Responding to my critics. This comment was left on my Pile of Junk post:
First you endorse Republican Baker as a future Governor; now you want to tear down the Huber breaker; one of the few remaining edifices of our coal mining heritage. I think it is far more important to put money into preserving an important piece of history as opposed to investing in entertainment venues such as the arena (which you support) and sports complexes, etc. etc. I thought you were a history buff???
Yes, I am a history buff but I'm not a fan of boondoggles. Spending $10 million or more to restore the Huber Breaker is just not possible right now. The state is looking at a $3 billion deficit and Luzerne County hasn't balanced the books for as long as I have been blogging and then some. Even if the money was available to restore the breaker I doubt that it would be a crowd magnet just like Steamtown has very few visitors.
If you want to see a coal breaker the Eckley Miners Village has one and they are begging for money to fix it up. An entertainment venue such as the Wachovia Arena attracts people, it makes money and has transformed an abandoned strip mine into the most vibrant retail hub in the area.
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As far as what happens to Lackawanna County Stadium I think the best thing to do is repair it. Again, because of budget restraints a new park is not in the cards. But for the most part I don't give a shit since the clowns up north chased the Phillies farm team out of town and replaced them with the Yankees AAA club. We could build them a new stadium and they will still move the the team to Newark or somewhere else.
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I didn't endorse Lisa Baker for Governor but just made a prediction. I would probably vote for the Democrat in any future hypothetical race. In today's environment she wouldn't win the GOP nomination because she isn't sufficiently nuts about taxes and social issues.
The public sector has no business financing sports/entertainment complexes, casinos, etc. The idea that these establishments will provide countless, well-paying jobs and benefit the areas economy is pure BS, as has been proven. Of course, the same goes for tax breaks for businesses to come here. NEPA has been a depressed area for generations, and it is likely to stay that way. Our area needs better schools with committed teachers; not a publicly financed ball club. Our area needs more police protection on the city streets, and sadly, on our residential streets too; not a medical school. Our area's youth need to learn their own history via places such as the Huber Breaker, etc.; not a New York Yankees museum. God Bless.
ReplyDeleteOur area needs many things.... The most important is to be left... Getting the f--- out of this God foresaken hellhole.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand why so many people hold such a disrespect for our coal mining heritage. We cannot even get a stamp honoring it. Obviously, the blogger has no interest in the subject and comes off as quite an elitist in his views on it. Probably never even had a relative who worked down there.
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather brought his family to America in 1921 so he could work in the mines. I'm all for a coal miner stamp and don't understand why it hasn't been done yet. The Huber Breaker issue has moved on from a way to honor our heritage to the present owner trying to unload the place and make a few bucks off the taxpayers.
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