Proof. No Honor. No Future.

Words fail. The CHCA Board of Directors, apparently trying to thwart motions by community opponents who'd called for the resignations of President Tolis Vardakis and VP of Operations Dina Hitchcock, went into Executive Session last Thursday night, after promising not to. Board opponents were fearful that a vote to fire Local editor Pete Mazzaccaro would somehow be pushed through, despite Board assurances to the contrary.

This came after more than 75 angry members of the community refused to leave the Board meeting room at the CH Library, effectively ending the public portion of the proceedings. In "compensation," the Board returned from its Executive Session to listen to community complaints.

But Ms. Hitchcock left the building, therefore insuring that no procedural actions could be taken . A short time later, two policemen arrived, announcing that they were responding to a complaint of "trouble at the Library."

This is what the board has become: a mockery of democracy. After promising not to vote. After asking the community respect the board's integrity. After swearing they wouldn't cheat. There is no honor. Only shame.

CHCA board: Do you really believe anyone trusts you now? Do you think that anyone will take you at your word? Do you understand what each and every one of you represents? Probably not. But this video lets the world know what you are. They'll hear it when the board's betrayal is exposed at the 3:33 mark of the video.

Granted, a number of board members came back and sat through a "community meeting" which they moderated. But that was too little, too late. This sop to the community does not make up for what the board did.

This board has no mandate to continue leading the organization. Its only recourse now is to resign as a group. Nothing less would serve as a start in the rehabilitation process for the community. The board members who foisted this lie on the community, however, need to understand forgiveness is earned and not automatically granted. It will be a long time coming for the community to offer that forgiveness to these people. For some board members, it may never come. Their spots will not wash out.

Post script: We've been this route before. See this three-year-old post and consider how much worse things have gotten with what is loosely called "the current leadership." We should have seen this coming.

PPS: Hardly going viral (more like a paramecium), the video has popped up at PLEBO.

CHCA Red Carpet Watch

Were you there? If you weren't, you missed the fashion event of the season, I
for one wouldn't have missed it for all the Coal in Richard Snowden's Pants.

While certain celebs were absent, and more than a few excused themselves early
from the festivities, the February CHCA board meeting had MORE than enough
glamour to satisfy even the most jaded "board watcher." I, Edward of the Hill
will now reveal all-and discuss.

Item: Looking at least ten years younger was VP of Operations Dina Hitchcock.
What HAVE you done to yourself girlfriend??!! A new cut-a new color-a new you!
Taking her cue from notables like Ellen Burstyn, Dina has done what we in the
trade call "Age Appropriate" coloring. Rather than fight the eternal battle
AGAINST gray, she wisely has eliminated all traces of her former color to go
shockingly - and fabulously - white white white!! Now if you can only do something
about the red down vest, darling. Doesn't Michael J Fox need it for Back to the
Future IV?

I was DYING to confront the Wynmoor resident to ask who had "done" her for the
meeting, but she left early, just before two of Philadelphia's Finest showed up
at the party. I wonder if there was any link between her departure and their
arrival. Don't worry my Darlings, they weren't the FASHION POLICE.

Item: Looking VERY Presidential was Tolis Vardakis, "The Cretin that runs the
meetin'" - Yes, the Pres of the CHCA - from the exotic Isle of Crete. His dark blue
suit just PERFECT for his Continental Style of Governing. His Ivory hued cuffs
shot each time his gavel dropped - a VERY dramatic action. He's definitely a Man
who knows how to dress for the occasion.

Tolis's ensemble stayed long after Dina left, staying crisp and sexy. If only
the suit had been allowed to answer the audiences' questions, we wouldn't have
noticed that - it was empty!

Item: Mark Keintz, again dressed from the Boys Department of EJ
Korvettes - circa 1965 (Sweetie, I know Talbot's Petites closed up, but there must
be something you can do). After all, you're the Treasurer! How about a Chalk-Pin
Stripe Double Breasted - Very Larry Kudlow. Just watch the lapels; they MUST be
narrow enough to emphasize height-such as it is. Too wide and you look like
Nathan Detroit in a Junior High production of Guys and Dolls.

And of course, Walter Sullivan. How many sweater-vests do you own, my darling?
Thursday nights ensemble was striking. Very Lionel Barrymore. So authentic, right
down to the walker. But an Obama button? Listen to Papa W.S. When Creating THE
PERFECT ensemble of 1934, Accessorize, but don't Anachronize! Think Wendel
Wilke. You'll thank me later.

Frau Jane Becker, too modest to mention Kate Winslet's portrayal of her early
years, all in Gap for Death Squad. Pussycat, pussycat, isn't it about time you
let you be you? I mean if Dick can't play, then put it on display! Get it out
there girl! Get Teenagers Inc. to take you THRIFTING! I'M WAITING!

That's all for now, my darlings. More to come as we LOOK AT THE VIDEO TAPES.

Ed Feldman

The rule of law ...

These resolutions were passed by large (one vote lacking from unanimous) margins by members of the Chestnut Hill community on February 25, 2009, at a general meeting held at the Chestnut Hill Library, 8711 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia. They will be introduced at the Chestnut Hill Community Association board meeting on February, 26, 2009, at that same library at the 7:30 PM board meeting as scheduled and noted in the Chestnut Hill Local. All interested community members are urged to attend and discuss these items.

Motion 1:

That Dina Hitchcock, CHCA Vice President of Operations resign from the CHCA board of directors, effective immediately.

Cause:
1. That she ordered the sequestering of all ballots in the 2008 CHCA board of directors election, in violation of the CHCA by-laws. She admitted this act at a board meeting, and in the Local.

2. That she ordered the destruction of the same ballots, in violation of the CHCA by-laws. She admitted this act at a board meeting and in the Local.

3. That she moved a vote to fire Pete Mazzacaro, Editor of the Local, at an Executive Session of the CHCA board, without prior discussion at an open board meeting, notification of the membership, or the community.

Conclusion: For the CHCA to re-establish credibility and respect in the community, and to re-establish a secure and proper work environment for its' employees, the individual responsible for these acts must resign.

Motion 2:

That Tolis Vardakis, President of the CHCA resign, effective immediately.

Cause:
1. That he failed to exercise authority over Ms Hitchcock in the matter of her admitted election violations.

2. That he called an Executive session without proper prior public notification, a violation of the by-laws.

3. That he authorized three evaluations of Pete Mazzacaro, Editor of the Local, in three months, in violation of the by-laws that stipulates annual evaluations.

4. That he authorized a letter, entitled "Final Warning" that overrides the annual evaluation rule, without discussion or vote of the full board.

5. That he called an Executive Session for the sole and express purpose of firing Pete Mazzacaro, Editor of the Local.

6. That he ignored objections of board members to this vote. That he violated the CHCA memberships' and the communities' trust in allowing the vote to proceed in secret.

