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

Boxing's Giant Era

In California these days, everybody walks around with a yoga mat strapped to their back. That certainly wasn't the case in the 1930's, when heavyweight contender Lou Nova studied yoga. Nova was the World Amateur Heavyweight Champion and a proponent of clean living. He won his first twenty two fights as a professional. His promoters said he perfected the Cosmic Punch. Only 6'2", he fought in the era of giants. He handed giant Abe Simon his first defeat after thirteen victories, eleven by knockout. Nova knocked out 6'4'' Max Baer twice. The 1939 knockout is one second away, in the above photograph. Baer himself had won the championship by knocking out Primo Carnera, the Italian giant who was 6'6" and weighed 284 lbs. Baer lost the championship to the Cinderella Man, Jim Braddock. Joe Louis took the belt from Braddock and held it for twelve years, being arguably the best fighter in history. Clean living didn't serve Lou Nova so well with the notorious dirty fighter Two Ton Tony Galento. Galento almost gouged his eye out, putting him in the hospital for weeks. Nova got his shot with Louis on September 29, 1941, but fell in six. Nova would go on to act in movies and even was a write-in candidate for President of the United States. He dropped out of the campaign because his mother was afraid he would catch a cold shaking so many hands. She wasn't afraid of him being in the ring with some of the toughest men in the world.

reprinted from December of 2012

Images Of Allentown Past

Tillie's Bakery, on the narrow 900 block of Liberty Street, was actually a family factory outlet store. Behind the house, whose living room served as the store, facing an alley called Fountain Street, was Long's Bakery. Long's produced small plastic wrapped shoefly pies and breakfast cakes, which were distributed in local grocery stores throughout Allentown. Tillie Long would open the bakery store several hours each day, and the small selection of wrapped bake goods would quickly be snatched up by knowledgeable neighbors. Peter and Tillie operated the factory and bakery front for the better part of a century. Afterwards, the business was operated by their son, William. The bakery building on Fountain Street is now apartments.

reprinted from May of 2013

How You Were Cheated

At the end of 2000, despite the majority of neighbors in opposition, The West Park Historic District was enacted. The City Administration, City Council and The Morning Call all cooperated in ignoring the true sentiments of the property owners and the State guidelines to implement what they felt was in the public good. I mailed the below documents to the opposing property owners, and for a return address the envelope said How You Were Cheated. My intention is to show how we must guard and fight against this sort of assumption by our elected leaders. I mean no offense to my friends who were on the other side of this issue.
click on documents to enlarge

reprinted from February of 2008

J. Molovinsky, Part 3, Wenz Company

This past weekend there was an auction at the former Wenz Company monument factory in the 1900 block of Hamilton Street. This facility has played several parts in Allentown's history, besides having produced thousands of tombstones. Enormous blocks of granite still remain from when it was the last stop on the Quarry Barber railroad branch line. Sculptures remain from the Phil Berman era, when artists used the Wenz equipment for monumental art. lastly, there are hundreds and hundreds of old tombstones, which were replaced over the decades, in local cemeteries with replacement markers. As mentioned in Part 1 of this post series, part of an old tombstone led me to discover my great grandmother's grave on Fountain Hill. That sculpture was made at Wenz, and Jennie Molovinsky's original stone also lies at Wenz's.

My grandfather came to Allentown as a young man in 1893. After working and saving for a number of years, he brought his parents over from the Old Country. The former synagogue on 2nd. Street had just acquired their cemetery off Fullerton Avenue when his mother died. Jewish tradition dictated that a man was the first burial in a new cemetery, so she was buried in an old Jewish Cemetery, on Fountain Hill. Several years later her husband, my great grandfather, was killed while being robbed on Basin Street. He is buried on Fullerton Avenue.

reprinted from June of 2014

What The Morning Call Could Learn From Allentown

I chuckled the other day when I read Bill White's column about what developers could learn from Levittown.  White was referring to the planned neighborhood development in the early 1950's with its own school.  What he didn't realize was that south Allentown's Little Lehigh Manor, from the early 1940's, was one of first in the country complete with its own school. It was followed in a couple of years by Midway Manor on the east side.

Allentown and the Lehigh Valley led the way during post war era with its heavy industry, commerce and technology. More so, we had a locally owned paper familiar with both the history and local doings of the time. The publisher then was a founder and partner in Park & Shop, a cornerstone of the booming Hamilton Street in Allentown. 

The Morning Call changed from local ownership to national newspaper chains. Although only a few blocks from city hall, they were clueless about a mayor rigging contracts for over a decade. Whistle blowers such as myself were branded naysayers and blocked from the letters page. 

Now I still learn from the paper...There are good reporters covering local government and events. However, it is up to readers and local commentators like myself to point out patterns and possible abuses.... The Morning Call has no motivation to take on the establishment in any way.

photo shows Mayday at Parkway Elementary School, one of the first planned neighborhood schools in the country

Fairview Cemetery, An Allentown Dilemma

The condition of Fairview Cemetery has been in decline for decades.  It first caught my attention in 1997, when I began hunting for the grave of a young woman who died in 1918. 

By 1900, Fairview was Lehigh Valley's most prestigious cemetery.  It would become the final resting place of Allentown's most prominent citizens, including Harry Trexler, John Leh, Jack Mack and numerous others.  Despite my status as a dissident chronicler of local government and a critic of the local press,  my postings caught the attention of a previous editor at the Morning Call, whose own grandmother is buried at Fairview.  While the paper did a story on my efforts in 2008,  and I did manage to coordinate a meeting between management and some concerned citizens,  any benefit to the cemetery's condition was short lived.

