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Nazareth, Pa., United States

Friday, October 16, 2020

NorCo Council Accepts "I Can't Breathe" Poster

 

At last night's meeting, NorCo Council voted 8-0 to accept an "I Can't Breathe Poster" gifted by Dean Young of the Easton Boys and Girls Club. Council member Peg Ferraro abstained, with the remaining Council members voting Yes. 

This poster first appeared at the courthouse on Wednesday, just down the hall from where people are early voting. It is close to the cafeteria, and would be routinely passed by jurors, defendants and police officers.

When reminded that the Home Rule Charter requires County Council to accept all gifts, Executive Lamont McClure removed the poster. He also indicated that the poster will not be remounted near any jurors until and unless the officer accused of killing him is convicted.

Council member Kerry Myers and Dean Young both indicated the poster is a starting point for uncomfortable conversations, but jurors are already having uncomfortable conversations. The poster would destroy the presumption of innocence to which all defendants, even police officers, are entitled. 

In other business, Executive McClure announced that the forensic center is finished. Administrator Charles Dertinger had indicated construction would be completed in the Fall. The facility was not only completed on time, but without the change orders that ordinarily accompany government projects. The building will be dedicated October 23 at 2 pm.

The county coffers appear to be doing well. The County has received a $1.7 million payment from the state as partial reimbursement for its voting machine purchase. The state is expected to reimburse the County 60% of the cost of a new system.

In addition, the County received another $250,000 of the maximum $2 million that Charlie Chrin agreed to pay for sales from the Chrin TIF in Palmer Tp. Former Council member Ron Angle negotiated this deal. Executive McClure indicated the County has received $738,000 thus far, and predicts the County will get close to the $2 million.   

St. Luke's has recently purchased the for-profit Easton Hospital, and is exempt from real estate taxes. But it has agreed to pay the County $289,000 in lieu of taxes over the next two years. 

Finally, the county is accepting a 77-acre tract from the Heindel family in Williams Tp. This is the site of the Hexenkopf Rock, where witches' covens, pow wow medicine and glowing rocks are said to mysteriously appear. It is the largest granite outcropping in Northampton County "The place is full of auras, and you'll love it," said Linda Heindel. 

44 comments:

Me Myself & I said...

SMH from tonight's fairy tale installment of Northampton County Council! Did I understand this correctly? They accepted a piece of property because it has a magic rock on it? I think McClure actually believes the stories he tells. I think he believes that not only is the acreage historical because of the 76.76 number, but magical as well!
Then they acceptable a piece of art that is political statement all to encourage discussion and make some folks uncomfortable? An organizational that is to be neutral and non-discriminatory? All to appease the black and brown constituents. Even putting it in the government center is wrong, as it too should be a neutral organization for the same reasons. I hope someone sues them over it!
Kerry Myers comment tonight, using the term "Cuckoo bird crazy" during the discussion of a platform to bring in people from home to county meetings to speak were as much of an insult to those with mental health issues as calling him the n word. So much for creating unity. I guess that's only for brown and black folks, not those who might be mentally ill.

Anonymous said...

Let’s foist a career drug addict up as a hero, go Peg

Anonymous said...

So many stunningly talented and accomplished African Americans to look up to. This is so sad.

Anonymous said...

Maybe lay off the fentanyl? Bet you breathe better. And don't rob pregnant woman with guns pointed at their stomachs threatening to shoot. Or don't use counterfeit money or.........

Anonymous said...

This should be hanging outside the Drug & Alcohol offices to remind people that three times the lethal dose of Fentanyl affects breathing.

Anonymous said...

The site of the Hexenkopf rock will be a great location for future city council meetings?
Oh Puuulease, I can hardly breathe.

Anonymous said...

Didn't they take the 10 Commandments down, but put up the poster. Total incompetency.

See steps were given to people again when others who work equally hard or harder get a 3% COLA. Election year coming up.

Anonymous said...

This is a slap in the face to the sheriffs, and all law enforcement in the county state and country!

Anonymous said...

inally, the county is accepting a 77-acre tract from the Heindel family in Williams Tp. This is the site of the Hexenkopf Rock, where witches' covens, pow wow medicine and glowing rocks are said to mysteriously appear. It is the largest granite outcropping in Northampton County. Did the County pay anything to accept this property?

Bernie O'Hare said...

It was gifted, but conservation easements were previously purchased for portions of this property.

Anonymous said...

Is this poster up next to the memorials for all the murdered officers this year? I guess up next the county will be accepting donations of posters for defund the police signs and FTP signs.

guilty said...

Parents, check the Easton Boys & Girls Club to see if any more of those George Floyd posters are hanging there. It would be child abuse to teach children that a cop murdered this guy before he gets a fair trial.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Bernie. Putting that poster up in the Government Center is totally inappropriate. I'll go a step further and say that I can't see any possible reason to ever put something like that up in a government building.

Anonymous said...

So the liberal hacks of our county gov't honor a convicted felon from Minnesota who died in PD custody of a fentanyl OD with a portrait . His death was verified by the medical examiner due to the drugs. How about honoring those who died in the line of duty in Northampton County? You know, the people who swore an oath in protecting you and I , both from our police and fire departments. I no longer have any respect for these elected hypocrites in our local gov't. Party over the people is pitiful. Totally Un-American in their values .

