The "Champ" is Back

I am a big Phillies fan and being from the Lehigh Valley, I love going to see the AAA affiliate of the Phillies, the Iron Pigs.  I had the pleasure of going on Monday to the Iron Pigs game.  It was a beautiful day for a baseball game.  Before, during and after the game, an image was shown on the video scoreboard of "Champ," a unofficial member of the Iron Pigs staff, was missing.  Champ is a 4-year-old German Shepherd mix and he stormed off this past Friday after being spooked by the fireworks show.  

I love animals, dogs in particular, and this left me heartbroken.  I honestly thought about this a lot.  Well good news... today, The Morning Call reported that Champ was found in an abandoned parking lot by the stadium by three secretaries that were out on a late lunch.  

This story made me so happy!  It really is a happy ending to what could have been a terrible story.

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-champ-back-ironpigs-dog-0414cn,0,3609295.story

Laid-off Whitehall Township Banker finds work as Obama Look-alike

A Whitehall Township man who got laid off from his job as a banker last year has turned the physical similarities he shares with President Obama into a second career.  

Michael Lamar, 44, is traveling the globe making appearances as the President look-alike.  He was even at the inaugural ball sponsored by a bank.  

I think this is hilarious and I am glad that he found a job that suits him.

You should really check out the link because there is a picture of him next to a picture of Barack and there really is an uncanny resemblance.  

Enjoy!

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-obamaguy004062009-cnn,0,7661955.story

Valley's 8.1% jobless rate highest since 1986

The Lehigh Valley's jobless rate hit a high of 8.1%, the highest it has been since 1986.  A local economist says that it is going to get worse before things can get better.  He said that he thinks it will be up in the double digits before the end of the year.  The unemployment rate has surged more than 3% in the past year. 

This is bad news for us 2009 graduates.  I feel that most of us are in the same position that finding a job is very tough right now.  Many companies are in a hiring freeze.  I am a journalism major and many newspapers are going bankrupt.  Of course there are other outlets to journalism but it is just tough because no one is hiring.

Grad school or even going back to school to learn another skill are becoming options for 2009 graduates.  

Here's the link:

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-a1_5jobless.6837154mar31,0,4397824.story

Lehigh football team marches into new season with momentum

I found this article in the sports section of the Morning Call. Normally I wouldn't choose strictly a sports article but I found this one particularly interesting.

Spring football practice started late last week and I chose this story because my boyfriend played football for Lehigh for four years.  He's graduating this year so he is finally done but it is hopefully going to be a great upcoming year, especially coming off the huge win against Lafayette.  

The win against the Leopards definitely made every senior's years (I'm sure) and hopefully it carries through to next year's football season.  Here's the story:

http://www.mcall.com/sports/all-c1_groller.6829333mar24,0,4656452.column

Former WAEB-AM Allentown Reporter Murdered in New York

Longtime radio news reporter George Weber was 47.  He got his start in radio at a Bucks County radio station and eventually worked for WAEB-AM Allentown before moving to Brooklyn to work there.  He was found murdered in his apartment yesterday.  He was found stabbed in the neck when police went to check on him after he failed to arrive for a scheduled work shift.  Police are now in search of his murderer.  

New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg gave weekly reports on Weber's radio show.  Bloomberg said that Weber will be greatly missed. 

This is such a scary story.  It is definitely going to be interesting following the case and hopefully the police find leads on it soon.  

Here's the link:

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-weber0323-cn,0,4134444.story

President Obama picks Tar Heels to win it all

Here is a more light-hearted story than the last one that I posted.  I like how Obama is 'current' enough to fill out a bracket for March Madness.  I am not sure if President Bush ever did this, but I would be really surprised if he did.  I also liked how he predicted a winner for the Super Bowl.  Obama seems like such a really cool guy.

Here's the link:

http://www.mcall.com/sports/all-obama-espn-031809,0,3247942.story

Upper Perkiomen Middle School Teacher faces charges

Brian Miller, 28, has just been charged with having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a 14-year-old female student of his.  He kissed and fondled her on school property and sent her text messages that were sexual in nature.  Miller was noted to be married but has no children.

I cannot begin to say how disgusted I am every time I read a story about a teacher having an inappropriate relationship with a student.  Miller was 28 years old and married, which crosses the line to begin with.  He was cheating and not just with any girl, a 14 year old.  This is unacceptable.  

I feel that Miller should have been smart enough to realize that what he was doing was not only illegal but completely wrong.  He was smart enough to graduate from college with a degree, he should know better than what he did.

This is completely unacceptable and we have to figure out way to stop this.

Here's the link:

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-teacher-charges-031609-cn,0,2413459.story