Internet search engines have long arms. In the following years I would receive messages from various people upset about conditions at the cemetery.  A few years ago, Tyler Fatzinger became interested in the cemetery, and took it upon himself to start cleaning up certain areas. I suggested to Taylor that he start a facebook page, so that concerned citizens and distressed relatives might connect.  Once again the situation caught the paper's attention, and another story appeared in 2019.  Tyler Fatzinger was recently informed by the cemetery operator that he was trespassing, and must cease from his efforts to improve the cemetery.

Why would both the cemetery and city establishments reject help, and discourage shining a light on this situation? Orphan cemeteries are a problem across the country. An orphan cemetery is an old cemetery no longer affiliated with an active congregation or a funded organization.  These cemeteries are often large, with no concerned descendants or remaining funds.  While perpetual care may have been paid by family decades earlier,  those funds in current dollars are woefully short.

In Fairview's case, the current management operates a crematorium and also conducts new burials on the grounds. Funds from the previous management were supposedly not passed forward.  While the Trexler Trust maintains Harry Trexler's grave, and a few other plots are privately maintained,  there understandably is no desire to take responsibility for the entire sixty acre cemetery. The current operator provides minimal care to the cemetery,  with even less for those sections toward the back.  While the cemetery grass may only be cut twice a season,  that's still more care than a true "orphan cemetery" would receive.  Some of the new burials appear to be on old plots, owned by other families, but unused for many, many decades, and on former areas designated as pathways between those plots. There seems to be no regulatory oversight. Recently, both state senator Pat Browne and the Orloski Law firm have acted in behalf of the cemetery operator.

While family members may be exasperated by the neglect,  local government does not seem eager to adopt either the problem or the expense of Fairview Cemetery.

A Family Story

This post is unusually personal for this blog.  My grandfather came to Allentown from Russian Lithuania  in 1891.  In the next few years he was joined by his parents, and five siblings.   The family settled on 2nd Street, along with many other Jewish immigrants of that period.  He worked in various jobs, including a cigar factory, until he could establish himself as a butcher, as in the old country.  Because we were here for over a hundred years,  I consider myself somewhat of a local historian.

As a boy growing up in Little Lehigh Manor, on the ridge above Lehigh Parkway, I explored the WPA structures when they were still comparatively new.  Because of that background, I was able to uncover the Boat Landing, and advocate for our  traditional park system.  One of my father's uncles worked for the park system, caring for Lehigh Parkway.

What brought me to this post is my great grandmother's tombstone in Fountain Hill, which I recently visited.  She is buried in an old Jewish cemetery that is no longer in use. Although, her tombstone is very old, it replaced an even older one , that then laid behind the former Wentz's tombstone factory at 20th and Hamilton, for many decades.  I am the last Molovinsky in Allentown.

photo taken behind Wentz's before recent demolition of that facility.

reprinted from previous years

Waging War Against Allentown Park Weeds

Today, molovinsky leaves downtown Hamilton Street, and travels twenty blocks west to Cedar Park.  As an advocate for the traditional park system, I have been waging a war against the riparian buffers, which make our  magnificent parks an unsightly mess.  In Allentown, because the storm runoff systems are piped directly into the park streams, these token buffers are just a useless, unsightly insult.  This hot summer, this insult is added to injury, because Cedar Beach Pool is closed. Along the entire length of Cedar Park, there is not one area cleared of high weeds.  You would think that out of a mile of creek side,  we could mow the grass for at least fifty feet,  so that some children might enjoy the stream, as generations have in the past.

photo by molovinsky

above reprinted from July 29 of 2015 

UPDATE JUNE 10, 2021: I haven't made much progress in my park battle against the weed wall. There is now a very small area on either side of the creek by the wooden cross over bridge, just west of the Rose Garden, where a mother with children can access the creek...There should be more such spots.  The park system still struggles to find lifeguards to man our swimming pools.  I still speak out on such issues.

The Arts Walk, Taxpayer's Merry-Go-Round

I find the revitalization of Allentown incredibly unexciting... It's rather unbelievable that there could be a $billion dollars of new construction, but not 10 cents worth of new vibe.

Despite Morning Call article after article, about both new office workers and more apartments, nothing has changed. Walking or driving down Hamilton Street during the week shows little sign of life. On the weekends, there is no sign of life.

By any measure other than J.B. Reilly's real estate portfolio, it is an incredible taxpayer funded failure. The only enthusiasm is from those with a vested interest.

pictured above, some former merchants of the Arts Walk who have come and gone.

Allentown School District Retrospective

One of the most amazing things about Allentown is that the population, despite the problems, has remained about the same since 1928. That was the year Allentown celebrated reaching 100,000. Today, we are about 106.000. Although the numbers stayed the same, the demographics have changed drastically. We are now officially a minority city. When I grew up, there was a saying, If you ain't Dutch, you ain't much. How's that for political correctness? Today, if you want to see a Pennsylvania Dutchman, you have to look at the picture on a bag of pretzels.

During my school years, a delinquent was a kid smoking a cigarette in the alley. Today, we have machete attacks, and parents beating someone else's kid in a classroom. In this environment, should we be concerned about math scores in Singapore? There is a disconnect between the discipline problems and the preoccupation for better scores on the standardized tests; Increasing civility is much more important. If we could get that math score up, will the public overlook the machete attack? We'll build a new school next to Jackson Elementary, move the students, and put the machete attackers in the old Jackson. Then, we'll take the real achievers and put them in an academy of excellence. Let's hope not too many parents insist that their child belongs in the academy. Let's hope that the prison school works out. We all agree that all the students are a precious commodity. What we really need is safe classrooms, conducive to learning. We need supervised streets, conducive for getting to and from school safely. Isn't it interesting that a child can leave Central Catholic at 4th and Chew, and be safer than a child leaving William Allen at 17th and Chew?

