Slow Learning in the Valley

We're slow learners here in Lehigh Valley. When you read what they call a paper, the local news needs no date. We decided to make our airport even less competitive, by charging more for parking and flights. They need the money to pay for the land they never needed or used. They are once again remodeling the airport to make it nicer for people who don't use it. Over in Easton, Sal Panto marches ahead with his Al Bundy Museum of High School Sports. He also is still pushing his brew pub idea. If he combines them, we'll have the real Bundy experience. On the other side of the Valley, Allentown picked it's official bird as part of becoming a Bird City. There was a time when Allentown was full of robins; Now we have robbers. Just remember, we're just one project and speech away from turning everything around. Time to increase parking meter fees in Allentown.

Under Construction, Temporary Inconvenience, Permanent Improvement

Allentown's Double Standard

I've always maintained that the City Planners couldn't organize a children's birthday party, much less real urban planning. I have evidence to make my point. Take 7th Street for example. Those familiar with that venue know how many times the city has changed the bricks, sidewalks and street lights. The Hispanic business district that developed there was in spite of the city, not because of it. When I attended a meeting with Allentown's new Community Development Director, Sarah Hailstone, and the affected merchants of the hockey arena, I snickered when she said that the city would help the merchants. I actually uttered my birthday party line. Olgie Moreno-Prosper, of New Generation Learning Center, is finding out exactly how helpful the City can be. She has 13 years invested in her current location. Her application to move her daycare center to another location has been denied by city zoning. Allentown's a small place. The zoning board member who spoke against her center, because of traffic concerns, is well connected with the city. His wife is on the Allentown Parking Authority. The Authority is allowed to rent space for a daycare center in the bottom of their parking deck on Linden Street (the old Hess Brothers Deck), with an entrance on the corner of the alley which runs under the deck. Between the traffic and fumes, what could be a worse location than that? Gotta love Allentown.

A comment placed on The Morning Call website, about the article, pretty much sums up the mentality of both the City and many citizens against the displaced merchants.

FutureDowntownArenaAttendee at 1:09 AM July 14, 2011
"So they're telling us 'Take your little day care and move it out of the city of Allentown because we don't want it,' " she said Wednesday. "That's the message I got." (day care owner)
HEY HEY GOODBYE.

link to Morning Call article by Elizabeth Murphy, photograph by Kevin Mingora

Turning Out The Light

The train tower on Union Street was demolished in 1971. It survived years beyond need because the gates were never automated, and the remaining track was used for switching freight cars. The junction yard behind the State Hospital property, near the border with Bethlehem, is still active. The freight trains travel south Allentown toward Emmaus several times a day. In the quiet of early morning, you can still hear that whistle almost everywhere in the city.

photograph by Dave Latshaw is part of the Mark Rabenold Collection

Union Street Slowdown

By the early 1960's, things had slowed for Allentown's manufacturing base and the rail freight cars that served them. Train lines had consolidated, and tracks and spurs had been removed. Remaining plants were supplied by trucks, and people traveled by bus and car. The remaining train station would soon close, but the term rustbelt had not yet entered the vocabulary. Western Electric (AT&T) on Union Blvd. was now making transistors, and there was still confidence in the new economy. Allentown was the All American City.

The Union Street Train Tower

The Union Street crossing was a busy place. It was located between the Jordan Creek and south 3th Street. Virtually all the train lines serving Allentown converged here. The Lehigh Valley Railroad's old main line also crossed Union Street further east, toward the Lehigh River. Allentown was at this time served by two train stations, the Lehigh Valley Railroad Station which was built over the Jordan Creek, and the New Jersey Central, which still stands as a closed restaurant and bar. This photograph, from 1930, is first in a series which will chronicle both the demise of our railroad era, and manufacturing base. Today, the tower is long gone and only one track survives. It is used by a private short line operator.

photograph from the Collection of Mark Rabenold

The World of Mirth

Allentown at one time had two very productive railroad branch lines; The West End, and the Barber Quarry. The Barber Quarry, for the most part, ran along the Little Lehigh Creek. It serviced the Mack Truck plants on South 10th, and continued west until it turned north along Union Terrace, ending at Wenz's tombstone at 20th and Hamilton Streets. The West End, for the most part, ran along Sumner Avenue, turning south and looping past 17th and Liberty Streets.

The Allentown Economic and Development Corporation has received a $1.8 million grant, toward a $4 million dollar project, to restore a portion of the Barber Quarry branch to service it's industrial building on South 10th Street. This building housed Traylor Engineering, which was a giant back in the day. Recently it housed a fabricator who President Obama visited on his Allentown photo opportunity mission. The business has since closed, but let's not have that reality stand in the way of grants. Last summer, I fought against Allentown's Trail Network Plan, which catered to the spandex cyclist crowd. The new trail was to be built on the Barber Quarry track line. Not only didn't the AEDC oppose the plan, it's director was an advocate. Now they will be funded to develop that which they wanted to destroy. Where do I begin in Allentown's World of Mirth?

The wonderful photograph above shows the World of Mirth train at 17th and Liberty. World of Mirth was the midway operator at the Allentown Fair during the 40's and 50's. In the background is Trexler Lumber Yard, which burnt down in the early 1970's. The B'nai B'rith Apartment houses now occupy the location.
photograph from the collection of Mark Rabenold

UPDATE: The Barber Quarry branch was not the primary railroad access to the Mack plants on South 10th Street. The branch only provided service to Mack Plant #2 on South 10th and Mack Plant #1 on 7th and Mill Streets which both closed for manufacturing in 1924 in favor of Mack #3,3A,4 and 4A on South 10th. These were served by the Reading Railroad Mack Branch. There was a switchback that connected the Barber Quarry to the Reading west of Traylor Engineering and Manufacturing Co. Yet, that was built by the Reading to serve Traylor and did not provide access for the LVRR to Mack #3,3A, 4 and 4A.

