2008-08-19 01:03:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
As the state attorney general digs for evidence of improper use of public money by the state House Republican caucus, local GOP lawmakers say they're in the dark about where the investigation might lead."We don't know anything other than what we're reading in the paper,&qu......
2008-08-18 00:04:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Hallam … Wrightsville … Mountville … Landisville.The towns slipped past the windows of John McCain's Straight Talk Express bus as the presumptive Republican nominee and his campaign rambled Tuesday from an energizing townhall meeting in York to a brief visit with t......
2008-08-17 00:18:00
ALEC MACGILLIS, Washington Post
When Gene Rutherford, 65, tries to make sense of the meteoric rise of Barack Obama, and the rampant enthusiasm for him among younger Americans, he thinks of the local mall, where as director of operations he often deals with teenagers. "Kids today have been given everything they want, and ......
2008-08-17 00:17:00
PAUL FRANZ, Staff
Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray lost his bid to be an elected Barack Obama delegate to the Democratic National Convention. The nod went to state Rep. Mike Sturla. Gray, however, is still heading to the convention in Denver, Colo., this week thanks to his wife, Gail. The Democratic State Committe......
2008-08-15 00:54:00
MICHAEL YODER, Staff
Sen. Joe Lieberman's criticism of Sen. Barack Obama at Sen. John McCain's town hall meeting in York on Tuesday drew an angry response from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.Pelosi, interviewed Wednesday on a radio program in San Francisco, called Lieberman's comments about the Democra......
2008-08-14 00:42:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Democrat Sen. Barack Obama would squeak by his Republican rival and seize Pennsylvania's vital 21 electoral votes if the presidential election were held today, according to a new Franklin & Marshall College poll of Pennsylvania voters released Wednesday.There are, however, troublin......
2008-08-13 01:47:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Manheim Central senior Jeremy Knosp grasped a football, dropped back and fired a pass to a wide receiver.Knosp's teammate caught the ball, but all eyes quickly shifted from the play to a man walking nearby.Strolling around the bleachers and onto the artificial turf of Elden Rett......
2008-08-13 01:40:00
STEPHANIE WEAVER, Staff
Sen. John McCain's visit to York County on Tuesday not only assured those skeptical of his ability to side with conservatives, but proved he's willing, and ready, to put party differences aside to better the country, many who attended said. ...
2008-08-13 01:35:00
KIM O’BRIEN and MICHAEL YODER, Staff
In what has become a tradition when prominent Republican politicians make appearances in Lancaster County, local protesters took to the streets Tuesday to challenge the visit of Sen. John McCain, the presumptive GOP presidential candidate.McCain spoke in Manheim after holding a town-hall-s......
2008-08-13 00:53:00
TOM KNAPP, Staff
After campaigning Tuesday morning with Sen. John McCain in York, Arlen Specter stopped in Lancaster to air his thoughts on the energy crunch, Russian aggression and bipartisan one-upmanship in the nation's capitol.Congress, Pennsylvania's senior senator said emphatically, ought to ......
2008-08-12 21:03:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain turned in a Knute Rockne-type performance Tuesday afternoon as the Arizona senator stopped by football practice at Manheim Central High School in Manheim, Pa.Gone was the tie and suit jacket in favor of a powder-blue dress shirt, open collar and ......
2008-08-12 01:44:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain likely will stop in Lancaster County today after a town-hall event in York County, an anonymous Republican official said Monday.However, just where and when McCain will make the stop remains unknown. And a number of local Republican leaders say t......
2008-08-09 01:23:00
LARRY ALEXANDER, Staff
Gov. Ed Rendell stopped at a Denver mattress factory Friday, where he announced that Lancaster County would receive more than $30 million through his "Putting Pennsylvania to Work" economic-stimulus program.•••Promoting new jo......
2008-08-08 17:56:00
RYAN DUNN, 19, Freestyle Staff Writer
Teen EditorialPeople either old enough to know such things or those young enough to still have hope like to bombard you with statistics about why you should vote in the presidential election this November.Their rhetoric doesn't seem ......
2008-08-08 00:38:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
About 200 local Democrats, dressed in hippie, casual, hip-hop or business attire, crammed into Obama campaign headquarters in Lancaster city Thursday evening."They have to demean him," Mayor Rick Gray said, speaking of recent Republican attack ads aimed at Barack Obama, the Democ......
2008-08-07 00:44:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain next week will make his first appearance in central Pennsylvania since becoming the GOP's presumptive nominee, a local campaign official confirmed Wednesday night.Frank Orban III, McCain's campaign co-chair in Lancaster County, said the A......
2008-08-06 00:51:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Sen. John McCain predicted Tuesday night that Pennsylvania will play the kind of decisive role Florida and Ohio did in the last two presidential elections."We're going to have to campaign hard here, and I realize I'm the underdog," the Arizona senator said during a 45-min......
2008-08-05 00:38:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
He's a Bible student with a knack for numbers, and he's now the Lancaster County Republican Committee's new executive director.He's 23-year-old Bill Coder of Lancaster, who's taking over a position left vacant since May, when Andrew Heath left to work with Anne Beiler o......
2008-08-01 00:38:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Republican Chet Beiler said Thursday morning that he would push for a change in Pennsylvania law to allow the office of auditor general to inspect the spending habits of the state Legislature.Beiler, the former chairman of the Lancaster County Republican Committee, also slammed current Aud......
2008-07-14 00:23:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Patrick Meehan's time in the spotlight didn't last long. And that could be to his advantage.The U.S. attorney who oversees Pennsylvania's eastern district announced his resignation July 7, and immediately the political realm began chatting about the possibility of the Republica......
2008-07-13 00:21:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS, Staff
By Tom Corbett's account, if he were a painter, he'd be the guy cutting in around the windows and woodwork. He wouldn't be wielding a roller on the walls. "A prosecutor can't paint with a broad brush," the state attorney general told members of Lancaster County AC......
2008-07-11 12:16:00
TOM MURSE, Staff
As if Pennsylvanians need one more reason to distrust state lawmakers. The public-corruption charges that rocked the Capitol and rippled through the state today read like a Hollywood script, tarnishing not only the accused but the entire legislative body as well, local lawmakers say. "......
