2008-07-22 11:50:00
AD CRABLE, Staff
Suddenly, corn ethanol is no longer the darling in the nation's desperate search for an energy alternative to oil. In recent weeks, Republican presidential candidate John McCain, Gov. Ed Rendell and U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts have taken actions to slow what had been a corn ethanol bandwagon....
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......
2008-07-12 01:22:00
MICHAEL YODER, Staff
Police work is in the DNA of Lt. Col. Frank Pawlowski.His father was a former Pennsylvania state police trooper, and 30 years ago that heritage prompted Pawlowski to pursue the same career path.Now the former commander of Troop J in Lancaster has risen to the lead role of the state&......
2008-07-12 01:00:00
ROBYN MEADOWS, Staff
When Jim Bouder decided public schools couldn't provide his son, who has autism, with the best services, he helped create a specialized school.When Bouder decided that health insurance companies were wrong to deny claims to pay for treatment for autism, he helped change the law.......
2008-07-10 00:55:00
JEFF HAWKES, Staff
Irrefutable evidence that our often-maligned state Legislature can sometimes do the right thing is found near the end of a 67-page bill passed on the Fourth of July.Specifically, check out part (B) of Section 2502.48, which offers a sentence as momentous in application as it is simple in w......
2008-07-10 00:42:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
A Lancaster County dam deemed hazardous by the state could be in line for funding under a $35 million program signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Ed Rendell.Whether the Speedwell Forge Dam will receive any money to improve it remains to be seen.The dam is considered structurally sound......
2008-07-10 00:30:00
CARLA DI FONZO, Staff
These days, Col. Jeffrey Miller's friends and colleagues keep dropping hints about complimentary football tickets."Everyone keeps mentioning how much they like the Steelers or Eagles, and how free tickets to the games would be nice," said Pennsylvania's state police chief......
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 01:56:00
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
The NFL has recruited Col. Jeffrey Miller, Pennsylvania's state police chief, for a new position that will cover all aspects of stadium security from fan behavior to signal stealing.But Miller, who begins work as director of strategic security Aug. 18, said Tuesday there was far more t......
2008-07-09 01:21:00
PATRICK BURNS, Staff
Gov. Ed Rendell signed five mortgage-reform bills Tuesday near the former offices of a loan broker jailed for defrauding more than 800 mortgage customers of millions of dollars.The bills strengthen oversight of mortgage companies, tighten regulation on employees, increase fines for miscond......
2008-07-08 00:13:00
MARK SCOLFORO, Associated Press
The abrupt shutdown of a state health-care research agency has raised questions about its future and the custody of the millions of medical records it has assembled.Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council was shut down last week amid a political squabble over expanding health ins......
2008-07-07 00:00:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
It could have been a lot uglier.The Legislature and Gov. Ed Rendell wrapped up budget negotiations last week and headed into their two-and-a-half-month summer break having put a $28.2 billion spending plan in place. By doing so, they avoided a royal political mess.Remember last mont......
2008-07-05 00:08:00
SUSAN E. LINDT, Staff
A lawsuit filed against state Sen. Michael Brubaker, which stemmed from an incident at a Turkey Hill store last year, has been tossed out of court for the second time.Barbara Showalter, a Denver resident who advocates for tighter regulations on Pennsylvania's commercial dog kennels, fi......
2008-07-04 00:03:00
BRIAN WALLACE, Staff
School officials got some good news and some bad news Thursday from the state Legislature.The state budget, being finalized in Harrisburg, will boost basic education subsidies for Lancaster County public schools by $11 million in 2008-09.But the amount of money districts will get fo......
2008-07-03 01:03:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
It's been through many rewrites during the past week, but a bill mandating private insurance coverage of autism treatments for children is headed to the governor for his signature.The state Senate and House approved the legislation in the last two days, with the Senate voting 49-1 Wedn......
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......
2008-06-27 00:21:00
LARRY ALEXANDER, Staff
As legislators in Harrisburg wrangle over the state budget, Susan L. Hauer, administrator for the Library System of Lancaster County, says the lawmakers are "overdue."Not in terms of late books, but in promised funding.Gov. Ed Rendell "handed us this bomb in 2003, and......
2008-06-24 11:11:00
ROBYN MEADOWS, Staff
Some parents from Lancaster City schools are outraged that their local state senator would author and vote for a bill that could cost their district $5.2 million in potential revenue. The Republican-controlled state Senate passed the budget bill (SB 1389) last Wednesday — in a party-line ......
2008-06-23 00:06:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
All those dire predictions a few weeks ago about a divided Democratic Party seem soooo outdated.This week, a Quinnipiac University poll of more than 1,500 likely Pennsylvania voters showed presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama not only has a 52 percent to 40 percent edge......
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......
2008-06-18 00:43:00
BRIAN WALLACE, Staff
The School District of Lancaster board approved a 2008-09 budget Tuesday that calls for hiring 24 new employees, but how many of those positions actually get filled will depend, in part, on the state Legislature.SDL is in line for a hefty 16.9 percent hike in state funding under Gov. Ed Re......
2008-06-14 00:52:00
MARC LEVY, Associated Press
The idea was still in its infancy in 1993 when Sen. Stewart Greenleaf first introduced a bill in the Pennsylvania Senate to ban smoking in most public spaces and workplaces statewide.On Friday, Gov. Ed Rendell signed a Greenleaf bill into law, adding Pennsylvania to a list of more than 30 ......
