5 Things to Know Today

Good morning, Bethlehem.

1. Today is Wednesday, July 6, 2011, 31 days until Musikfest. On this day in 1933, baseball’s first All-Star Game was played at Comiskey Park in Chicago. It was initially intended to be a one-time-only exhibition as part of the World’s Fair. But it proved so popular, it was maintained as a mid-season baseball tradition. Some of the game’s all-time greats participated in the first Midsummer Classic, including Lou Gehrig, Chuck Klein, Frankie Frisch, Lefty Grove, Lefty Gomez, and, of course, Babe Ruth, who hit the first All-Star Game home run. The American League won, 4-2. 
2. Born on this day, Mexican artist Frida Kahlo; rock n’ roll pioneer Bill Haley; Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama; classic rhythm n’ blues singer Gene “The Duke of Earl” Chandler; actors Burt “The Boy Wonder” Ward, Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush and Sylvester Stallone; former President George W. Bush; rapper 50 Cent; former USA Today publisher and current Associated Press Chief Executive Tom Curley, who was born in Easton; and one of my personal favorites, John Paul Jones, the first great U.S. Navy captain. Commanding a battered and burning Bonhomme Richard in a pitched sea duel off the coast of England in August 1779, he famously rebuffed a British demand for surrender with the words “I have not yet begun to fight!” and went on to win the Battle of Flamborough Head.
3. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has issued a code orange air quality alert for today, the third code orange day since Saturday. A code orange alert means that air pollution concentrations may become unhealthy for people sensitive to respiratory problems, including the aged, young children, people with asthma or other lung ailments or heart disease. Folks who fit these descriptions may want to avoid strenuous outdoor activity. It will be hot today, with a forecast high of about 90 degrees.
4. The paving work at Route 412 and Cherry Lane, at the city’s border with Hellertown, continues this morning at 7 a.m. Expect lane restrictions and delays through that area. South Bethlehem continues to be a mess from the construction at the Hill-to-Hill Bridge as well as the South Bethlehem Greenway project.
5. The ArtsQuest campus at SteelStacks hosts free Tai Chi exercises with the folks from at 12:15. At 6 p.m., the weekly Wednesday ladies night – Stacks in the City – features special demonstrations on “grilling for girls.” At 7:30 p.m., Caribbean-influenced band Mambo Kaliente takes the stage in a free concert.