2008-07-11 12:00:00
TOM MURSE, Staff
Scott and Jennifer Brubaker were two peas in a pod, both local high-school grads whose passion for politics earned them accolades not just in Lancaster County but in the halls of the Capitol as well. In April of 1997, for example, the couple were named "Democrats of the Year" by the l......
2008-07-11 11:20:00
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tally of charges in probe
A quick look at the defendants in Pennsylvania's legislative bonuses probe. Each defendant was charged with at least one count each of conflict of interest, theft and conspiracy. • Mike Veon, former House Democratic whip, 59 counts. ......
2008-07-11 01:45:00
JEFF HAWKES, Staff
Lancaster County Democrats, have a word with your leader. Please.Bruce Beardsley, your unfailingly optimistic, indefatigable county chairman, is in need of a reality check.While Beardsley is a courageous partisan, always marching the flag of Democratic values into the gale of Lancas......
2008-07-11 01:23:00
LARRY ALEXANDER and DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
The former chairman of the Lancaster County Democratic Party and his wife are among 12 people accused by a grand jury of using taxpayer money for political campaigns.Scott and Jennifer Brubaker, former Elizabethtown residents who have been deeply involved in the Democratic House Caucus, ar......
2008-07-11 01:18:00
MARK SCOLFORO, Associated Press
Twelve people connected to the state House Democratic caucus, including a state representative and the former caucus whip, were charged Thursday after grand jurors concluded that millions of taxpayer dollars were illegally siphoned from the public treasury to underwrite political campaigns....
2008-07-10 18:00:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Correction — The story below, posted on LancasterOnline Tuesday, about the resignation of U.S. Attorney Patrick L. Meehan incorrectly reported the results of Meehan's prosecution of Lancaster County builder Philip Garland. Garland pleade......
2008-07-09 01:20:00
P.J. REILLY, Staff
The home-rule charter put to Lancaster County voters in November will not call for electing commissioners by district, the Government Study Commission decided Tuesday. Member Sam Mecum, who proposed the districting idea, said rejecting it could doom the charter's chances of ratification....
2008-07-05 00:10:00
LARRY ALEXANDER, Staff
Some Pennsylvania communities, including one in Lancaster County, may soon learn that nothing is free.A bill pending in Harrisburg would force municipalities with populations over 10,000 and that rely solely on the state police for law enforcement to pay a fee.House Bill 2563, spons......
2008-07-01 02:03:00
JEFF HAWKES, Staff
Persecuted for his Quaker faith, William Penn founded Pennsylvania as a "holy experiment" where people would be free to worship as they choose.As a result Catholics, Lutherans, Mennonites and Amish joined Quakers in settling Penn's Woods 300 years ago.Penn's charte......
2008-07-01 00:26:00
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
The details of a $28.2 billion state budget deal reached overnight remained vague Monday, as aides scrambled on the last day of the fiscal year to distill the handshake agreement into understandable facts and figures.The agreement between Gov. Ed Rendell and top legislators, announced just......
2008-06-30 00:06:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Private insurance companies will continue denying coverage of autism treatments under a bill passed 49-1 by the state Senate on Sunday, opponents said prior to the vote.The opponents originally stood as proponents of a mandate forcing private coverage, but the final version of the bill was......
2008-06-24 00:47:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
The words spill out of Tim Haun's mouth so quickly about his favorite movie, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," that they're hard to distinguish — a sign of the zealousness the 14-year-old harbors for a memorable scene.Tousled brown hair, lanky arms waving emphatica......
2008-06-23 11:54:00
TOM MURSE, Staff
With gas topping $4 a gallon in many places, U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts and House Republicans are hoping to capitalize on driver angst by pushing for votes on sputtering proposals they say would drive down retail gas prices. The election-year strategy includes lobbying for passage of a Pitts measure t......
2008-06-21 01:08:00
BRIAN WALLACE, Staff
Officials at Lancaster County school districts find themselves in a frustratingly familiar situation this year.They must adopt 2008-09 budgets and establish property tax rates for their residents without knowing how much money the state will give them to run their schools.In Februar......
2008-06-16 00:04:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Through the sizzle of eggs and bacon on the griddle where Dad was cooking breakfast, the familiar urgent cadence of stringed instruments would flow from the television, along with a voice announcing: "From NBC News in Washington, This is 'Meet the Press' with Tim Russert."...
2008-06-12 01:06:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain swung into this city Wednesday for a town-hall meeting at which he painted his Democratic rival as risking another Great Depression with his economic platform.Democrat Barack Obama has called for taxing oil companies' windfall profits and ren......
2008-06-11 01:15:00
MARC LEVY, Associated Press
The state Senate has broken a yearlong stalemate on a statewide smoking ban, approving a compromise bill Tuesday that would make Pennsylvania the 33rd state to outlaw smoking in many workplaces and public spaces.The Senate voted 41-9, sending the bill to Gov. Ed Rendell to be signed into l......
2008-06-04 00:54:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Pennsylvania moved a step closer to imposing a ban on indoor smoking as a bipartisan legislative committee approved a compromise bill Tuesday.The bill is full of exemptions. If it becomes law, smokers in drinking establishments, nursing homes and some hotel rooms would still be allowed to ......
2008-05-30 01:40:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
State Senate Republicans announced Thursday that they would not return to the Capitol after the November election, a move that would halt any unresolved legislation a month before the current session is to end.GOP leaders said such "lame-duck" sessions — when the General Assembly con......
2008-05-29 01:02:00
LARRY ALEXANDER, Staff
A plan to expand veterans' benefits under the GI Bill has many former soldiers at odds with their commander-in-chief and the Republicans' front-running presidential candidate.The bill, part of a 10-year, $250 billion spending package, includes a $52 billion expansion of the GI Bill......
2008-05-28 01:03:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Snuffed out just a couple weeks ago, the debate over a proposed statewide smoking ban in public areas is about to light up again.The six-member legislative conference committee charged with drawing up a bill that the state House and Senate would approve is scheduled to meet twice next week......
2008-05-23 01:19:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
In what might be a first in the nation, Pennsylvania received approval to use federal Medicaid money to pay for support programs for autistic adults and their caregivers.•••The road from diagnosis to college has been long for the Snyder......
2008-05-22 07:00:00
THE WASHINGTON POST
She's the highest-ranking woman official in U.S. history — the first female speaker of the House of Representatives and second in line to the presidency. But Nancy Pelosi says none of that tops being a mother and grandmother. The California Democrat, whose father was mayor of Baltimore whe...
