The Federal Emergency Management Agency will begin processing local flood claims Tuesday afternoon. A temporary disaster recovery center will be housed in county offices at 2270 Erin Court, just off the Rohrerstown exit of Route 30 in East Hempfield Township. The FEMA office will ......

The Ephrata Goodwill donation drop site was recently changed because of construction workers paving the parking lot where the fire-damaged store is being rebuilt at 1166 S. State St. Donations should be delivered to 100 N. State St., the temporary store location and the former Ballroom at Do......

The Spring House Taproom will open Thursday at 25 W. King St. The brewpub will feature beer from Spring House Brewing Co., which began in 2007 in a converted barn in Conestoga. The taproom, in the Hager Arcade space previously occupied by a deli and gourmet foods shop, will have 10 beer v......

Six weeks ago, Linda Eshleman was headed home from shopping when she decided to visit her friend and ex-boss, Charles DiSantis. DiSantis lives in a house on the property of The Log Cabin restaurant, which he ran for 50 years, until closing the landmark in July 2008. As Eshleman we......

For Mike Price and Jonathan Northup, home was not enough.So when each of the two beer aficionados outgrew his home brewery, the two men partnered in opening their own establishment in Ephrata.The brewery, named St. Boniface Craft Brewing Co. after the patron saint of German beer, is......

The Ephrata House Restaurant opened last week at 333 N. State St., Ephrata, in space formerly occupied by Anita's at Doneckers.The new restaurant offers a menu of comfort food, including various sandwiches as well as entrees like meatloaf and chicken croquettes, Rose Bair, one of the o......

Scott Martino hasn't had a regular paycheck since March, when he lost his job as executive chef and general manager at the Black Horse Restaurant in Denver. It was his second recession-related job loss in a year. He had been executive chef at the Restaurant at Doneckers in Ephrata when t......

Thanks to Steve and Karen Brown, the shows will go on at Ephrata Main Theatre.The Browns, husband-and-wife owners of Lily's on Main restaurant, this week took over operation of the historic Ephrata theater located beneath their eatery.The move ends speculation that Ephrata's......

The Phillies' playoff game was on the big-screen TV in Eric Bair's Ephrata barber shop Thursday afternoon.But his thoughts were closer to home — just up the street, in fact.They were for people like the guy he knows who relocated here less than two years ago from out o......

When Doneckers opened its first guest house in 1984, the bed-and-breakfast inn stood for the conglomerate's elegant hospitality. But when the guest house closed in November, that too was symbolic, representing the last of the family businesses to shut its doors. Now another event wi......

Amelia's Grocery Outlet receives many calls these days from real estate agents who pitch prime sites that would expand the discount grocer's business."It wasn't like this until recently," said Mike Mitchell, president of the New Holland-based retailer that grew sales ......

Lancaster County's jobless rate rose three-tenths of a percentage point in November to 5 percent, the highest rate in more than 16 years, according to data released today by the government.The number of employed decreased by 2,400 in the Lancaster metropolitan statistical area while th......

The year 2008 will be remembered as one in which the word "staycation" entered our vocabulary, layaway came back in style and we looked past food expiration dates if it meant saving a buck or two at the grocery store. Times were tough. By the same token, though, the year gave ......

It was considered a Lancaster County institution, one that had been serving meals for more than 20 years until it unexpectedly closed this past June: The Restaurant at Doneckers in Ephrata, famous for its Nouveau French-American haute cuisine and its chef from Le Bec Fin, a world-class restaurant......

The big yellow banners covering the windows of Roth's Furniture, 206 S. Market St., Elizabethtown, are a sign of the times. "Emergency sell-off, nothing held back," they declare. No, the 75-year-old company is not going out of business, as some people assume on seeing the sig......

A toxic mixture of inflation, high energy costs, sinking stocks, bank closures, cooling consumer spending, dipping real-estate values and a surplus of debt-laden and cash-starved banks appears to be affecting Main Street growth.The local jobless rate in Lancaster County rose in August to i......

An era in Lancaster County retailing history will end in a little more than two weeks. Doneckers will close its fashion store and fine furniture store in the beginning of October, the Ephrata-based retailing business announced today. "We are in the final days," a company spokeswo......

For months, all signs pointed to the closing of the Doneckers furniture store. Deeper and deeper discounts. No more returns allowed. No more checks or Doneckers charge cards accepted. Finally, it's official. Doneckers said Wednesday its Fine Furniture Gallery will close at an u......

