“WGAL is reporting that the hotel and convention center plans to hire 150 people, at $8.50 to $15 an hour. It was not made clear how many of these jobs would be full-time or part-time.

“So far, the project will cost taxpayers well over $140 million, nearly half over 40 years, plus interest. In addition, taxpayers will need to subsidize the operation of project with well over $1 million a year, every year,
forever.

“How can this possibly make any kind of economic sense?

“Where is the return on investment of OUR taxpayer dollars? Especially since the entire project will pay no real estate taxes whatsoever for at least 20 years, and the largest part will be tax-exempt forever.

“From the LCCCA web site: http://www.lccca.com/projectBackgrounder.htm

‘Project Benefits

* Create 520 to 590 construction jobs.
* Create 200 to 300 full-time jobs to staff the hotel and convention center.’

“What ever happened to their promises?”

There has been “press” to relocate the [North Museum] to the soon to be empty Bulova Building on Lancaster Square…

The city is already burdened with 25% of properties within it’s limits as nonprofit …

Yes, they may argue it brings in secondary “benefits” (a claim F&M waves in everyone’s face about there own existence), but why waste valuable DOWNTOWN footage?

Send the city’s brilliant leaders out into the world and find a real winner – one who will not only bring in revenues but pay it’s fair share of taxes. (Bus loads of school children don’t shop or dine downtown).

Granted the Bulova Building is a dog – always was, even before they bricked up the storefront windows. The city needs to be more creative in their solutions.

As for F&M and their re-utilization of the site of the albeit aged facility, that’s great. Relocate the perported non-profit North Museum in a not for profit location, say the county accuired Armstrong Building across the “square” in the mostly underutilized facility. It answers the concept of clustering “musea” in a chain starting at RRTA (Art Museum) to The Heritage Museum on Penn Square.

What a joke. Wachovia who was very liberal with its lending procedures is now owned by Wells Fargo which is VERY Conservative and will make Billions from the buyout as per a discussion over dinner in Denver last week with a Wells Fargo official.

Editor: Wachovia’s stock holders aren’t amused. Moreover, the people of Lancaster won’t find it at all funny if the day comes that the City’s guarantee of the hotel bonds is called.

A Dec. 30 lead story is headlined “Rail move set to go, but legal battle looming.
F&M says work to begin mid-January. Opponents eye injunction to stop it.”

The article mentions neighbors concerns about the release of friable asbestos upon the excavation of the dump, but then uncritically publishes F&M’s response.

It is only in the last two paragraph that the article addresses the other major TRRAAC issue: Alternative locations have not been properly evaluated. (In a report several weeks ago, the New Era didn’t even mention the location issue.)

We note the artful phrasing:

“F&M’s Web site also addresses the two alternative sites proposed by TRRAAC that would move the relocated rail yard farther east, away from residential areas.

“Those sites, the Web site says, ‘were considered even before TRRAAC came into existence, and both sites were rejected because they failed to meet the important design criteria … and project goals.’”

They cite “F&M’s Web site”. What about TRRAAC’s web site that discusses the matter in detail and at length?

As a feeble excuse, the article says “TRRAAC’s president, Dan Gillis, and other TRRAAC officials were out of town for the holidays and unavailable for comment this morning.”

TRRAAC has posted on its web site and sent out press releases stating its concerns about the choice of this location rather than others. The Sunday News has published a column by TRRAAC setting forth its concerns. TRRAAC hardly needs F&M’s public relations representatives to speak for them!

We believe that F&M and LGH are and have been unwilling to allow a nuetral third party evaluation of the merits of relocation to other potential sites. Hopefully either the courts or a government agency will step in to correct the matter, or LGH will re-evaluate its blind support of F & M’s president John Fry and order an independent evaluation.

It is newspaper propaganda like this on behalf of F&M and LGH, fellow members of the Big Five as is the Lancaster Newspapers, Inc., that confounds and alienates many subscribers and advertisers.

“Bomb bandit caught” with a head shot of the accused was the Dec. 30th headline at www.LancasterOnLine.com .

WATCHDOG: What ever happened to the words “alleged” or “suspect”? Once so portrayed, how would an innocent person ever retrieve his or her reputation? How many would ever know about the exoneration?

Sloppy journalism harms people.

On Dec. 27, Jeff Hawkes railed: “For those trying to make this place better than they found it, two events in particular came as blows.

“Bowing to the howls of their constituents, the [East Hempfield Township] supervisors precipitously scuttled a sorely needed land-use planning process…

“As for the second setback? It arrived in November when voters followed the wishes of Republican party leaders and crushed hopes for a home-rule charter crafted to achieve greater financial controls, transparency and accountability in county government.”

WATCHDOG: NewsLanc, hardly the ‘cats paw’ of the local Republican Party, editorially opposed both the proposed change to the East Hempfield zoning code and the home-rule charter.

The advantages of the Village concept can be achieved under current planned residential development, and the proposal opened the door to rampant commercial development unrelated to the immediate neighborhood.