Anonymous said...

This business made me curious. I went to the video. You left a lot out in your account. What the Hell is wrong with Peg. She sounds like the old,"my best friend is black" person. You cover for Peg. I thought Ms. Zrinski summed up the pain of racism for all people. She tried to educate Peg. I think the council people felt guilty about racism they may have and voted accordingly.

Anonymous said...

when will our elected 'leaders' lead, rather than continue to trot down the street of public opinion. putting this poster in a courthouse is ridiculous. Have a spine and stand up to the mob of public opinion and say, "thanks, but no thanks" to this "gift".

Bernie O'Hare said...

2:41, lol.

Anonymous said...

2.36
" His death was verified by the medical examiner due to the drugs."
try
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_George_Floyd
"The medical examiner's final findings,[83][84] issued June 1,[85] found that Floyd's heart stopped while he was being restrained and that his death was a homicide caused by "cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression"
and
"a second autopsy, carried out by Michael Baden, a pathologist and former New York City chief medical examiner who had autopsied Eric Garner,[90][91] and attended by Allecia Wilson, director of autopsy and forensic services at the University of Michigan Medical School.[92][93] He found that the "evidence is consistent with mechanical asphyxia as the cause of Floyd's death", and that the death was a homicide.[94][95][92][87] He said Floyd died from "asphyxia due to compression of the neck", affecting "blood flow and oxygen going into the brain", and also from "compression of the back, which interferes with breathing".

Anonymous said...

Peg's no racist and it takes some courage to stand up to the woke mob - even when they're lionizing a tragic drug addict while race baiting. Good for Peg.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Peg and Kerry had a lengthy conversation after the meeting. He knows what it’s like to suffer from racism. Zrinski has no clue, and one of my black friends has told me she thinks Zrinski herself is a racist. I know one thing. She is a phony.

That poster has no place in the courthouse near any juror until or unless the police officer accused of killing him is convicted. This totally destroys the presumption of innocence. It is my understanding the poster will not be shown to jurors until the officer accused of killing George Floyd has had his day in court.

peterjcochran said...

Yay good for Peg. No vote- no opinion. Easton High School did same thing . The Administrator at EASD should be fired now. Anybody that knows me would say I’m not a racist. I voluntarily asked for a Mechanized Infantry unit in Newark , N.J. Some Officers wouldn’t take their Commission if they were sent there. I’ve supported our Boys and Girls club with Dean who knows me, I have bought stuff for a minority neighbor in need. Who should do this, ? Me.! George 3 times over tolerance level of drug in his system - yes or no? also dies . He maybe should have been executed months before after he held a pistol to a pregnant woman’s body during a armed home evasion threatening to kill her baby! Imagine the horror.

Anonymous said...

Pre bedtime rant. Are you kidding me. Zerinsi is your typical liberal middle class privliged white woman telling the world they are racist, Is she for real? Her holier than thou rant is disgusting. She is a fraud. a phony. People are sick of con women like her telling people what they are. I guess she feels that blacks are unable to articulate for themselves their concerns. She is the new feminists Tarzan. What a scam and joke.
Have heard she has a great chance of becoming her state house winner in her race. Just what we need,. another fake in Harrisburg where we already have too many. What is wrong with people. She will be sent to Harrisburg when she should not even be in county office.. Says a lot about our society.

Anonymous said...

A "poster" is temporary by definition.

Therefore it was Executive Lamont McClure that gave this "poster" it's meaning.


To elevate the removal of this form of temporary advertising into taking a stand for the rights of the accused, is a more permanent political art form.

Anonymous said...

You can't deny that George had a fatal dose of fentanyl* in his system. His tox screen showed as much!

He was complaining that he couldn't breathe before that idiot cop knelt on his neck.

What's truly despicable is democrats--by not immediately condemning the violence--all the burning, looting and murder--seem to condone such bad behavior. They only cared when it "started showing up in the polls."




*made by communist China, and smuggled through Mexico no doubt

Anonymous said...

Please people, this is a nice gesture! George Floyd should never have been held on that ground under that knee, no matter what!
Most police Chiefs came out and said that! There are bad cops, just like there are bad people in every profession!
This man did nothing in that incident that necessitated his DEATH!
He was not perfect, as most people are not perfect, everyone needs to just look at themselves or in their families!
A true crime was committed here, and hopefully Justice will happen!

Anonymous said...

If Lamont would have bothered to ask the black community who they wanted to represent them in a poster at the courthouse, it’s safe to say they wouldn’t have picked George Floyd.

Bernie O'Hare said...

That’s a question you should pose to Dean Young, who gifted the poster to the county. McClure asked Council to accept it. Yes, I can think of better examples than George Floyd, but that poster does not pretend he is a hero. I do not consider him one but I do think the way he was killed his tragic and is something almost all police officers recognize. And it’s important to discuss systemic racism. People get angry when I call them racists but I am a racist myself. It is the way I was brought up and I need to be cognizant of my background. I’d agree with what Lori Vargo Heffner said when she called the poster “evocative.” I do not really consider it art, as Dean Young would have us believe. I know this much. This evocative poster should be nowhere near voters, as it was. Given that NorCo is mostly made up of racists like myself, all something like that would do is bring out our dark sides. It should also be nowhere near a juror until the officer accused of killing Floyd has had his day in court. After that, i am fine with a reminder of just how ugly I can be.

