For the first time in months, we checked out comments on LancasterOnline.com.

We were surprised and offended to see some gratuitous personal attacks on the newly appointed dean at the Pennsylvania Academy of Music.

Since all comments are screened for propriety (but not for substance) at NewsLanc.com, such comments would not be posted or the offensive material edited out, perhaps as ….

From the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER:

(Bob Martin is a former Inquirer reporter and editor)

…[Joe] Sestak, appearing on Larry Kane: Voice of Reason on Comcast last Sunday, was asked, “Is it true that you were offered a high-ranking job in the administration in a bid to get you to drop out of the primary against Arlen Specter?” Sestak told Kane, “Yes.”..

“I was asked a direct question yesterday and I answered it honestly,” Sestak told Fox News…

…. Sestak is honest to a fault. And the fault is this: Should he prevail over Specter in the primary, Republicans will beat Sestak relentlessly with 18 USC Sec. 211, the federal statute titled “Bribery, Graft and Conflicts of Interest,” which states:  “Whoever solicits or receives . . . any . . .. thing of value, in consideration of the promise of support or use of influence in obtaining for any person any appointive office or place under the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.”…

The GOP argument would be that if Sestak witnessed a crime, he has an obligation to report it – even if it means ratting out White House political operatives….

Sestak didn’t make it easy for himself, but he did it right.

Click here to read the full article.

By Robert E. Field

Happenings at the Pennsylvania Academy of Music become more surrealistic day by day.

It was our understanding that Fran Veri would announce this weekend that the PAM would vacate their Prince Street facility and pursue moving to one of three potential locations, something that was considered by the Business Committee at its inception half a year ago.

Instead, the Sunday News carries a front page story in which Veri announced the appointment of Simon Andrews , a faculty member, as dean of the academy and dean of students, replacing Veri and her son Michael T. Jamanis, respectively.

It was announced two weeks ago that all other members of the PAM board of trustees had resigned in protest, leaving only Veri and husband Michael J. Jamanis.  PAM’s charter does not allow two trustees to operate the school.  Veri later advised NewsLanc that David Weston was remaining as a board member.  (Did he resign and then change his mind?)  Still later Veri said there were two new board members but did not identify them.  Who had the authority to appoint them?

In fact, who has the authority to write checks?

Andrews’ is quoted in the Sunday News as follows:  “ ‘I can’t imagine why anyone who’s had a relationship with this institution and wants the students of the academy to be able to succeed in the way they have the past 10 years would want to make it harder for us… Any bad publicity about the school damages our ability to get more students, and [PAM's fiscal issues] will only be solved by getting more students’.”

Given the hundred thousand dollars operating loss per month, how will PAM be able to enroll students, raise funds, or make plans beyond June if its funds will run out by June and their lease can be terminated on two months notice?  How does it serve PAM’s and the community’s purposes to pretend nothing is amiss?

We have long been and will continue to be great admirers of Veri and Jamanis.  But at a certain point vision and tenacity becomes blindness and obstructionism.

The location of a Millersville campus downtown, perhaps including the idle Brunswick Hotel as a dormitory and practice rooms, would be the greatest event to have occurred for downtown Lancaster in memory.   How does it facilitate Millersville University acquiring the building if they face a potential dog fight from its current tenants rather than a warm welcome and full cooperation, which might well be reciprocated?

PAM is a public foundation and must be governed in accordance with its statutory authority.   We disapprove of the sudden and unanticipated resignation of board members when they had the responsibility to take appropriate actions. Shortly after the resignations were announced, NewsLanc publicly called for the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office to fulfill its supervisory responsibilities by intervening.

It is now up to the Attorney General Office to enforce the laws and protect the public, no matter how well meaning the motivations of Veri and Jamanis may be.

Editor’s note: NewsLanc publisher Robert Field served as advisor to PAM’s Business Committee.

Bars. Their mention evokes a variety of images, from slick martini-sipping pads to rowdy game day congregations to tired old holes-in-the-wall. One word that rarely comes to mind is “neighborhood”—unless preceded by “shady.” But Jethro’s Restaurant and Bar, at the corner of First and Ruby streets, is a neighborhood bar in the very best sense of the phrase, exuding a friendly, home-like atmosphere and producing a menu of top-notch American cuisine.

The casual interior design takes on deep shades of brown and red, with lighting that is almost distractingly dim. But the overall effect is cozy and inviting. Fronted by a wall of comfortable booth seating, the bar area casts a soft glow upon its neatly-arranged collection of spirits. Off to the left, a small chalkboard showcases the specials of the day—this time a Greek-style pizza and a creamy salmon and potato chowder, among other things.

The thick, warm soup provides a welcome solace from the bitter winds whipping closely outside, reminiscent of some old New England chowder house from the early pages of Moby Dick. The chowder holds up well with its ever-present freshwater overtones and a rich, heavy base that seems to draw much of its dense consistency from a potato puree.

Jethro’s offers a surprisingly sophisticated menu for such a small, unassuming establishment. The primary entrée selection includes a grilled portabella dish, a breast of duck, and even the proverbial filet mignon. “Light fare” items, a bit less pricy, are certainly no less vibrant—managing even to spin a hamburger into thoughtful culinary territory.