2008-05-22 02:25:00
JEFF HAWKES, Staff
Unlike generals who get scouting reports on the size of enemy forces, educators battling dismal dropout rates often don't know what they're up against.The nation's graduation rate is said to be as low as 70 percent and as high as 83 percent, The Center for Public Education repo......
2008-05-22 01:36:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Congressional Republicans and oil company executives on Wednesday pushed for access to domestic territory cut off from oil exploration.Among the Republicans was Rep. Joe Pitts, who's adding a supportive voice to a GOP energy package — introduced the same day oil executives testif......
2008-05-21 01:20:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell expressed openness to a package of tax cuts proposed by Senate Republicans Tuesday as legislators prepared to ratchet up state budget negotiations.Most of the GOP tax-cut proposals are aimed at businesses, but one measure would raise the threshold for state incom......
2008-05-16 01:25:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
There's only so much state money to go around, so while advocates for alternative energy development and health care reform are falling over each other for their share, local libraries also are clamoring for more dollars.Officials with the Library System of Lancaster County met Thursda......
2008-05-14 02:03:00
LARRY ALEXANDER, Staff
Last week I shared with you the good news that Armstrong World Industries CEO Michael D. Lockhart was paid more than $10 million in 2007, which included a 58 percent raise, while the once-vibrant company continued to go down the economic toilet.At least it was good news from Lockhart's......
2008-05-13 00:43:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Hillary Clinton may not have the time or the votes to mount a comeback in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, but that hasn't stopped two local women from trying to help the New York senator rally.Rebecca Lyttle, an attorney from Lancaster Township and head of the Lanc......
2008-05-07 01:05:00
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
State Sen. Mike Brubaker's marriage amendment bill is dead — at least for now.The controversial bill that calls for an amendment to the state's constitution defining marriage as being between a man and a woman was tabled indefinitely by the state Senate Tuesday, before that b......
2008-05-06 01:04:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
The state Senate is poised to vote today on a proposed amendment to the state Constitution that would exclusively define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.The Senate Appropriations Committee, chaired by Republican state Sen. Gibson Armstrong of Refton, passed the proposed amend......
2008-05-02 01:15:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
A subtle movement has begun in the state House that, if it became law, would change who can vote in Pennsylvania's primary elections.One bill, authored by Democratic Rep. Jaret Gibbons, would allow the state's 374,350 registered Independents to vote in either the Republican or Demo......
2008-04-30 01:15:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
The state Senate Appropriations Committee hosted a contentious meeting Tuesday morning as advocates and opponents fought over a proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriages.The amendment, authored by Sen. Michael W. Brubaker, a Lititz-area Republican, recognizes only man-woman unions ......
2008-04-28 18:44:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
The week after state Sen. Mike Brubaker introduced legislation to limit marriage in Pennsylvania to unions of one man and one woman, he spoke to elementary school students about the importance of tolerance and acceptance of differences.Some might see irony there, but Brubaker doesn't....
2008-04-24 01:05:00
JEFF HAWKES, Staff
Tom Bashore, 60, knocked on the apartment door. No answer.He climbed back into his Jeep Grand Cherokee, ran his finger down a printout for the next address, drove to a single-family home and rang that doorbell. No answer.He eased the blue SUV farther down the block. He got out and r......
2008-04-24 00:31:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Though Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have moved their clash out of Pennsylvania, there is still a battle brewing in the Keystone State.Republicans are busy plotting strategies to recapture the thousands of voters who switched their party registration so they could vote in the Democratic......
2008-04-23 02:47:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Just a few minutes before 9 p.m., half a dozen television screens in Villa Nova West tuned to CNN declared Hillary Clinton the winner of Pennsylvania's hard-fought Democratic primary.The room full of local Clinton supporters in the Columbia Avenue restaurant erupted in applause, raisin......
2008-04-23 02:25:00
P.J. REILLY, Staff
West Lampeter Township supervisor Lloyd Smucker on Tuesday easily won the hotly contested primary race for the Republican nomination for the state Senate seat in the 13th District.And while he celebrated that victory over Steve McDonald, Paul Thibault and Bill Neff — which featured a......
2008-04-23 01:49:00
SUSAN E. LINDT, Staff
Dee Kaminsky clutched voting receipt No. 86206."It will be framed," she vowed Tuesday night.In 40-plus years, Kaminsky never registered to vote, let alone cast a ballot.Then, at 61, as she watched the Obama-Clinton battle for the Democratic presidential nom......
2008-04-23 01:42:00
JENNIFER TODD, Staff
Hillary Clinton may have won the Pennsylvania Democratic primary Tuesday, but local Barack Obama supporters felt they scored a significant victory.Shortly before 10 p.m., CNN reported an Obama win in Lancaster County. The announcement was met with deafening cheers along with plenty of hugs......
2008-04-23 01:30:00
TOM KNAPP, Staff
At county Republican headquarters, Tuesday marked a quiet end to a fairly subdued campaign.The party faithful who gathered in the building on Columbia Avenue to watch results trickle in Tuesday evening formed a small, largely mellow group. It acknowledged few eyes were on the GOP, as Sen. ......
2008-04-22 01:38:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
In her closing argument before today's primary, Sen. Hillary Clinton told a crowd of more than 1,000 people Monday to consider all the problems facing America when they go to the polls."We need to think carefully about this decision tomorrow, to ask ourselves, 'Who do we reall......
2008-04-22 01:29:00
SUSAN E. LINDT, Staff
State Rep. Mike Sturla's campaign finance records have been subpoenaed as part of a grand jury investigation into a Scranton millionaire casino owner's alleged mob connections.In 2005, nearly one-quarter of Sturla's campaign contributions came from Mount Airy Casino Resort owne......
2008-04-20 00:21:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS, Staff
"I was never political," Danny McFadden said. "... I never really even voted." He will this year. For Barack Obama. McFadden, of Lancaster, was in the crowd of thousands — Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray estimated it at 6,000 to 8,000 — who flocked to the Lan......
2008-04-19 01:19:00
STAFF REPORT
Manheim Township police have announced several road closures near Lancaster Train Station in conjunction with today's visit by Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama.McGovern Avenue will be closed between North Duke and North Queen streets starting at 1 p.m. The closure wi......
