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......
2009-06-19 00:56:00
DAVE PIDGEON
The hotel/convention center on Penn Square opens for business today, a day after dignitaries and developers cut a large Marriott ribbon during an indoor ceremony."Well, we're here at last after a long journey," Mark Moosic, general manager of the $177.6 million complex, said ......
2009-06-02 00:54:00
P.J. REILLY
A state House of Representatives bill aimed at the Pennsylvania Game Commission's law-enforcement officers was sent to the Senate on Monday.The state House unanimously passed House Bill 181, which was introduced by state Rep. Bryan Cutler of Peach Bottom.The bill seeks to statut......
2009-04-14 22:56:00
JAMES BUESCHER
It's a western Lancaster County icon and one of a dwindling number of examples of the art deco movement of the 1930s — and the Veterans Memorial Bridge linking Columbia with Wrightsville may soon be getting an overhaul.On April 30, the Lancaster-York Heritage Region nonprofit org......
2009-02-17 00:25:00
P.J. REILLY
When former state Sen. Gibson Armstrong pushed to strip deputy game wardens of many of their powers last year after his son had been cited by one, state Rep. Bryan Cutler said the senator was going too far.Cutler, a Republican lawmaker from Peach Bottom, agreed changes were needed in the l......
2009-01-28 00:30:00
JENNIFER TODD
Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray says it's time to start holding city tenants and landlords accountable — not only to their community at large but to their neighborhoods.Such is the impetus behind a bill proposed to City Council Tuesday that targets problem tenants and forces landlords ......
2009-01-26 00:01:00
Last week, state Senate Republicans introduced a 10-bill reform package designed to make state government a bit brighter and, perhaps, a bit lighter.The bills include ramping up fines for Sunshine Law violations, posting all government salaries online, banning bonuses to government employe......
2009-01-22 00:27:00
PATRICK BURNS
The Long's Park Amphitheater is undergoing a minor face-lift in preparation for a 47th summer of music and arts on its grounds.Local businesses, including Wickersham Construction and Engineering Inc. — which built the amphitheater in 1962 at a cost of $65,000 — have chipped......
2009-01-07 00:18:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Lancaster County's newest state senator on Tuesday decided to pick up where his predecessor left off.Shortly after taking the oath of office, State Sen. Lloyd Smucker introduced legislation to increase penalties for violations of the state's open government laws.Smucker, alo......
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......
2008-12-29 11:34:00
TOM MURSE
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 ......
2008-12-29 00:01:00
When the Legislature reconfigured the 13th Senatorial District following the 1990 Census, we wondered if state Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong would fully represent the city's interests. After all, Armstrong's previous districts in both the state House and Senate had been largely rural in nature......
2008-11-26 10:00:00
TOM MURSE
Pennsylvania is poised to chip in more than a third of the $30 million-plus price tag for a new biotech research complex at the Lancaster Stockyards, state Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong said this week. "It's ready to go. It's just a matter of the other side getting their funding in line......
2008-11-13 00:53:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Politicians from Lancaster County remembered Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll on Wednesday night as a woman who smashed gender barriers yet treated even her toughest political opponents with respect.Knoll lost her four-month battle with cancer Wednesday at the age of 78, ending an accomplish......
2008-11-11 00:44:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Capt. Ed Davis' legacy as a Vietnam War POW and local activist extends far beyond macadam and bricks, but his name will forever be linked to a much-used bridge in western Lancaster city.Local dignitaries and family members on a blustery Monday morning dedicated a green-and-white sign t......
2008-11-05 03:13:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Nelson Polite suddenly stood, leaned forward and tried to peer through the crowd huddled in front of the television.NBC News at 10:58 p.m. declared Democrat Sen. Barack Obama the nation's first black president-elect.Polite, the venerable 85-year-old civil rights leader and Lanca......
2008-11-05 02:44:00
MICHAEL YODER
Lloyd Smucker began Tuesday morning with a tickle in his throat: the beginnings of a cold. He still had his voice when he talked to voters in Manheim Township in the afternoon, but he could barely speak by the time he was savoring victory around midnight at Penn Cinema in Lititz.Smucker, a......
2008-10-31 00:57:00
P.J. REILLY
State Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong has pledged $3 million in state funds to help finish construction of the downtown Lancaster convention center.At a Lancaster County Convention Center Authority meeting Thursday night, it was reported that Armstrong recently told authority chairman Arthur Morr......
2008-10-31 00:44:00
MICHAEL YODER
Gibson E. Armstrong has wielded a great deal of influence in the Pennsylvania Legislature since he arrived in the Senate in 1984, taking the helm of the appropriations committee and directing state money to the county.But with the announcement of Armstrong's retirement in December from......
2008-10-29 01:00:00
PATRICK BURNS
A new, centrally located visitors center is scheduled to open this spring in the shadow of Lancaster County Convention Center.The newly named Lancaster Visitors Center will draw tourists to the first floor of the Heritage Center Museum in Penn Square and be operated by Pennsylvania Dutch C......
2008-10-15 00:56:00
MICHAEL YODER
Educational issues took center stage Tuesday night at McCaskey High School in a debate between candidates for the 13th District state Senate seat.Lancaster Foundation for Educational Enrichment and Good Schools Pennsylvania hosted the forum with the three candidates seeking incumbent Sen. ......
2008-10-02 00:04:00
MICHAEL YODER
Gazing eyes in Penn Square turned upward Wednesday afternoon as a single steel beam — painted white — was hoisted into place atop the former Watt & Shand building.In a topping-off ceremony that drew close to 200 business leaders, politicians and project supporters, the last......