Also the western terminus was not wenz's on Hamliton Street. The branch crossed Hamilton and served several businesses including Yeager Fuel on North St Elmo, several silk mills and Pepsi Bottling at 2100 Linden Street. The bottling plant closed in 1963 which then became a city parks department building. The LVRR sold and removed the track north of Hamilton street in 1969. Accordingly, in 1970, the Wenz company became the western most shipper and receiver on the branch. update information from anonymous comment in November of 2010

reprinted from November 29, 2010

Boxing Eggs

When I was a little boy, I would work at my father's meat market, boxing eggs. The job was pretty straightforward. I would take eggs from a big box, and put them in small boxes with folding lids, each of which held a dozen. If I did a whole crate without breaking an egg, I did a good job. The real adventure was the drive to the shop. We lived just off Lehigh Street, and would take it all the way to Union Street. The many landmarks are now gone forever, only remaining in my camera of the past. Shown above in 1952, is the portion of Lehigh Street near the Acorn Hotel, which is not visible in the photograph. Before reaching the Acorn, you drove under The Reading Railroad bridge overpass, which recently has been dismantled and removed. That line served the Mack Plant on S. 10th Street. Just beyond the area pictured, the Quarry Barber railroad spur also crossed Lehigh Street, at the bridge over the Little Lehigh Creek. That line also crossed S. 10th, and served Traylor Engineering, now known as the closed Allentown Metal Works. Just last week Mitt Romney was there, to rebuke Obama's former visit to the site. Mayor Pawlowski is now rebuking Romney, but none of them really know anything about it's past. A half block away, on overgrown steps built by Roosevelt's WPA, a thousand men would climb home everyday, after working at Mack and Traylor. Freight trains, on parallel tracks, from two different railroads, were needed to supply those industrial giants.

After my father rounded the second curve on Lehigh Street, we would head up the steep Lehigh Street hill. It was packed with houses and people. At the top of the hill, we would turn right on to Union Street. Going down Union Street, Grammes Metal was built on the next big curve. Grammes made a large assortment of finished decorative metal products. Beyond Grammes were numerous railroad crossings. The Lehigh Valley Railroad tracks crossed Union, as did the Jersey Central and several spurs, near Basin Street. It was not unusual to wait twenty-five minutes for the endless freight trains to pass. A two plus story tower gave the railroad men view and control of the busy crossing. A few more blocks and we were at the meat market, in time for me to break some eggs.

Raw Cookie Dough

I had told City Council that the Arena plan was half baked, it's actually more like raw dough. Yesterday, board members of the Allentown Parking Authority wrote one of the most unconvincing letters I have ever read. Referring to the parking deck by City Hall; They can choose to leisurely walk the three blocks to their destination or, perhaps, jump on a trolley that could be traversing the city's business district ferrying customers from one end of town to the other...Visitors from northern suburbs can park in our lot located between Turner and Chew Streets on North Ninth.... Numerous other such examples exist of ample, convenient off-street parking... Would you believe the title of this letter was Parking, traffic no problem for arena.

Elsewhere, in yesterday's paper, we learned that viewers trying to exit the fireworks from Bethlehem's Steelstacks caused a massive traffic jam. Here in Allentown our plan is to attract a 1.5million people a year to one way streets in center city, with parking conveniently four blocks away. Some Old Allentown people think that this project will be their saving grace, good luck with that.

My Missing Chip

There seems to be much outrage over the jury verdict concerning the Florida murder case. I may know less about it than anybody else in America. I know that a young mother was accused of killing her daughter; that's all I know. I haven't watched or listened to one minute of the case, or one minute of the other tragic cases that have dominated our media for the last decade. I don't understand our preoccupation with these tragedies; I'm missing the chip. Today, and in the next month, that jury decision will be the topic of endless speculation. Television is dominated by crime shows, especially with autopsies. I can only hope that those fascinated by all those things, never have it visit upon their real life. For this post, I choose no photograph. Please restrict comments to the psychology of the public fascination, not particulars of this tragedy.

Israel Must Defend

The world loves to read about a Jew bashing Israel. Al Jazeera routinely uses Jewish writers for that purpose. They're not that hard to find, the far left and Jews go together, like pastrami and rye bread. Recently, The Morning Call dug up a good one for their Another View Column. A former Marine, whose mother's relatives died in the Holocaust, was joining a new flotilla to Gaza. Although the writer, Ken Meyers, draped himself in a partial Jewish heritage and military service, he left out a few details about himself. He parted with the Marines in opposition to United States military policies. He believes any attack against Iran should be an impeachable offense. Meyer's editorial is full of adverbs of distortion. The Israeli blockage of Gaza is not illegal. Nor is Gaza a killing field or Ghetto. Everyday, hundreds of truckloads of food enter Gaza from Israel. Many of the thousands of missiles fired at Israel by Hamas came aboard ships to Gaza. That is the purpose of the blockade, and numerous weapons have been seized from boarded ships. In Meyer's portrayal, Israel attacked the previous flotilla and killed nine peace activists. According to international law, Israel legally boarded a ship, and nine provocateurs were killed by Israeli soldiers defending themselves.

Mr. Meyers is welcome to try and break Israel's naval blockade of Gaza. However, he should remember, unlike himself, Israeli Marines support their government, and will do what is necessary to defend their fellow citizens.

UPDATE:Meanwhile in Haiti and Sudan for example, the people are desperate for need and for such "Humanitarian Flotillas" that never seem to come. Where are these so-called "Humanitarians" when people actually need them?

photo of Gaza City

Growing up Parkway

I'm a baby boomer. I was born in December of 1946. As soon as my mother climbed out of the hospital bed, another woman climbed in. I grew up in the neighborhood now called Little Lehigh Manor, wedged between Lehigh Street and the top of the ravine above Lehigh Parkway. That's me on our lawn at the intersection of Catalina and Liberator Avenues, named after airplanes made by Vultee Corporation for the War. We had our own elementary school, our own grocery store, and the park to play in. On Saturdays, older kids would take us along on the trolley, and later the bus, over the 8TH Street Bridge to Hamilton Street. There were far too many stores to see everything. After a matinee of cartoons or Flash Gordon, and a banana split at one of the five and dimes, we would take the bus back over the bridge to Lehigh Street.




