Oct 14, 2016

The Noodleboy and Wehr's Dam


Billy Mack and some other young people had been talking about the mural on a building soon to be demolished. They called "him" Noodle Boy, and expressed empathy toward his coming fate. It's a cute story, and the Morning Call decided to cover it.  
 Meanwhile, the paper hadn't printed or even acknowledged my recent letter on Wehr's Dam, about to be unnecessary demolished by a disingenuous referendum. I wrote the editorial because Bill White on September 29th had a column, which contained misinformation about the dam. This misinformation was put out by South Whitehall Township, whose Commissioners are trying to have the residents vote the dam away, relieving them of any political consequences. In the summer of 2014, almost 7,000 residents signed a petition asking that the dam remain. Furthermore, they signed the petition while visiting the dam. Mr. White declined to write a correction, but suggested that I submit an editorial on the topic. That editorial had been sitting somewhere between the editor's desk and his waste can for over a week.  Yesterday, I caught him by telephone.  He must have been too busy to look at the caller ID.  I was told that they haven't had time yet to review my submission.  I'm glad that they sent a reporter out to meet Billy Mack at Noodle Boy.  I wish that they would send a reporter to meet me at the dam.  I would like to tell him or her about how South Whitehall is deceiving the voters, and how we are going to lose a destination that has been cherished for generations.  Noodle Boy can be repainted anywhere. Once the historic dam is demolished, it's gone forever.

Wehr's Dam photo by Yevette Hendler

You're welcome to return today at 2:00PM, when I will have a bonus post on last night's city council meeting.

3 comments:

  1. Mike,

    Who reads the opinion page of the Morning Call? It really isn't worth the effort to go through the hoops to get something published there. They have a small audience and an even smaller readership of opinion.When does it happen that a friend asks us, "hey, did you read that column in the Call today"? Proof of the lack of interest is how they bury that section on there site.

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  2. scott@7:24, as you may know, i have been fighting for years now against the demolition of wehr's dam. so, one month before the issue goes to referendum, bill white publishes a column which repeats the misinformation being issued by the south whitehall commissioners, who are not honest brokers in this controversy. i hope that the morning call will allow the opposing viewpoint equal exposure..

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  3. They should but remember whom we are dealing with. They have both dealt with us in an underhanded fashion in the past. They have lied to us. They have altered our text for reasons other than grammar, and told us that we couldn't do what they allow others to do, including but not limited to allowing people to write responses to our editorials and allowing people to lie about our public statements that could have been verified as lies.Bob Orenstien allowed Deb Tretter to say that I "denigrated the poor" in my statements at a school board meeting(that discussion involve my successful efforts to block allowing the Phoenix Mill to be rezoned as residential).I could go on but one gets the point by now.

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