The photograph, from the late 1940's, shows a kindergarden class before Lehigh Parkway Elementary School was completed. One of the twin houses served both as the neighborhood school and church.

reprinted from December 2010

UPDATE JUNE 8, 2021: Several years ago the district had a national search for a new superintendent, preoccupied with hiring a minority, who more resembled the students. The gentleman is now moving on to a bigger district and paycheck, and the district is again conducting a national search. If the school board weren't such slow learners they would hire their best administrator from within, regardless of color.

Kids Of The Parkway

There were hundreds of us, we were the baby boomers. The neighborhood was built for returning GI's, and the streets were named after the planes of WW2; Liberator, Catalina, and Coronado. The twin homes were wedged between Jefferson Street and the southern ridge above Lehigh Parkway. Now called Little Lehigh Manor, we knew it simply as Lehigh Parkway, and we had our own school.

Historical Fact:
The original part of the school building contained four classrooms, a teacher's room, and a health room. It replaced the Catalina Avenue School which existed in a home near the present site. Lehigh Parkway received national publicity because it was being build as a result of the new neighborhood. Thus, the "Neighborhood School Concept" was born.








Because of the school and the park, the neighborhood was really self contained. The Lehigh SuperMarket on Lehigh Street was within walking distance. Soon, FoodFair would build their first large Supermarket, also on Lehigh Street, which was even closer. Today it has developed into The Parkway Shopping Center. We kids enjoyed our own Halloween Parade and Easter Egg hunt.






Because there were so many of us, Parkway Elementary only went through 2nd. grade. We would take the bus to Jefferson Elementary for grades 3 through 6.

Historical Fact:
Jefferson Elementary used to be a high school, and for years, it had separate girls' and boys' entrances. These entrances were turned into windows at some point, but the exterior of the building still has the two entrances marked.

These were some of my friends from 3th grade. They all lived in the Parkway. Not only were they all boys, only yesterday, 56 years later, I learned the name of the girl I'm holding hands with in the May Day picture above.

Historical Facts from Allentown School District Website

ADDENDUM: other Parkway Neighborhood Posts,
Time Capsule
Allentown On My Mind

reprinted from previous years

The Paper's Morning Yarn

The Morning Call headlines that the new Strata Loft apartments are all spoken for before the building is even finished.  I have claimed that this is erroneous at the most innocent, and an outright informercial at the more dubious.  I think that after three years of their articles we can dismiss the innocent error option. I have discovered that many of the apartments are both vacant and rented at the same time.  Apparently, City Center LLC has included some apartments with commercial office leases.  A number of the apartments are assigned to the hockey team.

Needless to say if all the apartments were really rented to people living in them,  restaurants wouldn't be closing, and the Moravian Bookstore could have sold a few books.

We find  Rite-Aid coming back, and less pricey eateries going into the closing upscale locations.      Today, someone mentioned to me how she and her husband dine in Bethlehem and Easton, but not Allentown.  They feel Allentown has no charm or ambience.  They certainly would have no desire to walk around in Allentown after their meal.  There was organic growth in Bethlehem and Easton which grew to meet a demand.  In Allentown, a developer keeps building to take advantage of an unprecedented tax incentive.   The Morning Call can act like a public relations firm instead of a newspaper,  but they can't put patrons at restaurant tables or in the upscale stores.

above reprinted from June of 2017

UPDATE JUNE 4, 2021: Four years later,  Reilly continues building more Strata apartments and the paper dutifully continues promoting the myth of full occupancy.  Meanwhile, the streets remain empty and the restaurants fold. Although the NIZ tax benefits were originally supposed to exclude residential, nobody scrutinizes how the new construction is prorated between commercial and residential. 

Farce On Front Street

Back in the day before the FBI raid on Allentown City Hall,  those interested in corruption in Allentown were pretty much limited to myself and O'Hare.  Missing in action was the Morning Call.  Although they would occasionally use this blog as an unattributed source, they avoided my most controversial exposés.  Among them was my revelations about the Neuweiler Brewery.

Although the FBI and  Justice Department decided to prosecute Pawlowski and Company on nine deals,  I suspect that the menu actually had many more choices.  Among them may have been the current Neuweiler Brewery deal.  When Ruckus Brewing was introduced as an applicant for the Neuweiler Brewery, I wrote about it here, way back in 2013.  My research revealed that Ruckus had no experience at the time in either actual beer brewing or real estate.  What they did have was a business consultant very connected to the administration in Allentown, Mike Fleck.

Although Pawlowski and Fleck were indicted and convicted,  the Allentown Commercial Industrial Development Authority proceeded with handing over the brewery to Ruckus.  Ruckus received numerous deadline extensions on their application, and represented the brewery as a done deal to raise cash. All these irregularities were previously reported on this blog, and ignored by the local press. They are currently permitted to rent out space as is, in a building in which the previous owner was arrested and jailed for not correcting code violations.

When shenanigans occur in Allentown,  this blog is often the first source to chronicle the questionable activity.

For the full story on the Neuweiler Brewery, please follow the links provided below. 

Post on Neuweiler Brewery from May 29, 2008

Post on Neuweiler Brewery July 11, 2012

Sequel to July 11, Post (July 16, 2012)

Post on Neuweiler Brewery May 2, 2013

Post on Neuweiler Brewery Jan. 31, 2013

The Neuweiler Brewery, A Pawlowski/Fleck Shenanigan, July 8, 2015

Morning Call Catches Up To Molovinsky On Neuweiler Sept. 30, 2015

above reprinted from August of 2019

ADDENDUM FEBRUARY 27, 2020: The Morning Call reports today that the project has applied for a loan from the NIZ board, and will use the distribution portion for their own offices. The iconic brewery section has been allowed to deteriorate beyond practical salvation. However, being that it is really our tax money being used for private gain, I expect that down the road, we will pay to restore it anyway. Scott Unger, director of the ACIDA states that “Self-occupancy is the highest level of commitment." What that really means is that the boys haven't found a real tenant, but let that slide, like everything else about this project. 