Not that many people know where Lehigh Parkway Elementary School is. It's tucked up at the back of the development of twin homes on a dead end street, but I won't say exactly where. I do want to talk about the photograph. It's May Day, around 1952-53. May Day was big then, so were the unions; Most of the fathers worked at the Steel, Mack, Black and Decker, and a hundred other factories going full tilt after the war. The houses were about 8 years old, and there were no fences yet. Hundreds of kids would migrate from one yard to another, and every mother would assume some responsibility for the herd when it was in her yard. Laundry was hung out to dry. If you notice, most of the "audience" are mothers, dads mostly were at work. I'm at the front, right of center, with a light shirt and long belt tail. Don't remember the girl, but see the boy in front of me with the big head? His father had the whole basement setup year round with a huge model train layout. There were so many kid's, the school only went up to second grade. We would then be bused to Jefferson School for third through sixth grade. The neighborhood had its own Halloween Parade and Easter egg hunt. We all walked to school, no one being more than four blocks away. Years ago when I met my significant other, she told me she taught at an elementary school on the south side, but that I would have no idea where it was.

compilation of two posts from June 2008

reproduced and retitled from Dec. 21, 2009

The Stumble Bum called Allentown

Allentown wakes up today to more mediocrity by our unimaginative leaders. Although the school budget passed, and less teachers were laid off than feared, Zahorchak's Pathway to Failure is evident. Teacher Union leader Debbie Tretter was amazed by the final figure of 112 furloughs. Her union would have actually granted wage concessions if Zahorchak would have agreed to less than 120 layoffs. Positions restored in art and social studies demonstrate how his plan only caused unnecessary anguish, as illustrated by a 10th grade student, Holli Bossons, in an editorial today. In another editorial we learn that the Fegley family looks forward to the arena. Isn't that grand, after they received 99.9% of all incentives and grants given in Allentown. Wonder how the pizza guy feels in the 700 Block, he's getting the boot after building up his lunch trade for a decade. Yesterday, was a full day here in Allentown. Mitt Romney visited the closed Metal shop, which Obama had touted as a symbol of hope. Mayor Pawlowski called Romney's visit a cheap shot, while he gushed gratitude to Obama two years ago for honoring us. I heard a rumor that the Fegley's are going to get another grant, for a pizza oven....

under construction, links and lies to be added.

Zahorchak's Politics Compromise School District

Back in February I wrote an OP-ED piece in The Morning Call questioning Zahorchak's endorsement of Pawlowski's revitalization plans. Somehow, the superintendent's support seemed to me to be potentially in conflict with his job. Allentown never stops asking for KOZ's and other business perks which deprive the school system of needed taxes.

When I read the recent column by Allentown's new superintendent of schools, Dr. Gerald Zahorchak, I thought perhaps the first few paragraphs were written by Mayor Pawlowski. The new restaurants on Hamilton Street were referred to as a renaissance. I hope nobody tells the good doctor that the restaurants were enticed there by massive grants and tax abatement, yielding nothing to the school district. Michael Molovinsky,The Morning Call, Feb.19, 2011

For several months this blog has concentrated on two major themes; The arena and the school system. Those issues now seem to be converging. Yesterday, school board member David Zimmerman used this blog's comment section, to outline Zahorchak's stonewalling of the issue.

Dr. Zahorchak responded, the next day, stating he would look into it. I spoke to him about a week or ten days later and reminded him again. He told me, the next day, he was meeting with Pawlowski and would let me know. I never heard anything. Another email on June 20, 2011 to which there was no response was sent inquiring as to the status of my original request. David Zimmerman, molovinsky on allentown, June 28, 2011

Although Zahorchak expects the school board to approve his budget tomorrow evening, Zimmerman's questions from May remain unanswered. Zahorchak should be putting the interests of the students and their taxpaying parents first and foremost, way ahead of any revitalization scheme by the Mayor.


UPDATE: There is an excellent article in today's Morning Call by reporter Steve Esack, on all the complications caused by Zahorchak's overly ambitious plans. The article ends with an introspective comment by David Zimmerman, But if anything fails, Zimmerman said, ultimate blame lies with the school board for signing off on all of Zahorchak's changes in one school year.

Arena Shell Game

Back on May 22, this blog ran a guest post by School Board member David Zimmerman, titled Our School Tax for Hockey Arena. Today, the Morning Call catches up with an article explaining how the arena will be financed. Anybody who fully understands the article, please phone me, I need help with my tax return. Although the article states which entity may get some money back, it doesn't address the 64 thousand dollar question. (reference to television show from the 1960's, when that was a lot of money) You do not make payments on a $100million dollar loan, and get anything back from a minor league hockey team. The Arena Authority will need to use every possible legal steal allowed, including holding you upside down and shaking the coins from your pocket. In short, this will indeed cost the school system, at least indirectly. The Pawlowski Palace of Sport doesn't come cheap.

Temporary Inconvenience, Permanent Degradation

Urban renewal projects are nothing new to Allentown. Every couple decades some Mayor thinks he has a brighter idea. In a previous post, I showed the historic Lehigh and Union Street neighborhood, totally destroyed by city planners. Today, an under used Bank calling center sits awkwardly alone on that Lehigh Street hill. The picture above shows another hill of merchants and residents, fed to a mayor's bulldozer. The picture is from 1953, and shows Hamilton Street, from Penn Street down toward the railroad stations. At that time we still had two stations, The Lehigh Valley Railroad and The New Jersey Central. The current closed bar and restaurant occupies the Jersey Central. Everything on Hamilton Street, west of the bridge over the Jordan creek, with the exception of the Post Office, was demolished up to Fifth Street. Government Center would be built on the north side of the street, and a new hotel on the south, to accommodate the many anticipated visitors. Recently we had to remove and replace the facade of the county courthouse, which leaked since it was constructed. The hotel is now a rooming house.

Unannounced plans are underway for a new hotel to service anticipated visitors to Pawlowski's Palace of Sports. It will be up to some future blogger to document how that hotel becomes a rooming house.

Hardball on Penn Street

When I addressed the School Board at the end of March, I already knew that they made a mistake last spring hiring Zahorchak. I asked them if they were capable of moving beyond that poor choice, or would they circle the wagons and blindly endorse his endless ideas, in order to justify their previous decision. Today's Morning Call headlines the tension between the Administration and the teacher's union leader. Although I read the story three times, beyond the headline and bold print, it says very little. We know that the Superintendent attempted to intimidate the union leader. Nobody wants to comment, and the School Board postponed the vote approving the layoffs and budget. There is also tension between some School Board members and the Administration, and between two camps in the school board. A few members realize that they were elected to represent the parents and students, not just support the Superintendent. Intimidation has also been used against those board members who question Zahorchak's tactics, and his Pathway to Success plan.

Penn Street is where the Administration Building is located.

