From the HUFF POST:

At the end of a year in which five different candidates took turns leading in polls of likely Iowa caucus-goers, the final and most respected survey shows the Iowa caucuses headed toward a photo finish.

The final Des Moines Register Iowa poll shows Mitt Romney and Ron Paul leading the pack with 24 and 22 percent respectively, followed by 15 percent for Rick Santorum, 12 percent for Newt Gingrich, 11 percent for Rick Perry and 7 percent for Michele Bachmann.

But the pollsters report a twist: In the final two days of polling, Thursday and Friday nights, Romney still held a narrow lead (with 24 percent), but Santorum moved up to 21 percent, ahead of Paul at 18 percent…

Click here to read the full article.

From the Director’s Desk: User Needs Study

Lancaster Public Library (LPL) required a new Strategic Plan to guide it through the 2012-2014 period. To assist in this effort, the Library requested and received a Capacity Building Grant from the Lancaster County Community Foundation. The grant allowed the Library to conduct a broad user needs study in the communities we serve and to translate these needs into a strategic services and funding action plan.

We retained Millersville University’s Nonprofit Resource Network (NRN) to conduct the field study aspect of this project which reached out to the residents of the fourteen municipalities served by Lancaster Public Library’s Duke St., Leola, and Mountville branches. This user study sought to:

1. Engage frequent users, infrequent users. and community leaders to determine:
Library needs currently met by LPL;
Additional needs that could be met by LPL; and
Additional funding streams to assure financial stability.

2. Inform the communities about available library services and the need for their financial support.
The NRN field team, under the supervision of NRN Director, Anne Gingerich, collected information via focus groups, surveys, and phone interviews. In addition, we met with the leaders of the five school districts in LPL’s direct service area. In total, 356 individual respondents participated in the study.

Summary of Selected Survey Findings

A majority (62%) of individuals who considered themselves as readers preferred hard-copy books;
DVD/CD borrowing was next most popular (44%);
Online computer access was preferred by 18% of the respondents;
Top reasons for reading were enjoyment (46%) and to learn new things (33%);
75% of the respondents used the Library at least once a month;
93% of respondents were satisfied with current library service citing the best things as: Access to a wide variety of books; Customer service from knowledgeable staff; Convenience of location.

Reasons for not using the Library included:

Prefer to purchase own reading materials (20%);
Have computer access elsewhere (20%);
Parking is a problem (12%);
Inconvenient hours (12%).

Areas for Library improvement included:

More adult and children’s programs;
More conventional and e-books;
More computers and databases;
Better community awareness campaigns;
Upgraded and cleaner facilities;
Longer hours.
In exploring alternate funding sources:

64% said they would donate to the Library and attend benefit events;
42% would support a library tax;
42% would pay a membership fee; and
21% would pay fees for services rendered.

Community leader suggestions included:
Convene a working group of staff and volunteers to better focus Library outreach efforts;
Develop partnerships to enhance outreach and share costs.
We thank the LCCF for the grant and the NRN for their conduct of the survey. The findings are integrated into our new strategic plan.

Herb Landau
Executive Director

From the DAILY FINANCE:

In a year saturated with big financial headlines — the debt-ceiling debate, Occupy Wall Street protests, the ongoing mortgage crisis and the eurozone meltdown, just to name just a few — identifying the fiscal heroes and villains is bound to be an exercise in oversimplification. But even against the constantly shifting backdrop provided by those major events, a handful of people and institutions grabbed and held the spotlight, for good or ill.

Herewith, DailyFinance presents our picks for the best good guys and the worst bad guys of the financial world for 2011….

Hero No. 1: Elizabeth Warren

For continuing to champion Main Street over Wall Street, even in the face of Congressional opposition and presidential abandonment…

Click here to read the full article.

Editorial “The Saga that is … Penn State” states “Under legislation introduced earlier this month by two Pennsylvania lawmakers… witnesses of child abuse would be legally obligated to report it to authorities, not merely to supervisor.”

WATCHDOG: What is it about Pennsylvanians and especially Penn State alumnae that they continue to blame Coach Joe Paterno and the University for what ultimately will be seen as a break down in the offices of the Centre County district attorney and the state’s attorney general, then headed by now governor Tom Corbett?

Some readers will recall how Franklin and Marshall security guards, in the presence of its former president John Fry, assaulted and battered reporter Ron Harper who was innocently standing across the road from Fry’s residence on Marietta Avenue. The episode was caught on video until the point that Harper was picked up and thrown to the ground, resulting in long term aggravation of a chronic back problem and long term mental anguish.

As part of its investigation of the powers of the F and M security force, NewsLanc discovered, much to its horror, that the campus security forces have the same powers as the city and township police forces within half a mile of any property owned by the college or university.

In reporting what took place to Penn State security, the accusations were relayed to one of two appropriate police forces and presumably to other authorities. Joe Paterno had done the right thing, passing along precisely what he had been told. Yet Corbett led a lynch mob as a member ex-officio of the Penn State board of trustees to have Paterno fired. Why? Was it to deflect attention?

Here is a theory for why alumnae have acquiesced to the demonizing of Paterno. He had long outstayed his welcome.

The real story is what discussions took place between the Penn State police force and the local district attorney and state authorities. Expect to hear more about this in 2012.

In the household where the Watchdog grew up, public affairs and history were subjects for ongoing discussions, especially when college friends of older brothers were at the Sunday dinner table. (Arlen Specter was representative of the college group.) But one had to be able to substantiate whatever was said.

