An editorial “Pa., gambling Mecca of East” pronounces “Everybody makes money of course except hapless casino patrons.”

WATCHDOG: Let’s put this in perspective.  Couples can pay $200 on an outing to a  football game, a Broadway musical,  an opera, or a rock concert.   We ascribe such expenditures to entertainment.

Couples also, especially the elderly, will spend a couple of hundred dollars, often far less, on a trip to a casino.   They absorb the ambiance, catch some of the entertainment, enjoy a meal, and lose perhaps a hundred bucks.

When the Watchdog was a college pup and traveled through Reno on his way to Cal Berkeley, he noted the signs  placed throughout Harold’s Club:   “Don’t gamble more than you can afford to lose. We want you to come back.”

Well, things have changed since those days when, along with the Burma Shave messages, there were signs along the highways throughout the country with an arrow and stating the number of  miles to Harold’s Club.  But their sentiment was correct.

When the youthful Watchdog sought to cash a check at Harold’s Club, he was asked how much would he care to cash in the future.  He asked if they were going to run a credit check.  “Oh no”, he was told.  “That’s your self imposed limit so you won’t be tempted to gamble more than you had intended.”

The problem isn’t with casinos per se.  They provide entertainment.  It is with those addicted to gambling.  The casinos and the authorities need to be more pro-active in identifying and helping them.  Perhaps the New Era editors can come up with some suggestions along those lines.

Main front page article “Hike in hotel room tax is proposed” opens:

“The executive director of the Lancaster County Convention Center Authority on Thursday publicly proposed an increase in the county’s hotel room tax.

“Kevin Molloy, whose position has not been adopted by the board of the public authority, said he raised the specter of a higher tax to start a public discussion.

“’If someone sees a better answer, I’m open to that, but I don’t see it out there right now,’ Molloy said… “ (more)

WATCHDOG: This time there was no spin or obfuscation.   The article was written in a straight forward and proper journalistic manner, despite the sordid history of the Lancaster Newspapers, Inc. in its sponsorship of the project and through its one sided business relationship with the Convention Center via its co-equitable ownership of the Marriott Hotel.

This is a big improvement from past coverage.  A wag of the tail!

(Albeit feint praise, it is sincere.)

A news article reports:  “[Rich]  Puleo’s main platform is that he will push for the board to hold public meetings with published agendas that allow for public participation.

“He feels the board has conducted too much business behind closed doors and needs to be more open about the way it conducts business and makes decisions.”

WATCHDOG: Is Puleo describing Lancaster General Health’s Board of Trustees?  It would be apt, but instead he is referring to the Penn State University Board of Trustees.

The article is headed:  “Local attorney to run for seat on PSU’s board of trustees”. We wish Puleo  well!

“Do what’s best for Pennsylvania”

Editorial: “The state is running nearly $500 million behind projections on tax revenue.

“In response, Gov. Tom Corbett ordered a spending freeze of almost $157 million, with the largest amounts coming from state prisons, child welfare agencies and higher education…

“We suspect that the governor’s reluctance to tax the drilling industry has more to do with ideological purity — and, the cynic in us adds, the hefty contributions that drilling companies made to the Corbett campaign fund — than with serious fears about choking off the Marcellus gold rush in the northern tier of counties.” …

WATCHDOG: Three wags of the tail!

In a column “Book learning ain’t snobbery”, Associate Editor Gil Smart observes:

“Campaigning in New Hampshire, Santorum ripped President Obama for saying that all kids should go to college. Which, for the record, Obama never said — though he has asked “every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training.”

“Here’s Santorum:   “Who are you?  Who are you to say that every child in America go … I mean the hubris of this president to think that he knows what’s best for you. … I have seven kids. Maybe they’ll all go to college. But, if one of my kids wants to go and be an auto mechanic, good for him. That’s a good-paying job — using your hands and using your mind. This is the kind of, the kind of snobbery that we see from those who think they know how to run our lives. Rise up America. Defend your own freedoms.’”

WATCHDOG:   Santorum’s position is identical to President Obama’s but he is either too ignorant to know that (unlikely)or too partisan to acknowledge it.   This is part of what ails our political system!

In his column “Make peace with Joe”, Assistant Sports Editor Mike Gross reports on the recent King of Prussia meeting of Penn State president  Rodney Erickson and about 650 Penn State alumni at which time heated discourse took place concerning the  precipitous, late in the evening, callous firing of Joe Paterno as football coach:

Gross quotes Erickson as saying “It grieves me very much when I hear ‘the Penn State Scandal’. This is the Sandusky Scandal. This is not Penn State.”

Gross relates questions form the alumni:

“Why are there no posted minutes of the now-infamous Nov. 9 meeting in which Penn State’s Board of Trustees decided to fire JoePa and then-president Graham Spanier?”

“Why was Joe’s firing handled so crudely, by telephone, late at night, perhaps engendering the violent reaction from some Penn State students?”

“Why was Erickson here instead of members of the board that employs him?”

“If it’s a Sandusky scandal and not a Penn State scandal, why remove Penn State’s president, athletic director and football coach?”

