Daily Briefing, 11/11/2009

Good morning everyone!  Here is today's Daily Briefing.

In Allentown, the City Controller and members of Council disagree with the Mayor's assessment of casino revenues for the budget - and the disagreement would leave the city about $1 million in the red for next year.  In the Saucon Valley, the teachers' strike may be over, but specifics still remain in terms of what the specifics are of the deal that brought the strike to an end.  In Upper Macungie, a widening project of Route 100 and Route 78 will now be put on hold until next year.  Rain and bureaucratic delays are apparently to blame.  In Bethlehem, the city has proposed a new zoning code that would ban the conversion of single family homes into multi-family units and set new height restrictions, among other changes.  In Northampton County, the Controller has said that prison officials violated the law by destroying reports.

In state-wide news, there is another official entry to the Governor's race - Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty, who is running as a Democrat. 

In another sign that the national recovery is still taking time when it comes to the labor market, a new survey released shows that their are 6.1 job seekers for every vacancy.  That number is up 1.7 from the beginning of the recession.  In health care news, the Senate is apparently set to bring up their version of the health care reform next week, even though it remains questionable as to whether or not the Democrats have the 60 votes that will be needed to end debate and vote on the bill.  Meanwhile, former President Clinton addressed Senate Democrats yesterday, urging them to pass the reform bill.


We have two Chamber events today - a Southern Lehigh Chamber of Commerce breakfast at Penn State Lehigh Valley and an informational meeting about the Chamber's upcoming trip to Tuscany.

That's all for now!  Have a great day and we'll see you later.