King Kong, Santa Cheer On Eagles

My good friend (and occasional guest poster) Mike Benner is sadly moving away to California to go chase his dreams as a medical marijuana farmer. Or maybe it’s screenwriting, the other thing people do in California. Anyway, on his blog Benner has compiled just about every Action News opening on YouTube. They’re all the same, essentially, but the above one is by far the greatest.

A young Rob Jennings (in 1981!) previews two stories before some crisis in Poland: The largest menorah in the world (in Philly!) and “King Kong and Santa Claus take the day off to cheer for the Eagles!”

Coincidentally, this was the last time Poland was mentioned on a local news broadcast in Philadelphia.

P.T. Barnum Proven Correct Again

Sometime this week, the board overseeing casinos in the state of Pennsylvania will vote on which two proposals will get licenses in Philadelphia. And tomorrow, Philadelphia Park’s casino will open in Bensalem.

People, then, are paying attention to the Pocono Downs casino — the one with Blinky the Clown, who offers to come to your room and to balloon tricks — in hopes to learn some lessons from the Luzerne County attraction.

The Bucks County Courier Times‘ James McGinnis (who also introduced us to Blinky) writes about the popularity of the casino, calling it “one of the most exciting attractions ever to hit rural Pennsylvania.”

In addition to clowns, the casino features, uh, well, food-court style restaurants, two bars that seat up to 20 people and a rewards center where players can “cash in points for air purifiers, fleece jackets and kitchenware.”

And all of this is drawing 10,000 people a day. There really is not much to do up there in Luzerne County, is there? Well, except talk about Poland, since Luzerne County is the only one in the U.S. where a plurality of residents reporting Polish as their primary ancestry. (It’s true!)

Poconos casino attracts crowds [BCCT]
Dec. 14: Hopefully Philly’s Casinos Will Have Such Amenities

Leftovers: Grin And Bear It

• Bears live in New Jersey. Some biologists tag them. Money quote: “If people are going to live here where the bears are, they should not fear the bears, but learn about them and learn to respect them.” [Inquirer]

• A storm front is moving in from the west, says the front page of 6 ABC’s website. All clear, says the radar. Still: Everybody run to the cellar! Quick! Bring the bread and milk! [6 ABC]

• Barbaro had a “potentially dangerous setback.” Oh no! Say a prayer for his family if you get the chance today. [Daily News]

• The president of Poland has appointed his identical twin prime minister. We seriously need more identical twins running for office in the U.S. Think of all the fun! [AP/Yahoo!]