The 8oz. Jethro’s Burger is presented open-faced on lightly toasted slices of baguette and doused with a deep, tangy béarnaise sauce—not a far cry hollandaise. Matched with a smoky vegetable stir-fry and a red potato, the dish seems deserving of a catchier title than the unpretentious “Jethro’s Burger.” But that very blend of fine quality and no-nonsense hospitality is exactly what defines this little West End shop.

Throughout the meal, one can enjoy the friendly sounds of bar-side banter, in topics ranging from the weather to the latent anti-intellectual impulse in U.S. political thinking. And all of that conversation rolls nicely to the well-selected soundtrack of rootsy Americana tunes, tastefully played over the house speakers.

Upon your first visit to Jethro’s, surely everyone will not know your name in the “Cheers” fashion. But they’ll certainly act like they do. And with its perfectly realized atmosphere and deliciously prepared cuisine, you may want to make this place a regular stop for years to come.

NEW YORK TIMES: …With Republicans unified in their opposition, Democrats are drafting plans to try on their own to pass a bill based on one Mr. Obama unveiled before his bipartisan health forum last week. His measure hews closely to the one passed by the Senate in December, but differs markedly from the one passed by the House.…

Under the Democrats’ tentative plans, the House would pass the health care bill approved in December by the Senate, and both chambers would approve a separate package of changes using a parliamentary device known as budget reconciliation…

…The tactic is intended to avoid a Republican filibuster, but in the Senate, the majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, faces challenges if he tries to use it. He is having trouble persuading a majority of his caucus to go along….   (more)

…You know I don’t cook, but under the circumstances, I offered to bake my mom’s signature applesauce cake. It was an unholy mess.

First, the eggs rolled off the counter onto the floor. Next, the flour and batter got all over me and the kitchen mat that already had eggs on it, so I had to do a laundry when I was done.

Finally, the fire alarm went off – I guess there was smoke.

The cakes seemed dry and something wrong, besides the fact that I can’t get them out of the pan…

On behalf of an inner city school and as a parent, I was quite concerned about the lack of equipment that our children have when trying to learn science projects.  For example, instead of a microscope, the children are shown a photo of a microscope and asked to learn the parts that make up a microscope.

I walked to Lancaster General Hospital and met with a spokesperson and asked them to donate some of their old microscope that lay up on the eighth floor in a dusty closet.  They said they would look into the matter and get back to me as soon as possible.

That was eight months ago.  I haven’t heard from them.

At LGH, it is like looking for a needle in a haystack in trying to find out who is in charge of what.

I understand their profits exceed a hundred million dollars annually.  Why can’t they provide equipment and other assistance to our community schools?

Perhaps if they did, it would lead to inner city children someday being staff members or part of the administration, rather than janitors.

From Politico.com:

After months of struggling to harness the energy of newly engaged tea party activists, the conservative establishment – with critical midterm congressional elections on the horizon – is taking aim for the first time at the movement’s extremist elements.

The move has been cast by some conservatives as a modern version of the marginalization of the far-right anti-communist Joihn Birch Society during the reorganization of the conservative movement spearheaded in the 1960s and 1970s by William F. Buckley, Jr…

“I don’t believe we should be giving (extremists) a platform or empowering them to do anything based off their conspiracy theories,” said Ned Ryun, president of American Majority, “because they give the left ammunition to try to define the tea party movement as crazy and fringy.”

Click here to read the full article.

From the Wall Street Journal:

Fannie Mae reported a staggering $72 billion net loss for 2009, underscoring the challenges that still face the nation’s largest mortgage financier and offering more grim news for taxpayers who may ultimately pick up the bill…

Freddie Mac posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $6.5 billion, didn’t ask for more bailout cash and posted a $21.6 billion loss for 2009, down by more than half from a year earlier…

The housing market has shown signs of stabilizing in recent months, but Fannie said that unemployment and continued defaults from many borrowers who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth meant that losses would continue through 2010, though at lower levels…

The government took over Fannie and Freddie nearly 18 months ago as rising loan defaults burned big holes in the companies’ balance sheets. The government has agreed to absorb unlimited losses for the next three years and up to $400 billion after that… 

Editor’s note:   The government and lending institutions have been forestalling the reporting  of bad debt for housing and commercial real estate loans.   If the trillions of  dollars in bad loans were candidly recognized, the financial institutions would topple and the nation and likely most of the world  would enter another great depression.

That it will take several years at this rate of write offs to recognize most of these losses will be a major detriment to the loosening of credit and the recovery of the economy.

Click here to read the full WSJ article.

“3,500 PPL acres to be preserved” reports “PPL is selling that land, assessed at somewhere around $20 million, for $6 million. The utility will then give the money to the conservancy for an endowment fund for longer maintenance of the land.”

WATCHDOG: Wow! Three wags of the tail. At the time that Lancaster and the nation have been and are being  ripped off by avaricious ‘bastards’, it is rewarding and encouraging to see some companies and institutions contributing to the public good.