2008-09-18 01:28:00
DAVE PIDGEON
A bill that would give veterans in long-term care better access to prescription drugs unanimously passed the state House on Tuesday, and its prime sponsor has high hopes for final passage in the state Senate."People care about veterans in Pennsylvania," said state Rep. John Bear,......
2008-09-08 11:03:00
AD CRABLE
State Sen. Gibson Armstrong says it will take more than widespread criticism and "cheap shots" to slow his mission to strip deputy game wardens of their police powers. The retiring lawmaker, who has been accused of waging a personal vendetta against the Pennsylvania Game Commission, has been gr......
2008-07-29 01:03:00
LORI VAN INGEN
Lancaster Family YMCA will break ground at 9 a.m. today for its new $13 million facility on Harrisburg Avenue — its first major building project in 30 years."This is an exciting time in the life of the YMCA and for the city of Lancaster," Jeffrey Kenderdine, chief executive......
2008-07-08 00:21:00
JOHN WALK
Nearly 10 months after a $2.86 million redesign of the intersection of routes 272 and 372 in Buck, residents and township officials say the project has been a success."I think it's a lot safer," East Drumore Township resident Frank Seal said. "Overall, I'm very pleas......
2008-07-07 00:00:00
DAVE PIDGEON
It could have been a lot uglier.The Legislature and Gov. Ed Rendell wrapped up budget negotiations last week and headed into their two-and-a-half-month summer break having put a $28.2 billion spending plan in place. By doing so, they avoided a royal political mess.Remember last mont......
2008-07-05 00:38:00
DAVE PIDGEON
The state Senate broke for summer vacation Friday without voting on a controversial proposal by state Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong to severely curb the authority of Pennsylvania Game Commission deputies."It is not unusual for bills unrelated to the budget to be pulled in the final days (b......
2008-07-04 00:06:00
P.J. REILLY
A son of state Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong pleaded guilty Tuesday to a series of charges stemming from an encounter he had with a deputy game warden in York County during last year's deer season.On Wednesday, Sen. Armstrong of Refton proposed a legislative amendment that would reduce the ......
2008-07-04 00:03:00
BRIAN WALLACE
School officials got some good news and some bad news Thursday from the state Legislature.The state budget, being finalized in Harrisburg, will boost basic education subsidies for Lancaster County public schools by $11 million in 2008-09.But the amount of money districts will get fo......
2008-07-03 11:44:00
ROBYN MEADOWS
The Cinderella story in this year's state education budget is the School District of Lancaster. The district will receive 17 percent more money in basic-education funding for the 2008-09 school year than it did this past year. That raises the Lancaster School District's state reven......
2008-06-24 11:11:00
ROBYN MEADOWS
Some parents from Lancaster City schools are outraged that their local state senator would author and vote for a bill that could cost their district $5.2 million in potential revenue. The Republican-controlled state Senate passed the budget bill (SB 1389) last Wednesday — in a party-line ......
2008-06-23 00:06:00
DAVE PIDGEON
All those dire predictions a few weeks ago about a divided Democratic Party seem soooo outdated.This week, a Quinnipiac University poll of more than 1,500 likely Pennsylvania voters showed presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama not only has a 52 percent to 40 percent edge......
2008-06-21 01:08:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Officials at Lancaster County school districts find themselves in a frustratingly familiar situation this year.They must adopt 2008-09 budgets and establish property tax rates for their residents without knowing how much money the state will give them to run their schools.In Februar......
2008-05-30 01:40:00
DAVE PIDGEON
State Senate Republicans announced Thursday that they would not return to the Capitol after the November election, a move that would halt any unresolved legislation a month before the current session is to end.GOP leaders said such "lame-duck" sessions — when the General Assembly con......
2008-05-06 01:04:00
DAVE PIDGEON
The state Senate is poised to vote today on a proposed amendment to the state Constitution that would exclusively define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.The Senate Appropriations Committee, chaired by Republican state Sen. Gibson Armstrong of Refton, passed the proposed amend......
2008-04-30 01:15:00
DAVE PIDGEON
The state Senate Appropriations Committee hosted a contentious meeting Tuesday morning as advocates and opponents fought over a proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriages.The amendment, authored by Sen. Michael W. Brubaker, a Lititz-area Republican, recognizes only man-woman unions ......
2008-04-28 18:44:00
DAVE PIDGEON
The week after state Sen. Mike Brubaker introduced legislation to limit marriage in Pennsylvania to unions of one man and one woman, he spoke to elementary school students about the importance of tolerance and acceptance of differences.Some might see irony there, but Brubaker doesn't....
2008-04-27 00:17:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
The undecideds might not have decided the race. But they probably gave Lloyd Smucker his remarkable margin of victory in the 13th District state Senate primary. In the wake of Smucker's blowout Tuesday, Republicans surveying the wreckage of the other three candidates' campaigns wer......
2008-04-23 11:19:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Barack Obama won Lancaster County but lost Pennsylvania to Hillary Clinton. Turns out Lancaster County Democrats are more liberal than their counterparts across the state. Obama won in only seven out of Pennsylvania's 67 counties — including Lancaster — losing statewide ......
2008-04-23 02:25:00
P.J. REILLY
West Lampeter Township supervisor Lloyd Smucker on Tuesday easily won the hotly contested primary race for the Republican nomination for the state Senate seat in the 13th District.And while he celebrated that victory over Steve McDonald, Paul Thibault and Bill Neff — which featured a......