UPDATE JANUARY 13, 2021: A local neighbor reports that clean-out activity has begun from the rear of the property. To him and many others who have invested in the neighborhood, the Neuweiler project is a positive development. I understand their perspective, and my research and reporting was not intended to extinguish their enthusiasm.  I have chronicled some of the back room shenanigans involved in getting the property to this point. I say some, because confidentiality demands that some calls and meetings remain unreported.   

Molovinsky's Nostalgia Train

I suspect that this blog will be spending a lot of time in the near future in the distant past. Frankly, I don't see much news to report on. I'll leave the arena news and Pawlowski's proclamations to The Morning Call. In a few weeks he'll be cutting the ribbon on the 15th Street Bridge, and we'll hear about infrastructure, and what he could do for all of Pennsylvania as governor. In truth, that bridge was on the books since 1985. In truth, they accomplished more work in a week on the high priority arena, as South Allentown dangled for almost three years without the bridge. In the picture above we're back in 1946. Allentown would be serviced by trolleys for another six years. In center city, the main north and south lines were on 6th and 7th Street, as were the stores. Here, the trolley is on 6th, between Turner and Chew Streets. Graf Court, one of Allentown's first apartment houses, shown on the left side, is still there. Out of view, on the upper right side, was the Jewish Community Center, now Alliance Hall.

click on photos to enlarge images

above reprinted from December of 2013

UPDATE JUNE 2, 2021: The Morning Call endorsed Pawlowski in 2005, and actively supported him until his indictment in 2015.  Starting in 2007, this blog alone scrutinized Pawlowski's administration. (Later I was joined by fellow blogger Bernie O'Hare.) The NIZ has replaced Pawlowski in being overlooked by the newspaper's blind eye, but being scrutinized by this blogger.  While the paper recently promoted Reilly's new plans for the former AAA building, they ignored the fact that it is beyond the original designated NIZ District. The NIZ was written in pencil, and modified to allow land swaps of opportunity.  Just as the Morning Call was good to Pawlowski,  Reilly and the NIZ now enjoy the same benefit.

The Fighting Ramos Brothers

On Friday night I caught up with Steven Ramos at a local hotel. Steven was there to support his brother Robert, who was making his fourth showing as a professional fighter. It was a tough fight, with Robert and his opponent battling to a draw. Before the fighters had even exited the ring, the promoter hinted at a rematch. As tough as that fight was, Steven has a tougher one coming up this November. He will battle the winner of the Democratic primary, either Tatiana Tooley or Peter Schweyer, for the new 22nd State House seat. Steven Ramos is a Republican Hispanic running in a Democratic stronghold. If Steven loses, look for rematches down the road, the Ramos brothers are tough.

The Main Event, a photo by molovinsky

reprinted from April of 2014 

UPDATE JUNE 1, 2021: This coming November a third Ramos brother, Tim, battles Matt Tuerk for the mayorship of Allentown. With Tim Ramos being a Republican, although the odds are against him, Allentown will benefit from two worthy opponents recommending how to make the city better.

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 2010

108-110 Union Street

When the illustrated map of Allentown shown above was marketed in 1879, 108-110 Union Street were already long standing twin houses. Behind the houses was the western channel of the Lehigh River, which went around Jeter's Island. Years later the island would be called Kline's, and become the city sewage plant. In the mid 1960's, that portion of the river would be filled in and no longer exists. While maps now indicate that the Little Lehigh joins the Lehigh at the southern end of the former island, previously it joined the channel on the western side of the island.

When the map was produced, 108 was owned by William Goetz, and 110 was owned by the Remaley family. Over the years the two sides appear to have been occupied by a number of families,  as both owners and tenants.

In 1921, both houses were purchased by H.H. Steinmetz, a former meat manager for Swift Packing. Steinmetz built a modern 10,000 ft. addition, opening his meat packing plant in 1922. Steinmetz Meat Packing supplied the chain of Economy corner markets with meat and provisions.

In 1941, the packing house was purchased by the Molovinsky family, and renamed Allentown Packing Company. While wholesale operations ceased in 1949, the business continued as a retail meat market until 1970. The plant was demolished several years later to provide parking for A&B Meats. The vacant parcel was then purchased by the neighboring commercial property.

reprinted from April of 2020

Zooming In On Allentown's Past

Today I assigned our aging staff photographer to document the demolition of the 1st National Bank building. He only took two photographs, complaining that there was no water spray to control the dust. For a building supposedly encumbered with asbestos, one would think that the pedestrians of Allentown deserved better treatment, but of course the upscale people have yet to arrive. Regular readers have been hearing about Lehigh Structural Steel on this blog. If you click on and enlarge this closeup, you can clearly see Lehigh Structural Steel Allentown is stenciled on this main beam. Imagine a time when an Allentown centered bank used steel beams made in Allentown for its headquarters in center square. We will be lucky if the beams used in the new building are made in the U.S.A.

UPDATE: A Morning Call video shows water being sprayed during the demolition. The spray person may have been on lunch break yesterday when I visited the site. 

reprinted from October of 2012

Morning Call Has New Dance Partner

I have had a continuous subscription to the Morning Call for over 50 years.  Over the weekend the paper changed hands once again.  The new owner, Alden Capital MediaNews Group, has had a major share in the paper even under Tribune's management. Although Alden is known for cost cutting, there is not much left to cut at our local paper.  The reduced staff work from home, the paper is formatted in Chicago and printed in Jersey City. 

