NewsLanc.com has published a book length series telling the sordid story of how the downtown Lancaster Convention Center and Marriott Hotel came about. There is a link on the home page of its web site. So I will confine my remarks this morning to the future of the misbegotten projects.
Tag: featured
Lancaster General may lose its $100 million plus gamble
When recently a Lancaster General Hospital (LGH) physician was taking a detailed health history, the patient asked “After living in Lancaster over 40 years, how come this data isn’t already in your computer system? I thought the hospital spent $100 million for this purpose.” The response was “Just a $100 million?”
High tech lynching? Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman and the media
On February 26, between 7-8 p.m., in Sanford, Florida, 17 year-old Trayvon Martin was shot to death by George Zimmerman, a 28 year-old resident of Sanford. The facts surrounding the shooting death have still not been established in court, but judging by the media coverage in the weeks and months following the shooting…
LANCASTER SUNDAY NEWS
Article “Convention center paradox: doing well, but deep in debt” reports: Lancaster County, [J. Mark Tobin] noted, has guaranteed $20 million on the authority’s debt.
What the Convention Center CSL Report really said
The “Conventions, Sports & Leisure” (CSL) Report is largely a white wash of the convention center project and provides no meaningful recommendations for stemming the losses. It tip toes around the projects deficiencies and ever so gently criticizes egregious errors and rapacious exploitations.
Psychiatry Giant Sorry for Backing Gay ‘Cure’
From the NEW YORK TIMES: The simple fact was that he had done something wrong, and at the end of a long and revolutionary career it didn’t matter how often he’d been right, how powerful he once was, or what it would mean for his legacy…
Protest meetings in Moscow brutally suppressed
A week had passed since the inauguration of the President Putin. But protest demonstrations of different kinds have continued in Russia during the entire week. A decade and more of Putin’s promises to break the nexus of bureaucracy, nepotism and corruption have yielded little result. National parliamentary elections several months ago were marred by fraud.
The Free Library of the 21st Century
From the PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS Op-Ed: A RECENT OPINION piece called into question the Free Library’s place in our digital world. A quick stop on freelibrary.org — our “online branch,” which receives 8 million unique visits annually — immediately highlights just how relevant and digitally savvy the Free Library is.
Barnes Museum, Reborn, Remains True to Its Old Self, Only Better
From the NEW YORK TIMES: The Barnes Foundation’s move from suburban Philadelphia to the center of the city caused art lovers lots of worry… Others, myself included, did not object to the move per se, but felt that faithfully reproducing the old Barnes in the new space, as promised by the trustees, was a terrible idea.
Buffett Buys 63 Newspapers for $142 Million
NEWSMAX: Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc is boosting its bet on the newspaper industry, with a deal to buy the majority of Media General Inc’s papers for $142 million in cash, making him one of the largest publishers in the United States…
Buffett is staking his claim in an industry dogged by plummeting advertising revenue and readers who are choosing digital formats over paper and ink. Newspapers, once the toast of investors looking for stable cash-generating companies to park their money, have lost favor in the past several years…
“Loan to help libraries buy computers” – a farce!
From the INTELLIGENCER JOURNAL NEW ERA: “Lancaster County’s public libraries expect to spend about $150,000 this year to replace aging public-access computers. “The Library System of Lancaster County board on Wednesday voted unanimously to assist the county’s member libraries with the purchase with a two-part program.
Dauphin County Commissioner suggests ending human services programs in face of looming state funding cuts
From the HARRISBURG PATRIOT-NEWS: Frustration over deep state funding cuts proposed for the county’s human services system is prompting Dauphin County Commission Chairman Jeff Haste to talk about a revolt.
Billionaire venture capitalist says only middle class creates jobs
It is astounding how significantly one idea can shape a society and its policies. Consider this one. If taxes on the rich go up, job creation will go down. This idea is an article of faith for republicans and seldom challenged by democrats and has shaped much of today’s economic landscape.
Deju Vu the Convention Center Project?
The following is excerpted from “Harrisburg Forensic Audit Report” which seeks to explain how the disastrous incinerator retrofit project took place. “The following were key contractors on the retrofit project: