A CAN O’ FRISKIES

     Whether it’s used with or without permission…It’s still not authentic.  lol.

This comment just in under “A ROSE AUTHENTIC!” below.

    LOL!  Very, very true, my friend!  And a poster named “Authentic Naysayer” just signed up on the”authentic” LancTalk.com forum (click here)!  What a hoot!

    And this was posted on the forum:

    Moxie House had nothing to do with the logo. The impression I get from Artie See’s posts is that the catch-phrase, “A City Authentic” wasn’t their handiwork either. So, WHAT exactly did the city pay them to do? Pick the freakin’ FONT and a color scheme? If that’s the case, what in god’s name were they paid for that service?
    My cat walks across my keyboard 100 times a day and effectively provides that same service for me (often with better results), and all I gotta pay him is a can o’ Friskies…

    What a hoot and a half!  Maybe Shelley Castetter will tell us in the second part of her investigation into this debacle.  She promised it several days ago but we have yet to see it.  Stay after them, Shelley, and maybe LNP will give you credit this time around!

    Speaking of promises, I have failed repeatedly to post the winners of the “Find an Unauthentic City” contest and I’m sure everyone is now mad as heck at me!  This ain’t easy, folks!  They will absolutely come tomorrow afternoon!

    Hey, I just realized, no one submitted “Lancaster” as an entry.  I just may have to enter and win!  No, you authentic naysayers, there was no rule against that (refer to contest rule one).

Please check back tomorrow.

WITH PERMISSION?

The above is now posted on the Lancaster City website.

Please check back later today.

WE DESERVE ANSWERS!

    “Citydweller” on LancTalk.com “broke” the story about the city’s horrible new “brand” – the ugly logo (the orange “rose”) and dreadful “slogan” (“A City Authentic”) – with a poll and post on August 11 (click here).  Let me state that I was the second poster after Citydweller on the same date and made this brilliant post:

    Holy crap! That is awful!  Really awful!  OMG!

    Shelley Castetter who has a political website, LancasterExpress.com, which publishes infrequently, broke the story about the stolen, trademarked rose on the same forum.  She posted today that she would like a lawyer, because LNP did not give her any credit in this morning’s article, “’A city authentic’ logo turns out to be a trademarked classic,” (click here).

    Another poster said this in response:

    In regards to other journalistic outlets stealing your story…welcome to the real world.
    Once you break a story, it is fair use.

    Absolutely.  What’s more – you want others to write about the story so it reaches more people – the more people who know about it the better!  Isn’t that the whole point?

    Should LNP have given her or the forum a mention?  Yes, I think mentioning the forum and the fact it has been a controversy for weeks with almost everyone disapproving of the new “brand” would have added to the story. 

    Does LNP have to?  Absolutely not in this case.  They didn’t use any of her quotes and the author, Bernard Harris, called and got his own information and quotes.  And the media beat goes on.

    I have been publishing almost daily for six years and the first time this site was ever mentioned by name in LNP was several months ago  when I addressed the Pennsylvania Game Commission over the Stormy Girl situation.  That story, like this story – are the kind you want as many media outlets as possible to pick up on and cover.

    The main point now is to keep the pressure up.  Follow up on the story and continue to ask questions until somebody does something about this debacle.  This situation needs to be rectified immediately.

     For Mayor Gray and others to do this with no public input, in fact without anyone’s knowledge, and to just suddenly spring it on the public is outrageous.  We need to know who’s responsible and how much money was spent on this disaster.

    So stay after them, Shelley, and keep reporting on it.  Who knows, WGAL may pick it up and the Associated Press and who knows where it might go from there?

    If LNP hadn’t finally covered this story, everyone would be outraged by their lack of coverage.  Now they’ve begun and we have to keep the pressure on to keep this story in the news because we deserve answers and that is the only way we’re going to get them.  Keep it in the news!

WHO STOLE THE ROSE?

-

    “I don’t think that that undercuts ‘a city authentic’ at all,” the mayor said of using the design. He maintained that the city was emphasizing the slogan, which is intended to give the city its own identity separate from the surrounding county.

Mayor Rick Gray quoted in today’s article, “’A city authentic’ logo turns out to be a trademarked classic,” (click here).

    No, Rick, it doesn’t undercut it at all.  You stole the rose!  It’s as far from authentic as you can get – not to mention that since August 11 people have been stating that everything about the new logo “completely sucks” according to the LancTalk.com forum (click here).

    What a disaster!  Please check back later today.

A LOT OF MOXIE!

