2009-11-20 13:46:00
GIL SMART and CASEY KREIDER
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2009-11-20 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Perhaps the worst-kept secret in Harrisburg in the early years of the decade was that John Barley didn't have what you and I would call a warm and fuzzy relationship with his Republican colleague John Perzel."While both leaders worked closely toge......
2009-11-18 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
National abortion-rights groups are targeting Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts in next year's election, saying the health-care amendment he co-authored threatens a woman's "fundamental right" to have an abortion.But the congressman, who has long been an anti-abortion crusad......
2009-11-15 00:20:00
JON RUTTER
Jeff "the janitor" Harrison described his status as unofficial spokesman for the Elk County Freedom Fighters as tentative: "I'm unpaid, unqualified, unappreciated," he said. But he added that he sure likes to push back against taxation and "outrageous" ......
2009-11-15 00:18:00
JO-ANN GREENE
On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third District dismissed a civil rights lawsuit filed by an Elizabethtown Area Republican committeewoman against the Republican Committee of Lancaster County, its former chairman and its former executive director. The defendants expressed hope Sat......
2009-11-15 00:10:00
JO-ANN GREENE
Both plaintiff and defendants say the Millie Max v. Republican Committee of Lancaster County lawsuit could have been avoided. She could have proposed a resolution amending GOP Committee bylaws, said defendant David M. Dumeyer, former committee chairman. They could have apologized, th......
2009-11-13 20:19:00
TOM MURSE
Republican Tony Allen conceded the race for Lancaster Township supervisor Friday after a painstaking, 3˝-hour manual recount showed his Democratic opponent had won by 13 votes."That's it," Allen said after the tally was announced by county elections officials shortly before 2:30 Fri......
2009-11-13 12:10:00
GIL SMART and CASEY KREIDER
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2009-11-13 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
An official canvass of the Nov. 3 election results Thursday confirmed Democrat Ben Bamford as the winner — by a razor-thin 11-vote margin — over longtime Republican Lancaster Township Supervisor Tony Allen.Elections workers did find four previo......
2009-11-12 23:11:00
TOM MURSE
A Lancaster County native who once worked as a top aide to Rep. John Perzel is among 10 people charged in the wide-ranging probe of corruption in the state Legislature.John R. Zimmerman, a 1965 Garden Spot High School graduate, is accused of obstructing agents from the Attorney General'......
2009-11-12 20:56:00
MARK SCOLFORO, Associated Press
A former House speaker, an ex-lawmaker and eight aides Thursday became the latest — and the first Republicans — to be charged in a 3-year-old investigation into the diversion of public resources and employees to Pennsylvania legislative campaigns.Attorney General Tom Corbett sa......
2009-11-12 00:02:00
TOM MURSE
Seats in the Legislature don't open up very often.And when they do?Look out.There's typically an avalanche of folks interested in running for office.News that state Rep. Katie True is retiring after 2010 has sparked a flurry of interest in her House seat, which......
2009-11-11 06:29:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Two Warwick High School students said they saw music teacher Todd Sheerer passionately kiss and embrace a 15-year-old student "in a full make-out session" during school hours in 2006.One of the students went home that day and told her father, who happened to be the Warwick school......
2009-11-10 00:02:00
TOM MURSE
State Rep. Katie R. True, a tireless advocate for children and families whose willingness to stand up to House leaders earned her the reputation of a maverick, will retire after 2010.True, an East Hempfield Township Republican, said she decided not to seek re-election because she has achie......
2009-11-08 00:22:00
PAULA WOLF
The bipartisan abortion amendment passed during Saturday's health care debate was co-sponsored by Rep. Joseph Pitts. A Republican who represents Lancaster County and parts of Chester and Berks counties, Pitts teamed with Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak, of Michigan, to draft the amendment mo......
2009-11-08 00:21:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
Phil Zangari was walking his dog near his home in the first block of Seymour Street a few weeks ago when he came across a pistol in a nearby alley. Zangari called Lancaster police, who dutifully came out and took a report. "The cops suggested I put up a gate" to keep people out of ......
2009-11-08 00:10:00
PAULA WOLF
Immediately after the Democrats' health care bill was passed, Rep. Joseph Pitts — who opposed the legislation — released the following statement: "Instead of passing health care reform with a united front of Democrats and Republicans, Speaker Nancy Pelosi chose to rej......
2009-11-06 10:50:00
GIL SMART and CASEY KREIDER
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2009-11-06 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
I know, I know. You've had it up to here with election news (judging by the meager turnout, most of you didn't give a rip), but this is a political column, after all, so we're going to keep doing what we do.This week: Trivial Pursuit Mayoral Edition.Grab your pe......
2009-11-05 05:58:00
TOM MURSE
Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray had all the advantages a candidate could ask for:A 2-to-1 voter-registration edge.A well-oiled party machine to get out the vote.The positive name recognition that comes with four controversy-free years in City Hall.And loads more campaign cas......
2009-11-05 00:01:00
JEFF HAWKES
In his victory speech Tuesday night, Mayor Rick Gray gave credit to his campaign, and he singled out volunteers.But I think there was a more decisive factor in Gray's eking out a close-call win against Republican Charlie Smithgall.Day in and day out, in a strictly nonpartisan fa......