2008-04-21 00:53:00
P.J. REILLY
Bill Neff, candidate for the state Senate seat in the 13th Legislative District, on Sunday did what any Republican would do two days before Pennsylvania's primary election.He and his wife, Barbara, left on a 10-day "religious pilgrimage" to Europe with about 50 other members ......
2008-04-20 00:18:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
Steve McDonald's latest radio ad opens with a chorus of barking. "Hear that?" a woman's voice asks. "That's the sound of the mad-dog politics and political smears that have taken over the race for Senate in the 13th District." The Republican campaign has gon......
2008-04-19 11:10:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
In the 13th state Senate district, one of the questions the Republican candidates hear most often is: What are you going to do about property taxes? With the Legislature having failed to enact comprehensive property tax reform, and with homeowners still waiting to get tax relief checks fro......
2008-04-18 01:40:00
PATRICK BURNS
Lancaster Airport Authority learned Thursday that it will receive $500,000 from state airport improvement grants added this year by the Rendell administration.Joyce Opp, the airport authority's finance and marketing director, said the funds will help offset the cost of a $1.6 million h......
2008-04-17 12:07:00
CHAD UMBLE
Lloyd Smucker got a little more help from his friends this morning. The Republican state Senate candidate picked up several endorsements from current and former officeholders, just five days before the primary election. In a 10-minute ceremony on the steps of the old Lancaster County Court......
2008-04-17 00:59:00
P.J. REILLY
On Saturday, Lloyd Smucker received the endorsement of the man he's vying to replace as state senator for the 13th Legislative District — Gibson E. Armstrong.Today, Smucker, a West Lampeter Township supervisor, expects to add some more endorsements from local political figures....
2008-04-15 00:27:00
P.J. REILLY
Lloyd Smucker garnered $33,500 Thursday at a fundraising dinner for his campaign to become the next state senator in the 13th District.Most of that money, like many of Smucker's other campaign contributions, came from the construction community — a fact that drew fire Monday from......
2008-04-14 18:40:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Here's what to watch for in the last full week before Pennsylvania's presidential primary on April 22:• How much Barack Obama's remark that rural Pennsylvanians are "bitter" about job losses hurts him in voter polls.Hillary Clinton is lead......
2008-04-14 11:28:00
TOM MURSE
Republican state Senate candidate Lloyd Smucker, who has taken flak for his ties to builders, raised $33,500 at a construction-industry fundraiser last week, a new campaign finance report shows. That figure includes $20,000 alone from the Associated Builders and Contractors political-action com......
2008-04-13 00:00:00
Helen Colwell Adams
On what was shaping up as both the best and the worst weekend of his campaign for the 13th state Senate district, Lloyd Smucker picked up the endorsement of the man he wants to replace — but took flak from opponents for what one characterized as deceptive campaign tactics.State Sen. ......
2008-04-10 12:16:00
TOM MURSE
The four-way Republican contest for retiring state Sen. Gib Armstrong's seat has become, by most accounts, a tight race between two people: Paul Thibault and Lloyd Smucker. They appear to be running neck-and-neck for the GOP nomination on April 22, both party insiders and veteran observers ......
2008-04-10 11:29:00
TOM MURSE
State Senate candidate Bill Neff is the first candidate in the four-way 13th district race to make public his latest campaign finance report. He did so this morning. His take? Zip. "I'm not raising anything," Neff said. "I'm very earnest about that. I don&#......
2008-04-06 00:17:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
When Paul Thibault asked June Mengel if she would host a press conference Saturday at her Strasburg Township farm, Mengel was doubtful. "It's a rough farm," she warned Thibault. "… It's spring, and it's muddy, and we just had a silo built, and then there's ......
2008-03-30 00:17:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
State Sen. Mike Brubaker, R-36th District, has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Brubaker, who's midway through his first term in the northern Lancaster County District, said the illness was caught early, and "the doctors are very optimistic" about his recovery. "I......
2008-03-16 00:16:00
GIL SMART
Lloyd Smucker would rather talk about tax reform. Maybe education. There are a lot of topics the next state senator from the 13th District will need to address, said Smucker, one of four Republican candidates for that post. But instead, Smucker, a West Lampeter Township supervisor, has fou......
2008-03-13 01:55:00
JENNIFER TODD
They have known each other for nearly 25 years and have worked together on many legislative issues — and not always on the same side.But on Wednesday, state Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong said he will miss the spirit of state Sen. Vincent Fumo, a controversial lawmaker who announced his re......
2008-03-12 14:07:00
BERNARD HARRIS
State Senate candidate Steve McDonald took his no-pay-raise, no-perks campaign a step further this morning. He called on his fellow candidates to do the same. McDonald, the county's recorder of deeds, signed a pledge today saying that if elected he would not accept a state pension, wou......
2008-03-09 00:12:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
Veterans can get medications for $8 per prescription per month through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Move them into a skilled-care nursing home, though, and the cost skyrockets. Al Siegfried found that out when a friend, World War II veteran Joseph Wimbrow, moved from the assist......
2008-03-02 00:15:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
Republican state Senate candidate Lloyd Smucker on Saturday put forth his first policy proposal of the campaign, advocating cutting part of the state budget by 2 percent a year and applying the savings to property tax relief. Smucker, a businessman and West Lampeter Township supervisor, chose t......
