Jacob Lusk Sent Home On American Idol Results Night

Jacob Lusk was sent home this evening on American Idol after a season-high 60 million votes cast.  Jacob had the weakest performances last night and has struggled with gaining viewer support this season.  Jacob is very talented and will do well.  An emotional Lauren Alaina also found herself in the bottom two this week.

Jennifer Lopez and Pit Bull tore up the stage with a lavish rendition of their new smash single “On The Floor”.  Lady Antebellum also sang their new song “Just A Kiss” and received massive applause and a standing ovation.

We wish Jacob well and hope he continues in the great R&B tradition of singers like Luther Vandross.  You can see Jacob on the Idol tour this summer.

Bethlehem Opens 10.9-Mile Heritage Trail

Historic Bethlehem has a new heritage trail that can be viewed via an 80-stop walking tour.  The City of Bethlehem unveiled this project to the public on Monday.  The tour includes such sites and the Waterworks and Bethlehem Steel.

There are six links in the tour: Moravian Founders, Monocacy Valley, Westward Expansion, Victorian Bethlehem, Farmland to Industry and Steel.  The self-guided tour charts the city’s progress since 1741.  There is also an audio component to the tour which can be purchased for $12.00.  Bethlehem already had several walking tours and many of these 80 sites had previously been renovated.  This Heritage Trail has tied everything together for visitors and residents alike.

A heritage trail is also being developed for Pottstown.  Sue Repko and Tom Carroll have been working very hard to make this happen.  It will leverage the rich history of Pottstown and its location on the Schuylkill River.  There are many similarities between Pottstown and Bethlehem.  Both communities were large steel producers during their industrial heyday and have many historic homes and buildings.  The difference is that Bethlehem has capitalized on their heritage for some time now and continues to identify ways to attract business, industry, new residents and visitors.  Let us hope with the recent momentum of PAID and our own heritage trail initiative that Pottstown can add another similarity to Bethlehem.

For more information on Bethlehem’s Heritage Trail, click here:

http://www.historicbethlehem.org/index.cfm?organization_id=127&section_id=1925&page_id=9603

City Of Reading Failed To File Employee State W-2 Forms Since 1999!

Image via Wikipedia

Somebody’s head should roll over this screw up.  Evidently a computer glitch, human error or a combination of both resulted in the City of Reading’s failure to file W-2 with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for city employees.  Fortunately, the money was withheld; however, the forms help the Commonwealth reconcile the payments.  The city did not have the 1999 data on file but there is a seven-year window of opportunity for Pennsylvania to question tax issues so the state agreed not to require the 1999 data.

On the other hand, one has to wonder why it took 12 years for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to do something about this problem.  Someone in Harrisburg should be looking into this matter on their end as well.  It seems the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing on a local or state level in this instance.

Your tax dollars in action!

It’s Spring: Nostalgia Night Car Shows Return To Pottstown

High Street will once again be packed with classic cars and people this Saturday night, May 7^th, when the Pottstown Classics Car Club holds its first car show of 2011.

The show will run from 5 pm to 9 pm and the theme for this month is “Help Us Salute Our Veterans”.  WPAZ will be broadcasting live, Rainbow the Clown will be on hand for the kiddies as well as food, music, prizes, drawings and merchandise for sale.

Admission is FREE to spectators.  There is a $10 registration fee for vehicles entered in the show.

Unemployment Claims Increased For April

The number of folks filing new unemployment claims increased by 43,000 in the U.S. during April 2011.  Unemployment claims reached 474,000!  It was expected that the number of claims would decrease to around 400,000 for April.

Tell me again the recession is over!

Coatesville Area School District Eying Four-Day Week

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The Coatesville Area School District is taking a unique approach to avoid layoffs and program cuts.  The district is proposing a year-round four-day school week.

Under Coatesville’s plan, high school students would have their day extended forty-five minutes and elementary students would have their day extended eighty minutes.  Making this change would save the Chester County school district $1.7 million a year.

Coatesville Area School District has 11 schools and nearly 7,000 students.