2012-04-18 23:20:00
AD CRABLE
The results are in after the first comprehensive survey of what's deep under the earth in Lancaster County: • The county is not a likely candidate for underground storage of the carbon dioxide global-warming gas from coal-fired power plants, cement plants and other sources. • ......
2011-11-10 17:08:00
Bernard Harris
Se acerca la Navidad temprano para la ciudad de Lancaster.La semana pasada la ciudad se enteró de que recibirá $10.5 millones del programa de Asistencia Capital para Redesarrollo. Los fondos no son reembolsables.Los fondos, que deben ser igualados, permitirán......
2011-11-09 22:21:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Christmas is coming early for Lancaster city.
The city learned last week that it will receive $10.5 million from the state's Redevelopment Capital Assistance grant program.
The funds, which must be evenly matched, will allow the city to:
• Expand City......
2011-09-26 20:52:00
TOM MURSE
When Scott Boyd first ran for the state House nearly a decade ago, he pledged not to wear out his welcome.
He intends to live up to that promise.
The Republican lawmaker has notified his party's leadership and members of Lancaster County's House delegation that he intends to retir......
2011-09-21 21:15:00
JEFF HAWKES
Riding the success of his anti-fracking documentary "Gasland," indie filmmaker Josh Fox has leapt with both feet into a new role he plays exceptionally well — a snippy, finger-wagging and infinitely wise environmental scold.
Fox's take on natural gas? It's one more pernicious fossil......
2011-08-28 21:47:00
BERNARD HARRIS
The last private owner of Wheatland broke off six acres of land from President James Buchanan's estate on Marietta Avenue and gave it to the Lancaster Historical Society so it could have a home.
This week, a ceremonial groundbreaking will begin the process of reuniting the two tracts of l......
2011-08-10 22:34:00
AD CRABLE
Perdue Agribusiness officials said they expect to build a $50 million soybean-crushing plant in Conoy Township now that Gov. Tom Corbett has authorized a $8.75 million grant originally promised by former Gov. Ed Rendell.
"With this support from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, we plan to......
2011-06-29 23:08:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Plans for a new Lancaster city parking garage took an incremental step forward Wednesday when the city Redevelopment Authority voted to purchase the land.
Authority members voted unanimously to acquire an 88-space parking lot in the 400 block of North Market Street. An apartment building,......
2011-05-18 20:55:00
TIM MEKEEL
PPL Electric Utilities is unplugging some of its popular "E-power" residential rebate program.
The company is eliminating or halving nine of the 14 rebates it gives to residential customers who buy new energy-efficient appliances.
The changes are effective June 1.
PPL spok......
2011-05-04 22:39:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Lancaster City Planning Commission members on Wednesday gave their blessing to plans to for an expanded City Hall and three homes to be built on East Walnut Street.
The city plans to construct a new 18,000-square-foot building atop a 13-car parking garage along East Marion Street that wou......
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......
2011-04-10 00:21:00
MARK SCOLFORO, The Associated Press
Editor's note: This is the first in a three-part series, "Broken Budgets," which examines the state's legislative workforce, which is among the largest in the nation. The staffers are an oft-cited symbol of the General Assembly's $300 million-plus annual ......
2011-04-10 00:20:00
CHIP SMEDLEY
Lancaster County has a reputation for Pennsylvania Dutch frugality. The county's 11 state legislators say that a commitment to thrift guides their staffing and salary decisions. But even so, the dollars spent on the legislative staff are no chump change. The county delegation emplo......
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......
2011-03-10 23:10:00
AD CRABLE
Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania will not be denied, predicts the man responsible for natural gas leases in state forests and state parks.
"The reason Pennsylvania is hot, hot, hot is because we potentially have the largest gas field on planet Earth in Pennsylvania, situated in the middle ......
2011-03-03 21:00:00
TOM MURSE
The day of reckoning has arrived.
Those aren't my words.
They're from Charles Zogby, Pennsylvania's budget secretary, and the words of warning rightly sent chills up the spines of those whose livelihoods depend on money from Harrisburg.
Zogby's remarks, at a Pennsylvania P......
2011-03-02 21:47:00
TOM MURSE
A law that cracks down on puppy mills and aims to improve the treatment of dogs bred in large commercial kennels has cost Pennsylvania "several million dollars" in lost tax revenue since 2008, a local legislator claims.
State Rep. Gordon Denlinger is calling for a detailed study of the la......
2011-02-28 20:23:00
JEFF HAWKES
David Pfeiffer, 54, is a self-employed auto mechanic in Pequea Township who can continue changing belts and fixing brakes only if he has his health.
And as of today, Pfeiffer has reason to worry about staying healthy.
He is one of 41,000 working Pennsylvanians who depended upon th......
2011-02-24 20:46:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Lancaster city's new strategic plan has a lofty goal: for government to "be green and sustainable."
The city is taking initial steps toward that goal, some of which could be completed by the end of the year.
It plans to use a $500,000 federal stimulus grant to install a geo-therma......
2011-02-17 22:48:00
TOM MURSE
I have an idea.
I think it's a good idea. I think Pennsylvanians would benefit from my idea. But I'll need some help. I can't do it alone.
Before I make my pitch, though, I want you to consider a few things. A few facts about how things work up in Harrisburg.
Chew......
2011-02-16 22:54:00
JEFF HAWKES
Meet Bruce Heffner, a 62-year-old gospel musician and missionary. He and his wife, Deb, are about to lose their health insurance.
Meet Ashley Heffner, 25, Bruce's and Deb's daughter.
Ashley just earned a master's degree in guidance counseling and works part time at the Friendship ......
2011-02-16 20:59:00
JEFF HAWKES
Meet Bruce Heffner, a 62-year-old gospel musician and missionary. He and his wife, Deb, are about to lose their health insurance.
Meet Ashley Heffner, 25, Bruce's and Deb's daughter.
Ashley just earned a master's degree in guidance counseling and works part time at the Friendship ......
2011-02-09 22:17:00
AD CRABLE
Gov. Tom Corbett has held up a state grant earmarked to Perdue AgriBusiness for a $50 million soybean-crushing plant being considered for Lancaster County.
Perdue officials have said they had been told almost $9 million had been authorized by former Gov. Ed Rendell under the Pennsylvania ......
2011-02-08 22:03:00
AD CRABLE
Perdue AgriBusiness officials say they hope to decide "very quickly" whether a $50 million soybean-crushing plant will be located in Lancaster County.
Despite some indications that a 65-acre site adjacent to the county trash-to-electricity incinerator in Conoy Township is the preferred si......