2008-02-24 00:20:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
State Rep. Bryan Cutler beat state Sen. Gib E. Armstrong's son in the 100th House district two years ago, not exactly a good way for a freshman to endear himself to his senator. Cutler has no intention of looking for the same kind of awkward relationship with his next senator. Even tho......
2008-02-17 00:15:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
Paul Thibault was talking about cutting pork from the state's diet. Enthusiastic oinking punctuated Thibault's speech Saturday at Future View Farm south of Willow Street. "Here we have the supporters of pork in the distance," Thibault ad-libbed. That was why, of cour......
2008-02-15 02:31:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
Theater of the Seventh Sister is mixing it up for Valentine's Day with a weekend production of A.R. Gurney's classic love story, "Love Letters," starring a different couple for each performance.You know the names — Thursday's performance starred former Lancaster......
2008-02-12 11:13:00
TOM MURSE
All five candidates for state Sen. Gib Armstrong's 13th district seat have met today's 5 p.m. deadline to file petitions showing they gathered at least 500 signatures to get on the primary ballot. All of the four Republicans — Bill Neff, Steve McDonald, Lloyd Smucker and Paul Thib......
2008-02-10 00:19:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
Big campaign announcements are often called bombshells. Lloyd Smucker's was more of a nuclear strike. The Republican candidate for the 13th state Senate district blew his competition out of the water Saturday by releasing fundraising numbers showing his campaign has brought in more tha......
2008-02-06 02:09:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Gov. Ed Rendell's plan to provide $400 tax rebates to Pennsylvania's working poor faces a high hurdle with Senate Republicans, whose leader says he favors tax relief for more than just low-income earners.Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, a Delaware County Republican, said he ......
2008-02-05 09:03:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Some veterans organizations are struggling to pay bills and continue their levels of charitable giving. Many blame Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong, saying he is hurting their bottom lines by not allowing expansion of the small games of chance played by their members. Profits from those tickets......
2008-02-03 00:21:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
Maybe he's just naive, Lancaster City Councilman Jose Urdaneta said, but he thinks the solutions to problems like health insurance and education funding really aren't that complex. "They are simple solutions," he said, "... if we have the political will to put them into p......
2008-01-31 11:20:00
TOM MURSE
Republican Steve McDonald's early entrance into the race for state Senate apparently paid dividends: a $65,000 jump-start in what is expected to be an expensive and hard-fought primary in the 13th District. McDonald raised $65,508 in cash and in-kind contributions between mid-May and the......
2008-01-29 00:46:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Despite being one of the two frontrunners in a county Republican endorsement convention last week, Gregory Sahd dropped out of the primary for the 13th state Senate District on Monday.Sahd said in a telephone interview Monday that the inconclusive Jan. 22 convention, in which no candidate ......
2008-01-28 12:16:00
TOM MURSE
The race for retiring state Sen. Gib Armstrong's 13th District seat is now down to four Republicans. Greg Sahd, who led the contest for party endorsement when it adjourned in a stalemate last week, said late this morning that he will not run in an open primary and will instead focus on h......
2008-01-27 00:18:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
WWGD? It's the question on the minds of Republicans in the 13th state Senate district. What will Gib do? Now that the GOP committee in Armstrong's 13th Senatorial District has deadlocked on the question of endorsing someone to succeed Armstrong, the backing of the powerful Sen......
2008-01-24 01:12:00
DAVE PIDGEON
They entered the night as heavy favorites.They both lost what they wanted.Neither Lloyd Smucker nor Gregory Sahd was able to garner an endorsement from the county Republican committee, despite balloting that stretched from Tuesday night into Wednesday morning at Conestoga Valley Mid......
2008-01-23 01:32:00
DAVE PIDGEON and TOM KNAPP
After several hours and a dozen rounds of back-and-forth voting, the Republican committee was unable to pick a candidate for the 13th Senate District seat.Early this morning, the committee, with its number of voting members dwindling and a deadlock between two candidates, finally called an......
2008-01-22 12:03:00
TOM MURSE
The two frontrunners in the race for Republican endorsement for state Sen. Gib Armstrong's seat were making last-ditch appeals to rank-and-file GOP members in a contest that is believed to be too close to call. Lloyd Smucker and Greg Sahd, who emerged as the two top contenders for party ......
2008-01-22 01:14:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Local Republican leaders are hopeful that one of five state Senate candidates will receive the GOP endorsement at tonight's convention, landing that candidate momentum, cash and a horde of volunteers heading into the April 22 primary.Dave Dumeyer, chairman of the Lancaster County Repub......
2008-01-21 00:19:00
DAVE PIDGEON
The next consequential event in the local 2008 election cycle happens Tuesday when the Lancaster County Republican Committee convenes to dole out endorsements.All eyes will be watching to see if someone in the race to succeed Gibson E. Armstrong as state senator will garner an endorsement.......
2008-01-17 01:35:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Republican Steve McDonald will no longer ask the local GOP to back his bid for state Senate, although he intends to campaign all the way to the April 22 primary."I'm not seeking the endorsement," McDonald said during a telephone interview. "That's the only comment I ......
2008-01-16 01:53:00
DAVE PIDGEON
There they go … again.The state Legislature, led by House Democrats, is expected to take up measures this week that would alter the state's 6 percent sales tax, rehashing an idea unsuccessfully pushed in the past by various lawmakers.The idea is to reduce school property taxe......
