Thirty Seconds Before Midnight

The amended proposal, if adopted, would have included a 10 percent cut in the overtime budget across the board in the city's general fund. Also, it would have implemented only two new IT positions while tapping the city's existing reserves. The reserves depleted in recent years due to using the money to balance budgets.

Coming into the night, the mayor had two other options besides using his veto power per the city's charter. He could have either signed the amended bill or done nothing which would have made council's proposal law after the Part of the budget includes a three percent wage increase for all non-union city employees and a one-year deferment on a loan payment to the city's solid waste fund.

Also, two more firefighters and four IT positions will be added next year. When asked why he did not submit the veto earlier and try to compromise with council, O''Connell said he is just learning about the process and he and council will try and do better next year.

Everyone played by the charter, ok? The bottom line is that they were within their legal parameters to do what they did and I was within my legal parameters up until the last They're the ones who are gonna need our emergency medical services and our fire and need clean water and need housing that's in good condition which requires our inspectors. We need to pay for that. Can we look at trying to make it better? I think that's something we need to do," MacLean said. The budget is O'Connell's first since becoming mayor in March and his only until he is up for re-election in Each said they were not worried about how the budget would affect their individual re-election campaigns.

Interim Allentown mayor says he will run in election. The views expressed by public comments are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Your comments may be used on air. Inappropriate posts or posts containing offsite links may be removed by the moderator. Bethlehem City Council approved a 3. The vote was Mayor vetoes budget at last second. There is 1 closing or delay active. Reading neighbors react to new patrol initiative. Reading neighbors react to new patrol initiative 2 hours ago.

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Something Wordy: Thirty Seconds Before Midnight by Helen Beal

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Continue shopping Checkout Continue shopping. Welcome to Bestwood, a dilapidated estate in the wilds of the English countryside where Herbert, a giant land tortoise presides over the tatty menagerie. This contemporary retelling of the classic Greek myth, Orpheus and Eurydice, takes sex, drugs and rock and roll, mixes them up with doses of evolution and pantheism and swings between comedy and tragedy.

Ratings and Reviews 0 0 star ratings 0 reviews. Overall rating No ratings yet 0. How to write a great review Do Say what you liked best and least Describe the author's style Explain the rating you gave Don't Use rude and profane language Include any personal information Mention spoilers or the book's price Recap the plot.

I won this book in a giveaway and was immediately intrigued at the idea of a tortoise as narrator since I have my own little pet tortoise. From the moment I began the book I could not put it down! Wonderfully written and the narration of Herbert, the tortoise, is sure to capture the heart of anyone. This book had me both laughing and crying and not ready to say goodbye when it ended. This re-telling of the classic Greek myth, Orpheus and Eurydice is beautifully crafted, giving it a modern flair as to make it current within the twenty-first century.

A concoction of Sex, Drugs and rock and roll which is combined with thought-provoking narrative on evolution this makes for a fascinating and utterly absorbing read.

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A comedic- tragedy full of truth-drawing moments, character-driven intense plot and dramatic, twists and turns that leave you in suspense this brilliant book is such an exciting read! As an avid reader of literary fiction and someone who can connect to poignant tragedies that are full of such deep meaningful prose, I took great pleasure in loosing myself within this intricately woven saga of love and loss. Being written in first-person perspective through the eyes of Herbert the Tortoise, gives this novel a unique and distinctive flair making it a most interesting read.

Herbert, the giant land Tortoise whose ancestors came from the Galapagos Islands , was born and raised in a small Zoo within the estate of Bestwood, England. The catalyst for great change is in the form of Dave Palmer, a rock and roll star, who becomes the new aristocratic owner of the estate. Tragedy strikes in the form of loss and the profound, lasting affect that it has on those who love others.

Young love and romance, animal antics, rock and roll popstars and beautiful settings within the quintessentially British countryside is just a wonderful, tantalizing treat and mix. I was drawn into this emotional story that was so moving and memorable, whilst I was able to empathize with the attractive characters and their stories. The lush cover and quality of paper and binding is very exclusive, and makes this an ideal, gorgeous gift and book to treasure! I would like to take this opportunity of thanking the author for having a select number of their work as a giveaway.

Mar 04, Sierra rated it it was amazing. This book was given to me by the author. I would first like to thank her for sharing her story with me. His entire life is circumscribed by the mundane routine of the small zoo and he had never wandered beyond the Wal Every life means something to someone, somewhere. Things change when the owner of Bestwood sells the estate to Dave Palmer, a rock and roll star.

These parts made me laugh the most, Herbert was always relying on Digby for the latest news!

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What could be the best day for a tortoise? You will have to read the story to find out! He very quickly became my favorite character. It also made me think, that if I had a tortoise, I sure do hope he would be as loving as Herbert. Although this story does end in slight tragedy, it is well worth the read. I found so much in the story that just the tale being told.

