Friday, January 23, 2009

Borough Hall to be relocated

If you missed this news, look here.


(Just kidding, of course.)

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Back to being a tout

The publisher of the Phoenix has apologized (as he should) for the shabby piece about the late Spiedie Bistro.

The publisher then continues to reaffrm the paper's role as a promoter of business in town. (He knows who pays his way.)

What about being a newspaper -- you know, printing timely and accurate accounts of local events of importance?

Friday, January 16, 2009

In the chamber pot

OK, Spiedie Bistro goes out of business. The Phoenix, well known for its several Pultizer prizes for standardless journalism posts a picture of the now defunct eatery with a snide caption. Exit stage right.

Enter stage left and move to center stage the President of the Phoenixville Regional Chamber. When The Phoenix ran a front page advertisement March 7, 2008 (oops, they pretended it was a news item) touting the bistro's grand opening, the Chamber President had no criticism. Now, however, he writes a letter to the editor taking umbrage at the paper's treatment of the business.

He then proceeds to take a pot shot at the paper for the value (if any remains) of its parent company's stock and finally asks "when your number is up, who's going to dance on your grave?"

The only question is who's behavior is worse, the paper's or the Chamber's?

The curtain descends, to a funeral march.

Cash strapped developer finds religion

In the wake of the financial challenges faced by the Delta Organization, its head, Walt Logan, has turned to G-d.

Click here to read Walt’s article of faith.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Phoenixville's web site -- errors and omissions

The Borough's website continues its tradition of being incomplete and just plain wrong.

Although the 2009 proposed budget was eventually posted (last year), now that a budget actually has been approved, it has vanished from sight.

The "Agendas and Meetings" page states the Council meeting schedule incorrectly as being "the first Tuesday after the second Monday," even though Council has changed it to be simply the second Tuesday.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Anonymous sources

Skip Lawrence's December 1st blog entry, entitled "Free Speech and Patience" (link here), quotes, without attribution, a 'fictional Presidential speech.'

For those of you who learned to actually cite your quotes, the source of Mr. Lawrence's quotation is the fictional President Andrew Shepherd in "The American President."

For those of you who may quote Mr. Lawrence in the future, be sure to give him the courtesy of properly attributing the quote to him. If you don't, someone may think it is your own writing and you will surely be embarrassed.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Parking -- West Chester style

An article in the Daily Local News of November 25, 2008 notes that West Chester intends to lease parking spaces in its newly-planned garage to companies that wish to reserve the spaces.

According to the DLN, West Chester Borough Manager McNeely states that the cost per space will be $20K-$27K and that a lessee will need to commit to paying off that cost over the term of the construction bonds, 20-30 years. The contribution to operating costs is extra.

At a 4% interest rate and a 20-year term, the basic monthly payment per space would be $121.20--163.61 (principal and interest, like your mortgage).

The Phoenixville Parking Authority (you remember them, don't you) needs to evaluate how many Phoenixville businesses are willing and able to make that commitment to solve the downtown parking 'crisis.'