Pawlowskitown

Guest Post from Mike Schware
The other day I was driving through my neighborhood and came across a small section of roadway that was being resurfaced. Near the barricade was a half-sheet of plywood, painted blue, with the following message painted on it:
Allentown Alive
Public Works Project
Ed Pawlowski, Mayor
I had seen these signs a few years ago during Ed’s first term, but thought they had long-since been retired. Apparently not. They certainly conjured up the same feelings within me that they did a few years ago, when I viewed them as the cheesy invention of a small-minded politician.
It takes a lot of nerve to claim credit for even the most basic city services, such as road resurfacing. These projects – funded with our tax dollars – go on no matter who is in office. Maybe Mayor Ed would like to put his name across city police cars and fire trucks as well. I don’t think he’s gotten around to that - yet.
Ed certainly has no problem with self-promotion. His name has been added at city entryways. His photo is emblazoned across countless city publications and the city website. We even get a self-serving video message from the Mayor before the feature
film when we attend Movies in the Parks with our families. Of course all this is also funded with our tax dollars, but adds nothing to the service received. We also somehow even hear of the Mayor’s “private” works of charity, such as his current trip to Haiti.
I then thought of the plaque that sat on President Reagan’s desk that said “There is no limit what a man can do or where he can go as long as he doesn’t mind who gets the credit”. What a contrast between a great President and our Mayor. Maybe the Mayor’s never-ending need for recognition and publicity is part of the reason that so little has actually improved in our city.
If the Mayor feels the need to post a sign on public works projects, might I suggest that he replaces his name with the following:

Thank You Allentown Taxpayers

I know that might be asking a lot, but I can always dream.

Mike Schware

Shenanigans Continue

Although City Council has a short memory, I do not.


According to an article by Jarrett Renshaw in today's Morning Call, the long term (more than ten years) operator of the restaurant at the golf course has been out maneuvered by Mayor Pawlowski. Although his bid was identical to the successful bidder, the winner provided better answers to a questionnaire; so much for the concept of respecting an existing tenant and his track record. The new tenant, Allentown Brew Works, also has a track record with the city and taxpayers. Jarrett Renshaw writes, "The awarding of the Brew Works contract continues a long line of public support to the Allentown Brew Works, which has enjoyed more than $4.5 million in local, state and federal loans and grants to renovation and construction. The public support includes more than $90,000 in direct taxpayers support from the city of Allentown for design and facade improvements. In addition, the Allentown restaurant sits in a Keystone Opportunity Zone, which means it's exempt from most state and local taxes until 2011."
The decision was not officially made by Pawlowski, but by his five-person committee of city officials. Rumor of this shenanigan has been circulating town for several weeks.
reprinted from December 24, 2008

Since I wrote about the golf course in 2008, grants to the BrewWorks continue. We have reached over $7million dollars.*In 2009, City Council continued the KOZ tax free zone by deciding that the upper floors never benefited, and somehow it became a separate location, resetting the clock for ten more years. Anybody concerned that the BrewWork may have received preferential treatment can be reassured by our city government. On Wednesday evening, in regard to a new money for the upper floors, Councilman Julio Guridy said,* "We need to make sure people in the community know how to get that money," City Business Development Manager Ted Collins said*the city is trying to improve its outreach, but that its resources are limited. "It's my aim and interest to continue to grow this. I am six months into this position and I have already identified, along with you, that our outreach needs to improve," he said.

I'm reassured, are you?

*Scott Kraus, The Morning Call, June 20, 2010

City Hall Insults The Neighborhood

This is a post which I spend a week trying not to write. It is a story of favoritism and abuse of power. About four years ago a homeowner, in a quiet south side neighborhood, moved out and rented the house to his brother. Under Allentown regulations this property hence became a rental property, and subject to license and inspection procedures. As it turns out, these brothers are childhood friends with an Allentown inspector. The second brother, the tenant, has been disruptive in the neighborhood by every criterion relevant to code enforcement. The property became unkempt and subject of numerous police calls, including the SWAT team. All calls for relief from surrounding properties seemed to end up with the family's inspector friend, and brought no relief from the problems. Allentown has been very pro-active with problem properties. In the first eight months of 2010, 342 properties received orange tags, forcing the property to be vacated. Most tags were issued for problems significantly more minor than those occurring in the subject of this post. This past October, the bank foreclosed on the property. The tenant legally became a squatter. A neighbor's complaint resulted in another inspector discovering that the bank owned property was an unregistered rental, and he issued a 30 day to vacate tag for illegal occupancy. It appeared that finally the neighbors would get relief from the trash, noise and police calls. The childhood friend inspector intervened, and the 30 day notice was never enforced. My efforts with the inspector on behalf of the other property owners (including myself) were to no avail. I have spent the week documenting the problem up the chain of command, right to the Mayor's office. Although the property is in gross violation of code, the illegal tenant is allowed to remain. Although in the last eight months police have surrounded the property several times in complete violation of the disruptive tenant ordinance, the occupant remains. In typical City Hall fashion, they have circled the wagons around the inspector, around their own. They are now actually trying to work with the bank and make him the homeowner. The top photo is the back yard on May 9, 2011, with years worth of garbage. You will be happy to know that a city contractor has now been hired to clean the property and cut the grass, at your expense. The City's course of action is a total insult to the neighbors. I did see some inspectors today, they were walking around my property.

UPDATE: I understand that the occupant is a disabled US Veteran so that may have played into the equation. City Official June 16, 2:02pm

Mr. XXXX, I understand that he is a disabled veteran. I don't know if you have received all my emails, first to the inspector, then XXXX, then XXXX. Two years ago I had to treat his unattended green swimming pool with bleach, (because the city complaint was repressed) last year I had to paint his totally peeled porch.... He has no legal basis in that house whatsoever..... Frankly, the situation is an outrage. You may want to check the police reports. Twice police have surrounded the house in the last 8 months alone... Is this social work or code enforcement? Michael Molovinsky
p.s.. he is not physically disabled, and I don't know if his mental health issues are military related, nor is it relevant to code
enforcement. I do know that he is family friends with an inspector who has put myself and other neighbors off for years. He is the same inspector who has issued hundreds of orange tags to other properties in the same period for much less problems.

Being a disabled veteran is not the reason for this favoritism, but the excuse now being used. I have no doubt that at least some of the hundreds and hundreds of units vacated by the same inspector, also housed a few disabled veterans.

Step Right Up, Prize Every Time

Years ago, a popular feature at carnivals and fairs was the weight guesser. For a mere few quarters he would guess your weight within a few pounds. His success didn't matter so much, because the prize cost less than they charged to play the game. The Administration has offered up phenomenal numbers of expected arena attendance. Although Pawlowski once said 2.5 million, for the City Council Eminent Domain vote, he used 1.5 million. To achieve that number, the hockey team would have to play 365 home games a year, to over 4,000 people each night. Yesterday, another shill for the arena boosters wrote another opinion piece. This gentleman used the figure of one million. The hockey team will play forty home games, and even if they achieve 5,000 viewers each game, the arena must still draw 2,500 people each remaining night of the year to reach the one million mark. The Sovereign Center in Reading works very hard to reach their declared yearly total attendance of 500,000. I suppose this arena is like the old weight game; The advocates are not using their own money. How far the guess is off has no consequence to them, they still win.