Keep an eye out, as I will being doing an interview with the author! Dec 29, Rich rated it it was amazing. This book just grew and grew - I found it a little slow to start with but after the first couple of chapters that are really just setting the scene the pace picked up. I can't think of many, actually make that any, books that I have read where the narrator is an animal and a giant land tortoise at that! This just adds to the story and if it makes you hesitate to pick it up then don't as Herbert is such a character and it just adds to the tale!

Ageing rock stars, young love, a menagerie not so fu This book just grew and grew - I found it a little slow to start with but after the first couple of chapters that are really just setting the scene the pace picked up. Ageing rock stars, young love, a menagerie not so full of animals, an old country house, dancing, the coast The author has such a great way with words that you are feel empathy with the main characters and you are drawn into an emotional story. It made me both laugh and cry and I would definitely recommend it.

Mar 20, Sam rated it it was amazing. Contemporary retelling of the classic Greek Myth, Orpheus and Eurydice, takes sex, drugs, and rock and roll, mixes them up with doses of evolution and pantheism and swings between comedy and tragedy. This book has something for everyone. It will make you laugh, cry, rethink friendships, relationships, you name it. It is such a fun fast read. I received this from the author and I highly recommend it. Unique and thought provoking. The tortoise viewpoint and parakeet's tales reminds me very much of the Olga da Polga books by Michael Bond, but of course with more adult themes.

The pantheistic philosophy is refreshing and suits the retelling of Greek myth perfectly. Altogether this is a very worthwhile read. Jul 29, H rated it liked it Shelves: I received this through first reads. Yes, this is another book I received years ago and never got round to reading thanks to life getting in the way. Four years later, university is finished and I'm reading for pleasure again, so here comes my belated review.

I found the novel hard to get into at first. Possibly because of the sentence structure and language choice, due to the main character being a tortoise. And I did find the novelty of having a tortoise narrate added interest to the book; it's I received this through first reads. And I did find the novelty of having a tortoise narrate added interest to the book; it's not often that a tortoise is a narrator.

After the first few chapters, as the story began to pick up, I found myself more interested, and by the last few chapters I was hooked, desperate to find out what happened. The book was deceptively sad. Perhaps I should have been expecting it, with the word 'tragedy' written on the blurb, but the feeling of the earlier chapters lulled me into a false sense of security.

Bad things happened, but I felt like the events couldn't get worse. No proper spoilers, but wow, the final events in the story really hit me and I realised I was much more attached to certain characters than I thought I was. I didn't actually know the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice before I read this novel, so I looked it up afterwards to see if I had missed anything. While I can see parallels, this book works as its own story, and I don't think the myth adds much. Three stars because of the slow start and the difficulties I had with the voice of the tortoise, but I did enjoy the book.

Mar 28, Alice rated it liked it Shelves: It's hard to really review this story as it doesn't feel like just one book, but two, neither of which had time to blossom but were interesting in their own right. I'll tackle what I consider is the 'first' story Not something I'd normally read but the idea of the menagerie and, particular First off I want to say thanks to Helen J Beal who gave me this book in a Giveaway: Not something I'd normally read but the idea of the menagerie and, particularly the narrator, intrigued me.

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I was drawn into the love affairs and the felt strongly about the closing of the menagerie. The narrator, Herbert the tortoise, was a bold and brilliant choice. I did wonder how he was going to be able to notice all the minor details but with his friend Digby the parakeet he manages very well. The other amusing animals, my favourite being Colin the grass snake, were endearing and amusing and I could have read about pages about the little zoo.

Sadly this story line was short lived and underdeveloped. That's what brings me to the 'second' story.

In the second part a major character becomes unwell and this part is told through letters. While I liked this use of the epistolary style as well it didn't feel like a plot twist it felt abrupt and, if I'm honest, lazy. After this point the plot speeds up and pretty much nothing is resolved apart from Herbert's desire for adventure. The blurb is very misleading as almost none of the narrative is about the redesigning of the land and the closing of the menagerie.

It flits about wildly and, had there been more development of these plots, would have made an excellent, though much longer, novel. Which saddens me as I'm sure I would have really enjoyed it. The blurb also makes reference to Orpheus and Eurydice trying not to spoiler: Greek god who's good at music loves a woman and then things go badly wrong. While I don't want to belittle Beal's re-imagining of this story it feels like it's a shoehorned in reference. The bulk of the narrative has nothing to do with this story apart from a pretty weird 'hippy-dippy' moment in a hospital and that there is a love story involving a musician.

As the denouement approaches Beal gets the tortoise to muse on Greek myth and the whole believability falls apart for me. I could no longer suspend my disbelief and was disappointed with her need to force in a completely unnecessary reference. There's nothing new under the sun, but you don't have to reference every influence. It was a clever narrative without that and, frankly, only took away from the experience. I know this review sounds like I'm blasting this book.

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