Free Press – July 5, 2007

Teen Leniency, Knecht Covered Bridge, Bloomberg for President, Allentown & Quakertown Band, Deer Population,

Dear Friends,

Good morning.

Here are this week’s topics:

Is the criminal justice system too soft on teenagers who misbehave? Did you read that the Allentown band appeared at Carnegie Hall? Will the Quakertown Band be next? Do you think that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will run for the Presidency as a third party candidate?

But first, let’s give a round of applause to Patrick O’Donnell who’s last day at the state store at the Quakertown Shopping Center was last Friday. Pat spent his entire state store career in Quakertown. Like someone who knows when his military enlistment expires, he knows his vital statistics to the very day. “I’ve been with the state store for 34 years, seven months, one week, and four days,” Pat told me. “That’s a lot of booze under the bridge,” he laughed. His customers will miss his smiling face.

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The community was shocked to read that five teenagers have been charged with arson. Three of them were former members of the Quakertown and Trumbauersville Fire Companies. The group had set seven fires, two at the 134-year-old Knecht’s Covered Bridge in Springfield Township. Fortunately, the fires at Knecht’s Covered Bridge were not extensive. I hope that the judge throws the book at these five when the case comes to trial.

Generally, courts are too lenient on youthful offenders. Look what happened recently in Haddonfield, N.J. Thirteen teenagers were arrested after a booze party that trashed a home while its residents were vacationing. The house sustained damage of more than $18,000. “Youths defecated on a Steinway grand piano, ejaculated onto stuffed animals, and sprayed a urine-filled super Soaker water gun at upholstered furniture,” the Inquirer reported (June 23).

So far, six of the 13 have received very light sentences…a year’s probation. Ten of the youths who pleaded guilty must pay a total of just $750. All escaped detention.

What is wrong with American society? I believe that most of it has to do with the lack of parenting.

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Did you read that the Allentown band played at Carnegie Hall? The band was invited through World Projects, an organization that runs band and orchestra festivals for school students around the world. The Allentown Band was asked to show students that it’s possible to have a rich and challenging musical life after high school, the Morning Call reported (June 22).

I thought about this Carnegie Hall joke that my mother used to recite. A woman rushed up to a policeman directing traffic in New York City. “Can you tell me how to get to Carnegie Hall,” she asked?

“Practice, lady,” the cop replied. “Practice!”

As I read the story, I thought about the Quakertown Band. The selections, which the Allentown Band performed, are typical of a Quakertown Band concert: “West Side Story” and the “Stars and Stripes Forever.” Our local band plays just as well as our Allentown neighbors…it’s just younger. The Allentown Band claims it was founded in 1828, the Quakertown Band in 1875.

Maybe, one day, the Quakertown Band will get its chance too.

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Solebury Township is on the horns of a dilemma. “Desperate to reduce the number of deer eating farmers’ crops, munching on homeowners’ shrubbery and blithely strolling infront of unsuspecting motorists, [Solebury] township officials inked a $250,000 deal with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to send marksmen into the township to shoot the animals at night,” the Call reported (June 25).

Solebury claims that the deer herd is five times the recommended levels and is an immediate threat to public safety and agriculture. Not all are pleased with the action. It’s the Bambi factor. Bambi or no Bambi, the deer population needs to be reduced.

Just don’t tell my 13-year-old granddaughter that I said so.

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Will the Mayor of New York City run for the presidency as an independent next year? As most of you know, if the election were held today, I’d vote for Barrack Obama. After eight disastrous years with George W., the Republican Party deserves a thrashing.

Let’s assume for the moment that Hillary Clinton becomes the standard bearer for the Democratic Party. Pollsters claim that 40 percent of the electorate won’t vote for her under any circumstance. Nearly one third of Americans do not identify with either the Democrats or the GOP. And if the nation is unhappy with the Republican national record, is there a chance for an independent?

Maybe.

“We’re in danger of losing our lead in many parts of science and medicine and education, economics,” Bloomberg has correctly said.

Here’s what Froma Harrop wrote in the Providence (RI) Journal. “Bloomberg’s politics were always pretty elastic,” she began. “He’s governed as a friend of labor, education, the environment and surplus budgets. He has the courage and the ability to govern.

“He [Bloomberg] decided to protect the New York City franchise which is about urban amenity, not low taxes. What happened? Major crime fell 30 percent, school-test scores rose, the welfare rolls declined, the budget went into surplus and guess what: Bloomberg is now cutting some of those taxes he had to raise.”

Finally, columnist David Broder made a case for an independent presidential candidate. Broder referred to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger who told reporters that America continues to struggle with big problems by applying Band-Aids. “Bloomberg would make those tough calls if he were in the White House,” Schwarzenegger said.

We’ll have to wait and see.

Sincerely,

Charles Meredith