The weight and age booth at Dorney Park in 1948

Resetting the Demographic

The bill and resolution for another grant to the BrewWorks has become routine at Allentown City Council Meetings. Since Pawlowski was Director of Community Development, that location, 812-814, has received over $6 million dollars in grants and loans. How much of that must be repaid, or will be forgiven, is a subject for forensic accounting. Last night's request ($360,000) was small potatoes in comparison. What was interesting were the crib notes given to council.
Priority status/Deadlines, if any
Immediate. Please arrange to have this resolution reviewed and voted on in the same night.
Why should Council unanimously support this bill?
Council should unanimously support this bill because it promotes development in the central business district, moves a KOZ project forward, and offers opportunity for new office space on Hamilton.

The approval came one meeting after endorsing the forced expulsion of the merchants in the 700 block. I suppose it was considered better form to separate the victims from the benefactors. There appears to be no limit on what the Administration will do or spend to reset the demographic. They keep thinking success is just one more project away.

Asians Offered Rickshaw Concession

The Asian merchants being displaced by Allentown's new arena, have been offered the rickshaw concession on Hamilton Street. Mayor Pawlowski said that when fans exit the games and events, there will be an enormous opportunity to ferry them to and from the many restaurants planned for Hamilton Street. I first learned of this plan on Jon Geeting's blog, Lehigh Valley Independent. Jon, although he's only 26 and lives in New York City, knows everything about Allentown. In a comment on his post taking me to task for using the G word, he stated " Nobody is saying that the Hamilton St merchants' businesses are unwanted in general - just not on Hamilton Street." So, I asked Pawlowski if there was any way that this set of hardworking merchants could remain on Hamilton Street, and he suggested the rickshaws. The rickshaws would be inspected and regulated by the Allentown Arena Authority. Applications are currently available at the Allentown Parking Authority. Jon Geeting contributed to this post.

TC Salon Clips Allentown

Channel 69, WFMZ reports that Technicolor Salon on 19th Street is closing today. Mayor Pawlowski hyped this business about two years ago, and we invested at least a quarter $million.

BILL6TC SALON.DOC
Refer to CEDC

Amending the 2009 General Fund to provide for a supplemental
appropriation of Two Hundred Fifty Thousand ($250,000) Dollars; to
provide for the grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and
Economic Development to rehabilitate 617 N. 19th Street to become TC Salon

Although the small beauty parlors in the neighborhood had to fight the subsidized giant, they continue on, paying their own way. Wasting taxpayer money on grants is a lesson this Administration refuses to learn.

UPDATE: The Morning Call today reports that the business also received a $907,000 loan from the LVEDC. Although the report says that renovations including a crystal chandelier from Hess's Allentown department store were made, that chandelier was there from the previous business, the Shanty Restaurant. Readers may find my post about this grant over two years ago interesting, especially the comments at that time.

Molovinsky Launches New Blog

This weekend I launched a new blog, The Morning Chronicle. The Chronicle will concentrate on topics beyond the Lehigh Valley. The initial post deals with a growing problem; newspapers helping themselves to idea's harvested from the blogosphere. Information from this blog has been the basis for several stories in The Morning Call, with no attribution given. Although local reporters seemingly cannot type Molovinsky, in the future their names will be noted here. The Chronicle will host some of the articles which appeared here, such as Shrines in the Middle East, and boxing's golden era.
Bernie O'Hare will be an occasional contributor.
sputnik takes off, October 4, 1957

Molovinsky Plays Race Card

Mike, your moving the gooks remark is not cool and uncalled for. Not sure how you can justify when anyone and I mean everyone is being recruited for clustering businesses on 7th. I'm not saying there is wisdom in the current effort to develop hamilton street, but feel your drawing the race card is not right.
A comment received on Moving the Gooks post.

The comment suggests that because some second tier merchants, many Hispanic, have been given grants for 7th Street, that Allentown isn't racist. I do not accuse Allentown of racism, I accuse them of classism. He doesn't really mean everybody; the City has not recruited Butz or Fegley to 7th Street, but apparently a Koreatown would be welcome. A Koreatown on 7th Street would leave valuable space on Hamilton, for the coming wave of mixed income retail, which they fantasize will follow the arena.

UPDATE: Provided by David Zimmerman
Curious over recent discussions of classism (bias based on social or economic class.) I undertook a small project to understand exactly who the customers of the Hamilton St shopping area (The Market Area) are.
Using software and data provided by ScanUSA I calculated a variety of demographic data based on what I assumed to be The Market Area.
Specifically, given a moderate walk rate of 3 miles / hour, a fifteen minute walking time would extend about 3/4 of a mile in this area. I looked to the census designation of block groups, in this area, to gather this data.
The total population is estimated to be 26,146 individuals; 59.8% white, 20.7% black, Other - multiracial 16%. This differs significantly from Allentown ("All of Allentown") with an estimated 2010 population of 110,456 individuals; 73.8% white, 12.6% black, Other - multiracial 9.5%. Significant differences.

With respect to the Hispanic population The Market Area is 69.6% while "All of Allentown" is 40.6%, another significant difference. Subtract The Market Area from the rest of Allentown and the percentage of Hispanics living outside of The Market Area drops to 31.6%.
Relative to income; per capita in The Market Area is $15,591 and "All of Allentown" is$21,207. Median family income is a similar proportion with The Market Area at $33,206 and "All of Allentown" at $45,056. Family size in The Market Area is 3.60 while that in "All of Allentown" is 3.28 about 9% less.
More profound is the aggregate income of The Market Area; $377 million. "All of Allentown" is $2.246 Billion. The Market Area represents 23.7% of the population of "All of Allentown" while the aggregate income of $377 million represents only 16.8% of "All of Allentown", proportionately less But then the unemployment rate in The Market Area is estimated to be 12.5% with "All of Allentown" at 8.6%
Another interesting variable is housing; 51.3% of "All of Allentown" is either rental or vacant. In The Market Area this rate is 68.7%. In The Market Areas 31.2% of housing units are owner occupied. In "All of Allentown" this jumps to 48.7%.

