2012-05-14 21:58:00
TOM MURSE
Top state police officials said for the first time Monday they intend to keep all special investigative units in Lancaster as part of a massive troop realignment that would strip Troop J of its headquarters status.
The reversal, announced at a joint state House and Senate hearing in Gap, ......
2012-05-11 12:42:00
TOM MURSE
Pennsylvanians who register to vote have to fill out a form and mail it back to — or hand it in at — their county elections office.
But the process could soon be as simple as the click of a mouse.
Pennsylvania would become the 10th state in the nation to offer voter re......
2012-05-10 22:34:00
TOM MURSE
An influential congressional panel has passed legislation shepherded by U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts to impose higher fees on the medical device industry to pay for speedier government reviews of its products.
The legislation would be a boost for investors and businesses trying to get their device......
2012-05-10 22:07:00
TOM MURSE
President Barack Obama's support of same-sex marriage has been portrayed by some as a "gamble."
A "rare moment of risk-taking."
A move that could "carry a political cost" in November.
"CONTROVERSY OVER GAY MARRIAGE," USA Today huffed. "President takes sides in political ga......
2012-05-08 21:11:00
TOM MURSE
A Democrat from East Hempfield Township who launched a last-minute write-in campaign for state House in the April 24 primary won enough votes to appear on the November ballot, election officials said.
Marcy Dubroff will face Republican state Rep. Ryan Aument of Landisville, who is serving......
2012-05-03 20:14:00
TOM MURSE
U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts outraised his major-party challenger by more than 2-to-1 during the first three months of this year in his bid for a ninth term in the House, new campaign finance reports show.
The Chester County Republican reported bringing in $124,293 from Jan. 1 thr......
2012-05-02 20:26:00
P.J. REILLY
Prevailing wage rates on Lancaster County construction projects are needlessly costing taxpayers millions each year, Republican county commissioners Scott Martin and Dennis Stuckey said.
Those rates are ensuring quality work on projects awarded to low bidders, countered Democratic Commiss......
2012-04-27 22:04:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Ray Manlove said it is not difficult for him to talk to people about Barack Obama.
To Manlove, a neighborhood team leader for the president's Organizing for America campaign, talking about the president flows naturally from talking to people about the issues that are closest to them.
......
2012-04-26 19:42:00
TOM MURSE
The dust has settled from the Pennsylvania primary, and we all know by now who won and who lost.
Not that most of you care.
Only 1 in 5 Pennsylvanians bothered to vote Tuesday.
But, hey, we have a column to write. So for you 20-Percenters out there, thanks for sticking aro......
2012-04-25 00:16:00
TOM MURSE
Sometimes going negative works in politics.
Other times? Not so much.
The race for state House in northern Lancaster County might serve as a good example of how slinging a bucketload of mud at a campaign foe can backfire — and how a strong ground game proves more important....
2012-04-24 20:14:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
I did my patriotic duty Tuesday — I voted.
But, more importantly, I went to my polling place and flashed my ID, therefore doing my part to end the problem of voter fraud in Pennsylvania.
Not that Pennsylvania actually has a voter-fraud problem. Of the millions of votes cast ......
2012-04-23 23:07:00
TOM MURSE
Rick Santorum's withdrawal from the presidential race appears to have cleared Mitt Romney's path toward the Republican nomination. It also knocked some of the excitement out of Tuesday's Republican primary in Pennsylvania.
But there are still a handful of reasons to pay attention to what ......
2012-04-23 22:51:00
TOM MURSE
Most of the congressional and legislative candidates seeking election this year are unopposed in the party primaries and will face their first and only challenge in November.
Here's a look at those candidates on the ballot in Lancaster County.
Congress
Rep......
2012-04-23 22:18:00
BERNARD HARRIS
More than a half-century ago, when the minimum hourly wage was raised from $1 to $1.15, the state required prevailing wage rates be paid for government projects costing more than $25,000.
Since 1961, the federal minimum wage rate has increased to $7.25, but the threshold for municipalitie......
2012-04-19 11:11:00
GIL SMART, Smart Remarks
Gil Smart says Mitt Romney's plan to cut taxes primarily on the wealthy will do little for poorer taxpayers.......
2012-04-14 22:25:00
MARY BETH SCHWEIGERT
In the last three weeks, Sam Rohrer has logged 4,000 miles on his rented Ford F-150 truck. But Saturday, Rohrer — one of five Republicans vying for Democrat Bob Casey's U.S. Senate seat — confined his campaign to a very manageable area. Rohrer parked his maroo......
2012-04-13 22:28:00
TOM MURSE
Pollster G. Terry Madonna has taken heat from plenty of politicians.
It's the nature of his job — informing the voting public about who's winning and who's losing elections. Sometimes the losers don't take the news so well and push back.
But an unprovoked personal attack?...
2012-04-12 23:28:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Police charged a Warwick Township man Thursday with drug delivery after he exchanged drugs with another young man, who later died of an overdose from a variety of drugs.
Ryan C. Brubaker, 20, of Lititz, faces charges stemming from the drug exchange in September.
Brubaker is the so......
2012-04-12 22:16:00
TOM MURSE
A Republican state House candidate from the Lititz area has gone negative on one of his primary opponents, Mindy Fee, for having been a registered Democrat more than a decade a ago.
In a new mailer, Steve Black's campaign claims Fee was a "Bill Clinton-Al Gore Democrat" in the late 1990s,......
2012-04-12 19:17:00
TOM MURSE
Rick Santorum made the right move at the right time.
But just barely.
His campaign is nearly $1 million in debt, and there was no reason for him to endure the reels of negative attack ads awaiting him in Pennsylvania or to risk the humiliation of losing his home state on April 24.......
2012-04-10 22:51:00
TOM MURSE
In the end, Rick Santorum was humble.
And characteristically defiant.
The Republican presidential hopeful, who abandoned his long-shot campaign Tuesday, described his run for the nomination as a "miraculous experience." He also described himself as the only GOP candidate willing t......
2012-04-05 20:29:00
TOM MURSE
I'm going out on a limb.
I think Rick Santorum could very well end his pointless campaign for the Republican presidential nomination sometime in the next two weeks, before the Pennsylvania primary.
I know, I know.
There are a couple of good reasons, both well-documented, t......
2012-04-03 20:47:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
In the 1932 movie "Horse Feathers," Groucho Marx sang, "Whatever it is, I'm against it."
The day after the 2008 election, congressional Republicans adopted "whatever it is, I'm against it" as their refrain, to be sung every time President Barack Obama came up with an idea.
Any ide......
2012-04-02 21:06:00
CINDY STAUFFER
G. Terry Madonna laughed Monday when he heard an Internet search of his name and the term "Democratic hack" produced 76 hits.
That's because the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, other media outlets and political blogs all are reporting on Republican presidential candidate Rick Santor......
2012-03-29 23:02:00
BERNARD HARRIS
In recent weeks, the Lancaster County Convention Center has played host to gun enthusiasts, fly fishermen and winemakers for the first time.
For the third straight year, it hosted thousands of quilters.