2011-01-31 22:30:00
JEFF HAWKES
Sally, 52, doesn't ask for much.
She and her husband, who lost his job, get by on her wages — about $29,000 before taxes.
They don't use credit cards. They drive their 14-year-old car sparingly. They tend a vegetable garden and save a ton by avoiding highly processed foods....
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......
2011-01-24 22:09:00
JEFF HAWKES
On the one hand Gov. Tom Corbett comes into office saying government must show "compassion for those most in need."
On the other he is letting a health insurance plan for the working poor expire next month.
Are his actions speaking louder than his words?
Let's give our new......
2011-01-24 20:26:00
TIM MEKEEL
Park Place Corp. needs to sell its Denver mattress factory quickly or the plant will be closed and its 50 workers laid off.
The company disclosed the factory's predicament in a letter to the state Department of Labor & Industry earlier this month.
Park Place no longer needs th......
2011-01-10 10:20:00
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Gov. Ed Rendell is ordering that all national and state flags in Pennsylvania be flown at half-staff in honor of the victims of the mass shooting in Arizona.
Police say a gunman was trying to assassinate U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords when six people were killed and Giffords and 13 others w......
2011-01-06 22:03:00
AD CRABLE
A single computer or television set can contain 5 to 7 pounds of toxic lead and other metals that shouldn't end up in a landfill or incinerator.
But until now, there hasn't been a law in Pennsylvania keeping such common devices from being thrown out with the trash.
Later this mont......
2011-01-06 18:01:00
TOM KNAPP
Three local agencies have reaped the rewards of Harrisburg's latest round of Growing Greener and federal EPA grants for environmental projects throughout Pennsylvania.
Gov. Ed Rendell on Thursday announced 87 grant awards totaling $14.1 million to municipalities and organizations committe......
2011-01-04 22:14:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Lancaster city officials learned Tuesday of a limited-time offer and were urged to act now.
The city has received a commitment letter from Gov. Ed Rendell's office for $5 million in state funding that would allow it to expand and renovate City Hall.
The catch? Rendell is leaving o......
2011-01-04 19:26:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Let's start off the new year with a look at some news items from 2010.
Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner, age 84, got engaged to Crystal Harris, a 24-year-old former Playmate of the Month.
Think about that. Hef is probably older than his mother-in-law. How do you think that goe......
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.
...
2010-12-23 11:10:00
P.J. REILLY
Gov. Ed Rendell on Thursday ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in recognition of the death of U.S. Marine Cpl. Eric Torbert Jr., who was killed Saturday in action in Afghanistan.
Flags at state facilities throughout Lancaster County and at the Capitol complex in Harrisburg will remai......
2010-12-17 21:10:00
BRIAN WALLACE
For the second time this week, administrators at a Lancaster County school district have agreed to freeze their salaries next year to help the district balance its budget.
Manheim Township School District employees voluntarily agreed to forgo any raises they were due in 2011-12, it was an......
2010-12-01 21:30:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Gov. Ed Rendell signed a pension reform bill into law last week, but almost no one believes the new law will resolve the state's looming pension funding crisis.
Act 120 will reduce future retirement benefits for state workers, teachers and other public school employees hired after July 1 ......
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......
2010-11-16 22:35:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Until recently, Virginia Cody's community activism extended to being president of the arts council in Wyoming County.
That was before she found her rural north-central Pennsylvania home surrounded by land leased to natural gas drilling companies. That was when she began asking questions a......
2010-11-10 21:22:00
TOM KNAPP
Tourists enjoying the historical side of Strasburg Rail Road might not realize that, behind the scenes, the popular attraction is a working freight yard.
But Harrisburg knows all about it. On Wednesday, Gov. Ed Rendell announced a $1 million grant to help rehabilitate and expand the opera......
2010-11-07 00:03:00
STAFF
Gov. Ed Rendell shakes hands with a reenactor Saturday in downtown Harrisburg at the Pennsylvania Grand Review honoring U.S. Colored Troops from the Civil War. The procession commemorated a November 1865 event of the same name organized by the women of Harrisburg to recognize African-America......
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 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......
2010-10-29 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 ......
2010-10-27 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 17:58:00
CINDY STAUFFER
A new district judge donned the black robe Monday during a swearing-in ceremony at Lancaster County Courthouse.
William E. Benner Jr., 48, of Lampeter, was sworn in as district judge for an area that includes Strasburg Borough and West Lampeter, Pequea and Strasburg townships.
Ben......
2010-10-11 21:21:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Correction Oct. 15, 2010 — The 2010-2011 Act 1 index listed for Manheim Township School District was incorrect. The district's base index is 1.4 percent..
•••...
2010-10-07 22:41:00
TOM MURSE
An intelligence-gathering firm hired by the state to secretly track activist groups and report on potential threats had been monitoring numerous events here, documents reveal. They range from a weapons-training seminar to anti-war protests and even a folk music concert, hundre......
2010-10-07 18:42:00
STAFF REPORT
State legislators have given farmers driving heavy farm equipment exemptions from tough new federal regulations. The legislation, sought by Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, has been approved as part of a transportation bill passed by the General Assembly and sent to Gov. Ed Rendell. The change......
2010-10-06 21:38:00
STAFF
Gov. Ed Rendell helps Donegal School District officials and students break ground Wednesday for a new high school that will be built with financing from an interest-free bond program. Donegal qualified for $17 million under the stimulus-funded program and expects to save about $10 million on inte......
2010-10-01 13:16:00
TOM KNAPP y CINDY STAUFFER
Una inusual confluencia de patrones del clima el Jueves formó una "tormenta perfecta" en miniatura en el condado de Lancaster, creando condiciones de pesadilla para muchos residentes mientras las aguas seguían creciendo y dejando atrapados a los automovilistas, casas y empresas inun......
2010-09-30 22:49:00
TOM KNAPP and CINDY STAUFFER
An unusual confluence of weather patterns on Thursday formed a miniature "perfect storm" over Lancaster County, creating nightmare conditions for many residents as rising waters stranded motorists, flooded homes and businesses and overflowed the banks of creeks and rivers.
And, although a......
2010-09-30 19:55:00
CINDY STAUFFER and TOM KNAPP
Torrential rains created nightmare conditions for parts of Lancaster County today, stranding motorists in rising waters, pouring into homes and businesses and swelling creeks and rivers.
Almost every county school district dismissed students early, fearing buses might have a hard time get......
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 11:49:00
TOM MURSE
A proposal to set limits on searches and seizures by Pennsylvania Game Commission officers has passed the state Senate and is on its way to Gov. Ed Rendell's desk.
