Archive: February, 2010
Andrew Lowman, left, took a running start and took off and jumped onto his snow doughnut and took to the air in the hopes of really going fast down the hill in Wallingford. ( Michael Bryant / Staff Photographer )
This season’s record snowfall — six feet and counting — is testing people like never before. And the Philadelphia region is passing the test admirably.
East Coast residents of a bygone era used to refer to the blizzard of 1888 as the granddaddy of all storms. Well, the Delaware Valley now has endured three epic snowstorms in one season — two in one week. History has nothing on us. Since they began keeping records in 1884, no other generation in the city has had to overcome a winter like this one.
State and local road crews have done a good job trying to keep up with the snow-pocalypse. Utility workers are doing their best in abysmal conditions to restore power. Mayor Nutter has risen to the occasion, keeping the public informed, and focusing on public safety. SEPTA has managed to keep running with only limited service interruptions.
There’s more plowing and shoveling to be done. And the darn forecasters are predicting more snow for tomorrow night. But, in the midst of this unrivaled winter, let us pause to consider the achievement of enduring a season like no other.
Kids will remember this winter for the rest of their lives. It’s been a wonderland of sledding, building snow forts, baking cookies with mom, and forgetting that school even exists.
Parents will remember this winter, too. It’s been a frozen battlefield of buried cars, Sisyphean shoveling, unplanned child care, empty grocery shelves, power outages, and ice-dammed gutters. And how many times can you watch a TV newscaster stick a ruler into a snow pile?
But even adults found time to enjoy these snowstorms. They sledded and skied down the steps of the Art Museum, walked with carefree abandon in the middle of empty city streets, and laughed as their dogs frolicked in snow drifts taller than their ears.
Despite the disrupted schedules, adults know these storms provide moments that are otherwise elusive. The pace of life slows. Spending a day with your kids playing games, building snowmen, or watching movies by the fire, is an opportunity that comes by rarely enough.
The wintry landscape, too, is unparalleled in its beauty – pine boughs drooping with heavy white frosting, fields blanketed in a smooth coating of powder, a bright red cardinal providing the only dab of color on a snow-covered bird feeder. And the sky is never a more pristine blue than on the day after a big snowstorm.
For those who can’t take one more game of Scrabble, or one more airing of Braveheart on TV, relief is soon at hand. Daylight is lasting noticeably longer now, and spring is only 33 days away. This week, Phillies’ pitchers and catchers report to spring training.
It’s been a winter for the record books, and we’ll always be part of the memorable story.
Gov. Christie took the rostrum as he prepared to deliver an address to a special joint session of the New Jersey Legislature on Thursday in Trenton. Behind him is Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, left, and Senate President Stephen Sweeney. (AP Photo / Curt Hudson)
Gov. Christie is taking a needed budget ax to New Jersey’s financial woes. The Republican governor on Thursday ordered $2.2 billion in spending cuts in the current unbalanced budget, and promised deeper reductions next year.
Christie is trying to bring some needed fiscal sanity to Trenton. The governor’s combative tone startled Democrats, who complained that he didn’t consult them. The new governor will learn he needs allies in the Legislature to achieve his agenda. But his proposed spending cuts shouldn’t be a surprise.
Former Gov. Jon S. Corzine was too optimistic about tax collections in the weak economy, and based this year’s spending on that unfounded optimism. Now that tax collections have fallen behind projections, and some costs have risen, deep cuts are required.
Some of the programs targeted by Christie were also on Corzine’s list — including school districts’ surpluses and the state’s contribution to public pensions.
Both parties have mismanaged the state’s finances for decades, leaving Christie with no good choices. He is sure to face stiff resistance from special interests. And he must take care not to hurt the most vulnerable citizens, including the poor and children.
But Christie got his marching orders from voters in November, who in electing him said they want a leader in Trenton to control spending and lower taxes in the highest-taxed state in the nation. Voters will let him know if they change their minds.
Trenton gets blamed for high spending, but two-thirds of taxes collected in New Jersey are spent at the local level. As such, it is incumbent on local officials to also do more with less.
Less aid for NJ Transit shouldn’t automatically result in higher fares. Lower college aid shouldn’t mean knee-jerk tuition hikes. Taking away school districts’ surpluses shouldn’t equal higher property taxes. They need to try harder to cut fat and waste.