And, this spring, the downtown Lancaster center will be the backdrop for conse......
2012-03-29 21:16:00
TOM MURSE
U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts says he came away from this week's Supreme Court hearings with a suspicion that the justices might throw out the entire 2010 health care reform law.
The court weighed, among other issues, whether it could handle just the individual mandate requiring Am......
2012-03-28 23:54:00
TOM MURSE
The Republicans have added nearly 1,400 voters to their rolls in Lancaster County as Pennsylvania becomes one of the next prizes in the GOP presidential nomination sweepstakes.
There are now 163,468 county residents who are registered as Republicans for Pennsylvania's April 24 presidentia......
2012-03-28 15:24:00
TOM MURSE
Former state Rep. Katie True has endorsed Republican Mitt Romney for president, saying he is "the one candidate that can defeat Barack Obama," the campaign announced Wednesday.
The East Hempfield Township resident, who now works for the Corbett administration, called on Republicans to uni......
2012-03-28 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Rick Santorum is in jeopardy of being rejected yet a second time by Pennsylvania voters.
The Republican presidential hopeful and former U.S. senator's double-digit lead over Mitt Romney in Pennsylvania has all but evaporated with less than a month until the primary, a new Franklin & M......
2012-03-24 18:45:00
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rick Santorum told hundreds of Pennsylvania conservatives familiar with his time representing the state in the U.S. Senate that his landslide loss in 2006 was painful, but the Republican presidential candidate said Saturday it gave him a chance to view Washington from afar and better understand c......
2012-03-23 19:54:00
TOM MURSE
U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts said he and other congressional opponents of President Barack Obama's 2010 health care overhaul would press for the law's repeal even if the Supreme Court rules it constitutional this summer.
Pitts, who has repeatedly described the landmark law as deeply flawed and its......
2012-03-23 15:14:00
TOM MURSE
The Republican Committee of Lancaster County has announced the venue for its April 17 fundraising banquet featuring presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.
The event has been booked for the Lancaster County Convention Center in the city and is expected to draw as many as 600 ......
2012-03-22 19:19:00
TOM MURSE
Rick's coming back home. Mitt's on his way to campaign here, too.
And so the eyes of the nation turn, albeit fleetingly, to Pennsylvania.
As is usually the case when it comes to our fair commonwealth, the unforgiving glare of the spotlight tends to expose some pretty ghastly thing......
2012-03-21 21:44:00
TOM MURSE
Republicans Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum will bring their presidential campaigns to the same venue in Lancaster County just one week before Pennsylvania's primary, party officials here said Wednesday.
The two candidates, who are engaged in an increasingly bitter fight for the party's nom......
2012-03-21 20:22:00
JEFF HAWKES
If a study about wasteful welfare spending across the 50 states gave Pennsylvania a grade of C-minus, do you think Republicans in Harrisburg would ignore it? Not a chance.
Or what if a study gave Pennsylvania a C-minus for insufficient state support of education? Do you think Democratic l......
2012-03-19 21:59:00
JEFF HAWKES
After the unthinkable happened on Sept. 11, 2001, we reacted with outrage and dread.
We worried about what a terrorist cell or outlaw regime would try next and whether anything could be done to prevent another atrocity.
But as understandable as our fear and bewilderment were, did ......
2012-03-15 20:17:00
TOM MURSE
Time for a round of Who Said That?, an occasional feature highlighting some of the most notable quotables in politics. Take your best guesses at who said or wrote these 11 things. The answers appear at the bottom.
• 1. "I realized that the president and his ......
2012-03-13 19:48:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
I'm concerned about Mitt Romney. He's supposed to be the GOP's main man, the top guy, the front-runner. Except he's having a heck of a time running in front!
It seems that during the primaries everybody, at one time or another, has polled ahead of him — Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann,......
2012-03-12 22:44:00
TOM MURSE
A controversial proposal requiring all Pennsylvania voters to show certain photo identification at their polling places could make it more difficult for many disabled veterans to cast ballots.
The legislation being debated by the state House would not permit disabled veterans to use photo......
2012-03-12 17:56:00
JEFF HAWKES
I sympathize with women who feel guilt after an abortion.
But as painful as their remorse may be, it doesn't justify the dubious remedy called the Women's Right to Know Act championed by Pennsylvania abortion foes.
The intent of the bill, supported by local Republicans in the stat......
2012-03-09 22:26:00
DAVID O'CONNOR
When retired hospital administrator, college professor and man of many other hats Stuart Wesbury Jr. was born in Philadelphia in 1933, only one of his grandparents was still living.
When, much more recently, one of his own granddaughters was born, she still had two great-great-grandmother......
2012-03-09 18:05:00
EMILY PEIFFER, 18, Freestyle
There are a lot of issues I expect to be at the forefront of the current heated political debate. We have a crumbling education system, a struggling economy, a war in Afghanistan and a circus of a Republican presidential primary.
What I didn't expect to see in the headlines was the issue ......
2012-03-08 22:08:00
TOM MURSE
Small mass transit agencies including Lancaster's Red Rose Transit Authority are bracing for the potential loss of millions of dollars a year in dedicated funding from the federal government.
They say a move to wrest a small portion of the 18.4-cent federal gas tax from transit in next ye......
2012-03-08 20:42:00
TOM MURSE
A few notes on the local political scene …
County sales tax?
A proposal that would allow Pennsylvania's 67 counties to call for a voter referendum on imposing a 1 percent sales tax has resurfaced in the Legislature — with a new and more palat......
2012-03-07 22:57:00
TOM MURSE
Mitt Romney's campaign had a message for his three Republican opponents after Super Tuesday: Give it up, fellas, it's almost impossible for you to win now.
Local supporters of Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul had a message of their own Wednesday for the former Massachusetts gover......
2012-03-02 00:13:00
TOM MURSE
Republican state Rep. Tom Creighton, who is on his way out of Harrisburg, raised the ire of many constituents for reneging on a campaign pledge to turn down a pension.
With less than two months until the April 24 primary, now seems like the perfect time to get the candida......
2012-02-23 22:35:00
TOM MURSE
Interesting numbers about how the media cover politics, and how voters nominate and elect presidents:
• Number of debates among the Republican contenders, including this week's face-off in Arizona: 20
• Percenta......
2012-02-23 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum has surged to a 29-point lead over the other three Republican presidential hopefuls in Pennsylvania, a state he represented for more than a decade, a new poll shows.
And he has narrowed the gap between himself and President Barack Obama in a hypothetical hea......
2012-02-22 22:50:00
TOM MURSE
Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum is surging in the polls, and he's raking in the money.
New disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission show Santorum closing the gap with one-time front-runner Mitt Romney in campaign contributions from Pennsylvania.
Santorum's campaign co......
2012-02-17 23:41:00
DAVID O'CONNOR
The normally mundane task of re-appointing volunteers to serve on municipal boards turned into a heated argument at this week's Manheim Township commissioners' meeting.
Manheim Township Commissioner J. Michael Flanagan wondered out loud during Monday's meeting whether the appointment of t......