2008-06-11 12:23:00
AD CRABLE, Staff
For 30 years, Mayor Richard Gray dined at the lunch counter of a downtown restaurant, watching his favorite waitress breathe in the nonchalant smoke of customers. When he quit smoking, Gray found other places to eat. But the waitress, a non-smoker who often complained about her smoky work envir......
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......
2008-06-10 01:54:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Dave Kilmer's concerns are rising with each spike in the price of gasoline.But Kilmer, executive director of Red Rose Transit Authority, isn't just watching the numbers at the pump.He said earlier this month simultaneous efforts at the state Capitol to repeal a crucial mass ......
2008-06-05 02:14:00
KIM O’BRIEN, Staff
Dozens of Latino business owners, agencies and residents will gather at tonight's First Thursday Latino event."This is a gathering of professionals — both Latino and non-Latino — that would like to learn about Latino events and issues going on in the city and in the co......
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 ......
2008-06-04 00:37:00
MADELYN PENNINO, Staff
School District of Lancaster is behind a bill proposed by Gov. Ed Rendell that would steer more than $48 million to its schools over the next six years.SDL interim Superintendent Steve Iovino, school board President Patrick Snyder and Mayor Rick Gray on Tuesday praised Rendell's educat......
2008-06-02 00:02:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Elections are the purest means of holding government officials accountable.And if you desire accountability, it's essential to have as many competitive races as possible each November.Sadly, Pennsylvania has about as many truly competitive contests this year as the Phillies have......
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......
2008-05-28 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 01:54:00
P.J. REILLY, Staff
The Mount Airy Road bridge over Middle Creek in Clay Township has seen better days, according to township manager Bruce Leisey.With school buses, large trucks and cars rumbling over it every day, the concrete deck is crumbling.In 2006, a survey of bridges across the state listed the......
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 01:47:00
P.J. REILLY, Staff
The top goal of Lancaster County's Transportation Improvement Plan is clear: fix local bridges.Dave Royer, director of transportation for the county planning commission, said that priority comes straight from Gov. Ed Rendell."We're definitely focusing on our existing in......
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......
2008-05-19 20:17:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
It was Sen. John McCain's turn on Saturday Night Live last weekend."What should we be looking for in our next president?" McCain asked during one segment. "Certainly, someone who is very, very, very old."McCain, a sprightly 71, told the audience he has the ne......
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......
2008-05-15 01:26:00
MARTHA RAFFAELE, Associated Press
When Carly the Pomeranian tries to bark, she doesn't emit a full-throated "ruff" or a high-pitched "yip." It's more like a hoarse squeak.For owner Deb Haney, Carly's bark is an unfortunate reminder of a commercial Lancaster County dog-breeding facility that ......
2008-05-14 00:56:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
A bill authored by a Lancaster County senator aimed at cleaning soap detergents that pollute waterways became law Tuesday, making Pennsylvania the second state in the nation with this type of legislation.The bill — written by Republican state Sen. Mike Brubaker of Warwick Township &m......
2008-05-08 01:01:00
JENNIFER TODD, Staff
These days, it's common for businesses to "go green."In fact, environmental action on the corporate level has become a somewhat trendy approach to the critical issue of global warming.National Novelty Brush Co. is no exception. But the Lancaster firm has gone far beyon......
2008-05-07 01:18:00
SUSAN E. LINDT, Staff
Two hundred forty-four commercial kennel owners got the invite. Now it's up to them to take the offer.In a new initiative designed to improve compliance with state kennel regulations, the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office is holding two free educational seminars to help k......
2008-05-02 01:05:00
P.J. REILLY, Staff
It's been four years since the state Department of Environmental Protection placed the Speedwell Forge Lake dam on Hammer Creek in Elizabeth Township on its list of "unsafe, high-hazard dams," but nothing has happened yet to move the structure off that list.That's unaccep......
2008-04-29 12:02:00
TOM MURSE, Staff
Civil-rights attorneys, theologians and moms and dads on both sides of the gay-marriage debate clashed again in Harrisburg today as a state Senate panel heard a third round of testimony on a proposal to ban same-sex unions in the constitution. "Clearly, what is proposed in Senate Bill 1250......
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......
2008-04-22 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......
2008-04-21 00:22:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
One aspect of this primary's narrative is the disenchanted Republicans who have reconfigured the "R" on their voter registration cards into a "D."Such a decision comes with its pitfalls, as 33-year-old Nate Bomberger, who's volunteering full time for Sen. Barack......
2008-04-18 01:40:00
PATRICK BURNS, Staff
Lancaster Airport Authority learned Thursday that it will receive $500,000 from state airport improvement grants added this year by the Rendell administration.Joyce Opp, the airport authority's finance and marketing director, said the funds will help offset the cost of a $1.6 million h......
2008-04-12 00:32:00
JANE HOLAHAN, Staff
They often spend their entire lives in small cages, stacked one on top of the other.They endure intense heat and cold, rarely get medical care and never get any exercise. Some lose the ability to walk because they never leave their cages.Vocal chords are crushed with a metal pipe so......
2008-04-10 01:47:00
JEFF HAWKES, Staff
Why is it not a surprise to find Paul Thibault appealing to a voter's baser instincts?I'm referring to a Thibault campaign mailer that plays on the age-old prejudice that Lancaster County shouldn't have to pay for Philadelphia's problems.The card features a photo of ......
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......
2008-04-08 00:14:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. on Monday challenged rhetoric streaming from Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign that her chief Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama, can't beat presumptive Republican nominee John McCain in the general election.Casey, meeting with the Intelligencer Journal's......