7. That he refused to inform board members of the issues to be discussed at an Executive session, which is their right.

Conclusion: To re-establish a secure and proper workplace environment for the employees of the Local, and for the CHCA to re-establish respect and credibility in the community, the individual responsible for these acts must resign.

The motions above were approved by an overwhelming majority, with one dissenting vote, by more than eighty concerned citizens at a public meeting held on February 25th, 2009.

Motion 3:

That the CHCA board, its executive committee, and its members refrain from evaluations, votes on termination of Local employees, or any other disciplinary action concerning the Local without full public notification and discussion for a period of one year. That employee evaluations are annual, as stipulated in the by-laws, we are asking the board to abide by its own rules.

This motion was unanimously agreed to by over eighty concerned citizens at a
public meeting held on February 25th, 2009.

Vote of confidence
A vote of confidence for Pete Mazzaccaro was unanimously approved at this public meeting on February 25th, 2009.

This transcript written and provided by Ed Feldman.

Fire on the Hill (again)

First, we take a look at how others see the Hill.

City Paper follows the continuing saga of the Local and the CHCA board in this week's issue. Go there to see what others are reading about life on the Hill.

"Paper Torn
The editorial staff at the Chestnut Hill Local clashes with the board that controls its fate.
by Andrew McGill
The Local's changed, and so has the CHCA. Longtime members say the association's board has come to be increasingly dominated by area businessmen, and former editors say they've felt the difference — in recent years, the small newsweekly has felt more pressure to quiet down controversial coverage and be more discerning in printing incendiary letters..."

Read it and consider what the situation has devolved into.

But there is hope. Last night more than 85 people met in Chestnut Hill where they talked about what a faction of the Chestnut Hill Community Association board is attempting to do with the Local and what they can do to preserve the independence and reputation of one of Philadelphia's last independent newspapers.

Of note, a unanimous resolution of support for Local editor Pete Mazzaccaro was passed, a strong statement that the community is more than a little pissed off at the machinations of the Gang That Couldn't Vote Straight. This followed two resolutions to be given the board state that the current CHCA board must stay out of Local affairs until after the current election and that employee evaluations must be suspended until next January. To be truthful, there was one "no" vote on the resolution regarding the board interjecting itself in Local affairs, but that vote did serve to highlight where the Gang is headed.

More on all that later (with resolution postings) as we gather video and notes on a sordid telling of "gifted" memberships, barbarians at the doors, hijacked meetings and and general disregard for a sense of decency. And, yes, there was a plant in the middle of the crowd to report back to the phone mafia, 2009 edition. And yes again, this is the same board culture that railroaded a sitting member out the door several years ago in an executive sessions guarded by rent-a-cops and a couple of real police officers.

Tonight it will attempt to start off with a call for Executive Session, purportedly to discuss "legal issues." Bylaws and needing a week to stick something on the agenda? Not here. No telling what will happen tonight but community members at the Wednesday meeting sent a resounding "NO" to the board on the question of continuing on this merry path.

Will the board try to start with an executive session at tonight's meeting at the Chestnut Hill Library at 7:30, locking out the community and railroading someone new? Go and see.

Show up at the CHCA board meeting tonight. Ask questions. See if you can get a "gift" membership. No voting required. Someone may do it for you.

I just wonder what the representatives of two different groups working on creating a new paper in Northwest Philadelphia think of the Hill after last night's meeting. Now that's a lob over the plate if we ever saw one.

Scott Alloway (who is on vacation at an undisclosed location)

Update. Feb. 26. 2:35 PM: A fascinating missive on the City Paper story was posted in their comments. In it, Joe the Friday accused someone of assault, suggested that the contents of a staff member's personnel file were open to perusal and subject to public discussion, offered a misreading of personal history, stated (not alleged) that the editor was "defrauding" the community, stated (not alleged) that the editor failed to document aforementioned alleged assault and smeared the editor. Christ on a crutch. What a show of unrestrained and gleeful ignorance. Be proud, Joe the Friday. You make the community's indictment stronger.

Spin 101 with Brian Tierney

The continuing story of the Inquirer/Daily News bankruptcy: Brian Teirney writes to the employees.

To: All PN Employees

Today we took an important strategic step toward restructuring our debt obligations. To do so we have voluntarily filed for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

The most important fact that you need to know about how the Chapter 11 filing affects you is that business will continue as usual. PNL will continue to operate under its current name and logo, and all operations as you know them will remain the same. We have asked the court to permit all salary and benefits, including pensions and 401(k) plans, to continue as usual. The filing has in no way changed your employment terms.

It is important that each of you is not distracted by our Chapter 11 filing. In fact the process exists to assist companies in resolving debt issues. For more than a century, since the U.S. Congress first established the Bankruptcy Code, it has been helping companies, including many of America's largest, to reorganize and thrive. The impetus for filing for reorganization is not due to problems with PNL's operations, but a need to repair our debt structure. The loss of revenue that has occurred as a result of the current recession is squeezing our operating profit which is now insufficient to service our debt load.

As a company, we have been hit with a perfect storm, including a dramatic decline in total revenue, the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression and a debt structure which is out of line with current economic reality. Despite these difficult circumstances, we have been working towards an operational structure that can flourish once we get the debt restructured.

Now more than ever, we need to continue the hard work that has already begun. I am grateful for, and proud of, your dedication and loyalty to our company and to our readers. In the last two and a half years, we have accomplished a tremendous amount. Our journalism is better than ever under the guidance of Bill Marimow and Michael Days. Our union relationships have moved from contentious to a relationship built on respect and trust. Our online web traffic at philly.com has swelled by 300%. Our new, nationally recognized programs, like MediaLab and ResearchLab, are connecting our marketing muscle - and the industry's most innovative approach - directly with advertisers' businesses. We've introduced new products like "I" Magazine and improved My Community Trend. We've been ranked as among the most efficient newspaper operators in the country. And, despite an overall decline in ad revenue, we have climbed from the bottom to the top of the pack in advertising revenue among the Top 25 markets.

It is important that you provide reassurance to the advertisers, readers and business contacts with whom you interact that PNL continues to do business as usual, remains a viable company and is only using Chapter 11 reorganization to restructure its debt. Your commitment is crucial to our ability to move forward seamlessly.

You should contact the Human Resources Department if you have any questions. We encourage you to give us the feedback that you are getting from your advertisers and readers and other business contacts so that we can assist you in providing this reassurance. To assist in such communications, as well as to answer any questions that you may have, we will distribute a "Frequently Asked Questions" memorandum for all employees shortly. In addition, we will provide regular updates on the timing and status of the Chapter 11 reorganization.

Thank you in advance for your continued hard work and dedication to our readers and advertisers.