2012-02-16 23:01:00
TOM MURSE
Obama who? Romney what?
The year 2012 promises to be a big one in politics — and we're not even talking about the presidential contest. The slate is chock-full at the local and state levels, where the rubber really meets the road.
...
2012-02-15 22:41:00
TOM MURSE
Eight Republicans here are hoping to serve as Pennsylvania delegates to the presidential nominating convention in Tampa this summer, and many of them have already pledged their votes to either Ron Paul or Newt Gingrich — regardless of what happens in the April primary.
The residents......
2012-02-15 22:31:00
P.J. REILLY
Former Lancaster County prothonotary Randall Wenger was hired Wednesday as the county's new elections chief.
By votes of 2-1, the county commissioners, Board of Elections and Registration Commission each approved Wenger's hiring at a salary of $70,000 per year.
The three commissio......
2012-02-13 20:16:00
JEFF HAWKES
Being a responsible American comes with certain obligations.
Jury duty, for one. The government expects us to show up, and it fines those who don't.
If we want to remodel our kitchen, the government says, Get a permit. If we want to marry, we need a license. If we have kids, we're......
2012-02-10 13:58:00
TOM MURSE
Lancaster County is a step closer to naming its top elections official, a key appointment in a presidential election year.
But its selection didn't come without a measure of controversy.
The county has offered the position of chief clerk of the Board of Elections and chief registr......
2012-02-09 22:22:00
TOM MURSE
Bob Walker is running again.
No, not for the House.
The former congressman and Manheim Township resident who is chairing Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign has informed local Republicans that he is a candidate for convention delegate.
T......
2012-02-08 23:19:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Pending legislation in the state House of Representatives would allow the National Rifle Association to sue Lancaster and 29 other Pennsylvania cities.
The bill, co-sponsored by six of Lancaster County's eight House members, would allow judges to impose triple damages against a city if a ......
2012-02-07 23:11:00
TOM MURSE
Millersville University would lose more than $6 million in state funding for a second straight year under Gov. Tom Corbett's plan to cut 20 percent from 14 state-owned universities, MU officials said Tuesday.
The loss raises the prospect that Millersville, home to about 8,700 graduate and......
2012-02-07 20:36:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
I feel bad for my Republican friends. (Yes! I have Republican friends, whether or not they admit it!)
Besides having to suffer through a primary that smacks of an elementary school playground dispute — "You did." "I did not." "Yes, you did." "Did not; you did." "No, I didn't." "......
2012-02-06 22:44:00
TOM MURSE
The Republican Party chairman here is questioning whether Democratic congressional hopeful Aryanna Strader and her party tried to mislead voters into believing she is a Chester County native and resident of the 16th District.
Strader, an Oregon native who moved to Chester County in July, ......
2012-02-02 19:41:00
TOM MURSE
It should come as no surprise that thrice-married adulterer and former House speaker Newt Gingrich has a big problem when it comes to women voters.
But exit polls from Florida, where Gingrich suffered a beating at the hands of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney......
2012-02-01 23:05:00
TOM MURSE
On a recent morning, the public library in Manheim Township was a bustling hive of activity.
Children giggled and sang rhymes in the Lapp Story Silo, perhaps the most prominent feature of the $7.7 million facility's agrarian design. A woman in her 60s sat at a bank of computers, checking ......
2012-01-31 22:28:00
P.J. REILLY
Don't count your nomination signatures before they've hatched.
Lancaster County elections officials are spreading that warning to local candidates for some state offices after a court ruling last week.
Wednesday's 4-3 vote by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court threw out a redrawn map ......
2012-01-30 21:06:00
JEFF HAWKES
In adding mapmaking to her skill set, piano teacher Amanda Holt may have helped to change the shape of Pennsylvania politics for the better.
Holt, 29, drew her own maps of legislative districts because she believed the redistricting commission had violated the state constitution by splint......
2012-01-29 00:21:00
SUZANNE CASSIDY
When former House Speaker Newt Gingrich took to stage in South Carolina to celebrate his victory in that state's primary, there was a face familiar to Lancaster County residents in the scrum of people behind him.
It was that of former U.S. Rep. Robert S. Walker, who represented Pennsylvan......
2012-01-29 00:10:00
MARV LEVY, The Associated Press
A Chester County entrepreneur won the endorsement Saturday from Pennsylvania's Republican Party in what could be a bruising, four-way primary election for the nomination to contest Democrat Bob Casey's re-election bid for U.S. Senate. The endorsement was won by Steve Welch after an extraordi......
2012-01-27 22:19:00
TOM MURSE
A Chester County Democrat hoping to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts in the fall lives outside the newly redrawn 16th Congressional District's boundaries, geographic and legal data show.
Aryanna Strader's home in a section of Kennett Township was moved into the 7th Congressional Dist......
2012-01-27 15:18:00
TOM MURSE
This week's Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling throwing out a redrawn map of all state House and Senate districts could force Lancaster County Republican Committee to seek re-votes on all of its legislative endorsements.
A redo would be unprecedented in modern history and could alter the r......
2012-01-26 21:04:00
TOM MURSE
Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts will face a Democratic challenger this year after all — and the candidate is running right in the lawmaker's own backyard.
Aryanna Strader, 29, of Kennett Square, is endorsed by the Chester County Democratic C......
2012-01-26 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Pennsylvanians aren't overly impressed with President Barack Obama's job performance, to put it kindly.
In fact, there are more Pennsylvanians who believe it's time for a change than those who believe the president deserves four more years.
But voters in this state are even le......
2012-01-25 20:19:00
JEFF HAWKES
Politicos are asking whether Democrat Joe Sestak will run to regain his former seat in Congress, now held by a Republican.
But the better question is: Did Sestak ever stop running?
Sestak is the former admiral and Delaware County congressman who fell short in his 2010 bid for Sena......
2012-01-24 23:38:00
TOM MURSE
A Republican seeking to fill the state House seat being vacated by Rep. Scott W. Boyd at the end of 2012 easily won endorsement from the GOP on Tuesday night.
But two candidates hoping to replace retiring Rep. Tom Creighton were deadlocked in a race for party backing in the 37th Legislati......
2012-01-23 22:14:00
TOM MURSE
Yes or no, Joe?
Former U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak said Monday he has not made up his mind on whether to run for Congress again in the newly redrawn 7th district, which covers part of eastern Lancaster County.
"You know, my wife gave me a year. She said, 'Joe, spend time with your daught......
2012-01-23 22:04:00
JEFF HAWKES
Along comes state Rep. Mike Sturla with an idea for reforming the government.
Will wonders never cease. Pay-hike Mike thinks we should amend the state constitution!
But before you go check on weather conditions in Hell, be advised Sturla's proposal is as much about good government......
2012-01-19 22:08:00
TOM MURSE
The Corbett administration's plan to reinstate an "asset test" on food-stamp applicants has been called mean-spirited and Draconian at a time when millions of Pennsylvanians are out of work and can't put food on the table.
Got $2,000 or more in your savings account?
You're outta l......