2009-11-04 01:49:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Lancaster city voters by a narrow margin Tuesday returned Democrat Rick Gray to City Hall for four more years and voted to retain an all-Democratic City Council.It was the second consecutive sweep by city Democrats in a mayoral election.Gray, who is completing his first four-year te......
2009-11-04 21:38:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
Lancaster County officials have announced the results of two additional township races in Tuesday's election.In Martic Township, where three candidates were vying for two seats on the township's board of supervisors, two Republicans both captured more than 300 votes to win.T......
2009-11-04 01:38:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
Local Democrats have been pointing to the Lancaster Township supervisor's race as one they thought they could win.And by the narrowest of margins — 11 votes — they did.Democrat Benjamin Bamford, a member of the township Planning Commission, defeated longtime Supervis......
2009-11-04 01:27:00
TOM MURSE
In overwhelming fashion, Lancaster County voters chose to retain two Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas judges who were seeking new 10-year terms in Tuesday's election.And in the only contest for a courthouse row office — for controller, the county's top fiscal watchdog &......
2009-11-04 01:23:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
It was a bad night for local Democrats, as Republicans won mayoral and most council seats in every contested borough race.Democratic challengers in Columbia, Ephrata, Manheim and Mountville fell at the ballot boxes, including Mountville's incumbent mayor.Connie M. Guy, 54, at th......
2009-11-04 01:12:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Manheim Township school board will have three new members in December.Board president Hannah Bartges was successful in her bid for re-election Tuesday, but fellow incumbent Beth Ross — one of two Democrats in the race — fell short of capturing one of the four open seats.......
2009-11-03 05:19:00
TOM MURSE
Republicans are seeking to break the Democratic Party's domination of City Hall and City Council in Lancaster as thousands of voters head to the polls today."We've got two good candidates, and people are working very hard," said city GOP Chairman Dave Stoltzfus. "It&......
2009-10-31 08:27:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Ralph E. Mowen believes Ephrata is a safe and attractive place to live, and he wants a fifth term as its mayor to make things even better.The 64-year-old Republican, who works as a security manager for Susquehanna Bancshares, said he would like to strengthen the borough's enforcement p......
2009-10-31 08:14:00
TOM KNAPP
Leo Lutz hopes eight years as mayor of Columbia Borough will give him an edge in Tuesday's race for re-election.Lutz, a Republican seeking his third term in office, faces a challenge from Democratic newcomer James Robert Haug."Obviously, I have the eight years of experience......
2009-10-30 08:28:00
TOM KNAPP
Tony Allen thinks things are running pretty smoothly in Lancaster Township."I don't see any real issues," Allen, chairman of the board of supervisors, on which he's served 18 years, said Wednesday."Lancaster Township operates in the black. We work within our b......
2009-10-30 06:16:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Children who will soon be teenagers have never known a Lancaster city in which the mayor has not been either Rick Gray or Charlie Smithgall.The two mayors have controlled the county's only city for a dozen years. Both are asking for another term.For Gray, 64, a win Tuesday will ......
2009-10-30 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
A few notes, quotes and anecdotes before the big day.Pitts: Aid jobless with StimU.S. Rep. Joe Pitts has taken a lot of flak for being the only House vote from Pennsylvania against a 13-week extension of unemployment benefits in states with a jobles......
2009-10-29 08:21:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Correction Oct. 30, 2009 — The party affiliations of Eastern Lancaster County school board candidates Alexander Sitar and Michael C. Upton were incorrect in the article below. Sitar is a Republican, and Upton is an Independent. Both are list......
2009-10-29 00:02:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Rick Gray was hailed as a champion of efforts to get illegal guns off the streets on Wednesday, while his challenger, Charlie Smithgall, was praised as an accessible public servant who will restore good government to Lancaster city.The competing press events were held less than a week befo......
2009-10-29 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter is in "a world of trouble" in his bid for a sixth term next year, a new statewide poll shows.The Republican-turned-Democrat's job approval ratings are the lowest they've been since the survey began tracking his performance in 1991. Now, only 23 per......
2009-10-28 09:47:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
Correction — The article below about the East Hempfield Township supervisors race incorrectly stated Lori McGowan's medical specialty. She is a doctor of podiatric medicine and surgery.•••...
2009-10-28 08:43:00
BERNARD HARRIS
In the closing days of the fall election campaign, two candidates used the Lancaster city council meeting to tell a tale of two cities.Matt Holden, the lone Republican council candidate, used the meeting's public comment period to tell council members that city residents feel forgotten......
2009-10-27 08:31:00
TOM MURSE
Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray, trying to win a second term in the Nov. 3 election, has raised and spent nearly five times the money challenger Charlie Smithgall has since June, new finance reports show.Gray, a Democrat and former defense attorney, brought in $33,908 and spent nearly as much si......
2009-10-23 11:32:00
GIL SMART and CASEY KREIDER
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2009-10-23 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Election Day is nearly upon us.Stop it. I see you. You're yawning.It's a so-called off year, so you think it's pretty boring out there, right?Here's a tip: It's not.I know, I know. You've heard and read a lot about the mayoral slugfest in Lancas......
