NewsLanc.Com
Providing Lancaster City & County with an Alternative Source
for Local News and Commentary
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August 7, 2007 Publisher: NewsLanc.com LLC
Combined Circulation 80,000 monthly
Volume 1, Number 39
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Plans are underway by the Interagency Council for the Homeless to provide the chronically homeless with a safe place to go, not only for shelter, showers and laundry facilities, but also for medical and dental services. The facility will be located at the Water Street Rescue Mission in the 200 block of South Prince Street.
The homeless situation has become so serious that, as part of its soon to be announced expansion and renovation plan, the Duke Street Library is planning to relocate its children's section from the airy, well lit, spacious second floor to the windowless, low ceiling (8� 7�), sometime flooding basement � mainly to |
discourage the homeless from using its basement as a refuge.
Now that concerns about the homeless using its rest rooms and lower level facilities will be lessened, library officials should alter their plans so that our children and their parents will continue to be located on the soon to be expanded cheerful upper level where there are windows, open areas, and a high ceiling. Full disclosure: NewsLanc's publisher provided the initial input and seed money for library expansion and his wife is a member of its board of trustees. |
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NewsLanc.com is full of praise for Mayor Rick Gray's efforts to encourage the use of motor scooters, bicycles and even motorcycles in order to reduce downtown congestion. Scooters have become very popular in major metropolitan areas. And in relatively level Lancaster County, many enjoy bicycling around town.
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However, the mayor also supports the bizarre notion of bringing back trolley cars to Lancaster. These behemoths add to traffic congestion on our relatively narrow streets and, because they cannot pull over to the side of the street to pick up passengers, traffic must come to a halt at almost every street corner. |
(They are also downright dangerous since they run silently and cannot readily stop.)
So Mr. Mayor, which way do you want to turn? Less traffic congestion with sensible scooters, motorcycles and bicycles, or greater congestion with trolley cars? |
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In response to a recent notification that the Watt & Shand building would be de-listed from the National Registry of Historic Places, Penn Square Partners� executive vice president Tom Smithgall told the New Era: "I was unaware of the fact that the state was taking this action... There was no notification to the owners."
In fact, the Bureau for Historic |
Preservation wrote Smithgall in April 2003 as follows: "Given the extent of development and demolition, it is our opinion that the project as proposed does not meet the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings."
Too bad the monopoly Lancaster Newspapers once again chose to spin rather than to report. |
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According to the July 20th New York Times, "House officials said the compromise would ensure that all voting machines nationwide would have some kind of paper trail in 2008 through which voters could verify that their ballots were properly recorded and that could be used in recounts.�
NewsLanc editorialized against Commissioners Pete Shaub's and Dick Shellenberger's folly in purchasing electronic voting machines without a paper trail that were being replaced by Oregon. (Commissioner Molly Henderson voted against the acquisition.) |
NewsLanc's publisher objected to the purchase at a commissioner meeting and submitted reliable data.
Now it appears the County will soon be required to replace those machines because they are not tamper proof and they provide no verifiable paper trail of the balloting. Dick and Pete, we have a great bridge for sale cheap if you are interested! |
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A "push poll" is when questions are phrased in a manner that will evoke a sought after response.
On behalf of the Lancaster Alliance, the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College conducted a telephone survey of 408 Lancaster County residents living within a twenty mile radius of Lancaster City. The poll never mentions, let alone asks, whether the system should be built with $20 million dollars of taxpayers money or that it |
would operate at a loss of over $300,000 a year.
Nor does the poll inquire whether trolleys would add to traffic congestion or increase dangers to pedestrians, especially children.
It does no credit to the Center for Opinion Research or to Franklin & Marshall College that they would be parties to such propaganda. That they have is evidence to the corrupting power of the Lancaster corporate establishment and the monopoly newspapers. Scratch their backs and they will scratch yours! And Hell knows no fury like the monopoly press scorned. |