2012-02-07 23:11:00
TOM MURSE
Millersville University would lose more than $6 million in state funding for a second straight year under Gov. Tom Corbett's plan to cut 20 percent from 14 state-owned universities, MU officials said Tuesday.
The loss raises the prospect that Millersville, home to about 8,700 graduate and......
2012-02-06 22:44:00
TOM MURSE
The Republican Party chairman here is questioning whether Democratic congressional hopeful Aryanna Strader and her party tried to mislead voters into believing she is a Chester County native and resident of the 16th District.
Strader, an Oregon native who moved to Chester County in July, ......
2012-02-02 19:41:00
TOM MURSE
It should come as no surprise that thrice-married adulterer and former House speaker Newt Gingrich has a big problem when it comes to women voters.
But exit polls from Florida, where Gingrich suffered a beating at the hands of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney......
2012-01-29 00:15:00
BRIAN WALLACE
John Weigel said something at Saturday's county Democratic Party convention that one doesn't usually hear at a Democratic political event. "I am proud to say I am a follower of Jesus Christ," Weigel announced to the 125 people gathered Saturday morning at The Country Barn, adding, "and that ......
2012-01-27 22:19:00
TOM MURSE
A Chester County Democrat hoping to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts in the fall lives outside the newly redrawn 16th Congressional District's boundaries, geographic and legal data show.
Aryanna Strader's home in a section of Kennett Township was moved into the 7th Congressional Dist......
2012-01-26 21:04:00
TOM MURSE
Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts will face a Democratic challenger this year after all — and the candidate is running right in the lawmaker's own backyard.
Aryanna Strader, 29, of Kennett Square, is endorsed by the Chester County Democratic C......
2012-01-26 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Pennsylvanians aren't overly impressed with President Barack Obama's job performance, to put it kindly.
In fact, there are more Pennsylvanians who believe it's time for a change than those who believe the president deserves four more years.
But voters in this state are even le......
2012-01-25 20:19:00
JEFF HAWKES
Politicos are asking whether Democrat Joe Sestak will run to regain his former seat in Congress, now held by a Republican.
But the better question is: Did Sestak ever stop running?
Sestak is the former admiral and Delaware County congressman who fell short in his 2010 bid for Sena......
2012-01-23 22:14:00
TOM MURSE
Yes or no, Joe?
Former U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak said Monday he has not made up his mind on whether to run for Congress again in the newly redrawn 7th district, which covers part of eastern Lancaster County.
"You know, my wife gave me a year. She said, 'Joe, spend time with your daught......
2012-01-23 22:04:00
JEFF HAWKES
Along comes state Rep. Mike Sturla with an idea for reforming the government.
Will wonders never cease. Pay-hike Mike thinks we should amend the state constitution!
But before you go check on weather conditions in Hell, be advised Sturla's proposal is as much about good government......
2012-01-17 23:12:00
TOM MURSE
Tom Corbett's handling of the Penn State child sex abuse investigation as attorney general has raised numerous questions — chief among them, why did it take nearly three years for charges to be filed, and only after he became governor?
Critics in the Legislature who say Corbett drag......
2012-01-12 21:14:00
TOM MURSE
Some rumors are like zombies.
No matter how many times you drown them in the swamp or hit them with heavy artillery, they just keep clawing their way back to life.
So it goes with the endless speculation that President Barack Obama is preparing to dump Joe Biden as his No. 2 in fa......
2012-01-03 23:24:00
BERNARD HARRIS
"Barbara is taking what we call the Polite chair," Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray said Tuesday evening after administering the oath of office to Barbara Wilson.
And, for a few brief minutes, Wilson sat in the chair vacated moments earlier by her uncle, Nelson Polite Sr.
It was a changi......
2012-01-03 23:14:00
P.J. REILLY
Lancaster County's three newly re-elected commissioners were sworn in for their second terms Tuesday morning.
In the afternoon, Republican commissioner Scott Martin was chosen to continue serving as the board's chairman.
"It's been a very challenging four years, but I must say I'm......
2011-12-30 22:10:00
DAVID O'CONNOR
Back in the 1990s, he met Oprah Winfrey while serving as an extra in her movie "Beloved," which was partly filmed here.
Always Lancaster city's ambassador, he gave the famous woman his city councilman's business card.
It's because of this outgoing nature that people send "three or......
2011-12-28 20:35:00
P.J. REILLY
Jury commissioners in counties across Pennsylvania are tasked with overseeing the process by which jurors are selected for court proceedings.
It is their job to make sure the selection process is fair and impartial.
In Lancaster County, however, those selections have been done for......
2011-12-22 22:45:00
TOM MURSE
Kannscht du Deitsch schwetze?
State Rep. Mike Sturla had pretty much everyone in Harrisburg scratching their heads this week when he began speaking Pennsylvania Dutch on the House floor.
Among them were the folks who were responsible for recording and transcribing the leg......
2011-12-21 22:28:00
TOM MURSE
Lancaster's Republican state House delegation railed for months against a proposal to split the county into two congressional districts, the apparent byproduct of a plan to shore up the re-election chances of a GOP congressman from suburban Philadelphia.
They tried to pressure their leade......
2011-12-21 20:04:00
JEFF HAWKES
I'm not sure Pennsylvania's new 7th Congressional District could look any stranger if it grew in a lava lamp.
It goes this way and that, plump in places, reed-like in others.
It reaches across five counties, bumping up against Philadelphia, skirting Reading and snagging Bird-in-Ha......
2011-12-15 22:34:00
TOM MURSE
A few political notes, quotes and anecdotes this week:
New 16th District
U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan's obscenely gerrymandered 7th Congressional District, which cuts across southeastern Pennsylvania and deep into Lancaster County, would make the "Pen......
2011-12-13 23:19:00
TOM MURSE
So long, "Pennsylvania Dutch" seat.
A large swath of eastern Lancaster County would be carved out of the 16th Congressional District now represented by Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts under a proposed revision of Pennsylvania's congressional boundaries.
The largely rural, Plain far......
2011-12-09 20:44:00
EMILY PEIFFER, 18, Freestyle
There has been a lot of hype surrounding the Occupy Wall Street movement since it started back in September. It has been criticized as being a pointless, liberal idea that has no clear focus. People need to take a step back and realize that this movement is doing more good than harm.
It h......
2011-12-08 22:22:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Going into the home stretch last month, the Democratic candidates for Lancaster City Council were confident in their ground game.
Democrats in the city proved their ability to get voters to the polls on Election Day, Nov. 8, when three members of the party handily beat three Republicans a......
2011-12-06 22:33:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
If you're sitting around and wondering how much your taxes might rise next year if the payroll tax cut isn't extended, check out this site: www.whitehouse.gov/economy/jobsact/calculator.
It's easy to use. J......
2011-12-02 18:21:00
DAMIAN HONDARES, Freestyle
Does it come as a surprise that the Congressional "Supercommittee," assigned the task of reducing the deficit by $1.5 trillion, was an abject failure? Unfortunately, in these times of gridlock, it was anything but.