2008-04-19 01:06:00
MICHAEL YODER, Staff
There may be "a fine line between stupid and clever," as David St. Hubbins says in "This Is Spinal Tap," but Rob Reiner is hoping voters in Pennsylvania make an educated decision about Tuesday's presidential primary — and support his candidate: Sen. Hillary Clinton....
2008-04-18 11:28:00
BERNARD HARRIS, Staff
For the first time in more than a half-century, a candidate will be rolling into Lancaster by rail to make his pitch for the presidency. Sen. Barack Obama, who is running against Sen. Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination, will make a whistle-stop campaign appearance at the Lancaster......
2008-04-18 02:04:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Sen. Barack Obama is coming back to Lancaster. But this time, instead of a bus, he's ridin' a train.Obama's campaign released details Thursday of a Saturday train trip the Illinois senator will make starting in Wynnewood and ending with a rally at the state Capitol in Harrisbur......
2008-04-18 01:49:00
P.J. REILLY, Staff
Lancaster County's proposed home-rule charter was publicly unveiled to mixed reviews Thursday night.To Steve Geisenberger of Manheim Township, the charter represents a chance for county residents to dictate, at least in part, how they want to be governed."If we want to chan......
2008-04-17 10:43:00
JENNI KIEBACH, Manheim Township
Hillary Clinton's combination of innovative plans and government experience make her the best candidate for an environmentally friendly America. Not only does she have an impressive background in aiding the environment; she also proposes to take advantage of green technology to create much-......
2008-04-17 10:41:00
CURTIS HOUCK, Manheim Township
As the presumptive Republican nominee for the 2008 presidential election, Sen. John McCain now can focus on campaigning, with the help of the entire party. One of the more underrated issues of this election in general is the environment. With the rising cost of oil, a scorching planet and ......
2008-04-17 10:34:00
ANDREW PEIFFER, Manheim Township
The environmental plans of both Democratic presidential nominees are strikingly similar, and both are pretty good. Both Obama and Clinton support a "cap-and-trade" system that involves auctioning off pollution credits to corporations, in hopes of reducing emissions by 80 percent by 20......
2008-04-17 01:15:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Sen. Hillary Clinton slammed Sen. Barack Obama during their much anticipated debate Tuesday for "fundamentally misunderstanding" rural and working-class Pennsylvanians when he described them last week as clinging to guns and religion out of bitterness over economic frustration.Ju......
2008-04-17 00:42:00
SUSAN E. LINDT, Staff
Former first daughter Chelsea Clinton stumped for her mother Wednesday on Franklin & Marshall College's Hartman Green.The 28-year-old Clinton is trying to woo college students and reverse a perception that they're largely supporting her mother's opponent in the Democratic p......
2008-04-16 01:18:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Chelsea Clinton will step onto the campus of Franklin & Marshall College this afternoon in a bid to sway voters to support her mother's presidential aspirations.And with less than a week until Tuesday's primary, the race between Clinton's mother, Sen. Hillary Clinton, and h......
2008-04-15 00:56:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Hillary Clinton's campaign announced Monday the New York senator's daughter will campaign in Lancaster Wednesday at an undisclosed location.Details about Chelsea Clinton's campaign stop here were not available late Monday night.She began a three-day bus tour today in Pit......
2008-04-15 00:27:00
P.J. REILLY, Staff
Lloyd Smucker garnered $33,500 Thursday at a fundraising dinner for his campaign to become the next state senator in the 13th District.Most of that money, like many of Smucker's other campaign contributions, came from the construction community — a fact that drew fire Monday from......
2008-04-14 18:40:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Here's what to watch for in the last full week before Pennsylvania's presidential primary on April 22:• How much Barack Obama's remark that rural Pennsylvanians are "bitter" about job losses hurts him in voter polls.Hillary Clinton is lead......
2008-04-14 00:26:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
The spat over what Sen. Barack Obama meant when he said rural Pennsylvanians are "bitter" about job losses spilled over into a forum on faith and politics Sunday evening at Messiah College.During a fundraiser in San Francisco last week, the Democratic presidential hopeful said th......
2008-04-13 00:00:00
Helen Colwell Adams, Political Animals
County Democrats are touting their latest registration numbers, which show Democrats are 30.2 percent of the county's electorate and continuing to close the gap with Republicans.And now the party has set a goal of 100,000 Democrats by the November election.Lancaster County had 9......
2008-04-11 01:26:00
JEFF HAWKES, Staff
Sen. Bob Casey Jr., visiting the newsroom this week, made light of the term "superdelegate," saying having people think politicians consider themselves super is the last thing politicians need."It didn't impress my wife at all when I informed her that I was one," Ca......
2008-04-11 01:09:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
It is "possible but not probable" that Republican Mitt Romney would be Sen. John McCain's pick for vice president, the former Massachusetts governor told the Intelligencer Journal on Thursday.Romney, seen as the favorite to capture the GOP presidential nomination before his c......
2008-04-10 00:52:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
To lower tuition costs, college students need to be "better consumers of higher education" by focusing less on a university's amenities and more on academics, presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama said Wednesday during a swing through the Philadelphia suburbs.Obama, a Democr......
2008-04-09 00:35:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
The pressure on the Pennsylvania presidential primary is about to get turned up as Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama head for the stretch run.The polls have tightened. New expensive advertisements are about to be aired. Mistakes by the campaigns will attract more scrutiny and carr......
2008-04-07 00:01:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Five years ago, about 22,000 people probably wouldn't have spent hours waiting in the cold to hear Barack Obama talk about health care, education and the economy.Whether or not the senator from Illinois becomes the Democratic nominee for president, he's become a prominent voice in ......
2008-04-05 00:18:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Democratic superdelegates should not overturn the will of the people in the party's race for the presidential nomination, Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts told the Intelligencer Journal Friday."The elected delegates, they ought to be the ones" to determine the nominee, Kenne......
2008-04-05 00:10:00
TAYLOR BUNDY, 17, Freestyle Staff Writer
Cheers of "Ready to go, fired up!" resounded within John Barley Multipurpose Activity Center at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology Monday morning. A crowd of approximately 2,000 leapt to its feet in thunderous applause as Democratic Sen. Barack Obama entered the room and took his pl......
2008-04-04 01:03:00
PATRICK BURNS, Staff
A bill approved by a state Senate committee Tuesday would raise by 60 percent the discount that bars and restaurants are given on purchases from Pennsylvania's state liquor stores.So why isn't the Pennsylvania Tavern Association cheering?Amy Christie, Tavern Association exec......