So is there bias on social or economic class? You decide. I'd say there are significant differences that could easily be classified with this term.
David Zimmerman

Molovinsky Takes Aim

Moving the Gooks

I support the downtown location of the proposed hockey arena. ...While I could care less about hockey, I have several reasons for supporting the downtown location:
•The investment and financial risk involve private investors who are typically wiser than government figures in assessing parking, traffic routes and ticket demand.
•Downtown needs a large footprint anchor to reset the Hamilton Street demographic. The arena will draw mixed-income, retail customers downtown and is our best bet for a downtown revival.
•We will get new faces downtown with continued growth in our restaurant and night spot usage.
•The arena has the potential to expand demand for true mixed-income rentals and home ownership in the city.
... I attended the first baseball game of my adult life at Coca-Cola Park; likewise, I hope to attend my first hockey game a short walk from my front door.
Charles Versaggi letter in today's Morning Call

Just when I was complaining about Old Allentown being silent on the hockey arena, long time cheerleader Charlie Versaggi chimes in. Seems like the vanguard of Old Allentown sees this as their last hope for mixed income. Charlie, in the future, drop that private investor line, it makes Ed Pawlowski's eminent domain plans illegal. That fascism is suppose to be used for public projects and public good. Well, I suppose moving those gooks and their brown customers off Hamilton Street is for the public good. I don't know if you're going to get those new stores and white faces, excuse me, mixed income faces, but good luck with that. Enjoy your first hockey game!

The Idea Man

...Allentown School District is introducing the concept of a Newcomer Academy which will be housed at the Midway Manor building and will serve as a first-year high school experience for students new to the United States. Newcomer Academies have been successful in cities throughout the U.S., but the ASD program will be the first comprehensive academic program for immigrant students in the Lehigh Valley...
Our new framework, Pathways to Success, aims to increase the achievement of all of our students...Kindergarten students will be assigned to other buildings ... Newcomer students will take a bus to the Academy and back to their home high school each day... Courses will be taught by experienced and innovative ASD teachers.

As the school year winds down, my wallet and I were hoping that The Idea Man would give us a vacation from his national harvest of educational ideas. Not to be. Zahorchak has introduced yet another program. In this age of $4 gasoline, we will bus new immigrant students back and forth from Dieruff and Allen every day to another new academy. We will also disperse the current kindergarden kids to other elementary schools to accommodate the new academy. What's with this guy and academies? He wanted to bus the honor students to a special academy at 4th and Allen. Here's my innovative ideas. Why not teach the newcomers English at Dieruff and Allen and save both the time and gas? Why doesn't the School Board tell Zahorchak to sit down, shut up and just run the school system.

A Tailor from North Street

The Allentown Housing and Development Corp. recently purchased a home at 421 North St. That block of North Street was destroyed by fire, and the agency has built a block of new houses on the street's south side; it will next develop the other side of the street. The deed transfer caught my attention because Morris Wolf lived in the house in 1903. Wolf signed up with the Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry on July 18, 1861, in Philadelphia, when he was 22 years old. He was a private in Company A, of the 3rd Cavalry. This unit was also known as the 60th Regiment and was later called Young's Kentucky Light Cavalry.It defended Washington, D.C., until March 1862, then participated in many of the war's most famous battles: Williamsburg, Antietam, Fredericksburg and Gettysburg. Wolf had signed up for three years and was mustered out Aug. 24,1864.

Recently, to commemorate Memorial Day, the local veterans group placed more than 500 flags at Fairview Cemetery. If that wasn't enough of a good deed, the group also set upright more than 300 toppled grave markers. Visiting Fairview recently, I saw they had not overlooked the graves of either Mr. Wolf, or another veteran, Joseph Levine. I have concerned myself with Allentown's Fairview Cemetery for the last few years. I first became interested in the small Jewish section, called Mt. Sinai. This was the first organized Jewish cemetery in Allentown. Currently, all the synagogues have their own cemeteries, and Mt. Sinai has been mostly unused for many decades.

Mr. Wolf lies next to his wife, Julia, who died in 1907. Morris would live on for 30 more years, passing away in 1937, at age 98.
Mr. Levine, a World War II veteran, and his wife, Ethel, were the first and last people to be buried there after almost 25 years of inactivity. When Ethel died at age 93 in 2000, it was the first burial at Mt. Sinai since 1976. Joseph was 103 years old when he passed away in 2006.

The Housing and Development Corp. and North Street are now part of Allentown's new neighborhood initiative called Jordan Heights.Although soon there will be a new house at 421 North St., there is a history that will remain with the parcel. Once a tailor lived there who fought in the Battle of Gettysburg.

reprinted from July 4, 2010

Syrian Commotion

This weekend there was a disruption in the Syrian community. When the protests first began in Syria, there was a demonstration of support for Assad and the Syrian government here in Allentown. Allentown's Syrian community dates back to the 1900 era, when many families migrated from Amar, in the valley of the Christians. The Syrians, Jews and other ethnic groups lived and worked together in the 6th Ward. Second Street was almost exclusively home to the Jews and Syrians. In 1903 practically every house in the 600 block was Jewish, including my grandparents. Although the Jews migrated up town to 6th Street, there still is a Syrian presence in the Ward. Hafez Assad, father of the current president, supposedly had a Christian nanny, and an affinity for the minority. Ties between Second Street and the homeland have existed for many decades, including Syrian Ambassadors speaking at local events. In more recent years, newer immigrants have a more personal experience with the realities of the current regime. Tensions between the two groups, newer immigrants and the community here for a hundred years, erupted at a protest this weekend in center city. I invite my friends of Syrian descent to elaborate on this post.

Open Letter to Lee Butz

In today's Morning Call there were seven letters against the arena, and one for it. The seven against, all stated well thought out reasons, while the eighth, by Lee Butz, was more smiles and giggles.

On the morning of May 24, I had the pleasure of attending a Lehigh Valley IronPigs game at Coca-Cola Park. It was attended by thousands of school kids, and seeing (and hearing) them was a real delight. I couldn't help but think of how it would look and sound when those kids attend an event in the new hockey arena in downtown Allentown. We have something very exciting to look forward to.
Lee Butz

Lee, I wished you had attended the recent City Council meeting, there was another sight; Grown men and women, the merchants facing eminent domain, actually sobbing. Sorry you missed that, but it's not too late. Walk down to the next block, and stop in a few stores. Ask for the owner.
Michael Molovinsky

Klavan on the Culture

The Landed Gentry

One of the popular misconceptions in our granola society is that our open space is threatened. Consequently, in addition to welfare and corporate welfare, we now have landed gentry welfare. We purchase land, at almost market value, and even allow the owner to keep it. Although there is a deed restriction prohibiting development, who can guarantee it will be enforced in future generations? In every case I'm personally familiar with, the owner never had any intention of development; In one instance, the owners were compensated over $1million.