Republicans and Democrats are currently more divided by partisanship and h......
2011-12-01 21:23:00
TOM MURSE
I've watched the fallout from the "mic check" of U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts' town hall meeting this week with equal parts amusement, frustration and resignation.
First, the humorous.
The political elite here are tripping over themselves to either thoroughly discredit the growing Occupy W......
2011-11-17 21:48:00
TOM MURSE
Democrat Patrick O'Keeffe quit his long-shot campaign for Congress this week after just five months. He also dumped the Democratic Party, saying he's "grown increasingly disillusioned" with President Barack Obama.
"His 2012 campaign appears to be built ar......
2011-11-12 19:31:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
Charlie Smithgall went out with a bang. The former mayor, who lost his bid for Lancaster City Council last week, spent the day after his election loss hauling Civil War-era cannons around southern Virginia. The cannons will be part of director Steven Spielberg's epic film on A......
2011-11-09 00:52:00
TOM MURSE
Lancaster County commissioners Scott Martin, Dennis Stuckey and Craig Lehman easily won second terms Tuesday in an election that lacked both voter interest and any hint of the drama or mudslinging that marked contests earlier this decade.
The two Republicans and one Democrat, who ......
2011-11-09 00:51:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Clutching a broom Tuesday night, the three Democrats running for Lancaster City Council said their hard work over nine months swept aside a better-funded, negative Republican campaign.
Barbara Wilson, John Graupera and James Reichenbach will join four other council Democrats in January, k......
2011-11-09 00:50:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Correction Nov. 10, 2011 — Tom O'Brien is serving his 16th year on Manheim Township school board. An earlier version of the story below incorrectly reported the length of his service.
......
2011-11-08 23:59:00
DAVID O'CONNOR
Voters in Manheim Township were sending "a clear message, even a mandate, for fiscal restraint in the township," Dave Heck said.
And Heck and his running mate Albert Kling had "a pretty consistent theme from the beginning," Kling noted, that they would be watching township finances very c......
2011-11-03 22:27:00
TOM MURSE
A candidate for Manor Township supervisor has a pair of felony convictions on his record for emptying his grandmother's bank account without her knowledge, causing her to lose her home, according to court records.
Democrat Chad A. George, 37, has been running a spirited campaign desp......
2011-11-03 21:47:00
TOM KNAPP
The two candidates for Lancaster County sheriff are touting past experience in law enforcement as the reason each is best qualified for the job.
Republican and incumbent Sheriff Mark S. Reese, who was confirmed last month by the state Senate to succeed retired Sheriff Terry Bergman, has s......
2011-11-03 21:09:00
DAVID O'CONNOR
Doreen Kreiner doesn't have one overriding issue as a candidate for Manheim Township commissioner, since "there are so many issues" in Lancaster's most populous suburb.
Her fellow candidates for township commissioner, Democrat Janet E. Spleen and Republicans David R. Heck and Albert B. Kl......
2011-11-03 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
President Barack Obama would beat each of the leading Republican White House contenders for Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes if the election were held today, a Franklin & Marshall College Poll shows.
The Democratic president holds a 9-point advantage over the apparent GOP front-runne......
2011-11-02 22:59:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Barbara Wilson looked at a mailer sent by Charlie Smithgall's campaign for Lancaster City Council and said she was personally offended.
"Anybody who knows me knows I'm not a rubber stamp, and I'm certainly no one's puppet," said Wilson, who along with her running mates is depicted as a fi......
2011-11-01 22:55:00
TOM MURSE
Lancaster County is growing in population.
It might soon be growing in number of politicians.
The county could be represented by three additional members of the state House beginning in 2013 because of its growth over the past decade, newly unveiled legislative maps show.
......
2011-11-01 22:33:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Over the summer, Charlie Smithgall raised more than twice as much money for his Lancaster City Council campaign as his three Democratic opponents combined.
And, with a week to go before the election, Smithgall is sitting on a war chest with five times as much money as his opponents.
......
2011-10-31 22:49:00
DAN NEPHIN
Correction Nov. 1, 2011 — Jonathan Paul Fox, Democratic candidate for Lancaster County commissioner, was formerly a member of the executive committee of Mental Health America. His term on the board of directors has been completed. Hi......
2011-10-31 22:37:00
TOM MURSE
The race for Lancaster County commissioner appears to be a pretty lopsided affair — at least when it comes to raising and spending money.
The three incumbents have outraised the sole challenger by a margin of 24 to 1 since early June, new campaign finance reports show. They outspent......
2011-10-31 21:59:00
JEFF HAWKES
With nearly 800 rising to sing the National Anthem, Building One Pennsylvania's statewide meeting Thursday got off to a strong, unifying start. But it wasn't long before the coalition's big event took on a decidedly Democratic tone.
And that made for an unfortunate turn of events.
...
2011-10-28 11:10:00
TOM MURSE
A Republican candidate for Lancaster Township supervisor has notified party officials that he is moving out of the suburb and will be ineligible to serve if he wins the Nov. 8 election.
Wayne J. Angelo's name will still appear on the ballot against Democratic incumbent Kathy Wasong for a ......
2011-10-28 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Ho-hum.
We're not even going to bother pretending that most of you give a rip about the election to be held 11 days from now.
Recent history clearly suggests otherwise.
In municipal elections featuring races for local and countywide offices this decade — and I use th......
2011-10-27 22:45:00
BRIAN WALLACE
The three state senators representing Lancaster County voted Wednesday for a bill that would implement a state-funded voucher program in Pennsylvania next year.
But their counterparts in the House aren't ready to endorse the controversial legislation.
Senate Bill 1 was approved We......
2011-10-24 22:43:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Correction Oct. 27, 2011 — Melanie A. DeSantis is a Democratic candidate for school board in Hempfield School District. Her party affiliation was listed incorrectly in an earlier version of the story below.
...
2011-10-23 00:13:00
TOM MURSE
Change doesn't happen fast. And in politics, it doesn't begin at the top. It starts small, with a movement in communities such as ours, in races for township auditor and supervisor and state legislature, and then grows into something bigger, says Jim Dean. "It's about these kinds o......
2011-10-21 22:13:00
DAN NEPHIN
The United States must control spending or it could be headed down the path that Western Europe is on, U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey said Friday.
There is time to right the course, but it will require Republicans to defeat President Barack Obama, hold on to the House and gain control of the Senate......
2011-10-20 20:55:00
TOM MURSE
President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party raised $70 million for his re-election campaign over the summer, outpacing his Republican rivals despite the poor economy, new finance reports show.
Obama's challengers brought in about $52 million over the same time period,......
2011-10-18 22:13:00
BERNARD HARRIS
To paraphrase Mark Twain, the news of Gary R. Odom's candidacy ending has been greatly exaggerated.
Odom, the national field director of the Lancaster-based Constitution Party, remains on the ballot for Lancaster City Council.
It was Odom's fellow Constitution Party candidates run......
