Time to bring a little culture to Norristown

The Centre Theater Music School is up and running. We're looking for students and teachers! Bringing a little culture to the county seat. Talking about that and much more in this week's column. Right now we have one teacher giving piano lessons on Friday afternoons. He has four students, and they’re making incredible progress considering the amount of time he has been teaching them. And the school is expanding. We have world-renowned cellist Steve Kramer, who will be teaching classes for us on Saturdays from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. And the cost for the classes? Very similar to some of those television commercials when they tell you the price is so low that we can even advertise it here! We do have some brochures printed up, though, and they have the prices right there in black and white for the world to see.

"The lion sleeps tonight"

For those of you who have not been following along, I’ve been on a mission to find photographic evidence of the lion that once roamed the grounds of the Elmwood Park Zoo. I’m working on a book about the zoo and while there was plenty of talk about the lion, I didn’t have a picture, and I didn’t want to mention the story about the lion without having a photo, so I posted my plea on the Facebook page, You Know You’re From Norristown When, and the response was terrific. While it may not have gone viral in the traditional sense, the post did garner 44 likes and 75 comments. In my latest column I thank Susan Owad for coming through in the clutch!

Help! I agreed to do this new book before I realized what I was taking on. If you have some old photos of the zoo you'll most likely make it into the book, and you'll get full credit! My latest rant is not a rant at all, but a plea!

Huskey's Brigade is getting ready to march

So, a 'friend' of mine called to tell me he wasn't happy that I continue to write about property tax reform. He then went on to tell me that another columnist really ticked him off because he wrote about how America is moving toward imperialistic rule. Hmmm, I wonder how he's going to like next week's rant about how freedom of speech is becoming a right that only the left is permitted to enjoy?

We must start rewriting the Pennsylvania property tax stories

If there was a way to make this required reading for all state representatives and state senators I would do it in a New York minute. Maybe if everyone reading this would either cut it out or send the link to their own state rep or state senator, we could reach a good portion of them anyway. Maybe if they had to pick up my phone from time to time you wouldn’t have to. Or maybe, they get the same telephone calls, and they just haven’t been able to make it happen. In this week's rant I talk about Rose. She's 82 and she's about to lose her home because she can no longer afford to pay her property taxes. We should be able to write a different story for Rose.

Dreaming of Independence (Day) from property tax

I'm not really sure, but I'm beginning to think that I just might be the human definition of insanity. How many times can I keep writing about property tax reform and expect a result different than what we have today? In my latest rant I'm actually hoping for the day that I will be able to tell my grandkids, of which I have none at this time, about how property tax reform finally came to fruition.

Classical music coming to Montgomery County, PA

We’ve been in the process of establishing the Centre Theater Music School for so long now it seems more like a medical procedure than a process. I’ve been saying it for years, and I’m going to keep saying it until it actually comes to fruition: Norristown can revitalize itself with the help of the arts. It has happened time and time again throughout Montgomery County and all of southeastern Pennsylvania. Perhaps, what we’ve needed all along is something special, something unique to kick start the movement. This is that something special. When was the last time you had the opportunity to hear live, classical music in Norristown? And the caliber will be something to behold. Steve Kramer is bringing a few of his friends with him to Norristown on June 28, including a first chair violinist from the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra. I have learned there are several first chair violinists, but one is also known as the concert master. I’m not sure why that is, but I’ll ask Steve when he gets a few minutes to himself. Right now he’s preparing for the afternoon, and also teaching at Musicopia. The afternoon, by the way, starts with cocktails at 2 p.m. and the performance begins at 3 p.m. In my latest rant, which is more of a plea this week, I talk about the positive impact music can have on the children of Norristown.

Spring cleaning should include Pennsylvania's antiquated election laws

I'm not 100 percent sure, but I believe there are only three other states in this country that have closed primaries. In this week's rant, I ask for a change, and it would also be nice if there was an answer as to why! Between cross filing and closed primaries it's a wonder people go to the polls at all during off-year election. Wait a minute, most of them don't. Only 14 percent of registered voters bothered to make their way to the polls.

Spring cleaning time, and I have the broom

The first thing to take a broom to is all of the registered voters who decided to stay home during the primary election a couple of weeks ago. Just about 14 percent of the registered 532,200 voters in Montgomery County decided to make the effort at the polls on May 19. You reap what you sow, folks, you reap what you sow. I know I’ve written this before, but I am tempted to just not cover elections at all. It would be interesting to see how many people even notice. You can find this and more in this week's rant, and I'm already working on a follow up, so stay tuned!

Freedom of speech is for all, not just for those who complain

How is it that it is no loner socially acceptable to believe in what you want to believe in? In my latest rant I talk about freedom of speech and about how we're actually whittling away at that right with all of the protest against those who want to have the freedom to stand up for what they believe in, even if it doesn't fit the latest socially acceptable norm.

A rant that bears repeating - Vote!

I often feel like I’m preaching to the choir when I write this column, but just like the coverage we provide for the elections, which seems to attract fewer and fewer voters, especially in off-year elections, I feel like it is my civic duty to encourage folks to get to the polls. This year is an off-off year and will only see an extremely small percentage of the voters who come out during a presidential election. And since I’m a betting man of sorts, I’ve got a cup of coffee for anyone who thinks turnout will be above 25 percent in the county. Any takers? I didn’t think so. And it’s such a shame. It really is. We’re about to elect folks responsible for setting our property taxes. We’re about to elected judges who will decide the fate of our fellow man.