In some cases the owners are working farmers, in many, just gentlemen farmers with country homes. An article in Sunday's Morning Call laments the reduction in the farmland preservation funds. Nothing in the land preservation compensation really guarantees continued farming, that would be somewhere between indentured servitude and slavery. In 2006, Pennsylvania spent $102 million in Growing Greener handouts. Although the program has been cut back in recent years, there is a long list of applicants hoping to get some of this handout. The granola eaters should drive across Pennsylvania. There is a lot of open space even in this heavily populated state, over 8 million farm acres. While we close mental hospitals and sell nursing homes, we pay yuppies playing weekend farmer, development rights on land they never intended on subdividing anyway.

reprinted from August 9, 2010

Pathways To Success

Imagine being an education major at a Pennsylvania State University; that's a bright future! I think that it would be best to stay on and get a Masters in Administration, or perhaps get out the old hockey stick. Yesterday, Allentown School District sent out pink slips to teachers. When all the budget dust settles, it is expected that 247 teaching positions will be eliminated. Although this program may be a Pathway to Success for Zahorchak, it certainly is not for either our teachers or students.

Ripping Out Downtown's Heart

Eminent domain would rip out downtown Allentown's heart
Years ago I appealed a zoning decision to Allentown City Council. Council told me at the time that if I wanted to be assured the right to operate a business, I should locate into the downtown business district.
Our merchants on Hamilton Street thought they had that same assurance, after investing both their time and assets for many years.
Although Hamilton Street has been our mercantile district for more than a century, our current mayor envisions an arena. Straight out of the catalog for unimaginative administrators, he hopes this one will succeed, although many have failed.
The 700 block of Hamilton Street certainly is not the neon success of the 1950s. Nevertheless, it still supports much more commerce than many people realize. Two national chains, Family Dollar and Rite Aid, succeed there along with numerous independents. Family Dollar is the modern equivalent of the 5 and 10 that anchored that block during its heyday. The senior citizens, at the two high-rises on Walnut Street, depend on Rite Aid's pharmacy.
Anecdotal evidence from other cities Allentown's size indicates that an arena/event center will not create spinoff business for nearby restaurants. It may well discourage existing patrons who now enjoy convenient parking.
Allentown's one-way streets would ensure unnecessary traffic congestion when patrons leave the arena. Most people feel that if an arena is built, it should either be along the Lehigh River or at Coca-Cola Park. I would prefer the former Mack 5C location at S. 12th and Lehigh streets. Lehigh is a major street that intersects with Interstate 78, less than two miles away.

My best recommendation for Mayor Pawlowski would be to concentrate on quality-of-life issues and throw away that catalog of distracting projects. I have seen mayors build a canopy, take down a canopy, reconfigure the parking, build parking decks, create a parking authority — and all the while ignore the things that really count.

When Allentown was the All-American City, we didn't need projects from that catalog. If the city was simply kept clean and safe, it would promote much more business than any boondoggle project.
This project has received no feedback or input from the citizens of Allentown. It is being rushed through various channels to accommodate the schedule of a minor league hockey team. While other cities have prospered from their history, we can't wait to tear down the heart of our downtown — by eminent domain. I say no thank you.
Michael Molovinsky

reprinted from The Morning Call, June 1, 2011

Sign electronic petition against eminent domain

Silence of the Lambs

This blog has never been too complimentary toward the Old Allentown Preservation Association. I don't have much use for people who go along to get along. It seems that the Mayor always gives them a cookie for their good behavior. By that I mean the city buys some problem property, and spends five times more than it's worth deconverting it back into a single family house. Although the taxpayers can't spend enough preserving architecture for them, not a whimper from them about the endangered merchant's architecture. When Cannons closed as a yuppie bar, a few of their guppies claimed on this blog that they would patronize the new mixed demographic bar; apparently not too many or too often, it closed. As one citizen after another testified against the hockey arena at City Council, the Preservation Association was again silent. They have changed their website from a picture of Pawlowski's house, to pictures of Pawlowski himself. Perhaps they should change their name to the Pawlowski Preservation Association. When the arena leaves out and the Catasauquans head back home up 8th Street, the quality of life in Old Allentown will take another hit. Give them a cookie.

Stealing Allentown's Treasures

                                                   click photograph to enlarge

The merchants who built Hamilton Street counted on architecture to attract shoppers into their emporiums. Large neon signs wouldn't appear for another fifty years. The soffit and fascia shown above, halfway between 7th and 8th on Hamilton, is the most elaborate facade in Allentown. One thing you can say about Allentown City Hall, they never let culture, art, or history get into the way of their plans. As successful cities come to value and profit from their history more and more, Allentown keeps using the standard catalog of proven failures. I know from other projects on Hamilton Street that Pawlowski isn't big on history. The Cityline Building in the 800 Block was permitted to stucco over beautiful brickwork. Sad that the puppies, who are directors at the Art Museum and Historical Society, remain silent on the planned destruction. It's hard to describe the magnificence of the skylight shown below, also in the targeted block. It's very large in three sections, in pristine condition. Should be quite a snack for Pawlowski's bulldozer.

Exaggerating the Arena

I spent yesterday in Wyomissing, PA at a restaurant client of mine. Wyomissing is just outside of Reading and I happened to ask my client’s banker about Reading’s arena and if that’s doing anything for Reading’s downtown.
The banker said the arena has done very little, if anything, for Reading’s downtown. He noted that there was a recent article in the Reading Eagle which put the annual attendance at the Sovereign Center at only about 500,000, with about half coming from the hockey team.
I thought that was significant since it is well below Mayor Pawlowski’s projections of 1.5 million for the Allentown arena. The Allentown arena will hold 8,500 for hockey and 10,000 for concerts, so it is slightly larger than the Sovereign Center (7,200 hockey/8,900 concerts). Still, it does make Pawlowski’s estimates seem highly inflated. Also, the relatively small figure for non-hockey events was startling, since these types of events would have to cover the lion’s share of Pawlowski’s estimate (I figure there are only about 40 home hockey games in a season).
The banker also mentioned several bank clients who opened restaurants near the Reading arena (hoping for spinoff business from the arena crowd). These were successful restaurateurs who were enticed to open a downtown location by Reading’s City Hall (sound familiar?). The spinoff has not happened, and those restaurants are struggling.
Mike Schware
Allentown

