Ciao Stefano…American Idol Results

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52 million Americans voted and Stefano went home tonight, but not without singing his heart out!

I think James Durban will temporarily lose his best friend.  However, Stefano will be on tour this summer and if he plays his cards right could have a music career. 

David Cook and Katy Perry provided musical entertainment tonight.  Katy Perry’s number was a huge production of her new song ET with Kanye West.  David Cook is looking well and sang the first single off his new album.

Next week the top six sing Carol King songs!!!  Can’t wait for that!

Jacob and Haley were also in the bottom three.  I am guessing one of them will go home next week.

Lancaster Mayor’s Office Of Special Events (MOOSE) Addresses Lansdale Economic Development Committee

The Lancaster Mayor’s office has a Special Events division.  Their mission is to “host, create and produce special events for the City of Lancaster, promote and market them, and act as a resource to others planning special events”.  MOOSE exists to create excitement and enthusiasm about Lancaster City.

Lancaster hosts seven yearly events for its citizens and visitors, which are a joint effort between MOOSE and the James Street Improvement District.  Lancaster successfully turned around their downtown by identifying an Improvement District and then expanding it.  Lansdale’s goal was to learn from Lancaster’s successes and adapt them to fit Lansdale.

(HINT) Since these people take their show on the road, Pottstown should invite them here and see what they have to say.  Lancaster’s vibrant downtown is the envy of most cities and towns in this state!

MOOSE’s staff:

Jennifer Baker, Director, jbaker@cityoflancasterpa.com
Valerie Paige, Special Events Manager, vpaige@cityoflancasterpa.com

Mayor’s Office of Special Events

120 North Duke Street

Lancaster, PA 17608-1599

(717) 291-4758

MOOSE website:  http://www.lancastercityevents.com/index.html

Lansdale Mayor Blasts Council/Manager Over Reprimand

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The Mayor of Lansdale, Andy Szekely, has published a lengthy letter in today’s Lansdale Reporter outlining what he is claiming to be an improper reprimand given to him by Lansdale Borough Council and Lansdale’s Borough Manager.

The crux of the disagreement is over the Lansdale Performing Arts Center which the mayor feels should be funded privately and the Council is funding with taxpayer money.  The mayor made public some details about coding for the performing arts center that were discussed in Executive Session.  According to the mayor, this discussion violated the Sunshine Law plus there is no code on the borough books authorizing Lansdale Borough Council to reprimand the mayor.

When presented with the written reprimand, the mayor was told there would be “consequences” if he failed to sign the document.  Whoo! 

You can read the mayor’s letter here:

http://thereporteronline.com/articles/2011/04/21/opinion/doc4daf56ae668da460052550.txt?viewmode=fullstory

Sands Casino Plans Hotel And Mall In Bethlehem

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The very successful Sands Casino in Bethlehem is adding more attractions to lure gamblers.  A new 300-room hotel is opening by Memorial Day which will allow gamblers to make the Sands an overnight destination.  In addition, the casino is opening a 35-store mall on the property which will give gamblers (and non-gamblers) a shopping and dining diversion.  The mall has a proposed soft opening date of November 1^st.  Grand opening is scheduled for President’s Day weekend, in February of 2012.

Another project in the works is a conference facility that could accommodate 2,500 people.  This would allow the casino to compete in the lucrative convention and trade show market.  The conference facility could become a reality by the end of the year.  There are eight other buildings on the site which the casino hopes to develop and a residential area is also being considered.

Adjacent to the casino is the Steel Stacks complex and ArtsQuest Center.  The ten-acre entertainment area includes a concert pavilion, farmers market, antique market for starters. 

The economic impact of these projects will benefit Bethlehem for generations to come.

Harrisburg Mayor Gets Poor Marks For Keeping Low Profile

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The Harrisburg Patriot has given Mayor Linda Thompson a very public chiding in today’s editorial due to her public absence during Harrisburg’s water main crisis that shut down state, county and city government, the school district, HACC and local businesses. 

Harrisburg’s main water line was accidentally ruptured and released thousands of gallons of water into a brownfield site near Cameron Street.  Millions of gallons of drinking water a day were lost due to the break and everything in Harrisburg came to an abrupt halt.  There was concern about having adequate water supplies for fire stations and Harrisburg Hospital.  The entire city could have been without water had this situation not been handled quickly and efficiently.

While the mayor was doing things behind the scenes, her lack of visibility has raised some eyebrows.  Mayor Thompson held no news conference until Wednesday.  The crisis occurred on Sunday and city residents have boiled water for several days.

Cumberland Valley School District Considers Larger Elementary Classroom Size

The Cumberland Valley School District is facing a $6.7 million budget shortfall for the 2011-2012 school year but is not considering redistricting or closing schools.  However, there are 17 teachers retiring who may not be replaced and that would lead to larger elementary class sizes.  Hiring nine new teachers would cost the school district $1 million and is part of a possible compromise plan to keep class sizes below a certain level.

The board does not want to increase taxes and is looking at all options to cut spending, including teacher and administrator wage freezes.  If teachers took a one year wage freeze it would save the district $1 million.  Teachers have not volunteered to do so at this time.  Administration wage freezes would save the district $177,000.  The board is also shelving a contract that would have given teachers 3.15 percent raises over the next four years.  The board will begin renegotiating with the teachers unions.

The Cumberland Valley School District is located on Harrisburg’s West Shore with the principal town being Mechanicsburg.  The district has about 7,800 students.  There are seven elementary schools, two middle schools, a high school and some administration buildings.  The district was recognized in 2007 for the number of students achieving high PSSA scores and having a relatively low per-pupil expenditure.  In 2011 Cumberland Valley was ranked 23rd out of Pennsylvania’s 498 school districts.