    It’s a very real possibility that they’ll be sued for copyright infringement if Dard Hunter Studios finds out about it. Then they won’t have a choice about using it. That’s a serious legal violation. I honestly can’t believe anyone in their right mind would do something like this!

Posted on the LancTalk.com forum (click here).

    Oh, I think they’ll find out about it!  This is really just unbelievable!  It’s already on YouTube – click here.

    Moxie House has a lot of ’splainin to do. And if the newspaper doesn’t touch it, then once more it will prove itself as a big ol’ advertising circular and nothing else.

Part of a comment into this site.

    Where is the Lancaster Newspaper’s coverage on this debacle? 

    I have the sense that the Lancaster PA city brand is destined to become an orphan. This is shaping up as another case study of what not to do in city branding. They seem to have broken or ignored many of the basic rules in brand planning for cities. And let’s not even start on the whole notion of “A City Authentic.”

From “Small City Branding Around the World,” (click here).

    Please check back later today for the contest winners and more!

They stole the rose!  It’s not authentic!  This is unbelievable!

Please check back later today…

HOLY CRAP!

These fools stole the ugly rose!  OMG!  Click here!

* Heck, I can’t think of any rules.  Well, one rule:  It has to be a “real” city – not a made-up city like Gotham City.  (Please click here for the Wikipedia definition if you are confused by any aspect of this rule and thanks to a previous commenter who stated this might be the only unauthentic city.)

    I think that will be the only rule.  You tell me why any certain city is not authentic in 50 words or less and I will be the judge of all entries.  Be creative.  Have fun.

    What are the prizes?  Well, I’m not sure I’ll have to be handing out any of those so I’m not sure yet!  I was thinking an authentic picture of Mayor Rick Gray might be appropriate and you could also use it to scare your children and pets and make them behave!

    Get your entries in!  If Lancaster is “A City Authentic” there has to be “A City Unauthentic.”  Let’s find it, folks!  Yipee!

    Have a great Friday and please check back tomorrow.

 A NEW CONTEST!

     Find a city unauthentic!  Yes!  Be the first to find a city that’s not authentic and send in the details.  A list of the complete rules and prizes will be announced this afternoon!  Wow!

TELLING IT LIKE IT IS!

    Gee, Lancaster’s never had a brand. So how come when I Google ‘Lancaster “red rose city,”‘ most of the 1,240,000 results are about our Lancaster?
    This isn’t about “brand”, it’s about small f*cking minds with big egos, compulsively re-creating everything they touch as an exercise in mutual mental masturbation.
    Which is to say they are both jerk-offs, and they’re jerking us off, at the expense of our image, history and reputation.

“Citydweller” posting on the LancTalk.com forum under a thread he started weeks ago about Lancaster’s new “brand,” “A City Authentic,” (click here).

    Citydweller first posted about the Lancaster “brand” on August 11, the night he first saw the new logo.  He wrote this – and I just get a hoot out of it every time I read it!  I hope the mayor and the dimwits who came up with the idea have read it:

    Next, we have the “catch phrase”: a city authentic.
    I have three words to say about this one, but I’m not going to say them, even though I’m allowed to in here. I think we can “take it as read”.
    Obviously, the euro-glasses-wearing metrosexual had a power-lunch with his racquetball partner, a renaissance literature major working on his masters, and they thought that piece of crap up after 3 or 4 cosmos. Probably still bragging about it to their other euro-trash intellectualist metrosexual business pals.
    But the thing is, it sucks ass.
    It says nothing about Lancaster, and worse, it sounds like we’re trying to explain how “authentic” we are, like it’s a question that needs to be settled.
    Authentically what, exactly?  In existence?

    Hopefully, there will be much more to come out regarding this monstrosity. You can see the logo, and find a link to the flyer and the YouTube presentation on the city website – click here.

    Lancaster’s new “brand” may soon become:  “A City of Fools!”

BRAND THIS!

    We will be posting a more revealing in-depth story about this smarmy-artsy-clique debacle in the next day or two, coming from our new resident columnist. As one of my interwebz colleagues likes to say - STAY TUNED!

Posted on the LancTalk.com forum under today’s article, “Mayor hopes to market Lancaster through new ‘brand,’” (click here).

    The Lancaster Newspapers finally do an article on this horror that has been the hot topic of the forum for weeks.  LNP quotes Mayor Gray as follows:

    We call it ‘A City Authentic,’ ” Gray told the about 70 people gathered in the lobby of the former Pennsylvania Academy of Music building. “Authentic means that it’s an organic city. It’s grown, and that it has a mix of architecture — Colonial, Victorian, modern.  It’s a city with 300 years of immigration that continues today.  It’s constantly changing in dynamics; the arts, culture, enterprise, commercial.”