While as a local advocate and blogger I take the paper to task on some specific issues, such as Wehr's Dam and the NIZ,  they do a very good job with the local news. Excellent reporters keep the public informed on a timely basis. Considering that there is no newsroom from which to direct operations, the publisher/editor Mike Miorelli, does a masterful job getting the paper out every day. 

There apparently is some interest by others to acquire the Morning Call from Alden. Whether this happens or not, we're fortunate to still have our local paper.

South Whitehall Determined To Destroy Wehr's Dam

It's been almost a year since the voters of South Whitehall Township told the Commissioners and Administration that they wanted to keep Wehr's Dam,  even if it took a few of their tax dollars.  However,  the Commissioners and Randy Cope, the park director,  still wanted to accommodate the Wildlands Conservancy, and demolish the dam.  Randy Cope has multiple ties to the Conservancy.  In addition to his father being a director of that organization,  he has commissioned it to implement the township Greenway Project along the Jordan Creek. In the last 11 months since the referendum passed, the township hasn't said one word about the dam, giving no confirmation that they would abide by the voters' wishes.

The large tree trunk seen above has sat on top of the middle of the dam most of the summer.  The tree has a branch stuck in the silt behind the dam.  It should have been pulled away from the back of the dam months ago, taken to shore and disposed of.  Randy Cope is now Director of Township Operations.  A tree contractor is being hired to bring in a backhoe below the dam, and pull the two ton trunk over the dam with chains, even though it is caught up behind the dam.   Randy Cope must be hoping that the process smashes the dam, or at least destroys the cement buttress and platform below it.

Although, the dam has survived for over a century, and was supposed to be saved by the voters' referendum,  the forces waged against it remain very real.  The Wildlands Conservancy/Conspiracy has undermined the dam with contrived accusations questioning its structural integrity with the state. The township administrators and commissioners have done nothing to defend the dam against those accusations. Although, I have documented the correspondence between Conservancy/State/Township, The Morning Call has refused to print my exposé about these sacred cows and their scheme.  This blog serves as the last line of defense for the historic structure. 

reprinted from October of 2017

ADDENDUM May25,2021:The tree trunk was removed without apparent damage to the dam. Perhaps at the time this posting influenced how the trunk was removed.

The Morning Call Couldn't Sell Morgan

Although the Morning Call editor tried, and tried hard, he couldn't sell Christine "Tori" Morgan for a fourth term to the voters of South Whitehall.  Morgan had served the sacred cows of South Whitehall well.  The Wildlands Conservancy now firmly dictates park policy in the township, and oversees the $multi-million-dollar Greenway Project.  The voters' wishes by referendum were repressed, while the Wildlands continues to chisel away at Wehr's Dam with the state in Harrisburg. 

While candidates are normally allowed two recommending letters, the editor placed five for Morgan, strategically spaced several days apart up to the election.

While he writes editorials on what great public service the paper performs,  he censors the truth on certain topics, and promotes myths on others.

Molovinsky And Morning Call Tumble Over Wehr's Dam

The Morning Call has declined to print the following letter, and a longer version of it.

The basis of the letter in question is centered on assumption of a result not yet known. We are declining to print the letter because it contains at worst faulty logic, at best an assumption. Please include this reasoning when you ‘go public.’   The Morning Call

The South Whitehall Commissioners never expected the voters to approve the referendum this past November to retain Wehr's Dam, especially when they had associated it with a possible tax increase. They thought that they could accommodate the Wildlands Conservancy in demolishing the dam, with no political consequence to themselves. In July of 2014, the Commissioners gave the Conservancy permission to conduct a study of the dam, which was intended to justify its demolition. The engineering firm for the Conservancy then claimed that the dam was leaking under itself, at one small spot. On February 13, 2015, the DEP wrote the township; "The Wildlands Conservancy has recently brought to our attention that there is some confusion relating to the current condition of the Wehr's Dam..." For the Commissioners to have granted the Wildlands Conservancy permission to interface with the state was improper. The dam is the historic property of the township residents, not an outside party. A subsequent study of the dam by another engineering firm could not confirm the above referenced leak. It is now necessary for the Commissioners to put aside their agenda of accommodating the Wildlands Conservancy, and honor the results of the referendum. They must change their Park Master Plan, which still calls for the dam's demolition. They must now advocate for the dam with the state DEP, and correct any misconceptions about its condition.
Michael Molovinsky

ADDENDUM: FEBRUARY 3, 2017. Although, The Morning Call has declined to print my letter(s), they claim that they will now inquire and report on the Township's intention in regard to the dam.

photocredit: molovinsky

ABOVE REPRINTED FROM FEBRUARY 2017

UPDATE JUNE 15, 2018: Although its been almost two years since the referendum, the township hasn't applied one dab of cement to the dam. On the contrary, last October they tried to breach the dam by having a contractor pull a tree trunk over it. The township has not said or written one word about the dam since the referendum. The new township magazine(summer 2018), which features capital projects in the park, doesn't show or mention the dam. The Morning Call never did make any inquiries or write one word about the dam since the referendum. The dam sits in a state of benign neglect, waiting for the state to accommodate the Wildlands Conservancy and condemn it. Only this blog defends the dam, its magic, and the voter's wishes.

