Lehigh Valley Arts Council Hosts New York City Bus Trip To The Fashion Institute of Technology To Tour “Elegance In An Age Of Crisis: Fashions Of The 1930s” Exhibition With Co-Curator G. Bruce Boyer

Allentown, PA – The Lehigh Valley Arts Council has arranged for a bus trip to the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City on March 1, 2014 to attend the exhibition, “Elegance in an Age of Crisis: Fashions of the 1930’s.” Lehigh Valley native and co-curator G. Bruce Boyer will accompany the group and give a tour.

The bus will depart from the Butz Corporate Center (840 Hamilton Street, Allentown Pa 18101) at 8:15 a.m. and leave New York City at 3:15 p.m. Attendees will have plenty of time for lunch and shopping in the fabric district after the museum tour. Please note: Parking available at the garage behind the Holiday Inn; there is no public parking in the Butz lot. Seating is limited, purchase your tickets today!

Mr. Boyer has lived most of his life in Bethlehem, having graduated from Moravian College and attended Lehigh University’s graduate program. For more than thirty-five years, Boyer has been a dynamo in the fashion media; internationally recognized for his featured articles in The New Yorker, Town and Country, L’Uomo Vogue among many others. He has written several books on fashion history and has also appeared on national TV, National Public Radio, and as a commentator on the TV documentary series, The Hollywood Fashion Machine.

His current exhibition, “Elegance in an Age of Crisis”, February 8 to April 19, 2014, was organized by Patricia Mears, deputy director at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and co-curated by Boyer. The best of both men’s and women’s fashion from the 1930’s are represented among the eighty outfits and thirty accessories from the finest dressmakers and men’s clothiers. Attendance is limited and reservations are required. Click here to purchase tickets!

For more information:
Call: 610-437-5915.
Email: James Ravelle / operations@LVArtsCouncil.org
Web: http://www.lvartscouncil.org/Arts%20Alive/

Location: Butz Corporate Center (Lot in Rear of Building)
Date / Time: Saturday March 1, 2014 / 8:15 am – 5:45 p.m.
Fee: $50 for Arts Council Members, $65 for Non-Members
Attendance: Reservations are required. Tickets can be purchased online
Tickets: http://www.etix.com/ticket/online/performanceSearch.jsp?performance_id=1795582&cobrand=lvartsboxoffice

January Could End Up As One Of The Coldest Months In Recent Memory

The mercury hasn’t hit bottom yet.

January ranks as one of the most bitingly cold months Western Pennsylvanians can remember, though certainly not a record. A cold snap early in the month made the temperature plummet to 9 below zero near Pittsburgh International Airport with a wind chill that felt like 30 below.

State College-based AccuWeather predicts a low of 10 below zero on Tuesday as part of the latest bone-chilling cold spell, one that will extend through at least Jan. 31.

“We’ve been selling a lot of winter tires. People who have decided to try and wait to see how the winter goes, I think finally pulled the trigger,” said Nick Lenhart, manager of Lenhart’s Service Center in North Huntingdon. “They realized it’s not just going to be a one and done.”

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/5469509-74/cold-january-weather#ixzz2rKwZi8jZ
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Westmoreland County Will Ask For $1 Million From State To Raze Monsour Medical Center

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

Westmoreland County will ask the state for $1 million to pay for demolition of the former Monsour Medical Center in Jeannette, which officials say has deteriorated to the point it poses a hazard for pedestrians and motorists.

Jason Rigone, executive director of the Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corp., will ask the county commissioners on Thursday to approve a business plan that will be submitted to the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program in Harrisburg by the Feb. 7 deadline.

The program is highly competitive. Last year, Gov. Tom Corbett approved 58 projects totaling $133 million across the state.

“It will be competitive going in for Monsour, but I think the state sees Monsour as a priority,” Rigone said.