2009-10-22 00:06:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Lancaster city's two mayoral candidates took turns speaking for an hour Wednesday night, but their disagreements were more in the numbers than in their words.Charlie Smithgall, the Republican and former two-term mayor, and Rick Gray, the Democrat finishing his first term as mayor, diff......
2009-10-22 00:01:00
P.J. REILLY
Lancaster County Election Board on Wednesday scrapped plans to establish a policy for accepting and rejecting write-in votes.Heeding the recommendation of county elections staff, the board, which is made up of the three county commissioners, unanimously voted to toss the proposed policy in......
2009-10-21 16:16:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Lancaster mayoral candidates Rick Gray and Charlie Smithgall will face northeastern city residents — and potential voters — this evening in the second forum of their election campaign.Smithgall, a Republican and a former two-term mayor, and Gray, an incumbent Democrat who is co......
2009-10-18 00:01:00
GIL SMART, Smart Remarks
So last week the Obama administration stepped up its war on Fox News, with White House Communications Director Anita Dunn asserting that Fox operates as an arm of the Republican Party. The right shrieked its outrage, and media analysts cried foul, saying demonizing the press never works &......
2009-10-16 14:02:00
GIL SMART and CASEY KREIDER
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2009-10-16 00:06:00
BERNARD HARRIS
The directions from organizers of the candidate forum at Ray's Temple Community Church were clear. The event — the first for candidates running for Lancaster city mayor and City Council — was not to be a debate.The candidates were to answer panelists' questions. They we......
2009-10-16 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
There's an important milestone next week in the race for mayor in Lancaster and in contests across Pennsylvania's 2,565 other cities, townships and boroughs.It's the Friday deadline for candidates to file their one-and-only* pre-election report telling voters who has been givin......
2009-10-15 17:51:00
STAFF REPORT
The Democratic and Republican candidates for Lancaster city mayor are scheduled to meet for their first candidates forum this evening at 7 p.m. at Ray's Temple Community Church, South Ann Street and East End Avenue.Current Mayor Rick Gray, a Democrat, and former Mayor Charlie Smi......
2009-10-14 07:33:00
P.J. REILLY
Charlie Smithgall earned a spot on the Nov. 3 General Election ballot in the race for city mayor with write-in votes cast last May for "Charles Smithgall," "Charley Smithgall," "C. Smithgalll" and even "Mayor Smithgall."About three weeks after the Pr......
2009-10-13 00:03:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Three times when Charlie Smithgall was mayor, Lancaster City cut proposed funding to install an elevator in City Hall.The elevator would have made the second floor of the municipal building accessible to people in wheelchairs and compliant with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act....
2009-10-11 00:21:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray stopped his Toyota Prius at Shippen and Chester streets to talk to a man working in the corner yard. Gray knows the guy, he explained; there was some trouble with a neighbor and Gray intervened on the man's behalf with city police. "How's it going?"......
2009-10-10 00:02:00
MARC LEVY, Associated Press
Gov. Ed Rendell and the politically divided Legislature finally signed off on a state budget Friday night, resolving a multibillion-dollar, recession-driven shortfall and ending Pennsylvania's 101-day budget stalemate, the nation's longest this year.Rendell and top legislators ackn......
2009-10-09 10:36:00
GIL SMART and CASEY KREIDER
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2009-10-09 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Sharpen your pencils, kids. It's pop-quiz time here at Politically Speaking, and our five questions this week deal with the mayoral race in Lancaster.Let's get started.• Which one of the following folks is campaigning door-to-door with Mayor ...
2009-10-08 00:07:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
The presidency of Barack Obama, what it has accomplished to date and what it has not, was the topic Wednesday for political talk show host and journalist Chris Matthews.The host of MSNBC's "Hardball" and "The Chris Matthews Show" on NBC spoke at Franklin & Marsh......
2009-10-04 00:19:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
Charlie Smithgall rolls through town in his big black Chevrolet Suburban, pointing out the things he said have gone wrong since Rick Gray replaced him as mayor of Lancaster. "I don't mean to be critical," he said. "But I'm gonna be critical." "Ever been ......
2009-10-03 00:04:00
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Democrats in the Pennsylvania House sent a plan to the Republican-controlled Senate late Friday that would tax natural gas extraction and tobacco products to replace a previous proposal to tax small games of chance and tickets to arts events.The 103-to-98 vote came exactly two weeks after ......
2009-10-02 11:17:00
GIL SMART and CASEY KREIDER
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2009-10-02 00:02:00
TOM MURSE
The handshake agreement that was supposed to end Pennsylvania's protracted budget stalemate two weeks ago appeared to fall apart Thursday as House Democrats backpedaled on the deal and came up with a new plan on their own.Frustrated Senate Republicans said such a move would send things......
2009-10-02 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
If you want to vote in the November elections you have until 5 p.m. Monday to register if you do it in person at the county Voter Registration office, 150 N. Queen St.If you're doing it by snail mail, make sure your application is postmarked Oct. 5 or earlier.We have the registr......
