Organized by the West End Alliance, the mayor's walk will take him and his administrative team through the Theatre District as he listens to residents' ideas and concerns.

The walk begins at 6 p.m. in front of the Theatre 514 at 514 N. 19th St.

West End Alliance's Damien Brown writes, "This is a great opportunity to chat with the man in charge and share your ideas for the area or to point out a code violation or pothole that may have gone unnoticed by city staff working from their vehicles."

That’s because parents and staff banded together to raise $19,731.19 by shopping at Giant Food Stores. Gov. Wolf Principal Jodi Sponchiado registered her school with Giant’s A+ School Rewards program for the 2011-12 school year, which comes to a close soon. Parents and staff directed their rewards coupons for purchasing certain brand-name items toward the school. The concerted effort worked because Gov. Wolf  earned the second highest total of any school in the country, according to the Bethlehem Area School District.

Giant officials presented Sponchiado with a big check to commemorate the feat as seen in the school's photo, which includes also includes students (L to R) Lauren Jancsarics, Todd Frey, Hali Rockstroh, Allison Pittenger and Christian Jancsarics.

Sponchiado said the proceeds will go toward new playground equipment for the school at 1920 Butztown Road.

District Superintendent Sandra Fellin told the board, “I got a nice surprise on my desk this afternoon.”
It was the plaque she presented to Frey later that same night.

Following the meeting, Frey said he knew it was coming but it was a surprise to receive it before the board.

“It’s good to receive recognition from fellow athletic directors from throughout the league,” Frey said.

Asked where he’ll hang the plaque, he said, “In my office.”

Teachers Kevin O’Connell and Dennis Smith have both decided to retire following the end of this school year and they’re going out with what amounts to a drum roll and flourish with their last pops concert of their careers Thursday, May 31 at 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium.

A reception will be held in the high school cafeteria immediately following the concert.

But two state legislators have pointed out that some of those same municipalities initiating the litigation are benefiting from another urban revitalization project:

The Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem.

Bethlehem and Northampton County get more than $16 million in casino host fees. But under a unique revenue-sharing model  -- devised by state Sen. Pat Browne, R-Lehigh – the taxing bodies agreed to share the money with suburban communities that could be affected by the casino.

The goal of the revenue-sharing deal was to avert the in-fighting that ensued over where a minor league stadium should go (The Ironpigs eventually opened in Allentown).

In a March interview with The Morning Call, Browne said the Neighborhood Improvement Zone in Allentown could have the same sorts of regional benefits as the casino.  

State Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-Northampton, agreed. She said regionalism has to work both ways, not just in ways the benefit the suburbs.

On Monday, Morning Call Samantha Marcus learned that the two townships leading the charge to overturn NIZ were among the winners of this year’s casino cash giveaway.

 --  Bethlehem Township received $129,500 for two new squad cars, Tasers and mobile video units.

--  Hanover Township was awarded $146,100 for an ambulance

 To be sure, the municipalities are not guaranteed a certain amount grant money from the casino – it’s competitive grant process. 

And, in the NIZ arrangement, muncipalities would have to give up EIT money -- they're not sure how much yet -- for 30 years.

Another important distinction, critics argue, is that the NIZ arrangement wasn’t hammered out in a regional discussion to support a regional asset.

 What do you think?

Enrollment is still open and applications will be accepted throughout the summer. For information, call 610-403-8888 or email artsacad@ymail.com.
  
                                                                            

The annual ceremony included presentations of awards to dozens of officers and a candlelight vigil to honor past fallen Bethlehem police officers, both retired and current members.

Photos of the ceremony and a list of all Bethlehem police officers recognized can be found on the department's blog here.

Don't do it.

Members of the board made their point to Allentown City Council last week during council's regular meeting. City Council approved the project on March 7 after councilwoman Cynthia Mota switched her vote to favor the project, whose ownership group is spearheaded by Democratic Party power broker Marcel Groen.

The concerns, which revolved around the release of toxic chemicals into the environment and the risk that the city could lose money if it fails to produce enough waste to fuel the plant echoed those voiced by a number of opponents when the project was approved.

The group formally provided its official "Environmental Advisory Statement" on the project to City Council on May 13. Reading from the statement last Wednesday, chairwoman Julie Thomases panned the project in no uncertain terms.

"It is the opinion of the EAC that this contract puts Allentown at unnecessary risk for financial losses and environmental damage to the city's air, water, and quality of life while discouraging the adoption of less expensive and environmentally healthier options for its waste," Thomases said.