WATCHDOG: We agree that this is a Sandusky scandal.   But it may equally well be  a scandal involving the former attorney general and now governor Tom Corbett who used his ex-officio board of trustees membership to lead the charge to fire Paterno and Corbett’s  political critic Penn State president Graham Spanier.

Was it an attempt by Corbett to divert attention from his failure to have Sandusky arrested two years earlier and reported reluctance to follow up on the accusations?    The investigation was expedited only after Corbett was elected and others took over management of  the attorney general office.

Below is an excerpt and link to an article from the Huffington Post that reported on the firings:

HUFF POST:  [Nov. 11, 2011] Gov. Tom Corbett said Thursday that he supported moves by Penn State’s board of trustees to force out famed football coach Joe Paterno and president Graham Spanier, saying he’d lost confidence in their leadership capacity.

Corbett, who is on the 32-member board along with 10 gubernatorial appointees, made the comments after a second day of private meetings of Penn State trustees amid an unfolding child sex abuse scandal involving the university….

Corbett, the state’s former attorney general, wouldn’t answer questions from reporters about any of the board’s internal discussions in the wake of a grand jury report released Saturday that said former football assistant coach Jerry Sandusky had sexually assaulted multiple boys, including some on university property. Sandusky has denied the allegations…  (more)

A lead article entitled “Penn State president says school will salute Joe Paterno” states:

“Joe Paterno is gone from Penn State, but the university president said Wednesday night that the fired legendary football coach will not be forgotten.

“Rodney Erickson, during a meeting with a group of alumni estimated at more than 600, said the university will eventually honor Paterno, fired Nov. 9 amidst the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal that rocked the school.

“’There is no plan in place at the present time, but there will be,” Erickson said. “I can’t tell you yet what it will be or when it will be, but we will publicly honor Joe and his wife, Sue, for all the many things they have done for the university, both from an athletic standpoint and an academic standpoint.’”

WATCHDOG: This reporter is either naive or got his information from a Penn State administration flack.   The Associated Press account headed “For alumni, few answers from Penn State president” reported on many of the tough questions raised by angry alumnae.

Members of the audience were displeased to learn from Erickson that he had not been in contact with Paterno since he took over as president.

According to the AP account, The suggestion that all the trustees resign received “The most sustained and passionate applause.”

Growl!

A letter from a visitor to Lancaster headed “New Era editorial cartoon distorts Obama’s record” states: “The cartoon of President Obama blames him for all the misery America is experiencing now — unemployment, the housing crisis, poverty, slow economic growth, downgraded credit ratings, the budget deficit, just about everything except puppy mills….”

It goes on to conclude “Your publishing this cartoon calling Obama, ‘The most arrogant president ever,’  has convinced me that you are probably responsible for the election of Republicans who have led America into war, poverty, unemployment, the housing crisis and the financial mess we Americans have to endure since Bush was elected.”

WATCHDOG: Not only is worth reading  the letter because it is a cogent excoriation of the cartoon but also to see the irrelevant and utterly lame response from  the New Era editors.   Two wags of the tail to the visitor and to the newspaper for conspicuously publishing the visitors criticism.

In A column “A year into his term, Corbett’s true colors show”, Jeff Hawkes excoriates Governor Tom Corbett for “doing questionable things for questionable reasons.”

Among  Corbett’s many failings pointed out by Hawkes:

“The state constitution says legislative districts must be compact and contiguous. But presented with a scheme that split communities and improved the odds of fellow Republicans, Corbett showed his true colors. He put partisanship above principle.”

“Is it reasonable, for example, to kill affordable health insurance for nearly 41,000 low-wage but taxpaying workers — the people who change your oil, wait on your table and deliver your newspaper? While options were available to keep the adultBasic plan going without spending tax dollars, Corbett did not lift a finger.”

“Is it reasonable, too, to ask the poorest school districts to lay off the greatest number of educators? Is it reasonable to drive up college tuition with one hand and with the other to cut corporate taxes? And is it reasonable to fight harder for the natural gas industry than for the people who thought the government was supposed to be on their side?”

WATCHDOG: Three wags of the tail!    It takes courage to so criticize a sitting governor.  Also, congratulations to the editors for publishing the column.

If the Pennsylvania Constitution permitted recall elections for governors, we would sign the first petition.

A front page, above the fold article, is headed “Teacher accused of indecent assault, School District of Lancaster gives statement” is accompanied by aphoto of the accused female.

WATCHDOG: We know from press experiences that accusations by youngsters may not be correct. Moreover, we have a criminal justice system that is based on the assumption of innocence until proven guilty. Lastly, there are a lot more important things going on in the world than a teacher fondling a boy, although we consider it a serious matter requiring investigation and likely psychological counseling.

To the extent this article is news worthy, it might have appeared in the local section and contained a hundred words. To put an accused’s picture on a front page based on an assertion by a youngser is to damage the person for life even if the charges turn out not to be accurate. A less sensational and more responsible approach also protects the accuser.

It is time enough to run photographs when someone is found guilty of such an violation. It doesn’t sell as many newspapers, but it is the decent thing to do.