Free Speech Is One Thing, Vagrants, Another

BERKELEY, CA — Hardly a stranger to political movements, this is a city that has championed free speech, no nukes, the antiwar movement and now: no sitting on the sidewalk.

During years of economic downturn, cities across the country have reported rising vagrancy and rushed to pass laws banning aggressive panhandling, giving food away in public parks and even smelling foul.

This bastion of populist politics is no exception.  The City Council and mayor have put a measure on the November ballot that would ban sitting and lying on commercial sidewalks from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., at the risk of a $75 citation.

“These laws are an example of a startling national trend to criminalize homelessness,” said Maria Foscarinis, executive director of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, an advocacy group.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/20/us/berkeley-targeting-homeless-proposes-ban-on-sidewalk-sitting.html?pagewanted=1&ref=us&_r=0

In San Francisco, High-Rises By The Bay

The San Francisco Peninsula (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

ROUGHLY two decades ago, during an earlier Internet start-up boom, many entrepreneurs and fast-typing coders and engineers set up shop in a still-gritty area of this city:  South of Market Street.

The young tech crowd rented — and sometimes bought — in commercial buildings in this former warehouse area, converting them into “work-live” spaces where they operated their nascent companies and slept (once in awhile).

The boom-and-bust cycles in the tech sector move quickly, and the pace of constant reinvention and innovation is relentless.

The same is true of tastes in real estate.  Today a new generation of tech dreamers is back in the South of Market area.  But this time they are breathing life into a start-up wave not previously seen in San Francisco:  high-rise condo living.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/21/realestate/in-san-francisco-glass-and-steel-condos-rising-by-the-bay.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&hpw

How Small Is Too Small?

Editor’s note:  Very interesting!

Most people see a parking space and promptly back up into it; Tim McCormick sees one and thinks, “I could live here.”

Who would willingly choose to live in something with the footprint of a parking space (8x10x16 feet)?  Millions already do, argues McCormick, a communications consultant: bedrooms, dorm rooms, motel rooms, hostels, mobile homes and the like.  “I myself live comfortably in a converted one-car garage of 200 square feet,” he says, “which allows me to live inexpensively near downtown in super-expensive Palo Alto.”

In cities where space is at a mind-boggling premium, McCormick’s idea of taking up residence in a parking space — in what he refers to as a “Houselet” — isn’t all that far-fetched.  It may in fact be more appealing than the so-called “hacker hostels” that got a lot of buzz earlier this summer. Essentially apartments that house herds of would-be startup entrepreneurs willing to pay market rate to live in near-migrant-worker conditions, hacker hostels are proliferating in cities like San Francisco and New York where work culture calls for 24/7 commitments and lots of food-truck takeout (which no doubt inspired upLIFT’s prefab parking pods for the city).

These apartments are less living spaces than crash pads with a social networking component.

Read more: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/19/how-small-is-too-small/

Pottstown High School Grad Competing To Be Miss Pennsylvania

If Pottstown High School and Ursinus College alum Samantha Marcheskie has her way, we may soon be addressing her as “Miss Pennsylvania.”

If things go very well, she might even carry the title of “Miss USA” or “Miss Universe.”

“That is my goal,” said the 2007 PHS graduate during a recent interview.

This is only Marcheskie’s third pageant, having given it a try when she was 13 and again in 2004 when she competed for Miss Teen USA.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20121019/NEWS01/121019264/phs-grad-competing-to-be-miss-pennsylvania-&pager=full_story

Pottstown School District And Teachers Agree On 3-Year Pact

Location of Pottstown in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

POTTSTOWN, PA — With a unanimous vote Thursday night, the Pottstown School Board signed off on a three-year contract with the teachers union.

The Federation of Pottstown Teachers had approved the pact earlier in the week, said School Board Solicitor Stephen Kalis.

Under the terms of the agreement, retroactive to Sept. 1, teachers will received a 1 percent raise and a “full-step increase,” on March 15, 2013.

Tuition reimbursement has been changed to provide a maximum of $3,000 for those who receive an “A;” $2,500 for those who obtain a “B” average and nothing for those who score less than a “B.”

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20121019/NEWS01/121019287/pottstown-schools-and-teachers-agree-on-3-year-pact&pager=full_story

Alvernia Student Hoping Artwork Inspiring For Reading

English: Alvernia University Category:Alvernia University Category:University logos (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  I love these kinds of stories!  Imagine what could be accomplished if more people tapped into positive energy!

Reading’s elegance can be manifested through a higher state of awareness and consciousness, one Alvernia University student believes.

She tapped into this positive energy by giving away inspirational art throughout the city on Friday.

Susan Rehhausser, 53, of Reading dedicated much of 2012 to creating a community project, which she believes can foster encouragement and hope in a city that faces many challenges.

“I thought it would be great to have neighbors communicate to neighbors, to believe they can make a better city,” Rehhausser said.  “We can make a difference by believing in each other.”

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=422196