2011-10-18 19:43:00
TOM MURSE
U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts and a dozen other members of the state's congressional delegation are urging President Barack Obama to leave regulation of the booming natural-gas drilling industry to individual states.
The lawmakers, in a letter to senior White House economic adviser Gene Sperling, s......
2011-10-13 19:58:00
TOM MURSE
Lest there be any doubt: Grover Norquist still ♥s Tom Corbett.
The governor's plan to allow counties to impose an impact fee on natural gas drillers doesn't violate the spirit of Norquist's Taxpayer Protection Pledge, Norquist says.
Corbett......
2011-09-29 21:15:00
TOM MURSE
Members of Pennsylvania's Republican congressional delegation reportedly are growing frustrated with U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts' unwillingness to cede part of his Republican-rich 16th District to those in the vulnerable Philadelphia suburbs as part of the ongoing redistricting process....
2011-09-28 19:51:00
JEFF HAWKES
I have a favor to ask of Scott Boyd, the gregarious Republican from Lampeter who's decided that 10 years as a state representative is enough.
Maybe some of you will consider asking the same favor of him.
One big thing that Boyd, as a lame duck, is free now to do for every Pennsylv......
2011-09-22 21:20:00
TOM MURSE
Paging Tom Corbett.
Paging Tom Corbett.
Back in April, Pennsylvania's governor called for a "comprehensive strategic blueprint for how we pay for years of underinvestment in our roads, bridges and mass-transit systems.
"Pennsylvanians exp......
2011-09-21 22:34:00
TOM MURSE
Is it political ideology run amok?
Just a flawed idea?
Or a genuine attempt to reflect the will of Pennsylvania's 8.2 million voters a little more accurately?
A surprise proposal to dramatically revamp the way Pennsylvania awards electoral votes in presidential elections h......
2011-09-15 20:54:00
TOM MURSE
Top Republicans in Harrisburg want to ditch Pennsylvania's winner-take-all approach to awarding electoral votes before the next presidential election, a move that surely has nothing at all to do with politics or wanting to kick Barack Obama out of the White Hous......
2011-09-01 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Will 2012 be just like 2008?
Or more like 1988?
President Barack Obama, seeking a second term in the White House after an easy victory in Pennsylvania three years ago, is running slightly ahead of his potential Republican challengers here, a new Franklin & Marshall College Pol......
2011-08-25 21:05:00
TOM MURSE
Here's a little bad news for those of you fed up with both the Republicans and the Democrats, for the hopeless optimists among us who believe there's room enough in Pennsylvania's political arena for a third party:
The two-party system is alive and healthy as a horse.
It's been bu......
2011-08-17 22:34:00
TOM KNAPP
In retrospect, the state representative from Lancaster city said, he regrets his use of the word "womenfolk" to describe Pennsylvania's female population.
Rep. Mike Sturla, a Democrat, is drawing flack from the state GOP for remarks — described by Republican Party leaders Wednesday ......
2011-08-15 22:34:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Texas Gov. Rick Perry has the buzz in the GOP presidential primary race after keeping Republicans stringing along for months before declaring his candidacy.
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has been appearing in early primary states and still hasn't announced her intentions.
Pete Ru......
2011-08-08 23:05:00
TOM MURSE
What credit rating agency Standard & Poor's describes as dysfunction and incompetence in Washington's handling of the debt ceiling, U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts views as American-style democracy working mostly as it should.
"Standard & Poor's seems to take the position that we shouldn't ha......
2011-08-03 21:52:00
BERNARD HARRIS
The Constitution Party is giving voters a third option in some county and municipal races in November.
The Lancaster-based party filed petitions Monday to have five party members listed as candidates in the upcoming general election.
The candidates, which will join Republicans and......
2011-07-28 20:53:00
TOM MURSE
Lancaster County has been represented by a single member of Congress through much of the 20th and 21st centuries. For the most part, the gerrymanderers have kept their hands off us. Our growing population fit wholly and cleanly into one district — the most identifiable in Congress, the "Pen......
2011-07-25 17:39:00
JEFF HAWKES
Ever wonder why Washington is broken? David Brooks in a powerful column last week hit on part of the problem.
The right-leaning New York Times columnist blamed certain "show horse" Republicans for putting ideological purity above doing the right thing for the country.
Brooks' targ......
2011-07-20 22:07:00
TOM MURSE
U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts received campaign contributions from two men at the heart of an alleged covert plot by Pakistan's military and spy agency to influence American policy on Kashmir, federal elections records show.
The Republican lawmaker also had praised the work of a Kashmiri activist g......
2011-06-24 19:52:00
TOM MURSE
All Pennsylvania voters including the Amish would be required to show government-issued identification in every election under legislation passed by the state House this week.
But Plain sect voters could claim an exemption, based on their religious objections, from the provision requiring......
2011-06-22 19:17:00
JEFF HAWKES
Before he was elected to the U.S. Senate, Pat Toomey wrote an op-ed piece in which he said the government's first principle in job creation ought to be "Do no harm."
But that was so 2010. These days, Toomey is Mr. Risky Business. As Congress debates raising the debt ceiling, the full fait......
2011-06-17 22:35:00
BRIAN WALLACE
State Rep. Mike Sturla of Lancaster is co-sponsoring legislation that would increase state oversight of public charter schools and shift tuition costs from local school districts to the state.
The bill, introduced this week, would save districts $187 million statewide, including $7.7 mill......
2011-06-13 21:27:00
TOM MURSE
A judge has thrown out former Lancaster County Commissioner Molly Henderson's defamation lawsuit against Lancaster Newspapers Inc., ruling that her allegations that reporters, editors and publisher engaged in a campaign to discredit her are unsubstantiated.
Chester County Court of Common ......
2011-06-09 21:06:00
TOM MURSE
With 515 days until the 2012 election, Democrat Patrick O'Keeffe has announced he will seek his party's nomination for the congressional seat held by Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts.
O'Keeffe, a Lititz resident who tried unsuccessfully to unseat Republican......
2011-06-08 22:23:00
BRIAN WALLACE
It took Craig Hummer just 48 votes to win the Republican nomination for Elizabethtown school board in last month's primary.
Laurie Ober got the GOP nod in Manheim Central with just 19 votes, and Joyce Good landed a spot on the November ballot for the Pequea Valley board with just 18 votes......
2011-05-18 22:17:00
TOM MURSE
Tuesday's primary made the picture somewhat clearer for November.
Many nominees will be uncontested or, given lopsided voter registration in areas of the county, have an easy time of getting elected in the fall.
Such will be the case for county row office candidates and m......
2011-05-18 00:56:00
TOM MURSE
Republican candidates who enjoyed support from the GOP here fended off most of their intraparty challengers in Tuesday's primary as voters largely shrugged off local races or stayed home because of the soggy weather.
Fewer than 15 percent of the voters eligible to cast ballots in the prim......
2011-05-18 00:49:00
TOM KNAPP
It looks like the former Warwick Township police chief, who resigned earlier this month after his campaign for the district justice seat in Lititz cost him his position, will have a job next year.