2008-01-14 00:05:00
DAVE PIDGEON
If you wanted a clearer picture Saturday of who will emerge in the Republican primary to replace retiring state Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong, well, the only words I can offer are: "Not yet."Although local businessman Lloyd Smucker was the top votegetter in the straw poll taken by loc......
2008-01-13 00:20:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
Ten days out from their endorsement convention, county Republicans are split three ways in the race for the 13th state Senate district. In an unprecedented single-day straw poll on Saturday, Republican committee members in the 13th singled out a top tier of candidates among the five seeking the......
2008-01-12 01:59:00
DAVE PIDGEON
There's something noticeably absent in this year's local legislative campaigns: Democrats.No Democrat, except for incumbent state Rep. Mike Sturla, has stepped up to campaign for the state Legislature.So far, that is.Bruce Beardsley, chairman of the Lancaster County D......
2008-01-09 01:50:00
DAVE PIDGEON
With just three days until they come face to face with local Republican Committee members for the first time as candidates, money is on the minds of most GOP hopefuls for the state Senate.Polled by the Intelligencer Journal Tuesday about what they see as the most important legislative issu......
2008-01-05 01:49:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
And then there were five.Five Republicans from Lancaster and York counties are vying to fill the seat being vacated by retiring state Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong.The deadline for candidates filing with the Lancaster County GOP in order to win the party's endorsement was 5 p.m. Frid......
2008-01-04 12:20:00
TOM MURSE
Greg Sahd is in. Bob Thompson is out. Mitch Hanna probably won't run either. And Charlie Smithgall ... well, he's still mulling it over. Who's in and who's out in the race for retiring state Sen. Gib Armstrong's seat became only slightly clearer this mornin......
2008-01-04 01:35:00
DAVE PIDGEON
In the race to replace retiring state Sen. Gibson Armstrong, West Lampeter Township Supervisor Lloyd Smucker announced his entrance Thursday into the April 22 Republican primary.Also Thursday, state Rep. John Bear of Lititz announced he would seek a second term."I really feel I'm un......
2008-01-03 12:10:00
TOM MURSE
Ticktock, ticktock. Republicans weighing a run for state Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong's seat face a 5 p.m. Friday deadline to file paperwork with the Lancaster County GOP if they intend to seek endorsement. The race for party support in what is certain to be high-profile primary could f......
2008-01-03 07:46:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
Businessman Lloyd Smucker said he'll decide by Friday whether he will join the field in the race for the 13th state Senate district. Smucker, a West Lampeter Township supervisor, said he has been approached by people who asked him to consider running for the Republican nomination to succeed......
2008-01-03 01:46:00
DAVE PIDGEON
A local businessman has entered the Republican race to replace retiring state Sen. Gibson Armstrong, making it a three-way contest.Bill Neff, 54, owner of Neff's Safe, Lock & Security Inc. in Lancaster city, cited campaign finance reform, school vouchers and the defense of traditio......
2008-01-02 12:10:00
TOM MURSE
A third Republican has entered the race for retiring state Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong's seat, and he is promising to stay in the primary race with or without the GOP's endorsement. Bill Neff, a 54-year-old locksmith and security professional who founded his own firm here nearly 32 year......
2007-12-21 00:40:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Fundraising for the new Manheim Township Public Library, which is expected to open in 2010, is off to a great start.Gary Graziano, president of the Manheim Township Library Board, got an early Christmas present Thursday when state Rep. John Bear called to tell him the library was getting a......
2007-12-20 12:10:00
TOM MURSE
Add one Republican and subtract another from the mix of folks thinking about running for the state Senate seat being vacated by Gibson E. Armstrong after 2008. Gregory A. Sahd, a former county treasurer and veteran of Republican Party politics, said several colleagues convinced him to consider ......
2007-12-17 12:20:00
TOM MURSE
Republican Steve McDonald's state Senate campaign is getting a big boost from former U.S. Rep. Pat Toomey, whose popularity among conservatives here nearly helped him beat U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter three years ago. Toomey endorsed McDonald's bid for the 13th District seat being vacated by......
2007-12-17 00:52:00
CARLA DI FONZO
Paul Thibault, who finished his second term as county commissioner in 2004, is now the second declared candidate for the 13th District seat that will be vacated next year by state Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong.The Lancaster Township Republican committee chairman joins county Recorder of Deeds S......
2007-12-16 00:19:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
The trademark dark eyebrows might be a little more gray. Otherwise, Paul Thibault looks much as he did when he ended his second term as county commissioner in 2004. After four years of low public profile, Thibault is stepping back into the arena. The Lancaster Township Republican chai......
2007-12-16 00:12:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
Republican state Senate candidate Steve McDonald has scored an endorsement of statewide proportions in the form of former congressman Pat Toomey. Toomey, who now heads the national Club for Growth, became a sort of patron saint for Pennsylvania conservatives by nearly knocking off U.S. Sen. Arl......
2007-12-13 12:22:00
TOM MURSE
The field of Republicans weighing a campaign for retiring state Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong's seat is getting more crowded by the day. Two more potential candidates have emerged — one a freshman lawmaker who beat Armstrong's son for the House in 2005, and the second a top aide to the......
2007-12-13 12:17:00
CHAD UMBLE
Thousands of Republican voters received automated phone calls telling them to come to Wednesday's county commissioners' meeting to oppose a proposed 7.3-percent tax increase. Only a handful showed up. But for Bob Guzzardi, the Montgomery County attorney who sponsored the calls, the......
