By Robert Field An amendment of July, 2016 to the prior Community Revitalization & Improvement Zone (CRIZ) legislation allows $480,000 a year in added tax rebates to Penn Square Partners. This is despite the fact that the $480,000 is not being generated by new development as was previously required and is the point of the program. Rather […]
TSUKERMAN: Chechen Gay Scandal
By Slava Tsukerman On April 5, my article about mass detentions of residents of Chechnya in connection with their “non-traditional sexual orientation”, or suspicion of such, was published in Newslanc. (https://newslanc.com/tsukerman-anti-gay-repression-in-chechnya/) Chechen government declined all the accusations, stating: “All reports of repressions against gays are untrue, because there are no gays in Chechnya… You cannot arrest […]
Trump Drug Czar Nominee: Tough on Colombian Peasants and US Marijuana Users
by Phil Smith, DRUG WAR CHRONICLE: President Trump will name Pennsylvania Congressman Tom Marino (R) to head the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP — the drug czar’s office), CBS News reported Tuesday. The White House gave no official comment, but sources told CBS that an official announcement would come soon. Reported drug czar nominee Rep. […]
PA Republicans looking good for next year
By Dick Miller WE.CONNECT.DOTS: Four years ago, Republican Gov. Tom Corbett was gearing up for re-election in 2014 with national media proclaiming he was the most vulnerable governor in America. The Democrats had four heavy hitters battling in the primary for the right to dethrone Corbett. Tom Wolf bought the primary with his own […]
How do we explain hotel rooms costing $151,900 elsewhere costing the City of Lancaster $358,000?
By Robert Field According to the headline of a recent article in LNP, “Marriott hotel addition now to cost $39.4M, with $9M from CRIZ”. The article states “Since last summer, developer Penn Square Partners’ budget for the 110-room annex has increased by just under a third, from $29.9 million to $39.4 million, city and company […]
Diverse Russian Reactions to the American Strike in Syria
Did “bad boy” Vladimir Putin meet his match in “hoodlum” Donald Trump? By Slava Tsukerman President Donald Trump’s swift action to punish Syria for a chemical weapons attack by hitting a key Syrian air base with 59 Tomahawk missiles had triggered emotional reaction in Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has denounced the US strike as “aggression […]
Trudeau Unveils Bill Legalizing Recreational Marijuana in Canada
NEW YORK TIMES: OTTAWA — Fulfilling a campaign pledge, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau introduced legislation on Thursday to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in Canada. Many nations have either decriminalized marijuana, allowed it to be prescribed medically or effectively stopped enforcing laws against it. But when Mr. Trudeau’s bill passes as expected, Canada will […]
Ed Rendell resigns “advisory” role
By Dick Miller WE.CONNECT.DOTS: An obscure cash-swollen casino run by a protégé of President Trump has captured attention of Federal authorities. FBI agents raided “Best Sunshine Live” casino on the U.S. controlled tiny island of Saipan this week. Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said this week he would resign as a $5,000-per-month “advisor” to the […]
TSUKERMAN: Anti-Gay Repression in Chechnya
By Slava Tsukerman Last week Russian Internet was full of reports about mass detentions of residents of Chechnya in connection with their “non-traditional sexual orientation”, or suspicion of such. At the moment, the detention of more than a hundred men has been officially reported. Liberal newspaper Novaya Gazeta gave that the names of at least […]
State ponies up $2M grant for The Crossings
EDITOR: More “Alms for the Rich” at taxpayers’ expense. Seems like Dale High has head in every public trough. Like CRIZ money for the Marriott, it’s a gift, not a loan. CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA BUSINESS JOURNAL: East Lampeter Township-based High Real Estate Group LLC is drawing support from the state as the company carries out the […]
MILLER ON PENNSYLVANIA: Government of the minority
By Dick Miller: WE.CONNECT.DOTS: Sometime late in the last century a small but influential number of lawmakers intent on privatizing government services, convinced a larger number of voters to forego investigation and just vote the way they were told. Polls show most voters still care about the direction we are headed and, by and large, are […]
Western academics stand up for Academic Freedom in open letter to government of Hungary
EDITOR: From our sister news web site, The Budapest Beacon MARCH 31, 2017 BY BENJAMIN NOVAK CEU’s new “N15” building in Budapest’s Nádros street. A group calling itself the “Friends of CEU” issued the following open letter to the government of Hungary on March 30th, 2017 in response to proposed legislation that would effectively force Budapest’s Central European University to close its doors. The […]
Pot is ruining Denver’s restaurant industry
NEW YORK POST: The population of Denver has been steadily growing over the past few years, but not enough of its new inhabitants want to work in the restaurant industry. The reason? The higher-paying jobs are in weed, man. New eateries are popping up all over Denver to meet the increased demand of residents and […]
Human Rights Challenge: Responding to Extrajudicial Killings in the Drug War
by Dave Borden DRUG WAR CHRONICLES: On Thursday March 16th our international drug policy work took a new turn, when we presented “Human Rights Challenge: Responding to Extrajudicial Killings in the Drug War,” side event at the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs meeting in Vienna. The event addressed the situation in the Philippines, in which […]