Ed Tobin, whose run for office ran afoul of the Hatch Act, carried both the Republican and D......
2011-05-18 00:41:00
P.J. REILLY
Republican voters in Donegal School District on Tuesday largely snubbed the endorsements of the area GOP committee for the five school director seats.
Unendorsed incumbents Oliver Overlander III, Tim Markovits and Debra Sturgis cruised to nominations, with each one collecting more votes t......
2011-05-18 00:29:00
DAVID O'CONNOR
Time and time again this spring, Dave Heck heard Manheim Township voters say they're "extremely concerned about spending and extremely concerned about development."
On Tuesday, Heck and running mate Albert Kling, who had pledged to keep a close watch on finances and growth, reaped the ben......
2011-05-16 21:28:00
TOM MURSE
More than 250,000 Republicans and Democrats who are registered to vote across Lancaster County will get their chance to choose candidates for school boards and local government positions Tuesday.
But few will take advantage of the privilege.
The paradox of the off-year primary is ......
2011-05-16 14:58:00
TOM MURSE
Politically, the story line in Tuesday's primary, as with most primaries here, is whether the local Republican Party can produce victories for the candidates it spent weeks evaluating and endorsing.
Keep an eye on these three hot contests, in which some critics in the GOP have suggested t......
2011-05-16 20:36:00
JEFF HAWKES
In this era when so many people have soured on politics, consider this: Primary voters Tuesday will find candidates who actually want to be school board members.
It's amazing enough in ordinary times that anyone wants to be on a school board. Is there a more demanding, unpaid position in ......
2011-05-15 00:20:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
Round a bend heading south on Weaver Road in Manheim Township, and the sparkling new athletic complex practically jumps out at you. Here are gleaming ball fields, some with artificial turf; huge stadium lights tower above metal bleachers. No other municipality in Lancaster County h......
2011-05-12 21:29:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Correction May 13, 2011 — Amber Green is an incumbent Penn Manor school board member. The story below incorrectly listed her status.
•••
Donegal School ......
2011-05-10 21:26:00
TOM MURSE
The Hershey Co. isn't real sweet on Mark Reese's campaign for Lancaster County sheriff.
A spokesman for the nation's largest chocolate maker said the Republican candidate's campaign essentially lifted the company's trademark Reese's candy logo for use on his yard signs.
"We believ......
2011-05-10 20:29:00
TOM MURSE
A police chief running for district judge in Tuesday's primary ran afoul of a law that restricts the political activity of anyone working for agencies that receive money from the federal government.
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel has determined that under the Hatch Act Ed Tobin cannot......
2011-04-28 00:02:00
TOM MURSE
President Barack Obama's approval ratings continue to flag because of the painfully slow pace of the economic recovery, rising oil prices and the nation's involvement in Libya, a new Franklin & Marshall College Poll shows.
The nationwide survey of 652 voters found a majority hold luke......
2011-04-25 20:58:00
TOM MURSE
Only one candidate's name will be printed on the May 17 primary ballots for Lancaster County Common Pleas judge — that of Leonard G. Brown III.
But it might be a different story in November.
The county Democratic Party will run a write-in campaign for Lancaster attorney Samu......
2011-04-24 00:13:00
MARK SCOLFORO, The Associated Press
Last in a series of articles on the Pennsylvania Legislature.Jerry Sterner spent two years as foreman of a grand jury that met in secret to investigate whether the staff and resources of the Pennsylvania General Assembly had been illegally diverted to wag......
2011-04-22 22:21:00
TOM MURSE
The county Democratic Party won't force rank-and-file members to work on behalf of an endorsed candidate whose wife has accused him of injuring her during an argument over the mortgage.
Nearly two dozen of the party's top officials, in a closed-door meeting held Thursday night, voted to "......
2011-04-21 20:09:00
TOM MURSE
A look at the wacky world of politics, by the numbers.
• 25 — days until the Pennsylvania primary
• 14 — number of candidates for nine countywide offices here
• 1 — number of contests for p......
2011-04-20 20:59:00
TOM MURSE
Enthusiasm is a good thing, especially in politics.
But sometimes having too much of a good thing can backfire.
Supporters of Louie Rodriguez, a state narcotics agent who wants to be Lancaster County's next sheriff, came up with an unusual and creative way to raise money for his p......
2011-04-18 21:00:00
BERNARD HARRIS
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania doesn't have a law prohibiting hand-held cell phone use while driving.
Without a law, the state Department of Transportation doesn't have signs to tell motorists of a cell phone usage ban.
Without approved state signs, PennDOT will not allow any si......
2011-04-17 00:15:00
MARK SCOLFORO, The Associated Press
Second in a three-part series on the state Legislature.Inside one of hundreds of district offices Pennsylvania state lawmakers have equipped and staffed across the state, Kristi Ardrey waits for just about any kind of problem to walk through the door of a conve......
2011-04-12 22:22:00
TOM MURSE
A candidate for Lancaster County commissioner has been accused of pulling his wife down the steps of their home, pinning her down and twisting her arms while screaming in her face during an argument over the mortgage, court documents show.
Jonathan Paul Fox, 55, is accused by his wife of ......
2011-04-10 00:03:00
STAFF
From left, Craig Lehman, Lois Herr and Paul Hentz were honored Saturday at the Lancaster County Democratic Committee awards dinner at the Lancaster Host Resort. County Commissioner Lehman — who had his head shaved earlier Saturday to raise money for the St. Baldrick's Foundation for childho......
2011-04-07 22:17:00
TOM MURSE
There's a chance that the fifth and final member of the panel that will begin reshaping Pennsylvania's legislative districts later this year will have strong ties to Lancaster.
Larry Roskos, a former councilman and onetime chairman of Lancaster city's Republican Party, applied for the rea......
2011-04-07 09:56:00
TOM MURSE
When you hear activists rail against the government's runaway spending, growing bureaucracy and constant meddling, what comes to mind? Right. The tea party. But an elusive group that has ties to beltway Democratic political strategists is trying to drum up opposition to school vou......
2011-04-05 22:01:00
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Scott V. Brubaker, a former chairman of the Lancaster County Democratic Committee and one-time rising political star, was sentenced Tuesday to 6 to 18 months in a work-release program for his role in the state's largest public-corruption scandal in three decades.
Brubaker, a former high-l......
2011-03-22 23:28:00
BRIAN WALLACE
All public school teachers must get 10 paid sick days per year and be eligible for paid sabbatical leaves after 10 years of service, according to the Pennsylvania Public School Code.
The code, which has been in effect since 1949, also requires that school districts provide transportation ......
2011-03-17 00:03:00
TOM MURSE
A majority of Pennsylvanians are confident Gov. Tom Corbett can handle the state's budget problems, a statewide Franklin & Marshall College poll found.
But they clearly disagree with the first-year Republican governor on important policy issues, including his refusal to tax natural-ga......
2011-03-15 22:04:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Recently, I told you that I plan to run for president in 2012.