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/westmoreland/5465027-74/county-million-monsour#ixzz2rKuPVrIl
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Another Major Ice Jam Expected On Allegheny River

English: Lock and Dam Number 2 on the Allegheny River at Aspinwall, Pennsylvania, USA (part of the Pittsburgh metropolitian area). The lock and dam were built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a part of an extensive system of locks and dams to improve navigation along the Allegheny River. The Highland Park bridge crosses the river just above the dam. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Allegheny River is poised to see its largest river ice jam in almost 20 years, according to the National Weather Service.

“The last time we had a major ice event was January 1996,” said Lee Hendricks, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Moon. “There was a lot of ice, primarily on the Allegheny River, and a decent snowpack.” A snowpack forms when snow from the surrounding countryside melts and runs into creeks, rivers and lakes.

“Rain covered the top (of the ice) and we had decently high temperatures,” he said. “It caused the ice to break loose and caused a lot of problems, including flooding in a lot of locations and river navigation headaches.”

Hendricks said the region’s extremely cold temperatures won’t break for at least another 10 days, so conditions will be ideal for the same situation to occur.

Read more: http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yourallekiskivalley/yourallekiskivalleymore/5469537-74/ice-river-allegheny#ixzz2rKs8N291
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Arresting Regionalization Figures Aired

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

DUPONT, PA – There was good news and bad news, depending on where you live.

A regional police study was presented Thursday night to municipal officials from Avoca, Dupont, Duryea, Hughestown, Laflin and Jenkins Township.

If you live in Laflin, the borough could save nearly $200,000 a year by joining a regional police department. If you cross the border into Jenkins Township, the cost is well over $100,000 more each year, according to the study.

Ron Stern of the Governor’s Center for Local Government Services and Joseph L. Kirschner, on speakerphone from Naples, Fla., detailed a 42-page report outlining current staffing and costs, and a plan for a unified force.

Read more: http://timesleader.com/news/local-news/1147789/Arresting-regionalization-figures-aired

Drugs, Guns Found Across Greater Nanticoke Area Schools

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

NANTICOKE, PA — City police and the Luzerne County Drug Task Force arrested four people and seized a large amount of heroin, crack cocaine and handguns from a house in a school zone.

The house 424 Kosciuszko St. is directly across from the Greater Nanticoke Area high school, middle school and elementary school, and the recess yard for elementary school students, according to charges filed.

Authorities said they found five handguns in which three were loaded, ammunition, 450 heroin packets in a shoe box, crystal methamphetamine, a digital scale, nearly 50 heroin packets scattered in different bedrooms, two marijuana grinders and smoking pipes, marijuana, and nearly $6,000 throughout the house late Thursday afternoon.

Read more: http://timesleader.com/news/local-news/1148299/Drugs-guns-found-across-Greater-Nanticoke-Area-schools

McDonald’s Fighting To Be ‘Relevant’ To Customers

English: McDonalds’ sign in Harlem. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

NEW YORK (AP) – McDonald’s is losing customers, as the world’s biggest hamburger chain struggles to attract diners with its higher-priced sandwiches and new offerings like Mighty Wings.

“We’ve lost some of our customer relevance,” CEO Don Thompson conceded Thursday on a call with analysts.

The Oak Brook, Ill.-based company reported disappointing sales for its fourth quarter, as fewer customers visited its established restaurants. Guest counts at those locations fell nearly 2 percent globally and 1.6 percent in the U.S. in 2013, according to a regulatory filing. And McDonald’s expects some challenges to persist this year.

To win back traffic, Thompson said the chain will focus on speedier service, better value offerings and raising “awareness around McDonald’s as a kitchen and a restaurant” that prepares high-quality food. It’s expanding prep tables and plans to beef up staff during peak hours for better execution. It is also bringing in a new U.S. marketing chief, Deborah Wahl, formerly with homebuilder PulteGroup and automakers Chrysler and Ford.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20140123_ap_bf88b84942524b098876eaadaaceb5c9.html#O7wv3H47Mq1BqTbV.99