2012-01-18 12:13:00
TOM MURSE
Lancaster County Controller Keith Greiner won strong support from the Republican committee members in the 43rd Legislative District Tuesday night in his bid for retiring state Rep. Scott Boyd's House seat.
Greiner, an accountant from Leola, won 32 of 42 votes in a nonbinding straw poll ta......
2012-01-13 18:19:00
TIM MEKEEL
State Sen. Lloyd Smucker on Friday called again for a state historic tax credit to spark urban revitalization and improve the tax bases of ailing cities.
Smucker made his remarks at the Economic Development Co. of Lancaster County and the EDC Finance Corp. annual meeting.
"Until t......
2012-01-12 21:14:00
TOM MURSE
Some rumors are like zombies.
No matter how many times you drown them in the swamp or hit them with heavy artillery, they just keep clawing their way back to life.
So it goes with the endless speculation that President Barack Obama is preparing to dump Joe Biden as his No. 2 in fa......
2012-01-05 21:39:00
TOM MURSE
Referees get no respect.
Pat Meehan knows that.
The Republican congressman, whose 7th district will include part of eastern Lancaster County beginning in 2013, once worked as a professional hockey ref. Years ago, you may have seen him on the ice in Hershey.
It was brutal....
2012-01-05 20:09:00
TOM MURSE
If Republican state Rep. Tom Creighton follows through on his plan to draw a pension, tossing aside that meaningless little campaign pledge he made a decade ago, he deserves every ounce of the grief he's been taking in recent weeks.
But he shouldn't shoulder all the blame.
...
2012-01-03 23:24:00
BERNARD HARRIS
"Barbara is taking what we call the Polite chair," Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray said Tuesday evening after administering the oath of office to Barbara Wilson.
And, for a few brief minutes, Wilson sat in the chair vacated moments earlier by her uncle, Nelson Polite Sr.
It was a changi......
2012-01-03 23:14:00
P.J. REILLY
Lancaster County's three newly re-elected commissioners were sworn in for their second terms Tuesday morning.
In the afternoon, Republican commissioner Scott Martin was chosen to continue serving as the board's chairman.
"It's been a very challenging four years, but I must say I'm......
2011-12-28 20:35:00
P.J. REILLY
Jury commissioners in counties across Pennsylvania are tasked with overseeing the process by which jurors are selected for court proceedings.
It is their job to make sure the selection process is fair and impartial.
In Lancaster County, however, those selections have been done for......
2011-12-27 20:55:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Correction Dec. 28, 2011 — Stephen Black, a candidate for state Rep. Tom Creighton's 37th District seat, is a trustee for the Moravian College theological seminary. An earlier version of the story below was unclear on that position....
2011-12-21 22:28:00
TOM MURSE
Lancaster's Republican state House delegation railed for months against a proposal to split the county into two congressional districts, the apparent byproduct of a plan to shore up the re-election chances of a GOP congressman from suburban Philadelphia.
They tried to pressure their leade......
2011-12-21 20:04:00
JEFF HAWKES
I'm not sure Pennsylvania's new 7th Congressional District could look any stranger if it grew in a lava lamp.
It goes this way and that, plump in places, reed-like in others.
It reaches across five counties, bumping up against Philadelphia, skirting Reading and snagging Bird-in-Ha......
2011-12-15 22:34:00
TOM MURSE
A few political notes, quotes and anecdotes this week:
New 16th District
U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan's obscenely gerrymandered 7th Congressional District, which cuts across southeastern Pennsylvania and deep into Lancaster County, would make the "Pen......
2011-12-13 23:19:00
TOM MURSE
So long, "Pennsylvania Dutch" seat.
A large swath of eastern Lancaster County would be carved out of the 16th Congressional District now represented by Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts under a proposed revision of Pennsylvania's congressional boundaries.
The largely rural, Plain far......
2011-12-09 20:44:00
EMILY PEIFFER, 18, Freestyle
There has been a lot of hype surrounding the Occupy Wall Street movement since it started back in September. It has been criticized as being a pointless, liberal idea that has no clear focus. People need to take a step back and realize that this movement is doing more good than harm.
It h......
2011-12-08 22:22:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Going into the home stretch last month, the Democratic candidates for Lancaster City Council were confident in their ground game.
Democrats in the city proved their ability to get voters to the polls on Election Day, Nov. 8, when three members of the party handily beat three Republicans a......
2011-12-08 20:59:00
TOM MURSE
Republican state Rep. Tom Creighton has taken his share of flak since telling me earlier this week that he would break his 2000 campaign pledge by accepting a taxpayer-subsidized pension after his retirement next year.
He's handled the criticism like so many politicians do — by firs......
2011-12-06 22:33:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
If you're sitting around and wondering how much your taxes might rise next year if the payroll tax cut isn't extended, check out this site: www.whitehouse.gov/economy/jobsact/calculator.
It's easy to use. J......
2011-12-02 18:21:00
DAMIAN HONDARES, Freestyle
Does it come as a surprise that the Congressional "Supercommittee," assigned the task of reducing the deficit by $1.5 trillion, was an abject failure? Unfortunately, in these times of gridlock, it was anything but.
Republicans and Democrats are currently more divided by partisanship and h......
2011-12-01 21:23:00
TOM MURSE
I've watched the fallout from the "mic check" of U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts' town hall meeting this week with equal parts amusement, frustration and resignation.
First, the humorous.
The political elite here are tripping over themselves to either thoroughly discredit the growing Occupy W......
2011-11-19 18:45:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
The drive to sell Pennsylvania's liquor stores may be stalling, as time is running out and the state Legislature's plate is full of other issues to resolve before the end of the session. But if the bill, co-sponsored by three local lawmakers, were to make it to Gov. Tom Corbet......
2011-11-17 21:48:00
TOM MURSE
Democrat Patrick O'Keeffe quit his long-shot campaign for Congress this week after just five months. He also dumped the Democratic Party, saying he's "grown increasingly disillusioned" with President Barack Obama.
"His 2012 campaign appears to be built ar......
2011-11-12 19:31:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
Charlie Smithgall went out with a bang. The former mayor, who lost his bid for Lancaster City Council last week, spent the day after his election loss hauling Civil War-era cannons around southern Virginia. The cannons will be part of director Steven Spielberg's epic film on A......
2011-11-11 22:20:00
BERNARD HARRIS
On Tuesday Mark Reese succeeded as a first-time candidate, when he was elected sheriff.
But what Lancaster County voters did by a 2-1 margin was affirm a process that had actually begun years earlier.
It began when Sheriff Terry Bergman tapped Reese to be his chief deputy in 2005.......
2011-11-11 21:34:00
TOM MURSE
A longtime Rapho Township supervisor was arrested for drunken driving in late October, but authorities only charged him and publicized the case the day after he won re-election this week.
Jere E. Swarr had a blood-alcohol level of 0.117 percent, above the legal threshold of 0.08 percent, ......
2011-11-09 00:52:00
TOM MURSE
Lancaster County commissioners Scott Martin, Dennis Stuckey and Craig Lehman easily won second terms Tuesday in an election that lacked both voter interest and any hint of the drama or mudslinging that marked contests earlier this decade.