2009-09-30 08:29:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Seven years ago, when Charlie Smithgall was Lancaster's mayor, a proposal was made to bring back a downtown trolley line.Smithgall, speaking Tuesday to a group at Christ Lutheran Church, said he looked into the idea and quickly dismissed it.Smithgall said he and his staff conclu......
2009-09-29 08:34:00
Perhaps there's a good reason why Pennsylvania needed an extra three months to pass its budget.That's three months beyond the deadline. And the deadline (July 1) is written in the state lawbooks, so any living and sentient legislator (which description certainly covers mor......
2009-09-29 06:08:00
P.J. REILLY
U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts was bombarded Monday night with emotionally charged complaints, ranging from health care reform and the government's rising debt to a fellow congressman calling President Barack Obama a liar on national television.And, for the most part, the crowd agreed with Pitts&......
2009-09-19 00:14:00
TOM MURSE
Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Pat Toomey said the Democratic majority in Washington is leading the nation on an unprecedented lurch to the left, and he challenged conservatives to fight back — at tea parties and town halls and, of course, the voting booth in 2010. "I want to be t......
2009-09-18 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
A few notes, quotes and anecdotes from the week in local politics.Pitts not convincedPresident Barack Obama, speaking about health care reform on prime-time TV last week, forcefully denied that his plan would cover illegal immigrants or spend taxpay......
2009-09-18 15:35:00
GIL SMART and CASEY KREIDER
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2009-09-17 07:34:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
As a steady throng of people form a jagged line, Jim Belcher slathers peanut butter on bread, determined to serve a meal with a message.Every Monday, he and fellow members of the year-old chapter of Food Not Bombs, a loose-knit international volunteer and donation-funded organization, offe......
2009-09-16 08:33:00
BERNARD HARRIS
For 38 years, Lancaster city has had a contract to provide police services to surrounding Lancaster Township.It took Mayor Rick Gray just four years to lose that contract, his predecessor and political rival Charlie Smithgall said Tuesday.The day after Lancaster Township supervisors......
2009-09-12 06:02:00
TOM MURSE
Deal? What deal?Gov. Ed Rendell quickly put the kibosh on a $27.9 billion budget framework hashed out by three of the four legislative caucuses and unveiled Friday morning. ...
2009-09-11 13:03:00
GIL SMART and CASEY KREIDER
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2009-09-11 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Welcome to the post-Labor Day edition of Politically Speaking, the first since the unofficial start of the fall campaign season. Time to check in with our pols and parties and ask: Whose stock is rising and whose is falling?Let's start with the obvious.FALLING: ......
2009-09-10 10:33:00
LORI VAN INGEN
Crime, parking, communication and snowstorms were among the topics Republican mayoral candidate Charlie Smithgall talked about with more than 30 city residents at a rally Wednesday evening in Buchanan Park."I've gone door-to-door and people aren't happy," Smithgall said. ......
2009-09-09 06:10:00
TOM MURSE
William R. Coder says he was just "at the wrong place at the wrong time;" that his arrest was the result of a "misunderstanding."But Lancaster city police tell a far different story about the high-ranking county GOP official's arrest on charges of soliciting a prost......
2009-09-05 00:06:00
TOM MURSE
The executive director of the county Republican Committee was arrested for alleged solicitation of prostitution in Lancaster on Thursday night and has resigned his position.William R. Coder, 25, of the 1300 block of Union Street, was arrested by city police about 11 p.m. Thursday in the 10......
2009-09-04 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Pennsylvanians are a sour lot, a new statewide poll shows.And, really, can you blame us?We live in the only state in the nation operating without a budget, and there's no sign of an end to the stalemate, which is in its third month.A majority of us are also skeptical of P......
2009-09-04 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
After two town hall meetings, it is clear that U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts' opposition to the health care reform proposals put forth by the Obama administration is based on one fundamental, underlying belief:The crisis has been overblown."This is about a 10 million-person problem,&......
2009-08-30 00:10:00
JEANNETTE SCOTT
Kaila Tyson-Aikins, a sixth-grader at Park Elementary School in Columbia struggled with her homework, night after night. But her grades improved and her confidence soared with state-funded tutoring last year, her mother, Joy Tyson, said. Columbia Borough School District relies on the st......
2009-08-29 06:48:00
TOM MURSE
The setting was a tad more intimate: a small, warmly lit auditorium.The emotion, however, was just as raw.Some 175 people from this Chester County community jammed into an elementary school here Friday night, and many directed sharp words at their congressman, Republican Rep. Joe Pi......
2009-08-28 10:18:00
BRIAN WALLACE
About $25 million in state funding that was supposed to arrive at local school districts this week has been delayed by the budget impasse in Harrisburg.That's on top of about $14 million in payments the state failed to make last month.The funding delay — a consequence of t......
2009-08-28 06:03:00
TOM MURSE
U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts was cheered by opponents of President Barack Obama's sweeping health-care proposals at a spirited — and occasionally testy — town-hall meeting here Thursday night.But the Republican lawmaker also faced tough questions from many of the 400 people in the c......
2009-08-28 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Only a select few of our state lawmakers — a half dozen, to be exact — are actually involved in negotiating the details of Pennsylvania's long-overdue budget for the fiscal year that began nearly 60 days ago.The remaining 247 legislators are in a rather unenviable position.......