2008-04-07 00:04:00
P.J. REILLY, staff
Radio and television ads are airing. Campaign signs are popping up like perennials all over the county. Barbs are being traded.Pennsylvania's April 22 primary election is just two weeks away, and the four Republican candidates seeking the GOP nomination to replace retiring state Sen. G......
2008-04-04 01:12:00
SUSAN E. LINDT, Staff
If puppy-mill owners thought times were tough with the governor on their backs, just wait till Oprah Winfrey hops on.The queen of talk is biting back at Lancaster County's unscrupulous breeders by featuring a full hour on the "the puppy-mill capital of the East" during today&......
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......
2008-04-01 01:30:00
MICHAEL YODER, Staff
Today may be April Fools' Day, but independent truck drivers across the nation are not in a joking mood.Diesel prices are at an all-time high, shipping rates are being slashed and small owner-operator trucking businesses are disappearing.The situation has become so dire that tru......
2008-03-29 00:48:00
PATRICK BURNS, Staff
A 24-year-old Pennsylvania state trooper, on the job for only three months, was killed Thursday night when his car was struck by an oncoming sport utility vehicle on Route 41 in Chester County.Kenton E. Iwaniec, who recently had moved to Lancaster, was on his way home from his shift in the......
2008-03-25 10:36:00
AD CRABLE, Staff
Lancaster County, which had shucked its bad-smog infamy a few years ago, is back on the unhealthy list. Last week, the federal Environmental Protection Agency announced tougher ground-level ozone limits nationwide. The new health standards weren't dramatically lower, or as low as environ......
2008-03-21 01:31:00
JEFF HAWKES, Staff
School districts serving economically stressed communities in Pennsylvania have been fed up for years.Although the state constitution requires a "thorough and efficient" public school system, lawmakers have passed budget after budget that shirked their responsibility.Where......
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 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......
2008-03-17 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 00:43:00
BRIAN WALLACE, Staff
What a difference a year makes.In 2007, 15 of Lancaster County's 16 public school districts received permission to raise property taxes above an index based on inflation set for them by the state.This year, only five districts sought and received some wiggle room on taxes for th......
2008-03-15 00:20:00
BRIAN WALLACE, Staff
Gov. Ed Rendell is scheduled to visit Solanco High School March 27 to promote the state's Classrooms for the Future initiative.The governor will be joined by officials from the state and federal departments of education and local and state legislators on a tour of the school beginning ......
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......
2008-02-20 01:38:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Lawmakers in Harrisburg will try to figure out this week how to keep municipalities from being bankrupted by the cost of cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay.Under a federal mandate, municipalities in the bay's watershed, which includes the Susquehanna River and its tributaries, have just tw......
2008-02-19 10:51:00
BERNARD HARRIS, Staff
A new Route 30 from Ronks to Gap could be pushed back — way, way back. And a proposed Columbia bypass and reconstruction of the Centerville Road/Route 30 interchange would likely share the same fate under a redrafting of Lancaster County's Transportation Improvement Plan....
2008-02-18 11:55:00
AD CRABLE, Staff
Your sewer bill is likely going up. And state officials are feeling the heat for requiring upgrades to sewage treatment plants to help the Chesapeake Bay — without offering state financial help to offset the costs. Finger-pointing and legislative probes are in full force. Among the n......
2008-02-18 00:48:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
The lull in the 13th state Senate District primary is ending as candidates are starting to tout campaign finance totals and roll out their platforms.It's hard to fathom that, come Friday, it's still two months before the April 22 primary.I'm starting to get a sense, thro......
2008-02-16 01:53:00
SUSAN E. LINDT, Staff
Even if the state revokes a dog-breeding operation's license, the owner may keep the dogs during the sometimes lengthy appeals process.•••When a federal inspector examined Ervin Zimmerman's Ephrata dog-breeding kennel last week,......
2008-02-15 12:01:00
JACK BRUBAKER, Staff
Local officials today said they are only beginning to consider how they will deal with provisions of a new open-records law Gov. Ed Rendell signed Thursday. The law makes major changes in the state's Right-to-Know Law, enacted in 1957. Essentially, the new law is designed to make more in......
2008-02-15 02:19:00
JEFF HAWKES, Staff
Fans of "The Graduate" know the scene well.At a poolside graduation party, a stuffed-shirt businessman pulls aside Dustin Hoffman's baby-faced character to offer a word of advice for a felicitous future."Just one word," he says. "Are you listening? &hell......
2008-02-15 02:00:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
When Gov. Ed Rendell affixed his signature to Senate Bill 1 Thursday, the long-awaited overhaul of the state's open records law finally became a reality."Is it a perfect bill? No," Rendell said during the signing ceremony. "Is it a good bill? Absolutely. Is it a step on ......
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 11:55:00
TOM MURSE, Staff
Everyone knows what Democratic strategist James Carville thinks about residents of our fair state: "Pittsburgh to the west, Philadelphia to the east, and Alabama in between." Gov. Ed Rendell apparently feels that way, too — albeit to a lesser extent. "You've got conservative whites h......
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......
2008-02-11 00:02:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
How bizarre are things in Harrisburg? Quite.Last month, Republicans lined up in support of a plan would eliminate school property taxes for senior homeowners earning $40,000 or less, and Democrats cried "foul" because the plan left out every other homeowner.Then last week,......