2008-04-04 00:50:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Illinois Sen. Barack Obama announced Thursday he raised $40 million nationally for his campaign in March, arguably the roughest month of his candidacy since the primary season began in January.Meanwhile, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign confirmed her fundraising totals for Marc......
2008-04-03 01:24:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Hillary Clinton as Rocky? Presidential hopeful Barack Obama doesn't think so.Obama courted union votes Wednesday, sharply criticizing a comparison his Democratic rival had made just a day before.Sen. Clinton told the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO on Tuesday she is like movie icon Rocky B......
2008-04-02 02:26:00
LARRY ALEXANDER, Staff
It's time again to draw your attention to recent news items, which are much funnier than anything I can come up with.I see where Armstrong World Industries is eliminating 100 more jobs.I find this story amazing. I didn't think Armstrong, once a major source of employment in Lancaste......
2008-04-02 01:09:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama went after his potential Republican rival for the White House on Tuesday, saying it's not former POW Sen. John McCain's patriotism that should be questioned, but his policies.At a 2,000-person rally in Wilkes University's gymn......
2008-04-01 01:42:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
He stood in a college named after Thaddeus Stevens. He conducted a press conference within a couple of football fields of Manheim Central High School. And he tasted a Wilbur Chocolate bud.About the only thing missing from Democratic Sen. Barack Obama's Lancaster County visit Monday was......
2008-04-01 01:13:00
LARRY ALEXANDER, Staff
When Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama spoke Monday at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, not only did he woo hundreds of members of his own party, he swayed some Republicans as well.Former Lancaster city Councilman Luis Mendoza had a front-row seat for Obama's t......
2008-04-01 01:06:00
TOM KNAPP, Staff
It didn't take long for Sen. Barack Obama to invoke the same "fierce urgency of now" that drove the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to fight for change in his time.For Obama, the "urgency of now" refers to an immediate need for change in the way America does business....
2008-04-01 00:59:00
JENNIFER TODD, Staff
"We love you, Barack!" yelled a young woman as the large bus made its way onto the campus of Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology."Go Obama!" cheered a young man.About two dozen students lined the sidewalk outside Mellor Administration Building to welcome Sen. ......
2008-03-31 18:35:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
A story appeared last week on Politico.com about frustration among Pennsylvania Democrats over the relative lack of candidate appearances in the state, especially by Sen. Barack Obama.For months, we've watched Obama and Sen. Hillary Cli......
2008-03-29 00:52:00
LARRY ALEXANDER, Staff
Sen. Barack Obama's "Road To Change" bus tour will lead him to Lancaster on Monday.The Democratic presidential hopeful will conduct a town-hall meeting at the John Barley Multi-Purpose Activity Center at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology starting at 10 a.m. Doors will open at 8 a.m....
2008-03-28 00:51:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
President Clinton, speaking to a packed gymnasium in Berks County on Thursday, touted his wife's alternative energy plan as a way to turn around the country's economic woes."It is the only strategy that will create jobs in every rural area, suburban area and city in Pennsylvan......
2008-03-27 00:55:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Mitt Romney, once seen as the favorite to win the Republican nomination for president, will campaign in Lancaster County next month for Sen. John McCain, the man who forced him out of the race.The Lancaster County Republican Committee confirmed Wednesday that Romney will speak on behalf of......
2008-03-27 00:50:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Slowly but steadily the pressure on presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton to drop out of the Democratic race is mounting, but the New York senator vowed Wednesday to continue fighting.Clinton, in an interview Time magazine published online Wednesday, said discussion of ending her candidacy ......
2008-03-26 01:44:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Hillary Clinton has touted her experience in foreign policy while first lady as proof she's ready to be commander in chief, but on Tuesday a controversy over her account of a 1996 Bosnia trip continued to dog the New York senator on the campaign trail.Clinton on more than one occasion ......
2008-03-25 01:02:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton on Monday unveiled a package of proposals aimed at easing the country's housing crisis and boosting consumer confidence."Our housing crisis at heart is an American dream crisis," the New York senator told a University of Pennsyl......
2008-03-25 00:36:00
JENNIFER TODD, Staff
Lancaster County voters have made one thing clear: They want a say in the Democratic presidential nomination.Whether it's because they see the historical significance — Sen. Barack Obama could become the first black president, or Sen. Hillary Clinton could become the first female......
2008-03-24 17:57:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
I've been asked by readers about my interview with Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton, who held a rally Tuesday at Millersville University.After the event, Clinton, along with her press team, met me in the Pucillo Gymnasium weight room, of all places. I jokingly asked......
2008-03-24 11:35:00
TOM MURSE, Staff
Now here's something you don't see every day in good ol' Lancaster County: The number of registered Democrats has swelled by four figures in recent months —!\qwhile the Republican ranks have thinned slightly. Unprecedented? Probably. Surprising? Not in the le......
2008-03-23 00:20:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS, Staff
The phone ringing at 3 a.m. Lack of experience. Geraldine Ferraro suggesting Barack Obama wouldn't be where he is if he weren't black. When it all started cropping up in the Democratic presidential campaign, the men who gather one Saturday a month at Bethel AME Church had the ......
2008-03-22 00:40:00
CARLA DI FONZO, Staff
Feuding Democrats could learn a thing or two from the McHenry brothers.Mike McHenry, 34, of Columbia, supports Hillary Clinton for the presidential nomination.But his brother, 25-year-old Pat McHenry, has decided to saddle up with the Barack Obama campaign.Once they revealed ......
2008-03-22 00:27:00
BERNARD HARRIS, Staff
Organizers of Hillary Rodham Clinton's speech at Millersville University on Tuesday evening initially set up seating in only two sections of Pucillo Gymnasium.Rebecca Lyttle said she knew they were going to need more seats.Clinton's campaign people didn't expect such a r......
2008-03-21 01:16:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Hillary Clinton has been dishonest about her support of the North American Free Trade Act during the early '90s, Sen. Barack Obama's campaign said during a conference call Thursday with reporters.David Axelrod, Obama's chief political strategist, said Clinton has engaged in the......
2008-03-20 01:33:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
With Sen. Hillary Clinton trailing her Democratic rival nationwide, a victory in Pennsylvania next month would propel her to the party's presidential nomination, former President Clinton told an audience of several hundred here Wednesday."I have watched many experts dance on Hilla......