The two Republicans and one Democrat, who ......
2011-11-09 00:51:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Clutching a broom Tuesday night, the three Democrats running for Lancaster City Council said their hard work over nine months swept aside a better-funded, negative Republican campaign.
Barbara Wilson, John Graupera and James Reichenbach will join four other council Democrats in January, k......
2011-11-09 00:50:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Correction Nov. 10, 2011 — Tom O'Brien is serving his 16th year on Manheim Township school board. An earlier version of the story below incorrectly reported the length of his service.
......
2011-11-08 23:59:00
DAVID O'CONNOR
Voters in Manheim Township were sending "a clear message, even a mandate, for fiscal restraint in the township," Dave Heck said.
And Heck and his running mate Albert Kling had "a pretty consistent theme from the beginning," Kling noted, that they would be watching township finances very c......
2011-11-04 23:17:00
BERNARD HARRIS
The revitalization of Lancaster city has caught the attention of developers in the Mid-Atlantic region interested in getting in on the action.
But, all too often, they can't make the numbers work, said Lisa Riggs, executive director of the James Street Improvement District.
Riggs,......
2011-11-03 22:27:00
TOM MURSE
A candidate for Manor Township supervisor has a pair of felony convictions on his record for emptying his grandmother's bank account without her knowledge, causing her to lose her home, according to court records.
Democrat Chad A. George, 37, has been running a spirited campaign desp......
2011-11-03 21:47:00
TOM KNAPP
The two candidates for Lancaster County sheriff are touting past experience in law enforcement as the reason each is best qualified for the job.
Republican and incumbent Sheriff Mark S. Reese, who was confirmed last month by the state Senate to succeed retired Sheriff Terry Bergman, has s......
2011-11-03 21:09:00
DAVID O'CONNOR
Doreen Kreiner doesn't have one overriding issue as a candidate for Manheim Township commissioner, since "there are so many issues" in Lancaster's most populous suburb.
Her fellow candidates for township commissioner, Democrat Janet E. Spleen and Republicans David R. Heck and Albert B. Kl......
2011-11-03 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
President Barack Obama would beat each of the leading Republican White House contenders for Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes if the election were held today, a Franklin & Marshall College Poll shows.
The Democratic president holds a 9-point advantage over the apparent GOP front-runne......
2011-11-02 22:59:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Barbara Wilson looked at a mailer sent by Charlie Smithgall's campaign for Lancaster City Council and said she was personally offended.
"Anybody who knows me knows I'm not a rubber stamp, and I'm certainly no one's puppet," said Wilson, who along with her running mates is depicted as a fi......
2011-11-01 22:55:00
TOM MURSE
Lancaster County is growing in population.
It might soon be growing in number of politicians.
The county could be represented by three additional members of the state House beginning in 2013 because of its growth over the past decade, newly unveiled legislative maps show.
......
2011-11-01 22:33:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Over the summer, Charlie Smithgall raised more than twice as much money for his Lancaster City Council campaign as his three Democratic opponents combined.
And, with a week to go before the election, Smithgall is sitting on a war chest with five times as much money as his opponents.
......
2011-10-31 22:49:00
DAN NEPHIN
Correction Nov. 1, 2011 — Jonathan Paul Fox, Democratic candidate for Lancaster County commissioner, was formerly a member of the executive committee of Mental Health America. His term on the board of directors has been completed. Hi......
2011-10-31 22:37:00
TOM MURSE
The race for Lancaster County commissioner appears to be a pretty lopsided affair — at least when it comes to raising and spending money.
The three incumbents have outraised the sole challenger by a margin of 24 to 1 since early June, new campaign finance reports show. They outspent......
2011-10-31 21:59:00
JEFF HAWKES
With nearly 800 rising to sing the National Anthem, Building One Pennsylvania's statewide meeting Thursday got off to a strong, unifying start. But it wasn't long before the coalition's big event took on a decidedly Democratic tone.
And that made for an unfortunate turn of events.
...
2011-10-28 11:10:00
TOM MURSE
A Republican candidate for Lancaster Township supervisor has notified party officials that he is moving out of the suburb and will be ineligible to serve if he wins the Nov. 8 election.
Wayne J. Angelo's name will still appear on the ballot against Democratic incumbent Kathy Wasong for a ......
2011-10-28 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Ho-hum.
We're not even going to bother pretending that most of you give a rip about the election to be held 11 days from now.
Recent history clearly suggests otherwise.
In municipal elections featuring races for local and countywide offices this decade — and I use th......
2011-10-27 22:45:00
BRIAN WALLACE
The three state senators representing Lancaster County voted Wednesday for a bill that would implement a state-funded voucher program in Pennsylvania next year.
But their counterparts in the House aren't ready to endorse the controversial legislation.
Senate Bill 1 was approved We......
2011-10-25 22:20:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Two weeks after Gov. Tom Corbett unveiled his education agenda, the Legislature, with the support of Lancaster County lawmakers, is moving ahead with bills to implement his proposals.
The Senate Education Committee Tuesday endorsed changes to Senate Bill 1, which would establish a state-f......
2011-10-24 22:43:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Correction Oct. 27, 2011 — Melanie A. DeSantis is a Democratic candidate for school board in Hempfield School District. Her party affiliation was listed incorrectly in an earlier version of the story below.
...
2011-10-21 22:13:00
DAN NEPHIN
The United States must control spending or it could be headed down the path that Western Europe is on, U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey said Friday.
There is time to right the course, but it will require Republicans to defeat President Barack Obama, hold on to the House and gain control of the Senate......
2011-10-20 20:55:00
TOM MURSE
President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party raised $70 million for his re-election campaign over the summer, outpacing his Republican rivals despite the poor economy, new finance reports show.
Obama's challengers brought in about $52 million over the same time period,......
2011-10-18 22:13:00
BERNARD HARRIS
To paraphrase Mark Twain, the news of Gary R. Odom's candidacy ending has been greatly exaggerated.
Odom, the national field director of the Lancaster-based Constitution Party, remains on the ballot for Lancaster City Council.
It was Odom's fellow Constitution Party candidates run......
2011-10-18 19:43:00
TOM MURSE
U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts and a dozen other members of the state's congressional delegation are urging President Barack Obama to leave regulation of the booming natural-gas drilling industry to individual states.
The lawmakers, in a letter to senior White House economic adviser Gene Sperling, s......
2011-10-13 19:58:00
TOM MURSE
Lest there be any doubt: Grover Norquist still ♥s Tom Corbett.
The governor's plan to allow counties to impose an impact fee on natural gas drillers doesn't violate the spirit of Norquist's Taxpayer Protection Pledge, Norquist says.
Corbett......
2011-10-12 15:28:00
TOM MURSE
A proposal by U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts to permanently ban what he sees as the inevitable use of taxpayer money for abortions is expected to be taken up by the House Thursday. Critics say he and other supporters are putting politics ahead of women's health.
Heated debate over the Protect Life A......
