On tomorrow’s Triadvocate front page, we’ll have a very special dedication to the victims and heroes of 9/11. “Ground Zero Beer Run” is a poignant look back at those horrific moments from Triad’s own Randy King, who served at Ground Zero while under the employ of former Harrisburg Mayor Steve Reed. An abridged version of “Ground Zero Beer Run” is also appearing in Harrisburg Magazine.
Let’s see. East coast earthquake? Check. Hurricane Irene? Check. Widespread, catastrophic flooding caused by a slow-moving Tropical Storm Lee? Check and mate, good sir, as communities across central and eastern Pennsylvania remain underwater, under boil water advisories, and generally overwhelmed. Your Capitol City (which now has the distinction of being financially and literally underwater) will see the Susquehanna crest at just over 25 feet this evening, 8 feet above flood stage. Next week, locusts and poison frogs are scheduled to descend upon Pennsylvania, because obviously we have angered somebody.
Governor Tom Corbett has already asked, and President Obama granted, an emergency declaration for counties affected by flood waters. And no, no one asked that federal aid be offset by federal spending cuts, because this is Pennsylvania, and we remain sane in the face of natural disasters.
The President also addressed a joint session of Congress last night to roll out his new plan to jump-start the lethargic job market. We realize that there will be wide disagreement over the plan, but we were disheartened to hear one elected official last night refer to infrastructure spending as “more social welfare spending” while our own governor at the very same moment was holding a press conference during the floods about a bridge knocked off of its pilings. Seriously, folks, does anyone think Congress’ robust 13% approval rating is an accident anymore?
In slightly drier news, the City of Brotherly Love played host to a 2-day Marcellus Shale Conference, while outside some anti-fracking folks (led by “Gasland” director Josh Fox) roused a little rabble. Inside the building, however, it was generally an industry love-fest, with former Governor Tom Ridge accusing the anti-frackers of ginning up “phony hysteria.” Everyone stuck to the script until former Governor Ed Rendell addressed the group and pounded the industry on everything from drilling violations to taxes to the color of the ties the industry folks were wearing. Hey, who let that guy in?
One lawmaker this week proposed a new plan to add natural gas as an eligible Tier 2 energy source under the states alternative energy plan, which mandates purchases of alternative fuel sources by the state’s utilities. Long before anyone knew of the natural gas bonanza beneath Pennsylvania soil, environmentalists and conservationists often spoke of natural gas being a “transition” fuel, one that could wean us off fossil fuels while solar, wind and hydro-energy were developed. Well, here ya go, Jack Spratt, somebody put it in writing. So any minute now we’ll hear why they were just kidding.
Former Philadelphia school honcho Arlene Ackerman’s buyout continues to dominate headlines, as the private donors who ponied up $405,000 of the over $900,000 total package are now getting chilly piggies, and perhaps even reneging on the deal. This will leave the district on the hook for the whole pile of cabbage, which will no doubt make everyone in the fair city just as pleased as punch!
And this just in from the Department of We Saw This Coming a Mile Away, lawmakers are now proposing strict new rules and regulations governing school superintendent buyouts. Yes, we need to button up that barn door now that the horses are all a few miles down the road. But in defense of lawmakers, the Ackerman buyout was somewhat of a Category 4, in the parlance of this particular summer. And just a quick reminder to those who always say they want government to "run like a business." This is exactly how businesses run. They buy out faulty CEOs all...the...time.
The Gaming Control Board has been confronted yet again with a “new” team of Foxwoods Casino investors who honestly, seriously, no joking around this time, have a financing plan. So hey, can we pretty please have our license back, they asked this week. If the board relents, we fully expect the new casino to be Rasputin-themed.
Pennsylvania has decided that it’s not all that interested anymore in being part of five different lawsuits over air quality, and has withdrawn from all of them. The Rendell-era lawsuits dealt with smog and ground-level ozone. The Corbett Administration has decided to chart a different course on these matters, which apparently puts him squarely in President Obama’s camp when it comes to the EPA. Yeah, who saw that coming?
Hear that? That is the clock ticking away on a plan to fund $2.7 billion annually for Pennsylvania’s infrastructure needs. This debate is starting to remind us of a junior high dance, where everyone really wants to get on the dance floor with their steady guy or gal, but nobody wants to be first. Lawmakers are waiting for the governor to make a move, but the music has been playing for a while now, and at some point, the DJ is gonna get fed up and take his “Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam” CDs and his 5,200 deficient bridges and go home.
Philadelphia City Council returned this week with quite a few lame duck members and a whole plate of tasty controversy enchiladas to eat. Two potential veto overrides, new zoning rules, reapportionment, and a behind-the-scenes battle over who will wear the Council President hat next year should keep our friends in Philadelphia quite busy through the end of the year. Triad’s Philadelphia Director Yvonne Roberts will reportedly be pitching a tent inside council chambers. Godspeed, Yvonne. Watch for flying objects.
Congressman Glenn “GT” Thompson and U.S. Senator Pat “Supercommittee” Toomey have teamed up to nominate Penn State football coach Joe Paterno for the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. All that they asked in return was that Paterno tell them who he planned to start at quarterback for the Alabama game. Paterno refused, and they dropped the whole idea. Kidding aside, congratulations to JoePa; couldn’t happen to a nicer guy, or a better symbol of Pennsylvania’s greatness.
U.S. Steel announced this week that it will begin converting its truck fleet to compressed natural gas, saving about 61 cents a mile compared to today’s gas prices. See, there is that “transition” fuel again. Just cannot seem to escape it. It would be interesting to calculate how much the state could save if its vehicle fleet were to be converted to CNG. Seriously, it’s not like we are gonna run out of natural gas anytime soon. Might as well use it before somebody decides to ship it to China.
Finally this week, U.S. Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum won the endorsement of 15 or so State Senate Republicans, including some of the most powerful leaders in the Chamber. We’re not sure this shocked anyone, but we thought it was worth bringing to your attention since we haven’t talked about Santorum much lately.
That is all from Triad’s remote location. We could tell you where it is, but…you get the idea. We will be back in action next week (we weren't really ever out of action, to be clear), after Lee finally clears the heck out of here and the waters recede. Until then, be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for all of Pennsylvania’s breaking news.
We hope you enjoy the weekend, and of course…never forget.
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