Cheers to Watchdog for using the phrase “not statistically meaningful”. Usually people often use the phrase “statistically significant.” In order to be statistically significant, all you have to do is to collect enough data points. If you were to examine 150 million adult Americans and find that people who eat at McDonald’s have fingernails 0.003″ […]
Month: January 2010
WGAL-TV appeals ruling
The Pittsburgh Patriot-News reports “A midstate TV station is appealing a Cumberland County judge’s ruling barring it from information on a Shippensburg University student’s death. “WGAL-TV has been seeking information from the county coroner’s office about the cause of death for Thomas Rainey, 21, of Landisville, who died in an off-campus apartment in April. His […]
Mistreating vets
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review editorial describes: “Alarming reports of mistreatment at Pennsylvania’s six veterans homes—particularly those in Hollidaysburg and Scranton—show how the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs is guilty of dereliction of duty. “State health inspectors, the state Auditor General’s Office and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found state and federal […]
INTELLIGENCER JOURNAL
The editorial “Specter’s obligation” goes on to say “[Senator Arlen] Specter owes members of his new party the opportunity to hear how he differs from [Congressman Joe Sestak]…. “A single debate is better than none at all. But if Specter slides through the primary only to lose the general election because rank-and-file Democrats are not […]
Voters back convention to reform PA government
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports: “Nearly three of four Pennsylvanians favor a constitutional convention to address state government reform issues, and most voters haven’t made up their minds about Republican or Democratic candidates in the May 18 primaries for governor, a poll shows. ” ‘Voters of the state are disenchanted with state government and the […]
Gray: Streetcars could be subsidized
After the January 26 meeting of Lancaster City Council, NewsLanc asked Mayor Rick Gray to explain why the City is engaging a $40,000 streetcar engineering study while similar systems in other cities are known to depend on considerable taxpayer subsidies. “There’s no public transportation that isn’t subsidized,” Gray responded, “There’s no private transportation that isn’t subsidized—we subsidize your car,” he said, referring to public roads.
Library hearing stalled by charges against judge
In an unexpected turn of events, a legal dispute regarding a $1.25 million bequest to the Lancaster Public Library was put on hold this week after assault charges were filed against presiding Judge Joseph Rehkamp. A state Supreme Court ruling has rescinded all of Rehkamp’s current judicial assignments—which places the entire Bucher hearing “in limbo” for the time being, according to attorney Robert Hallinger of Appel and Yost, the firm representing the library…
THE ECONOMIST
“Stuck in the mud: The British economy is struggling to get out of the mire” reports: “BRITAIN’S long-awaited exit from recession has moved from thwarted prediction to firm fact. But the welcome news came with a painful sting. The economy barely crawled forward, expanding by just 0.1% between the third and the fourth quarters of […]
County gets $14M stimulus for private bonds; Largest allocation in PA
At the January 26 Lancaster County commissioners meeting, Lyle Hosler, Project Manager for the Economic Development Company (EDC) of Lancaster, presented an overview of a federally-sponsored 2010 program that will pipe over $14 million of tax-free financing for private projects into the county…
US home prices fall in November
The Financial Times reports: “Home prices in the biggest US cities fell more than expected in November, raising doubts about the sustainability of the housing market recovery… “House prices fell by 5.3 per cent year-on-year in November, according to the closely-watched S&P/Case-Shiller home price index. Although the pace of the price drops have been steadily […]
Should taxpayers have to pay twice as much?
An Intellingencer New Era article “From shoes to homes, Work begins to transform city factory into apartments” reports that 24 “low-income” apartments will result at a cost of $5,100,000. According to the article, “Financing for the venture is coming from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, which is passing $1,365,000 to the project from federal economic […]
‘Socially liberal’ Hoefel in guv run
Philadelphia Daily News: “Joe Hoeffel wants to talk to you about abortion. “If you’re a likely voter in the May 18 Democratic primary for governor, especially from southeastern Pennsylvania, Hoeffel really wants you to listen. “That’s because Hoeffel – who spent 24 years as a county commissioner, congressman or in some other public post – […]
NEW ERA
An editorial “Suitable response to teens’ ‘sexting’”, concludes “While it’s clear that juveniles should not be sexting in the first place, it’s equally clear they should not suffer legal consequences that could follow them well into their adulthood.” WATCHDOG: A wag of the tail.
INTELLIGENCER NEW ERA
The editors gave a four column heading and about 18 column inches to a letter which they head “Legislature has thought through sprinkler issue”…