2007-12-13 01:17:00
DAVE PIDGEON
A supporter of Republican Steve McDonald has been sponsoring "robocalls" this month, trying to keep one of McDonald's rivals out of the race for state Senate. Bob Guzzardi, an attorney from Montgomery County, said Wednesday he's responsible for two rounds of phone calls made recently to Lancast......
2007-12-12 01:16:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Lancaster County Recorder of Deeds Steve McDonald wasted little time this week pointing out differences between himself and retiring state Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong, whose job McDonald wants. "People don't want tax money redistributed," McDonald said. "They want taxes reduced." Armstrong ha......
2007-12-11 12:00:00
TOM MURSE
PennDOT Secretary Allen Biehler said today that transportation planners are "rejiggering" their priorities in the face of tight budgets to fix the state's more than 6,000 structurally deficient bridges while maintaining highways. "We have not come face-to-face with the rea......
2007-12-10 12:19:00
TOM MURSE
State Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong's legacy will be that of a practical Republican, observers say, a guy who occasionally rankled conservatives by voting in favor of spending and tax increases in return for bringing loads of state money back home. And for that reason, his decision to retire at ......
2007-12-10 00:02:00
DAVE PIDGEON
It would be hard to decipher what's going on in Harrisburg these days without considering it in the context of the 2008 legislative elections.A great example is the current row between Republicans and Democrats (including Gov. Ed Rendell) over providing health insurance for the more th......
2007-12-09 00:20:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
State Sen. Gib E. Armstrong, the most powerful politician in the county's legislative delegation, has rocked Republican politics by announcing that he will retire at the end of 2008 rather than seek a sixth term in the Senate. "It's just time," he said. Armstrong, whose 13th District inclu......
2007-12-05 01:43:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Gov. Ed Rendell on Tuesday ratcheted up the debate on health care in Pennsylvania by threatening to withhold funds that help some health care providers afford malpractice insurance.Rendell, a Democrat, wants the Legislature to approve his plans to provide health insurance to the more than ......
2007-12-04 01:33:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Legislators in Harrisburg are looking to give military veterans who live in long-term care centers better access to prescription medicine, according to two bills introduced by Lancaster County Republicans.State Rep. John Bear of Lititz and state Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong of Refton have auth......
2007-12-02 00:17:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
Pennsylvania's pension system is heading over a cliff in 2012. How steep the drop is, and how hard the landing will be, remain the multibillion-dollar questions. "The cliff" is Harrisburg shorthand for the day of reckoning — created by legislative tinkering with gains a......
2007-11-29 01:33:00
DAVE PIDGEON
With costs rising and funds dwindling, developers of the downtown hotel/convention center are again turning to what has been a reliable source of money: state taxpayers.Private and public developers announced Wednesday they're seeking $6 million from the state to help pad a shrinking conti......
2007-11-26 18:08:00
DAVE PIDGEON
With state lawmakers, the governor and judges receiving a pay boost based on the rate of inflation, base salaries according to the Patriot-News this week are as follows for 2008:Legislator: $76,183.
Speaker of the House and Senate President Pro Tempore: $118,896....
2007-11-26 01:29:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Leaders of an association of charities are wondering if state Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong is deliberately holding up a bill they believe would help nonprofits raise money, but the senator says that's not the case.The bill, House Bill 169, would boost by thousands of dollars the maximum pa......
2007-11-21 01:21:00
MICHAEL YODER
Local farmers can soon "REAP" the benefits of new Pennsylvania legislation aimed at cleaning up the environment through economic incentives.More than 100 farmers and business owners turned out Tuesday morning at the Lancaster Farm and Home Center for a forum to discuss the new Resource Enh......
2007-11-18 00:19:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
People don't change all of a sudden, state Rep. Scott Boyd said Saturday. They "drift by degrees." That, he said, is what's been happening to the Republican Party in Harrisburg. The 43rd District lawmaker, announcing that he's seeking another term in the state Ho......
2007-11-17 02:09:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
Local fraternal groups and charities are rallying for legislation that could help them raise more funds through small games of chance.At a press conference scheduled for Tuesday, representatives of such organizations will ask the public and state Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong to support legisla......
2007-11-12 00:01:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Two months remain before the sun comes up on 2008, but in politics, the calendar has already changed.There's no "Opening Day" like in baseball, where everybody starts playing on the same afternoon. But with the 2007 races decided, a slow parade of candidates will begin launch......
2007-11-02 03:18:00
MICHAEL YODER
Lynn Swann walked so many miles during his gubernatorial campaign last year that he wore a hole in his brand-new shoes.The 2006 Republican nominee for governor and former Pittsburgh Steelers Hall-of-Fame wide receiver wore the same pair of shoes Thursday night to the Lancaster County Repub......
2007-10-22 00:01:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Brace yourselves. I'm going to issue a challenge.Seven weeks have passed since Labor Day, the unofficial start of the fall campaign, and just two weeks remain before Election Day.And in those nine weeks, not one debate has been scheduled for the Democratic and Republican candida......
2007-10-21 00:18:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
Add one well-known Republican's name to the list of potential candidates in next year's 13th state Senate district primary. And subtract another one, maybe. Former Lancaster County commissioner Paul Thibault last week confirmed intraparty rumors that he is considering a bid for the......
2007-10-21 00:11:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
Janie R. got out of prison and got a job at a five-star restaurant in Latrobe. She'd been attending a Bible study at the women's state prison at Muncy, and Tom Armstrong, director of development for the statewide prison reform group Justice & Mercy, was concerned about her plans to live wit......