My platform will call for moderation and common sense on all issues (radical as that might sound), and my campaign slogan is, "Don't drink the tea!"
Since then, thousands of people have asked me — well, not direc......
2011-03-08 22:04:00
TOM MURSE
The biggest winners in Gov. Tom Corbett's proposed budget, according to a chorus of local Republican legislators?
You, the taxpayers.
"No new taxes. Restrained spending. A focus on jobs — I see it as a win for the working folk," said state Rep. Scott Boyd of West Lampeter To......
2011-02-25 21:40:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Howard Ellis finds himself in an interesting position these days.
As a professor of business administration at Millersville University, he teaches students about labor issues, including the recent attempts by states to reduce the clout of their unionized workers.
And, as president......
2011-02-24 20:08:00
TOM MURSE
The Great Recession seemed to clobber just about everyone.
The longest economic downturn since World War II lasted the 18 months from December 2007 through June 2009, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. And during that time, household net worth across the United States ......
2011-02-19 20:53:00
BERNARD HARRIS
The vote by Republican County Commissioners Scott Martin and Dennis Stuckey to disband Lancaster County's Human Relations Commission has given county Democrats a great opportunity to get two Democrats elected to the three-member panel, party leaders said Saturday. About 120 Democratic commit......
2011-02-16 21:12:00
TOM MURSE
Craig Lehman will have company on this year's election ballot, after all. A second Democrat is joining the race for Lancaster County commissioner.
Jonathan Paul Fox, a 10-year employee of the now-defunct county Human Relations Commission, said Wednesday he is seeking his party's endorseme......
2011-02-15 22:09:00
TOM MURSE
Lancaster attorney Leonard G. Brown III, a West Point grad and civil litigator looking to fill a seat on the local bench, easily won the local Republican Party's endorsement Tuesday night.
Brown defeated Merrill M. Spahn Jr., a public defender who has handled many of the county's most hig......
2011-02-14 20:31:00
TOM MURSE
Primary voters won't head to the polls for another three months, but Lancaster County's next judge could very well be selected Tuesday evening.
The 400-some members of the Republican committee will meet to endorse candidates for countywide offices, including one of two hopefuls for Common......
2011-02-07 22:51:00
TOM MURSE
Gilbert Arroyo was convicted of raping a child in New York in 1999.
Arroyo later moved to Pennsylvania and, theoretically, was required to register as a sex offender and keep his current address on file with state police.
But when local prosecutors went after the 41-year-old Lanca......
2011-02-07 22:08:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray's reading material of choice is books on public policy.
He doesn't spend a lot of time reading People magazine.
At Sunday's White House Super Bowl party, he found himself three tables away from actress Jennifer Lopez. He didn't meet her.
"It was f......
2011-02-03 22:24:00
TIM MEKEEL
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. on Thursday defended the federal subsidy that makes commercial air service possible for Lancaster and 153 other communities.
The Pennsylvania Democrat, joined by three other senators, spoke out against an effort by U.S. Sen. John McCain to eliminate the subsidy....
2011-01-28 18:15:00
ENELLY BETANCOURT
It's never too late to get into the spirit of giving.
That was evident Thursday night as members of the Lancaster County Democratic Committee collected blankets at their headquarters at 53 N. Duke St. for homeless people.
"It was fantastic. It was a very successful event," said Cy......
2011-01-25 20:58:00
P.J. REILLY
As far as the commissioners know, Lancaster County has never awarded a construction contract that required a contractor to use only union labor.
And commissioners Chairman Scott Martin said as long as he's in office, he'll never support such an agreement.
In a move he said is aime......
2011-01-25 20:46:00
BERNARD HARRIS
And Lehman makes three.
County Commissioner Craig Lehman announced Tuesday that he will seek a second term on the three-member county panel.
Lehman's fellow commissioners, Republicans Dennis Stuckey and Scott Martin, have said they, too, will seek re-election to another four-year ......
2011-01-24 23:27:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Lancaster city Democrats on Monday night announced that three veteran City Council members will not return to office in 2012.
But only two of the Democrats running for council are newcomers.
All three of the council members whose terms expire next January will not seek re-election......
2011-01-24 21:30:00
TOM MURSE
Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts will join other members of Congress in sitting with a member of the opposite party for the State of the Union speech Tuesday night.
Pitts, the senior Republican in this state's House delegation, will sit with his counterpart on the Democratic side, U.S. Rep.......
2011-01-20 21:26:00
TOM MURSE
U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts is leading abortion-rights opponents in Congress on a renewed attempt to place a permanent ban on what they see as the inevitable use of taxpayer money for the procedure.
Pitts, a conservative Republican, reintroduced legislation on Thursday that would impose a statuto......
2011-01-18 21:57:00
DAVID O'CONNOR
Manheim-area resident Stacie Ritter said she's "fired up and ready to go" to tell everyone how important America's new health care rights are to people such as her — and how important they are to her twin daughters, now 12, who had to overcome leukemia at age 4.
Ritter testified Tue......
2011-01-11 22:10:00
TOM MURSE
Republican candidates will begin battling for prized party endorsement in races for coroner and several other countywide offices starting in just a few weeks.
To date, only one Democrat — county Commissioner Craig Lehman, who is beginning the final year of his first four-year term &......
2011-01-06 20:57:00
TOM MURSE
Courthouse row officers are up for re-election this year, and we already know that a couple aren't seeking re-election.
Ryan P. Aument, for example, has left his post as clerk of courts to take a seat in the state House. Sheriff Terry A. Bergman retired....
2011-01-04 20:34:00
TOM MURSE and AD CRABLE
Two state senators from Lancaster County have won prized committee chairmanships for the new two-year legislative session.
Sen. Mike Brubaker of Warwick Township, a former chairman of the Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee, has been chosen to lead the influential Senate Financ......
2011-01-03 21:11:00
TOM MURSE
Four billion.
It's a figure you're going to hear a lot about over the next half year.
Amid the pageantry set to take place in the gilded chambers of the state Capitol Tuesday afternoon, that number — $4,000,000,000 — will be rattling around the minds of Pennsylvania's ......
2011-01-03 18:20:00
JEFF HAWKES
The Ed Rendell era ends Jan. 18 when Republican Tom Corbett takes the oath as Pennsylvania's 46th governor.
But today we take a trip to an alternate universe where governors aren't limited to two terms. And there we find the 67-year-old Rendell writing his third inaugural address.
...
2010-12-30 23:47:00
TOM MURSE
Who had the best year in local politics?
Who had the worst?
Here are my picks, based not on whether I agree or disagree with them, but whether they managed to better their chances at re-election, climb another rung in the leadership ladder, boost their clout — or simply make......
2010-12-14 23:02:00
TOM MURSE
U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts praised the ruling in Virginia District Court striking down a key portion of the new health care law and said he would work toward a "wholesale repeal" of President Barack Obama's signature legislative accomplishment.
The Republican lawmaker, an outspoken critic of the......