Like other governors, Christie is withholding the state’s $100 million contribution to the public employees’ pension fund. Pension benefits are out of control. Christie says he won’t put more money into the fund until the Legislature approves pension reforms.
But again he has to be careful. Refusing to contribute to the fund due to annoyance may force reform but it also deepens the state’s $34.4 billion unfunded liability. Trenton’s habit of skipping payments helped cause the crisis.
The Legislature is working on some good bipartisan pension-reform proposals supported by Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney (D., Gloucester) and Senate Minority Leader Thomas H. Kean Jr. (R., Union). Among the good ideas are requiring teachers, police, and firefighters to contribute at least 1.5 percent of their salaries to health-care costs, and capping the amount of unused sick time that public workers can receive upon retirement.
Christie has done the “easy” part — ordering budget cuts all by himself. Now he has to get the Democrats — who hold the majorities in the Senate and Assembly — to work with him. If they’re serious about getting New Jersey out of the poor house, they will.
Next month, Christie will deliver his budget for the new fiscal year. The state needs to close a shortfall of about $11 billion — more than one-third of the current $29 billion budget. That’s a crisis of California proportions. Christie insists higher taxes won’t be part of his solution, so get ready for more budget cuts.
Jane G. Pepper has led the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society since 1985. She has announced that the 2010 Philadelphia Flower Show will be her last. (APRIL SAUL / Staff Photographer)
Finding a person to fill Jane Pepper’s large and well-worn gardening shoes is not an easy task. But the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society appears to have located a person who is perfectly suited to build on Pepper’s fine legacy.
Attorney General Tom Corbett should join other gubernatorial candidates who support better gun laws. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Gun control tends to be the third rail of politics in Pennsylvania, rarely if ever touched by candidates who hope to prevail on Election Day.
So it’s good to see the state’s top anti-gun-violence group take the rather audacious step of trying to get all of the major gubernatorial candidates to go on record in favor of tighter, commonsense gun laws.
Even more unusual is that a number of the contenders to replace Gov. Rendell are actually speaking up in favor of gun-safety measures.
At a recent Democratic debate, three candidates voiced support for critical legislation that would help police target trafficking in illegal handguns.
Requiring gun owners to report any lost or stolen handguns would reduce the number of weapons purchased legally that end up being used in street crimes. So-called “straw buyers” often claim that their legally purchased handguns were misplaced or heisted, in the event that police track a gun that was used in a crime back to them.
With cheerleading by CeaseFire-PA, more than two-dozen communities across the state have come out in support of reporting missing handguns. In Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and 19 other towns, elected officials actually have passed local ordinances that require reporting stolen guns.
Not surprisingly, the National Rifle Association is challenging those rules. But the questions it raises would be moot if the next governor and legislature got behind a statewide push to target illegal handguns.
Three Democratic candidates — Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, former U.S. Rep. Joe Hoeffel, and Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty — support a lost-and-stolen law. The other Democrat, Auditor General Jack Wagner, hasn’t made that commitment but concedes that illegal weapons pose a dire safety threat that needs to be addressed.
Polls show overwhelming support for action, with 96 percent in favor of mandating missing-weapons reports. Another good sign is the 159 cities and towns that have joined the state’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns group.
That type of support should make it easy for every gubernatorial candidate to support stronger gun laws, but state Attorney General Tom Corbett, the Republican front-runner, still toes the NRA line, contending that all law-abiding gun owners will report any stolen weapons.
He’s missing the point. The objective isn’t to target lawful gun owners, but to trip up gun traffickers with a reporting requirement they cannot legally ignore.
Corbett is ducking the issue, and that’s disappointing. As the state’s top law enforcement officer, he well knows the widespread support among police chiefs for tighter gun laws.
The 22 funerals of Pennsylvania police officers in the last decade have been a grim testament to the dangers police officers face with so many illegal weapons in circulation.
Corbett has had some success nabbing people for illegal weapons deals with the Gun Violence Task Force, but it’s still worth it to close the loophole on reporting missing weapons. Most Pennsylvanians understand this measure is not about depriving law-abiding citizens of their right to own weapons; it’s about saving lives. The next governor must see that.
Gov. Chris Christie introduces former Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler (center), his pick for education commissioner, and Bob Martin (left), a retired utility and energy consultant, to head the Department of Environmental Protection.