Way to Go, Tierney

Well, ladies and gents, Philadelphia Media Holdings is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Inquirer and the Daily News will continue to be published, but who knows how long or in what form.

Below you will find the DN and Inky Guild president's letter to guild members in its entirety.

Dear Guild Member,

As you all should be aware, Philadelphia Media Holdings, (“PMH”), the owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer and The Daily News, has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection.

As hard as it may sound, please stay calm. The company is still in business, the papers are still publishing and you should still report for work.

Here is what this means to our members and how the filing affects our contract:

The Chapter 11 Bankruptcy process is intended to permit a company to continue in operation by restructuring its contractual and financial obligations. Because Guild members provide essential services, your wages and benefits under our collective bargaining agreement for services rendered, after the petition was filed, will continue to be honored.

Before PMH can take any action to modify any of its obligations under our contract, it must negotiate in good faith with the Guild and prove that the contract changes it seeks are necessary to permit the reorganization and prevent the liquidation of the enterprise.

The Guild Executive Board has already taken steps to assure that we obtain all of the bankruptcy filings. We will monitor the proceedings and take appropriate action to enforce our collective bargaining agreement and protect your rights.

Even though a bankruptcy petition has been filed:

* Our contract remains in full force;
* Your wages and benefits will continue to be paid;
* We retain the right to grieve and arbitrate contract disputes; and
* No unilateral changes to our contract can be implemented without prior negotiations.

If the Employer requests that we meet to negotiate contract modifications, we will, of course, immediately notify you of any such negotiations. As in all collective bargaining situations, we will bring any tentative agreements involving modifications/changes to our contract to the members for ratification. In addition, we will keep you advised of all developments during the bankruptcy, especially any events that involve the Guild contact, your rights, and the Employer’s obligations pursuant to it.

The Guild’s Executive Committee will convene in an emergency board meeting at 10 a.m. Monday and will issue further news as we have it. In the meantime, members may contact the Guild office at 215-928-0118 or Administrative Officer Bill Ross at 267-240-8540 or e-mail bross@local-10.com.

In solidarity,
Dan Gross
President
TNG/CWA 38010

And Now This ...

Boys, boys!

Arf, Arf: Reply to Dog Days

Ed. note: The following post by John Lombardi was an answer to two posts by Pete Mazzaccaro, writing as "Grim Reaper" and "Short Dog", which disparaged Lombardi's age, motives and prfessionalism in writing the "Chestnut Hill Yokels" column in Northwest Notebook. Mazzaccaro's posts were titled "Dog Days" and "Re Re", and were removed by sender in the middle of the night:

Just a couple of points, Pete, before we turn into the Print Mafia :

1) You said a few mild words on Ron Recko's behalf before the crunch came down on his Oversight Committee, but you didn't defend him with as much vigor as you show in defense of yourself , and you didn't say anything editorially after they blew the O.C. away.

2) Jen Katz's piece on Sanjiv Jain is a right-down-the-middle story like they run in Gannett, where you ought to be working -- they like geldings there. It ain't a hot expose, though, or a piece of "investigative journalism".

3) Here's how you start your "strong editorial", putting Jain in his place (for those readers who didn't get beyond your screed): "Local Developer Sanjiv Jain has done some remarkable work in Chestnut Hill. His portfolio of properties at the top of the Hill . . . house what are arguably the best group of new additions to Chestnut Hill in the last 10 years" . . .

I'd go on but it's time for my nap before the Oscars. Gotta see how Mickey Rourke makes out.

Old Dog (John Lombardi)

Thank You ...

On behalf of Dina, Tolis and the Gang, I want to thank all of our adversaries for beating the shit out of each other on these pages. The more you attack and defend each other, the easier it is for us to escape your scrutiny.

You people - (the left? - the "intellectuals'? - the creative types?) have always had this problem to one degree or another. While you all spend time micro-managing your positions and examining each other for impure motivations, we give orders, make sure they are obeyed, take control, and hold onto it like a pit bull holds your balls.

This is why it takes two hours for a group of Berkeley-ites to choose a restaurant. "Does it serve sustainable produce?" - "What about vegan selections?" " Is it wheelchair accessable"? - (Even if no one in the party is in one). When my turn comes, I, to register my "special needs" request, I always say, "Let's just go get Chinks!" - Then they leave me alone - for the rest of the night - good.

So keep looking up each others asses, kids - It makes it so much easier for us to keep shitting all over you.

Thanks
Pit Bull MaMa & her bitches

Chestnut Hill Yokels: Avoidance 'Journalism'

by John Lombardi

At a time when its future is hanging in the balance; when yet another vote on the editor's job is skedded for yet another backroom Exec Committee stab session Feb. 26th; when a much-needed Feb. 25th Town Meeting at the Library will try to rev enough community outrage to finally blow the Hitchcock/Vardakis/Keintz Perplex out of 8434's back door -- this week's Local comes online late Friday afternoon, crammed with stories, editorials, op eds & letters about -- journalism!

But nothing on its own dire situation. Rootin' Tootin' Local staffer and self-furloughed Northwest Notebook blogger Joel "Braveheart" Hoffman does one of his specialized business-longies about poor Karl Biemuller, former editor of the combined Germantown Courier / Mt. Airy Express weeklies, on the road again after a 10-year stint giving Yardley's JRC publishers a reason to hang some ads on the bones of their formerly solid papers. Then the editor chimes in with a looong editorial pondering the vagaries of print weeklies in the Appomattox of their time, confusedly mourning their end -- victims of the Old Technology mindset in the new digital age, he implies . . . but then, whoops -- catching himself and remembering that he's looking for a job . . .So he reassures readers that "Northwest Philadelphia is a vibrant neighborhood full of interesting personalities, political intrigue and rich history . . . literally a gold mine for stories."

Right. You can hear the corporate PR sonar. But where has the Local been on covering the sins of, say, Donna Reed Miller in Germantown, a story which is, though maybe a little off the demographic for CHCA Exec. Committee poltroons, a true piece of Northwest Philly's "gold mine for stories" provenance? Or an investigative piece on former mayor John Street's doings in the deal that helped Germantown Settlement acquire the Germantown YWCA , with Ms. Miller? Or an examination of realty problems in Mt. Airy and G'Town in the wake of the current subprime quake? Or maybe a stab at hooking up Michele Obama with some of her husband's local supporters in a community print roundtable at this historically important moment for readers across the race spectrum . . . Instead of republishing a mediocre story about candidate Obama's visit to G'Town from last summer? Or failing to say anything editorially when the first black president was elected? "The demand for the services of a competent paper has been high," the ed. maunders on. "That demand is often greater than we can service."

Uh-huh. But don't despair, he continues: "I have no doubt that something will replace the Express & Courier. And . . . [it] will likely be better."