UPDATE MAY 21, 2021: I have been fighting to save Wehr's Dam and the conspiracy against it since 2014.  This conspiracy was comprised of powerful components against it, including Commissioner Tori Morgan, The Wildlands Conservancy, and anti-dam sympathizers in Harrisburg's governing agencies. The Morning Call has declined to print my letters for five years.  The referendum was never intended to pass in the first place with inflated costs, it only did so because of the residents' love for their iconic dam. The Wildlands submitted the dam to absurd scrutiny, including a scuba diver in three inches of water. The state DEP accommodated the Wildlands, by ignoring their own previous low-hazard guidelines for the dam. The township public works never defended the structure with the state. 

Because of opposition to the Ridge Farms development,  the board of commissioners is becoming more transparent and responsive to the public.  A Morning Call reporter has reached out to me inquiring about the dam, I'm hopeful that an article may be finally coming.  Regardless, saving the dam remains a mission of this blog.

Stairway To Shame

In the mid 1930's, Allentown, and especially its park system, was endowed with magnificent stone edifices, courtesy of the WPA... Works Progress Administration.  This was a new deal program designed to provide employment during the aftermath of the depression.  Stone masons in this city built structures which are irreplaceable.  The walls and step structures in Lehigh Parkway, as the Union Terrace amphitheater, are legacies which must be protected.  Pictured above is the grand stairway from Lawrence Street (Martin Luther King Drive) up to Union Street, built in 1936.  The steps are in a state of disrepair.  They lead to the great Union Street Retaining Wall, thirty feet high and two blocks long, which was completed in 1937.  I call upon the Trexler Trust and Allentonians of memory,  to insist that these steps are re-pointed and preserved.  The current Administration knows nothing of our past, and really has no commitment to our future.  Save the things in Allentown that matter. 

above reprinted from September 18, 2008 

UPDATE MAY 20, 2021:Although it would take me many years, and along the way I inadvertently offended many people,  eventually I got the steps at Fountain Park and a few other structures repointed. However, much more needs to be done to maintain this irreplaceable legacy in Allentown. Just recently a corner of the stage wall at Union Terrace crumbled.  I will through this blog continue to advocate for these structures and the traditional park system.

Come November we will have a new mayor, but he will hear from me an old message.

Wildlands Conservancy Suffers Setback

Less than two months ago Tori Morgan was chosen as Lehigh Valley's 2021 Woman Of Influence.  What that really meant was that she was in her twelfth year of steering deals in well heeled South Whitehall. 

Traditionally, residents in wealthy bedroom communities don't get too involved in local government.  If the streets are kept clean,  their civic attention concerns only the quality of the school system. When the new Parkland High School was built, one contractor publicly noted that money was apparently no object in the township. 

Morgan allowed the park department to be taken over by the Wildlands Conservancy. They designed the new park masterplans (spending plans) and now administer the contracts.  Save but for me, there has been no public scrutiny of that scheme.  At least up to now, the Wildlands Conservancy has enjoyed sacred cow privilege with the Morning Call.  With Morgan's defeat in yesterday's primary, I believe that some of the shenanigans in South Whitehall will finally come to light.

What woke up the township's public is the massive development project coming at Walbert and Cedar Crest Blvds.  Concerned residents realized that their commissions were imbued with entrenched arrogance.  

Shown above is Wehr's Dam.  Although it was saved by voters' referendum,  dam removal is a Wildlands obsession. They continued back channel with the state to circumvent the referendum's intent. The township's public works, rather than defend the dam's structure,  is partner to their scheme.  I'm hopeful now that the iconic destination will survive for future generations.

The People's Candidate

In the late 1970's, neighbors would gather in the market on 9th Street to complain and receive consolation from the woman behind the cash register. Emma was a neighborhood institution. A native Allentonian, she had gone through school with Mayor For Life Joe Dadonna, and knew everybody at City Hall. More important, she wasn't shy about speaking out. What concerned the long time neighbors back then was a plan to create a Historical District, by a few newcomers.

What concerned Emma wasn't so much the concept, but the proposed size of the district, sixteen square blocks. The planners unfortunately all wanted their homes included, and they lived in an area spread out from Hall Street to 12th, Linden to Liberty.* Shoving property restrictions down the throats of thousands of people who lived in the neighborhood for generations didn't seem right to Emma. As the battle to establish the district became more pitched, Emma began referring to it as the Hysterical District.
Emma eventually lost the battle, but won the hearts of thousands of Allentonians. Emma Tropiano would be elected to City Council beginning in 1986, and would serve four terms. In 1993 she lost the Democratic Primary for Mayor by ONE (1) vote.

Her common sense votes and positions became easy fodder for ridicule. Bashed for opposing fluoridation, our clean water advocates now question the wisdom of that additive. Although every founding member of the Historical District moved away over the years, Emma continued to live on 9th Street, one block up from the store. In the mid 1990's, disgusted by the deterioration of the streetscape, she proposed banning household furniture from front porches. Her proposal was labeled as racist against those who could not afford proper lawn furniture. Today, SWEEP officers issue tickets for sofas on the porch.

Being blunt in the era of political correctness cost Emma. Although a tireless advocate for thousands of Allentown residents of all color, many people who never knew her, now read that she was a bigot. They don't know who called on her for help. They don't know who knocked on her door everyday for assistance. They don't know who approached her at diners and luncheonettes all over Allentown for decades. We who knew her remember, and we remember the truth about a caring woman.

* Because the designated Historical District was so large, it has struggled to create the atmosphere envisioned by the long gone founders. Perhaps had they listened to, instead of ridiculing, the plain spoken shopkeeper, they would have created a smaller critical mass of like thinking homeowners.

reprinted yearly since 2010

No Respect For Voters

 

Lehigh Valley Controller Mark Pinsley has demonstrated over and over again little to no respect for the voters.  When just elected as a South Whitehall Commissioner, he announced his candidacy for state senator.  When that attempt failed, he began his campaign for county controller.