The nomination of conservative school-choice champion Bret Schundler to be New Jersey’s next education commissioner may be the best indication yet of Gov. Christie’s plans for public schools.
It’s not really a surprise. In a campaign stop in Camden last October, the Republican candidate said he wanted to improve education opportunities by offering more charter schools and introducing vouchers to cover tuition at private schools.
Now that he’s governor, Christie apparently plans to take on the state’s powerful teachers’ union, which has resisted some reform efforts, including merit pay. In Camden last year, Christie said union leaders “are feeling fat and they don’t want change.” Guess we’ll see.
In any respect, Christie is right in saying children in failing school districts such as Camden’s should have other viable options.
The hope is that healthy competition will spur public schools to improve. But in applying an education strategy based on alternatives, care must be taken to not let that be an excuse to abandon those schools that still need to be fixed. Not every parent will take advantage of choice; their children nonetheless deserve a good education, too.
Is Christie’s ultimate goal to fix troubled public schools by simply abandoning them and issuing vouchers for students to flee? That’s the question he needs to answer, even before he and Schundler begin to shape policy. Come clean now and tell the public your intentions; don’t just spring it on people.
During his gubernatorial campaign, Christie ranked the improvement of urban schools as his third priority, behind cutting taxes and boosting the economy.
A recently released report by an education transition subcommittee was another likely signal of the course Christie will take. It recommended that a planned expansion of preschool be delayed.
Certainly in this economy, education cannot be sheltered from all budget cuts. But if Christie is serious about improving urban schools, he should know that studies have shown that preschool — while a costly investment — gets children ready to learn and gives them a better likelihood of performing well in school.
Then again, maybe he doesn’t know that. Christie once said government-sponsored preschool was state-funded babysitting. Not if it’s done right. And it would be Schundler’s job as education commissioner to see to that.
Christie has not given any indication on whether he would act upon the transition committee’s recommendations. Some would require legislation. The governor did say he would try to preserve K-12 education funding.
Schundler, a former Jersey City mayor, also has been tight-lipped while awaiting scheduled confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Unlike many education commissioners, Schundler does not have much of a background in education. Besides running for political office, he has worked mostly in finance. He is chief operating officer at The King’s College, a Christian liberal-arts college in New York City.
New Jerseyans will learn more about Schundler’s education ideas during his hearings. But his boss doesn’t have to wait for that. Christie can say now exactly what his intentions are.
A sign at Taco Bell in 30th Street Station now lists calories of menu items. The first phase of Philadelphia’s new law covers chains with at least 15 other locations nationwide. (APRIL SAUL / Staff Photographer)
A strict new menu labeling law in Philadelphia is a good first step toward providing consumers with information to make healthier choices.
The measure, requiring chain restaurants in the city to list calorie counts on menus, is being hailed as one of the strictest in the country.
Critics contend that the law goes too far and creates added costs on businesses. But similar measures in other cities, such as New York, have helped to change eating habits.
New Jersey has passed a similar law, which takes effect next year. A bill proposed in Harrisburg is pending.
Even if it begins with baby steps — a 230-calorie doughnut instead of one with 290 calories — the change could make a difference over time.
Camden Iron & Metal Inc., near the Platt Bridge in Philadelphia, is one of the first sites seen in the the city by visitors landing at the airport. (LAURENCE KESTERSON / Staff Photographer)
You hate to see the city lose any jobs, but few will be crushed if a scrap yard moves from South Philadelphia to Delaware County.
The eyesore, owned by Camden Iron & Metal Inc., greets visitors entering the city via the George C. Platt Bridge.
It’s right across from the pretzel vendors, at 26th Street and Penrose Avenue.
Billy Panas Sr. (left), father of William "Billy" Panas Jr., demonstrated outside City Hall last week with wife Karen (center), and daughter Lauren. Panas Jr. was killed by ex-Officer Frank Tepper. (Akira Suwa / Staff Photographer)
The decision by District Attorney Seth Williams to lodge murder charges against a former police officer who shot a Port Richmond man sends a welcome message that there really is a new sheriff in town.
After a SEPTA shutdown, there may be no alternative but to take a hike. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
( Matt Rourke)
Perhaps the biggest news to come out of this stormy winter may be the birth of what SEPTA could well call its “one-way guarantee.”