Hmmmm. The front page is further taken up with a long encomium for Eric Mayberry, the publisher of the Philadelphia edition of the Metro, an international weekly throwaway gourmet baloney sandwich for "upwardly mobile urban professionals," designed to be read in "14 to 24 minutes," while you're riding from, say, Chestnut Hill to Center City on the R8 SEPTA, trying to ignore North Philly. The ed. trotted down to see Eric in his corporate offices in Penn Square with their "towering view of City Hall" -- pretty heady stuff after the ed.'s own pygmy view of R. Snowden's rotting apartment house across the street at 8431 Germantown Ave. -- ahhh, the joys of being young, positive, business-savvy, and having a post-Old Technology mindset.

Mayberry's been living in Chestnut Hill for eight years, so why the puff job now? Well, he's a postmodern publisher and a likely employer if the main gig the ed.'s reportedly trying for here in the Northwest doesn't pan out. Eric wears a black suit and black tee-shirt to the office, shaves and buffs his head like Michael Jordan used to, and has the kinds of views about journalism the ed. likes to hear:
'Free newspapers are like Japanese cars. Just enough features that people will use them, not all the bells & whistles that killed our auto industry. A society that's not [seriously informed ] is a society at risk, but most people just want to know if the Eagles won last night, stats, what stocks are up & down, who died that I know of . . . At the end of the day it's a business. 'If you talk to most traditional journalists they laugh at what we do. The problem with journalists is that they still think they get to make the choice. But it's the market that makes the choice.'

This is exactly the same thinking that Hitchcock and her Exec Com. poltroons have been trying to beat the ed. over the head with since they disbanded former president Ron Recko's Oversight Committee back in '07. The O. C. was born in the wake of the awful Sturdivant Affair in '05, to keep the choice-making up to the editor. Yet the Local , under the present ed., breathed not a word protesting its obliteration. It hasn't reported or editorialized against any of the squeezes against its own freedom to choose, though it's let Op Ed and letter writers defend it with varying frequency. It hasn't produced any investigative work of note, except a piece on the closing of Caruso's Market by the grad-schoolish Mr. Hoffman last summer. I tried to counsel Ms. Hitchcock in the blog last month that the ed. was easily handled if she'd just stop barking at him. Hold out possibilities -- the publisher's job, so that he could get out from under all those moral deadlines. Business opportunities with Sanjiv Jain (another guy he refused to investigate), somewhere down the line . . .

All in vain. And the paper's defenders ignoring the paradoxes of its actual performance, in order to keep the whole circus swirling . . . "It's amusing, you have to admit that!" one enthusiast on my side of the line insisted last week.

"Just how weird can you take it, brother?" the late Hunter Thompson used to ask, when explaining his disgusted resignation from a corrupt Rolling Stone back in the 80s. "Before your love will crack?"

Journal Register Go Boom

From MSNBC:

Journal Register files for bankruptcy protection
Stock will be canceled, lenders will control newspaper company
"The Journal Register Co., publisher of the New Haven (Conn.) Register and other newspapers, filed for Chapter 11 protection Saturday, joining at least two other publishers that turned to bankruptcy court in recent months amid slumping advertising revenue and circulation.

The Yardley, Pa.-based company said in a statement posted Saturday on its Web site that it expects to operate as usual during restructuring and didn't anticipate any interruption in business."

But too late for Mt. Airy, Germantown, Conshie and other communities.


Scott Alloway

A Motion for CHCA

Motion: That CHCA Vice President of Operations Dina Hitchcock resign from the CHCA board, effective immediately.

• Cause: Ms Hitchcock admitted violating CHCA election rules concerning the 2008 board election.

That she ordered the sequestering and destruction of all ballots, thus violating the CHCA rules concerning ballot availability. She admitted these acts at a board meeting and in the Local.

These acts have cast impropriety over the election, the board and the entire CHCA.

For these entities to regain any sense of authority and standing in the neighborhood, the person who has admitted responsibility must resign.

Motion: That CHCA President Tolis Vardakis resign from the CHCA board, effective immediately.

• Cause: That he exercised no authority over Ms. Hitchcock in her violation of election rules, allowing the ballots to be destroyed, and initiated no action against Ms. Hitchcock after she admitted her acts.

That he violated CHCA bylaws by presiding over an Executive session that was held without prior notification as dictated in the by-laws, for the express and sole purpose of firing the Editor of the Local.

That this meeting was contrary to CHCA by-laws was noted by more than one attendee at the meeting. Their warnings were ignored, and the meeting and vote continued.

For the CHCA to regain the respect and confidence of its employees the person responsible for these acts must resign.

Scaling Mt. Airy

There's a race to fill the void left in Mt. Airy, Germantown and other communities by JRC's shuttering the newspapers covering those areas.

Philly.com reports:

State rep, civics, publisher would replace shut Philly-area weeklies
"A state representative, an independent Bucks County weekly and a Mt. Airy civic group are among those working on plans to replace weekly newspapers closed by Yardley-based Journal Register Co. recently."

And that report doesn't include a private venture being explored by two people with an interest in a northwest newspaper. Note, these are not just Northwest Philadelphia papers we're talking about.

Stay tuned.

Scott Alloway

An (undeserved) clarification

The intent of Springtime for Dina was not primarily to compare the CHCA to the Nazi party. Please, the CHCA could never be that well-organized.

The larger point is that the CHCA executive board members are acting in the worst play ever produced. Their supporters are the clueless audience, who, for whatever reason, seem to think they're watching a top-notch production. The rest of us are watching the farce, the larger nauseating narrative.

It has come to my attention that CHCA administrative assistant Noreen Spota is especially upset about the parody. Her part in Springtime for Dina (Hitler) was that of Ulla, the producers' secretary/receptionist, who has a bit part in the play. Satire is too often lost on the clueless.

Smooches,

Dr. Josef Mengele

Chestnut Hill residents' meeting on Feb 25

Chestnut Hill Community Meeting

Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009

7-9 p.m.

Chestnut Hill Library

If you are concerned about the current pressures being exerted on the Chestnut Hill Local Editor and Staff by some members of the Chestnut Hill Community Association’s Administration, come let the community hear your views.

The Chestnut Hill Community Association board needs to hear from you.

All will have the opportunity to speak.

The meeting will be moderated by Dr. Joseph Pizzano.

This is not a CHCA board meeting but a gathering of residents concerned about the direction in which the leadership of the current board is taking the CHCA.

I Learned Many Things in This Room

One of the great, confusing, pleasures in this great, confusing world is that of listening to Walter Sullivan speak. The bull fiddle baritone of pear shaped tones propelled out of a similar silhouette like the giant intergalactic beetles of Starship Troopers belching flaming ether into the Cosmos.