    Say what?  What a load of crap!  You are not a mayor authentic, Rick!  You are a fool dressed in fool’s clothing!

Please check back later today.

SCARED TO TELL?

    According to police, he was charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault of a person less than 13 years old, two counts of indecent assault with a person less than 16 years of age and three counts of corruption of minors, police said.

    Ward knew the boys and the incidents occurred at his home over several years, police said. The boys disclosed the information during a counseling session.

From the article, “Clay Township man charged in sex assaults of 3 boys,” (click here).

    Several years!  Why don’t children tell someone they are being sexually abused?

Please check back later today.

OVER-MODERATED?

     hey aron do you remember the good old wild wild west days when two people would have it out in the street. why dont you and I do that give me date and a place.

“Guy, Sr.” in a comment to this site under “RIPPLE EFFECT?”

    Tell yourself that would say this to my face and you would laugh while saying it.  I guarantee you it would be your last laugh and you wouldn’t be able to visit me in jail.

“Guy, Jr.” in a comment to this site under “RIPPLE EFFECT?”

    This reminds me of a family I’d see on Jerry Springer. All we need is a racist KKK member to show up and write about how blacks get all the welfare and Mexicans steal their jobs.

“Aaron” in a comment to this site under “RIPPLE EFFECT?”

    Lord have mercy!  Enough!  I was going to write a piece on forums today, specifically, LancTalk.com (click here), and look at what is going on in mine!

    Stop it right now!  Is this the way real men behave?  It has reached such a level of absurdity, I’m almost enjoying it.  Hmmm…time to have my head examined.  And Aaron, I know you’re having a blast but please stop now!

    Okay – seriously - no more comments of this nature will be posted.  That is the final word.  Guy, Sr. and Guy, Jr., find another playground.

    And to think I was going to say that LancTalk is over-moderated.  Well, it is!  Lighten up guys and you’ll get more people posting.

    About a week ago, a well known member of the Lancaster community was arguing with a moderator about, of all things, the Stormy Girl situation.  And a moderator immediately jumped in and said something to the effect of, “No name calling.  This must stop immediately!”

    Why?  A little name calling never hurt anyone – as long as it doesn’t cross certain obvious boundaries.  Don’t let it get out of hand – but let people go at each other a little bit.  That’s what makes forums exciting and yes, you can still have a valid exchange of ideas and opinions.

    Now, I know some of you may be saying mine is totally out of hand – but when you get absurdity on this level how can you stop it?  Aaron is right - it is like watching Jerry Springer!  Okay, I said I’ll stop it now and I will.  Enough!

THE COACH

    On a serious  – and strangely related note – Charlie Crystle, a Lancaster School Board member whom some blame for having the Trashback forum shut down for the racist comments on it – has an informative and excellent piece on David Given, the McCaskey football coach who was forced to resign when the school discovered he had a previous felony sexual assault charge.  Click here for “THE COACH.”

    And Crystle is not responsible for getting the Lancaster Online forum taken down – but that is a story for another day as is Stormy Girl!

NOT ENOUGH INDIANS!

    “By the way, are you surprised at the very limited activity on Lanctalk?”

    Limited activity??? You must measure by a very high bar.

    The site is only three months old, and in the last 30 days alone has had 7,100 posts, 1,900 unique visitors, and 130,000 pageviews.

    I’d say that’s not too shabby, considering no investment, no advertising, no paid staff and no budget.

    Investors buy, communities build. Welcome to the ground floor of our community.

A comment in yesterday by “Citydweller,” an administrator on LancTalk.com (click here).

    It’s been almost four months since Lancaster Online took down their Trashback forum.  I love forums – and yes, they provide me with some of my best material.  What’s going on in the forum world?

    Forum wars will return later today. 

* I got caught up in reviewing another young, unexplained death this afternoon.  I can’t post anything at this time.  You know, there are serious drug problems all over Lancaster County.  I’m told that the biggest drug in Denver right now among young people is heroin.  Yes, heroin.  Do we ever learn?

LAST LEGS?

    Not that my opinion matters, but your coverage of the death of the young woman in Denver seems entirely appropriate.  It certainly is news, your site broke the likely cause and with the connection to the Roseboro family, it is very much of interest.  The number of posts you get to your site on many of the articles you write actually dwarfs those on the Lanctalk site.  So screw all those people that are bitching and moaning!

    By the way, are you surprised at the very limited activity on Lanctalk?  Also, sort of looks like Newslanc is on its last legs. It hardly seems relevant any longer.
This email in.

    Thanks for writing.  I was getting worried about you!  You raise some interesting points and I will address them later today.