Three weeks after announcing it was closing Doneckers Fashion Store, the company disclosed Wednesday that Fine Furniture at Doneckers in Ephrata is going out of business as well.Doneckers on Wednesday cited "current economic conditions and industry trends" as the reason for closi......

Doneckers announced Wednesday it will close its fashion store, an Ephrata institution since 1961, within the next few months. The decision, which will idle more than 100 employees, comes five weeks after the retailing firm shut its upscale restaurant. However, Doneckers said in a press ......

Shoppers in Ephrata Wednesday morning noticed Doneckers workers hanging "store closing sale" signs in the upscale clothing boutique, which finally verified the company's intentions.For two months the company had refused to respond to rumors that it would close parts of Doneck......

Doneckers announced today it will close its fashion store, an Ephrata institution since 1961, within the next few months. The decision, which will idle more than 100 employees, comes five weeks after the retailing firm shut its upscale restaurant. However, Doneckers said in a press rele......

The future of Doneckers — blurry for the past month — has come slightly into focus. The Restaurant at Doneckers closed Monday as expected, but the shutdown might be temporary. Meanwhile, the fashion and furniture stores continue to have major sales, apparently directed by busin......

Doneckers Inc. continues to decline comment on the status of the company, despite a partial shutdown of its restaurant and aggressive sales at its store.•••Doneckers has remained tightlipped about its Ephrata business, despite dropping ......

Doneckers still isn't talking about its future. But its actions say plenty. Doneckers has started sales at its clothing store and fine furniture gallery that suggest the businesses might be closing. Although Doneckers has not called them "going out of business" sales,......

Ephrata? Without Doneckers? It was a hard thing to imagine for the folks eating breakfast at the Pancake Farm and Bright's restaurant outside the borough today, for the guy filling up his pickup truck at the nearby Wawa, the young woman stopping in for coffee. "That was your ......

It's unclear what's going on at the Doneckers complex in Ephrata, but it's safe to say it is not business as usual at the upscale clothing store, restaurant, inn and art gallery.Despite persistent rumors that it will soon close, CEO William H. Donecker has refused to deny that ......

An alleged burglar was unable to find a successful hiding place when police entered the Donecker's business complex in Ephrata early today. Police found  Alan Thomas Wells, 18, of the 300 block of Washington Avenue, Ephrata, hiding under a desk in a second-floor office, Ephrata police ......

Editor's note: "On Your Plate" is an occasional series designed to sate the local appetite for newsworthy tidbits that relate to the local food-service industry.

Though the weather might still be a bit chilly to think about ice cream, fear not: Treats Creamery &......

The Savory Gourmet, a specialty food and cheese shop, opened Feb. 1 at 69 E. Main St. in Lititz. The roughly 420-square-foot shop is in a space formerly occupied by a notary. The cheese selection at the Savory Gourmet already includes artesian cheeses from U.S. suppliers, while European chee......

Editor's note: "On Your Plate" is an occasional series designed to sate the local appetite for newsworthy tidbits that relate to the local food-service industry.

Iron Hill Brewery has landed in Lancaster. The regional restaurant and brewpub chain, h......

Following the rules of fashion can be difficult — it seems like the rules constantly change or, sometimes, they're just thrown out the window.For years, women have been advised not to wear open-toe shoes before Memorial Day or after Labor Day. But perusing current shoe displays i......

Middle States Hall of Fame inductions Friday•••Champions are not measured solely by wins and losses, but in the way they carry themselves. True champions embody the sport they play.This Friday, three Lancaster County residents wi......

More than 50 homeless men and women at Water Street Rescue Mission are looking for employment, but many don't have the professional clothing expected at most interviews.From 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, the community can help by bringing clean, gently worn dress......

Buying fresh and local produce and meats is not just a one-day affair for Sean Cavanaugh — it's the philosophy upon which he based his career.Cavanaugh, executive chef at the John J. Jeffries Restaurant at the Lancaster Arts Hotel, has sought to build his menu around local produc......

Working chefs call the current style "new" or "American modern" or "American regional."That might mean buffalo, South American tubers or simply horseradish in the mashed potatoes.In any dish, it means that record numbers of young, formally trained chefs......

Wearing flip-flops and a wedding gown, 19-year-old Russian model Anna Khorosheva gingerly made her way into a dusty and threadbare building at the site of the former Kerr Glass complex holding folds of ivory silk above her knees.

"This dress can't dirty," said local wedding ...