2010-12-14 11:12:00
TOM MURSE
No surprises here.
Only the four judicial candidates recommended by the bar association for a seat on the local bench are seeking endorsement from the Republican Committee of Lancaster County.
GOP Chairman Greg Sahd said the four local attorneys met Monday's 5 p.m. deadline for ju......
2010-11-30 20:38:00
TOM MURSE
Republican Gov.-elect Tom Corbett has named county Commissioner Scott Martin, a pair of current and former local legislators and half a dozen other business leaders here to serve on his 400-plus member transition team.
The team is divided into more than a dozen committees, each of which w......
2010-11-29 21:34:00
TOM MURSE
Thanks, but no thanks.
All 10 state lawmakers who represent Lancaster County and are returning to Harrisburg in January said they will turn down the mandatory 1.7 percent pay raise for 2011 that will be added to their paychecks beginning Wednesday.
Most said they'll write checks i......
2010-11-28 00:13:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
State Rep. John Bear figures the third time could be the charm.
When Gov. Tom Corbett and the new Republican-controlled legislature take office in January, one of the top priorities will be a proposal that's gone down in flames twice: selling the state store system.
Two of Corbett......
2010-11-28 00:05:00
FROM OUR WIRE SERVICES
Gov. Ed Rendell on Saturday vetoed a bill that he feared would escalate violent acts by expanding people's rights in Pennsylvania to use deadly force, even when safe retreat is possible, if feeling threatened outside their homes.
The governor also rejected measures that would have expande......
2010-11-28 00:04:00
JANET KELLEY
A harassment citation has been withdrawn against a Manheim Township attorney accused of pushing a woman at a polling place on Election Day.
Samuel M. Mecum, 62, told police he was working as a poll watcher and needed to use the restroom, when the woman blocked the hallway inside Grace Uni......
2010-11-18 19:44:00
TOM MURSE
Next year we'll be electing county commissioners, courthouse row officers and other local municipal leaders. And because it's never too soon to begin woolgathering over the next election or 2011 politics in general, we bring you the annual Politically Speaking Office Pool.
...
2010-11-17 21:08:00
P.J. REILLY
The Lancaster County commissioners on Wednesday voted 2-1 to disband the county's Human Relations Commission.
Before a crowd of about 75 people —four of whom stood in front of the commissioners wearing black gags tied around their necks as the votes were cast — commissioners S......
2010-11-17 20:57:00
JEFF HAWKES
If you think Lancaster County took an unfortunate step backward Wednesday when the majority Republican county commissioners voted to end funding of civil rights protection, you have reason to feel glum.
Many people worked hard, attended rallies and spoke eloquently on behalf of the Human ......
2010-11-16 21:40:00
P.J. REILLY
It's decision day on the fate of Lancaster County Human Relations Commission.
At their weekly meeting Wednesday at 9:15 a.m. in Room 102-104 of the county's administration building at 150 N. Queen St., the county commissioners are scheduled to vote on whether or not the HRC will be disban......
2010-11-11 19:52:00
TOM MURSE
Boy did I flub that one.
Way back on Jan. 1 — a lifetime ago in politics — I predicted in the 2010 Politically Speaking Office Pool that Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts would continue to see his re-election margins shrink, specifically to belo......
2010-11-10 19:17:00
JEFF HAWKES
It's the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter. Your team is down by a point and has the ball.
But then your quarterback walks off the field and out of the stadium, and he's followed by the running back. The center accuses the other team of cheating, and he leaves, too.
As the ......
2010-11-09 11:56:00
TOM MURSE
Lancaster County Commissioner Dennis Stuckey, the likely swing vote on whether the Human Relations Commission remains intact or is dismantled here, says he's made up his mind after months of deliberation.
But he's not saying which way — yet.
"I have my position solidified," ......
2010-11-08 21:08:00
JEFF HAWKES
Republicans soon to take charge of the governor's mansion and the Legislature want to draw a sharp contrast with how Democrats ran the state.
They'll do that most dramatically by attempting to balance the budget with draconian spending cuts, efficiency measures and the liquidation of asse......
2010-11-05 10:32:00
GIL SMART and CASEY KREIDER
......
2010-11-04 21:53:00
TOM MURSE
Republicans picked up at least a dozen seats in the state House on Election Day, and they expect to have at least a 111-92 majority in the chamber during the next two-year legislative session.
Who will lead them?
They'll decide that Tuesday, when the caucus holds leadership electi......
2010-11-04 21:35:00
TOM MURSE
A telling scene late on Election Day: Tom Corbett, the Republican who had just been elected Pennsylvania's next governor, offered this glimpse of the future to his supporters.
"Look across the river," he said.
Meaning to New Jersey, to its own Republican governor, Chris Christie. ......
2010-11-03 21:48:00
TOM MURSE
A Manheim Township attorney and Democratic county judge hopeful has been cited for allegedly pushing a woman at a polling place on Election Day.
Police issued a harassment citation against Samuel M. Mecum, 62, before District Judge David Miller on Wednesday morning.
A 51-year-old ......
2010-11-03 19:38:00
JEFF HAWKES
With the Human Relations Commission hanging in the balance, county Commissioner Dennis Stuckey is approaching decision time.
In a vote expected later this month, he can kill the agency and claim the mantle of taxpayers' hero. Or Stuckey, a Republican in his first term, could surprise us. ......
2010-11-03 00:29:00
TOM MURSE
By wide margins, Lancaster County voters helped thrust Tom Corbett and Pat Toomey into office, while granting state lawmakers and congressman new terms and picking a Republican to replace retiring state Rep. Katie True.
In the most high-profile races on the ballot — the statewide co......
2010-11-03 00:24:00
TOM MURSE
The third time was not the charm.
It wasn't even close.
Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts easily fought off his well-funded, three-time Democratic challenger Lois Herr in Tuesday's election to win an eighth two-year term in Congress.
The 14-year incumbent beat Herr b......
2010-11-03 00:18:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Voters in Lancaster city and areas just outside the city line in Manheim and Lancaster townships on Tuesday returned State Rep. Mike Sturla to Harrisburg to serve another term.
Sturla, 54, will continue to be the longest-serving member of the county's state legislative delegation and the ......
2010-11-03 00:12:00
TOM KNAPP
Voters in the 48th Senate District are sending incumbent Mike Folmer to Harrisburg for a second term.
The Republican lawmaker from Lebanon swept the polls in five counties Tuesday, easily brushing off a challenge by Jo Ellen Litz, a Lebanon Democrat.
According to return tallies on......
2010-11-03 00:07:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
In Lancaster County's 41st District, voters overwhelmingly selected Republican Ryan Aument to succeed the retiring veteran legislator Katie True in the suburbs west of Lancaster.
Aument, the county's clerk of courts, soundly beat Democrat Gerald Policoff by a more than 2-to-1 margin in Tu......
2010-11-02 23:58:00
DAVID O'CONNOR
Just like when he was in the private sector, state Rep. John Bear said he still has "bosses" to whom he must answer.