Anonymous said...

12:04,
You should have more faith in the intelligence of voters (the majority, at least). I'm a Democrat and I can see Zrinski is unqualified to serve on County Council, and less so at a state level.
When I saw her lie on TV - some news story where she had a brief appearance in a short interview, and claimed to be working 3 jobs with no health insurance (a complete lie) that was enough for me. Her other crap she has pulled on County Council has been noticed. She got in on a wave of voting out the old guard. Like Trump, she was a mistake that will be corrected.

Anonymous said...

Bernie,
Everybody has their prejudices. Most of us are able to recognize that fact and act on our better nature - not our worst. Many of us grew up with racism ingrained into us by parents who were far less tolerant, because that's how they were raised, often refusing to expand their minds beyond their group of people they worked with, or were in their neighborhood. Whether it was Poles, Italians, Irish, Germans, or other nationality, religion, or color, each looked down on the other. WASPs always considered themselves on the highest tier and actively tried to keep the door to equality closed to others.

The only person who would be able to say they aren't racist is one who can honestly answer this scenario of it making no difference:

Two white teenagers walking down the sidewalk in your direction with one carrying a bat on his shoulder.
Now, replace the white teenagers with black teenagers.

If your nervousness increases more than it would with white kids, because the kids are black, then like it or not, racism exists within you.

And yes, being white, I am on a heightened sense of alert when I think about that scenario, so I have to admit that systemic racism exists within me. My old man would have told the white kids to have a good game, as he walked by. He would have walked by the black kids with his .38 in one hand, telling them to find a basketball.

Anonymous said...

Hang it in your private office or at the Boys Club. The courthouse should be a neutral atmosphere with no bias or influence. The white walls are just fine. Have the conversation with elected officials, police, and anyone else you choose. Attend police community meetings, council meetings, and demand sit downs with your chiefs, public officials and everyone else to have these talks. Also encourage all those that avoid the police and do no cooperate with the police and punlic officials to get criminals off the street to open up and share info as well. That will do more to help the community than hanging this in the courthouse.

Anonymous said...

Zrinski received support in the Morning Call today letters to the editor from Nancy Weston. The Called failed to comment that Weston is diehard democrat. It appears she would support any democrat running for State Rep.

Anonymous said...

@8:03 Change the actors to a golden Lab and a black Doberman. If your nervousness increases more with the black Doberman than with the golden Lab, is color the reason?

Anonymous said...

10:37
That has nothing to do with the point 8:03 was making. Try asking the same question using a black lab and a golden lab. Same breed, but different color. Interesting you would use a breed known for attack dogs, as the black example. Proves his point about racism.

Anonymous said...

So true

Anonymous said...

I guess Jesse Jackson Jr. is a racist.

“There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps... then turn around and see somebody white and feel relieved.”

James Neara said...

WTF are you saying, man? Lots of virtue signaling mixed in with incoherent nonsense.

James Neara said...

Bernie says the poster shouldn't be in view of voters. It shouldn't be in view of jurors. Then why should it even be anywhere in the courthouse?

Anonymous said...

3.55
"walk down the street and hear footsteps"--and that was 1993.
Things change-- republicans used to push free trade and the hard core tea party folks used to care about massive debt. religious conservatives used to shun politicians with loose morals by their definition.

Anonymous said...

No mention of the agitators rep payors in this past weeks events not of there designs as there puppet is trying to run for the most important office in the world?

Anonymous said...

9:15AM

"...that was 1993.

Do much walking around in urban areas after dark? And I'm not talking about around trendy latte bars.

"Things change-- republicans used to push free trade and the hard core tea party folks used to care about massive debt. religious conservatives used to shun politicians with loose morals by their definition."

And that has what to do with whether people are justified in considering probabilities when deciding whether they feel threatened?

peterjcochran said...

I say if my Black friends want to elevate their character, they should look at the Red Tails of WW11 pilots . They should focus in Black CEOs of companies now as we speak. Kenneth Frazier - pharmacological involved .Marvin Ellison at Lowe’s Ursula Burns at Xerox .mary Winston at Bed Bath and Beyond. It here. Smart people.

peterjcochran said...

Additionally I did a section on a Black Officer in WW11 with Reda Production s . This guy walked into German Troops in the middle of the night. If you’d like I’ll have them send it to you. This is the stuff that makes Black America proud. Entertainment, football, basketball, ah might not exist today under German or Japanese rule. These Black folks were heroes. They were shot at , they were tougher than most units. .

Anonymous said...

Abe Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr gave their lives for more noble causes. Being unable to breathe due to a fentanyl overdose doesn't even get into the top 100.

Anonymous said...

This poster belongs nowhere near a courthouse, let alone down the hall from the PFA and Victims Advocates offices. But then again, its on brand for this administration.