I wonder if those same powerful forces will be expecting (demanding) that the newly appointed CRIZ authority board will pursue major dollars for the (already existing) convention center/hotel refurbishing/debt reduction rather than investing those dollars in for the targeted blighted and underutilized properties within city limits?
Tag: featured
Pa. fracking boom goes bust
By some measures, unconventional drilling for natural gas, or “fracking,” in the Marcellus Shale formation in Pennsylvania has dropped by more than 50 percent since its peak in 2010, the year Corbett was elected. Experts say that’s because of several factors – but the biggest by far is a steep plunge in the price that natural gas was getting on the open market, in part a result of so much fracking here and elsewhere.
How the LCCCA was stung by entering into a SWAP arrangement
In order to maximize a loan, a local government may agree to a variable rate bond, which means the interest goes up or down depending upon market conditions.
Attorney general files criminal charges against Marcellus gas drilling company
HARRISBURG PATRIOT-NEWS: Attorney General Kathleen Kane on Tuesday afternoon filed criminal charges against a Pennsylvania subsidiary of ExxonMobil for illegally discharging more than 50,000 gallons of toxic wastewater from a Marcellus Shale gas well site in Penn Township, Lycoming County.
President Obama’s Syria Speech: Read the Transcript 138
Over the past two years, what began as a series of peaceful protests against the oppressive regime of Bashar al-Assad has turned into a brutal civil war. Over 100,000 people have been killed. Millions have fled the country.
“Blue Jasmine” in the rear view mirror
Let’s not spend too much time or energy trying to rank Woody Allen’s “Blue Jasmine” in the context of his many other career high points. Regardless of how it’ll be seen in the future, the movie is one of the very few satisfying dramas of 2013. It may be a light drama, and it may borrow from Tennessee William’s “Streetcar Named Desire,” but it stakes out its own territory and has been rewarded by critics and audiences with a long theatrical run.
Almost a quarter of men ‘admit to rape in parts of Asia’
It is the first multi-country study to examine how widespread violence against women is and the reasons behind it. Of those who admitted rape, just under half said they had done so more than once…
Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski kicks off campaign for governor
ALLENTOWN MORNING CALL: Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski has a resume that includes nearly eight years running the state’s third-largest city, one seemingly poised for a Phoenix-like rebirth.
Obama Embraces Russian Proposal on Syria Weapons
NEW YORK TIMES: President Obama on Monday tentatively embraced a Russian diplomatic proposal to avert a United States military strike on Syria by having international monitors take control of the Syrian government’s chemical weapons.
Should Kudos also go to the Lancaster Newspapers, Inc?
We don’t mean to detract one jot of our praise of County Commission Chair Scott Martin for the pro-active role he has played in helping to resolve the Convention Center debt crisis. The Center has become a “tar baby” and he had no skin in the game and could have safely remained on the sidelines.
Severance tax opponents run on empty
SCRANTON TIMES-TRIBUNE Editorial: For years Pennsylvania politicians who shortchanged state residents on behalf of the natural gas industry argued against a fair extraction tax on grounds that it would spook the nascent industry into leaving the state.
Parties lose influence in gubernatorial elections
At least eight candidates have either formally announced or contemplate a campaign for the Democratic nomination for governor in the spring of 2014.
LETTER: Charter schools fiscally undermine public schools
Trying to spread the taxpayer funds lost to charter schools across more and more public schools can significantly reduce the quality of public education. The only way for a district to avoid harming their own students is by closing one public school to pay for each charter school that opens.
Mexico’s New Drug War Looks Like the Old Drug War
DRUG WAR CHRONICLE: Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto came into office in December vowing to break with his predecessor’s reliance on the Mexican military to fight the so-called drug cartels. He said he wanted to concentrate on lowering crime and increasing public security instead of making high-profile busts or killings of cartel leaders, and he said he would create a militarized national police force to replace the military in drug fighting.