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......
2009-11-14 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......
2009-11-10 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......
2009-08-06 00:01:00
JEFF HAWKES
Are you angry with Gov. Ed Rendell for wanting to raise your taxes?Apparently, Sen. Dominic Pileggi doesn't think you're angry enough.Pileggi, of Delaware County, is the leader of the majority Republicans in the state Senate and Rendell's chief nemesis in Pennsylvania......
2009-08-04 00:01:00
JEFF HAWKES
It was a classic Ed Rendell thing to say. AUDIO: Rendell discusses budget At a news conferenc......
2009-08-02 00:08:00
SUZANNE CASSIDY
At the Lancaster County Democratic Committee's annual corn roast Saturday, there was plenty of humidity, but not so much of the humility that used to surround Democrats living in this traditionally conservative county. Some 130 local Democrats gathered at Long's Park for a dinner of roa......
2009-08-01 09:00:00
As of yesterday, 33,000 state workers were without a paycheck. For the past month, they have continued to show up for work, do their jobs and serve the public despite the threat of payless paydays. Good for them. That's the kind of integrity Pennsylvanians expect from public servants.I......
2009-07-31 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
It wasn't exactly a cage match to the death.But anyone who caught the latest round of the State Budget Blame Game — courtesy of Republican Rep. John Bear and Democratic Rep. Mike Sturla — should have a decent feel for why Pennsylvania is in......
2009-07-30 10:23:00
TOM MURSE
Tammy Landis was laid off from her job recently. So when her husband, a state Department of Transportation worker for 16 years, lost part of his paycheck due to the state budget stalemate, they had to take action."It's rough because he's the only one working. It's just not......
2009-07-29 10:31:00
BRIAN WALLACE
A fact-finder has been appointed to resolve an impasse in teacher contract talks in Columbia, and negotiations are continuing in four other Lancaster County school districts this summer.But the likelihood of the 1,000-plus teachers in those five districts starting the 2009-10 school year w......
2009-07-29 08:17:00
P.J. REILLY
To Jose Frayre, the math is simple.The caseworker at Lancaster County Assistance Office, 832 Manor St., said that some of his co-workers with large families live "paycheck to paycheck.""On Friday, when there's no paycheck coming in, what kind of situation do you t......
2009-07-28 10:42:00
TOM MURSE
As Pennsylvania's budget stalemate enters its fifth week, state Sen. Mike Brubaker says he's come up with a plan that could prevent future impasses — by docking lawmakers' pay and perks, among other things."By us not being paid, that can put on a lot of pressure,&quo......
2009-07-24 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Ten thousand corrections officers patrol our prison cell blocks and stand between hardened criminals and the public in Pennsylvania — and those officers are getting only a fraction of their pay during the budget stalemate.The inmates?They're still getting paid in full.......
2009-07-12 00:16:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
Times are tough at the Lancaster County Assistance Office, Jose Frayre said. "We've seen the recession come, and we've seen it get worse," said Frayre, 35, a caseworker. It's not just the number of people seeking assistance, but a "whole new class of people coming into the office, people who ar......
2009-07-12 00:08:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
Bob Kettering was set to vote for Superior Court Judge Cheryl Allen as the Republican nominee for state Supreme Court. But before the May primary, the president of Lancaster County ACTION got a call asking if he'd meet with Allen's opponent, fellow Superior Court Judge Joan Orie Melvin. Ke......
2009-07-10 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
For all the huffing and puffing from our state lawmakers during the budget stalemate, Rep. Ron Marsico doesn't see any action to back up the bluster."Look where we are today: no budget in site," said the Dauphin County Republican. "They're not even m......
2009-07-09 00:01:00
It doesn't require a soothsayer to foretell the train wreck that lies in Pennsylvania's fiscal future. The numbers speak for themselves.The budget that state lawmakers are now wrestling with is $3.2 billion short. Gov. Ed Rendell and a number of House Democrats say the the only way......
2009-07-08 10:04:00
TOM MURSE
Pennsylvania's 253 state lawmakers have been working without pay during the week-old budget stalemate. But that doesn't mean they're scraping to get by.More than 200 legislators, including two from Lancaster County, are being reimbursed by taxpayers for meals on the days they&#......
2009-07-08 00:01:00
Politics is blood sport. Every election produces a winner and a loser. Election results often lead to claims of cheating or bribery or character assassination or all of the above.For every person who relishes the fight, there is someone who doesn't.It appears Alaska Gov. Sarah P......
2009-07-07 10:02:00
AD CRABLE
Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak, on a frenetic media blitz of 67 counties in three weeks, swept through Lancaster County on Monday, calling himself the principled and credible alternative to Sen. Arlen Specter in the race for the Senate.Sestak, 57, a Slovakian immigrant's son who fol......
2009-07-03 10:01:00
DAN RORABAUGH
The onstage question had tripped up Jill Wiley in previous years.Not this time.At last Friday's Miss Pennsylvania's Outstanding Teen competition, the 16-year-old Penn Manor student calmly told the panel that she would ask Gov. Ed Rendell to provide more funding for arts prog......
2009-07-03 00:01:00
JEFF HAWKES
Sen. Arlen Specter in Lancaster on Wednesday said that being a Democrat "feels very comfortable."Specter had better realize his comfort level is beside the point.Since he switched parties at the end of April, what matters is whether Democrats are comfortable with Specter....
2009-07-02 10:04:00
TIM MEKEEL
PPL Electric Utilities customers might soon discover that saving electricity makes lots of "cents."To meet a state mandate to trim peak consumption, PPL on Wednesday unveiled an array of incentives to spur customers to conserve electricity.The 200-page plan includes rebate......