The bill, authored by Rep. Bryan Cutler of Peach Bottom, would allow wildlife conservation officers to stop vehicles or condu......
2010-09-23 21:29:00
TOM KNAPP
Only a memory and the echo of an ancient "moo" remain of Lancaster Stockyards.
Officials from the public and private sectors gathered Thursday to celebrate the ambition and fruitful partnerships that revitalized that ramshackle site with new construction.
"It was the most challeng......
2010-09-23 21:28:00
STAFF REPORT
The Economic Development Co. of Lancaster County on Thursday gave its first Founders Awards to five local firms and business leaders.
The recipients were Armstrong World Industries, Lancaster Newspapers Inc., S. Dale High and the High Cos., attorney John O. Shirk of Barley Snyder and the ......
2010-09-16 19:44:00
BERNARD HARRIS
On the walkway of the Lititz Pike bridge is a twisted ankle waiting to happen.
Amid the litter and broken glass, a serving-platter-sized hole has opened in the crumbling concrete.
But, even before an ankle is twisted, official fingers are getting a workout.
The four-lane r......
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 ......
2010-09-04 20:02:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
It was supposed to be a great day for dogs, according to Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell C. Redding. In late August a state panel approved new regulations for Pennsylvania dog breeders. Part of Act 119, the landmark dog law bill passed in 2008, the new rules would, ......
2010-09-02 22:02:00
AD CRABLE
Pennsylvania says it will make required dramatic reductions in the amount of nutrients and soil washing into the Chesapeake Bay by putting caps on sewage plants, improving stormwater control in urban areas and pressing farmers to ramp up anti-pollution efforts.
The "road map of changes" i......
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 17:00:00
TIM MEKEEL
Another $645,000 in state grants is coming here to help fund worker training and industry partnerships, Gov. Ed Rendell announced Thursday.
The state funding, part of $9.4 million allocated across Pennsylvania, will be matched by private-sector dollars.
The dollars will support wo......
2010-09-01 21:43:00
AD CRABLE
The solar farm approved by East Drumore Township supervisors last week will be the largest on the East Coast, according to Gov. Ed Rendell, who announced Wednesday a $1 million grant to make the project possible.
The project, which includes 4,500 solar panels erected on 78 acres of the fa......
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 ......
2010-08-19 01:01:00
P.J. REILLY
John Arway makes no bones about the predicament he believes his state agency faces.The executive director of the Fish and Boat Commission said his agency is overmatched when it comes to keeping up with the crop of natural gas wells being drilled across parts of northern and western Pennsyl......
2010-08-05 22:09:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
As Gov. Ed Rendell authorized $20 million for the Arlen Specter Library Project Center at Philadelphia University and the John P. Murtha Center for Public Policy in Johnstown, local public libraries are staggering under yet another cut in funding.Under the new state budget, Lancaster Count......
2010-08-05 20:15:00
TOM MURSE
You really have to wonder what's going on in our fair state this summer. Is it the heat that's making us, and our politicians, a little loopy? Or did someone slip a healthy dose of crazy into the Wheaties?Consider:• Gov. Ed Rendell'......
2010-07-26 22:00:00
JEFF HAWKES
A little common sense in the way Pennsylvania rehabilitates nonviolent criminals could save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, put the brakes on our prison-building spree and actually make communities safer.Other states are already at it. New York, for one, has seen crime fall at t......
2010-07-25 22:59:00
TOM MURSE and DAVID O'CONNOR
Caroline Steinman Nunan, a newspaperman's daughter and heralded benefactor whose love of the arts and community guided her philanthropic efforts for more than half a century in Lancaster County, died Sunday evening.She had been stricken July 21 while visiting her daughter's home in......
2010-07-15 20:34:00
TOM MURSE
You could say Greg Sahd is moving forward by looking backward.Elected chairman of the Lancaster County Republican Committee just 17 days ago, he's begun tackling some of the party's lingering issues — a top vacancy at headquarters, sagging finances from a len......
2010-07-12 16:58:00
TOM MURSE
Gov. Ed Rendell and many in legislative leadership have talked themselves blue in the face about our state's "scarce resources" and the "difficult times" we face.The budget they signed off on seems, on the surface, to reflect Pennsylvania's dire situation. The c......
2010-07-10 20:57:00
MARY BETH SCHWEIGERT
The average Pennsylvania family makes $50,702 a year and pays roughly $1,556 in state income taxes. Corporations that make millions of dollars in Pennsylvania often face a far lower state income tax bill. In fact, 71 percent pay nothing at all. Some companies don't make a profit, s......
2010-07-10 21:31:00
MARY BETH SCHWEIGERT
Experts' opinions differ on how much revenue Pennsylvania could expect from combined reporting. The reform measure could fill the state's coffers with an additional $450 million to $500 million annually, according to Department of Revenue estimates. In Maryland, the comptroller's office......
2010-07-10 21:26:00
MARY BETH SCHWEIGERT
If Pennsylvania cracks down on corporate tax avoidance, it will become part of a growing trend. Forty-five states — all but Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming — have some form of corporate income tax. The tax rate in most states falls between 4 and 9 percent......
2010-07-10 21:18:00
MARY BETH SCHWEIGERT
Combined reporting's potential impact on local companies appears to be mixed. Several business leaders contacted for this story said they weren't familiar enough with the issue to have a strong opinion. Officials from some of the most well-known local companies said a change to combined......
2010-07-08 17:06:00
TOM MURSE
Gov. Ed Rendell and many in legislative leadership have talked themselves blue in the face about our state's "scarce resources" and the "difficult times" we face.The budget they signed off on seems, on the surface, to reflect Pennsylvania's dire situation....
2010-07-06 20:27:00
AD CRABLE
The next time you start your dishwasher, feel good that you may be striking a blow for cleaner local streams and the Chesapeake Bay.As of July 1, all dishwasher detergent sold in Pennsylvania and 15 other states had to be free of all but a trace of phosphates.Until now, dishwasher d......
2010-07-02 21:02:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Lancaster County schools will get a 6 percent boost in basic education funding in the 2010-11 state budget approved this week by the Legislature.As of Friday, Gov. Ed Rendell had yet to sign the spending plan because of a dispute over whether a new fiscal oversight office should be include......
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......
2010-06-23 10:36:00
The Associated Press
Governor Ed Rendell says rumors that have been circulating about an extramarital affair are not true.In an advance copy of the Philadelphia magazine article obtained by The Associated Press, the governor and the former beauty queen who works for him say in interviews t......
2010-06-08 23:18:00
AD CRABLE
Is Stormygirl dead or alive? Has the bird already been set loose into the wild?Could Pati Mattrick of Elizabethtown have been given a collecting permit and been allowed to keep the male house finch she saved and unknowingly kept illegally as a pet for four years?Could Mattrick begin......