When a drug fueled Dorney Park patron was shot and killed on Hamilton Blvd. by a South Whitehall police officer, Pinsley, although a township commissioner, stood with the protestors.  Although entitled to his personal sentiments,  he knew that there would be litigation against the township.

Pinsley has a paid facebook promotion criticizing  two commissioners (Kelly and Wolk), while endorsing two others for re-election (Morgan and Setton).  He writes... Commissioners Kelly and Wolk have both fought to rebuild the Weirs (sic) Dam, costing South Whitehall taxpayers $600,000-$1,000,000*. The cost for taking it down? $0. That amount of money, especially for a municipality, is incredibly substantial: COVID relief, tax credits, roads and bridges, infrastructure. All of these crucial programs could have been thoroughly paid for by this new funding, and yet it's wasted on a needless damn (sic) in an underfunded park.  Pinsley totally ignores the fact that voters chose by referendum to keep the dam.  He thinks that votes for him and his political minions are valid, but for other things that he doesn't want or like, the votes don't count. 

* The cost of the dam repair has been greatly inflated by those trying to circumvent the intent of the referendum. When the township decides to finally respect the voters' wishes, the actual repair will cost a faction thereof.

Defending Zion

With the election of two Muslim congresswomen, one of which is Palestinian, Israel as the oppressor is a front and center topic.

Most of all 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.  They portray themselves as progressive and anti-zionists.

Over the years, the Morning Call has featured numerous anti-Israel columns.  While the writers change, the tradition continued.  The letters are often signed at the end associating the writer with some organization that sounds sincere about peace, but in reality, is anti-Israel.

Israel is low-hanging fruit. Jews have been portrayed as greedy for two thousand years, so why shouldn't they also be land grabbers?

In reality, Israel is eager for a sincere partner in peace.  Their withdrawal from Gaza was only met with the election of Hamas, and its dedication to Israel's destruction.  By the way, that's not Tel Aviv shown above, but Gaza City.

reprinted from February of 2019

Jews In Jerusalem

Except when barred by one conqueror or another, Jews had lived in Jerusalem since King David. Prior to Jordanian rule in 1948, there was a Jewish majority for 150 years. In 1864, eight thousand of the fifteen thousand population was Jewish. By 1914, two thirds of the sixty five thousand residents were Jewish. In 1948 the United Nations Partition Plan divided the British Mandate of Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab. Jerusalem was to be initially an international city, with access guaranteed for all. This plan was rejected by the surrounding Arab nations, which attacked Israel in concert immediately upon the UN vote. When the truce was declared, Israel had survived, but East Jerusalem(walled Old City) was in procession of TransJordan. The Jordanians subsequently destroyed over 50 synagogues in the Jewish Quarter, which dated back to the 1400's. For hundreds of years both Christians and Jews were prohibited from building higher than Muslim structures. The few synagogues which survived were the ones built mostly below street level. The oldest surviving synagogue, The Jerusalem Synagogue, was built by the Karaite Jews in around 900. Shown above is the Ben Kakai, a Sephardic Synagogue built in the 16th Century.

Perhaps the most famous synagogue destroyed by the Jordanians was the Ashkenazi Hurva Synagogue built in 1720, it's dome visible in the top center of this photograph from the 1920's. It's replacement was completed in 2010.

This post was first printed in April of 2010, and titled The Synagogues of Jerusalem

Enid Santiago and Emma Tropiano

Readers of this blog know that for the last two days I posted about Enid Santiago, and her loss in the June 2nd primary election to Peter Schweyer.  Although Santiago lost by 55 votes, she has been claiming election fraud and corruption. The county election board granted her a hearing yesterday to consider her complaints.  Center stage, as mentioned in previous posts, was Ev Bickford darkening some ovals that were too faint for the scanner to read. Santiago was also complaining of several people, including her mother, who were turned away from voting. Santiago explained that Puerto Ricans use hyphenated and/or double names and/or multiple surnames, and that the poll workers should allow for every possible combination. It appeared as if the board entertained every possible irregularity that she could throw at the wall, and with each subsequent complaint becoming more frivolous, they allowed her lawyer to drone on for five hours.

In 1997 Emma Tropiano lost the Democratic primary by one vote. Although she was very upset, and pursued appropriate challenges, she made no allegations of stealing an election by systematic rigging, fraud, and corruption.  Worse yet for Allentown's future, is the cast of so called leaders who support Santiago's failure to accept that she lost the election.  Even the local Republican party, ever trying to ingratiate themselves closer with the hispanic community,  petitioned the DA to investigate irregularities on her behalf.

At the end of the hearing Ev Bickford was sacrificed on the alter of wokeness by the Election Board,  with their recommendation that she be investigated by the District Attorney and the Penna. Attorney General for violations of the election code.

If Chief Election Clerk Tim Benyo thought he had a problem getting people to work the polls for the primary, wait until November.
 
The future of local politics in Allentown looks indeed bleak.

reprinted from July of 2020

Allentown's Democratic Demolition Derby

The old poster shown above for the demolition derby at the Allentown Fair recently caught my eye.  A week from today at the election booth Allentown will be having its own Demo Derby of sorts.  Because no Republican has been elected since Dave Bausch won a council seat in 2003,  this coming Tuesday's Democratic primary may well constitute the election.  

Unlike the demolition derby, this year's Democratic candidates, at least for mayor, decided on a mutual campaign non-aggression pact. On facebook several candidates were seen having lunch together and exchanging best wishes. I'm not sure that posture benefitted either the candidates or the voters. The informed Allentown firefighter's union has endorsed O'Connell for mayor, with Hendricks, Zucal, Napoli, and Babayan getting the nod for council.