2009-08-26 00:04:00
TOM MURSE
U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts, who was criticized for holding a teleconference on health care reform instead of meeting with a skeptical public, has scheduled a town-hall meeting here Thursday night.The forum will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Conestoga Valley High School, 2110 Horseshoe Ro......
2009-08-25 06:03:00
CINDY STAUFFER
The nation has broken the promise of the American Dream, that the next generation will have the opportunity to do better than the present one, Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak told a small crowd in Penn Square Monday afternoon.Sestak said that's why he is running for the U.S. Senate a......
2009-08-22 15:30:00
CASEY KREIDER and GIL SMART
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2009-08-21 00:18:00
BRIAN WALLACE
A Republican candidate who was seeking a seat on the School District of Lancaster board has dropped out of the race. Nick Jabbour's withdrawal means the four remaining candidates will take the four open school board seats in the November general election, barring a successful write-in campa......
2009-08-21 00:02:00
TOM MURSE
One of my first assignments for this newspaper was to cover a meeting in Manheim Township. The year was 1998, and the suburb's five commissioners were to vote on the creation of a "community trash hauler." The issue seemed pretty mundane to me. If you wanted your garbage pic......
2009-08-18 08:14:00
TOM MURSE
U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts has long opposed the public health care option sought by President Barack Obama, saying any government-run plan would undercut private insurers.But on Monday, Pitts said he also dislikes the administration's alternative to the "public option" — nonpr......
2009-08-14 10:16:00
BERNARD HARRIS
On Tuesday in Lebanon, Sen. Arlen Specter stood face to face with angry constituents at a town hall meeting on health care.In an interview after the meeting, Specter said he placed himself squarely before the people attending the forum because he felt that would make them less likely to sc......
2009-08-11 08:34:00
BERNARD HARRIS
On a steamy Monday afternoon, children played in the fountain in Lancaster city's Binns Park.Downtown office workers came out to walk around, and people sat in the shade and ate their lunches.And, as they do every Monday at lunchtime, Food Not Bombs members hung their banner on ......
2009-08-07 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Hello there, state workers.If you're up for a little cheap fun this weekend — I know you haven't gotten a paycheck in awhile and likely won't get one at least until next week — here's an idea. (Consider it a treasure hunt, of sorts.)See if you can find ou......
2009-08-06 09:18:00
TOM MURSE
More than 77,000 state workers, some of whom have been relying on food banks to get by during the budget stalemate, will get their first full paychecks in nearly a month beginning next week. Democrats in the state House?They've already paid themselves.The Democrats dipped......
2009-08-06 00:01:00
JEFF HAWKES
Are you angry with Gov. Ed Rendell for wanting to raise your taxes?Apparently, Sen. Dominic Pileggi doesn't think you're angry enough.Pileggi, of Delaware County, is the leader of the majority Republicans in the state Senate and Rendell's chief nemesis in Pennsylvania......
2009-08-04 00:01:00
JEFF HAWKES
It was a classic Ed Rendell thing to say. AUDIO: Rendell discusses budget At a news conferenc......
2009-08-01 09:00:00
As of yesterday, 33,000 state workers were without a paycheck. For the past month, they have continued to show up for work, do their jobs and serve the public despite the threat of payless paydays. Good for them. That's the kind of integrity Pennsylvanians expect from public servants.I......
2009-07-31 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
It wasn't exactly a cage match to the death.But anyone who caught the latest round of the State Budget Blame Game — courtesy of Republican Rep. John Bear and Democratic Rep. Mike Sturla — should have a decent feel for why Pennsylvania is in......
2009-07-30 09:36:00
BERNARD HARRIS
It's official. There is a race for Lancaster city mayor.Former Mayor Charlie Smithgall has filed paperwork with the Lancaster County Board of Elections, accepting the Republican nomination for city mayor.Smithgall, a two-term mayor, lost his re-election bid four years ago to cur......
2009-07-28 10:42:00
TOM MURSE
As Pennsylvania's budget stalemate enters its fifth week, state Sen. Mike Brubaker says he's come up with a plan that could prevent future impasses — by docking lawmakers' pay and perks, among other things."By us not being paid, that can put on a lot of pressure,&quo......
2009-07-25 08:01:00
TOM MURSE
Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts, who will seek his eighth term in Congress next year, is raising more money than his challenger and has nearly five times as much campaign cash in the bank, new finance reports show.But Democrat Lois Herr has raked in twice as much money from individual donor......
2009-07-24 06:01:00
TOM MURSE
Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Pat Toomey, a hero to some conservatives in Pennsylvania, says he can beat any opponent next fall — even in a state dominated by Democratic voters."I can definitely win this race," he said in a brief meeting with reporters of this newspaper Th......
2009-07-24 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Ten thousand corrections officers patrol our prison cell blocks and stand between hardened criminals and the public in Pennsylvania — and those officers are getting only a fraction of their pay during the budget stalemate.The inmates?They're still getting paid in full.......
2009-07-23 05:01:00
Al Franken was sworn in recently as the nation's 100th senator.Franken, from Minnesota, gives the Democrats the coveted 60th vote, which, in theory, allows the majority party to break a filibuster by the minority Republicans.Nothing. however, in the ego-filled power pool that is......
