The Triadvocate

Friday Happy Hour: TMI Edition

Today marks the 35^th anniversary of a small, insignificant and long-since-forgotten snafu at a nuclear power plant known as “Three Mile Island”, just outside of Harrisburg.  This week, local papers have been littered with the requisite “Do you remember where you were?” stories.  Oddly enough, nowhere in any comment section have we read, “Under my bed, shaking like a leaf and wetting my pants.”  Which is probably what we would have done had we been in the midstate 35 years ago today. 

Friday Happy Hour: Never Say Never Edition

 

President Obama and European leaders are pursuing tougher economic sanctions against Russia as a result of Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea.  An economic squeeze will no doubt make life tougher in Moscow, as citizens face the stark reality of returning to the days of having one roll of toilet paper for the entire month, and being forced to eat wet cardboard.

Budget Cuts Continue To Take Toll on Pennsylvanians in Need

The following is from our good friends at United Way of Pennsylvania.  To learn more, or to see how you can get invloved, please check out their home page. 

Funding reductions over the last five years have weighed heavily on Pennsylvanians in need and the organizations that serve them, according to a new statewide survey from United Way of Pennsylvania (UWP) and its partners. 

Meet Team Triad: Alex D'Angola

Hailing from Luzerne County, Alexandra D’Angola may be young, but do not let the youthful visage fool you. She is already a veteran of many legislative battles, and her personal mantra may surprise you:

“Respect everyone, but fear no one.” 

Friday Happy Hour: Pi Day Edition

Today is Pi Day!  Yes, time for some delicious math equations! It is also, probably not coincidentally, Albert Einstein’s birthday.  To celebrate, we have assigned Katherine the intern the task of calculating the exact value of Pi to the final digit, because we do love our interns!  

Pocono Raceway Turns Rotunda Into Victory Lane

Pocono Raceway President/CEO Brandon Igdalsky and Governor Tom Corbett 

Drivers, start your engines! NASCAR season has officially begun in Pennsylvania!

Triad Strategies, DTI Development Form Strategic Partnership

 

New alliance adds economic development firepower to one of the state’s top public affairs firms

Harrisburg, PA (March 11, 2014) – Triad Strategies, LLC and DTI Development have announced a strategic partnership that will bring together one of Pennsylvania’s top public affairs firms and a Pittsburgh-based economic development powerhouse. 

Friday Happy Hour: Victoria Prizeef Edition

Victoria Prizeef, in happier times

Maybe it’s the cumulative effect of the long, cold, lonely winter, but things just ain’t right. Recent events lead us to wonder whether the earth is on the verge of spinning off its axis.

We begin with our weekly installment of We Can’t Make This Up, which comes to us in the form of a Quinnipiac poll showing that a majority of Pennsylvanians now support same-sex marriage AND medical marijuana AND are inching toward a majority regarding recreational pot as well. Repeating, for emphasis, Pennsylvanians. Our Extra Super-Duper Doppler is showing poison frogs in the long-range forecast. 

Then there’s Russian President Vladimir Putin, who sent some, um, people with guns and uniforms and tanks and stuff to quell the civil uprising in Crimea following the ouster of the Ukrainian president late last month. In what appears to be variation on the old Jedi mind trick, Putin waved his hand and said they are not Russian soldiers. The U.S. and other western nations reacted by imposing economic sanctions and wringing their hands.

Pocono Raceway pace car sighting – a sure sign of spring!

For some people, it’s the spotting of the first robin.  For others, it’s the first crocus buds peeping through the soil.  But if you’re a Pennsylvanian, the surest sign of spring is the initial appearance of the Pocono pace car indicating the launch of a new Pocono Raceway season.  And that will occur on the state Capital plaza on Monday, March 10.

It’s all part of Pocono Raceway’s first media opportunity in the Capitol Rotunda at 9:30 a.m. to announce race dates for the 2014 season and to unveil a new economic impact study showing how important Pocono Raceway is to the regional economy.

You can join in on the festivities (click here for details) and find out why the tri-oval at Long Pond is an internationally known asset for the Poconos and Pennsylvania.

Oh, and if you doubt the powers of the pace car to forecast the arrival of spring, know that the National Weather Service predicts a high in the 50s for Monday.

The Triadvocate is a publication of Triad Strategies, LLC, a bipartisan lobbying, public affairs, strategic communications, grassroots advocacy, issue management consulting firm located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with offices in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh

Transportation Work Is Not Done

Guest post by George Wolff, Triad Senior Consultant and founder of the Keystone Transportation Funding Coalition

The recent signing of Pennsylvania’s $2.3 billion dollar transportation bill has received a tremendous amount of attention from the media in the past months. For those of us at the Keystone Transportation Funding Coalition, the signing of this bill was only the beginning of our work. We are very pleased that Governor Corbett has signed this bill, and we are now shifting our focus to inform the public of its benefits.