2008-03-19 11:06:00
TOM MURSE, Staff
Democrat Hillary Clinton, needing a substantial victory in Pennsylvania's April 22 primary to stay competitive with Barack Obama, implored 2,300 cheering supporters here to fan out across the county and work hard on her behalf. "I need your help," Clinton said in an enthusiastic, ......
2008-03-19 11:06:00
AD CRABLE, Staff
There were the ardent Hillary supporters, of course, standing in the rain at Millersville University for hours. But also a large number of fence-straddlers, who hoped a live in-the-flesh encounter would make it all clear: Clinton or Obama. John and Jane Haney of Lititz, with their daughter, rec......
2008-03-19 02:44:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Hillary Clinton stirred a crowd at Millersville University into a near-frenzy Tuesday night when she promised to scrap the federal No Child Left Behind Act if she's elected president this November."I know we can do better than that," she said. "I know we can have a bette......
2008-03-19 02:35:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama told an audience here Tuesday that the United States has been mired in racial tension for years, undermining the country's ability to resolve other issues like the reeling economy and burdensome health care costs."This is where we are r......
2008-03-19 02:24:00
TOM KNAPP, Staff
Dozens of people stood for hours in a chilly rain on a Lancaster city sidewalk Tuesday, hoping for a glimpse of Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York as she walked a few feet from the side door of Lancaster Brewing Co. to her waiting car.They got a whole lot more. Clinton, seeing the crowd chan......
2008-03-18 12:20:00
TOM MURSE, Staff
As Sen. Hillary Clinton makes her way to Millersville University this evening, you might find yourself pondering an obvious contradiction. A Democratic presidential candidate will be campaigning in, of all places, the epicenter of Republican Party politics in Central Pennsylvania — Lan......
2008-03-18 01:14:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton will speak this evening at Millersville University as the issues of race and the Iraq War hang over the Democratic campaign for president.Dana Edlestein, a Clinton spokeswoman, said the New York senator will focus her speech in the 3,000-seat Pucillo Gymnasium on ......
2008-03-17 00:01:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Pennsylvania means more to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama than just the 157 delegates up for grabs.For Clinton, a victory in the Keystone State would continue to build her momentum after victories in Ohio and Texas and further strengthen her claim that Obama cannot win big states.......
2008-03-15 01:01:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain described the struggle against congressional earmarks as something biblical during a stop in suburban Philadelphia on Friday.McCain, the senior senator from Arizona, spoke the morning after a bill he supported that would have stopped ......
2008-03-14 01:22:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Barack Obama's candidacy is mostly "words," while Hillary Clinton is ready to deliver results, a Clinton supporter told Lancaster County Democrats Thursday."This campaign is a clear choice, we believe, between talk and action," Don Cunningham, Lehigh County's ex......
2008-03-13 02:15:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
After more than a week of speculation, local Democrats Wednesday night announced who would represent Sen. Hillary Clinton at their awards banquet tonight.The answer: Sally Katzen, the former deputy director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget in President Bill Clinton's adminis......
2008-03-13 02:08:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
The record of former President Bill Clinton should not factor into whether voters choose U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton for the White House, the couple's only child told an audience at Lebanon Valley College Wednesday."You should vote for or against my mom as for or against my mom, not......
2008-03-13 01:55:00
JENNIFER TODD, Staff
They have known each other for nearly 25 years and have worked together on many legislative issues — and not always on the same side.But on Wednesday, state Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong said he will miss the spirit of state Sen. Vincent Fumo, a controversial lawmaker who announced his re......
2008-03-12 09:38:00
TOM MURSE, Staff
The local Democratic Party now knows who that "prominent" mystery guest from U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign won't be at its Thursday night banquet: Hillary herself. "We know that Senator Clinton will not be there," party Chairman Bruce ......
2008-03-12 01:54:00
MICHAEL YODER, Staff
Being a Hillary Clinton supporter in an area where the mere mention of her name raises the blood pressure of conservatives can be daunting.Yet Lancaster County was well represented by dozens of enthusiastic supporters who traveled to Harrisburg on a yellow school bus bedecked with Clinton ......
2008-03-11 01:16:00
MICHAEL YODER, Staff
With the battle for Pennsylvania's Democratic presidential delegates heating up, a mystery has emerged — will Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama visit Lancaster County?One thing is definite — someone from both campaigns will appear at the 2008 Lancaster County Democratic Commi......
2008-03-08 01:55:00
BRIAN WALLACE, Staff
Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain might head to Manheim Township sometime in the coming weeks to talk about jobs and the economy in front of hundreds of high school students.Lancaster County Workforce Investment Board and Lancaster County Career and Technology Center have invit......
2008-03-06 01:39:00
JEFF HAWKES, Staff
I think Barack Obama can win Pennsylvania.To do so he need only play to his strengths, and I'm not talking lofty oratory.The hours of couch time I've spent following the primaries have convinced me Mike Huckabee is the more dynamic speaker. Look where that got him.Oba......
2008-03-06 00:46:00
LARRY ALEXANDER, Staff
Who'd have thought it possible?Pennsylvania could play a key role in deciding the Democratic presidential candidate, and eight local people are waiting to see which of them will be part of that process.Pennsylvania's primary is usually too late in the campaign to make any di......
2008-03-04 11:35:00
TOM MURSE, Staff
If U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton survives today's primaries in Ohio and Texas and Pennsylvania is still in play on April 22, more than 1,400 new Democratic voters here could help decide the nominee for president. They are among 2,404 Lancaster County voters and more than 41,000 statewide who......
2008-02-29 01:35:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Republican Lloyd Smucker came under fire Thursday from the national chairman of the Constitution Party for not releasing a donor list detailing who contributed to Smucker's state Senate campaign.Smucker earlier this month told the Sunday News he had raised $185,000 in just two weeks, a......
2008-02-27 01:49:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Political pundits watching the Democratic presidential primaries are playing the "what-if" game.As in, what if U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton remains alive against U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, the front-runner, after Tuesday's primaries in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont?The answer is, ......
2008-02-26 02:17:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Republican Steve McDonald attacked two of his GOP rivals Monday, saying their support for gun rights is suspect.McDonald, the Lancaster County recorder of deeds who is running for state Senate in the 13th District, took fellow Republicans Lloyd Smucker and Paul Thibault to task for not und......
