2 weeks Ago
Celebrate Allentown’s revitalizationAllentown has done a beautiful job in revitalizing the downtown. It’s taken most of the deteriorating buildings and dark and dirty areas away to make way for a mixture of newness and brightness.All the people over the years that laid the groundwork for this to happen and the ones that made it happen need to have a special day in their honor.
A day of a parade and festival at Seventh and Hamilton.In addition to this, there is an old, old restaurant (Banana Joe’s) at the bottom of Hamilton Street that takes up several acres. It’s been closed for almost 20 years.
To take it down and build a huge parking lot would be a great asset to the city.You could have jitneys such as the service in Atlantic City, or trolleys that some cities have and charge a small fee for different stops from that restaurant location to the Allentown Fairgrounds.This would benefit the many restaurants and shops along Hamilton Street as well as the fairgrounds.
Businesses may even chip in on this as it’s a win, win situation for everyone.Rudy SavelliAllentown Mackenzie should oppose Department of Education cutsAs a retired public school educator (37 years) and father of two children who are now teachers, I am asking Rep. Ryan Mackenzie to fight against dismantling the Department of Education.
My daughter was informed by her supervisors they may need to terminate reading specialist positions because of federal funding cuts. My son teaches in inner city Philadelphia and fears for his students’ ability to receive an equal and competitive education. He is constantly advocating the need for child nutrition programs to remain and early preschool education for kids coming from these incredibly poor and socially disadvantaged communities.
Isn’t that what a representative democracy should work toward and consider essential for future generations to come?I would consider writing about Mackenzie’s achievements so far as a freshman congressman from Pennsylvania’s 7th District, but his support for these cuts and other DOGE destructive actions would make me a hypocrite.Mackenzie should listen to his constituents and fast; before what those 55 delegates worked so hard for in 1787 falls apart.John SchmoyerNorth Whitehall TownshipGovernment layoffs not thought throughHere is a great idea! Let’s use billions of taxpayer dollars to pay people to not do their jobs.
This is DOGE eliminating waste, fraud and abuse. Some of the federal government workers who have been laid off were rehired and then put on paid leave, some will get a severance and some will go on unemployment. And as a bonus we eliminate nonsense like cancer research, consumer protection and Social Security Administration staff and offices.
George GrimSouth Whitehall TownshipVoter ID laws will suppress votingVoter fraud has been studied to death and its incredibly low percentage does not change election results. We all should be concerned that the net effect preventing one fraudulent vote is the suppression of many thousands of legitimate votes. The most fundamental right in our American democracy is the right to vote.
In a recent executive order, President Trump declared that voters must prove American citizenship. This is in addition to many other proposed voter identification laws, including threats to withhold funds to states if certain procedures are not followed.In a truly robust democracy, the government should facilitate voting instead of making it difficult.
Consider the system for acquiring Real ID in Pennsylvania. Officials may be inclined to reject your valid birth certificate from another state because it doesn’t have the characteristics of a Pennsylvania certificate. Handwritten documents such as marriage certificates from decades ago might not be quite right.
And an inconsistent space, hyphen or apostrophe in your last name spells trouble. Hardworking Americans may lose the right to vote because they cannot devote the time and do not have the skills to solve such serious and manufactured problems.Gary G.
DeLeoHanover Township, Northampton CountyJuvenile justice system needs close scrutinyNicely done, Spotlight PA. The Sarah Boden piece, examining the child advocate under fire (The Morning Call April 9), is well done. Boden’s journalistic integrity remains intact.
That’s not easy to do when one reports on the juvenile justice system, the mental health industry and both state and county bureaucracies. It’s a very tangled web that was not designed to deceive. It’s just a monolith grown and created over time and in response to ever-changing needs and degrees of warranted examination.
This could include the Jerry Sandusky tragedy or foster care atrocities in Philadelphia. Being familiar with the “system” for over 40 years, I’ve seen the field change, and many times not in good ways. Most often the errors have been reactive responses rather than insightfully proactive.
There are many moving parts and variables. There has also always been a range of competency from burnt out and inept workers, allegedly advocates for kids, up to and including passionately devoted “angels.” Please continue to examine this system, which is very much in need of both funding, collaboration and scrutiny.
Eric SellLower Macungie TownshipReelect Monica Hodges as South Whitehall commissionerMonica Hodges is an outstanding South Whitehall Township commissioner. Allow me to urge my fellow residents to reelect Hodges by voting for her in the primary May 20. I and my late wife Eva were honored to work for her election in November 2021 and went door to door successfully at that time.
Time has proved our confidence in her as is so beautifully detailed in her letter to residents recently. She is an exemplary commissioner, demonstrating competence, commitment, integrity and hard work, as all those who know her will testify. Please let her continue to serve us for years to come.
Lawrence P. LevittSouth Whitehall TownshipELECTION LETTERS Letters to the editor about candidates and issues in the May 20 primary election must be received by 10 a.m.
May 12. Election-related letters will not be published after May 15.The Morning Call publishes letters from readers online and in print several times a week.
Submit a letter to the editor at [email protected]. The views expressed in this piece are those of its individual author(s), and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of this publication.
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