PBS-39 has come up with an interesting change to their business model that may hold some lessons for how we think about public funding for the arts. The new PBS station at Steel Stacks won't just create programming - it will also sell services to the public, and rent work space and equipment to businesses and filmmakers. Nicole Radzievich describes the changes in her recent piece on Pat Simon: The PBS39 Public Media and Education Center, the twin anchor with the ArtsQuest Center at Steel Stacks, includes two studios, six editing suites and satellite linkups on property that had been idle …

Back in June I asked how Charlie Dent would defend his vote to end Medicare, and it now appears that he simply won't. Despite his usual practice of holding town hall meetings during the August recess, Mr. Dent has so far declined to host a public gathering for constituents.   When he has appeared in public, it has been in front of friendly interest groups, or in situations where the Congressman is likely to be dominant, such as in conversations at the door with random residents. Given the Republican Party's ugly poll numbers, a streak of bad votes and Mr. Dent's own bad town hall experience …

Rail supporters are going to need to rethink their strategy for bringing rail transit to the Lehigh Valley. Because New Jersey Governor Chris Christie short-sightedly cancelled the ARC Tunnel indefinitely, any rail connection from the Lehigh Valley to New York City will require a transfer. This will make rail a less competitive alternative to driving and taking the bus on both price and trip length. Until Cory Booker becomes governor of New Jersey and resumes construction of the ARC Tunnel, I think it would make sense for LV rail supporters to shift their attention to two goals: SEPTA and job…

My colleague Margie Peterson recently wrote about the benefits of "smart growth" land use policies for cities like Easton and Bethlehem, whose dense downtowns are benefitting from renewed interest in city living. But if human-scale, walkable development is "smart," it's worth reflecting on what's not smart: the low-density sprawl, McMansions and Big Box shopping centers the region was building furiously in the outlying townships before the housing bubble burst. The reason this kind of development isn't smart is that it's simply not sustainable, economically, fiscally or environmentally. Over …

Liquor store privatization appears to be back on the agenda in Harrisburg this fall, so this is a good time to start thinking about what consumers should want to see in the final bill. While there's a lot of support for the general concept of alcohol reform, consumers need to pay close attention to the specific proposals because there's a conflict between what's best for revenues and special interests and what's best for the alcohol-buying public. To kick off the conversation, here's my wishlist: Supermarket Sales While other states sell alcohol in supermarkets, bars, restaurants, and …

On my blog, I've been posting excerpts from A History of Italian Immigration to the Easton Area by Richard D. Grifo and Anthony Noto. It was published in 1964 by the Northampton County Historical and Geneological Society, and you can buy a copy at the Sigal Museum. The most fascinating thing about this history is thinking about Italians as an ethnic Other, since they're now widely considered to be "white." This was not always the case. Italians arrived later than other ethnic groups, mostly between 1900 and 1930:In 1890 there were only 341 [Italians]; in 1900, 1582; in 1910, 3723; in 1920, …

I've been wondering how Congressman Charlie Dent was planning to defend his vote to end Medicare in his reelection campaign next year, so it was interesting to see this quote Mr. Dent gave to Bloomberg News: Republicans are already preparing their strategy on Medicare, said Rooney, who was among 20 lawmakers who met with Ryan and other Republican leaders the day of Hochul’s election victory to hone their arguments.  The party can prevail “by playing offense and stating the choice: doing something or doing nothing, which means bankruptcy and cuts in current benefits for current beneficiaries…

The debate over what the government can do to help the economy is a pretty polarizing topic in American politics these days, but there's one role for government that a supermajority of Americans agree on: promoting economic mobility. A recent poll by the Pew Charitable Trusts found that 83% of respondents supported a government role in promoting economic mobility, and 58% believed the government could be doing more to help Americans improve their prospects.While there were predictable divisions over the appropriate methods, 91% of Democrats and 73% of Republicans said they supported active …

Nick Falsone of the Express-Times recently reported that Northampton County failed the American Lung Association's air quality tests for ozone and short-term particle pollution. You may recall hearing about this problem in the State of the Lehigh Valley report that was released earlier this year.While you might think to blame coal-fired plants like GenOn's Portland Generating Station, one of the top 5 worst polluters in the country, the ALA actually singled out auto emissions as the primary culprit. Here is how Kevin Stewart of the ALA described the risks to Mr. Falsone:"When you breathe …

Down in the polls, Governor Tom Corbett recently complained that he shouldn't be blamed for his proposed education cuts, and he actually has a point, if not the one he intended to make. The reason that state budgets across the nation are out of balance is the recession. Pennsylvania is not special in this respect. While pension issues present a problem in the medium-to-long term, the 2011 state budget deficit is the result of a huge drop off in revenues. We're still kissing 8% unemployment, fewer people are working and paying taxes, so tax collections have been depressed. Since tax receipts …