2010-06-04 18:14:00
TOM MURSE
The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania has always dreamed big, imagining multimedia exhibits that would one day tie together centuries of history.It lacked just one thing: money.Now the popular Strasburg attraction, already one of the premier museums of its kind in the nation, can chec......
2010-06-04 13:12:00
DAVID O'CONNOR
Los contribuyentes y oficiales de dos distritos escolares del Condado de Lancaster recibieron buenas noticias el jueves.El Distrito Escolar de Lancaster y el Distrito Escolar de Donegal se encuentran entre los 46 distritos a través de Pensilvania en ser seleccionados para recibir bo......
2010-06-03 22:36:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
There was good news for officials and taxpayers in two Lancaster County school districts on Thursday.School District of Lancaster and Donegal School District were among 46 across Pennsylvania selected to receive zero-interest bond money for new construction projects.Lancaster school......
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 ......
2010-05-27 22:23:00
TOM MURSE
The Lancaster County Democrats sure are a persistent bunch, aren't they?The party is asking Gov. Ed Rendell to nominate attorney Samuel M. Mecum for a vacant seat on the county bench — even though the administration already said it will not fill any open seats."We rec......
2010-05-19 22:53:00
TOM MURSE
Lancaster County voters do things just a little bit differently, don't they?Tuesday's primary, if anything, reaffirms just how quirky the county can be.Republicans here, for example, bucked their party's establishment in the most high-profile race on their ballots, that ......
2010-05-19 12:08:00
TOM MURSE y AD CRABLE
Las palabras del Senador de E.U. Arlen Specter resonadas y repetidas millones de veces en estos momentos, serán recordadas por siempre en los anales de historia política: "Mí cambio de partido político me permitirá ser re-electo."Al final, la de......
2010-05-19 00:34:00
TOM MURSE and AD CRABLE
U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter's words, played and replayed millions of times by now, will forever be remembered in the annals of political history: "My change in party will allow me to be re-elected."In the end, Specter's defection from Republican to Democrat did not a......
2010-05-16 21:23:00
MARC LEVY
With the election just days away, the candidates in Pennsylvania's too-close-to-call Democratic primary race for U.S. Senate jockeyed Sunday to project confidence and control and prove who will be the stronger man against the Republicans in the fall.At a rally on the Delaware County co......
2010-05-13 18:30:00
BRIAN WALLACE
El Distrito Escolar de Lancaster está planeando cortar mas de 39 posiciones en el presupuesto del próximo año escolar para reducir casi $3 millones en salarios y beneficios.Pero aún con esos recortes, el distrito tendría que aumentar los impuestos a la pr......
2010-05-12 22:11:00
BRIAN WALLACE
School District of Lancaster is planning to cut more than 39 positions in next year's budget to trim almost $3 million in salaries and benefits.But even with the cuts, the district might have to raise taxes by 4.1 percent or more in 2010-11.SDL board members Tuesday night discus......
2010-05-10 21:20:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Dennis Groff sat at a cross street recently trying to pull onto Route 741. He counted 27 trucks passing without a car between them.The truck drivers were doing what locals have been doing for years — and what Groff, the Paradise Township roadmaster, also was trying to do. They were a......
2010-05-10 20:01:00
JEFF HAWKES
Microbes, take note. Your freewheeling days in Pennsylvania hospitals are numbered.Pseudomonas aeruginosa? We're coming for you.Staphylococcus aureus and acinetobacter baumannii? You can run, but you can no longer sicken patients with impunity.Those days are coming to an end ......
2010-05-07 16:06:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Un acta propuesta en Harrisburg, semejante a la nueva ley en Arizona, que permitiría que la policía detuviese a cualquier persona sospechosa de ser un inmigrante ilegal, es indignante, racista y totalmente antiamericana.Esos fueron algunos de los términos utilizados pa......
2010-05-06 22:20:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Correction May 7, 2010 — Legislation being considered in Harrisburg would require police to check a person's immigration or citizenship status only if it's suspected the person is in this country illegally, and only after that person......
2010-05-06 15:35:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Si está satisfecho con lo que ahorró en sus impuestos escolares este año bajo el programa estatal de ayuda con los impuestos fundado por los juegos de apuestas, alégrese.Probablemente recibirá el mismo tipo de ayuda el año próximo.Per......
2010-05-05 20:27:00
BRIAN WALLACE
If you're pleased with how much you saved on your school taxes this year under the state's gambling funded tax relief program, rejoice.You'll probably get about the same break on your taxes next year.But if you consider the $155 average tax cut that Lancaster County home......
2010-05-05 12:45:00
TOM MURSE
You can get cash back when you buy something with your credit card.Why shouldn't state government?State House Republicans unveiled a series of cost-saving and moneymaking proposals Wednesday that they say could virtually close Pennsylvania's looming $1 billion-plus budget de......
2010-05-04 21:04:00
TOM MURSE
Police would be required to question individuals about their immigration status and demand documentation if they suspect a person is in the country illegally under legislation introduced Tuesday in the state House.The proposal, whose more than two dozen supporters include Republican state ......
2010-05-03 22:13:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Ed Rendell admitted he would rather not have spent a couple of hours Monday morning traversing "crummy" back roads by car to attend a windswept ceremony overlooking the Susquehanna River.But the governor was there, hobnobbing with other dignitaries in a fluttering white tent on a......
2010-05-03 22:00:00
TOM MURSE
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said voters are growing "sick and tired" of President Barack Obama's agenda but argued that conservative Republicans need to hone their messages to capitalize in this year's elections.The two-term Republican, speaking Monday morning in Lancast......
2010-04-30 21:02:00
TOM MURSE
Gov. Ed Rendell will not seek to fill any of the more than two dozen judicial vacancies across Pennsylvania, including two in Lancaster County, a spokesman said Friday.The move is in response to Pennsylvania Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille's call this week for a freeze on nominating i......
2010-04-23 22:29:00
BRIAN WALLACE
School District of Lancaster is considering furloughing up to 12 staff members in an effort to cut as much as $2 million from its payroll next year to balance its budget.The district also may leave five administrative positions vacant in 2010-11 to save another half million dollars in sala......
2010-04-22 22:01:00
TOM MURSE
A big deal is made of Pennsylvania's eight-year pattern of electing governors, and for good reason: Since 1954, Republicans and Democrats have traded residency in the Governor's Mansion.It's one of those quirky, endearing statistical oddities about our fair state — more e......
