Pottstown’s Funky Lil’ Kitchen Is Still Open

This was on Facebook and they asked that it be shared. We too were under the impression the restaurant was closing so they could do a food truck.  This is NOT so. Please see their post below:

Hey Friends…

Funky Lil’ Kitchen is still OPEN!!! 🙂

Yes, we are opening HEART Food Truck, but Funky Lil’ Kitchen IS NOT CLOSED.  Since the announcement of our plans to open HEART came out, Funky Lil’ Kitchen has experienced a severe decline in business. 😦

WE ARE HERE, and planning some of the season’s best menus!  We need YOU, our customers and friends, to come dine with us & pass the word along that Funky Lil’ Kitchen is still open…so we can stay open…

Please SHARE, SHARE, SHARE!

Thank you! ♥

Scranton-Wilkes-Barre Region Cleans Up After Deluge

Locator map of the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre Metropolitan Statistical Area in the northeastern part of the of . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Heavy rain closed roads, jammed storm drains and pushed the Lackawanna River above flood stage Friday morning to the highest level it has reached since recording began at Scranton’s Parker Street Bridge in 2009.

AccuWeather meteorologist Tom Kines said parts of Northeast Pennsylvania saw 2 inches of rain on average over a period of six to eight hours. Rainfall was heaviest between 7 and 11 p.m. Thursday, Mr. Kines said.

National Weather Service meteorologist Ted Champsey said water near the Parker Street Bridge crested at 9.46 feet at 5 a.m. Friday. By 4 p.m., the river had fallen to 5 feet – below the flood stage of 6 feet, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Read more:  http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/region-cleans-up-after-deluge-1.1513073

Macungie Mayor Resigns, Moves Out Of Town

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

Controversial Macungie Mayor Rick Hoffman has officially resigned from his seat and has left the borough, weeks after announcing that he was moving out of town.

Hoffman, 59, who was scheduled to close this week on the sale of his house at 61 S. Sycamore St., submitted his resignation Friday.  Police Chief Edward Harry Jr. said Hoffman, who was at odds with the police force for much of his three-plus year sin office, has left the borough.

Borough Council is expected to accept the resignation at its Monday night meeting.

“Obviously, we are going to miss his oversight and his tutelage between now and the time a new mayor is appointed,” Harry said with a chuckle.  “We’ll try to do the best we can without having his guidance.”

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/eastpenn/mc-macungie-mayor-hoffman-resignation-20130628,0,6183250.story#ixzz2XcjNewZp 
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Homicides On Track For 45-Year Low In Philadelphia

Homicides in Philadelphia in 2013 are on pace for the lowest midyear total in nearly half a century, police figures show, putting the city in reach of a modern-day low at year’s end.

As of Friday, with three days left in the six-month period, police had recorded 115 homicides, a 38 percent drop from the same period last year.

The half-year figures are a promising sign for a city that in recent years has held the dubious distinction of being the nation’s most violent big city.

Mayor Nutter, top police officials, and prosecutors, along with criminal-justice experts, say the decrease in homicides reflects a new emphasis on data-driven policing, a crackdown on gun criminals, and sweeping reforms in the criminal courts.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20130630_Homicides_on_track_for_45-year_low_in_Philadelphia.html#WveCycR2JxYQ9MoR.99

Fishtown Baseball Factory To Become 30 Homes

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

The Zoning Board of Adjustment voted Wednesday to grant a handful of variances to Domani Developers, which is planning to convert a former baseball factory at 1701 Tulip Street in Fishtown into a 30-unit apartment complex. (Yes, that’s an empty factory that used to make baseballs: the A.J. Reach sporting goods company.)

The building has been vacant since 2004, according to developer Roland Kassis, and he was unable to find a viable industrial use for the property, which is zoned I-2.  Kassis said that the city in general and Fishtown in particular have seen a growing demand for small, one- and two-bedroom apartments, which is what he intends to put in the building.  According to the zoning application, the developer intends to build a fifth-story addition, roof deck space, and a canopy over the first floor.

The project, designed by architects at Cecil Baker Partners, won the support of the local RCO, Fishtown Neighbors Association, by a vote of 107 to 77.  A quick calculation shows that that is not a unanimous vote, and the reason seems to be parking: the planned apartment complex contains none.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/Former_Fishtown_baseball_factory_into_30_residences.html#kImEFmot6HpZBt4m.99

Sears, Penney Sever Ties With Paula Deen

Sears Essentials (Kmart) logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

NEW YORK — Paula Deen’s media and merchandising empire is collapsing.

Sears, J.C. Penney and Walgreen said Friday that they’re cutting ties with Paula Deen, adding to the growing list of companies severing their relationship following revelations that the Southern celebrity chef used racial slurs in the past.

Meanwhile, Paula Deen’s publisher has canceled a deal with her for multiple books, including an upcoming cookbook that was the No. 1 seller on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com.

Ballantine Books announced Friday it would not release “Paula Deen’s New Testament: 250 Favorite Recipes, All Lightened Up,” which was scheduled for October and was the first of a five-book deal announced early last year. Interest in it had surged as Deen, who grew up in Albany, Ga., and specializes in Southern comfort food, came under increasing attack for acknowledging she had used the N-word.

Read more:  http://www.timesherald.com/article/20130628/NEWS04/130629609/sears-penney-sever-ties-with-paula-deen#full_story

Reading School Board Uses Deep Staff Cuts To Balance Budget

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States Public School Districts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Reading School District‘s long and winding road to closing a more than $13 million gap in its 2013-14 budget has finally come to an end.
In a process fraught with frustrations, surprises and boiling tempers, the final act provided more of the same.

Apologizing to the staff, students and public for an experience they called “deficient,” “baffling” and “sad,” the Reading School Board approved the $213.6 million spending plan Friday night at the end of a 4 1/2-hour meeting.  But not without some fireworks first.

Coming into the night, the district was already faced with a more than $300,000 deficit after deciding Wednesday night not to cut kindergarten to half-day and not to raise the property tax from its current rate of 16.92 mills.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=489178