Allentown Woman Punches LANTA Bus Driver Over Fare, Police Say

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Editor’s note:  What a class act.  Evidently somebody needs an anger management course.

A LANTA bus driver who challenged a passenger’s claim to a student discount was slugged by the passenger as the vehicle moved from an Allentown bus stop, police said.

Daquasia Kim Ransome, 18, of 513 N. Silk St., Allentown, was arrested Friday after city police used bus surveillance video from the Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority to determine who attacked the driver two weeks ago.

Ransome got on the bus 3:08 p.m. Feb. 27 at Hamilton and Seventh streets, and handed the $1 student rate – half the regular fare – to driver Barbara Rosamilia, police said. An argument began when Rosamilia asked which school Ransome goes to, police said.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-lanta-bus-driver-attacked-in-allentown-20120312,0,2717958.story

Top Selling Jazz Act Appearing At The Sands Event Center, Bethlehem

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Diana Krall, the pianist and singer who has sold more than 6 million albums in the United States — she’s the only singer to have eight albums (her last eight) debut at the top of the Billboard Jazz Albums — and won three Grammy Awards, will play the center on July 8.

That’s according to a tour itinerary sent out by Krall’s publicist. Neither her website nor the event center’s lists the show yet.

Gerald R, Deifer, one of the founders of the event center, said only, “that would be a big show.”

Read more: http://blogs.mcall.com/lehighvalleymusic/2012/03/another-big-act-revealed-for-sands-event-center-this-ones-a-jazz-singer.html

Allentown Carrier Direct Air Halts Flights Nationwide

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Apparently buried in debt and wracking up service fees at airports including Lehigh Valley International, Direct Air abruptly halted all flights Tuesday morning, and there is no word when or if air service will resume.

Charles Everett Jr., executive director of Lehigh Valley International, confirmed that Direct Air had halted flights but he said he wasn’t sure what that meant for its upcoming flights at LVIA.

He also wasn’t yet certain what the unannounced stoppage meant for the $93,000 in service, landing and passenger changes Direct Air owes LVIA.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-abe-airport-direct-air-20120313,0,2234033.story

Titus Station’s Closing A Sign Of ‘Dash To Gas’

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The planned closure of five coal-fired power plants in Pennsylvania, including the Titus Generating Station plant in Cumru Township, is a sign of a fundamental transformation in regional energy markets in which natural gas is sharing the leadership spotlight once occupied only by coal, according to top state observers.

“The economics are showing us, right now, a ‘dash-to-gas’ scenario,” said Robert F. Powelson, chairman of the state Public Utility Commission.

Patrick D. Henderson, state energy executive for Gov. Tom Corbett, said natural gas is playing a far greater role in supplying power to the regional grid than it did only a few years ago.

“We knew to anticipate coal-fired power-plant retirement in Pennsylvania,” Henderson said. “We did not know specifically those facilities were going to (close).”

Read more: http://businessweekly.readingeagle.com/?p=2603

Governor Mifflin School District Still Grappling With $2 Million Shortfall

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Eliminating or curtailing academic programs should only be a last resort for closing the $2.1 million gap in the Gov. Mifflin School District’s draft 2012-13 budget, administrators told school board members Monday.

But if the district wants to keep that option open, it needs to get started soliciting state approval to make program changes.

Administrators suggested that board members vote next week to ask the state’s permission to scale back technical education, world language and family and consumer science programs, eliminating five teaching positions.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=370761

Weis Markets In Muhlenberg Township To Shut Down

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Weis Markets, 3240 Fifth Street Highway, Muhlenberg Township, will close on April 14.

More than 50 full and part-time associates were informed of the closing and will be offered positions at other area Weis locations, said Dennis V. Curtin, director of corporate communications for Weis.

Curtin said the store is closing for business reasons and that it had been underperforming for some time.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=370695

TOYS IN THE ATTIC (drama) Now Playing At The Tri-County Performing Arts Center, Pottstown

TOYS IN THE ATTIC

By Lillian Hellman
Presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service
Parental Guidance Suggested*

Meet Carrie and Anna Berniers, two sisters living in genteel poverty who have sacrificed their own ambitions for those of their ne’er-do-well younger brother, Julian, whose grandiose dreams repeatedly lead to financial disasters. When Julian unexpectedly returns home accompanied by his emotionally unstable, childlike bride Lily, her aloof, aristocratic mother Albertine, and an unexplained large sum of money, Carrie and Anna suddenly find the position of power they always have held becomes unbalanced, leaving their lives in chaos. Tension steadily rises with the deception lying beneath the outwardly calm surface of this southern town. Funny and poignant, dangerous and passionate, TOYS IN THE ATTIC is a powerful and revealing drama by one of America’s most accomplished female playwrights.

TOYS IN THE ATTIC (March 8 – 25)

Thursdays Mar 8 (preview)  Mar 15 & 22 7:30 pm

Fridays Mar 9, 16 & 23 8:00 pm

Saturdays Mar 10, 17 & 24 8:00 pm

Tickets
ADULT: Thurs $18; Fri, Sat & Sun $21
STUDENT/SR (65+): Thurs $16; Fri, Sat & Sun $19
CHILD (12 & under): Thurs $13; Fri, Sat & Sun $15

245 E. High Street, Pottstown, PA  19464

(610) 970-1199

http://www.villageproductions.org/ToysintheAttic.html

Tri-County Performing Arts Center Faculty Recital (Pottstown)

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If you’re a music lover with eclectic tastes, we know where you should be at 7PM on Sunday, March 18!

The Faculty Recital is a high-quality, musical potluck, hosted by the teachers who offer private lessons year-round at the Tri-County Performing Arts Center.  Admission is FREE (but donations welcome).  Opera, Pop, Classical, Jazz, instrumental and song all are on tap.  Laugh, sigh, clap and wonder at the virtuosity.   It’s all in the intimate Newberry Loft setting at the Tri-County Performing Arts Center at 245 E. High Street, Pottstown.  Arrive early.  Limited unreserved seating. 245 E. High Street, Pottstown, PA  19464 (610)-970-1199 or http://www.villageproductions.org/index.htm

Reading, PA To Nearly Double Number Of Street Cameras

Two Roy’s Rants thumbs up!  Reading is being proactive on crime and blight!  Make sure you read the rest of the article, especially Pottstown Borough Council and leadership!

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City Council on Monday agreed to expand Reading’s security camera system, awarding a $650,000 contract to New York-based Let’s Think Wireless to add 20 or more cameras to the 27 the city already has.

Cameras in the first phase are mostly downtown, but the new cameras will be installed in other areas of the city, Police Chief William M. Heim said.

The new cameras also will connect wirelessly to City Hall monitoring stations, rather than via the fiber-optic links used by the current cameras.

“What we have so far has worked very well,” Heim said.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=370765

Wilson Board Says Close 2 Schools

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After months of listening to parents praise the Lincoln Park and West Wyomissing elementary schools, the Wilson School Board voted 8-1 Monday to close both in June.

The schools are the district’s smallest, but parents who oppose closing them like the neighborhood schools, which they say perform well even if they don’t have the same amenities as the district’s larger schools.

Board members said they had to look at the big picture. Officials said the move will save $500,000 annually and spare the district the expense of millions of dollars in repairs.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=370764