2009-07-19 00:13:00
JON RUTTER
District Judge Maynard A. "Bud" Hamilton Jr. is stepping down early, and Republicans are launching a search to fill the vacancy. Hamilton's district comprises Strasburg, Pequea and West Lampeter townships and Strasburg Borough. Hamilton recently tendered his resignation to Pe......
2009-07-12 00:08:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
Bob Kettering was set to vote for Superior Court Judge Cheryl Allen as the Republican nominee for state Supreme Court. But before the May primary, the president of Lancaster County ACTION got a call asking if he'd meet with Allen's opponent, fellow Superior Court Judge Joan Orie Melvin. Ke......
2009-07-12 00:04:00
PAUL FRANZ and AMANDA BALIONIS
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2009-07-10 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
For all the huffing and puffing from our state lawmakers during the budget stalemate, Rep. Ron Marsico doesn't see any action to back up the bluster."Look where we are today: no budget in site," said the Dauphin County Republican. "They're not even m......
2009-07-09 00:01:00
It doesn't require a soothsayer to foretell the train wreck that lies in Pennsylvania's fiscal future. The numbers speak for themselves.The budget that state lawmakers are now wrestling with is $3.2 billion short. Gov. Ed Rendell and a number of House Democrats say the the only way......
2009-07-08 10:04:00
TOM MURSE
Pennsylvania's 253 state lawmakers have been working without pay during the week-old budget stalemate. But that doesn't mean they're scraping to get by.More than 200 legislators, including two from Lancaster County, are being reimbursed by taxpayers for meals on the days they&#......
2009-07-07 10:02:00
AD CRABLE
Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak, on a frenetic media blitz of 67 counties in three weeks, swept through Lancaster County on Monday, calling himself the principled and credible alternative to Sen. Arlen Specter in the race for the Senate.Sestak, 57, a Slovakian immigrant's son who fol......
2009-07-03 00:01:00
JEFF HAWKES
Sen. Arlen Specter in Lancaster on Wednesday said that being a Democrat "feels very comfortable."Specter had better realize his comfort level is beside the point.Since he switched parties at the end of April, what matters is whether Democrats are comfortable with Specter....
2009-07-03 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Republican Charlie Smithgall has understood from the get-go he would be fighting an uphill battle against Rick Gray, the city's Democratic mayor, in a rematch of 2005's mayoral election."I am absolutely an underdog," he said.But th......
2009-07-02 10:07:00
TOM KNAPP
Municipalities that don't have their own police departments soon may be asked to pick up the cost of state police coverage.A measure to impose fees on those municipalities — about 20 percent of those in Pennsylvania, including several townships in Lancaster County — passed ......
2009-07-02 10:01:00
BERNARD HARRIS
When political candidates announce they are running for office, they often hold a press conference in which they are backed by a crowd of family and friends.When former Lancaster Mayor Charlie Smithgall said last Friday that he would challenge current Mayor Rick Gray, he stood alone outsid......
2009-07-02 00:11:00
TOM MURSE
U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter came to town Wednesday morning to talk about the $5 million in federal stimulus money going to Red Rose Transit Authority. ...
2009-07-01 00:05:00
TOM MURSE
Now that the deadline to pass a state budget has come and gone and there's no prospect of an agreement anytime soon, you might be wondering: What makes this year different?It is true that the Legislature and Gov. Ed Rendell haven't been able to approve a spending plan before July 1......
2009-06-30 00:06:00
TOM MURSE
Forget midnight.In fact, some Harrisburg insiders say, forget July.The disparate factions warring over next year's state budget are still miles apart, which means reaching an accord before the constitutional July 1 deadline — or even over the next several weeks — is ......
2009-06-30 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Wesley A. Snyder was able to keep his $29 million mortgage brokering scam hush-hush, for a time, by withholding crucial information — namely account statements — from his clients.Such a practice soon will be illegal.Gov. Ed Rendell on Monday signed into law a measure tha......
2009-06-27 00:41:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Lancaster city residents appear split on whether Charlie Smithgall's decision to run against Mayor Rick Gray in the fall election is a good idea.In a sampling of patrons at Friday's Celebrate Lancaster! festivities downtown, five people said they don't support Smithgall, and fo......
2009-06-26 11:01:00
BERNARD HARRIS
Charlie Smithgall — Lancaster's most famous cannoneer — wants to take another shot. The former two-term city mayor announced this morning that he will seek a third term in City Hall. His announcement late this morning, comes nearly four years after his re-election loss to D......
2009-06-25 01:01:00
JEFF HAWKES
With inner-city Fulton Elementary School as his backdrop, Gov. Ed Rendell defended his call for higher state taxes as a "moral obligation" to children.Noting that Republican lawmakers have drawn a line in the sand against a tax increase, the governor drew his own line.&quo......
2009-06-25 00:36:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
"The library is a wonderland of endless possibilities. There is so much to do and see and learn."Those words are part of a letter written by a Quarryville resident in support of Lancaster County libraries, which face drastic cuts in the proposed Pennsylvania budget....