2008-02-10 00:20:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS, Staff
Chet Beiler wasn't really focusing on state politics. He was in the middle of business projects. So the Jan. 9 call from state Republican leaders caught him somewhat by surprise. Would Beiler consider running for state auditor general again? Four weeks later — and four years......
2008-02-09 01:57:00
LARRY ALEXANDER, Staff
With all the glitz of Las Vegas and the movies, Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course will open its doors this week in Dauphin County.The plush $300 million casino features 2,020 slot machines, restaurants to suit everyone's tastes, from hot dogs to haute cuisine, hundreds of f......
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 12:20:00
TOM MURSE, Staff
Lancaster County's Republican state lawmakers wasted little time in trashing Gov. Ed Rendell's proposed $28.3 billion budget, saying the Democrat should be aiming to cut taxes and spending. Here's what some of them had to say: • Rep. Bryan Cutler: "I was not impressed......
2008-02-06 02:32:00
TOM KNAPP, Staff
Conoy Township Planning Commission said Tuesday it is unable to recommend approval of plans to build the state's first corn-to-ethanol production facility on the banks of the Susquehanna River.But it won't recommend denial, either."We can't endorse this proposal bec......
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......
2008-02-06 01:59:00
BRIAN WALLACE, Staff
While Gov. Ed Rendell's proposed $28.3 billion budget is generally good to public schools, state-affiliated colleges — especially Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster city — did not fare so well.For at least the second year in a row, the Rendell administratio......
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......
2008-02-02 00:37:00
SUSAN E. LINDT, Staff
Father-and-son kennel owners faced a district justice Thursday after both were charged with state dog-law violations at their large-scale breeding kennels in Ronks.John E. Esh, owner of Twin Maple Farm, 68 Clearview Road, Ronks, and his son, Daniel P. Esh, owner of Scarlet-Maple Farm Kenne......
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......
2008-01-28 00:03:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
On the morning of Feb. 5, Gov. Ed Rendell will stand in the state House of Representatives before a joint session of the Legislature to deliver his proposed budget.When you're talking about nearly $30 billion, a lot of sweat gets spent and a lot of pride's on the line. The gov......
2008-01-24 12:04:00
TOM MURSE, Staff
Got questions about those property-tax cuts we wrote about last week, the ones funded by slots revenue and expected to be taken off your school-tax bill this summer? Here are some answers. The bottom line is that homeowners who have applied for and received homestead exemptions will see re......
2008-01-24 01:19:00
SUSAN E. LINDT, Staff
A new set of proposed changes to Pennsylvania's dog laws is ready, but some people still have reservations about their potential impact.At a Wednesday meeting of the Dog Law Advisory Board, charged by Gov. Ed Rendell with tightening the state's dog laws, members had a chance to sta......
2008-01-24 00:37:00
PATRICK BURNS, Staff
PPL Electric Utilities wants to know how much its customers truly care about clean, renewable energy.The utility filed a proposal Wednesday with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to allow customers to voluntarily purchase renewable energy credits, or RECs.The credits are ge......
2008-01-20 00:05:00
PAUL FRANZ, Staff writer
Republican voters in Nevada and South Carolina call the economy the most important issue in this year's presidential race. It's a message that's resonating in Pennsylvania, the subject on the minds of Warwick Area Republican Committee members at their fundraising dinner Saturday night. Sta......
2008-01-15 12:28:00
TOM MURSE, Staff
Here's a Happy New Year's message from the state's budget guru: Lancaster County homeowners will get between $37 and $252 — and likely far more — in school property-tax cuts later this year thanks to slot-machine revenue. Budget Secretary Michael Masch said Monda......
2008-01-15 02:06:00
TOM KNAPP, Staff
Harrisburg is poised to pump $1 million into Lancaster County tourism.Gov. Ed Rendell on Monday announced $10.6 million in matching funds to aid the state's tourism agencies with promotional efforts.The Pennsylvania Dutch Convention & Visitors Bureau received an allocation o......
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.......
2008-01-14 00:05:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
If you wanted a clearer picture Saturday of who will emerge in the Republican primary to replace retiring state Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong, well, the only words I can offer are: "Not yet."Although local businessman Lloyd Smucker was the top votegetter in the straw poll taken by loc......
2008-01-13 00:11:00
SUZANNE CASSIDY, Staff writer
Americans know more about Britney Spears than about how the American health care system works, a health care-reform activist told a conference Saturday in Lancaster. Dr. Walter Tsou, a former Philadelphia health commissioner, was the keynote speaker at a conference organized by HealthCare4AllPA......
2008-01-04 12:18:00
CINDY STAUFFER, Staff
It's unanimous. Every state representative in the county is running for another two-year term. State Reps. Tom Creighton, Gordon Denlinger, Dave Hickernell, Mike Sturla and Katie True all said in interviews today that they are seeking re-election. They join state Reps. John Bea......
2008-01-04 01:44:00
P.J. REILLY, Staff
Jose Urdaneta has been a Lancaster city councilman for the past two years.During that time, he has been frustrated by the general lack of interest many city residents have in getting involved in their community.Thursday night was an exception, he said.The 50 people who turned......
2008-01-03 02:04:00
JENNIFER TODD, Staff
A local woman's passion for making the life of man's best friend better has taken her from the ranks of volunteer to a full-time employee for the state Department of Agriculture.On Wednesday, Sue West of Lititz was named director of the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement. In her new pos......
2007-12-27 01:23:00
BRIAN WALLACE, Staff
A statewide report lauds two Lancaster County school districts for adding breakfasts to their school menus and criticizes three districts for serving too few morning meals to economically disadvantaged students.The Pennsylvania School Breakfast Report Card, released earlier this month by P......