2009-07-02 00:11:00
TOM MURSE
U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter came to town Wednesday morning to talk about the $5 million in federal stimulus money going to Red Rose Transit Authority. ...
2009-07-02 00:03:00
JEFF HAWKES
They're worried about making ends meet, and they're a little miffed, these mayors from Pennsylvania's blue-collar, rust-belt cities that Bruce Springsteen might sing about.At a news conference in Lancaster to plug tax reform that would give cities a fighting chance to reverse d......
2009-07-01 00:05:00
TOM MURSE
Now that the deadline to pass a state budget has come and gone and there's no prospect of an agreement anytime soon, you might be wondering: What makes this year different?It is true that the Legislature and Gov. Ed Rendell haven't been able to approve a spending plan before July 1......
2009-06-30 10:29:00
Staff
Gov. Ed Rendell is expected to meet with legislative leaders again today for another round of line-by-line budget reviews. But an agreement still appears far off. So why is this year's budget battle different? One significant reason is that the players, particularly Republicans who control......
2009-06-30 00:38:00
JEFF HAWKES
Debate will forever rage about how high taxes should rise. Still, at the end of the day, most of us pay up out of a sense of duty.We're willing to hand over some of what's ours for the betterment of all.Good will, then, lies at the heart of taxation. The system works because......
2009-06-30 00:21:00
BRIAN WALLACE
School District of Lancaster board members will decide tonight how much property owners will pay in school taxes next year and who will run one of the district's alternative schools.The board will meet at 6 p.m. in the Sheffy Administrative Building to approve the 2009-10 budget and vo......
2009-06-30 00:06:00
TOM MURSE
Forget midnight.In fact, some Harrisburg insiders say, forget July.The disparate factions warring over next year's state budget are still miles apart, which means reaching an accord before the constitutional July 1 deadline — or even over the next several weeks — is ......
2009-06-30 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Wesley A. Snyder was able to keep his $29 million mortgage brokering scam hush-hush, for a time, by withholding crucial information — namely account statements — from his clients.Such a practice soon will be illegal.Gov. Ed Rendell on Monday signed into law a measure tha......
2009-06-30 00:01:00
Regular readers of this space will recall that over the past few months we've been tracking the progress of the movement to add table games — blackjack, roulette, etc. — to Pennsylvania's slot machine parlors.As we've said before, table games are coming here —......
2009-06-28 00:20:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
After weeks of rain, the sun came out last week and Dutch Wonderland was thronged. "It was kind of nuts yesterday," Dutch Wonderland marketing director Bethany Alwan said Thursday. In the tourism industry, nuts means money. And even though the national economy remains stalled, re......
2009-06-25 10:26:00
KATY HOPKINS
Lancaster Public Library employees and volunteers caught some sunlight Tuesday as they slowly proceeded down Duke Street with 500 feet of stapled postcards. "What did you do at work today? Walked some postcards around," one member of the procession joked as the strand stretched down n......
2009-06-25 01:01:00
JEFF HAWKES
With inner-city Fulton Elementary School as his backdrop, Gov. Ed Rendell defended his call for higher state taxes as a "moral obligation" to children.Noting that Republican lawmakers have drawn a line in the sand against a tax increase, the governor drew his own line.&quo......
2009-06-25 00:36:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
"The library is a wonderland of endless possibilities. There is so much to do and see and learn."Those words are part of a letter written by a Quarryville resident in support of Lancaster County libraries, which face drastic cuts in the proposed Pennsylvania budget....
2009-06-25 00:32:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Gov. Ed Rendell and legislators in Harrisburg, currently wrangling over a budget that could result in hefty cuts to libraries, are about to hear from a lot of upset Lancaster countians.Facing cuts that could lead to fewer hours and reduced programs and services, Library System of Lancaster......
2009-06-24 11:00:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Gov. Ed Rendell and a cabinet member came to Lancaster two days in a row to lobby for the governor's proposed $29 billion budget and against a $27.3 million Republican counter proposal. As the June 30 budget deadline looms, the Democratic administration is trying to protect Rendell's key ......
2009-06-24 00:32:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Mayors of five Pennsylvania cities — Lancaster, York, Reading, Easton and Bethlehem — announced Tuesday they've formed a coalition to meet the challenge of paying for municipal government.The cities had been the subject of a study earlier this year by the Pennsylvania Econo......
2009-06-24 00:24:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Gov. Ed Rendell issued a simple warning Tuesday to Republican lawmakers who want to slash millions in public school funding from next year's state budget: "Don't mess with education."Education is too important to the state's future to fall victim to cost-cutting in th......
2009-06-23 00:29:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
With the state's budget sure to tighten, local museums are worried that Pennsylvania's commitment to preserving its past might become history.Under Gov. Ed Rendell's proposed $61.7 billion spending plan, funding for museums and other historical groups could see drastic cuts....
2009-06-19 10:00:00
RYAN ROBINSON
The Manheim Community Farm Show might have to one day charge an entry fee or shut down. The Ephrata Fair, the largest street fair in the state, lost $30,000 last year. The New Holland Farmer's Fair Association bought a $195,000 building and can't afford big losses. Organizers ......
2009-06-19 00:49:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Manheim Township school board Thursday approved a $74.9 million budget for 2009-10 that will boost property taxes by $98 next year for the average homeowner.The spending plan increases the district's tax rate by 4.1 percent, the maximum permitted by the state, to 16.55 mills.Und......
2009-06-18 00:01:00
Budget battles in Pennsylvania are rarely collegial. Rather than working to bridge the gap between revenue and expenditures, the two parties tend to migrate to their own aisles and throw barbs at each other.Faced with the largest deficit in state history, lawmakers this year have reverted ......
