The withdrawal of several Dr. Seuss titles because of offensive imagery has sparked another battle in the culture wars. Putting aside a handful of his books to address the hurt caused to some readers was appropriate, though the cancel culture often does more harm than good, some Lehigh Valley observers say.
The Lehigh Valley's county executives promoted a new program aimed at helping the region's restaurants, bars and hotels struggling through the COVID-19 pandemic.
$7.5M in COVID-relief grants going to Lehigh Valley restaurants, other hospitality businesses
Updated Mar 18, 2021;
A loan program that previously helped fledging businesses will now help Lehigh Valley hotels and restaurants continue to survive the COVID-19 pandemic.
Applications can be found here.
Lehigh County Executive Phillips Armstrong said the grants will help “one of the industries that need the help probably the most in this last year the hospitality industry.”
“They have been hurt, as many businesses have, but now we have a chance to reach out and help them,” he said.
Pennsylvania received $145 million for CHIRP, and divided the pot among the counties based on population. Lehigh County received $4.1 million and Northampton County received $3.4 million from the state.
Rising Tide, a community development financial institution, will administer the funds that have been allocated to Lehigh and Northampton counties through the state’s $145 million COVID-19 Hospitality Industry Recovery Program that aims to inject capital into coronavirus-ravaged small businesses such as bars and restaurants.