2010-04-20 22:21:00
TOM MURSE
The unexpected death of Lancaster County Judge Henry S. Kenderdine earlier this month has created a vacancy on the local bench that could go unfilled through 2011, officials said.Gov. Ed Rendell could nominate someone to serve the remaining 20 months of Kenderdine's 10-year term, but h......
2010-04-19 21:11:00
TOM KNAPP and DAVID O'CONNOR
There's a silver lining in all that snow.Lancaster County is one of 27 counties across the state that will receive federal disaster aid to cover expenses that piled up after February's twin blizzards.It remains to be seen, however, just how much money Lancaster County will r......
2010-04-15 21:53:00
TOM KNAPP
Masonic Village may soon be running on sun power.Gov. Ed Rendell on Thursday announced $5.7 million in grants to promote solar energy in Pennsylvania.One of the beneficiaries of the program is Elizabethtown Solar Electric Partners LLC, which has proposed building a ground-mounted so......
2010-04-14 20:59:00
TIM MEKEEL
Out with the old, in with the new.A long-vacant gas station at Oregon Pike and Roseville Road has been razed, making way for construction of a medical office building.A two-story structure for Ponessa Medical Massage Center, now on Crown Avenue, is expected to be completed in August......
2010-04-08 22:46:00
P.J. REILLY
Over the past three decades, Caroline Steinman Nunan has helped thousands of young people experience the arts in Lancaster County. Thanks to her leadership and generosity, they've participated in theatrical programs at the Fulton Opera House and listened to classical music at Crispus Att......
2010-04-07 22:43:00
TIM MEKEEL, Business Editor
Same destination, same arrival time, different route. A key state vote needed for Millersville University's takeover of the Pennsylvania Academy of Music building won't be secured today, as initially expected. However, the university still intends to occupy the downtown landmark......
2010-03-30 00:01:00
JEFF HAWKES
In fair weather or foul, fiscal conservatism is Pat Toomey's compass.Throughout his meeting with this newspaper's editorial board, Toomey stayed true to his thumbnail self-description of being "a Ronald Reagan conservative" wedded to "limited government and more econ......
2010-03-26 21:49:00
BRIAN WALLACE
In February, Gov. Ed Rendell proposed giving Columbia Borough School District a $314,233 increase in state funding next year.Oops, make that $171,883.And School District of Lancaster?Forget about that $5.4 million hike you were promised.The actual number is $4.3 millio......
2010-03-22 22:16:00
MARK SCOLFORO, Associated Press
A jury convicted ex-state Rep. Mike Veon and two of his former aides of some charges in a public corruption case Monday night but acquitted them of others.The defendants are among 25 people arrested since the attorney general's office began investigating three years ago with the news t......
2010-03-19 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Gov. Ed Rendell has an interesting idea for helping Pennsylvania's cash-strapped cities: Start taxing some nonprofits.In an interview with the Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era, he said cities should push for a narrower definition of charities — one that wo......
2010-03-18 00:05:00
TIM MEKEEL
In a historic decision, Millersville University's trustees voted unanimously Wednesday to pursue a purchase of the Pennsylvania Academy of Music building.But whether the ailing academy itself would stay in the downtown landmark and rent space from its new landlord — the universit......
2010-03-11 00:04:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Mike Leichliter doesn't want to increase class sizes, charge fees for pupils to play sports or cut back on counseling services for kids with drug, alcohol and emotional problems.But the Penn Manor School District superintendent said those cost-saving measures might be necessary in the ......
2010-03-11 00:03:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Pennsylvania's School Employees' Retirement System has survived the Great Depression, two world wars and multiple economic downturns.But if state lawmakers and school district officials have their way, it won't survive the "pension tsunami" — at least not in its......
2010-03-10 14:10:00
Gov. Ed Rendell is never going to win the hearts of most Lancaster Countians. For one thing, he's a Democrat. For another, while people here will go to the mat for Philadelphia sports teams, most won't go to the voting booth for a Philadelphia politician. That said, we hope taxpaye......
2010-03-09 00:01:00
JEFF HAWKES
Smiling, slimmed down and tanned, Gov. Ed Rendell strolled Friday into Filling's on College Row with the air of a man boarding his private yacht.And why not? He knows he's Pennsylvania's biggest political celebrity. Sorry, Arlen.And he knows — correctly, I'd sa......
2010-03-08 21:31:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray and mayors from 20 other Pennsylvania cities hope speaking with one voice will help them be heard in Harrisburg.Gray joined mayors from across Pennsylvania and 16 borough managers, council members and other municipal officials in the State Capital building Monday ......
2010-03-05 21:29:00
TOM MURSE
Gov. Ed Rendell said school property taxes will "go through the roof" within the next several years unless the Legislature takes dramatic, painful steps to pay for rising public pensions costs."We can get out of this budget with no tax increase, no more spending cuts, and we......
2010-03-05 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Gov. Ed Rendell's three-county traveling roadshow will make a stop in Lancaster at noon today.Pennsylvania's Salesman-in-Chief will be pitching his sales-tax expansion plan to a friendly crowd at Filling's in College Row, an upscale clothier across from Frankli......
2010-03-03 00:02:00
AD CRABLE
Pennsylvania can boldly ensure an expanded alternative-energy-based economy, creating thousands of new jobs and cleaner air, or it can get left behind.That's the black-and-white choice outlined Tuesday in Lancaster by state Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger....
2010-02-28 00:21:00
MARY BETH SCHWEIGERT
Office workers are paying higher health-insurance premiums. So are farmers, store clerks and factory employees. But while health care costs skyrocket for most Americans, one group still gets its coverage for free: Members of the state House of Representatives. Pennsylvania taxpayer......
2010-02-28 00:17:00
MARY BETH SCHWEIGERT
As health care grows increasingly expensive, government workers and elected officials — with the exception of state House members — are shouldering more of the costs, just like their private-sector counterparts. Here's a look at national and local elected officials' health benefi......
2010-02-28 00:16:00
MARY BETH SCHWEIGERT
Why do government employees' health plans tend to have higher-than-average premiums? Government employees often trade relatively low salaries for job security and better benefits, health-care expert Jon R. Gabel explains. Strong benefits can serve as a recruiting tool for government wor......
2010-02-21 00:02:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
The Lancaster County tourism industry dodged a bullet. For now. Last week officials with the Pennsylvania Dutch Convention and Visitors Bureau, which markets Lancaster County to visitors, received word that Gov. Ed Rendell had abandoned a plan to "claw back" some of the grant ......
2010-02-20 09:24:00
TOM MURSE
When Norman Bristol Colon was growing up in the coastal Puerto Rican town of Guayama, he had no idea how poor his family was.At least not at first."My mom used to work in the fields, picking watermelons and peppers just to make sure we would have the best possible resources,&qu......
