they're  competent individuals. But the glare is Black-led nonprofit. Just like Mota forgot to mention that she worked for Batts, Batts might mention that he leads a Black non-profit.

photo of Hasshan Batts and Alan Jennings

ADDENDUM: Police Chief Charles Roca had officers join Batts' candle vigil at the scene of the latest shooting. While Roca wants to show police empathy to community pain, he may be inadvertently Defunding his own department.

The Morning Call's Steep Price

On Saturday, the Morning Call featured a story about Enid Santiago's challenge to the primary election, mentioned that she is now a write-in candidate, and linked to the voter's guide they published the day before. The paper's pre-election coverage now included every candidacy, except mine.

Ironically, the article documented that there was no basis for Santiago's charges alleging ballot irregularities.  The newspaper cheerfully cooperated with her to gain maximum publicity for a write-in campaign, after losing a primary election. 

I have paid a steep price for scrutinizing local government, and calling out the newspaper for not doing the same.  However,  my activism, and subsequently this blog, wasn't motivated because all was well in the Lehigh Valley.  Between ineptitude and corruption, watchmen are always needed.  The Morning Call went from good old boy local ownership, to outside corporate indifference, with neither entity motivated to upset the local status quo. 

Years ago a critic such as myself was limited to an occasional letter to the editor, or a soapbox on the corner. Things have changed with the internet. Myself and other bloggers can present information previously kept from the public.  Somebody researching former Mayor Pawlowski will find questions about his integrity here on this blog, more than a decade before the Morning Call broached the topic.  On many other topics, such as the Parking Authority and the NIZ, which I have scrutinized,  the paper has yet to take its head out of the sand.  

In regard to the NIZ,  this blog documented that the city, through straw buyers, was using strong arm tactics to dislodge the former merchants of the arena block.  The Morning Call was not only compliant, but complicit in that scheme.  They were the only private entity included in the NIZ map, on the north side of Linden Street. 

Although my criticism of the paper has cost me any coverage in regard to my campaign for Harrisburg, it's a price I'd rather pay, than joining their endorsement of status quo mediocrity in our community.

above reprinted from November of 2020

The Morning Call Awakens To Allentown's Monster

After being subservient for over a decade, The Morning Call finally decided to investigate something about the NIZ. After the paper submitted a Right To Know request, Pat Browne changed the law to thwart their inquiry. I have often said that the NIZ was written in pencil, and has been changed numerous times, as J.B. Reilly and other benefactors sought ever-expanding opportunities. 

In my view, the Morning Call was almost complicit in the NIZ's early shenanigans. They had no issue with being included in the first map, although their building was across the street from the district's main zone. Reilly would end up owning the Morning Call building for use in the cigarette tax add on amendment. That map itself has become a historic relic, because amendments to the NIZ law now allow the NIZ to trade for property outside of the district. 

This blog was vindicated by the FBI when Pawlowski's deals were adjudicated. The NIZ may never be deemed illegal because our elected dolts signed off on it, but it may well become a case study in government ethics.

Shown above, I'm flanked by Pawlowski bagman Mike Fleck and NIZ Authority lawyer Seymour Traub as I'm complaining about how former property owners were bullied into selling. While back then the Morning Call's Bill White labeled me misguided for my criticism of the NIZ, the paper is now finally beginning to see the monster they helped promote.