2009-06-24 00:32:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Mayors of five Pennsylvania cities — Lancaster, York, Reading, Easton and Bethlehem — announced Tuesday they've formed a coalition to meet the challenge of paying for municipal government.The cities had been the subject of a study earlier this year by the Pennsylvania Econo......
2009-06-24 00:24:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Gov. Ed Rendell issued a simple warning Tuesday to Republican lawmakers who want to slash millions in public school funding from next year's state budget: "Don't mess with education."Education is too important to the state's future to fall victim to cost-cutting in th......
2009-06-18 00:01:00
Budget battles in Pennsylvania are rarely collegial. Rather than working to bridge the gap between revenue and expenditures, the two parties tend to migrate to their own aisles and throw barbs at each other.Faced with the largest deficit in state history, lawmakers this year have reverted ......
2009-06-17 01:02:00
DAVE PIDGEON
An income-tax increase proposed Tuesday by Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell probably won't pass, state lawmakers said Tuesday.But as Democrats and Republicans look to slash spending in ways that will have consequences for local governments, most people will probably end up paying higher taxe......
2009-06-16 00:19:00
DAVE PIDGEON
The Joe Pitts-Lois Herr rivalry has become a trilogy.The Federal Elections Commission confirmed Monday that Democrat Lois Herr filed paperwork to make her third run at unseating Pitts, the venerable Republican congressman from the 16th District who first took office in 1997.Should P......
2009-06-12 00:18:00
JEFF HAWKES
State Sen. Lloyd Smucker of Lancaster County last week described the Senate Republicans' no-tax-increase budget bill as putting Pennsylvania on "the new road of responsibility."Sen. Jake Corman, the Centre County Republican and Appropriations chair, similarly called the deep ......
2009-06-10 01:13:00
DAVE PIDGEON
A local Republican and the Democratic governor will hold dueling press conferences today to lay out ideas about how to jumpstart the housing industry and the general economy.State Rep. John Bear, a Lititz Republican, will go first at 10 a.m. from the steps of the state Capitol. He will int......
2009-06-10 00:31:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
I just checked the Weather Channel on TV. I wanted to make sure hell hadn't frozen over.The reason I suspected this might have occurred is that I find myself agreeing with a letter to the editor written by fellow Ephratian Anna Mae Ressler. I know Anna Mae and, politically, we don'......
2009-06-06 01:33:00
JEFF HAWKES
If the state budget were a jungle in which you were lost, you'd appreciate having someone like state Sen. Jake Corman around.He'd take a machete and chop his way to the rescue.How satisfying to whack away at everything and anything impeding the mission.As Senate Appro......
2009-06-05 01:41:00
TOM KNAPP
An ongoing dispute over police matters in East Hempfield Township heated up again Wednesday as board members and residents bickered and a top Republican official chastised supervisors for humiliating a township police officer in a public forum.Although the board was supposed to focus on po......
2009-06-03 22:48:00
Correction — The editorial below regarding proposed changes in the state slots law, posted on LancasterOnline Tuesday, noted that casino applicant Louis DeNaples failed to disclose a 1978 conviction to the Gaming Control Board. That is incor......
2009-05-28 00:53:00
BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Police on Wednesday accused a former Lititz mayoral candidate who also served as the youth group leader at a borough church of having a sexual relationship with a pre-teen girl.Gregory J. Nies, 56, of South Spruce Street, was arraigned Wednesday morning on two felonies and two misdemeanors......
2009-05-28 00:36:00
P.J. REILLY
Lancaster County commissioners are listening to the chatter in Harrisburg about the state's 2009-10 budget.What they're hearing has them worried."The goal of Senate Bill 850 is no tax increases, and I think that notion is a fallacy," Commissioner Craig Lehman said.......
2009-05-26 22:36:00
STEPHEN J. ENGLE
Lately, there seems to be no such thing as "business as usual" at Pequea Township supervisors meetings, and a May 20 event was true to form. Tempers flared between supervisor Virginia Brady and a few residents, overshadowing the evening's regular business.Before the meeting m......
2009-05-22 01:13:00
JEFF HAWKES
At budget time, here's the easiest argument to make: cut spending, do more with less.Matthew Brouillette of the Commonwealth Foundation, which promotes free enterprise and limited government, made that pat argument Thursday before the state House Appropriations Committee.The pan......
2009-05-22 00:56:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
If the budget passed by the Senate in Harrisburg were implemented, Pennsylvania history could be put on hold.The $27.3 billion spending plan proposed by Senate Republicans and approved along party lines earlier this month would cut funding to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commissi......
2009-05-22 00:01:00
The Berlin Wall fell, but for years thereafter American Cold Warriors were mocked for not giving up on the old fight they seemed to have grown to love.Well, Obama's in the White House, but some Democrats appear to be stuck on the past like a fading "01-20-09" label on a Prius......
2009-05-22 10:45:00
PAUL FRANZ and GIL SMART
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2009-05-20 20:08:00
LARRY ALEXANDER and P.J. REILLY
Correction — In a tight primary race in Manheim Township, incumbent commissioner Rick Casselbury polled 101 votes more than the next nearest candidate, James M. Martin. The wrong number was included in the article below, posted on LancasterO......