Could this latest blast of gaseous obfuscation from Foghorn Leghorn mean what I think it means? The ambulance chaser who, like many a JV debater, once discovered that the more clauses, phrases, qualifiers and articles you put in front of any actual Statement or Idea, the better your chances of the listener not realizing that the Statement or Idea has no merit, no truth, or no meaning. "Gee, he must be really smart, I didn't understand him at all."

By the time we got to the Varsity, we saw through that shit, and I won many a match, making the judge laugh as I eviscerated my opponents on style alone. Those at the other end of the intellectual spectrum from the one impressed by such syntactical road-blockery are often prejudiced against the argument for much the same reason. "With all that bullshit in his argument, he must have nothing to say."

And Walter rarely has anything to say, that's exactly why he takes so looooong to say it. Shitty lawyers often sound like Walter. They convince dopes - and yes, that includes some judges, but mostly dopey clients - that if your syntax is impenetrable, you must be good. But listen to the really good lawyers. You can read transcripts of their arguments made before the Supreme Court. The issues are sometimes technical, but they're always presented CLEARLY, understandable, without the meaningless extras.

But does the use of Walter as wingman to the "Keintz-Rossman Warning" (Robert Ludlum, take note) mean that he has regained his long-ago position as CHCA board lawyer-defender-explainer? As I recall, this traditional position hasn't been held by Walter for YEARS, not since Maxine!

Jeremy Heep, straight outta Madmen, held it until Tia and he, the Hills' Mrs. and Mr. Wallace Simpson, got wind of the various legal shitstorms barreling across the plains and decided that they should exhibit a conspicuous lack of community involvement in their resumes during these unsettled times.

Then came Ed Berg, who wore less formal attire to meetings. Good thing; he was never the smooth operator Jeremy was. The water Ed was carrying was much more likely to slosh and splash his J. Crew.

While Ed was never much to contend with, he got out too. And you may remember that while I opined that the reason was cover, he maintained it was because of logistics. He was going to New Jersey. And I've never heard of anyone in the CHCA not living on The Hill, have you?

This musing of mine has been presented as a KEY VIOLATION of Pete's Editorial Duties. And I've never heard of a Newspaper with an opinion expressed in it that was disagreed with, have you?

So, is it now back to Walter? This, optimist that I am, gives me hope. Because if the best they can do is to bring this thing out of mothballs to make "gravy-tas" laden arguments, it shows that they're pretty much out of gas - the perfect opportunity for Uncle Walt. Resignations, escapes, anyone with an ounce of talent gone - the walls are closing in on the Inner Circle.

An "official letter" delivered by two stooges who haven't bought a suit since Reagan was President. A Dilbert straight from Central Casting and Philly's oldest and weirdest Young Republican. This is the best they've got left. The guys nobody picked for choose-up stickball - even if they brought their own bat.

Soon, the Goebbels children will be given their bedtime candy, while the true believers will unfurl maps to plan imagined counter-offensives, while the very old and the very lame fight on above, in the ruins.

I have never written a more apt metaphor than this: The CHCA board is a WOUNDED ANIMAL, and while we have all heard that wounded animals are dangerous, they are also EASIER TO KILL. It's interesting that while humans always reference the danger, animals who prey, never hesitate, and killing animals is their business.

So, as a resident of a certain Parisian cemetery would croon, "the time for hesitation is through." Our best chance is NOW. Election crime in broad daylight, admitted to by a woman whose personality is incapable of engendering sympathy in others, the walking Hate Crime that is Rob Remus, the Joke that is Mark Kientz, and now another illegal meeting/court marshal - but with a surprise ending.

"The Warning" indicates monthly votes on Pete - whether he's at the Meeting or not - until they get the vote they want, or he resigns. We must act first. I may even have some surprises of my own.

Ed (I sleep NEAR the fishes) Feldman

The Shadow War: Blue Dog Edition

On February 4, 2009, Chestnut Hill Community Association directors Mark Keintz and Bob Rossman delivered a new ultimatum from a CHCA board faction in the form of a "final warning" to Chestnut Hill Local editor Pete Mazzaccaro. This despite losing a 14-12 vote - in secret only days earlier - to summarily fire him for doing his job.

Even though two of the cabal that seeks to control the Local have resigned since the vote, even though the entire set of actions is in direct violation of the CHCA by-laws and, finally, without any sort of mandate, let alone a plurality of support by the true owners of the Local - the members of the community association - this group insists on forging ahead, determined to silence the one organization deliberately created as a watchdog for the community against the very sort of machinations being executed by a select group of the current board.

Preceding this were a series of exchanges among board members, notable in their not addressing problems but looking to lay the blame on staff of the Local for the troubles created by the clumsy interventions of certain board members.

A telling comment came from Walter Sullivan, Philadelphia Democratic Party honcho and newly-minted board member. Sullivan said in an e-mail to selected parties:

"I do not challenge their right to say on their blog what they feel. But those feelings and attitudes among our employees need give us deep concern. Yes, we have a problem with the attitudes of our employees. For example, just read the Alloway/Joel Hoffman/Lombardi Northwest Notebook blog at: http://chnotebook.blogspot.com. [Ed Note: You're there. Don't go looking for it.] Yes, we must find ways to address and ameliorate those concerns. I do not believe that the Bylaws are the vehicle for doing that."

Apparently not, when the executive committee plays by Calvinball rules. It's far easier to meet in secret and plan to pick off those who provide oversight on an individual basis

After a short interval, interrupted by said departures of board directors Learned and Hickey (both expressing legal liability concerns and unaware of the failure of the 'just following orders' defense), Keintz and Rossman carried out their mission like good soldiers.

But we digress. It is this foray into revisionist history (or false memory) that allows Sullivan to offer the stunning excuses to justify the process he endorses. In the missive, he writes:

At the January 22 Bylaws Committee meeting, someone said that the employees felt that they were oppressed. Yes, I then stated that while at least some and perhaps all of them may feel that they are oppressed, they are not oppressed, and that to my certain knowledge one Board member and one former Board member, if not others, had for several years been stirring up among them that feeling of oppression, alienation, and resentment. That dated back at least to the events of late 2005-2006 involving Jim Sturdivant's resignation. It was unfortunate that Jim resigned, for it would have been far better had he brought his concerns to the Board which I know would have vindicated his editorial control. The three people (all employees who naturally enough saw his proposed editorial before publication) and who then counseled him to revise it may have or have not erred, but as co-employees their recommendations scarcely comprised an infringement of editorial control. There was a suspicion that Maxine as President was somehow behind this. Were that true, that would have been such an intolerable infringement. She insisted that she was not, and I have no reason to disbelieve her. That at least, if not before, was where this feeling of oppression, alienation, and resentment among some or all of the employees began."