Thomases and others urged city council not to accept start-up funding of $3 million from state and federal sources for the project. Council voted 5-2 to accept the money anyway, with supporters saying the city already has a signed contract to pursue the project.

One speaker suggested the city might eventually find itself in an "arena like situation" regarding the trash to steam plant, in an apparent reference to litigation that has stalled the city's plans for a multi-purpose downtown arena.

Russo, a Hellertown resident, worked for the Hunterdon Development Corp. for almost 20 years, according to borough manager Cathy Kichline.

Russo’s salary was approved by borough council at $44,500. He will begin serving on June 1.

In the interim between Chernaskey’s exit and Russo’s entrance, Kichline and police Chief Robert Shupp are handling zoning issues.

Borough residents who have zoning questions can call Russo at 610-838-7041.

The Saucon Valley Conservancy will host a barn photo workshop from 9 a.m. to noon June 9 at the Heller Homestead. Participants can prepare for the upcoming 2012 Barn Tour of Saucon Valley Barns on Sept. 15 by learning techniques for shooting barn photos on a digital SLR, point-and-shoot camera or cell phone.

Frank T. Smith, an award-winning local photographer, will cover composition, lighting, and creative aspects of shooting barns. The illustrated workshop also include tips and techniques for every-day picture taking.

Guests who attend both the workshop and the Saucon Valley Conservancy Barn Tour will be eligible to enter their barn tour photos in a contest. Winning entries will be featured at the Heller Homestead Art Gallery in a Barn Photo Exhibit held in September, 2013.

If interested, RVSP by June 6 by sending a $20 check payable to Saucon Valley Conservancy, P O Box 3, Hellertown, PA 18055. All proceeds go to the Saucon Valley Conservancy

For more information about Frank T. Smith’s photography vist http://franktsmith.wordpress.com/.

For more information about the workshop:  call 610-216-0566 or email SVConservancy@aol.com. Visit www.sauconvalleyconservancy.org to print a registration form.

During a brief pause in the most recent Lower Saucon Township Council meeting, Councilman Tom Maxfield told a story about a noise he’s been hearing in the woods behind his home.

“It was the weirdest sound,” Maxfield related. “I was kind of freaked out.”

Maxfield did some research online to see if he could identify the sound and he found it on YouTube under the heading of “The world‘s most annoying sounds.”

“It was a peacock,” he said.

Council President Glenn Kern said the peacock’s call reminds him of a fox, “or a girl screaming.”

To get an earful of the peacock’s call, and to experience other suggested annoyances, such as fingernails on a chalkboard, go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKx58Tftl0Y and hold your ears.

-- freelance writer Tony Nauroth

A LERTA is a special taxing district that kicks in after a property within its boundaries is improved to the extent it raises the assessment by at least 40 percent. Rather than hitting those property owners with a huge new tax bill, a LERTA phases in the new increment over 10 years.

Council President John Cusick on Thursday said he was concerned about the size of the district. Though no board members questioned the need for the LERTA, others chimed in they, too, suggested some of the properties included weren't necessarily appropriate for the designation.

County Executive John Stoffa said Thursday the pricetag has risen to $26.3 million, $1.3 million than the county agreed to pay in March.

The swaption, approved in 2004, is a form of refinancing the county's $111 million, 30-year bond issue from 2001. Merrill Lynch paid the county about $1.9 million upfront, minus $300,000 in fees, to swap the county's fixed-rate bond for a variable-rate bond in October 2012.

While they made that decision in early March, Stoffa said the actual process of terminating the swaption is long and complicated. Meanwhile, the cost continues to grow.

Stoffa said he's optimistic the county will still be able to settle the deal for less than $25 million. He hopes Bank of America, which bought the swaption from Merrill Lynch, will negotiate on the final price.

"You only know that if you sit down and talk with them those people," he said.

If not, Stoffa would have to go back to an already testy board and ask for more money. "I don't want to do that," he said.

Neither does council President John Cusick, who said he's disappointed the county hasn't been able to break the swaption sooner. He favored riding out the economy to see if interest rates increased, which would drive down the cost of termination.

He was on the losing side of the 5-4 vote to spend the full $25 million. He'd preferred to leave half in and buy out half.

"I think we'll just have to wait and see at this point," he said Thursday.

Amid an anemic agenda that had no items under the "Developments" heading, board member Mark Tanczos made a joke: "There are no developments in Hanover Township, only elsewhere." Laughter ensued.

Then colleague John Nagle one-upped him: "Look on the bright side — at least we don't have a hole in the ground." That's a reference to the hockey arena construction site at 7th and Hamilton streets in Allentown, where construction has been stymied by a lawsuit filed by Hanover and other townships over the redevelopment project's financing.

