Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Today, we declare our independence

OK, that was a little dramatic, and a little early, but we are in a way declaring our independence at The Times Herald with the Ben Franklin Project. We're breaking the chains that bind us to the proprietary systems that have held newspapers back for the past decade and breaking out on our own to bring you your news your way. How about you telling us where you think the biggest traffic headaches are in your community? Send an e-mail to jdhuff@timesherald.com. Who has the best cheese steak in your community? Send an e-mail to gpuleo@timesherald.com. Who was the best athlete at your high school, and why? Send an e-mail to dkurtz@timesherald.com. What does Independence Day mean to you? Send an e-mail to gglantz@timesherald.com. We will be declaring our independence on Independence Day and we want you to be an integral part of the project. This is just the beginning, folks. It's time you started receiving Your News Your Way.

11 comments:

Sorry to say said...

Well Stan,

What can I say, I enjoyed the old fashon way of reading the paper, taking it out of my Times Herald tube, heading out to the back patio with a hot cup of java and enjoying mother nature with the paper. Now it takes me about 5 minutes to read the entire paper and just don't feel that I get my money's workth anymore. There is little to read about othe than the murder, stabbings, fires, and mayhem in Norristown, how about covering planning commission, zoning board hearings, township meetings of all the sourrounding municipalities so those of us that live out of Norristown can find out what is going on in our communities. That was the way the Times Herald use to do business, not just the Court House news. Give us a break and get back to your core business or the written word will soon be a thing of the past. At least I still get a decent paper our of the Inquirer for about the same price.

Anonymous said...

Well how far back would you like to see the news,social and sports coverage go? We use to have a Social Page and Engagements, Weddings plus the various Clubs were covered with pictures that were submitted. I do not remember paying for this - now the charge is a little steep. As for Birth Notices?? It seems that is not too important down here, but in the northern part of PA, various small town/county seat newspapers consider this news and even list those that are wed or not and the parents and grandparents names. It makes for interesting reading. Hospital News and their various fund raising efforts are big news. The homes that go up for sale and the reason why the present owners are leaving or are selling their dream is also town news. Local Twilight Ball Games are big also with pictures. Parades and usually anything happening during the spring,summer and fall have great coverage. Fireworks in one village along Route 6 will shut down the highway for the 4th - so, little news is big news in the eyes of readers.

Anonymous said...

Stan, How about setting your advertising cost so the little guy can compete with the big boxes? I can remember when I moved to this area 49 years ago when your paper was full of local advertisers. Zummo Hardware with three locations used to place a full page ad with all kinds of specials. They cut glass, fixed screens,did lock repairs etc. Then came the big boxes putting the small business owner by the wayside. You should have pages praising these local shops who have hung in there even with the cheap competition. Zummo's still has the above mentioned items, with one exceptional benifit: product knowledge and customer satifaction. We are a small town community and should support our local businesses.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Huskey; How can you print a story on line and delete half of the story in the paper. (case in point). The front page of Friday's paper had a story by Carl Rotenberg about the shed in L.P. with a picture of the SHED?. Half of Mr. Rotenberg paper story was deleted, please don't tell us you were hurting for page space, add a page, the paper will look thicker. The three Supervisors who voted for this two story shed must think the public reading your paper are from Kenneth Square. You know what they produce in that Burg? (Mushrooms). You know how they grow mushrooms? They keep them in the dark and feed them a lot of crap. Wait until the lights go on in the second floor and you see the reflection of the 56in. T.V. shinning in the window. when will the deck be added to the frenc doors? Only time will tell.

Thanks,

The sybil said...

A sad but true commentary on why the younger generations don't read newspapers was clear today in the "Doonesbury" cartoon (yes, from another newspaper). The young teen says "I'm sorry, but I just don't get the newspaper... It costs money, the content's old, there are no links, you have to turn the pages, and it's heavy! Why would I go offline for this?" So, it appears that the Ben Franklin Project is trying to give us local content online. Good! It might even work well enough that some of the "news" will migrate back into print for those of us who get our exercise bending over to pick up the paper in the driveway, and work off our energy rattling the pages when we read something we disagree with.