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Artie See!

TALK ABOUT IT?

      …If you wanted information about the life of Amber, we would have been more than happy to tell you about her beautiful life.

    But I don’t know why you would do that and post such negative things just because of the Roseboros.  You don’t know Sam and you didn’t know Amber.

    I would like you to call me back, please, if you have the guts.

Part of a voice mail I received yesterday from a woman who gave her name and identified herself as Amber Weiler’s grandmother.

    I called back.

Please check back later today.

SEXUAL ASSAULT

ON A 4-YEAR-OLD

    A Columbia man who eluded police for eight years pleaded guilty Friday to sexually assaulting a 4-year-old girl.

    Blaine E. Smith, 37, admitted to Lancaster County Court Judge Jeffery Wright that he committed various sex acts on the child in 2002.

    Smith, who apologized for any “inconvenience” he may have caused, will remain free on bail pending sentencing at a later date.

From today’s article by Janet Kelley, “Three men in court for sexually assaulting children,” (click here).

    Judge Jeffery Wright needs to leave the bench.  What kind of man/judge does this?

    Society tells us the sexual abuse of children is absolutely horrible – the worst crime that can be committed.  It is for most unfathomable.  

    Psychologists tell us the effects of childhood sexual abuse last a life time for the victim.  Children who were sexually abused fill our jails, walk the streets, staff the porn industry, form the majority of those addicted to drugs and alcohol and make up a very high component of suicide deaths when they grow up.  The cost to society and the individual is so high on so many levels.

    Read this article and see what happened to three men in Lancaster County who sexually assaulted children.  This is unbelievable.  This is unacceptable. 

    You can read comments and comment on this article here.  We need to wake these “judges” up and we need to do it now!  This has to stop!

BEHAVING BADLY!

Aaron

     After posting that he was bored on his Facebook page, Aaron decided to come here and behave badly by hijacking my thread.  He will pay!  After he tells me all about his big date this weekend, I will spill all the gory details here!  Ha!  We’ll see who has the last laugh and if he still has that smile on his face!

    The coroner has not returned my two phone calls and I was going to write about “gossip” versus “news” relating to the death of Sam Roseboro’s girlfriend that has dominated this site this week - but it’s Friday and I’m tired (and mad!) so that will come tomorrow.

    I agree with Artie about teachers and unions, Aaron and Denver Guy.  I don’t care about the Barnstormers and if the Eagles don’t win the Super Bowl this year, I will personally go down and fire that worthless S.O.B. Andy Reid. 

    Have a great Friday!  (Ladies, would you date this man?)

DEATH, JOY AND STORMY GIRL!

    This will be an update week – pending any breaking news.  I have a call in to Coroner Steve Diamantoni regarding the toxicology reports for Scott McQuilkin who died in Reinholds on July 17.  Have the lab reports come back?  What drugs were in his system?  How much alcohol?  What caused his death at the age of 32?

    There will also be an update on Lauren Reed who is charged along with Troy Stewart with Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse for placing a “large Irish drumstick” up McQuilkin’s rectum when they say he was unconscious.  Apparently, a severe problem with alcohol runs in her family.

    I hope to speak to Pati Mattrick tonight for updates on the Stormy Girl situation (see this morning’s post) and whether DA Craig Stedman will accompany she and her husband to meet with Carl Rowe, the head of the Pennsylvania Game Commission and several state senators.  It’s time the PGC made this situation right (click here)!

    Later I hope to have updates on Joy O’Shea Woomer’s appeal of her third degree murder conviction for the death of 11-year-old Brent Weaver in January.

    And in a little over a month it will be the one year anniversary of a Lancaster woman’s body being found in the Susquehanna River.  We have never been told how Lydia Colon-Torres died.  How did she die?  Her family, her friends and the public has a right to know.

Please check back tomorrow.

KEEPING ON!

    Hi Becky, Phil and I have not set a date yet, we are waiting to hear from the DA, (Craig Stedman ) to see if he’ll be able to go with us to the meeting. Thanks for asking

    This response in from Pati Lou Mattrick regarding her meeting with several state senators and Carl Rowe of the Pennsylvania Game Commission (see immediately below).  Click here for the “HELP STORMY GIRL!” Facebook page.

    And this email in:

Dear Becky,
     I found your site not too long ago, and since then, I check in on your postings frequently. I must say I was deeply moved by your words on overcoming child sexual abuse. After I retired from the Lutheran Ministry (I served 32 years as a parish pastor in Canada and the USA), I became a protective services caseworker at Lancaster County Children and Youth from 2002-2004.