On Tuesday, those "bosses" — voters in Bear's 97th state House District — told him to keep on doing what he's been doing.
Bear, a Lititz Republican, was......
2010-11-01 21:48:00
TOM MURSE
Pennsylvania voters are angry — or at least wildly dissatisfied.
They consistently give legislators poor marks for job approval and overwhelmingly believe Pennsylvania is headed in the wrong direction, polls show.
So why, then, do they give their state lawmakers a pass year ......
2010-10-31 00:22:00
ERIC G. STARK
The hours are long, the stress levels high. Nancy Tulli, general sales manager at WGAL-TV 8, and two members of her staff are buried in election advertisement work. Election years are not just busy but lucrative times for television stations. Political analysts and TV off......
2010-10-31 00:20:00
CHIP SMEDLEY
Candidates for office don't rely solely on their own war chests to fund advertising campaigns. Special interest groups have deep pockets, too: $2.09 million deep. That's how much money 10 such groups paid five regional television stations — NBC affiliate WGAL-TV 8, WHTM-TV ABC ......
2010-10-31 00:16:00
TOM MURSE
Ask a farmer what keeps him up at night nowadays, and you'd better be prepared to listen. And listen. And listen. Lois Herr found that out on the campaign trail this weekend. The Democratic congressional hopeful, meeting with a group of Amish farmers here Saturday, asked a sim......
2010-10-29 21:21:00
TOM MURSE
U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts portrayed himself as a business-friendly champion of the free market who would work to reign in government spending and regulations while extending the Bush tax cuts across the board, even the wealthiest Americans.
Challenger Lois Herr described herself as an outsider ......
2010-10-29 21:16:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Republican governors from three states flew into Lancaster Airport Friday morning along with GOP Senate candidate Pat Toomey to stump for Tom Corbett, the Republican candidate for governor.
Govs. Chris Christie of New Jersey, Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and Haley Barbour of Mississippi and ......
2010-10-28 22:35:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Tom Garman said he wasn't happy with the direction the government was headed, but it was the economy that prompted him to do something about it.
"When people don't have money, don't spend money, it affects my bottom line," said Garman, the Republican candidate for the 96th state House Dis......
2010-10-28 20:32:00
TOM MURSE
A few last-minute gripes and groans before Election Day.
• You blew it, Michael Steele.
You've surely been around politics long enough to know that when a head of the Republican National Committee, such as yourself, is booked to speak to seve......
2010-10-28 18:19:00
TOM MURSE
The campaigns of U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts and challenger Lois Herr traded fire over each other's latest television ads this week, calling them "dishonest" on one side and "extremely disingenuous" on the other.
A Pitts campaign spokesman called the underlying claim in Herr's new ad, titled "The......
2010-10-28 18:08:00
AD CRABLE
Ryan Aument and Gerald Policoff, candidates in search of Katie True's 41st District seat, got together Thursday morning to politely emphasize what Aument called their "competing visions."
Indeed, though both excoriate the current legislature for abuse and corruption and both would like to......
2010-10-27 22:06:00
JEFF HAWKES
How can you tell that former presidential candidate Howard Dean isn't running for anything these days?
Because he's saying stuff about reducing the deficit that would get him clobbered in a campaign.
I hope he keeps it up.
The present fiscal trajectory is one of deficits a......
2010-10-27 21:26:00
TOM KNAPP
Mike Folmer wants to hang onto the 48th state Senate district for another term.
Jo Ellen Litz wants to take it from him.
Folmer, the Republican incumbent, touts his record in Harrisburg over the past four years. Litz, the Democratic challenger, counters with 11 years as a Lebanon ......
2010-10-27 18:01:00
TOM MURSE
Democratic congressional candidate Lois Herr has sent a complaint to the Federal Election Commission about a series of critical YouTube videos titled "Left Wing Lois."
Herr alleges that both the Chester County GOP, which paid for the videos, and Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts' re-election......
2010-10-27 04:00:00
TOM MURSE
Republican Tom Corbett has opened up a 15-point lead over Democrat Dan Onorato in the race for governor with less than a week until Election Day, a new Franklin & Marshall College poll shows.
And the GOP's U.S. Senate nominee, Pat Toomey, is holding onto a 7-point advantage over Democ......
2010-10-26 23:11:00
JENNIFER TODD and TOM MURSE
Howard Dean talked a lot Tuesday night about the new age of politics.
An age where campaigns are built through websites such as Facebook and Youtube.
Where young people extend their political views beyond gay marriage and abortion and want action on issues such as poverty, climate......
2010-10-26 18:19:00
TOM MURSE
Former chairman of the Democratic National Committee and one-time presidential hopeful Howard Dean delivered a passionate endorsement of Democratic congressional hopeful Lois Herr on Tuesday, saying she would bring "new blood, new energy" to the House.
"You're going to have a real congres......
2010-10-26 00:22:00
JEFF HAWKES
America is more than a country. It's also the embodiment of the idea that free people can govern themselves.
With that thought Congressional Republicans begin their "Pledge to America." It's a great start to the 45-page campaign manifesto, reminding us of the extraordinary experiment our ......
2010-10-25 21:59:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Whoever wins the election on Nov. 2, there will be a new face in Harrisburg representing the county's 41st District.
Veteran legislator Katie True is stepping down, and Democrat Gerald Policoff and Republican Ryan Aument both want to take her place.
Policoff is a strong advocate o......
2010-10-25 21:33:00
TOM MURSE
The final push is on.
The candidates are calling in the big guns.
Howard Dean, Haley Barbour and Michael Steele — Lancaster County will play host to those and other national political figures seeking to energize voters in the last full week of campaigning before Election Day......
2010-10-22 21:04:00
DAVID O'CONNOR
Even though he is running for a third term as a state legislator, John Bear said he's not a politician.
"I want to be known as an innovator and a problem-solver," said Bear, the Lititz Republican who said he wants to make government work more effectively and have more citizen involvement,......
2010-10-20 19:50:00
JEFF HAWKES
Meeting recently with this newspaper's editorial board, state Rep. Mike Sturla seemed more talkative than usual, if that's possible.
He arrived a little early, had lots to say about any topic we threw at him and seemed happy to keep going. And he would have continued, I think, even after ......
2010-10-15 20:21:00
TOM MURSE
Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts, seeking his eighth term in Congress, narrowly outraised Democratic challenger Lois Herr over the last three months, new campaign finance reports show.
The Chester County lawmaker's campaign brought in $115,629 in July, August and September and has $278,512 ......
2010-10-13 15:35:00
TOM MURSE
Republican gubernatorial frontrunner Tom Corbett, who was the GOP's apparent nominee from the get-go, has raised $326,137 from Lancaster County residents since 2009, according to his campaign finance reports. Democrat Dan Onorato, who won his party's crowded primary, has brought in only $14,150 f......
2010-10-13 15:02:00
TOM MURSE
Republican Pat Toomey has raked in $85,065 from Lancaster County residents from January 2009 through June 30, Federal Election Commission records show. Democrat Joe Sestak grabbed a slim $5,580. That's a 15-to-1 ratio in favor of the Republican. Who's giving? Here's a handy spreadsheet.