2010-02-18 00:03:00
P.J. REILLY
The county's ability to provide human services to needy residents took another hit Wednesday, and things could get worse.For the second time in two months, Lancaster County commissioners approved a request to adjust the allocation of money from the 2009-10 Human Services Development Fu......
2010-02-17 22:14:00
BRIAN WALLACE
School District of Lancaster residents alarmed by a 13.97 percent tax increase included in the district's proposed 2010-11 budget last month can breathe a little easier.That hike — which school board members said never would have materialized — has been slashed by more than......
2010-02-17 06:29:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Lancaster city will receive a $318,831 state grant to create a drop-off site for recyclables that are not being collected in curbside bins.The site, likely to be on city-owned property along Chesapeake Street, will have containers for materials such as office paper, cardboard and appliance......
2010-02-17 00:03:00
JEFF HAWKES
Two miles of sewer line in Talmage.An outing to the symphony for city kids.Solar panels glinting on a Penn Township roof.All across Lancaster County, people are finding an astonishing number of ways to spend federal stimulus dollars.And the list of projects goes on and......
2010-02-14 00:18:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
Glenn Lapp was happy to wave goodbye to 2009. "We had a rough year for many reasons," said Lapp, owner of Good 'N Plenty Restaurant in Smoketown, a major destination for tourists seeking a taste of Lancaster County. There were fewer visitors and motor coach business was off, Lapp said. There......
2010-02-11 00:05:00
CINDY STAUFFER and LARRY ALEXANDER
The Blizzard of 2010 is over, after dumping about 19 inches of snow and ushering in winds that hit 45 mph, bringing Lancaster County to a standstill.Schools, offices, stores and businesses closed, and traffic slowed to a crawl on highways, while secondary roads became impassable. Bus and t......
2010-02-10 16:12:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Now come the winds.The Blizzard of 2010 continues its assault on an already snow-weary Lancaster County, as more than 16 inches of snow piles up, temperatures drop and winds escalate.It's the winds that will create problems tonight and Thursday. Officials urged everyone to be pa......
2010-02-09 22:10:00
TOM MURSE
If Gov. Ed Rendell gets his way, you'll soon be paying sales tax on Barnstormers' tickets, Fido's trip to the veterinarian, that candy bar you buy from the vending machine — not to mention newspapers.And that's not all.Your dry cleaning? Taxed.American f......
2010-02-09 22:09:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Lancaster County's public schools are due for a whopping 8.5 percent increase in state funds — an extra $14 million — in next year's budget.But school district officials aren't ready to break out the champagne.They're still smarting from the 101-day stand......
2010-02-09 20:17:00
MARC LEVY, Associated Press
Gov. Ed Rendell on Tuesday presented lawmakers with a $29 billion spending plan that would devote more money to schools, prisons and health care for the poor while taxing the sale of many services for the first time.The proposal would increase spending by $1.1 billion, or about 4 percent, ......
2010-02-08 00:01:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Lancaster County residents should get used to that "winter wonderland" look.It won't be changing anytime soon.With temperatures expected to stay below freezing for most of the week, and fresh snow on its way — likely Tuesday and Wednesday — the snow that fe......
2010-02-07 00:21:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Again this season a major snowstorm blanketed Lancaster County, this time dropping 2 feet and more of snow across the region. The storm that paralyzed the county Friday night and Saturday, coupled with a storm that dropped 16 inches of snow in December — a county record for December &m......
2010-02-07 00:20:00
TOM MURSE
They don't call him a political survivor for nothing. U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter easily won the Pennsylvania Democratic Party's endorsement here Saturday afternoon, nine months after quitting the GOP at a time when his re-election prospects appeared dim. The 79-year-old cancer surv......
2010-02-05 22:37:00
TOM MURSE
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose party faces a tough 2010, mounted a passionate defense of Democratic principles here Friday night, telling state committee people that "we are defenders of the middle class, fighters for fairness and health care as a right, not a privilege."......
2010-02-05 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Several hundred Democrats from across Pennsylvania will meet here Saturday — weather permitting — to endorse candidates for governor and U.S. Senate.In the former contest, don't hold your breath. The state party chairman, T.J. Rooney, has already set the ba......
2010-01-28 22:11:00
BERNARD HARRIS
President Barack Obama on Thursday announced $8 billion in federal economic recovery spending on high-speed rail projects nationwide.That announcement was quickly followed by those from Pennsylvania's U.S. Senators Bob Casey Jr. and Arlen Specter and from Gov. Ed Rendell that $26.......
2010-01-21 00:04:00
BERNARD HARRIS
The Lancaster Museum of Art's stable future is right where it is.The museum board voted unanimously Wednesday to pull the plug on its long-planned move from the Lancaster city-owned Grubb Mansion on North Lime Street to its own, much larger space on North Queen Street."We d......
2010-01-15 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
A few tidbits from the political notebook.Who's No. 1 for No. 2?
Former county GOP chairman Chet Beiler raised a few eyebrows here when he won last weekend's round of straw-poll balloting for lieutenant governor. He had been keeping his candidacy quiet until the meeti......
2010-01-14 07:10:00
TOM MURSE
Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak said the greatest damage to the country hasn't been done by the worst recession since the Depression, the two wars overseas or the health care crisis."It comes from a complete lack of trust in public servants," he said in an interview Tuesday w......
2010-01-14 00:01:00
LORI VAN INGEN
John C. Pittenger not only touched lives, he changed them.That was the theme of those who spoke at Pittenger's memorial service Wednesday afternoon at Franklin & Marshall College.Pittenger, who served as Pennsylvania secretary of education under Gov. Milton Shapp and spent t......
2010-01-13 00:02:00
P.J. REILLY
Exactly one week ago today, Jim Laughman presented Lancaster County commissioners with a revised plan for spending the money the county is getting from the state for human services.The plan accounted for an unexpected 12 percent reduction in Human Services Development Funds, a cut approved......
2010-01-08 22:29:00
TOM MURSE
Love her or loathe her, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is coming to Lancaster County.The Pennsylvania Democratic Party has landed the polarizing California Democrat to headline a "roast and toast" honoring Gov. Ed Rendell and its chairman, T.J. Rooney, here on Feb. 5.Rendell i......
2010-01-08 07:48:00
DAVID O'CONNOR
Emily Welk has a lot of tasks each year when she's at the nation's largest indoor agricultural event, just a short jaunt from Lancaster County.But after a few days of working, she realizes, "This is Tuesday, we're going home tomorrow, and I haven't gotten to see anythi......
