Five Years After Opening, Crime From Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem Isn’t The Factor Some Feared

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

Bethlehem police Chief Mark DiLuzio remembers the critics.

Debates raged about whether Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem would be a benefit or detriment to the city and its surrounding communities. DiLuzio, then a police lieutenant, gave in to his detective spirit and researched the subject.

Much of what he found indicated casinos were not a hotbed of criminal activity.

Five years later, DiLuzio is now chief of police — and he’s happy to report that he was right.

Read more:  http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/breaking-news/index.ssf/2014/05/crime_not_a_major_factor_five.html

Sidewalks Necessary To Grow Transit, Improve Walkability In Lehigh Valley, Study Says

wm-license-information-description-missing wm-license-information-description-missing-request LANTA logo.png (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Installing sidewalks and crosswalks along Hamilton Boulevard near Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in South Whitehall Township would encourage more people to use transit in the area.

It would also make the area, which was the site of a fatal pedestrian crash in 2012, safer and more attractive to walkers, according to a Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority study.

The area is one of five highlighted in the study, which outlines how land development in the Lehigh Valley can help promote transit use in the region.

The authority wants to grow ridership, and most municipal officials are committed to improving walkability in their communities, so LANTA has been spreading the message about how best to accomplish both goals, planning director Owen O’Neil said.

Read more:  http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/breaking-news/index.ssf/2014/01/lanta_study_sidewalks_necessar.html

Impatient Bethlehem Man Strikes Flagman – Attempts To Flees Scene

So we make a bad decision and then compound it!  Some people seriously need a slap.

An impatient Bethlehem man asked a flagman to move some orange cones in a construction zone so he could leave.  The flagman asked the driver to be patient.  The driver, evidently in a huge hurry, decides he has “had enough” and proceeds to try to drive through the construction site, striking the 62 year-old flagman.  Mr. Grumpy Pants then tries to flee the scene only to have two witnesses jump in front of his van to stop him.  I would have thought twice about that since he just hit someone but more power to the Good Samaritans.

The 66 year-old driver should have his license revoked IMHO for such an asinine and possibly deadly stunt.  Nobody needs to be in that big of a hurry that they hit someone “just doing their job”, then try to drive away.

Two big old Roy’s Rants thumbs down for the impatient driver who is old enough to know better!  Shame on you sir!

The flagman was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital in Fountain HIll and the upstanding driver was charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving an injury and had no comment when contacted by the local media.