2007-12-26 00:31:00
LARRY ALEXANDER, Staff
My New Year's resolution for 2008 is to get rich.I don't know how I'll do that, but it's my goal.It's not that I want a big house or a fancy car. And I certainly don't relish going into a higher tax bracket or having supposed "long-lost cousins" knocking on my door to tell me they n......
2007-12-21 12:00:00
ANYA LITVAK, Staff
The Lancaster County Republican Party has submitted its choice to replace controller Dennis Stuckey when he becomes commissioner next month. Keith Greiner, 42, a certified public accountant and Upper Leacock Township supervisor, is being nominated for appointment by the governor, subject to the......
2007-12-12 13:44:00
CHIP SMEDLEY, Staff Writer
Mayor Rick Gray concluded his report to City Council Tuesday night by reading a letter he sent to a gathering of mayors across the state who joined with Gov. Ed Rendell in Harrisburg Monday to lobby for laws that would require gun owners to report lost or stolen firearms and that would limi......
2007-12-12 01:16:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Lancaster County Recorder of Deeds Steve McDonald wasted little time this week pointing out differences between himself and retiring state Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong, whose job McDonald wants. "People don't want tax money redistributed," McDonald said. "They want taxes reduced." Armstrong ha......
2007-12-11 12:00:00
TOM MURSE, Staff
PennDOT Secretary Allen Biehler said today that transportation planners are "rejiggering" their priorities in the face of tight budgets to fix the state's more than 6,000 structurally deficient bridges while maintaining highways. "We have not come face-to-face with the rea......
2007-12-11 00:57:00
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
A former School District of Lancaster administrator improperly used a district credit card for personal expenses several years ago, the state Ethics Commission has ruled.Former district communications director Keith Pierce also violated state law when, after a stint in state government tha......
2007-12-10 00:02:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
It would be hard to decipher what's going on in Harrisburg these days without considering it in the context of the 2008 legislative elections.A great example is the current row between Republicans and Democrats (including Gov. Ed Rendell) over providing health insurance for the more th......
2007-12-08 01:18:00
PATRICK BURNS, Staff
When: 3 p.m. Monday, Dec. 10 Where: Penn State's Harrisburg Campus Student Center, Room 210 Capital Union Building 777 W. Harrisburg Pike, Middletown For more information, go to www.pahomeownersne....
2007-12-07 03:06:00
LARRY ALEXANDER, Staff
All aboard the Peanuts Express. Next stop, the governor's residence.Snoopy, Linus, Lucy, Schroeder, Woodstock and good ol' Charlie Brown will spend this holiday season riding the rails around Gov. Ed Rendell's Christmas tree, thanks in part to the folks at the Railroad Museum o......
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 01:57:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT, Staff
Violence against police officers is increasing nationwide, studies show, and one local department has the bruises to prove it.West Hempfield Township police officers have been physically confronted by suspects on three separate occasions since Nov. 6, officials said.Each time, offic......
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....
2007-11-21 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......
2007-11-19 00:01:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
People are saying the momentum to reform state government has lost its steam.The reform movement, prompted by the controversial legislative pay raise in 2005, helped lead to more than a dozen incumbent lawmakers and a state Supreme Court justice losing their seats in 2006.This year,......
2007-11-16 11:07:00
ROCHELLE SHENK, Correspondent
Gov. Ed Rendell and state Sen. Mike Brubaker visited Burgard Elementary School in Manheim Thursday for a first-hand look at the school's participation in a special science education initiative. "I'm excited to be here today. I first came across this program when I was campaigning i......
2007-11-12 00:01:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Two months remain before the sun comes up on 2008, but in politics, the calendar has already changed.There's no "Opening Day" like in baseball, where everybody starts playing on the same afternoon. But with the 2007 races decided, a slow parade of candidates will begin launch......
2007-11-09 02:46:00
SUSAN E. LINDT, Staff
A county kennel owner's kennel license has been revoked — and he may face animal-cruelty charges after a Nov. 2 raid in which 18 ailing dogs were seized.Ervin Zimmerman's West Earl Township kennel already had failed seven state inspections between June 5 and Oct. 11 for unsafe and un......
2007-11-06 01:02:00
MARC LEVY, Associated Press
Gov. Ed Rendell and state utility regulators challenged the federal government's inclusion of 52 Pennsylvania counties in a regional corridor where states could lose the ability to stop high-voltage power lines from being built.The corridor's boundaries are far broader than intende......
2007-11-02 11:23:00
TOM MURSE, Staff
Gov. Ed Rendell's lopsided 2006 re-election victory over pro-football Hall of Famer Lynn Swann has been called many things. Whopping. Patently unfair. "Had it been an athletic event, it would have been called off early in the contest," political analysts Mike Young and G......
2007-11-01 00:19:00
PATRICK BURNS, Staff
Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner Wednesday lectured the state's leading agency for economic development on improving its monitoring of businesses that receive financial grants.Wagner specifically faulted the Department of Community and Economic Development's Opportunity Grant Progr......
2007-10-30 11:00:00
TIM MEKEEL, Staff
Pennsylvania homeowners facing foreclosure due to the subprime mortgage crisis or mortgage fraud can turn to two new state programs for help. Gov. Ed Rendell announced Monday that the state has created the programs to assist homeowners who suddenly are facing sharply higher monthly payments bey......