The home-rule proposal had several failings, the chief the abandoning of the current de facto arrangement for two commissioners from the majority (Republican) party and one from the minority (Democrats.) Also, home rule with its part time commissioners would create a county administrator that could evolve into a czar.

“From the Lancaster Sunday News published on November 23, 2008, page D-2, under “Briefly”

‘Interstate Hotels & Resorts, the company managing the center and the adjoining Marriott Lancaster at Penn Square hotel, said it has more than 90 commitments for conventions, meetings and other functions at the new center.’

“For those of us who have been following the taxpayer-financed hotel and convention center project, this statement came as something of a surprise.

“To date, Interstate Hotels and Resorts (the sole manager of both the ‘private’ hotel and the public convention center) has told the Lancaster County Convention Center Authority board about no more than two dozen committed events. IHR has never mentioned how many events would be held in the hotel’s part of the ’shared space’ (supposedly this is privileged private business information). Could it be that IHR is driving events to benefit the hotel, where groups that book a block of rooms can avoid facility rental fees?

“At the LCCCA Public Relations, Marketing, and Hospitality Committee meeting on December 18, 2008, representatives of IHR attempted to clarify their November announcement. LCCCA board members were told that the ‘90 commitments’ figure included ‘events’ booked at both the hotel and the convention center well into the future, as well as blocks of rooms booked together in the hotel that do not include any meeting space rental.

“Our observation is that the only reason for defining ‘room blocks’ as an event is so the combined facility looks far more successful than it actually will be.

“When asked how it is determined if an event is booked in the convention center or in the hotel’s spaces, a representative from IHR clearly said that it is always the customer who chooses what space they want to rent. We question the truthfulness of this statement, since the primary job of any salesman is to sell a specific product to a customer.

“Representatives from IHR, in response to a direct question from an LCCCA
board member, did say that 62% to 63% of the events booked so far in the
hotel and convention center is new to Lancaster County. That means only 37%
to 38% of the events in the combined hotel and convention center will be
stolen from existing privately-owned hotels and meeting facilities in
Lancaster County.

“As of the end of November 2008, construction of the combined hotel and convention center was 70% complete, but this includes 60 days of ’slippage’ behind the original schedule. Consequently, the opening of the facility for business has been delayed for several weeks, until April 21, 2009. This has caused the cancellation or rescheduling of several events, including a major consumer show.

“Through November of 2008, IHR released their updates on a calendar year schedule. As of December 2008, IHR changed to a fiscal year, to match the LCCCA’s calendar and align with the opening of the facility. IHR’s fiscal year 2010 (April 21, 2009 through March 31, 2010) includes the following events booked specifically for the convention center so far:

“Trade Shows: goal = 5, scheduled = 3 (total days = 5)

“These are events for a specific purpose, such as a business group or fraternal organization; ‘Trade Shows’ generally are not open to the public, and are usually held two or more days during the week.

“Consumer Shows: goal = 11, scheduled = 7 (total days = 19)

“These are events where merchandise is sold to the public, and are usually held over a weekend.

“Other Events: goal = 52, actual = 11 (total days = 25)

“These are smaller events, often private, including business meetings, weddings, and private celebrations.

“Included in the ‘Other Events’ categories so far are:

4 Meetings or Conferences (13 days)
4 Competition Events (8 days)
2 Galas or Ceremonies (2 days)
1 Entertainment Event (2 days)

“Why is this shortfall so significant?

“According to figures distributed at different public meetings over several years (including as recently as November 2008), the LCCCA needs to collect nearly one million dollars in revenue IN ADDITION TO the anticipated revenue from the ‘hotel tax’ to be able to pay its bills. This is complicated by the fact that no one knows exactly how much it will cost to operate the convention center; it could easily be far more money than preliminary estimates. In addition, revenue from the ‘hotel tax’ is down significantly.

“About half of the revenue collected from operations of the convention center will come from facility rentals; the rest is expected to come from event services, such as booth and equipment rental. As of November 2008, IHR has booked only $216,600 in convention revenue, or only 42% of the budgeted $515,805. Without enough additional sales to provide the budgeted amount of convention revenue and its associated event services, the LCCCA will encounter an operational deficit before the end of 2009.

“Consequently, the LCCCA may be forced before the end of 2009 to enact a provision of the Convention Center laws, and claim the portion of revenue from the “hotel tax” which currently helps fund the Pennsylvania Dutch Convention and Visitors Bureau (which could also receive reduced State funding due to the financial crisis). This will place the Lancaster County Commissioners, all of whom have publicly expressed opposition to additional funds for the project, in a difficult position: if the Commissioners do not approve an increase in the ‘hotel tax’, the PDCVB will be forced to severely curtail its promotion and support for tourism and the hospitality industry in Lancaster County – most likely including the three full-time PDCVB
employees whose job it is to bring meetings and conventions to Lancaster County, primarily to the downtown hotel and convention center.

“December 2009 could easily become an interesting milestone in the continuing saga of the taxpayer-financed hotel and convention center project.”