2009-06-17 11:30:00
TOM MURSE
Is your paycheck about to shrink on July 1? That's the million-dollar question. And as with all things political, the answer depends on whom you ask. Top Republican lawmakers declared Gov. Ed Rendell's proposed 16-percent income-tax increase dead on arrival Tuesday, saying fam......
2009-06-17 01:16:00
P.J. REILLY
A statewide project aimed at reducing Pennsylvania's carbon dioxide emissions could provide a first look at what's below the surface of Lancaster County."No one's ever drilled it deep," said Jay Parrish, director of the Bureau of Topographic and Geologic Survey for th......
2009-06-17 01:02:00
DAVE PIDGEON
An income-tax increase proposed Tuesday by Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell probably won't pass, state lawmakers said Tuesday.But as Democrats and Republicans look to slash spending in ways that will have consequences for local governments, most people will probably end up paying higher taxe......
2009-06-17 00:53:00
PATRICK BURNS
Homeowners in Eastern Lancaster County School District will finally share property tax relief revenues with residents in the state's 501 other districts.The Elanco school board voted Monday to accept $446,713 being provided this year under the state's 2006 Taxpayer Relief Act....
2009-06-14 00:21:00
PAULA WOLF
Marty Korecky likes to target shoot fairly regularly, but lately he's been cutting back. A Shillington resident, Korecky is worried that if he uses up his ammunition, he'll have a really hard time getting more. And he has reason to be concerned. Demand for ammo — particu......
2009-06-14 00:15:00
PAULA WOLF
While local gun sellers and consumers are feeling the nationwide ammunition shortage, the Lancaster County Sheriff's Department has noticed something, too. Starting in November of last year, applications for concealed weapons permits jumped markedly, Chief Deputy Sheriff Mark Reese said....
2009-06-11 00:41:00
LORI VAN INGEN
Two Lancaster apartment complexes for low-income residents will receive more than $12.5 million from federal economic recovery funds.Garden Court Apartments, South Marshall Street, is slated to receive $11,219,998 for the rehabilitation of 264 units, and Park Avenue Apartments, 255 Park Av......
2009-06-10 01:13:00
DAVE PIDGEON
A local Republican and the Democratic governor will hold dueling press conferences today to lay out ideas about how to jumpstart the housing industry and the general economy.State Rep. John Bear, a Lititz Republican, will go first at 10 a.m. from the steps of the state Capitol. He will int......
2009-06-09 11:00:00
TOM MURSE
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell hasn't signed a budget on time in the 6!-W years he's been in office. This year looks to be no different — and some 69,000 state workers could be asked to work without pay if there's no deal in place by July 1. "I think we are still hopeful a budget co......
2009-06-06 01:33:00
JEFF HAWKES
If the state budget were a jungle in which you were lost, you'd appreciate having someone like state Sen. Jake Corman around.He'd take a machete and chop his way to the rescue.How satisfying to whack away at everything and anything impeding the mission.As Senate Appro......
2009-06-05 18:11:00
AMANDA KENNEDY, 18, Freestyle
Students who are feeling college's pinch in their pocket may be in luck.In April, Gov. Ed Rendell held a conference call for high school journalists across the state to ask questions concerning the future of public education. Eighty students from 31 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties to......
2009-06-05 11:59:00
Tom Murse, Politically Speaking
Are the Senate Republicans serious about their lean budget proposal — the bare-bones plan Democrats call "out of touch" and downright "mean?" Or are they bluffing, either to score political points with the public or begin negotiations much like a customer does at a use......
2009-06-03 22:48:00
Correction — The editorial below regarding proposed changes in the state slots law, posted on LancasterOnline Tuesday, noted that casino applicant Louis DeNaples failed to disclose a 1978 conviction to the Gaming Control Board. That is incor......
2009-06-03 17:34:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Correction — The annual meeting of the Pennsylvania League of Cities and Municipalities is scheduled to be held in the new Lancaster County Convention Center and Lancaster Marriott Hotel June 24 through June 26. Between 300 and 400 people, i......
2009-05-31 00:10:00
JEANNETTE SCOTT
Wayne Koch, 58, of Lancaster, has breakfast in bed every day. Then he showers, makes phone calls and goes to work in his home office. Nothing unusual. Except Koch, who has paraplegia, can't do any of it without caregivers who assist him 10 hours a day. His care is provided through a fe......
2009-05-29 01:49:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
The state on Thursday denied Daniel P. Esh a license to continue operating his large-scale dog-breeding kennel in Leacock Township, but his attorney vowed to take the issue to a higher court."Daniel Esh will definitely appeal," said attorney Jeff Conrad of the firm Clymer & M......
2009-05-28 00:36:00
P.J. REILLY
Lancaster County commissioners are listening to the chatter in Harrisburg about the state's 2009-10 budget.What they're hearing has them worried."The goal of Senate Bill 850 is no tax increases, and I think that notion is a fallacy," Commissioner Craig Lehman said.......
2009-05-26 11:00:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Al Karcheski discovered in February that he has diabetes. Since then, the 64-year-old retired high school teacher has had to learn how to eat fewer carbohydrates, stay on top of his blood sugar levels, increase his exercise and get his feet and eyes regularly checked . It's a lot to ab......
2009-05-22 10:12:00
DAVID O'CONNOR
A Lancaster pastor and his church are now writing letters to President Barack Obama and U.S. Sen. Robert Casey Jr. to save a school for at-risk children from closing. The nearly 300 boys and girls who attend the Scotland School for Veterans' Children "will have no home if it closes," says the R......
2009-05-22 00:56:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
If the budget passed by the Senate in Harrisburg were implemented, Pennsylvania history could be put on hold.The $27.3 billion spending plan proposed by Senate Republicans and approved along party lines earlier this month would cut funding to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commissi......
