The event will feature a panel discussion and Q&A time with the chairman of the County Commissioners, Dean Browning, as well as Commissioners Glenn Eckhart and Percy Dougherty (attendance not yet confirmed). In preparation for this event, Dean Browning has written the following brief summary of how the County budget process works.
Justin Simmons, the Republican State House candidate in the 131st district, joined radio legend Bobby Gunther Walsh this morning (8/20/2010) on WAEB to talk about his plan to make Pennsylvania the jobs capital of the USA. You can listen to the interview using the audio player below, or download the mp3 file to play on your iPod. Visit Justin's website at Justin4StateRep.com
Every public school parent knows when the PSSAs are coming. Children recount schedule changes and even dietary recommendations received from their teachers in preparation for the grueling rounds of testing. The anxiety level is high, not necessarily for the students, but for the teachers and administrators...because they're the ones who will be graded.
Early results from the 2009-10 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA), mentioned in the Morning Call, apparently show that urban middle schools and high schools in the Lehigh Valley still fail to make the grade. Allentown and Bethlehem secondary schools again fell short of state benchmarks in reading and math.
Lehigh County Executive Don Cunningham will reportedly release plans to cut spending, including possible job reductions, today. As Scott Kraus at the Morning Call's Valley 610 blog notes, Republicans have warned about increasing spending while depleting reserves:
Cunningham has avoided raising taxes for five years, offering up a 2010 budget last fall that tapped $19 million in surplus funding to balance the books. That budget was a major issue in last year's executive campaign, with Republican candidate Scott Ott ripping the Democrat incumbent for repeatedly tapping the surplus. When it passed, Republican commissioner Andy Roman said a tax increase would be unavoidable in 2011. "The budget … is not going to fix the impending train wreck next year," Roman said.
We'll update this post them the Cunningham plan is revealed.
On a recent episode of his online TV show, Lehigh County Republican Committee executive director Scott Ott led a discussion with co-hosts Bill Whittle and Steve Green on whether Republican complacency or enchantment with "new" communication tools threaten to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in November. You can watch this episode of Trifecta on PJTV free if you do it now (before it's placed behind the members-only wall). Or just use the YouTube player below.
With the most consequential election in a generation less than three months away, now's the time to take some advice from Vince Lombardi. You can comment at PJTV (if you register) or right here.
Justin Simmons, the Republican State House candidate in the 131st district, joined radio legend Bobby Gunther Walsh this morning (8/20/2010) on WAEB to talk about his plan to make Pennsylvania the jobs capital of the USA. You can listen to the interview using the audio player below, or