2011-10-09 00:06:00
JON RUTTER
During the quarterly Lancaster County ACTION breakfast Saturday at the Manheim Grille & Restaurant in Manheim, Focus on the Family's Brad Miller recalled a scorching afternoon at a college football practice. He described how his teammates lowered their faces to a muddy pool created by a ......
2011-09-29 11:32:00
TOM MURSE
The first candidate has thrown his hat into the ring for retiring state Rep. Scott Boyd's House seat.
Republican Keith J. Greiner, an accountant serving his first term as Lancaster County controller, said he will seek the 43rd Legislative District seat next year.
"I'm definitely r......
2011-09-29 21:15:00
TOM MURSE
Members of Pennsylvania's Republican congressional delegation reportedly are growing frustrated with U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts' unwillingness to cede part of his Republican-rich 16th District to those in the vulnerable Philadelphia suburbs as part of the ongoing redistricting process....
2011-09-28 19:51:00
JEFF HAWKES
I have a favor to ask of Scott Boyd, the gregarious Republican from Lampeter who's decided that 10 years as a state representative is enough.
Maybe some of you will consider asking the same favor of him.
One big thing that Boyd, as a lame duck, is free now to do for every Pennsylv......
2011-09-27 21:44:00
STAFF REPORT
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett on Tuesday announced the confirmation of Joshua G. Parsons as the new Lancaster County clerk of courts.
Parsons, of Christiana, is the Republican candidate for the open position. He is running unopposed on next month's election ballot.
Parsons replace......
2011-09-26 20:52:00
TOM MURSE
When Scott Boyd first ran for the state House nearly a decade ago, he pledged not to wear out his welcome.
He intends to live up to that promise.
The Republican lawmaker has notified his party's leadership and members of Lancaster County's House delegation that he intends to retir......
2011-09-22 21:20:00
TOM MURSE
Paging Tom Corbett.
Paging Tom Corbett.
Back in April, Pennsylvania's governor called for a "comprehensive strategic blueprint for how we pay for years of underinvestment in our roads, bridges and mass-transit systems.
"Pennsylvanians exp......
2011-09-21 22:34:00
TOM MURSE
Is it political ideology run amok?
Just a flawed idea?
Or a genuine attempt to reflect the will of Pennsylvania's 8.2 million voters a little more accurately?
A surprise proposal to dramatically revamp the way Pennsylvania awards electoral votes in presidential elections h......
2011-09-19 22:31:00
TOM MURSE
U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts voiced skepticism about President Barack Obama's plan to ensure that Americans making more than $1 million a year don't pay a smaller share of their income in taxes than middle-class families pay.
"We need substantive tax reform, and I don't think that we got it from t......
2011-09-18 00:15:00
KEVIN ZWICK, Capitolwire Staff Reporter
Contrary to what many Republican State Committee members predicted prior to the vote, former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum handily won the state Republican State Committee straw poll. Santorum pulled down 36 percent, topping frontrunners, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Ro......
2011-09-18 00:14:00
PETER L. DeCOURSEY, Capitolwire Bureau Chief
Gov. Tom Corbett asked members of the Republican State Committee not to be distracted from the fall judicial elections by a growing debate in the party over a plan to change the way Pennsylvania allots its presidential votes. At the state party fall meeting at the Hilton, Harrisburg & T......
2011-09-15 20:54:00
TOM MURSE
Top Republicans in Harrisburg want to ditch Pennsylvania's winner-take-all approach to awarding electoral votes before the next presidential election, a move that surely has nothing at all to do with politics or wanting to kick Barack Obama out of the White Hous......
2011-09-01 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Will 2012 be just like 2008?
Or more like 1988?
President Barack Obama, seeking a second term in the White House after an easy victory in Pennsylvania three years ago, is running slightly ahead of his potential Republican challengers here, a new Franklin & Marshall College Pol......
2011-08-25 21:05:00
TOM MURSE
Here's a little bad news for those of you fed up with both the Republicans and the Democrats, for the hopeless optimists among us who believe there's room enough in Pennsylvania's political arena for a third party:
The two-party system is alive and healthy as a horse.
It's been bu......
2011-08-17 22:34:00
TOM KNAPP
In retrospect, the state representative from Lancaster city said, he regrets his use of the word "womenfolk" to describe Pennsylvania's female population.
Rep. Mike Sturla, a Democrat, is drawing flack from the state GOP for remarks — described by Republican Party leaders Wednesday ......
2011-08-15 22:34:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Texas Gov. Rick Perry has the buzz in the GOP presidential primary race after keeping Republicans stringing along for months before declaring his candidacy.
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has been appearing in early primary states and still hasn't announced her intentions.
Pete Ru......
2011-08-08 23:05:00
TOM MURSE
What credit rating agency Standard & Poor's describes as dysfunction and incompetence in Washington's handling of the debt ceiling, U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts views as American-style democracy working mostly as it should.
"Standard & Poor's seems to take the position that we shouldn't ha......
2011-08-03 21:52:00
BERNARD HARRIS
The Constitution Party is giving voters a third option in some county and municipal races in November.
The Lancaster-based party filed petitions Monday to have five party members listed as candidates in the upcoming general election.
The candidates, which will join Republicans and......
2011-07-28 20:53:00
TOM MURSE
Lancaster County has been represented by a single member of Congress through much of the 20th and 21st centuries. For the most part, the gerrymanderers have kept their hands off us. Our growing population fit wholly and cleanly into one district — the most identifiable in Congress, the "Pen......
2011-07-25 17:39:00
JEFF HAWKES
Ever wonder why Washington is broken? David Brooks in a powerful column last week hit on part of the problem.
The right-leaning New York Times columnist blamed certain "show horse" Republicans for putting ideological purity above doing the right thing for the country.
Brooks' targ......
2011-07-21 22:49:00
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
U.S. authorities have postponed a detention hearing for a Kashmiri-born man on charges he was working for Pakistan's spy agency to influence Washington.
Pakistan is protesting the arrest of Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai of the Kashmiri American Council. A government statement Thursday did not addr......
2011-07-20 22:07:00
TOM MURSE
U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts received campaign contributions from two men at the heart of an alleged covert plot by Pakistan's military and spy agency to influence American policy on Kashmir, federal elections records show.
The Republican lawmaker also had praised the work of a Kashmiri activist g......
2011-07-07 19:45:00
TOM MURSE
With the swipe of a pen and 13 minutes to spare, Gov. Tom Corbett accomplished most of what he set out to do in signing his first budget.
It spends less of our money.
It tackles the $4 billion deficit without raising state taxes.
It was even passed on time — just bef......
2011-06-24 19:52:00
TOM MURSE
All Pennsylvania voters including the Amish would be required to show government-issued identification in every election under legislation passed by the state House this week.
But Plain sect voters could claim an exemption, based on their religious objections, from the provision requiring......
2011-06-22 19:17:00
JEFF HAWKES
Before he was elected to the U.S. Senate, Pat Toomey wrote an op-ed piece in which he said the government's first principle in job creation ought to be "Do no harm."