2009-05-20 01:38:00
BRIAN WALLACE
School District of Lancaster expects to limit a tax hike in next year's budget to 3.52 percent — the lowest increase in six years — provided federal stimulus money comes through.The school board Tuesday approved a draft final 2009-10 budget totaling $158.1 million, an incre......
2009-05-19 10:42:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Lancaster County Republicans took a break from the current election Monday evening to dream about the future. The party elite — about 180 members of the Republican Committee of Lancaster County, elected officials and guests — heard from U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach, who is considering a ru......
2009-05-15 01:01:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Residents of Manheim Township School District would see their property tax bills rise an average of $98 next year under a proposed 2009-10 budget approved Thursday by the school board.The $74.9 million spending plan would boost the tax rate to 16.55 mills, an increase of 4.1 percent, the m......
2009-05-14 01:04:00
JEFF HAWKES
After the state Senate, on a party-line vote, passed a budget with sweeping spending cuts, Sen. Jake Corman (R-Centre County) predicted the savings would position Pennsylvania for "the long-term future."And Corman just might be right — if the long-term future he has in mind......
2009-05-14 00:01:00
Few of us can imagine the pain Jasmine Vadell is enduring.This past Sunday — Mother's Day — Vadell's 9-year-old daughter Ciara Savage was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting in York. The Lancaster girl was playing outside a relative's house when a driver stepped ......
2009-05-12 00:01:00
Most would agree that Pennsylvania's state police are very good at what they do. They patrol highways, arrest bad guys, break up drug rings and respond when called.But as well-trained as they are, they cannot be in two places at the same time.Yet, they are being asked to do more......
2009-05-08 00:17:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Replacement of the Route 324 bridge over Pequea Creek got a financial boost Thursday from the federal government.The $4.3 million project to replace the 97-year-old bridge connecting Conestoga and Martic townships will receive $1,477,436 in economic stimulus money from the American Recover......
2009-05-06 00:54:00
DAVE PIDGEON
As recently as a month ago, some Republicans in Harrisburg slammed Gov. Ed Rendell for proposing a deep $8.3 million cut in funding for the Department of Agriculture in 2009-10.On Monday, Senate Republicans, including state Sens. Mike Brubaker and Lloyd Smucker, backed a $27.3 billion stat......
2009-05-06 00:39:00
PATRICK BURNS
The Rendell administration is rolling out a plan to quickly spend $252.8 million in stimulus money on the statewide Weatherization Assistance Program.At a hearing Tuesday in Harrisburg, lawmakers and other officials discussed a preliminary plan that would bolster spending on the program th......
2009-05-05 12:00:00
TOM MURSE
If you haven't been paying attention to this year's state-budget tango, here's the story line so far: Gov. Ed Rendell pitched a $29 billion plan back in February that would have boosted overall spending by 4 percent, using a combination of stimulus money, tax increases — and,......
2009-05-05 00:27:00
DAVE PIDGEON
State Rep. John Bear said Monday that his attendance last fall at a leadership conference in Switzerland did not violate state ethics laws.But Bear had to file a report last week, nonetheless.The trip — underwritten by the American Swiss Foundation for $6,500 — did not c......
2009-04-30 01:00:00
JEFF HAWKES
Gov. Ed Rendell is right.An examination of whether Pennsylvania's taxpayers and students would be better served having fewer than 500 school districts is long overdue.Rendell in his budget address raised the issue, saying that "in today's economy, we cannot afford"......
2009-04-30 00:28:00
MICHAEL YODER
State Sen. Mike Brubaker's initiative to provide oversight of the spending of billions of dollars from the federal stimulus program passed its first hurdle Tuesday.Senate Bill 6, which was unanimously approved by the State Government Committee, would create a bipartisan commission to p......
2009-04-30 00:23:00
BRIAN WALLACE
State Rep. Mike Sturla has introduced legislation that would revamp Pennsylvania's special-education funding formula.The Lancaster city Democrat is co-sponsoring House Bill 704, which would replace the current funding formula with one based on the 2007 "costing-out" study com......
2009-04-30 00:01:00
Maybe it takes the messed-up prosecution of a casino owner with alleged mob connections to make people realize that Pennsylvania's gambling regulations are sadly deficient.The case in point is the ill-fated prosecution of Louis DeNaples, owner of the Mount Airy Casino resort.DeN......
2009-04-27 00:03:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Bird's-Eye View
Last week, a group of House Republicans called for an end to so-called "pay-to-play" practices in state government.One of the more curious aspects of the proposal is how it would "prohibit state officials from awarding no-bid contracts to anyone who has made campaign contrib......
2009-04-21 00:01:00
A questionable decision by Gov. Ed Rendell has triggered the first dustup of the 2010 gubernatorial election — a race in which Rendell will not be a candidate.Patrick Meehan, the former U.S. attorney in Philadelphia and a likely Republican candidate for governor, has challenged the R......
2009-04-18 00:01:00
Pennsylvania's three-month-old Right-to-Know law, after a seemingly quiet start, may be on the brink of its first real tests.In one matter, a state agency said it will appeal to court a decision by the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records that it must copy and mail out records to people......
2009-04-17 01:19:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Along with marijuana plants, Manheim Township police discovered a cache of weapons when they searched the home of an East Petersburg man last week.Police said Terrence Rainar, 59, had 15 firearms inside his home at 6335 Hollow Drive when they were called to that address after someone repor......
2009-04-16 01:26:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Mayor Rick Gray and police Chief Keith Sadler joined Gov. Ed Rendell on Wednesday in a plea to Congress to reinstate a ban on assault weapons like the one used recently to kill three Pittsburgh police officers. ...