Chicken on the hill said...

Stan, There's more to the story on the shed that the public will never know about. At least for now!
Your reporter is a very professional writer who knows what goes on behind the scenes. A good example was the meeting delay at the zoning meeting on Thursday night. The seven o'clock start was at 7:20. Switching the agendas order causing another delay of twenty minutes to check that a three member board only needs two votes for a yes vote. Having the fourth member of the zoning Board show up at 8:15 and then be the one to make the motion to approve the shed. Your newspaper reported that it was a three to one vote in favor. Wonder how the vote would have went if the meeting was not delayed as such? To be a fly on the wall? I wish.

Anonymous said...

No matter where you start, Stan, it always ends up being about LP. Might as well just give us our own blog. The Shed being a case in point. It wouldn't do Chicken on the Hill any good to be a fly on the wall, even in the back room, there are too many other ways to communicate today. The current owner testified that The Shed would be used for storage only. Sure! Maybe for six months? After the variances are approved I predict it will end up with the people who run the business in front of The Shed and Someone(s) will move in. Do they think we just fell off the turnip truck to believe it's a storage shed with all those windows and a set of french doors on the second floor?

Trooper Mary said...

Mr. Huskey: It's nice to know that one member of the zoning board knows the purpose of a zoning hearing. Your paper reported that one member asked the question, "Where's the HARDSHIP".
Maybe the high priced attorney for the applicant can answer that question. The approval of the two story shed was in the bag. Your paper also reported in 2009 that one of the zoners received a $250.00 donation towards his campaign from the applicant of the shed. Another one of the zoners and zoning solicitor was a committeeperson with the applicant. Ethics is not present in Lower Providence politics. And no one cares!

Anonymous said...

Mr Editor: Great story by Mr. Carl Rotenberg in today's TIMES HERALD regarding 770 Sandy St. condemnation. Since the TIMES HERALD has the power to file a Pennsylvania Right to know request with municipal officials, maybe, just maybe, you can do the same to obtain the original plans for the L.P. shed. The contractor who built the shed was present at the zoning meeting.(Heck of a contractor if he builds without plans! The person who drew the current plans presented at Thursday'e meeting denied knowing anything about the original plans(under oath)Stated " I had nothing to do with them". Come on Mr. Huskey use you editorial powers to get your readers a closer on this issue. (You can do it Stan)!

Anonymous said...

Stan, As the previous writer asked
"with your pull as a newspaper" have your reporter obtain township records to find out why two trusted and qualified employees left the employ of L.P. Township shortly after the shed was constructed. I believe someone stated that there was another project involved. Pressure is one hell of a thing to live and work with. Poliotics and Ethics DO make strange bedfellows.

Anonymous said...

Hope Arizona declares its independence and leaves the U.S.A.

(CNN) -- A labor union representing nearly 20,000 border patrol agents and staff Friday disputed comments made by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer that most illegal immigrants coming across the southern border are smuggling drugs.

Brewer initially made the comments earlier this month during a debate of Republican gubernatorial candidates. She repeated them Friday when asked by a reporter for the basis of the claim.

"Well, we all know that the majority of the people that are coming to Arizona and trespassing are now becoming drug mules," Brewer said. "They're coming across our borders in huge numbers. The drug cartels have taken control of the immigration.

"So they are criminals. They're breaking the law when they are trespassing and they're criminals when they pack the marijuana and the drugs on their backs."

When pressed, Brewer explained that many are simply coming to the United States to look for work but "are accosted, and they become subjects of the drug cartels."

T.J. Bonner of the National Border Patrol Council told CNN that Brewer's claims were "clearly not the case." Bonner said that some undocumented immigrants caught by border patrol agents have drugs on them, and that they sometimes blame pressure from the drug cartels.

But, he said, those claims have little credibility because drug smugglers are typically transporting much larger quantities of drugs. And besides, he said, if what Brewer said were true, there would be many more prosecutions for drug smuggling.

Brewer's comments, Bonner said, don't "comport with reality -- that's the nicest way to put it."