2007-10-11 11:36:00
CHAD UMBLE
For about the first 45 minutes of a breakfast forum today, members of Lancaster County's Republican legislative delegation discussed such perennial issues as tax and legislative reform, agriculture, health care and transportation. Taking five-minute turns at the podium, the Republican lawma......
2007-10-08 00:01:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Since taking office in 2001, President Bush has, shall I say, developed a language of his own, from his lexicon to his sentence structure.And the 43rd president of the United States put his "Bushisms" on display while visiting Lancaster County last week.To be fair, Bush te......
2007-10-03 01:24:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Democrats in Harrisburg on Tuesday renewed their fight to provide all uninsured Pennsylvanians with health care, but Republicans once again drew a hard line against the proposals.State Rep. Mike Sturla, a Lancaster Democrat, introduced the Cover All Pennsylvanians bill, which would provide......
2007-10-01 11:25:00
RYAN ROBINSON
With the 2007 general election season still in full swing, a 2008 state Senate Republican primary race is turning ugly even before it has begun. State Rep. Scott Boyd, who is considering a run for the Senate, today slammed a Montgomery County attorney for his role in recent automated calls atta......
2007-09-29 03:24:00
DAVE PIDGEON
A Montgomery County attorney wants to influence the outcome of next year's state Senate race in Lancaster County by supporting Steve McDonald, and his first action is to try to keep a current legislator out of the contest.Bob Guzzardi, a controversial figure who once owned a gym that attra......
2007-09-27 02:45:00
P.J. REILLY
Norfolk Southern has begun the process of dividing the former Enola Low-Grade Line among the seven southern-end municipalities through which it runs.The railroad company recently asked Lancaster County Planning Commission to waive the requirements of its subdivision and land development or......
2007-09-27 02:07:00
LORI VAN INGEN
What had been called one of the worst intersections in Lancaster County became much safer Wednesday when the state opened a new, realigned intersection of Routes 272 and 372 at the Buck.Route 372 was rerouted 1,250 feet south to meet Friendly Drive at Route 272. Friendly Drive also was wid......
2007-09-23 00:19:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
Steve McDonald bought the grand champion market hog at the Solanco Fair Friday night. "I figured we'd better keep the pork down on the farm and not let it go to Harrisburg," he told more than 80 supporters Saturday. But McDonald himself wants to go to Harrisburg. He'......
2007-09-22 12:09:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Republican Steve McDonald was formally announcing his campaign for state senator this morning. McDonald, of Neffsville, is challenging longtime Sen. Gibson Armstrong in next May's Republican primary. McDonald is serving his third four-year term as Lancaster County's elected recorde......
2007-09-20 00:46:00
DAVE PIDGEON
County Recorder of Deeds Steve McDonald, saying voters in the 13th Senatorial District are ready for change, announced Wednesday he'll run for long-time state Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong's seat in the 2008 Republican primary.•••Rep......
2007-09-09 00:12:00
CRIS FOEHLINGER
Retired Navy Capt. Ed Davis was a hero. He not only survived 7½ years as a North Vietnamese prisoner of war and the torture that went with it, but he returned home to become a motivator and avid supporter of the American dream. To honor all Davis did in his 67 years before succumbin......
2007-08-24 01:07:00
DAVE PIDGEON
In an eight-word ruling Thursday, the state Supreme Court upheld the legality of a funding program that benefits the hotel/convention center under construction in Lancaster city.The court — without explanation — upheld a lower court ruling from 2006 that said the state's Infras......
2007-08-15 00:59:00
JAMES BUESCHER
Millersville Borough passed a resolution July 24 bringing increased attention to a recent study suggesting that because universities are free from paying local taxes, college towns consistently collect less tax revenue per capita, resulting in financial strain on residents."The burden of m......
2007-08-15 00:08:00
WES BURDINE
After months of wishful thinking, Providence supervisors have resigned themselves to leaving Fairview Road in the hands of the state.The supervisors met with PennDOT officials last month to continue talks on transferring ownership of the road to the township.The transfer was to incl......
2007-08-09 11:13:00
JENNA SPINELLE
For the past few months, Kathy DeHart and her co-workers at Country Pets Grooming Salon have had it easy. At least when it comes to getting in and out of work, anyway. The salon, 1027 Dillerville Road, is located just before the section of the road blocked off for construction of a new ......
2007-08-08 11:50:00
JACK BRUBAKER
Landon May brutally murdered Terry and Lucy Smith in their Ephrata home nearly six years ago. He was sentenced to die and has been awaiting execution for nearly four years — years filled with multiple appeals to multiple courts. May actually was scheduled to die by lethal injection Mar......
2007-08-01 01:33:00
DAVE PIDGEON
State Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong said Tuesday a letter released weeks ago by someone looking to unseat him next year has prompted thousands of dollars in donations to his campaign."I hope he sends another letter out next week," Armstrong said regarding a letter Republican Steve McD......
2007-07-29 00:13:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
State Sen. Gib E. Armstrong has heard the criticism, mostly from his Republican colleagues in the state House, that the new state budget is too costly for taxpayers. But, the Senate Appropriations Committee chairman said last week, it's a step in the right direction — in the direct......
2007-07-17 01:50:00
DAVE PIDGEON
The state House and Senate Monday approved a $27.2 billion state budget, more than two weeks after a deadline imposed by the state constitution.The budget — which would run until June 30, 2008, and raise spending by about 3.2 percent over the 2006-07 spending plan — now goes to......