Tight credit standards and a 20 percent down-payment requirement are delaying homeownership for younger Americans.Many of the people who are entering the housing market are Millenials like myself, who might normally be trying to buy a first home if the economy was performing better, but instead are deleveraging, paying down our student loan debt and credit cards just like many other Americans.So it's not that surprising to see that demand for quality rentals is starting to tick up. At the GLVCC's Commercial Real Estate event last week, Frank Smith of NAI Summit said that vacancies are lower …

"In my column on local government mergers in New Jersey, one of the benefits officials talked about was leverage. Governments that represent larger numbers of people can better compete for state and federal money than smaller governments can.  For instance, Woodbridge Township, NJ (whose government represents 10 small towns) can afford to employ a full-time grant writer whose entire job is to seek grants from the state and federal governments for local projects.  Because the government of Woodbridge represents a larger number of people, they also have a stronger claim to appropriations. When …

On April 1, Margie Peterson reported that Northampton County's already-terrible morbidity ranking actually got worse in the past year as a result of the Republican majority's refusal to act. Last year, the county ranked 59th out of Pennsylvania's 67 counties on morbidity; this year it ranked 60th. It ranked 27th out of the 67 counties in overall health. Despite living longer lives, Northampton County residents spent more days feeling mentally and physically ill, and had a higher number of low birth weight babies than the rest of the state and the nation. This reinforces what we learned from …

Has Tom Corbett lost control of the budget debate? The bleak headlines on school budgets all over the region just won't quit, and some Republicans in the legislature are starting to distance themselves from the Governor's harshest cuts in the wake of a poll showing 78% of Pennsylvanians oppose the education cuts. Mr. Corbett claims he doesn't care about the polls, but I doubt many of his Republican colleagues in the legislature who are up for reelection in 2 years share this sentiment.  If the Republicans want to keep their majority, they will need to win the fight over spending cuts in the …

Tom Corbett's budget proposal has nothing but bad news for local governments and school districts. The governor has proposed deep cuts in education and municipal aid that will force municipalities to either raise property taxes or make deeper cuts to core public services like schools, police and health. But there is a way to reduce spending and improve value for taxpayers if officials can learn to (literally) think outside the box.Pennsylvania has too much government. The state has 2,562 municipalities, and 78% of them have fewer than 5,000 residents. Almost one third have fewer than 1,000 …

What shall we make of the Republican agenda for education?  At the Federal level, the goal appears to be to abolish the Department of Education. We are told that education is best left to the states, and the federal government should have no role. At the state level, Republican Governors are cutting state aid to school districts. In Tom Corbett's spending freeze on the 2010-2011 budget, 93% of the $343 million in spending cuts will come out of aid to school districts. The savings are illusory - he is just passing the buck to local governments. At the school district level, we see Tea Party …

Republicans convinced voters to give them control of the House of Representatives promising jobs and faster economic growth, but now that they are in power, jobs are nowhere on the agenda.  Last week Goldman Sachs economists estimated that the House Republicans' 2011 budget would reduce economic growth by 1.5 to 2 percentage points in the next two quarters compared to current law. Economists only expect growth of 4% in Q3 and Q4, so this would be a major slowdown. Center for American Progress economist Adam Hersh says such a reduction in GDP could cost 1 million jobs, and send the …

We recently learned that the Lehigh Valley is one of Pennsylvania's main drivers of green job growth, ranking 5th in a recent study by the state's Department of Labor and Industry.The report defines green jobs as those which "employ workers in producing or offering products or services that:" promote energy efficiency, contribute to sustainable use of resources or renewable energy, prevent pollution, clean up the environment, reduce harmful emissions or provide green education and training.Should green jobs only be defined by the products or services that the companies produce? Allentown …

Editor's note: This is the second part of Jon Geeting's take on the State of the Lehigh Valley report from last week. You can read part one here.One area that is ripe for revenue-sharing and regional collaboration is education.The report shows poverty is highest in the cities, with 75% of students in Allentown eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, along with 51% in Bethlehem. Poverty rose across all areas, and it actually rose more in the suburbs, showing that the suburbs can't run away from urban poverty.Unsurprisingly, people from families making less than $60,000 were more likely to …

Editor's note: On Jan. 13 we brought you a story about the State of the Lehigh Valley event. Columnist Jon Geeting was there as well. Because there was a lot to digest, we're running his thoughts on the recent report in two parts this weekend.The State of the Lehigh Valley report could not have come out at a better time. Since 2011 is a municipal election year, voters will have the opportunity to decide whether their current representatives are being good stewards of the region's economy, or if they should be replaced with new people with better ideas. Looking at some of the problems outlined…