2010-01-06 00:02:00
TOM MURSE
Political watchdogs and consumer advocates renewed their call on Gov. Ed Rendell and the Legislature to relieve the burden of double-digit electricity rate hikes arriving in mailboxes later this month."The Legislature has been hiding behind the budget and table games, but this is a ga......
2010-01-01 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Happy new year, political prognosticators.There's a lot to look forward to in 2010 — statewide, the election of a new governor and the potential that Pennsylvania might have a new U.S. senator; locally, voters will choose a successor to state Rep. Katie True and decide whether U.......
2009-12-31 00:02:00
TOM MURSE
The aughties started with all the promise of the a millennium. We had survived the Y2K scare, the economy was rolling right along and everyone thought things could only get better.We were wrong.This decade in Lancaster County has been marked by perhaps the worst tragedy in its histo......
2009-12-30 06:28:00
PATRICK BURNS
The owners of what some believe to be an illegal kennel baffled East Earl Township officials at a zoning board hearing Dec. 21.Reuben and Vera Martin, who until recently housed as many as 500 dogs per year at their 1.2-acre Meadow Lane Kennels, are seeking an exception to East Earl's k......
2009-12-23 07:00:00
MARK SCOLFORO, Associated Press
3RD OF 3 PARTS The five-page Right-to-Know Law request that arrived in March at the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare was so broad that officials worried how much it would cost to fulfill it.A Philadelphia lawyer was looking for information about prescription drug ......
2009-12-21 07:57:00
MARK SCOLFORO
1ST OF 3 PARTSA wealth of information about the actions and decisions of Pennsylvania public officials has been pried loose in the year since a broad expansion of the state's Right-to-Know Law took effect. There are signs, including a recent spot check of government agen......
2009-12-09 06:49:00
JAMES BUESCHER
The 2008 presidential campaign may be long over, but its effects are still being felt in Millersville Borough.A one-time state grant of $500,000 was received to help the borough pay for its $3.29 million municipal building, council learned Monday.Ed Arnold, borough manager, said the......
2009-11-29 00:18:00
JON RUTTER
Thirty years after the nation's worst nuclear disaster unfolded at Three Mile Island, any unusual event at the nuclear power plant is still hot news. And so delayed reporting of an accident there last weekend has the governor — and others — steaming. The incident happene......
2009-11-27 06:11:00
TOM MURSE
Major parts of Pennsylvania's strict new puppy-mill law, aimed at improving the treatment of dogs bred in large commercial kennels, took effect Oct. 9.Two days before that, 12 Lancaster County dog breeders shipped 385 dogs to the sparsely populated village of Baltic, Ohio.There ......
2009-11-14 07:12:00
TIM MEKEEL
A long-vacant gas station at Oregon Pike and Roseville Road might be replaced with a two-story medical office building next year.Ponessa Manual Therapy, now on Crown Avenue, would move to the new structure and rename itself Ponessa Medical Massage.Bringing a dramatic change to the h......
2009-11-14 07:12:00
ENELLY BETANCOURT
Students at Pennsylvania's 14 state universities could be looking at a 4 percent tuition increase, the highest in the last five years.Although the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education is still in the process of determining the official figures, students can anticipate to pay a......
2009-11-10 00:02:00
TOM MURSE
State Rep. Katie R. True, a tireless advocate for children and families whose willingness to stand up to House leaders earned her the reputation of a maverick, will retire after 2010.True, an East Hempfield Township Republican, said she decided not to seek re-election because she has achie......
2009-11-04 10:09:00
AD CRABLE
Drilling natural gas from under the Marcellus shale formation could turn out to be a bigger energy boom for Pennsylvania than either coal or timbering.Lancaster is one of only 18 Pennsylvania counties in which the Marcellus formation is not found below the surface. But at least one local c......
2009-11-04 01:27:00
TOM MURSE
In overwhelming fashion, Lancaster County voters chose to retain two Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas judges who were seeking new 10-year terms in Tuesday's election.And in the only contest for a courthouse row office — for controller, the county's top fiscal watchdog &......
2009-10-27 08:31:00
TOM MURSE
Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray, trying to win a second term in the Nov. 3 election, has raised and spent nearly five times the money challenger Charlie Smithgall has since June, new finance reports show.Gray, a Democrat and former defense attorney, brought in $33,908 and spent nearly as much si......
2009-10-25 00:09:00
JON RUTTER
When times get tough, conservation gets walloped. One example is Gov. Ed Rendell's budget-balancing strategy of gutting the Oil and Gas Fund, which has long underwritten conservation efforts on state land. Will the Lancaster County Department of Parks and Recreation also take a hit? Cou......
2009-10-18 00:19:00
JO-ANN GREENE
Lancaster County Democrats attending the party's fall banquet Saturday at the Lancaster Marriott might have focused on the Nov. 3 elections. Instead, May 18 loomed larger, due to keynote speaker U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak and guest speakers U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter and state Rep. Bill Kortz....
2009-10-17 07:22:00
TIM MEKEEL
A PPL Electric Utilities plan that offers money to motivate customers to save electricity won state approval Thursday.The plan provides rebates, grants and giveaways to spur consumers and businesses to install energy-efficient equipment, get energy audits and take other steps."......
2009-10-15 00:01:00
JEFF HAWKES
The Patriot-News of Harrisburg offered a partially tongue-in-cheek list of the 100 reasons why Pennsylvania went without a budget for 100 days.No. 1 was Gov. Ed Rendell. The Patriot said Rendell went too long without being willing to compromise.The General Assembly ranked No. 2. It&......
2009-10-14 08:46:00
BRIAN WALLACE
School district officials had to approve their 2009-10 budgets 3½ months ago, but they found out only this week how much money the state will kick in to help them pay their bills.For some districts, the news is good.They budgeted for less in state education subsidies than the......
2009-10-11 00:14:00
PAULA WOLF
Contacted Saturday for his reaction to Gov. Ed Rendell's signing of a new budget, Mark Esterbrook had a ready reply. "It's about time," said the CEO of Community Action Program of Lancaster County. Local social service providers like Esterbrook, and other recipients of state money, are ......
2009-10-10 00:02:00
MARC LEVY, Associated Press
Gov. Ed Rendell and the politically divided Legislature finally signed off on a state budget Friday night, resolving a multibillion-dollar, recession-driven shortfall and ending Pennsylvania's 101-day budget stalemate, the nation's longest this year.Rendell and top legislators ackn......
2009-10-09 16:15:00
The Associated Press
The politically di......