2009-04-14 01:01:00
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
For the second year in a row, more than 100,000 Lancaster County property owners will be getting a break on their school taxes from slot machine gambling revenue.Gov. Ed Rendell announced Monday that $770 million will be available for tax reductions in 2009-10, based on the amount of slots......
2009-04-10 01:28:00
JEFF HAWKES
Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray needs a shovel to do his job. Pennsylvania gives mayors a wheelbarrow instead.A wheelbarrow is a handy thing to have. No doubt mayors put them to good use.But when you need to dig, you want a shovel.Even before the recession, mayors were trying to di......
2009-04-08 00:49:00
PATRICK BURNS
Gov. Ed Rendell is seeking federal economic stimulus funds to eliminate 10 dams — five of them in Lancaster County — on tributaries that flow into the Susquehanna River.Rendell has applied for a $14.6 million grant for the project, which also includes building fish passages at ......
2009-04-07 22:50:00
JAMES BUESCHER
Ever since Gov. Ed Rendell signed a sharper new dog law into effect last October, all across the state operators of dog kennels have been coming before local zoning boards seeking permission to continue operating their businesses.On Monday, Upper Leacock Township resident Elam Beiler appea......
2009-04-02 01:28:00
DAVE PIDGEON
The state Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill Tuesday that would bar illegal immigrants from accessing public benefits such as Medicaid.But the bill's future is in doubt as it moves to the Democrat-dominated state House, and Gov. Ed Rendell has signaled his displeasure with it.T......
2009-04-02 01:08:00
MICHAEL YODER
With a possible $3 billion budget deficit looming for Pennsylvania, Gov. Ed Rendell has asked state agencies to make serious cuts in spending.However, some legislators in Harrisburg and people throughout the farming community believe cuts to the Department of Agriculture's budget go we......
2009-04-01 00:36:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Republican state Sen. Mike Brubaker said Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell's attempts to bring accountability to how federal stimulus funds are spent don't go far enough.Rendell announced Tuesday the creation of a bipartisan Pennsylvania Stimulus Oversight Commission, charged with reviewi......
2009-03-31 00:01:00
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell usually has good — make that very good — political instincts.Witness his recent decision to remove Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission Chairman Mitchell Rubin from his post. Rendell said Rubin had done nothing to merit the $150,000 he had been paid as ......
2009-03-30 00:41:00
DAVE PIDGEON
The skies aren't completely full of storm clouds for U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, the embattled Republican who faces turbulence in 2010 if he wants to be re-elected.Specter is likely to face old rival Pat Toomey, president of the conservative Club For Growth, in next year's Republican primary.......
2009-03-30 00:00:00
Trying to predict the future can be a fool's game, but one thing you can bet on is that legalized gambling in Pennsylvania is only going to get bigger and more varied.We already have a state lottery. Seven slot machine casinos have opened around the state with more to come.Next ......
2009-03-29 00:13:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
For years, restaurant inspectors in the City of Lancaster have done it their way. Now they're getting a little direction from the state. City inspectors have brand-new laptop, touch-screen "tablet" PCs provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, and now submit all......
2009-03-26 00:45:00
PATRICK BURNS
PPL Electric Utilities said Wednesday it hopes to obtain federal stimulus money to resurrect an expansion project at its hydroelectric plant at the Holtwood Dam.In December, the electric utility ditched a plan to more than double electric output from its Holtwood hydroelectric plant on the......
2009-03-24 00:46:00
PATRICK BURNS
A few days ago, Phillip Coolman of Conestoga decided to accept his brothers' last-minute invitation to Houston to play golf next weekend. His flight to the Gulf Coast city leaves from Baltimore, more than 90 miles from his home."My wife would have had to take the day off to drive ......
2009-03-23 00:04:00
DAVE PIDGEON, Bird's-Eye View
If you're angry now about bailouts and bonuses, just wait.As outrage over the AIG bonuses reached fever pitch last week, way back on page A11 of Friday's Intelligencer Journal was a short Associated Press story that was lost in the fervor but tells a tale that's just as outrage......
2009-03-23 00:01:00
The federal stimulus package notwithstanding, Pennsylvania faces a budget deficit that is inching toward $3 billion this fiscal year.In an attempt to balance the budget, Gov. Ed Rendell has laid off workers and placed restrictions on the use of automobiles and state-owned planes. Lawmakers......
2009-03-21 01:20:00
BRIAN WALLACE
This much is clear: School districts in Lancaster County will be getting at least $34 million over the next two years from the federal economic stimulus bill. But beyond that, not much else is known — at least for now. District officials don't have specifics on what they can spend th......
2009-03-19 11:25:00
TOM MURSE
The state Senate has passed a pair of consumer-watchdog measures designed to prevent another Wesley Snyder-style mortgage scam, which bilked some 800 homeowners out of $29 million. The bills, authored by Republican state Sen. Mike Brubaker of Warwick Township, would provide protection to mortga......
2009-03-18 01:09:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Republican state Sen. Mike Brubaker has joined with other GOP lawmakers in calling for legislative involvement in determining how federal stimulus funds will be spent in Pennsylvania.On Tuesday, Brubaker introduced in the state Senate a bill that would create a nine-member bipartisan commi......
2009-03-18 00:01:00
PATRICK BURNS
A trio of Lancaster County business women have been named to Gov. Ed Rendell's list of the best 50 women in business in Pennsylvania.They include:• Jennifer K. Engle of jke Marketing & Communications in Lancaster.• Bobbi Har......
2009-03-17 00:35:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Nearly $90 million in federal and state funds will flow into Lancaster County this year and in 2010 for road and bridge improvements, state officials announced Monday.Route 222, a major north-south artery through the heart of the county, will receive the most attention as bridge work and l......