This comes from some who started his epistle with "Nobody in CHCA but a fool could not be a Friend of the Local, the publication of which is among the most important of our functions if not arguably the most important. As to myself, a lifelong left liberal and supporter of labor (i.e., employees), that goes without saying."

This is a friend of Labor? This is someone who, when contending with labor issues in his own domain, apparently resorts to the old muscle tactics of 19th century industrialists. This man sits as a member of a Democratic Party committee? Can you say Blue Dog? There are surely some Progressives who could better represent working interests. As Democrats, we need to consider our options. Walter Sullivan is no longer an option for the Democratic Party.

Scott Alloway
Registered Democrat

Chestnut Hill Yokels: The Final Warning!

by John Lombardi


Herr Keintz and Frau Rossman dogtrotted up the steep steps at 8434 Germantown Ave., in excellent shape from their daily messenger-boy duties for untergruppenfuhrer Dina Hitchcock, and did a sharp left-face through the vestibule, marching in lockstep and smiling smugly. They were carrying an envelope from CHCA Oberarzt Tolis Vardakis to the Local 's editor, just short of a week after the Board had voted 14 to 12 not to fire him. But here they came again, as relentless as vampire bats: "We'll see if Chestnut Hill Shorty is so cocky now! " Keintz hissed to Rossman. "Jahvol!" R snapped, clicking his heels.

They entered the office and thrust the envelope at the editor, who sat behind his desk, recovering from the February 4th Local close: "Was ist los?!" Chestnut Hill Shorty demanded. After two-and-a-half years of dealing with the Executive Committee, his German was getting pretty good. "It's the Final Warning!" Keintz snarled. "You have repeatedly exercised poor judgement!" "And your editorial leadership is substandard," piped Rossman. The editor read the memo, informing him that he was now subject to monthly performance reviews, that he could be fired for cause "at any time", that he'd shown "poor managerial leadership in personnel matters", and refused to act in an executive capacity "in connection with" these refusals.

In English, that translates to: Shorty should somehow have anticipated and stopped Jimmy Pack from irritating Board member Rob Remus back in November, thus causing Remus to have allegedly threatened Jimmy, which in turn allegedly led to Pack's firing, and the whole subsequent mess since then! A reasoning sequence to stagger Roman logicians like Boethius and Severinus. Plus, there were a lot of typos, misspellings and factual schmutz in the Local every week . . . The Final Warning was what low-paid assistant D.A.'s in South Philly call "a grab-bag indictment": "Let's throw as much crap at the bum as we can, and see what sticks and what slides off . . ."

"This is horseshit!" Shorty told the pair forthrightly. "If I didn't have to be distracted all the time, dealing with fools like you, I could concentrate more on my job! Didja ever see the corrections blocks in the New York Times? The Washington Post? The New Yorker?! Human beings make mistakes! Shit happens!"

"Good executives don't make excuses," Keintz insisted. "Please reply promptly to the EC's memo!" Leadership uber alles," Rossman simpered. And moved a little behind Keintz .

Shorty stood up. He circled around his desk: "Okay gentlemen, mir tut der kopf -weh (You're giving me a headache). . . Raus! Raus!"
They broke for the stairs.

***

If only he'd been that forceful earlier. California Fats, a community goad who'd moved away last summer just after things had gotten really bad in the Spring, when gruppenfuhrer Hitchcock and some EC cronies and enablers had fouled up the CHCA elections and then tried to cover it up, had been telling the editor to be tough from the beginning. But things had gone really wrong last May. That's when some votes had apparently been bought, and the evidence spirited away from the CHCA offices and destroyed, all steps that should have vacated the election results and automatically removed Hitchcock, who is the real brains behind President Vardakis, from the Board. Katie Worrall and Caroline Hausermann, two old holdovers from the Hill's WASP entitled class, should have been censured . . .

Chestnut Hill Shorty, made a good start in this direction by exposing the election-snatching, calling for a State Investigator to look into the matter, and allowing Op Ed columnists and letter writers to hammer the Executive Committee. But by July, Hitchcock, Vardakis, Keintz, Lou Aiello, Ned Mitinger and all the usual suspects were reviewing his job performance again, though CHCA by-laws call for only one review a year, in January. Shorty was suddenly playing defense. The Op Ed and aggressive letter writers were effectively cut to a trickle. No editorials or news stories from the editor or his much-praised staff reported or protested the reversed situation to readers, and no further inquiries were made to the State. All by way of taking the heat off the boss.

In August, Hitchcock appointed Herr Keintz and soldat Remus to join her on an Ad Hoc committee to "investigate" the reasons for the Local's shrinking revenues and circulation -- 6300 copies sold weekly after 50 years in business, down from a high of 12,000 in the 80s, in a demographic that should support 50,000 readers; six editors in the last nine years, etc. -- but neglected to include the editor or ad director as participants! And again, the editor said nothing, despite the fact that he has a contract that guarantees his job through April, and the fact that Hitchcock's moves are always wrong , and procedurally if not legally actionable, in the sense of making it possible to call for her immediate ouster. California Fats has often said that an aroused Chestnut Hill could put the rather Teutonic, Karl Rovian, Dick Cheneyish present Exec Committee out of power in one night, at the next board meeting, say, by standing up in unison and booing them off the stage.

It's the editor's job as a journalist -- which is something quite different from being a small entrepreneur, though it includes plain business sense -- to inform the readership of the extent of the Hill's terminal problems . The CHBA has always exerted extraordinary pressure on the CHCA, through people like Stewart Graham (said to be related to Maxine Dornemann!), Richard Snowden, Sanjiv Jain and their various minions. And the current Exec Committee is unusually inclined to accommodate it. That's why Frau Rossman was goose-stepping with Herr Keintz when the Final Warning was unfurled at 9:30 a.m., on February 5th.

What's needed now is an editorial staff that will stand up and fight, and not in little spurts that die down in the face of the cold, unprincipled will of the EC; and a CHCA Board that will support a truly free press, before people forget what that means.