But that was so 2010. These days, Toomey is Mr. Risky Business. As Congress debates raising the debt ceiling, the full fait......
2011-06-17 22:35:00
BRIAN WALLACE
State Rep. Mike Sturla of Lancaster is co-sponsoring legislation that would increase state oversight of public charter schools and shift tuition costs from local school districts to the state.
The bill, introduced this week, would save districts $187 million statewide, including $7.7 mill......
2011-06-16 22:16:00
BERNARD HARRIS
The chairman of the state House transportation committee told Lancaster business leaders Thursday that Pennsylvania's roads and bridges are badly in need of repair and the state doesn't have the money to fix them.
As a solution, he suggested asking private companies to pay for the repairs......
2011-06-16 19:48:00
TOM MURSE
Every campaign has a theme song.
Bill Clinton played Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop." John McCain and Sarah Palin used Heart's "Barracuda," a reference to the former Alaska governor's high school nickname "Sarah Barracuda." John Edwa......
2011-06-13 19:45:00
JEFF HAWKES
Gov. Tom Corbett was recently on the radio defending his budget cuts, and he made one thing quite clear: He's not going to be accused of being flexible.
The interviewer was Marty Moss-Coane of Philadelphia's WHYY-FM, and she wanted to know how open Corbett was to negotiating the $27.3 bil......
2011-06-09 21:06:00
TOM MURSE
With 515 days until the 2012 election, Democrat Patrick O'Keeffe has announced he will seek his party's nomination for the congressional seat held by Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts.
O'Keeffe, a Lititz resident who tried unsuccessfully to unseat Republican......
2011-06-08 22:23:00
BRIAN WALLACE
It took Craig Hummer just 48 votes to win the Republican nomination for Elizabethtown school board in last month's primary.
Laurie Ober got the GOP nod in Manheim Central with just 19 votes, and Joyce Good landed a spot on the November ballot for the Pequea Valley board with just 18 votes......
2011-06-03 21:58:00
TOM MURSE
What happens when voters in the most advanced constitutional republic on Earth can't make up their minds between two political candidates?
Fate and luck are left to decide.
Yep.
Victors are determined by picking numbers out of a hat.
Two candidates for Conoy Townsh......
2011-06-02 21:09:00
TOM MURSE
A local attorney and onetime candidate for Lancaster County judge has been appointed chairman of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission.
Gerald S. Robinson, who lives in Manheim Township, was tapped by Gov. Tom Corbett on Thursday to lead the agency that enforces the state's anti-dis......
2011-05-19 20:13:00
TOM MURSE
I was chatting with a Republican committeeman about the abysmal turnout in my neck of the woods Tuesday. You really couldn't help but notice how lonely some of the poll workers were.
Despite a contentious race for the township's top governing body and a separate contest for school board, ......
2011-05-18 22:17:00
TOM MURSE
Tuesday's primary made the picture somewhat clearer for November.
Many nominees will be uncontested or, given lopsided voter registration in areas of the county, have an easy time of getting elected in the fall.
Such will be the case for county row office candidates and m......
2011-05-18 00:56:00
TOM MURSE
Republican candidates who enjoyed support from the GOP here fended off most of their intraparty challengers in Tuesday's primary as voters largely shrugged off local races or stayed home because of the soggy weather.
Fewer than 15 percent of the voters eligible to cast ballots in the prim......
2011-05-18 00:49:00
TOM KNAPP
It looks like the former Warwick Township police chief, who resigned earlier this month after his campaign for the district justice seat in Lititz cost him his position, will have a job next year.
Ed Tobin, whose run for office ran afoul of the Hatch Act, carried both the Republican and D......
2011-05-18 00:41:00
P.J. REILLY
Republican voters in Donegal School District on Tuesday largely snubbed the endorsements of the area GOP committee for the five school director seats.
Unendorsed incumbents Oliver Overlander III, Tim Markovits and Debra Sturgis cruised to nominations, with each one collecting more votes t......
2011-05-18 00:29:00
DAVID O'CONNOR
Time and time again this spring, Dave Heck heard Manheim Township voters say they're "extremely concerned about spending and extremely concerned about development."
On Tuesday, Heck and running mate Albert Kling, who had pledged to keep a close watch on finances and growth, reaped the ben......
2011-05-16 21:28:00
TOM MURSE
More than 250,000 Republicans and Democrats who are registered to vote across Lancaster County will get their chance to choose candidates for school boards and local government positions Tuesday.
But few will take advantage of the privilege.
The paradox of the off-year primary is ......
2011-05-16 14:58:00
TOM MURSE
Politically, the story line in Tuesday's primary, as with most primaries here, is whether the local Republican Party can produce victories for the candidates it spent weeks evaluating and endorsing.
Keep an eye on these three hot contests, in which some critics in the GOP have suggested t......
2011-05-16 20:36:00
JEFF HAWKES
In this era when so many people have soured on politics, consider this: Primary voters Tuesday will find candidates who actually want to be school board members.
It's amazing enough in ordinary times that anyone wants to be on a school board. Is there a more demanding, unpaid position in ......
2011-05-15 00:20:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
Round a bend heading south on Weaver Road in Manheim Township, and the sparkling new athletic complex practically jumps out at you. Here are gleaming ball fields, some with artificial turf; huge stadium lights tower above metal bleachers. No other municipality in Lancaster County h......
2011-05-12 21:40:00
DAVID O'CONNOR
Tuesday's primary finds three candidates competing for two Republican nominations for East Hempfield Township supervisor.
John Bingham and Ed LeFevre offer their 30-plus years of combined experience in leadership positions in East Hempfield.
Incumbent Bingham and former supervisor......
2011-05-12 21:29:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Correction May 13, 2011 — Amber Green is an incumbent Penn Manor school board member. The story below incorrectly listed her status.
•••
Donegal School ......
2011-05-12 22:34:00
TOM MURSE
So Newt Gingrich is back on the national political scene after a lengthy hiatus. He says he's running for president.
For a moment there, I thought I was back in 1994, Kurt Cobain and grunge were going mainstream, the Internet's full commercial potential had yet to be realized and Mosaic w......
2011-05-10 21:26:00
TOM MURSE
The Hershey Co. isn't real sweet on Mark Reese's campaign for Lancaster County sheriff.
A spokesman for the nation's largest chocolate maker said the Republican candidate's campaign essentially lifted the company's trademark Reese's candy logo for use on his yard signs.
"We believ......
2011-05-10 20:29:00
TOM MURSE
A police chief running for district judge in Tuesday's primary ran afoul of a law that restricts the political activity of anyone working for agencies that receive money from the federal government.
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel has determined that under the Hatch Act Ed Tobin cannot......
2011-05-03 19:22:00
TOM MURSE
The Lancaster Chamber of Commerce & Industry has come out in support of Republican Gov. Tom Corbett's proposed $27.3 billion budget, saying the spending plan is "replete with short-term pains that would add up to long-term gains."
In a policy statement made public Tuesday, the county'......