2007-07-14 01:31:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Consumers soon may be able to buy Pennsylvania wines in farmers markets.A bill sponsored by state Rep. Tim Solobay, a Washington County Democrat, would add farmers markets to the list of venues where wines produced by Pennsylvania vineyards may be sold.Wine tastings also would be pe......
2007-07-11 11:16:00
TOM MURSE
As more than 23,500 state workers spent the day at home without pay on Monday, legislative leaders hashing out the budget set aside about $350 million in taxpayer money for pet projects in their districts. Critics say it's pork — specifically in the form of those notorious "WAMs," or w......
2007-07-10 12:55:00
TOM MURSE
Republicans got most of what they wanted: no new taxes, and a rate of spending they claim matches that of inflation. Gov. Ed Rendell got most of what he wanted: hundreds of millions of dollars in new spending on highways and mass transit, and a promise from legislative leaders that they will......
2007-07-10 01:41:00
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Legislators and Gov. Ed Rendell brokered a deal to end the state budget impasse Monday night, allowing state workers to return to their jobs one day after nearly 24,000 people were sent home without pay.Scores of state parks, state-run museums and driver-license offices around the state th......
2007-07-09 12:40:00
TOM MURSE
State budget negotiators returned to the Capitol this morning in hopes of hammering out an agreement on the ninth day of a stalemate that left nearly 25,000 workers temporarily out of work beginning today. But a deal between Gov. Ed Rendell and legislative leaders appeared to be no closer to......
2007-07-08 00:16:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
With Gov. Ed Rendell threatening to shut down much of state government on Monday, negotiators were working Saturday to reach a deal on a budget that's already a week overdue. The governor, a Democrat, said Saturday that he was less hopeful than a day before that a solution is imminent....
2007-07-03 01:19:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Republicans and Democrats returned to Harrisburg Monday to renew negotiations after both sides failed to finalize the state budget by Saturday's deadline.And what did Monday produce?"A goose egg," said state Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Gibson Armstrong, a Refton Republi......
2007-06-27 01:22:00
DAVE PIDGEON
The state Senate Tuesday approved a ban on indoor smoking that includes a lengthy list of exemptions, defying efforts by health organizations and the governor to scuttle the legislation.Despite Gov. Ed Rendell's threat to veto the bill and lobbying by a coalition that included the Amer......
2007-06-26 01:19:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Private clubs and some bars would be exempt from a statewide prohibition on smoking under a bill the state Senate aggressively amended Monday.The exemptions were approved 29-21, with Republican Sens. Gibson Armstrong and Michael Brubaker of Lancaster County voting against them. Sen. Mike F......
2007-06-21 01:19:00
DAVE PIDGEON
A divided Pennsylvania Legislature is feeling pressure not only to pass a budget before the June 30 deadline, but also to act on Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell's sweeping new reform proposals.The state Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a $27 billion state budget plan drastically di......
2007-05-24 21:06:00
DAVE PIDGEON
The media and the public got their first glimpse inside the $170 million hotel/convention center being built on Penn Square Wednesday afternoon.A three-minute animated video unveiled for the media Wednesday afternoon takes viewers around the outside of the hotel/convention center, showing ......
2007-05-24 14:27:00
BERNARD HARRIS
It's all there to see: the stone tile floor of the hotel lobby, the carpet color of the convention center exhibit floor, the art on the walls, even the large-screen televisions in the hotel rooms and the swimming pool waterfall. And, as state Sen. Gibson Armstrong, a longtime proponent of a......
2007-05-18 02:42:00
JEFF HAWKES
Meet Joy Lapp, Head Start teacher, crime fighter.She doesn't wear a badge or pack heat. She teaches letters and numbers to 3- and 4-year-olds at Francine Bunch Center on Pershing Avenue.Lapp gets kids from low-income homes ready for kindergarten, important work that, research shows,......
2007-05-11 03:11:00
Dave Pidgeon
The four-way Republican campaign for Lancaster County commissioner has drawn divisions among locally elected officials about who deserves the two nominations Tuesday.While a majority of state legislators and municipal officials have endorsed county controller Dennis Stuckey and Scott Marti......
2007-05-11 03:04:00
Brett Lovelace
Fifteen lawyers are seeking nominations for six available judge's seats on the Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas in Tuesday's primary election.Each candidate obtained enough signatures from registered voters to appear on the Republican and Democratic ballots.Voters will......
2007-05-09 13:40:00
CHAD UMBLE
Government officials who run afoul of Pennsylvania's open-meetings law could soon face stiffer penalties. The state Senate unanimously approved a measure Monday that raises the maximum fine to $1,000 for a first violation and $2,000 for each subsequent offense. The current maximum fine is $......
2007-05-06 00:12:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
The Lancaster Barnstormers weren't the only ones playing at the ballpark this weekend. Nearly all the Republican candidates for county commissioner were singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" at Clipper Magazine Stadium as the campaign hit the seventh-inning stretch. Heidi Whe......
2007-05-04 03:20:00
Dave Pidgeon
Republicans Dennis Stuckey and Scott Martin have received about $107,000 in campaign contributions this year, according to campaign finance reports the two Lancaster County commissioner candidates released Thursday.They have spent more than $31,000 on consultants, a radio advertisement, ca......
2007-04-12 13:49:00
CHAD UMBLE
The state government is facing a serious budget crunch and must make some tough — and possibly unpopular — spending choices this year, a prominent state legislator said this morning. "We're to the point now where unless we raise your taxes ... we have to start saying 'n......