Ouch, that hurts!

The supervisors tittered nervously. Nagle caught himself — "That was a bad quote, wasn’t it? I’m in trouble now." They then went on to talk about how Nagle should have bought some Lebanon baloney or brown turkey from some place in Hershey. Then the Northampton County township called it quits, ending the short meeting.

They're laughing — but Allentown isn't. Officials say a settlement in the lawsuit is still far off.

Here's the audio:

Hundreds of people attend the annual event, one of the Lehigh Valley’s largest outdoor arts and crafts festivals.

As many as 100 artisans will offer a variety of goods including restored and vintage photographs, hand wood-worked items, watercolors, handmade soaps and quilted items.

Local orchards, farms, nurseries and growers will also be on hand. Visitors can buy homemade cheese from Klein Farms, organic goods from Berkholders Certified Organic Produce, gourmet spice rubs from Miller-Clauss, plants from the Nazareth Garden Club, homemade jams from Chestnut Hill Orchard, stuffed grape leaves from Greek Delites and more.

Entertainment will be provided by the Nazareth Community Chorus, the Nazareth Community Band (celebrating its 20^th year anniversary) and guitarist Dave Doll from Martin Guitar.

“We're pleased to expand the festival during its 34^th year to show case all categories of local artisans, musical entertainment, and youth activities," said Megan van Ravenswaay, site director of the Whitefield House. "However, despite our expanded programming, our goal is to provide free admission so everyone in the Lehigh Valley community can experience this event.”

More information: www.moravianhistoricalsociety.org, 610-759-5070, info@moravianhistoricalsociety.org or 214 East Center Street, Nazareth, PA 18064.

After peppering executive director Charlene DonchezMowers with questions, a National Park Service committee recommended that its petition for the 14.7-acre district showcasing the city’s Moravian heritage be approved. The application now goes before the National Parks Service Advisory Board next week and on to the U.S. Department of Interior Secretary for approval.

The district would feature the Colonial Industrial Quarter, God’s Acre cemetery, the Sun Inn, the 1810 Goundie House and buildings of the Moravian Church and Moravian College. The district includes two buildings — the Waterworks pump house and the Gemeinhaus community hall — that are already recognized as historic landmarks on their own.

The district is already part of a National Historic District, a lower designation that also position the historic structures for tax credits and grants, and a local historic district where buildings must be maintained to strict historic standards.

The National Park Service has designated fewer than 2,500 properties  as national landmarks, which signifies an ”outstanding aspect of American history and culture.”

She said she’s not sure what she will do with her free time. Robert Bruchak, who has worked in the Daniel Boone, Chester Upland and Souderton area school districts will replace Stafford at the end of July.

“I’m very excited about the opportunity,” Bruchak told directors.

-Jennifer L. Rodgers

Check in at the intformation boot each time you go this summer and you’ll get your name thrown into a raffle for every eight visits. The winner gets a GT Zaskar Carbon 9R Comp mountain bike. The drawing is Oct. 29.

“Further, the impostion of a ‘one size fits all’ ordinance undermines a central purpose of local ordinances: to address the particular needs and concerns of municipalities,” the letter says

The letter, initiated by Councilman J. William Reynolds, was signed by all seven council members, all Democrats. The letter was sent to Gov. Tom Corbet and state legislative leaders and copied to the Lehigh Valley delegation.

Act 13, which regulates unconventional techniques like horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing of rock to release gas, has been challenged in court by Nockamixon Township, Yardley and several municiaplities in western part of the state. A judge has placed a 120-day moratorium on the zoning portion taking effect.

There are no indications of any pockets of Marcellus Shale in the Lehigh Valley, though council members have concerns companies could look in the Pocono Mountains. Bethlehem gets its water supply from the Poconos.

 Bucks County also has some potential. A company applied this year to drill in Nockamixon Township.

He’s not barring City Council and the controller from talking to his staff.

But if they do it in writing, he wants to see the email and memos first.

And if officials are passing along a specific resident complaint, the mayor said, he would prefer the complaint be entered into a computer program, Action Tracking, for resolution rather than burdening a busy department head.

Once his office gets the request, Callahan said he would direct the query to the right person.

“I don’t want this to be misconstrued…“ Callahan said. “This is about efficiency.”

Callahan’s instructions came in a memo dated April 20.

President Eric Evans said he’s not opposed to the change but he wants to ensure officials' questions get answered in a timely manner.