With 3rd son home for a few days from the University of Chicago, the tradition continues. Two assertions challenged in rapid succession were the deriviation of “Muckrackers” and the post “The Jungle” career of Upton Sinclair.

Wikipedia at Google confirmed 3rd son’s contentions concerning “muckrackers.” He said he knew it from his studies at McCaskey.

In checking on Sinclair, the Watchdog was partially vindicated. But as is so often the case when researching matters, he came across the below quotation which is very relevant in these days when scurrilous labels are used rather than substantive arguments. Two recent examples are accusing legitimate inheritance taxes on estates of multi-millionaires as “death taxes” and professional review of appropriate procedures under proposed health care as “death panels.”

“The American People will take Socialism, but they won’t take the label. I certainly proved it in the case of EPIC. Running on the Socialist ticket I got 60,000 votes, and running on the slogan to ‘End Poverty in California’ I got 879,000. I think we simply have to recognize the fact that our enemies have succeeded in spreading the Big Lie. There is no use attacking it by a front attack, it is much better to out-flank them.” … Upton Sinclair, 1951

For half a century from the 1930s we had a very health mixed economy, a wise balance of free enterprise with socialism. Over the past three decades, the government’s proper role was belittled and regulations aborted by conservatives. The result has been the impoverishment of the middle class and the rapid decline of the nation.

ALJAZEERA: At least 32 people have been reported killed during fresh protests against the Syrian government, as hundreds of thousands of demonstrators flooded streets across the country.

Activists said the deaths on Friday came as protesters, emboldened by the presence of Arab League observers in the country, took to the streets after noon Muslim prayers.

The UK-based Syrian Human Rights Observatory said more than half a million people turned out for the largest demonstrations in months… (more)

NEWSMAX: The Montana Supreme Court is setting up a possible challenge to aspects of the high profile U.S. Supreme Court decision that granted political speech rights to corporations.

The state court decided Friday to restore Montana’s century-old ban on direct spending by corporations on political candidates or committees.

The lawsuit was prompted by U.S. Supreme Court decision from last year granting political speech rights to corporations. The Montana Supreme Court says the state has a “compelling interest” to uphold campaign finance laws that include a combination of restrictions and disclosure requirements…. (more)

From USA TODAY:

His insurance company told him it would be covered 100%, with no copayment from him and no charge against his deductible. The nation’s 1-year-old health law requires most insurance plans to cover all costs for preventive care including colon cancer screening. So Dunphy had the procedure in April.

Then the bill arrived: $1,100.

Dunphy, a 61-year-old Phoenix small business owner, angrily paid it out of his own pocket because of what some prevention advocates call a loophole. His doctor removed two noncancerous polyps during the colonoscopy. So while Dunphy was sedated, his preventive screening turned into a diagnostic procedure. That allowed his insurance company to bill him…

Click here to read the full article.

EDITORIAL: Preventive screening is but the first positive step towards single payer health care that is available in other advanced nations but not here in the USA. With medical professionals, hospitals and insurance companies all feasting, many earnings in a million a year or more, our national health care costs are 18% of Gross Domestic Product, as compared to the highest elsewhere, 11%, in France which is considered to offer the best care in the world. The USA is ranked far down the line, about the same as Cuba.

A quick and efficient answer? Medicare for everyone. The government already far more efficiently provides health care to 52% of the population. Why not the other 48%? Fund it with a Value Added Tax and allow the $3 per hour cost that employers and employees pay go into wages.

BLOOMBERG: For the first time since at least 1997, the bond market produced the highest returns of any financial asset, beating stocks, commodities and the dollar as Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis threatened the global economy.

Led by U.S. Treasuries, fixed-income securities worldwide returned 5.81 percent, including reinvested interest, this year through Dec. 29, Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes show. The Dollar Index tracking the U.S. currency against six peers rose 1.6 percent, while the Standard & Poor’s GSCI Total Return Index of commodities fell 1.18 percent and the MSCI All Country World Index (MXWD) of shares tumbled 6.9 percent with dividends.

“The year was one of tremendous volatility, brought on by increasing global and political economic uncertainties, which drove investors massive flight to quality into bonds,”Christopher Sullivan, who oversees $1.9 billion as chief investment officer at United Nations Federal Credit Union in New York, said in a telephone interview on Dec. 27. “There has been a general softening of expectations for growth and inflation worldwide, and bonds have thrived.” … (more)

The local news was nothing new last evening when the [Convention Center] and Visitors Bureau were asking for an increase in the bed tax [hotel room sales tax] to cover their shortage. Does this sound familiar? Sure does, the County was warned time and time again before this wonderful project was approved, the project that would bring hundreds of thousands of visitors to Lancaster County and stay in one of the most beautiful hotels built!!!!!

The bills are being paid but the Visitors Bureau has no funds. The Lancaster County Commissioners vowed to not increase the bed tax and they better not. Let PSP [Penn Square Partners] renegotiate DOWN their take of this project as we taxpayers are already picking up a million dollar a year bill.

Not to confuse the public but Mr.[S. Dale] High just received the okay to create THE CROSSINGS that is going to have another hotel, shopping, eateries as well as apartments to be located behind Toys R Us off of Harrisburg Pike. Look out Manheim Twp. You are going to pay dearly.

As well as the loss of business to Lancaster City.