2009-03-10 10:50:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Motorists will have smoother roads and electronic traffic signs. Rail passengers will have a renovated station in Elizabethtown. And the Red Rose Transit Authority will have an expanded and renovated facility on Erich Road. All will benefit with funding from the federal economic stimu......
2009-03-10 01:13:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Gov. Ed Rendell announced Monday a $31 million package of emergency measures to protect needy Pennsylvania families from the stormy economy. ...
2009-03-10 00:57:00
TOM KNAPP
The economic downturn has brought unexpected benefits to Elizabethtown Borough.An ambitious improvement project that would create a second downtown around the borough's deteriorating train station is in line for an $8 million boost from Washington, D.C.The federal plan to stimul......
2009-03-09 00:02:00
MICHAEL YODER
For the past decade Charter Day has given Pennsylvanians the opportunity to spend a Sunday afternoon in March getting in touch with their historical heritage — for free.But this year's annual event took on a more poignant tone because proposed budget cuts threaten to close as man......
2009-03-09 00:01:00
Should Pennsylvania legalize video poker as a way to help defray college tuition costs?Gov. Ed Rendell thinks so. He says illegal video poker games are racking up millions in sales, so why not license the machines and use the proceeds for tuition relief at Pennsylvania's 28 state-owned......
2009-03-09 00:01:00
DAVE PIDGEON
The ship has struck rocks and is taking on water before it even sails out of harbor.Gov. Ed Rendell's proposal to have a commission study the viability of merging the state's 501 school districts into 100 regional territories had all the makings of a long-term Democratic Party plat......
2009-03-05 11:02:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Five months after Gov. Ed Rendell approved tighter regulations on dog kennels, scores in Lancaster County and across the state are going out of business. Others, meanwhile, are seeking local zoning approvals for the first time as a result of the new law. Chris Ryder, a state Department of ......
2009-03-05 01:09:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Long derided as pork or praised as investment in community and economic development, a taxpayer-funded program may vanish from the state budget for the next fiscal year.Last month when Gov. Ed Rendell proposed cutting 101 programs out of his budget, he included on the list the Community Re......
2009-02-27 01:08:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Millersville University officials did not ask an anti-terrorism task force to help provide security for next month's controversial appearance by Bill Ayers, university spokeswoman Janet Kacskos said Thursday.Randy Gockley, a member of the executive board of the South Central Task Force......
2009-02-27 01:04:00
MICHAEL YODER
The first phase has commenced for the controversial relocation of a portion of the Dillerville rail yard west from Lancaster city into Manheim Township.Workers began cutting trees about 8 a.m. Thursday at the former Lancaster Brickyard city dump site, behind the Lancaster Main Post Office,......
2009-02-27 01:03:00
MADELYN PENNINO
Gov. Ed Rendell told an audience at Millersville University on Thursday that it's time the state Legislature takes its head out of the sand and legalizes video poker.Those were Rendell's words during his visit to the school, where he touted his state tuition-relief plan. Rendell......
2009-02-26 09:51:00
TOM MURSE
Pennsylvanians are clearly hurting. More have seen their paycheck slashed, their health plans vanish, their medical needs go untreated and the bills pile up since the fall. But we're also optimistic — and confident in both the governor and the country's new president, a new Frankl......
2009-02-26 11:00:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Work began this morning on the controversial project that would move the Dillerville rail yard west from Lancaster City into Manheim Township and near upscale housing developments. Workers began cutting trees at about 8 a.m. at a former city dump behind the Lancaster Main Post Office, 1400 Harr......
2009-02-25 00:43:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Under Gov. Ed Rendell's proposed budget, some of the state's historic sites could become, well, history.Barbara Franco, executive director of Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, told legislators at a meeting of the House Appropriations Committee on Monday that proposed c......
2009-02-23 00:04:00
MICHAEL YODER
Mill Creek runs through the heart of some of the most productive farmland in Lancaster County, and in turn it's seen its share of agricultural pollution.But the many farmers who harvest their bounty along its steep banks have taken measures for several years to stop erosion and limit c......
2009-02-20 00:01:00
During his budget address, Gov. Ed Rendell offered a plan to allow 65 of the state's 67 counties to impose a 1 percent sales tax.The idea fell flat. And for good reason.Counties that enacted the tax would place themselves at a competitive disadvantage to those counties that did ......
2009-02-19 01:26:00
JEFF HAWKES
More often than not, state Rep. Mike Sturla gets it.He's a dependable champion of such noble causes as insuring the uninsured and funding schools so every student has a fair opportunity to achieve.Local progressives never fail to rally around Sturla because he's the one and ......
2009-02-15 00:20:00
CHIP SMEDLEY
Before Gov. Ed Rendell refloats his idea to consolidate the state's 501 school districts into 100 mega-districts, he might want to go back to school and study his own state's history. Subject? Lancaster County school districts. Course name? "The failed attempt to merge Columbi......
2009-02-12 00:01:00
DAVE PIDGEON
The moment Vice President Joe Biden strolled into the state Capitol's media center, the fortunes of the Obama administration's first legislative battle began looking more favorable.Just an hour earlier, as Biden with Gov. Ed Rendell walked over a crumbling Cumberland County bridge,......
2009-02-11 20:11:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Correction — Pennsylvania's new formula for basic education subsidies for public schools is designed to bridge a funding gap of about $2.6 billion over six years. The incorrect figure was included in the article below, posted on Lancaste......
2009-02-10 00:01:00
PATRICK BURNS
Cape Air is on track to take off next month from Lancaster Airport, Joyce Opp, finance and marketing director of the airport authority, said at its monthly meeting Monday.Beginning March 24, Cape Air will fly from Lancaster Airport to Baltimore-Washington International Airport five ti......