Removing The Undesirables From Hamilton Street, Circa 2007

In the fall of 2007, Allentown began the systematic removal of the undesirables from Hamilton Street, in cooperation with Lanta. At the time, I championed for the now former merchants and their customers. Among other things, I organized a meeting at a center city church. Below, three posts from that period are reprinted. For a more complete understanding of the bus stop issue, click on 2007, listed on the right side bar, under the archive section.

MEETING AT CHURCH
As the organizer of the forum at Faith Baptist Church on Lanta, I would like to make some speculations on what was not said at the meeting. First and foremost, the meeting was not covered by The Morning Call. I sent the press release to two reporters,plus the local editor. I'd like to note the "Paper" is a "partner" in the new Lanta Terminal. It was built on land they sold to the Parking Authority and they receive free parking at the new deck; Their publisher attended the dedication with the three amigo's.(scroll down to earlier posting). All four democratic candidates for county commissioner were no shows, although one of the candidates, Kevin Easterling, expressed solidarity over the phone; but Kevin was recently hired by Ed Pawlowski as our new Recreation Director. My attempts to connect with Lehigh Carbon Community College in regard to the effect on their students at the Hamilton Street annex were unanswered. I would like to thank all the candidates who did attend, Ellen Millard-Kern from Senator Browne's office and Bernie O'Hare for his coverage of my efforts.
UPDATE: As a result of a inquiry by Ellen Kern, I did finally receive a call from a dean at the Community College. They approve of the bus stop being removed from in front of their facility because it has "reduced the litter". I inquired about the inconvenience for their students who now must walk to the Lanta terminal; they have received "no complaints". As one who tried to contact a dean myself and received no replies, I must question whether that comment has much value. As winter weather approaches, common sense would indicate a bus stop moved from in front of the building to two blocks away, is not student friendly.

 ALLENTOWN CELEBRATES

Allentown's latest Dancing in the Street, Octoberfeast, will have multi-cultural attractions. There will be genuine rickshaw rides, pulled by former Asian merchants who were forced out of business by the City Department of Gentrification. After this week's party for the Brewpub, the rickshaws will operate on a regular basis between Hamilton Street and our new Lanta Transportation Center.

 SILENCE OF THE LANTA
Hannibal Lecter has been offered parole on the condition he restrict his diet to Hamilton Street bus riders. Once a month he will be permitted an Asian merchant; on thanksgiving he may have a preselected blogger. Mr. Lector will be micro-chipped and given a new Hamilton Street loft apartment. He will be monitored by the new surveillance cameras. Mayor Pawlowski and Armand Greco will provide more details at a press conference early next week at the new Lanta Terminal.               

above reprinted from July of 2015

UPDATE MAY 10, 2021: Because J.B. Reilly is building more apartments on the northeast corner of 7th and Linden,  the Lanta Terminal,  bus entrance and exit, will once again be reconfigured. As local activist Erin Keller points out, these changes to the Lanta property, which is only twelve years old, will be at tax-payer expense. 

It started years ago when they took the bus stops off Hamilton Street. The bus passengers and the merchants had a historical relationship, dependent upon each other. Now of course the bus passengers are just cattle, whose pens are moved around at the convenience of the current establishment. The Morning Call article on the changes, characterizes them as improvements for rider convenience.

Geriatric Rants Hurt Allentown

The other day on facebook, I stumbled upon these kind words about me, You can never trust Molovinsky's geriatric incessant rants about the city. He hates the city.... The young man who wrote this is one of the city's new gung ho boosters. I find his animosity curious. I understand those who are enthralled with Allentown's transformation. These new buildings, if on Hamilton Street or the waterfront, are the city's new reality. Hopefully, they will prosper, and give Allentown a long overdue awakening. However, these changes were not without victims and consequences. These changes deserve some scrutiny, which was for the most part was not provided by the local press. I'm proud that this blog could shine a light on some of the shenanigans, even if it makes some people uncomfortable. With the local paper acting practically as a promoter, I would think that a little balance is in order. The young man must think that my negativity will stop the city's renaissance. I assure him that J.B. Reilly will continue building, as long as the NIZ keeps transferring the tax money to him. But, what happens with no scrutiny is that too many people are tempted to get a taste for themselves, sometimes even a mayor.  Allentown is actually in for some real hurt, much more severe than my ranting. The mayor refuses to resign, and the city charter provides no remedy until which time he is actually convicted.  When that pending calamity finally occurs, Allentown will be rudderless for an extended period.  Hopefully, I will not be blamed for that coming commotion.

above reprinted from March of 2016

UPDATE APRIL 22, 2020: Of course now in 2020, Mayor Pawlowski is old news.  I'm in my sixth year of defending Wehr's Dam.  Despite the voter's referendum in 2016 to save the dam, the Wildland Conservancy continues their plot to demolish it. While the Morning Call refuses to publish my expose about that conspiracy,  they continue to promote the Wildlands Conservancy.  Hopefully, my incessant rants will continue, because the backroom shenanigans against the citizenry certainly do.

UPDATE APRIL 7, 2021: In solid Democratic Allentown, which hasn't elected a Republican since the 1990's,  the upcoming primary is essentially the election.  With such a large field splintering the vote,  more voters than not will be disappointed with the result. A massive residential development project has finally awakened South Whitehall to their sleepy board of commissioners.  Hopefully, board queen Tori Morgan's reign will end, and the township can begin life in the 21st Century.  Although I'm more geriatric than ever,  I'm still fighting for Wehr's Dam and other things important to the people of Lehigh Valley. 

photo of blogger at Wehr's Dam 2014