Allentown Afterthoughts

Disappointing but predictably pro-big-business vote from Charlie Dent on required corporate and union disclosures for campaign spending–in the aftermath of the disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court ruling.

Great Call story on the Old Town Neighborhood Watch–the Old Allentown crime watch group that pulled together sleeping equipment and–improbably–high-end kitchen appliances to replace run-down wares at the Allentown Fire Department’s Central Fire Station.

The well-informed LV Independent blogger Jon Geeting mentions, in an interview, that he’s planing to open a restaurant/bar in Southside Bethlehem.

There’s a lot less competition on Seventh Street or Hamilton in Allentown, Jon.

The Wall Street Journal on the ongoing Tribune Co. bankruptcy fiasco:

Bankruptcy has been a surprising breeze for a number of companies that sought protection from creditors over the past two years.

But 18 months in, one case remains stymied in squabbling over just how the company landed in bankruptcy in the first place. That is Tribune Co., the ailing media company that was taken private in 2007 with an $8.2 billion deal by real-estate investor Sam Zell. Today, the transaction continues to haunt the company, its management and creditors.

A group of creditors holding Tribune’s bank debt is threatening to upend the newspaper-and-television station owner’s plans to exit from bankruptcy later this summer. Separate lender groups are deposing Mr. Zell and James B. Lee, a top banker at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., which backed the buyout. And a court-appointed examiner probing Mr. Zell’s buyout for possible fraud could give ammunition to creditors of all stripes to battle Tribune’s restructuring plans.

The Tribune Co., of course, is the parent company of The Morning Call. The WSJ also reports that in 2009–despite other media companies’ revenue growth, especially in the last quarter–tribune operating cash flow dropped 37%.

On Sam Zell, the motorcycle-riding corporate bandit:

Mr. Zell himself stepped down as chief executive and has refocused on real-estate deals, leaving his ill-fated media venture behind.

If you haven’t read it yet, the 2007 profile of Zell in The New Yorker is a must read.

Vintage LVCI, on Lehigh Valley growth. Thought-provoking, digressive, wild swings of analysis. One slippage throughout the post: LVCI is referring to overall Valley growth, though in his commentary and elsewhere he seems to stress the poor and unwashed. But as he must know, much of the population growth in the Valley–and certainly the farm-devouring bits–are white-collar and/or middle class suburbanites. Here’s the Brookings Institution’s take, from 2007 (pdf):

Housing data shows that the Lehigh Valley’s residential building activity continues to occur mainly in second-class townships. Between 1995 and 1999, 3,370 permits were issued in the metro’s cities, boroughs, and first-class townships while 9,442 were issued in second-class townships. Between 2000 and 2004, the number of permits issued in older places increased 19 percent to 4,022, but permits issued to second-class townships rose even faster—45 percent— to 13,684.

Crossroads, the blog of smart-growth group Renew Lehigh Valley reminds us of a screening of The New Metropolis and panel discussion Monday night (June 28), at the Allentown Symphony Hall’s Rodale Room, 6pm to 8pm. Free and open to the public. I will be returning from a conference trip to Singapore, which is also explain’s the blog’s silence…

From the Call’s story on school uniforms for the Allentown School District:

The district’s Safety Task Force, a panel of parents, staff and board members, announced at the committee meeting that it will conduct a study to see if students should be required to wear identical clothing to school.

For what it’s worth, I think a dress code is a good idea.

Still, what I found more telling about the story was its treatment of cleavage.

It’s a window into the click-driven economics of media: the story ledes with cleavage–the first word–and giggles out three more mentions before getting around to boys’ boxers.

From last week’s Call:

Sacred Heart Hospital is planning a new mental-health unit to help compensate for the impending closure of Allentown State Hospital.

The move represents not only a new local option for treating some of the region’s most psychologically fragile residents, but also a multimillion-dollar investment in a center city Allentown hospital that’s struggled financially in recent years.

Great news for the struggling center-city hospital, which had been teetering on the edge of financial ruin after opting against a proposed merger with its well-heeled counterpart, the Lehigh Valley Health Network.

According to the story, the hospital finances are already improving:

New Sacred Heart CEO John L. Nespoli said the hospital’s finances have been improving recently….

“Sacred Heart is growing again,” Nespoli said.

The first Allentown Freak Out–the city’s own fringe festival–is this weekend.

Speaking of city-sponsored parties, next Thursday’s “Party on the Deck” had me at “The Associated Mess.” The panoramic 21-plus gathering will take place on the rooftop of the old Hess’s parking garage at 8th and Linden Streets, 5pm to 10. Tickets are available at the Allentown Brew Works and online.