It works this way: SEPTA says it will get riders to their destination, but can’t promise a return trip.
The agency’s aim, according to SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney, is to avoid stranding both passengers and vehicles in the midst of a big storm. The policy was implemented during Saturday’s snow storm. Maloney said it worked well: No passengers were stranded, and only a fraction of the usual number of buses had to be towed.
The policy appears to be a case of one step forward and two back.
Riders rely on SEPTA especially during extreme weather conditions. The region’s sprawling rail network, in particular, is nothing short of a transit lifeline. (The agency does plan to keep the Broad Street Subway and Market-Frankford El running throughout storms.)
The new policy is jarring, given the regional rail lines, trolleys and buses have plowed through snow, sleet and rain for decades. Now riders must cope with a huge uncertainty. Essentially providing one-way service is impractical and unreliable.
That’s not to say SEPTA must run regardless of the conditions. The recent storms have made travel extremely dangerous. But that is not the norm.
Going forward, it is unclear what weather conditions would call for the shutdown of the rails. How would SEPTA get the word out?
The current storm will provide more information on how this policy will work, or won’t work. (By 5 p.m. today, bus lines are to be taken out of service and there are advisories up for a number of rail lines.) But it’s clear the policy may need to be tweaked, or even scrapped.
At the very least, perhaps it would be better if SEPTA designated key regional rail lines as “lifeline” routes that would only be shutdown under the most dire circumstances. The agency may have other ideas on how to improve this policy from a customer-service standpoint.
One thing’s clear: A one-way ride is useless.
Gov. Rendell has proposed a budget that shouldn't cause the legislative impasse that resulted from his spending plan last year. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
The $29.1 billion budget proposed by Gov. Rendell would bolster Pennsylvania’s progress on education and create a tax system that’s more fair.
After last year’s rancorous 101-day budget impasse, officials in Harrisburg are pledging to play nicer this time. But the cast of characters is the same, and the issues haven’t changed much.
There’s a budget shortfall approaching $500 million. Republican legislators are objecting to commonsense taxes on cigars and natural-gas production. And Rendell has proposed an overall spending increase of 4.1 percent — difficult to justify in an economy with flat wages, high unemployment and weak tax collections.
This looks a lot like the formula for another protracted stalemate.
In his final budget, Rendell’s centerpiece is an increase of $354 million, or 6.4 percent, in basic public education subsidies. The governor’s consistent focus on education has produced results, but in this economy the generous increase should be offset with cuts elsewhere.
Rendell proposed a needed overhaul of the state’s uneven sales tax, an issue that cropped up last year when legislators tried to tax cultural events. The governor wants to lower the statewide sales tax from 6 percent to 4 percent, but would tax many goods and services which are now exempt (although not the arts).
Consumers would pay sales tax on candy and gum, beauty services, tanning salons, basic cable TV, hygiene products and newspaper and magazine sales — dozens of categories which are currently exempt. Food, clothing and prescription drugs would remain untaxed.
It’s a sensible move toward a more fair system in an era that increasingly emphasizes services instead of goods.
Rendell tried to sell this proposal as something other than a tax increase, arguing that the average family won’t pay more. That’s not likely. The fact is, his expanded sales tax proposal would raise an extra $531 million in the budget year that begins July 1, and another $863 million in 2011-12. That money would be paid by consumers and businesses.
The governor proposed other taxes on items that should be taxed. Cigars and smokeless tobacco ought to be taxed, as they are in virtually every other state. The gold rush of natural gas drilling should be subject to a severance tax, as in other states.
But Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R., Jefferson), who receives a gusher of campaign donations from the oil and gas industry, again was voicing objections yesterday. He is a compelling argument for campaign-finance limits.
Another action proposed by Rendell that is long overdue would be to close a tax loophole that allows corporations with headquarters outside Pennsylvania to avoid paying any state taxes on their activities here. The legislature ducks this issue annually.
Combined, these tax proposals would raise more than $2.2 billion over the next two years. Rendell would put that money in a reserve fund to help the state prepare for the loss of more than $2 billion in federal stimulus money next year and a $1.1 billion increase in pension obligations two years hence.
Republican legislators are vowing to scrutinize the spending side of the ledger, as they should. But Rendell has put forward a reasonable starting point.
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