&......
2010-10-12 18:05:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Tom Garman said he believes a state tax on natural gas would be a job killer and the state Legislature could close a projected $5 billion budget gap with a line-by-line budget review to cut spending.
Mike Sturla said Pennsylvania is the only state in the nation without a severance tax on ......
2010-10-11 20:31:00
JEFF HAWKES
Jerry Policoff is the rare candidate who cares not a fig for conventional wisdom.
A never-say-die progressive, Policoff still advocates for a Canadian-style health system even though the rest of the nation has a case of buyer's remorse over just the modest reforms achieved by the Obama ad......
2010-10-10 00:19:00
JO-ANN GREENE
When best-selling author Jeff Sharlet sat down to sign his new book at the county Democratic banquet Saturday, few in the queue had had a chance to read it yet. Lois Herr, though, obtained her copy of "C Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to American Democracy" in advance. It proved interesti......
2010-10-05 21:00:00
TOM MURSE
Lancaster County has added more than 3,200 new voters over the last year, nearly half of whom claim no affiliation with either major party, new data show. Republicans still make up a majority of the 316,878 voters registered for the Nov. 2 election, but the GOP's margin contin......
2010-09-30 20:33:00
TOM MURSE
Democrat Lois Herr's campaign is spreading word of a new poll showing Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts leading by only 7 percentage points, 41-34.
But there's a serious issue with the survey's first question, one that skews the results, according to veteran......
2010-09-29 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Republican Tom Corbett's double-digit lead in the race for Pennsylvania governor appears to have evaporated with only five weeks to go until the Nov. 2 election, a new Franklin & Marshall College Poll shows.
Corbett, the state's attorney general, is leading Allegheny County Executive ......
2010-09-28 18:07:00
DAVID O'CONNOR
He's a veteran who "knows what it is to wear the uniform of this country," one said.
And he will run a state administration that "understands and shares our core values," said another.
Fellow military veterans spoke about Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett d......
2010-09-23 21:35:00
TOM MURSE
Let's play a little game, shall we?
See if you can predict the number of times our gubernatorial candidates will use the word "reform" over the next month and a half.
Republican Tom Corbett and Democrat Dan Onorato — not to mention their han......
2010-09-16 20:07:00
TOM MURSE
U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts says he supports extending the Bush tax cuts across the board, for both the ultrawealthy and middle-income earners.
Most Democrats are pushing to allow the cuts to expire for those making more than $250,000.
"The U.S. Census released statistics......
2010-09-09 21:19:00
TOM MURSE
Team Corbett is displeased, to put it politely, with last week's column.
They take issue with the claim, made by Democrat Dan Onorato and reported in this space, that Republican Tom Corbett ......
2010-09-02 20:10:00
TOM MURSE
A few odds and ends this week.
Larry's crystal ball
If you're wondering just how awful Nov. 2 is going to be for Democrats, look no further. The director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, Larry Sabato, predicted this week t......
2010-09-02 12:20:00
GIL SMART and CASEY KREIDER
......
2010-08-26 05:54:00
TOM MURSE
Republicans Pat Toomey and Tom Corbett are running far ahead of their Democratic opponents in congressional and gubernatorial contests here, a new Franklin & Marshall College Poll shows.It's not difficult to understand why.When things go wrong, the party in power — in ......
2010-08-25 20:04:00
JEFF HAWKES
State Rep. Tom Caltagirone counts up the 73 municipalities in his home county of Berks and asks a good question: Do we need so many?Because townships and boroughs are a legacy of horse-and-buggy days, do they remain the most cost-effective way to police communities, fill potholes and maint......
2010-08-13 20:26:00
TOM MURSE
Democratic congressional hopeful Lois Herr failed to file a routine financial disclosure with the House in May, in what her campaign called an "oversight."But Lancaster County Republican Committee Chairman Greg Sahd accused Herr of violating serious federal campaign laws.&......
2010-08-04 21:25:00
TOM MURSE
Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Joe Sestak portrayed himself as a champion of the middle class and struggling small business owners and claimed that his opponent represents only the wealthy and elite."There is a choice — he will take care of them, and I promise to work for you,&q......
2010-08-03 20:49:00
TOM MURSE
A Lancaster city man who intended to challenge Democratic state Rep. Mike Sturla as an independent candidate was denied a spot on the November ballot.It's not that Paul Culbreth didn't have enough signatures.In fact, he and his supporters gathered nearly 600 of them — ......
2010-07-16 22:10:00
TOM MURSE
Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Dan Onorato said his opponent, Republican Tom Corbett, is "out of touch" and "clueless" about the plight of jobless Pennsylvanians.Speaking at a Lancaster career center Friday, Onorato said Corbett's recent suggestions that many laid......
2010-07-15 21:37:00
TOM MURSE
Democratic state Rep. Mike Sturla has easily beaten back challenges from a long line of Republicans over the course of nearly two decades.But he never has come up against a formidable, well-known independent who could have the potential to appeal to Democrats in the heart of the district, ......
2010-07-15 20:22:00
TOM MURSE
Republican U.S. Rep. Joseph R. Pitts outraised his Democratic opponent by a near 3-to-1 margin over the last two months in his campaign for an eighth term in Congress, new finance reports show.Friends of Joe Pitts, the legislator's campaign committee, raised $108,042 and spent $39,033 ......
2010-07-05 21:28:00
JEFF HAWKES
In the interest of belt-tightening, my wife and I decided to save a few bucks a month by cutting back on the TV channels we get from Comcast.Did I second-guess that decision when the Flyers were making their thrilling run in the Stanley Cup playoffs? You bet.But life is about choice......
2010-07-02 08:46:00
GIL SMART and CASEY KREIDER
......
2010-07-01 22:21:00
TOM MURSE
For more than a month, gay-rights advocates here have been pressing the county commissioners to give them the same protections against discrimination that are afforded minorities, elderly, disabled and non-Christians.The commissioners haven't acted.What Republicans on the board ......
2010-06-27 00:06:00
PAULA WOLF
A few months ago, Keith Wilkes wondered for the first time if he'd ever be able to afford to retire. President of Fear Knot Martial Arts For Kidz, which has five locations in three counties, the Mount Joy resident said the failure of government and career politicians to listen to the pub......
2010-06-24 20:55:00
TOM MURSE
Dave Dumeyer, who is running for chairman of the Lancaster County GOP, has recruited a number of high-profile or veteran Republicans to serve on his executive committee if he's elected.Among them is William W. Adams, retired president and chief executi......
2010-06-24 12:46:00
GIL SMART and CASEY KREIDER
......
2010-06-03 21:01:00
TOM MURSE
If there were a highlight reel of the best political plays of the week — a la ESPN — these gems would be on it.• Pat Toomey's new television ad.The Republican U.S. Senate hopeful knew the risks of going on TV so soon after the brutal Democratic ......