Final TED talk installment

I've been on a mission to create a TED talk. I doubt that I'll ever get to give it, but at least I was able to write it. This is the final piece, which I used for this week's column. My premise is that we cannot allow social media to overshadow real journalism, which, ironically created the first social media platform. Talk amongst yourselves!

Newspapers: The original social media platform

Have you heard of TED talks? I want to do one. There’s an online application and as soon as I come up with enough words for an 18-minute speech I’m going to apply. A TED talk is cut off at 18 minutes. I’m not sure why, but attention span probably has a lot to do with it. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design, and there are conferences held around the country where people speak on a particular topic. So, I’m auditioning here today. The following is the beginning of my talk. Newspapers were the first social media platform. Sure, cave drawings were probably first, but you had to be invited into the cave to see the etchings. Then there were hieroglyphics, but again, if you weren’t standing in the pyramid, you didn’t know what you were missing. The Romans, of course, were the first to publish a public document, Acta Diurna, which were public notices etched into stone and put in the town square for people to see. A more advanced version of the cave drawings to say the least. The publications would sometimes be copied and sent out to the outlying regions of the empire and be shared with the people there; a very heavy social media platform, but social media nonetheless as the notices soon evolved to include birth announcements, marriages and deaths. The first Acta is believed to be dated to 131 BC. Years before, Egyptian hieroglyphics were used as a form of communication. Hieroglyphics date back to nearly 4,000 BC, but most people couldn’t read them, so I’m not sure we’re able to qualify them as a social media platform. In my latest rant, I talk about the evolution of the forerunners for social media as we know it today, from the cave dwellers above to the brave souls who founded this country. After the revolution newspapers spread like wildfire, sharing stories of triumphs and tribulations of individuals for the first time, unfettered. Sharing is the staple of social media, and sharing true news, written by trained journalists is a form of sharing our Republic cannot survive without, and yet newspapers being threatened by the very movement they started hundreds of years ago.

The social world is all a Twitter

In my humble opinion, Common Sense by Thomas Paine, was one of the first useful pieces of social media to permeate our society, no matter how small it was back in the Revolutionary War days. Thankfully, Mr. Paine didn’t take the opportunity to tell folks what he had for lunch, or where he was heading off to for vacation, but to inform the public that the British were getting out of hand with their heavy handed way of ruling the colonies. Five years ago, parents around the world were trying to figure out what the heck Facebook was all about, and now they've nearly taken over the social media platform. In this week's rant I talk about the how socially acceptable Twitter is becoming. In another five years, we'll probably have another five popular platforms for people to espouse their daily routines from and Twitter will be as commonplace as a quick telephone call.

Spring tax bill is jolting reminder of school property tax bill to come

The annual rite of spring that brings my local and county tax bill to my door always brings a burst of sunshine into my humble abode. You did read that with the appropriate amount of sarcasm laced in, didn’t you? To be perfectly honest, I really don’t mind paying the local and county tax bill. And, to keep with the honesty thing, I meant what I wrote in that last sentence. The local and county tax bill pays for my roads and bridges; it also pays for my police protection, things that I couldn’t provide for myself, thus the need for government to step in. But that spring bill reminds of the one that comes due in the fall. Now that I think about it, I’ll ad the school property tax bill to the ever growing list of reasons why I don’t like the fall. I know what’s coming. And I think you know what's coming in my latest rant.

What's in a name?

When it comes right down to it, anything but complete elimination of the school property tax will be a complete and utter failure. We all know that any form of a property tax left open at the local level will be used to tax us again and again. In my latest rant I use the name game to make my point.

Saying goodbye to Chick's will take some time

Bridgeport is losing an institution. What was your favorite meal? Mine? I went through the wings, the mussels and more, but the tuna melt, my favorite by far. In this week's rant I, well, I don't really rant at all, but I do go down memory lane and remember a childhood kind of Chick's. If you didn't frequent Chick's in Bridgeport, tell us about your favorite restaurant. Where is it, what kind of food did they serve, and what was/is your favorite dish?

What a difference a party makes

About 10 years ago former Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell was able to get gambling passed under the guise of providing property tax relief for Pennsylvanians. Now Democratic Governor Tom Wolf is proposing a budget that will provide property tax relief, if he can only raise taxes. Unfortunately, the local school property tax will remain. Please tell me we're not falling for a different sheep in 'Wolf's' clothing. Sorry, I couldn't resist. Here's this week's rant. 

Should all documents produced with taxpayer dollars be open to the public?

I probably do this every year, and if you’re a regular reader you may be able to recite the following from memory, but I think it is important to keep alive what I consider to be one of the most profound statements from one of our founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson. “We’re it left for me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” At the heart of the quote is Jefferson’s well known distrust of a government with too much power, and the power of a free press. In this week's rant, I take a look at national Sunshine Week, and at all the documents that should be available to the taxpaying public. I guess the issue here is, do you agree?

The sweet smell of vindication

It doesn't happen very often, at least for me, but when it does, why not enjoy it? In last week's rant I talked about the possibility of Montgomery County, PA following in the footsteps of Montgomery County, Maryland...about 10 years ago. The vindication came when I read a report by the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia that talks about doing the exact same thing!