2009-02-09 00:30:00
DAVE PIDGEON
When you're a politician in a high-profile seat like the governor's and you have a politically inconvenient proposal to make — one that's going to cause some outrage, but you know deep down it's the right thing to do — the easiest way to get the conversation started is......
2009-02-09 00:01:00
Gov. Ed Rendell's budget plan for recession-chilled Pennsylvania was as big a surprise as last week's freak snowstorms.Among the biggest surprises was his call for the state to start crunching Pennsylvania school districts over two generations, from 500 to, at most, 100.The ......
2009-02-06 00:23:00
DAVE PIDGEON
House Democrats rolled back a few reforms that grew out of the 2005 pay-raise controversy Wednesday night, an action that drew little notice as Gov. Ed Rendell's proposed budget dominated media discussions."Now, unfortunately, because of these rules before us, it's a step back......
2009-02-06 00:17:00
MICHAEL YODER
Running outreach programs for the local agricultural community takes dozens of staff members, hundreds of volunteers and thousands of hours of dedication.Those same educators and community members took stock of a year of accomplishments as they celebrated the 96th annual meeting of the Pen......
2009-02-06 00:01:00
If you follow Gov. Ed Rendell's road map for dealing with the state's projected $2.3 billion deficit, most directional arrows point downward. But at some intersections, he proposes detours that not only increase funding, but could lead the state in another direction entirely.Citing......
2009-02-05 11:42:00
ROBYN MEADOWS and CINDY STAUFFER, Staff
It's not going to save that much money. It will eliminate neighborhood schools. It will wound local pride. Several local school officials said today they do not think Gov. Ed Rendell's proposal to consolidate the state's 501 school districts to about 100 districts could work....
2009-02-05 10:58:00
TOM MURSE
Republican state lawmakers from the county found much to dislike about Gov. Ed Rendell's latest budget — namely that it hikes spending and relies on federal stimulus money. But, when prodded, some also gave the Democrat an atta-boy — namely for kicking off the months-long process of......
2009-02-05 00:37:00
BRIAN WALLACE
School officials bracing for bad news in Gov. Ed Rendell's proposed 2009-10 budget got a pleasant surprise Wednesday.Despite a looming state deficit that could hit $2.3 billion this year, Rendell has proposed increasing education funding by 5 percent next year under the $29 billion spe......
2009-02-05 00:36:00
P.J. REILLY
Gov. Ed Rendell slipped a surprise proposal into his budget speech Wednesday that would give counties the ability to impose their own sales tax.He suggested that counties be allowed to tack on a sales tax of up to 1 percent on top of the state-imposed 6 percent sales tax in the name of doi......
2009-02-05 00:35:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Democrat Ed Rendell, the barrel-bodied governor with the husky voice and knack for rhetorical persuasion, inspires both support and distrust among legislators from Lancaster County.Three of those local legislators will have prominent voices in how Rendell's recently proposed budget wil......
2009-02-04 11:27:00
TOM MURSE
In a surprise move, Gov. Ed Rendell today called for consolidation of the state's 501 school districts into as few as 100, a bold proposal he believes would ease the burden on local taxpayers and help curb spending. The previously undisclosed plan was included in a $29 billion budget he unv......
2009-02-04 00:24:00
BRIAN WALLACE
More teachers' aides for special-education classes, new energy-efficient heating and cooling systems at schools and increased tutoring services are among the upgrades Lancaster County residents could see at their public schools if lawmakers approve a massive economic stimulus package being de......
2009-02-04 00:22:00
DAVE PIDGEON
At some point recently, Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell considered how to plug a $2.3 billion chasm between costs and revenue when constructing his proposed 2009-10 state budget.While increasing personal income or sales tax rates must have seemed tempting, Rendell never gave it a thought, accor......
2009-02-02 18:20:00
MATT PAWLIKOWSKI
Some will say that David Tyree's catch last year was the greatest play in Super Bowl history. Then there is Joe Montana to John Taylor in Super Bowl XXII in the final seconds to beat the Bengals.And of course Lynn Swann's aerobic catch for a touchdown in Super Bowl X.Now the......
2009-02-02 00:31:00
DAVE PIDGEON
State Sen. Mike Brubaker is taking another crack at reforming the mortgage industry.Brubaker, a Warwick Township Republican, intends to reintroduce a pair of bills that together would protect whistle-blowers and prevent mortgage brokers from withholding key information from their customers......
2009-01-30 00:23:00
TOM KNAPP
A state initiative for clean and sustainable energy programs has benefited three Lancaster County projects that are trying a greener approach to business.The biggest chunk locally goes to the Lancaster Family YMCA, which will get $500,000 toward the cost of designing and building a 42,000-......
2009-01-29 00:28:00
MICHAEL YODER
Stricter standards on farm pollution in the Chesapeake Bay watershed take effect in less than a year. State agencies are looking for innovative ways for Pennsylvania to meet them.That's where Bion Environmental Technologies Inc. comes in. The New York-based firm received a $7.8 million......
2009-01-29 00:01:00
PATRICK BURNS
The announced cuts last week of 86 jobs and the shutdown of the Circuit City store at Red Rose Commons likely will mean more traffic at CareerLink.CareerLink, at 1016 N. Charlotte St., offers free job search resources to anyone — including those working and looking to change careers ......
2009-01-28 00:26:00
DAVE PIDGEON
As of Tuesday evening, five members of the Lancaster County delegation had returned their 2009 pay raises to the state Treasury and two others had donated theirs to charity."People are getting laid off," said state state Rep. Scott Boyd, a West Lampeter Township Republican who ha......
2009-01-23 00:01:00
MARK SCOLFORO, Associated Press
(AP) — Pennsylvania's estimated budget gap has worsened by about $300 million just since last week, and some state government workers face layoffs, Gov. Ed Rendell said Thursday. ...