Springtime for Dina: A Musical

CHORUS:
Chestnut Hill was having trouble
What a sad, sad story
Needed a new leader to restore
Its former glory
Where, oh, where was she?
Where could that broad be?
We looked around and then we found
The broad for you and me
LEAD TENOR DIRECTOR:
And now it's...
Springtime for Dina and Chestnut Hill
The CHCA is happy and gay!
We're marching to a faster pace
Look out, here comes the master race!
Springtime for Dina and Chestnut Hill
Highland's a fine land once more!
Springtime for Dina and Chestnut Hill
Watch out, Jim Thorpe
We're going on tour!
Springtime for Dina and Chestnut Hill...
CHORUS:
Look, it's springtime
LEAD TENOR DIRECTOR:
Winter for Germantown and Mt. Airy
CHORUS AND DIRECTOR:
Springtime for Dina and Chestnut Hill!
CHORUS:
Springtime! Springtime!
Springtime! Springtime!
Springtime! Springtime!
Springtime! Springtime!
DIRECTOR:
Come on, Hillers
Go into your dance!
DIRECTOR "TOLIS":
I was born in Crete und that is why they call me Tolis.
DIRECTOR "KEINTZ":
Don't be stupid, be a smarty, come and join the Dina party!
NOREEN:
The Fuhrer is coming, the Fuhrer is coming, the Fuhrer is coming!
DIRECTOR #1:
Heil Dina!
DIRECTOR #2:
Heil Dina!
LEAD TENOR DIRECTOR:
Heil Dina!
Springtime for Dina and Chestnut Hill
ALL:
Heil Dina!
DINA:
Heil myself
Heil to me
I'm the WASP
Who's out to change our history
Heil myself
Raise your hand
There's no greater
Dictator in the land!
Everything I do, I do for you!
CHORUS:
Yes, you do!
DINA:
If you're looking for a war, here's Local War Two!
Heil myself
Raise your martini
CHORUS:
Jawohl!
DINA:
Ev'ry hotsy-totsy Dinasaur stand and cheer
CHORUS:
Hooray!
Ev'ry hotsy-totsy Dinasaur...
DINA:
Heil myself!
CHORUS:
Ev'ry hotsy-totsy Dinasaur...
DINA:
Heil myself!
CHORUS:
Ev'ry hotsy-totsy Dinasaur...

DINA:
...stand and cheer!
THE HEIL-LOs:
The Fuhrer is causing a furor!
He's got those Pirates on the run
You gotta love that wacky hun!
The Fuhrer is causing a furor
They can't say "no" to her demands
They're freaking out in foreign lands
He's got the whole world in her hands
The Fuhrer is causing a furor!
DINA:
I was just a data miner
No one more obscurer
Got a phone call from the CHCA
Told me I was Fuhrer
Chestnut Hill was blue
What, oh, what to do?
Hitched up my pantsuit
And conquered the Avenue
Now WASPand's smiling through!
But it wasn't always so easy...
It was 1932. Recko was working the Big Room and I...
I was playing the lounge. And then I got my big break.
Somebody burned all the ballots. And, would you believe it?
They made me Chancellor. Chancellor!
It ain't no myst'ry
If it's politics or hert'ry
The thing you gotta know is
Ev'rything is show biz
Heil myself
Watch my show
I'm the Hill's Cruella DeVille
Dontcha know
We are crossing borders
The new world order is here
Make a great big smile
Ev'ryone sieg heil to me
Wonderful me!
And now it's...
CHORUS:
Springtime for Dina and Chestnut Hill
Two-face's the new face today

DINA:
Springtime!
Two-face!
CHORUS MEN:
Ballots burning sky high again
CHORUS:
WASPland is on the rise again
DINA & CHORUS:
Springtime for Dina and Chestnut Hill
Maxine is strutting once more
Springtime for Dina and Chestnut Hill
DINA:
Means that...
CHORUS:
Soon we'll be going...
DINA:
We've got to be going...
CHORUS:
You know we'll be going....
DINA:
You bet we'll be going...
DINA & CHORUS:
You know we'll be going to war!!

On the report about the Mt. Airy newspaper

If the report below is true, a unique opportunity is presented. A Northwest Weekly, covering the region, can fill the void. We have the staff, the advertising and its' only competition will be the Chestnut Hill Sociopath, staffed by a consortium of Pit-bull rescuers, real estate thugs, and Smith College lithium freaks.

Ed (Jed Leland) Feldman

Down and Out in the Northwest

Three sources have said the Mt. Airy Times/Express and the Germantown Courier have folded. PhillyBlog.com has a report from Brian Rudnick, a correspondent with the papers, that says the same. There's a vacuum, and nature abhors them.

JRC also folded a batch of weeklies in New York State, reports indicate.

UPDATE: The Daily News has a story on the Courier, confirming the death of the papers.

Scott Alloway

Tales of Hoffmann

Joel...

You don't need to cite your academic credentials to defend yourself against board attacks, and you don't need to change your subject matter. You need do only two things:
1. Consult with an attorney, your professors, and an association of professional journalists, and cite the rules covering your blog; in the Local and here. If you have already done so, do it again.
2. Then write the truth.

Further, if by stating "out of respect for Pete" you infer that any change in your tone at this time is going to make things easier for Pete, or the Local, think again. I'll tell you what I have told Pete repeatedly: No matter what you do, no matter how "reasonable" your words, THEY ARE GOING TO TRY AND SCREW YOU. ONLY COMPLETE AND UTTER FEALTY AND OBEDIENCE WILL SATISFY THEM.

And frankly, after what you have already done, the acts of contrition you would have to submit to would have you jailed in thirty-two states, and any retreat on your part will be viewed by them as a sign of weakness and embolden them to screw you harder and deeper.

Moreover, "reasonableness," "civility," the following of rules by their adversaries is exactly what they count on, what they insist upon. It has served the interests of the board for years.

For as long as as WE are constrained by decorum and the by-laws that they they regularly disregard, they will NEVER LOSE. When only one side follows the rules, guess who wins?

Please watch the video again.



I cited Dina with offenses that would gotten her arrested in another venue. And what did "attorney" Ed Berg address? I wasn't being polite.

But by not being polite, I got heard, and every day I get e-mail from incredulous viewers that ask me, "Why aren't these people in jail?"

What you didn't see in that clip was Anne Spaeth being frozen out, by a board vote, from sitting on a by-laws committee. By-laws that she had helped to write. After that vote, I yelled "How dare you exclude Anne!" As Tolis gaveled me down, others in the audience, some attending their first board meeting, spoke up in support of Anne.

By the rules, they were all out of order. The boards' faces were shocked at this act of mass defiance, and for the first time I had ever seen, the board backed down - immediately - and reversed their decision. Anne got on the committee. No more than 15 angry people called their bluff - and won - proving once again that bullies are just cowards when confronted.

Mob Rule? Maybe, but when fighting tyrants you must use what works.

I know the following as well as I know my own name.

IF EVERYONE WHO SEES THE BOARD AS ETHICALLY BANKRUPT - AS SELF SERVING, AS TYRANNICAL, AS DESTRUCTIVE TO THE HILL - SHOWED UP AT A MEETING AND ROSE AS ONE, THE LOCAL'S PROBLEMS WOULD BE OVER, as would the tenure of admitted election-fixer Dina Hitchcock.

Those who have held the Democratic process hostage would leave quietly. I GUARANTEE IT.

Besides, they're trying to get the votes to fire Pete at the next meeting as we speak. Delivery boys Keintz and Rossman proved that this week. And if they do, only the angry presence of Pete's supporters can save him - and you.