2008-02-24 00:15:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS, Staff
The Democratic candidate in the 41st state House district will not withdraw from the race in the face of Republican questions about her nominating petitions. Mountville Mayor Connie Guy, who was endorsed by her Democratic committee to challenge Republican incumbent Katie True, said the problem ......
2008-02-23 00:01:00
Elizabeth Eisenstadt-Evans
If you are a citizen who votes their conscience and their faith, you may justifiably feel misunderstood and often ignored by the mainstream media — whatever your brand of belief.Not that the "religious" or "values" voters are being ignored in this election season ......
2008-02-14 02:01:00
JEFF HAWKES, Staff
If Pennsylvania's economy ends up in the tank, Gov. Ed Rendell is making sure he doesn't take the blame.Republicans should take note.Recession was foremost on the governor's mind last week when he delivered his budget address and warned that "trends do look awfully ......
2008-02-13 00:47:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Pennsylvania's primary may still be 10 weeks away, but passion for presidential politics is running deep among local Democrats.And if the lists of delegates for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are any indication, local Democratic leadership is divided on who could best represent the p......
2008-02-12 01:20:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Bitter adversaries just four days ago, leaders for House Democrats and Republicans brokered compromise legislation Monday evening to comprehensively alter the state's open-records law.House lawmakers unanimously agreed to the compromise, which would protect identities and business inte......
2008-02-08 02:05:00
JEFF HAWKES, Staff
Better hold your nose, because today we're taking a look at gerrymandering and the reeking mess it's made for the hapless voters of Monroe County.Monroe, gateway to the Poconos, is an imperfect diamond shape two-thirds the size of Lancaster County. In 2000 its population was 138,68......
2008-02-08 01:59:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
State Sen. Michael Brubaker is poised to introduce legislation that would write a ban on gay marriage into the state Constitution, the Intelligencer Journal has learned.According to various sources, the Warwick Township Republican is shopping for co-sponsors to attach their names to the le......
2008-02-08 01:44:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell told a Lancaster audience Thursday that there was "zero chance" his administration would support a personal income tax cut this year, sending a strong message to legislative Republicans in Harrisburg."It's just political pandering," Rendel......
2008-02-07 01:33:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Democrats, who control the state House by one vote, appear coy about debating school property tax reform just one week after unsuccessfully trying to push several bills through the bitterly divided chamber.Last week, a Republican measure that would completely eliminate property taxes for m......
2008-02-06 02:09:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Gov. Ed Rendell's plan to provide $400 tax rebates to Pennsylvania's working poor faces a high hurdle with Senate Republicans, whose leader says he favors tax relief for more than just low-income earners.Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, a Delaware County Republican, said he ......
2008-02-06 02:02:00
BRIAN WALLACE, Staff
Lancaster County public schools are in line for a hefty 5.6 percent increase in state funding as part of a proposed $28.3 billion 2008-09 budget outlined Tuesday by Gov. Ed Rendell.The increases would range from a low of 3 percent for Solanco School District to almost 17 percent for School......
2008-02-05 01:57:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Amid talk about the possibility of a recession, Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell pitched a plan Monday to provide tax rebates to nearly half a million lower-income families as a means to jump-start the state's economy.If enacted, Rendell's plan would use $130 million from the state's......
2008-02-03 00:21:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS, Staff
Maybe he's just naive, Lancaster City Councilman Jose Urdaneta said, but he thinks the solutions to problems like health insurance and education funding really aren't that complex. "They are simple solutions," he said, "... if we have the political will to put them into p......
2008-02-03 00:19:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS, Staff
They used to meet in the dark, dingy basement of the Coho Building. The basement has been remodeled now — they call it the Underground — but there are too many Democratic committee members these days to squeeze into their old haunts. So instead, 140 delegates met Saturday in a ......
2008-01-31 02:11:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Once the most powerful Republican in the state House, Rep. John Perzel re-emerged this week with a proposal that may derail Democratic plans to provide broadly based property tax cuts.What's being called "Perzel's amendment" passed 159-36 with strong bipartisan support Tu......
2008-01-17 02:24:00
JEFF HAWKES, Staff
I wanted to talk about the foot-dragging on reform in Harrisburg.Freshman state Sen. Mike Brubaker of Warwick Township wanted to talk about building relationships.What the heck. I was the senator's guest, and if he wanted to talk about networking and not about reform, that was his p......
2008-01-16 01:53:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
There they go … again.The state Legislature, led by House Democrats, is expected to take up measures this week that would alter the state's 6 percent sales tax, rehashing an idea unsuccessfully pushed in the past by various lawmakers.The idea is to reduce school property taxe......
2008-01-15 01:58:00
JEFF HAWKES, Staff
Alan Jacobs, president of Isaac's restaurants, isn't a doctor and doesn't play one on TV.Yet, because Isaac's offers a health plan to 200 employees, Jacobs finds himself in the position of deciding what physicians they may see, what prescriptions they may take, what hospitals they may use.......
2008-01-12 01:59:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
There's something noticeably absent in this year's local legislative campaigns: Democrats.No Democrat, except for incumbent state Rep. Mike Sturla, has stepped up to campaign for the state Legislature.So far, that is.Bruce Beardsley, chairman of the Lancaster County D......
2008-01-12 00:01:00
Elizabeth Eisenstadt-Evans
The 2008 presidential primaries have only just begun, but it is by no means too early for people of faith to ask themselves how their beliefs will or will not influence the votes they cast.One thing is certain: We will make those determinations in a social setting that has undergone a quie......
2008-01-11 02:11:00
MICHAEL YODER, Staff
The task: Put Pennsylvania heritage on an Easter egg bound for the White House.Sixteen Pennsylvania College of Art & Design students took up the challenge, sponsored annually by the PennAg Industries Association Poultry Council. Tiffany Anderson, a senior majoring in illustration, won ......
2008-01-10 02:30:00
P.J. REILLY, Staff
Shortly before concluding their first public meeting Wednesday morning, the three new Lancaster County commissioners talked about their priorities for the next four years.And Republicans Dennis Stuckey and Scott Martin and Democrat Craig Lehman all agreed: Priority No. 1 is the budget.......