Controller Robert Pfenning said he would play along and see how it goes. He said he has at least one unanswered piece of correspondence. He said the policy hasn't created any impediments yet, but he took issue with the mayor's statement that the policy would create efficiencies by adding another filter.

Pfenning response was a little more tongue-in-cheek when, as he described, officials said he could still talk to whomever he pleases:

“Can I wear a wire?”

Saucon Valley School Board member Bryan Eichfeld last week objected to the board’s approval to allow high school students to organize a UNICEF club.

As the board began discussion on the club, which would support the United Nations program helping poverty-stricken children throughout the world, Eichfeld said “studies have shown” that the United Nations is a “huge waste of money.”

Board member Charles Bartolet immediately asked Eichfeld, “What studies?”

Eichfeld said he didn’t have any handy but he has read them.

“Who says?” Bartolet returned. “WHO says?”

Eichfeld had no answer.

The discussion led Eichfeld to question the value of The United Nations, which then led board solicitor Mark Fitzgerald to warn them that they don’t want to get into an issue that raises First Amendment problems, explaining that they can’t approve one group and deny another.

“So we can have a KKK group come in?” Eichfeld asked, referring to the Ku Klux Klan.

Eichfeld drew no response from Fitzgerald or other board members.

When the board asked where the idea for the new club came from, High school Assistant Principal Lorie Gamble said, “A group of students came forward and put together a proposal.”

The board voted 8 to 1 in favor of creating the UNICEF club. Eichfeld voted no.

Anna, who lives in Lower Macungie, wrote the poem for the Creative Communication poetry contest.

Here is her poem:

One by one they come,
Staccatoed in a majestic rhythm.
Heavier and faster they fall
Like arrows shot by gods in war.
Catapulted from heaven.
Wrung from the steel gray blanket above
To the soaking grass below
Sounds muted together
Like static from a radio.
Rumbles in the distance
Are like gunshots on the moon.
As Nature's tears trickled to the Earth
A wind blows
Ruffling the willows,
Soaking them to the bone,
The tears tiptoeing across every surface.
Listen closely,
Hear them whispering,
Their soft voices like a lullaby
To the sleeping satin earth.

The county is in the midst of reassessing 125,000 properties, its first mass reassessment in two decades. The owners of roughly 13,600 properties requested informal reviews, a precursor to the formal appeal process before the Board of Assessment Appeals.

County administration made the decision to forward some commercial property owners' informal review requests ahead to the formal appeal process but didn't tell the commissioners. Commissioner Vic Mazziotti chastised administration for not giving them notice.

Solicitor Catherine Roseberry said property owners aren't losing any rights by not being afforded an informal review. Everyone is entitled to an appeal, though.

Quite simply, she said, the time frame set aside for informal reviews was far too short to squeeze in all the commercial reviews.

A number of municipalities, including Hanover and Bethlehem townships, have become part of a lawsuit to fight the legislation, which would require them to forfeit earned income tax revenues from their employees who work within the 130-acre zone.

County Council members stopped well short of endorsing an official position but made it clear they, too, oppose the NIZ.

Northampton County had proposed two sites, one in Palmer Township and another in South Bethlehem, but lost out to Allentown. Board President John Cusick said he was surprised to learn the team owners had chosen the more dense Center City location over two with better highway accessibility and more room for parking.

It started to make sense, he added, when he learned about the funding mechanism.

"From an economic development standpoint, how do we compete with that?" he said. "How do our developers or someone that wants to develop office space in Northampton County compete with subsidized space in the city of Allentown."

The NIZ puts the county at a competitive disadvantage, he added, drawing nods from other members of the board after Wednesday's Finance Committee meeting.

He said he'd like to urge the area's state senators and representatives to repeal the NIZ-creating legislation and enable Northampton County to compete on a level playing field.

Councilman Bob Werner said he was personally offended by the way things went down, and like Cusick, feared the county would lose business to the special taxing zone.

County Executive John Stoffa shared similar concerns but seemed to steer the council members from jumping into an official position.

"The worst thing is, you put a stop to it and then Allentown has a big hole right in the middle of it," he said.

Now, he has an answer.

He acknowledges he’ll have a lot of work to do, including building a healthier campaign fund.

Reynolds had $11,588 in his fund at the end of last year. Donchez had $34,323 and is organizing another fundraiser next month. Cunningham, a former mayor who once contemplated a run for governor, has $372,110.

Reynolds said he isn’t intimated by the numbers.  Really, he said half-joking, he only needs $70 for a good pair shoes.

Knocking on doors takes quite a bit of shoe leather.