Wilkes-Barre Mayor Announces Changes In City Hall Aimed At Doing More With Less

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  A foreign concept in Pottstown!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WILKES-BARRE — Mayor Tom Leighton unveiled Tuesday “several significant personnel and administrative changes” that he feels will improve government efficiency and service to city taxpayers.

Leighton said he and his administrative staff have been working on the plan since September and he mentioned the consolidation and restructuring in his budget address in October.

“Basically, we have less people and we are asking them to do more,” he said, noting there are a third fewer employees at City Hall than when he took office in 2004.  Overall, then there were 300 employees in the city and now there are 265, he said.

“We’re assigning more responsibilities to less people,” he said.

Read more:  http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news/457404/Mayor-announces-changes-in-City-Hall-aimed-at-doing-more-with-less

Gas Industry Gives Pennsylvania Stores Taste For The South

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lycoming County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

PENNSDALE, Pa. — The land of scrapple and chipped ham is starting to get a taste for jambalaya and boudin.

Thanks to an influx of Southerners filling jobs in north-central Pennsylvania’s booming natural gas industry, a region not often placed on many culinary maps is finding itself flush with the foodways found below the Mason-Dixon line, arguably the source of some of the nation’s richest culinary traditions.

Suddenly, convenience stores stock sweet tea, barbecue is a hot seller, and the almost Norman Rockwell-quaint Country Store in Pennsdale even makes its own boudin, a pork sausage popular in Louisiana.

Store owner and Pennsylvania native Tom Springman had never heard of boudin until a few months ago, when a customer — a relocated Southerner — came in looking for a local source.

Read more: http://www.timesherald.com/article/20130424/NEWS03/130429757/gas-industry-gives-pa-stores-taste-for-the-south#full_story

ACLU Sues Norristown Over Landlord Ordinance

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

NORRISTOWN — A federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a Norristown ordinance that penalizes landlords for the alleged behavior of their tenants was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The Norristown ordinance penalized landlords and encouraged them to evict their tenants when the police are called to a property three times in four months for “disorderly behavior,” including responding to incidents of domestic violence.

The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of Pennsylvania, and the law firm of Pepper Hamilton LLP against the municipality, former Municipal Administrator David Forrest, Interim Municipal Administrator Robert Glisson, former Police Chief Russell Bono, Interim Police Chief Willie Richet and Code Enforcement Manager Joseph Januzelli.

“We are planning to file a motion for preliminary injunction to prevent Norristown from enforcing the December 2012 ordinance while the case is pending,” said Sara Rose, a staff attorney for the ACLU of Pennsylvania.  “We hope we will have a hearing soon.  We hope this will be resolved quickly.”

Read more:  http://www.timesherald.com/article/20130424/NEWS01/130429765/aclu-sues-norristown-over-landlord-ordinance#full_story

Berks County Gets Failing Air-Quality Grade

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Berks County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Berks County has again flunked an air-quality test because of smog levels, but progress is being made, according to the American Lung Association.

In a “State of the Air 2013” report released Tuesday, the association gave Berks an F for smog, even after nearly halving the 23 days with unhealthy smog levels that earned it an F in last year’s report.

The 2013 report is a compilation of air monitoring data collected between 2009 and 2011, exempting 2012 because work on the report began before the year’s end.  It shows that during that period, Berks had a dozen days with smog levels that were unhealthy for sensitive populations, including those with asthma or cardiovascular disease.

“So that’s practically cutting that in half, which is excellent,” said Kevin M. Stewart, director of environmental health for the American Lung Association of the Mid-Atlantic.  “At the same time, it’s kind of like, ‘Mom, I got a better F.’  It’s not the kind of news you want to bring home, but it is progress.”

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=471818