Thursday, May 17, 2012
Newly elected state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie says his office is open to help local residents
State Rep. Ryan Mackenzie wants to inform residents of the 134th House District of services that his office provides. Mackenzie won a special election last month to fill the unexpired term of former state Rep. Doug Reichley. His staff is available to help with: Mackenzie has a full-time office at 1245 Chestnut St., Unit 5, in Emmaus (Phone: 610-965-9933). This is former Rep. Doug Reichley’s previous office location. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Residents can download state forms or contact him via his website, RepMackenzie.com. Also, Mackenzie interacts with his constituents on Facebook and Twitter.
40.527858
-75.508381
1245 Chestnut St, Emmaus, PA
/articles/mackenzie-s-office-offers-constituent-services
/locations/7032401
A New York Times story on graduates weighed down with college debt makes the case for last week’s column.
Once again, The New York Times is playing catch-up with Patch.com. On Sunday, The Times had a front-page story about the growing burdens of college loans, three days after my column ran on the same subject. The paper did a wee bit more legwork for their gazillion-word story – my research consisted mainly of talking to a friend at the deli counter at the Giant supermarket – so I’ll leave the term “copycat” out of this discussion. The lead of The Times story was about a young Ohio college graduate who owes $120,000 in loans and is working two jobs to pay the $900-a-month bill. Her mother is taking out life insurance on her because if anything happens to her daughter, she couldn’t pay the loans for which she co-signed. A decade ago, 58 …
Township supervisors across Pennsylvania are fighting unfunded mandates from Harrisburg and Washington.
Pennsylvania’s township officials are taking aim at unfunded mandates, which they say waste millions in tax dollars every year. Close to 4,000 local leaders attended the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors’ 90th Annual Educational Conference last week in Hershey, where they launched a campaign to eliminate the mandates that Harrisburg and Washington pass on to local governments without accompanying dollars. Township officials wore green stickers, which featured a rifle’s crosshairs over the words “Unfunded Mandates” throughout the conference. In particular, PSATS members have set their sights on the state’s outdated legal advertising requirements — studies say reforming these would save municipalities $23 million a year…
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Stymied by stagnant revenue, Parkland is proposing to raise taxes 3.67 percent and cut 60 positions.
After months of budget talks, Parkland School Board Tuesday approved a proposed $137.8 million budget for 2012-2013 that raises taxes 3.67 percent while cutting 60 staff positions. The budget would increase the millage rate by 1.46 mills to 41.19 mills. That means a homeowner with property assessed at the district average of $76,912 would pay $3,168 in property taxes, or $112 more than this year. The board approved the proposed budget 7-0; the final budget will be voted on June 19. Going into Tuesday’s meeting, the district was still looking at a budget gap of $462,097. John Vignone, director of business administration, told board members they could use more of the district’s fund balance to close the gap, while efforts are made to …
40.60568
-75.545313
Parkland School District Administration Center
1210 Springhouse Rd, Allentown, PA
/articles/parkland-oks-proposed-budget-tax-hike
1793534
/locations/7031040
Monday, May 14, 2012
Public Works Director Tony Ganguzza has been named to the new position of Director of Administration in South Whitehall as the township reorganizes its staff.
Tony Ganguzza, an engineer who was hired in September as South Whitehall's Public Works Director, has been named to the new township position of Director of Administration in a reorganization of township staff. Ganguzza will continue to oversee the public works department but he now will oversee finance and community development as well. He will report directly to township Manager Jon Hammer, according to an email release from Hammer. Under the reorganization, Lenore Horos will manage the finance department, Bob Ibach will manage public works and Jerry Harbison will manage community development. The three managers will report to Ganguzza. All have been "long standing and dedicated supervisors" in South Whitehall, Hammer said. Ganguzza …
40.6121
-75.5757
South Whitehall Township Administrative Offices
4444 Walbert Ave., South Whitehall, Pa
/articles/south-whitehall-names-new-director-of-administration
1635102
/locations/7005785
State lawmakers might raise the Pennsylvania Turnpike speed limit to 70 miles per hour. Do you support the move?
State lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow the Turnpike Commission to raise the Pennsylvania Turnpike speed limit to 70 miles per hour. The House Transportation Committee recently approved the measure, which would affect sections of both the Northeast Extension and the rest of the turnpike. Supporters of the measure say the change makes sense because vehicles are safer and the turnpike is wider, flatter and straighter thanks to road improvements. There is no timetable for when - or if - the bill will come to a vote. Turnpike officials say the speed limit change would not be made without additional study and would apply only to some portions of the road. Do you think the speed limit should be raised? Vote in our poll and add …
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Pennsylvania reports earliest ever detection of West Nile Virus in a mosquito.
- GOVERNMENT
-
Sunday, May 13
Pennsylvania has reported the earliest detection of a West Nile virus-carrying mosquito since testing began in 2000. The infected mosquito was found May 3 in Exeter Township, Berks County, state officials said Friday. Typically, the state’s first West Nile virus-carrying mosquito is found in mid-June. “The unseasonably warm weather in March caused the virus cycle to begin early this year,” Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Mike Krancer said. “Our staff will continue to monitor mosquito populations and conduct spraying to reduce the threat to public health.” Lehigh County was designated a hot zone for West Nile virus last September. Certain mosquito species carry the virus, which may cause humans to contract West Nile fever …
Patch asks Lehigh Valley readers whether they support gay marriage
- GOVERNMENT
-
Sunday, May 13
President Barack Obama has publicly come out in support of gay marriage, the first time in history that a sitting U.S. president has ever done so. Obama made the announcement via an interview with ABC News' Robin Roberts on “Good Morning America" last Thursday. Locally, the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce established a new council for gay and lesbian businesspeople in January. Bethlehem's Adrian Shanker, president of Equality Pennsylvania, told the Morning Call last week that Obama has not gone far enough to promote gay rights and that his organization will continue to push Democrats such as Sen. Bob Casey to support gay marriage. Equality Pennsylvania has started an online petition to Casey. The Call's report includes comments…
The Pa. Department of Health says time is running out for parents to comply with vaccination requirements.
- GOVERNMENT
-
Sunday, May 13
Parents are running out of time to comply with new school immunization requirements, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. When the school year began, families were given eight months to bring students up to date with their vaccinations. On April 27, the department announced a two-week grace period. Final deadlines vary based on when each district began its school year. The health department estimates that the grace period will end in most districts within the next week. For example: New immunization regulations that took effect last August require: While the department established the new regulations, enforcement is left to individual school districts. School districts maintain the right to exclude students from school if …
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Journalist Stephen Marche claims there is a war against youth and that the massive college student debt problem is part of it.
The specter of how to put two kids through college looms large in my life; I pick at it as one would a scab – and with similar results. Recently, a mother of three told me her daughter, an Emmaus High School grad who went on to a four-year school, has $60,000 in college loans – and she emerged with the least amount of debt among her friends. Strangely, that kind of burden on the middle class doesn’t bother syndicated columnist Cal Thomas. In an op-ed piece in The Morning Call last week he wrote this: “I feel about those with crushing tuition debt the way I feel about people who choose to live along the frequently flooded banks of the Mississippi River. If students and their parents choose expensive schools, they should accept the …
Daryl Nerl
2:00 am on Friday, May 18, 2012
Actually, I think we would be teaching kids that no amount of hard work or achievement in the first 18 years of their lives means a thing if they were unlucky enough to be born into a poor or middle class family. That's a terrible message to deliver to generations of young people. There's no excuse for that in a country with as much collective wealth as ours. It doesn't need to be this way. It, … more ›