2007-10-30 00:01:00
Associated Press
Gov. Ed Rendell Monday gave a big push to two state programs designed to give relief to homeowners victimized by predatory lending or facing unaffordable increases in their mortgage payments.Rendell said the subprime mortgage crisis has reached into Pennsylvania homes.The state prog......
2007-10-24 11:42:00
AD CRABLE, Staff
It hasn't even been built yet, but the $100 million corn-based ethanol plant proposed for Conoy Township may be on the road to becoming obsolete. But that's OK, Lancaster Biofuels president Seth Obetz said Tuesday at a public hearing at the Bainbridge Fire Hall, because the plant will be design......
2007-10-19 02:20:00
PATRICK BURNS, Staff
A central hub and help center to assist families facing possible foreclosure due to the collapse of mortgage broker OPFM Inc. will open at Lancaster Farm & Home Center.Also, a rally is planned in Harrisburg next week to prod state officials into doing more to assist those families.......
2007-10-15 01:02:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Bird's-Eye View
Dinner this fall will be served with a side order of political celebrity. In the midst of the fall campaigns, both Republican and Democratic parties of Lancaster County throw their annual autumn banquets, and this year they provide a little star power.For the GOP, former Pittsb......
2007-10-12 10:23:00
TOM MURSE, Staff
Pennsylvanians who have lobbied long and hard for a law ensuring broad access to state records should expect such a proposal to make it to Gov. Ed Rendell's desk this fall, the Senate majority leader says. "It's been my objective to have that bill passed in the Senate before we lea......
2007-10-12 01:26:00
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
On Thursday, a Lancaster County native officially became the first openly gay male judge on Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.Judge Daniel Anders, a 1986 graduate of Hempfield High School, took the oath of office Thursday afternoon in City Hall, although he has been hearing cases since mi......
2007-10-11 11:36:00
CHAD UMBLE, Staff
For about the first 45 minutes of a breakfast forum today, members of Lancaster County's Republican legislative delegation discussed such perennial issues as tax and legislative reform, agriculture, health care and transportation. Taking five-minute turns at the podium, the Republican lawma......
2007-10-11 02:15:00
SUSAN E. LINDT, Staff
Being a dog in Pennsylvania isn't what it used to be since Jessie L. Smith became special deputy secretary for dog law enforcement.The year since her appointment to the position, newly created by Gov. Ed Rendell, has been challenging, Smith said. But in an address she gave at Wednesday......
2007-10-10 01:58:00
CARLA DI FONZO, Staff
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday its investigation into sleeping security officers at the Peach Bottom nuclear power plant showed the problem, while "inexcusable," was isolated and not a direct threat to security.NRC officials spoke about the investigation at a public me......
2007-10-10 01:41:00
SUSAN E. LINDT, Staff
Jessie L. Smith, the state's special deputy secretary for dog law enforcement, was appointed last year by Gov. Ed Rendell to weed out bad dog kennels from the good.Tonight, exactly a year to the day since her appointment, Smith will report in Lancaster County on how her effort is going......
2007-10-08 00:01:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Since taking office in 2001, President Bush has, shall I say, developed a language of his own, from his lexicon to his sentence structure.And the 43rd president of the United States put his "Bushisms" on display while visiting Lancaster County last week.To be fair, Bush te......
2007-10-05 01:58:00
MARTHA RAFFAELE, Associated Press
An embarrassing new disclosure about a $108,000 amusement-park outing for employees of Pennsylvania's student-loan agency prompted its chief executive Thursday to make a more abrupt departure than he had planned.Amid angry criticism from legislators who dominate the board of the Pennsy......
2007-10-03 01:24:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Democrats in Harrisburg on Tuesday renewed their fight to provide all uninsured Pennsylvanians with health care, but Republicans once again drew a hard line against the proposals.State Rep. Mike Sturla, a Lancaster Democrat, introduced the Cover All Pennsylvanians bill, which would provide......
2007-10-02 01:30:00
JEFF HAWKES, Staff
State Rep. Mike Sturla, back from a trip to Taiwan sponsored by the government of Taiwan, is embarking on a grand adventure of another sort.The Lancaster Democrat has been tapped by Gov. Ed Rendell to play a lead role in pushing a bill offering every Pennsylvanian affordable health-care co......
2007-10-01 00:08:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Bird's-Eye View
There's no denying the connection between election politics and money. Campaigning costs a lot of cash, from gas to advertising to covering the costs of hosting fundraisers (room rentals, food and so on).And one of the most compelling places to observe the flow of money is on campaign ......
2007-09-29 03:24:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
A Montgomery County attorney wants to influence the outcome of next year's state Senate race in Lancaster County by supporting Steve McDonald, and his first action is to try to keep a current legislator out of the contest.Bob Guzzardi, a controversial figure who once owned a gym that attra......
2007-09-26 19:51:00
JAMES BUESCHER, Correspondent
Computers and interactive chalkboards. Projectors, scanners and video cameras. When it comes to high-tech 21st century classrooms, Lampeter-Strasburg High School is ahead of the curve thanks to a recent six-figure state grant."Thanks to this grant, we're going to be able to change the way ......
2007-09-25 11:50:00
AD CRABLE, Outdoor Trails
In the beginning, wind power seemed like the perfect poster child for the alternative-energy crusade. It was an earth-friendly means of loosening the strangle of foreign oil. Unlike its bedrock predecessor in Pennsylvania — coal — wind turbines promised cheap energy without scarr......
