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TURKEYS

Enacting a plan to ensure children aren’t left unattended on a casino property is a great idea, but it’s astonishing that it took 147 incidents involving 268 children over four years at one site for the plan to be developed. That’s our takeaway from the announcement this week that Wind Creek Casino in Bethlehem is putting new measures in place to not only deter parents or guardians from leaving kids alone, but detecting incidents as well. To be fair to Wind Creek, Las Vegas Sands owned the casino for part of the four years assessed and deserves some criticism. Blame for the delay in not only enacting the plan, but publicly acknowledging the severity of the problem, also falls on the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, which has regulatory oversight of the casino and should have been pressing this issue much sooner. Even the Northampton County District Attorney’s Office, which has jurisdiction over prosecution of criminal activity at the casino, seemed caught off guard by the announcement. The assistant district attorney who handles child abuse cases said neither Wind Creek nor the liquor control board contacted the office about the issue. This was a major oversight considering the role law enforcement could have as a deterrent. As for what’s in Wind Creek’s plan, there will be more signage in and around the casino, increased training for staff, and mobile patrols in parking areas and foot patrols inside by outside security. This is a good start. It would have been better had it happened long before the number of unattended children surpassed 100.

TROPHIES

County officials who run elections are under more pressure than ever to deliver results that are clean and transparent due to the increased use of mail-in ballots and misplaced public concern over non-existent, widespread voter fraud. Both Lehigh and Northampton counties performed exceptionally under that pressure in Tuesday’s Pennsylvania primary. There were no major local issues reported at polling places, and the results were delivered within a reasonable amount of time after the polls closed. Kudos to all who contributed to the effort. It’s worth noting that turnout is going to be much higher for the general election in November. The stakes will also be much higher. But both counties’ performances on Tuesday give us hope that local voters will cast their ballots with confidence in the system this fall.

Coca-Cola Park in Allentown, home of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, is unquestionably one of the best minor-league baseball stadiums in the country. One factor worth noting is its effort to include local, small businesses in the ballpark experience. The IronPigs announced that one of its new Club-Level concession offerings this season will be “Pigs in the Dirt,” a pudding creation handcrafted by Khanisa’s “The Pudding Bar” owners Sean and Khanisa Darby. The dessert shop opened in June 2019 in Easton, but recently had to temporarily shutter due to building damage. The deal will both help Khanisa’s and contribute to making Coca-Cola Park uniquely Lehigh Valley.

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