2009-10-09 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Sharpen your pencils, kids. It's pop-quiz time here at Politically Speaking, and our five questions this week deal with the mayoral race in Lancaster.Let's get started.• Which one of the following folks is campaigning door-to-door with Mayor ...
2009-10-03 00:04:00
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Democrats in the Pennsylvania House sent a plan to the Republican-controlled Senate late Friday that would tax natural gas extraction and tobacco products to replace a previous proposal to tax small games of chance and tickets to arts events.The 103-to-98 vote came exactly two weeks after ......
2009-10-02 00:02:00
TOM MURSE
The handshake agreement that was supposed to end Pennsylvania's protracted budget stalemate two weeks ago appeared to fall apart Thursday as House Democrats backpedaled on the deal and came up with a new plan on their own.Frustrated Senate Republicans said such a move would send things......
2009-10-02 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
If you want to vote in the November elections you have until 5 p.m. Monday to register if you do it in person at the county Voter Registration office, 150 N. Queen St.If you're doing it by snail mail, make sure your application is postmarked Oct. 5 or earlier.We have the registr......
2009-09-29 08:34:00
Perhaps there's a good reason why Pennsylvania needed an extra three months to pass its budget.That's three months beyond the deadline. And the deadline (July 1) is written in the state lawbooks, so any living and sentient legislator (which description certainly covers mor......
2009-09-27 00:16:00
JEANNETTE SCOTT
After years of failing to convince the state Legislature to raise the prize limits on small games of chance, groups may have gotten their wish. But at a price. Veterans posts, fire companies and fraternal clubs operating games such as raffles and punch cards under the Local Options Smal......
2009-09-26 00:02:00
AD CRABLE
Gov. Ed Rendell has appealed to the state's Milk Marketing Board for ways to aid the state's struggling dairy farmers. Rendell said milk prices have fallen 40 percent since this time a year ago, and dairy farmers need ways to survive "unprecedented financial hardships." "Pennsylvania's ......
2009-09-22 00:05:00
TOM MURSE
At a Lancaster day-care center, no one is getting paychecks, and the director has convinced some of his own creditors to allow him an extra month to pay personal bills.Parents, meantime, are bringing in food and toiletries for 20 staffers who haven't made a dime in a month and a half....
2009-09-18 08:01:00
JEFF HAWKES
Pennsylvanians can now buy hypodermic needles without a prescription, a change that research shows reduces the spread of AIDS and other viruses among users of illegal drugs.Public health activists hailed the state Board of Pharmacy's lifting of the restriction as a way to lessen risky ......
2009-09-18 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
A few notes, quotes and anecdotes from the week in local politics.Pitts not convincedPresident Barack Obama, speaking about health care reform on prime-time TV last week, forcefully denied that his plan would cover illegal immigrants or spend taxpay......
2009-09-16 00:02:00
AD CRABLE
A federal judge has ruled against a Lancaster County dog breeder and upheld Pennsylvania's year-old law governing the operation of dog kennels.Nathan Myer, a large commercial dog kennel operator from Lititz, two kennel operators in New Jersey and the Professional Dog Breeders Advisory ......
2009-09-12 06:02:00
TOM MURSE
Deal? What deal?Gov. Ed Rendell quickly put the kibosh on a $27.9 billion budget framework hashed out by three of the four legislative caucuses and unveiled Friday morning. ...
2009-09-11 13:21:00
MARK SCOLFORO, Associated Press Writer
Pennsylvania legislative leaders outlined the broad terms of a state budget deal Friday that includes higher business and cigarette taxes, as well as revenue from legalized table games in casinos.
They acknowledged that many details remained to be worked out, and the office of Gov. Ed Rendel......
2009-09-11 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Welcome to the post-Labor Day edition of Politically Speaking, the first since the unofficial start of the fall campaign season. Time to check in with our pols and parties and ask: Whose stock is rising and whose is falling?Let's start with the obvious.FALLING: ......
2009-09-09 06:18:00
BERNARD HARRIS
How can a new project, with an ultimate price tag of more than $267 million, skip ahead of one that costs $19.4 million, is fully funded and has been in the planning stage for a dozen years?The answer lies in the state budget debacle.On Tuesday, representatives of the Modern Transit......
2009-09-04 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Pennsylvanians are a sour lot, a new statewide poll shows.And, really, can you blame us?We live in the only state in the nation operating without a budget, and there's no sign of an end to the stalemate, which is in its third month.A majority of us are also skeptical of P......
2009-08-30 00:10:00
JEANNETTE SCOTT
Kaila Tyson-Aikins, a sixth-grader at Park Elementary School in Columbia struggled with her homework, night after night. But her grades improved and her confidence soared with state-funded tutoring last year, her mother, Joy Tyson, said. Columbia Borough School District relies on the st......
2009-08-28 10:18:00
BRIAN WALLACE
About $25 million in state funding that was supposed to arrive at local school districts this week has been delayed by the budget impasse in Harrisburg.That's on top of about $14 million in payments the state failed to make last month.The funding delay — a consequence of t......
2009-08-24 00:10:00
Tom Murse
Three high-profile Democrats here are endorsing U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak in his bid to unseat U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter next year, bucking their party's establishment. Lancaster County Commissioner Craig Lehman, city Councilman Tim Roschel and a state committeewoman from Manheim ......
2009-08-20 00:22:00
BRIAN WALLACE
When Keifer Kemmerly watched reruns of "The Cosby Show" in the living room of his Columbia home, he never imagined he'd someday be standing inches away from the show's star. But Wednesday, Keifer and seven other Columbia Borough School District students were rubbing shoulders ......
2009-08-15 09:34:00
BRIAN WALLACE
The state budget impasse has forced Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13 to do something it's rarely done before: borrow money to pay its bills.The IU, which provides educational services to 12,000 children and adults in the two counties, is borrowing $25 million from Fulton Bank to ......
2009-08-13 10:11:00
TOM KNAPP
This isn't a good year to ask the state Legislature for $13 million.And that, John Ward, president of Modern Transit Partnerships, said recently, is a major reason why the Capital Red Rose Corridor is still in transportation limbo."Obviously, with the state of the budget si......
2009-08-07 10:48:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Lancaster County's unemployment rate in June was the highest in nearly a quarter century and housing foreclosures are triple the number they were a year ago.But you wouldn't know it from the activity at the Lancaster Bar Association offices.The Bar Association, in conjunctio......
2009-08-06 09:18:00
TOM MURSE
More than 77,000 state workers, some of whom have been relying on food banks to get by during the budget stalemate, will get their first full paychecks in nearly a month beginning next week. Democrats in the state House?They've already paid themselves.The Democrats dipped......