But just so you know that even I can sometimes be reticent about language. I'll admit that I changed some of the words in this piece - particularly a more descriptive one that I changed to "screw" earlier.

So I'll close with a line from a great American writer, one who is taught in Universities around the world, Henry Miller:

"THERE'S A BONE IN MY PRICK SIX INCHES LONG.
I'LL SHOOT HOT BOLTS INTO YOU."

Thanks - I needed that - Nothing personal Joel - Mongo straight.
Ed (actually eight and a half) Feldman

Take back the streets

Join West Mt. Airy Neighbors on Thursday, February 19, from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at Summit Presbyterian Church, corner of Greene and Westview Streets. This meeting centers around Taking Back Our Streets - Cars, People, and Pavement with special guest Gary Toth of Project for Public Spaces. Come learn about how the community can develop a street network that is safer and has less congestion, while also promoting walking, bicycling, transit, healthy watersheds and the use of streets as public spaces for social interaction and community life.

WMAN's Quality of Life Committee's mission is twofold: to facilitate neighborhood responses to a variety of issues which affect residents' quality of life, and to pool knowledge, resources, and networks to work effectively in promoting public safety throughout West Mt. Airy.

Signing off, sort of

Well, kids, since the CHCA executive committee has cited my blogging as one example of Pete's "substandard" management, I'm going to stop writing about the CHCA on here. I'm doing it out of respect for Pete, not for the executive committee. For the record, I never thought my blogging interfered with my fairness as a reporter. In fact, it has made me extra cautious about what I write for the paper.

By the way, my professionalism has been questioned since I came to the Local, but it had little to do with my training or past performance as a journalist. Within three days of my start date, two CHCA employees and one board member accused me of biased and inaccurate reporting of the state attorney general's investigation of the CHCA and the community fund. I had read very little about CHCA politics before coming to the paper and nothing about the investigation. Nonetheless, I was slandered.

I will have my master's of journalism degree from Temple University in May, by the way. My cumulative GPA is a 3.96. My head is hardly up my own ass, but I know what I'm doing. I fully encourage the executive committee to call my professors and ask them what they think of my work.

To those of you outside the classroom who think I'm doing a good job: thank you. The main reason I can motivate myself to write despite all of the drama and anxiety is because I want to give readers a reason to pick up the paper.

Anyway, I will continue to write for the blog, but in a different capacity. Until then, enjoy this:

And now for something a little ...

Well everybody...

Here I am! I will use this blog to print my work not published in the Local. My resistance to writing here was due to my opinion that blogs are like toilet walls - limited readership. The broadest possible readership has always been part of my tactics to counter the secrecy of those who use it to further their ends. The use of exclusivity is as much the enemy as those who use it. The circle-jerk that passes for discourse on so many computer screens reminds me too much of...well the CHCA board.

But now that I have been informed by those well known reliable sources that fledgling felons like Mark Keintz, (not sure of the spelling-don't care) and Dina (Rosa Kleb) Hitchcock read these words. Well.. that makes it all worthwhile. If there's anything as much fun as beating the shit out of assholes in public, it's ridiculing them in print. And that's jest whut ah'm a-aimin to do padner.

So enjoy every word. My exposure of their deeds will still take place in the Local, until I get them or they get Pete. But this will be the place for the really personal, yet satrical attacks. And since, as my attorney tells me, that public officials+satire=legal immunity, the sky is pretty much the limit. Stay tuned for LOTS of in-depth, personal profiles of all the players in the production-Chestnut Hill-No Sex Please-Corruption Makes Us Hot.

Ed (can I say fuck?) Feldman

More presses go silent

Philly.com reports another group of JRC papers are history.

"Journal Register Co., Yardley, which publishes the Delaware County Daily Times and six other Philadelphia-area daily newspapers, has been quietly closing some of its Pennsylvania weekly newspapers, according to employees," the post noted. Several of these papers abut Chestnut Hill.

This is interesting: the Roxborough Review is moving into the Montgomery Newspapers group.

Journal Register News keeps tabs on the slow death of the company.

Also worth checking is a newspaper project, self-described as follows: "NewspaperProject.org was launched in 2009 by a small group of newspaper executives to support a constructive exchange of information and ideas about the future of newspapers."

They're melting, melting ...

Another vacant window coming to Germantown Avenue in Chestnut Hill. H/T to a post at PhillyBlog which notes the April closing of the Melting Pot. A company e-mail link is provided as the source.

Never went there, so no food review. Still miss Chautauqua, a restaurant on the second floor some 20 years or so ago.

Just beat it ...

There are any number of musical sonnets to use to illustrate the recent actions of Chestnut Hill Community Association with the giving of the "final warning" to the Local Editor-in-Chief. One could be that Rocky tune we know so well, The Final Countdown by Europe but I more prone to go with the energy and lyrics of the song of Beat It by Michael Jackson. It’s something I could see Ed Feldman jamming out to, so on with the song. Hum to yourself and think of your favorite board member.

They told him don’t you ever come around here
Don’t wanna see your face, you better disappear
The fires in their eyes and their words are really clear
So beat it, just beat it.

You better run, you better do what you can
Don’t wanna see no blood, don’t be a macho man
You wanna be tough, better do what you can
So beat it, but you wanna be bad

Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it

No one wants to be defeated
Showin’ how funky strong is your fighter
It doesn’t matter who’s wrong or right
Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it, Just beat it…..

They’re out to get you, better leave while you can
Don’t wanna be a boy, you wanna be a man
You wanna stay alive, better do what you can

So beat it, just beat it, beat it, beat it.

You have to show them that you’re really not scared
You’re playin’ with your life, this ain’t no truth or dare
They’ll kick you, then they beat you,
Then they’ll tell you its fair
So beat it, but you wanna be bad

Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin’ how funky strong is your fighter
It doesn’t matter who’s wrong or right

Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Showin’ how funky strong is your fighter

It doesn’t matter who’s wrong or right
Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
It doesn’t matter who’s wrong or right

Just beat it, beat it
Beat it, beat it, beat it

Yours Truly,
R

DFHs invading Hill

A Taste of Mt. Airy is how the Philadelphia Inquirer describes the impending opening of a Chestnut Hill outpost for Weavers Way in a front-page story of the newspaper on Feb. 3.

"Any time the Chestnut Hill Local publishes a slightly left-of-center opinion piece, editor Peter Mazzaccaro can expect complaints and, occasionally, a particularly pointed putdown: 'You must be a Weavers Way shopper.'

Translation: You must be one of those Birkenstock-wearing, granola-eating socialists from Mount Airy's Weavers Way Co-op. As opposed to the more socially correct, politically conservative, staid inhabitants of Chestnut Hill."

Socially correct... Staid... Let me get to work and see this.