UPDATE:Pennsylvania Senate Passes Eminent Domain Reform

 The Pennsylvania Senate on December 7 passed eminent domain reform legislation significantly curtailing the ability of state and local government to condemn private property for non-public uses. The bill, S.B. 881, the Property Rights Protection Act, responds to the U.S. Supreme Court's June 2005 decision in Kelo v. City of New London and the widespread abuse of eminent domain throughout the state. Limits 'Blight' Designations S.B. 881, introduced by state Sen. Jeffrey Piccola (R-Dauphin/Northern York) and approved by the Senate in a unanimous vote, prohibits the use of eminent domain for commercial development and considerably tightens the definition of blight. Tightening that definition was particularly important because defining a property as blighted is a prerequisite for condemning it and transferring it to another private party. Exceptions were inserted to exclude from the bill's reach property in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Delaware County that has already been designated as blighted. The exceptions, however, will expire after seven years. Explaining the need for his bill, Piccola said the Kelo ruling "made people sit up and take notice and start to realize that in the face of activist courts and local government, private property rights might very well be threatened," according to the November 14, 2005 Greenwire. Limited to Public Uses "For too long, some local governments have threatened property owners in Pennsylvania with eminent domain for private profit," Piccola said in a December 7 news release. "My legislation will help end these abuses but not touch local governments' ability to acquire property to build everything traditionally considered a public use, such as roads, bridges, schools, and courthouses. "The idea that a citizen's property can be taken by the government and turned over to another citizen for non-governmental use is simply an outrageous proposition and something that was never intended by our founding fathers. The Property Rights Protection Act makes certain that home and small business owners in Pennsylvania know that they can keep what they have worked so hard to own," Piccola added. Far-Reaching Effects "Pennsylvania law was in dire need of reform," said Dana Berliner, a senior attorney at the Washington, DC-based Institute for Justice. "It allowed government condemnation of property merely for being 'economically or socially undesirable.' This definition put literally all property at risk. "This bill places unprecedented limits on eminent domain abuse," Berliner added. "The one glaring shortcoming is the temporary exceptions for Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, but even that does not dampen the near total victory this bill provides." "The Pennsylvania senate bill is the most comprehensive legislation in the country," said Steven Anderson, coordinator of the grassroots Castle Coalition. "It slams the door on runaway eminent domain abuse and completely redefines the overly permissive definition of 'blight' that has been repeatedly used as an excuse to take property from one private citizen and give it to another private citizen." Bipartisanship Noted "The bipartisan nature of this legislation is especially encouraging," Anderson added. "All around the country, Democrats and Republicans are uniting to put an end to eminent domain abuses. Of course, with poll after poll showing that upwards of 90 percent of the American public disagrees with the Kelo decision and feels that government should not take away a person's property merely to give it to another person for economic development, it shouldn't be a surprise that legislators from both parties are responding to the overwhelming will of the voters." "Take away the exceptions for Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and S.B. 881 stands as a model for other states looking to prohibit eminent domain for the benefit of private businesses and developers," added Institute for Justice staff attorney Bert Gall in a December 7 news release. "Both cities have abused eminent domain in the past and certainly need no exception now, particularly since citizens that live in the excepted areas receive much less protection than everyone else. Fortunately, the exceptions will expire in seven years and all cities will then play by the same rules." Broad Coalition for Reform The bill received support from a broad range of organizations, including the Pennsylvania State Conference of NAACP Branches, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Farm Bureau, and the National Federation of Independent Business. The bill now heads to the state's House of Representatives, which overwhelmingly passed a similar and slightly more stringent eminent domain reform bill in November 2005 and is expected to approve the Senate bill. "The unanimous nature of the Senate vote speaks volumes to the bipartisan support for property rights and eminent domain reform," said Scott Bullock, another senior attorney for the Institute for Justice. Republicans and Democrats should both be applauded for passing this bill. "As the Pennsylvania legislature illustrates, the tide is turning against state and local governments that engage in eminent domain abuse," Bullock added.

End of a Legend

When Joe Louis retired as Heavyweight Champion in 1949, he had beat all challengers for a dozen years. Before winning the title, he had avenged the only loss in his career by knocking out Germany's Max Schmeling, in one of the most famous fights in ring history. The only man he feared was the tax man, who wouldn't let Joe rest. On October 26, 1951, he climbed back into the ring to fight a young, undefeated Rocky Marciano, who had won 31 out of 36 fights by knockout. In the eighth round, the aging legend was knocked through the ropes, down and out, in what would be his last fight.

An Eminent Domain Failure

During the early 1970's, Allentown demolished the entire neighborhood between Union and Lawrence Streets. It was, in a large part, home to the black community. How ironic that we destroyed the cohesion of a neighborhood, but renamed Lawrence Street after Martin Luther King. The only remnant of the neighborhood is the St. James A.M.E. Church. Going up the hill today we now have a vacant bank call center on the east, and the Housing Authority Project on the west. A whole neighborhood existed in from both sides of Lehigh Street, including black owned shops. The houses were old and humble, but people owned them, many for generations. Some blacks at the time wondered if the project was Urban Renewal or Negro Removal?
above reprinted from January 24, 2011 (then titled Downhill on Lehigh Street)

You don't have to go far from Hamilton Street to see an eminent domain failure; Only several blocks and 40 years. Fortunately, for our imported leaders, memory of this debacle has faded. Allentown now wants to discard the most historic mercantile block of Hamilton Street, so that an out of state developer can force feed hotdogs to people from Catasauqua, at minor league hockey games.

A Promise Kept

Irena Sendler was 30 in 1940, when the 400,000 Jews of Warsaw were herded into the ghetto and sealed off in the first step of the plan to exterminate them. In late 1942, after 280,000 had been deported to the death camp Treblinka, Sendler and others formed Zegota, a Polish underground council to aid the Jews. Sendler's heart-rending mission, was to explain to a Jewish mother, that the only possible way to save her child was to give the boy or girl over to her. She promised that after the war she would try to reunite the families. The children were secreted in convents, orphanages and with Polish families. Captured by the Nazi's and tortured, she was freed by the underground on her way to be executed. She had put the name of each child on a slip of paper, and buried them in a jar for safekeeping. After the war she did attempt to reunite the families, but almost all the parents had perished. Irena Sendler's remarkable courage has become widely known because of ninth grade school project in Kansas, Life in a Jar.