2007-09-25 01:04:00
JEFF HAWKES, Staff
In his 2006 State of the Union address, President Bush — it still stings to put those two words together — did speak a plain truth when he said: "We have a serious problem: America is addicted to oil."Addiction is an ugly word, bringing to mind the 1980s film "Sid and Nancy," i......
2007-09-25 00:21:00
MARC LEVY, Associated Press
Gov. Ed Rendell on Monday called America's reliance on foreign oil a "prescription for disaster" and said his proposed energy plan will take advantage of the fast-growing alternative energy sector and avert skyrocketing electricity bills.Rendell's 20-minute address to a j......
2007-09-20 13:00:00
TIM MEKEEL, Staff
In this case, it's a good thing for a business to be heading south. Lancaster Laboratories will spend $16 million to further enlarge its local operation on the south side of New Holland Pike, creating 105 jobs. The project, supported by $560,000 in state assistance, was announced today ......
2007-09-20 00:46:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
County Recorder of Deeds Steve McDonald, saying voters in the 13th Senatorial District are ready for change, announced Wednesday he'll run for long-time state Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong's seat in the 2008 Republican primary.•••Rep......
2007-09-19 01:54:00
MARC LEVY, Associated Press
Gov. Ed Rendell on Tuesday pressed the case for legislation to place all public school employees under a single health insurance plan as a way to slow the growth in property taxes.The bill, which is being introduced in the House after several years of work, would create a 12-member board t......
2007-09-18 01:45:00
JEFF HAWKES, Staff
State Rep. Scott Boyd has a sharp tongue when it comes to picking apart legislation he opposes.So when I heard that Boyd, co-chair of a House Republican initiative on health care reform, would debate the director of Gov. Ed Rendell's health care-reform office, I thought, "This is gonna be ......
2007-09-15 01:00:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Legislative session to beginThe eyes of Pennsylvania politicos will focus on Harrisburg Monday as the state Legislature returns to session for the first time since the $27.2 billion budget showdown between Senate Republicans and Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell.Legislator......
2007-09-14 01:47:00
JEFF HAWKES, Staff
Gov. Ed Rendell has spelled out an ambitious plan to control health care costs and guarantee health insurance to every Pennsylvanian.Actually, every American should have health insurance, but President Bush thought invading a certain oil-rich country was better use of our resource......
2007-09-14 01:14:00
PATRICK BURNS, Staff
Thanks, but no thanks.That's the message Gov. Ed Rendell's administration sent in answer to Sen. Arlen Specter's push to procure $11.2 million in federal funds for the proposed Corridor One rail project.On Sept. 7, at the Harrisburg Transportation Center, Specter said funding looked......
2007-09-11 01:34:00
JENNIFER TODD and CARLA DI FONZO, Staff
Six years after the Sept. 11 attacks, local emergency-response workers say expecting the unexpected is a priority that hasn't faded with time."We learned a lot of lessons after 9/11," said Craig Elmer, director of the Lancaster County Public Safety Training Center. "And ......
2007-09-08 02:57:00
PATRICK BURNS, Staff
Motorists who complain that $1 buys only gas fumes can rest assured that their meager purchase at the pump will at least register accurately.John Hostetter Jr., of Lancaster County Bureau of Weights and Measures, has certified the accuracy of nearly every fuel pump in the county during the......
2007-09-07 00:02:00
PATRICK BURNS, Staff
The U.S. Small Business Administration announced Thursday that nonfarm businesses in Lancaster County may be eligible for loans of up to $1.5 million because of crop damage at farms in Maryland.The U.S. Department of Agriculture last month designated 22 Maryland counties as primary natural......
2007-09-03 00:12:00
P.J. REILLY, Staff
The proposed Corridor One rail system would cost taxpayers too much money and is likely a dead project.Citing Capital Area Transit projections that the proposed Corridor One line would carry 444 daily one-way passengers between Lancaster and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Transportation Secretar......
2007-09-01 02:56:00
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Gun shop owners Friday failed to block a statewide shutdown of a records-check system that will prevent them from selling guns at the start of the dove- and goose-hunting seasons.Commonwealth Court Judge Keith Quigley declined to intervene in the matter, despite being asked by two dozen gu......
2007-08-31 02:07:00
TOM KNAPP, Staff
Students in 10 Lancaster County school districts will have new technology dumped in their laps this year to promote 21st-century learning.Laptop computers, along with associated classroom gear, are on tap through a Classrooms for the Future technology grant, announced Thursday by Gov. Ed R......
2007-08-30 01:52:00
PETER JACKSON, Associated Press
Thousands of nonviolent offenders a year could earn early release from prison or qualify for alternative programs that would spare them from hard time under changes in sentencing that Gov. Ed Rendell is advocating.The changes, backed by key legislators, district attorneys and county commis......
2007-08-30 01:45:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Teachers and employees at all but one of Pennsylvania's public school districts would have their health insurance covered by the state if a plan proposed by Gov. Ed Rendell this week is approved.The Democratic governor is asking the Legislature to create a Public School Employees' Benefit ......
2007-08-29 11:33:00
AD CRABLE, Staff
Despite howls of protest from sportsmen's groups, gun-rights advocates and legislators, Pennsylvania State Police will go ahead with a 72-hour gun-sales freeze starting Sunday. A last-ditch effort to stop the gun-sales ban now shifts to a lawsuit in Commonwealth Court brought by three disgru......
2007-08-29 02:30:00
PATRICK BURNS, Staff
Local gun shop owners say Gov. Ed Rendell was blowing smoke last week when he promised to consider their request to delay computer work that would temporarily freeze gun sales in the state next week.Rendell decided Tuesday to go ahead with an upgrade to the criminal background check data b......