Bold Dec. 28th headline at NewsMax.com : “Christmas Tally: Retail Sales Plummet”

“Retailers’ sales fell as much as 4 percent during the holiday season, as the weak economy and bad weather created one of the worst holiday shopping climates in modern times, according to data released by Spending Pulse.”

In other words, despite the bad weather and the weak economy, holiday sales achieved over 96% of the level of the prior year! To some of us, this news is encouraging considering all that the economy has gone through over the past three months.

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” is a welcome departure for a director known for offbeat thrillers; David Fincher. It’s also a high point for Brad Pitt, and a nearly heroic gamble for the two studios behind it, Warner and Paramount.

This is a quixotic, meditative movie with a sensibility unlike any other in recent memory. Its stubbornly adult story telling took me completely by surprise. A rambling fable about the fleeting nature of love and life, it’s most effective in its quietest moments, which are many…

Continued at http://entertainmentlanc.blogspot.com/2008/12/curious-affairs.html

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” is a welcome departure for a director known for offbeat thrillers; David Fincher. It’s also a high point for Brad Pitt, and a nearly heroic gamble for the two studios behind it, Warner and Paramount.

This is a quixotic, meditative movie with a sensibility unlike any other in recent memory. Its stubbornly adult story telling took me completely by surprise. A rambling fable about the fleeting nature of love and life, it’s most effective in its quietest moments, which are many.

The source material, a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, sketches the life of a child born old, who becomes progressively younger with the passing of years. It’s a stunt, for sure, but it soon takes a back seat to larger issues. And it’s huge. Each of its many episodes is elaborately detailed, from a boisterous New Orleans in the 20s, to pre World War II Russia, to the theater scene in New York City during the 50s. Most are visually striking, but what makes them work is how they’re married to the characters.

For a film that runs over two and a half hours the story line is almost frighteningly slim. A horridly wrinkled newborn, abandoned by his birth father, is taken in by a kind African American, (played marvelously by Taraji P. Henson,) and raised in a home for the aged. While not expected to live, the baby evolves into a decrepit 85 year old, and then, keeps getting younger. Early on the “old” Benjamin becomes friends with Daisy, a precocious little girl who goes off to become a dancer. Although the two mature on their own, they eventually fall in love, only to grow apart as fate takes them to different destinies.

Daisy, richly played by Cate Blanchett, is the only one who truly understands how Benjamin’s life has proceeded, and how it might end. Their affair, as it blossoms, is delicately understated, in the best way. Unexpectedly the movie pleads a passionate case for the value of long term relationships.

There are almost no large, showy moments. A single wartime episode is quick, effective, and then done. People come and go like wisps of smoke that dissipate just as you realize their importance. But the cumulative effect is quite powerful. Fincher wisely chose to underplay the freakish nature of Benjamin’s life. The few people with whom he has any continuity accept him for what he is; eventually so do we.

The movie has taken a rap in some quarters more for what it’s not than what it is. Eric Roth, acclaimed screenwriter of “Forrest Gump,” has chosen a very different path here. Gump was a also a big movie filled with startling effects, a classic “tall tale” narrated by a character with a profound handicap. But there the similarity ends. Gump was a simpleton, whose nature was obvious to everyone he met. Button’s odd circumstances remain unknown to most. As he matures, however, his youth subtly robs him, which gives the story just enough of an edge to illustrate the human dilemma from a slightly different point of view, a view that finally underscores the difficulty of breaking the confines of our solitary nature.

There are four or five too many flashbacks to the aged Blanchett, as she tries to explain Benjamin to her daughter. These bookmarks, or bathroom breaks, if you will, make the events seem more protracted than they are. Other than that the film’s main liability is its admirable restraint, which is likely to make it a difficult sell to a mainstream audience. “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” employs gargantuan resources to tell a story on strictly adult terms.

I don’t like to write about ambitious movies that utterly fail; I’d rather talk about better ones. But “Revolutionary Road” is such a stand out I feel obliged to send out a smoke signal. It’s a dismal drone inspired by a renowned novel. There, you’ve been warned.

Kate Winslett and Leonardo Di Caprio meet in an intriguing first scene, in a New York night club, on the eve of the 50s. He is’t sure what he wants. She aspires to a career in the theater. After numerous drinks she tells him he’s the most interesting person she’s ever met. But it’s all downhill from there as they scratch and bite each other through a nightmarish marriage, which ends very badly. Is it a hell of their own making, or a logical consequence of the commuter life style of post war suburbia? The movie doesn’t tell us. All we see is their rapid devolution and the willful blindness of those around them.

This is well trod movie territory, from “The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit,” to “No Down Payment” to “Strangers When We Meet.” But those movies were better invested in their characters. They had ups and downs. This is a celluloid autopsy. The three notes in gifted composer Thomas Newman’s theme tell you all you need to know, over and over.

I have to assume that director Sam Mendes and screenwriter Justin Haythe intended to transform writer RichardYates rough poetry into its visual equivalent. But the artistry that drove the book has remained on the printed page. While the photography and performances are strong, the movie is a one note, pretentious dirge. There”s more life in any single episode of “Mad Men.”