2008-01-10 02:05:00
JEFF HAWKES, Staff
One observation I can make after having over the years talked to hundreds of voters exiting Lancaster County polling places is this: A teen voter is rarer than a two-eyed Cyclops.As for voters in their 20s? They're as rare as, well, a run-of-the-mill Cyclops.Judging by the ages of t......
2008-01-09 02:21:00
LARRY ALEXANDER, Staff
I might throw my hat into the presidential-nomination ring.If I do, I'll cross-file, not as both a Republican and Democrat, but as a "cross" voter. Most of us voters are cross at our elected officials, so why don't we just form a Cross Party? I'm sure we're the majority.I believe I ......
2008-01-09 01:50:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
With just three days until they come face to face with local Republican Committee members for the first time as candidates, money is on the minds of most GOP hopefuls for the state Senate.Polled by the Intelligencer Journal Tuesday about what they see as the most important legislative issu......
2008-01-09 01:37:00
MICHAEL YODER, Staff
Sen. Arlen Specter is known as a liberal Republican from Philadelphia. But he said his roots are in farming; as a teen, he drove a tractor on a Kansas farm.Specter held a town-hall meeting at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Tuesday afternoon, touting the 2007 Farm Bill, which could land on Pres......
2008-01-08 01:42:00
JENNIFER TODD, Staff
To sum up the night in one word — bittersweet.While Lancaster City Council sadly bid farewell Monday to two eight-year veterans, it celebrated the addition of new faces and a new president.Patricia Coller, Joe Morales and Nelson Polite Sr., who has served on council since 1996......
2008-01-08 01:22:00
JEFF HAWKES, Staff
"Is this a campaign calling?" asked 10-year-old Leah Dunbar of Hillsboro, N.H., answering her parents' phone one evening last week.No, I assured Leah. I said I knew her parents, Peter and Carol, when they lived in Lancaster before she was born.Evidently I passed the te......
2008-01-06 00:22:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS, Staff writer
When the Rev. Alexander Veronis offered a benediction on Friday, he noted that this country doesn't resolve political differences with machetes, as in Kenya, or with assassinations, as in Pakistan. The talk of unity resonated at the Eden Resort, where Republicans and Democrats shared breakf......
2008-01-05 01:49:00
LARRY ALEXANDER, Staff
And then there were five.Five Republicans from Lancaster and York counties are vying to fill the seat being vacated by retiring state Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong.The deadline for candidates filing with the Lancaster County GOP in order to win the party's endorsement was 5 p.m. Frid......
2008-01-05 01:39:00
CARLA DI FONZO, Staff
Three new commissioners were sworn in during an afternoon ceremony at Lancaster County Courthouse Friday.During the benediction, the Rev. Louis A. Butcher of Bright Side Baptist Church wished Scott Martin, Craig Lehman and Dennis Stuckey well, then suggested to everyone in the ceremonial c......
2008-01-04 01:35:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
In the race to replace retiring state Sen. Gibson Armstrong, West Lampeter Township Supervisor Lloyd Smucker announced his entrance Thursday into the April 22 Republican primary.Also Thursday, state Rep. John Bear of Lititz announced he would seek a second term."I really feel I'm un......
2008-01-03 01:46:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
A local businessman has entered the Republican race to replace retiring state Sen. Gibson Armstrong, making it a three-way contest.Bill Neff, 54, owner of Neff's Safe, Lock & Security Inc. in Lancaster city, cited campaign finance reform, school vouchers and the defense of traditio......
2008-01-02 12:13:00
CINDY STAUFFER, Staff
Though it's half a nation and three months removed from Pennsylvania's primaries, what happens Thursday in Iowa living rooms and fire halls matters to us. If a front-runner presidential candidate with a strong organization — say Democrat Hillary Clinton or Republican Mitt Romne......
2008-01-01 00:03:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Sen. Bob Casey Jr. has to leave. Immediately.On this late summer morning, the Pennsylvania Democrat is sitting on a small chair in the Smithsonian's Ripley Center, surrounded by more than a dozen children in paper hats listening as he reads aloud to them."He loves this,&quo......
2007-12-20 01:39:00
P.J. REILLY, Staff
After approving the third tax hike in four years, the county commissioners voted to set aside $9.3 million for farmland preservation.•••Lancaster County commissioners Wednesday approved a 7.1 percent tax hike for 2008.That means ......
2007-12-07 02:37:00
JEFF HAWKES, Staff
Democrats, you need not worry about losing your voice in county government under home rule.The government study commission continued drafting a home-rule charter Tuesday, voting 8-3 in favor of minority-party representation on a five-member board of commissioners.While a strong majo......
2007-12-07 01:47:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Molly Henderson injected nearly $70,000 of her own money into her failed campaign to win a second term as a Lancaster County commissioner, far outpacing what her opponents spent of their own money.Thursday was the deadline for candidates to submit their 30-day postelection campaign-finance......
2007-12-06 11:52:00
ANYA LITVAK, Staff
If George Orwell still had ears, they would have been on fire Tuesday, as his name was repeated again and again during the government study commission's discussion of minority representation on the board of commissioners. The county's Democratic Party chairman Bruce Beardsley appeared b......
2007-12-05 01:43:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Gov. Ed Rendell on Tuesday ratcheted up the debate on health care in Pennsylvania by threatening to withhold funds that help some health care providers afford malpractice insurance.Rendell, a Democrat, wants the Legislature to approve his plans to provide health insurance to the more than ......
2007-11-29 01:37:00
BRIAN WALLACE, Staff
Several local legislators are questioning the validity of a study that concludes public school education is underfunded by nearly $5 billion a year in Pennsylvania.Four Lancaster County state representatives and one state senator have expressed concerns about the study's accuracy or me......
2007-11-26 18:08:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
With state lawmakers, the governor and judges receiving a pay boost based on the rate of inflation, base salaries according to the Patriot-News this week are as follows for 2008:Legislator: $76,183.
Speaker of the House and Senate President Pro Tempore: $118,896....
2007-11-26 01:29:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Leaders of an association of charities are wondering if state Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong is deliberately holding up a bill they believe would help nonprofits raise money, but the senator says that's not the case.The bill, House Bill 169, would boost by thousands of dollars the maximum pa......
2007-11-21 01:51:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Gov. Ed Rendell's second-term agenda took a hit Tuesday when a legislative panel rejected two measures aimed at curbing gun violence.And the panel — the Democratically controlled state House Judiciary Committee — voted down the bills moments after Rendell, a Democrat, broke......