2007-08-28 11:00:00
AD CRABLE, Staff
Three Lancaster County gun shops and 23 others around the state have gone to court to try to block Pennsylvania State Police from freezing gun sales for five days next week. The Sportsman's Shop in New Holland, Trop Gun Shop in Elizabethtown and Village Arms in Gap are among the gun shops f......
2007-08-28 01:12:00
MADELYN PENNINO, Staff
About 110,000 students who attend Pennsylvania's 14 state-owned universities were back in class Monday, despite lingering disagreements over a tentative contract between the state system and the union representing 5,500 faculty members.Earlier this month, the executive council of the Assoc......
2007-08-24 01:21:00
P.J. REILLY, Staff
It seems the squeaky rifle just might get the grease.An outcry from state legislators, pro-gun organizations and hunters about a planned five-day shutdown of a Pennsylvania State Police computer system that would halt gun sales across the state has prompted Gov. Ed Rendell to search for an......
2007-08-23 01:29:00
MARTHA RAFFAELE, Associated Press
Pennsylvania's student loan agency awarded more than a half-million dollars in bonuses to its top executives on Wednesday, prompting new criticism of its spending by Gov. Ed Rendell's administration.A Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency spokesman defended the bonuses for the 20......
2007-08-16 00:02:00
P.J. REILLY, Staff
With online system out of commission, finding properties a tough task•••It's August, which means many of you out there already are thinking about the upcoming, fall hunting seasons.Perhaps one of the chores at the top of your......
2007-08-15 01:59:00
P.J. REILLY, Staff
A Red Rose Transit Authority program that helps welfare recipients get to work got a shot in the arm Tuesday.Gov. Ed Rendell awarded RRTA $30,000 for its Access to Jobs program as part of $2 million doled out across the state for welfare-to-work transit programs."This is an importan......
2007-08-14 11:19:00
BERNARD HARRIS, Staff
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell this morning announced statewide funding of $2 million for welfare-to-work transit. Lancaster County's portion of that amount is $30,000 to the local mass transit agency, the Red Rose Transit Authority. "That's good. That will help keep that program going," sai......
2007-08-14 01:08:00
MARC LEVY, Associated Press
Gov. Ed Rendell, who has been outspoken on the need to limit emissions of global warming gases, has not delivered on a promise to come up with his own strategy for Pennsylvania.Administration spokesmen would give no reason for the delay, other than to say a plan is still being worked on....
2007-08-10 01:27:00
P.J. REILLY, Staff
East Petersburg resident Wilfred Muskens is fluent in English, Dutch, French and German.The 45-year-old native of the Netherlands is sure to deal with people who speak every one of those languages — and a few he doesn't know — in his new job as Pennsylvania's deputy sec......
2007-08-08 00:54:00
BRIAN WALLACE, Staff
School District of Lancaster wants to get more of its high school students to take college courses this year.Penn Manor School District wants to add a career center to its high school and improve the math and reading skills of its vocational-technical students.And Conestoga Valley H......
2007-08-03 01:02:00
JENNIFER TODD, Staff
Nearly one in four of Pennsylvania's 25,000 state-owned bridges — 22 percent — have been deemed "structurally deficient," including 177 in Lancaster County alone.But in the aftermath of the deadly bridge collapse Wednesday in Minneapolis, PennDOT says motorists can rest assured......
2007-08-01 01:33:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
State Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong said Tuesday a letter released weeks ago by someone looking to unseat him next year has prompted thousands of dollars in donations to his campaign."I hope he sends another letter out next week," Armstrong said regarding a letter Republican Steve McD......
2007-07-22 00:17:00
SUZANNE CASSIDY, Staff writer
Americans like to think they live in a pro-child, family-friendly culture, but it seems that some people are pining for a return to the days when children were seen but not heard. And some Americans, it seems, would prefer that children not even be seen. In recent weeks, a series of contro......
2007-07-20 02:52:00
JEFF HAWKES, Staff
It's a "disgrace," state Rep. Tom Creighton said of funding cuts for agriculture in the new state budget.Agriculture is the "No. 1 industry" in Pennsylvania, chimed in Rep. Bryan Cutler, "and we are neglecting it.""A cut this size," warned Rep. Gordon Denlinger, "is going to be a wa......
2007-07-19 01:32:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
The wheels on the buses will still go 'round and 'round.And the cost to ride a Lancaster County bus? That will stay the same, too. For now.Red Rose Transit Authority announced Wednesday that because of a $1.2 million windfall from the state, there will be no cuts in bus service and ......
2007-07-19 01:01:00
BRIAN WALLACE, Staff
The state will pump an additional $7.6 million into Lancaster County public schools in 2007-08, giving districts an average of 4.5 percent more state money to work with in the coming year.The boost is what many school officials had expected and almost keeps pace with school district tax in......
2007-07-18 01:36:00
SUSAN E. LINDT, Staff
One might be tempted to think — in a nation that accepts Hooters restaurants, Juggs magazine, push-up bras and breast implants — people would have become desensitized to the sight of a human breast.Not so.In fact, the issue, as it relates to public breast-feeding, genera......
2007-07-18 01:31:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Staff
Taking $4.2 million from the state Department of Agriculture prompted several county Republican lawmakers to vote against the state budget this week."A cut this size is going to be a wake-up call for the whole ag community," said state Rep. Gordon Denlinger of Narvon, a member of......</