2009-01-15 21:11:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Correction — Guests of the Washington Plaza Hotel who purchased a two-night package through the Pennsylvania Democratic Party will receive a complimentary bottle of Rhapsody in Blue, produced by the Bainbridge-based Nissley Vineyards & W......
2009-01-07 00:48:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
The long legal battle over Daniel P. Esh's kennel violations was finally resolved Tuesday.Esh, owner of Scarlet-Maple Farm Kennel, 68 Clearview Road, Ronks, originally faced three misdemeanor charges of housing more than 400 dogs and puppies in unsanitary conditions. The charges stemme......
2009-01-07 00:05:00
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Federal regulators are proposing a $65,000 fine against the operator of a York County nuclear plant where security guards routinely napped on the job.The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced the fine against Exelon Nuclear on Tuesday after completing a special investigation of the Peach......
2009-01-05 00:17:00
DAVE PIDGEON
During the winter months, I'm always envious of people who live in places like North Conway, N.H., Boulder, Colo., or Jackson Hole, Wyo. It just seems like their winters teem with more adventure than ours in mountain-challenged Lancaster. Our winters seem dull, gray and mostly snowless....
2009-01-03 00:19:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
The state's unemployment compensation call center for filing claims can now be accessed on Sundays.In response to rising state unemployment compensation claims, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry has opened its lines on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., in addition to ......
2009-01-03 00:01:00
STAFF REPORT
Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission officials remind travelers that most Turnpike tolls will increase 25 percent effective at 12:01 a.m. Sunday.With the new tolls, the most-common cash rate for passenger vehicles will increase from 75 cents to 95 cents, while the most common cash rate for com......
2009-01-01 00:02:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Pennsylvania's unemployment rate is rising, state tax revenue is lagging by $658 million and the 2009-10 state budget is facing a projected $1.6 billion deficit.Where else would two businessmen turned state senators want to be than on the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, which......
2008-12-26 00:02:00
MADELYN PENNINO
Local colleges are paying competitive faculty salaries, but some school officials believe attracting qualified candidates might become difficult partly if the slumping economy makes it harder for institutions to offer attractive compensation.The average salary for a full college professor ......
2008-12-20 00:37:00
MADELYN PENNINO
Millersville University will delay filling four high-level administrative positions for at least another six months as part of new cost-saving measures announced Friday by the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.PASSHE Chancellor John Cavanaugh said that 128 positions at the 14 s......
2008-12-18 00:35:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
The aging bridge that carries Marietta Avenue over the Amtrak rail line in Mount Joy will be replaced with a lookalike next year.The steel truss bridge that has spanned the rail line since 1896 will give way to a similar steel bridge that planners say will meld with the historic district t......
2008-12-16 10:04:00
AD CRABLE
A Quarryville tire company will get its heat by burning waste oil. An Ephrata laundry will buy high-efficiency laundry equipment. Lancaster Fastening Products of Lancaster will buy and install energy-efficient lighting. Eight small businesses in Lancaster County will share $53,000 in ......
2008-12-12 01:05:00
P.J. REILLY
For the Library System of Lancaster County, the hits just keep coming.After learning last month that Lancaster County commissioners plan to cut the system's 2009 funding by $150,000, library officials Wednesday found out Gov. Ed Rendell is cutting their state aid by $54,000.&quo......
2008-12-06 01:14:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Gov. Ed Rendell has thrown his support behind the project to move Norfolk Southern's Dillerville Yard from Lancaster city into Manheim Township.The governor announced a $10 million grant for the relocation Friday. As part of Lancaster's "Northwest Gateway Project," the ra......
2008-12-05 11:27:00
TIM MEKEEL
Gov. Ed Rendell was set to come to Lancaster today to present a $10 million check to support the relocation of Norfolk Southern's Dillerville Yard. Rendell was expected to give the state check to Franklin & Marshall College officials at a 3:15 p.m. ceremony at the campus. Although ......
2008-12-05 01:36:00
PATRICK BURNS
Jay O'Hara's job as a home remodeling salesman regularly takes him on trips from his Ephrata home to Philadelphia, Delaware, the Pocono Mountains and many places in between. He'll often travel 200 miles in a day.The recent drop in gas prices has been a lifesaver, he said, but t......
2008-12-05 01:13:00
BRIAN WALLACE
School District of Lancaster has imposed a districtwide spending freeze as a safeguard against potential shortfalls in state and local revenue as the economy continues to falter.Effective Dec. 1, the district imposed a ban on the hiring of "nonessential" staff, overtime pay, conf......
2008-12-05 01:05:00
MADELYN PENNINO
With many families and businesses making budget adjustments to cope with the rocky economy, local colleges are following suit, aggressively cutting expenses any way possible, from dialing back thermostats to putting off renovations.Franklin & Marshall College officials have focused on ......
2008-12-04 01:43:00
JEFF HAWKES
After a hearing on the state's budget crisis, Rep. Mario J. Civera Jr., House Appropriations chair, released a statement pledging to do "whatever is necessary" to navigate these tough times.What an interesting thing to say, given that the Delaware County Republican also said ......
2008-12-04 00:01:00
The new Pennsylvania Office of Open Records, set up to make government more transparent to the citizens it serves, is off to a unique start.As one of its first works, it set a rate of 10 cents to 25 cents per page for copies of public records.That might seem like small beer. It'......
2008-12-03 10:58:00
TOM MURSE
House Democratic leaders say they are voluntarily giving up this year's 2.8 percent pay hike in light of the faltering economy and the state's dire financial situation. And they are encouraging all rank and file in the 203-member House to pay back their own $2,151.35 raises — a......