    I remember reading our official report because I was interested in how many referrals we got from Lancaster County’s 600+ churches. For the year I checked, not one clergy person called in a report, although clergy are mandated reporters of child abuse and neglect. Sadly, I know of one instance in northern Pennsylvania and one instance here in Manitoba where a pastor who did file a report so stirred up their congregation that they had to find another assignment. Since then, many denominations have instituted programs to make clergy and congregations more aware, but we still have a long way to go. That said, the trauma done to individual children is still there for the rest of their lives.

    Incidentally, after putting in twenty-four months at CYA, I transferred over to our County’s MH/MR/EI unit where I worked with families who had children with cognitive disabilities. Again, a workshop I attended indicated that children with a diagnosis of Mental Retardation are two to three times as likely to be abused as children in the population as a whole. My supervisor at CYA posted this sentence above our sign-out board: ALWAYS ACT IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILD. Maybe every congregation needs to post a similar reminder over their front door, too. Anyway, thanks again for your web site and keep on keeping on!
Sincerely,
Barry Bence
Winnipeg, Manitoba

    Thank you very much for writing and I will keep on keeping on!

Please check back later today.

PRAYING FOR A MIRACLE

    My Husband, ( Phil ) wrote a letter to Sen. Hickernelland. He e-mailed Phil back and would like to have a meeting @ Capital with another Sen. and Carl Roe. Carl roe said he would be at the meeting!!! I have no clue what will go on @ meeting but I am praying for a miracle, please be praying also. THANKS!

Posted by Pati Lou Mattrick on the “HELP STORMY GIRL!” Facebook page (click here).

Please check back later today.

    Posted by “GeezUS” on the LancTalk.com forum under the thread “A City Authentic” (click here).  What a hoot! 

    Have a great Friday and please check back tomorrow!

AUTHENTIC?

Wow!  That is just awful (click here)!

Please check back later today…

FILTH ON THE INTERNET

    I was forced to temporarily close my Facebook page last night.  Anyone who was on my friend’s list please be extremely careful of new friend requests.  I know at least one of your accounts was compromised.   Yes, the infamous internet harasser and stalker and his sick, idiot buddy are back.

    There will be full details later today.

NO APOLOGY!

    Well, the commenters say I do not need to apologize to DA Craig Stedman and after some thought, I think they are correct.  I wrote the piece, “UNACCEPTABLE” that is reprinted below, before we knew about the Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse charges that were filed against Troy Stewart and Lauren Reed, who partied with Scott Mcquilkin on the night of his death.  Maybe the DA was correct in keeping those details hush until after the autopsy and the arrests. 

    But keeping a community scared and in the dark was not acceptable.  Release enough information so people feel safe in their homes, for crying out loud! 

    And while the IDSI may be the cause for his sealing the search warrant, I still believe that Heather Martin and her mother were protected by law enforcement – and the Lancaster Newspapers – who barely named Martin and certainly did not publish her connection to the most powerful person in West Cocalico Township. 

    LIP News will stay on this story.

UNACCEPTABLE!

 This comment in early this afternoon:

      Heather Martin is Norma Enck’s daughter who runs West Cocalico Twp.  Hmm is that why it was so low on details?

    Yes, Heather Martin, who leases the apartment at 200 Creamery Road where Scott McQuilkin’s body was found early Saturday afternoon, is the daughter of Norma Enck, the Manager, Secretary and Treasurer of West Cocalico Township.

    It would appear this is why Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman sealed the search documents, was very slow in releasing names and made absurd statements like this one to the Lancaster Newspapers with no further explanation:

    “Based upon the information we have at this time, Scott McQuilkin was familiar to Heather Martin, although they may not have ever met,” Stedman said.

    The East Cocalico Police who investigated the death also released no information.

    A 32-year-old man was found dead on Saturday afternoon and the word “homicide” was repeatedly used and yet the DA and the police still have not released any details, including the name of Martin’s friend who apparently came with McQuilkin to the apartment, left him there and returned to find him dead.  It is also assumed she is the one who called the police.

    The only basic pieces in this puzzle were provided by Jenni Joyce of CBS-21 (see this morning’s story immediately below).

    This is simply unacceptable.  Neighbors were concerned and scared and no information was released.  Stedman needs to provide valid reasons for sealing public documents and allowing the public to speculate and live in fear for four days. 

     He also needs to release all of the details, including the friend’s name, as soon as possible.  I don’t care who Heather Martin’s mother is and those immediately affected and those scared and touched by this death don’t either.  They want answers.  They deserve answers.  They deserved answers days ago.

    The response by law enforcement on this case is unacceptable on all levels.