2011-04-28 00:02:00
TOM MURSE
President Barack Obama's approval ratings continue to flag because of the painfully slow pace of the economic recovery, rising oil prices and the nation's involvement in Libya, a new Franklin & Marshall College Poll shows.
The nationwide survey of 652 voters found a majority hold luke......
2011-04-26 22:04:00
TOM MURSE
County investigators have ordered a district judge candidate from Ephrata to shut down a shotgun raffle that would have raised hundreds of dollars for his political campaign. The district attorney said Tuesday that Lynne D. Boyer's campaign neglected to apply for a Small Games......
2011-04-25 21:34:00
TOM MURSE
An Ephrata man is raffling off a shotgun to raise money for his district judge campaign, saying a strict law that regulates games of chance and forced the shutdown of a similar political fundraiser last week doesn't apply to him.
"We've done everything by the book," Republican Lynne D. Bo......
2011-04-25 20:58:00
TOM MURSE
Only one candidate's name will be printed on the May 17 primary ballots for Lancaster County Common Pleas judge — that of Leonard G. Brown III.
But it might be a different story in November.
The county Democratic Party will run a write-in campaign for Lancaster attorney Samu......
2011-04-24 00:17:00
CHIP SMEDLEY
Ringing phones and clacking keyboards provided background music for the activity in Sen. Mike Brubaker's Lititz office Tuesday. Staffers Jen Frees, Christine Stoltzfus and Karen Scheffey worked as a team to answer phones, respond to emails, process constituent requests and attend to visitors......
2011-04-24 00:13:00
MARK SCOLFORO, The Associated Press
Last in a series of articles on the Pennsylvania Legislature.Jerry Sterner spent two years as foreman of a grand jury that met in secret to investigate whether the staff and resources of the Pennsylvania General Assembly had been illegally diverted to wag......
2011-04-21 20:09:00
TOM MURSE
A look at the wacky world of politics, by the numbers.
• 25 — days until the Pennsylvania primary
• 14 — number of candidates for nine countywide offices here
• 1 — number of contests for p......
2011-04-21 15:18:00
TOM MURSE
A candidate for Lancaster County sheriff whose supporters were caught running an unlicensed raffle to raise money for his campaign said he accepts responsibility for their actions.
"It's my campaign. I'm not going to dodge the bullet," Republican Louie Rodriguez said in an interview. "It'......
2011-04-21 10:15:00
GIL SMART and CASEY KREIDER
......
2011-04-20 20:59:00
TOM MURSE
Enthusiasm is a good thing, especially in politics.
But sometimes having too much of a good thing can backfire.
Supporters of Louie Rodriguez, a state narcotics agent who wants to be Lancaster County's next sheriff, came up with an unusual and creative way to raise money for his p......
2011-04-20 17:39:00
JEFF HAWKES
I generally find that state Rep. John Bear of Lititz is open to good ideas and shares many of my values.
Transparency and accountability in government, for instance? He's on it.
Making state government operations more efficient? He's all over that one.
And how about standi......
2011-04-17 00:15:00
MARK SCOLFORO, The Associated Press
Second in a three-part series on the state Legislature.Inside one of hundreds of district offices Pennsylvania state lawmakers have equipped and staffed across the state, Kristi Ardrey waits for just about any kind of problem to walk through the door of a conve......
2011-04-15 21:42:00
TOM MURSE
A conservative activist, blogger and businessman from East Lampeter Township is seeking to be the Lancaster County Republican Party's next chairman.
Ethan Demme, 29, announced just before Friday's 5 p.m. filing deadline that he intends to seek the chairmanship post, left vacant on April 4......
2011-04-14 18:17:00
TOM MURSE
Greg Sahd announced his resignation as chairman of Lancaster County's Republican Party two weeks ago Friday. Since then, the number of folks who have flocked to GOP headquarters to drop off their résumés has been less than stunning.
The exact number, actuall......
2011-04-13 23:09:00
TOM MURSE
If President Barack Obama wants to win Pennsylvania in his bid for a second term in the White House next year, he might be asked to produce his birth certificate.
Two dozen legislators, including one from Lancaster County, want to force presidential hopefuls, including Obama, to cough up ......
2011-04-13 21:29:00
P.J. Reilly
The chairman of Lancaster County's Board of Elections said Wednesday the media will not be barred on election night from the county's "election central."
"It was never the intent of the director of elections, or of this board to keep the media away," chairman Terry Kauffman said.
......
2011-04-12 22:22:00
TOM MURSE
A candidate for Lancaster County commissioner has been accused of pulling his wife down the steps of their home, pinning her down and twisting her arms while screaming in her face during an argument over the mortgage, court documents show.
Jonathan Paul Fox, 55, is accused by his wife of ......
2011-04-07 22:17:00
TOM MURSE
There's a chance that the fifth and final member of the panel that will begin reshaping Pennsylvania's legislative districts later this year will have strong ties to Lancaster.
Larry Roskos, a former councilman and onetime chairman of Lancaster city's Republican Party, applied for the rea......
2011-04-07 09:56:00
TOM MURSE
When you hear activists rail against the government's runaway spending, growing bureaucracy and constant meddling, what comes to mind? Right. The tea party. But an elusive group that has ties to beltway Democratic political strategists is trying to drum up opposition to school vou......
2011-04-06 23:12:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray has previously called for preservation of federal funding that would pay for city police overtime and rental property inspections and help the city build sidewalk handicapped ramps.
On Wednesday, Gray got the opportunity to take that plea all the way to the top....
2011-04-04 21:46:00
TOM MURSE
Correction April 5, 2011 — The exact amount of retired state Rep. Katie True's annual pension is $26,443.32, according to the State Employees' Retirement System. That is less than the amount estimated by the former legislator for a s......
2011-04-02 18:45:00
PAULA WOLF
With 2011 marking the centennial of his father's birth, Michael Reagan sees quite a few people basking in the legacy of President Ronald Reagan. The problem is, many of them "don't really understand who he was," the younger Reagan said. His dad's conservatism wasn't about demonizing opp......
2011-04-01 22:54:00
TOM MURSE
The chairman of the Lancaster County Republican Committee is resigning after only nine months to take a job in Gov. Tom Corbett's administration. Greg Sahd notified the party Friday that he has accepted the position of deputy executive director for administration and finance with the Pennsyl......
2011-03-22 23:28:00
BRIAN WALLACE
All public school teachers must get 10 paid sick days per year and be eligible for paid sabbatical leaves after 10 years of service, according to the Pennsylvania Public School Code.
The code, which has been in effect since 1949, also requires that school districts provide transportation ......
2011-03-18 21:03:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Local school officials are criticizing a proposal by state Sen. Mike Brubaker to limit school property tax hikes, saying it would result in program cuts while failing to address problems with Pennsylvania's public school funding system.
Brubaker, of Warwick Township, plans to introduce le......
2011-03-17 00:03:00
TOM MURSE
A majority of Pennsylvanians are confident Gov. Tom Corbett can handle the state's budget problems, a statewide Franklin & Marshall College poll found.
But they clearly disagree with the first-year Republican governor on important policy issues, including his refusal to tax natural-ga......