2009-05-20 17:41:00
JENNIFER TODD and BRIAN WALLACE
Correction — Timothy Craven, who is running for Ephrata Area school board, will appear on the November ballot as a Democratic candidate. The article below, posted on LancasterOnline Wednesday, contained inaccurate information about his statu......
2009-05-20 03:44:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Tuesday turned into happy hour for those who wanted to overturn a prohibition on alcohol sales in West Lampeter Township.Because residents voting in a referendum chose to reverse the township's 74-year-old ban on alcohol sales, major changes are likely in store for Willow Valley Resort......
2009-05-20 03:06:00
TOM KNAPP and MICHAEL YODER
C. Chuck Mummert, an Elizabethtown Borough councilman for the past four years, handily snatched the vacant mayor's seat away from political newcomer Donald Keller in one of six Republican face-offs for mayoral slots in Lancaster County.Mummert, a salesman for a home-re......
2009-05-19 00:33:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
On election eve, hundreds of the county's Republican elite turned out for the GOP's spring dinner, where fourth-term congressman and possible gubernatorial candidate Jim Gerlach pumped up the party.In a short speech Monday night at Willow Valley Palm Court, the congressman from Che......
2009-05-19 00:01:00
It would be encouraging to report that today's primary election was attracting lots of attention. We would like to tell you that voters here are just as interested in municipal and judicial elections as they are in voting for president. We would like to see more than 60 percent of eligible voters......
2009-05-15 09:51:00
RYAN ROBINSON and DAVID O’CONNOR
Ten townships in Lancaster County have contested Republican races for supervisor/commissioner positions. They are Clay, Colerain, Conoy, East Cocalico, East Hempfield, Fulton, Manheim, Paradise, West Donegal and West Earl townships. No townships here have contested races for supervis......
2009-05-15 09:00:00
PAUL FRANZ and GIL SMART
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2009-05-14 01:04:00
JEFF HAWKES
After the state Senate, on a party-line vote, passed a budget with sweeping spending cuts, Sen. Jake Corman (R-Centre County) predicted the savings would position Pennsylvania for "the long-term future."And Corman just might be right — if the long-term future he has in mind......
2009-05-14 00:19:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Voters will head to the polls Tuesday to decide which school board candidates get to run for office in the November general election.While the outcome of the primary is far from certain, it's clear the fall ballot will feature plenty of new faces.Thirty-two seats are contested i......
2009-05-13 01:21:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
What's happening to Lancaster County?First we had "unrepentant terrorist" William Ayers at Millersville University spreading his radical philosophies on how to improve inner city schools.Then Richard Wolff, a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Am......
2009-05-13 00:33:00
BRIAN WALLACE
The five candidates for four seats on the School District of Lancaster board shared their views Tuesday night on everything from school board protocol and parental involvement to phonics, early education and Everyday Math.Real-estate agent Nick Jabbour of 427 Rabbit Hill Lane, attorney Ric......
2009-05-12 10:35:00
JACK BRUBAKER
Pennsylvanians owe more than $3 billion in delinquent taxes. The state is looking at a budget deficit this year approaching a similar number. State Rep. John Bear, a Republican from Lititz, has rubbed those two facts together and come up with a partial solution to the deficit dilemma....
2009-05-12 00:01:00
Most would agree that Pennsylvania's state police are very good at what they do. They patrol highways, arrest bad guys, break up drug rings and respond when called.But as well-trained as they are, they cannot be in two places at the same time.Yet, they are being asked to do more......
2009-05-09 01:18:00
BRIAN WALLACE
The five candidates running for four seats on the School District of Lancaster board in the May 19 primary will participate in a candidates' forum Tuesday at Fulton Elementary School.The forum, scheduled from 6:30 to 8 p.m., was organized by district parents John Moore, a member of the......
2009-05-07 14:37:00
The Associated Press
Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge says he's not going to challenge Sen. Arlen Specter next year.
Ridge is a moderate Republican who was the nation's first homeland security chief. He said in a statement Thursday that his party is facing challenges and he will work with the GOP, b...
2009-05-06 00:54:00
DAVE PIDGEON
As recently as a month ago, some Republicans in Harrisburg slammed Gov. Ed Rendell for proposing a deep $8.3 million cut in funding for the Department of Agriculture in 2009-10.On Monday, Senate Republicans, including state Sens. Mike Brubaker and Lloyd Smucker, backed a $27.3 billion stat......
2009-05-05 12:00:00
TOM MURSE
If you haven't been paying attention to this year's state-budget tango, here's the story line so far: Gov. Ed Rendell pitched a $29 billion plan back in February that would have boosted overall spending by 4 percent, using a combination of stimulus money, tax increases — and,......
2009-05-05 00:27:00
DAVE PIDGEON
State Rep. John Bear said Monday that his attendance last fall at a leadership conference in Switzerland did not violate state ethics laws.But Bear had to file a report last week, nonetheless.The trip — underwritten by the American Swiss Foundation for $6,500 — did not c......
2009-05-04 11:13:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Some Southern Lancaster County Republicans are crying foul over a Democrat filling a previously GOP-held township supervisor position. Little Britain Township Supervisors voted 3-1 at a special meeting Thursday night to appoint Democrat Curtis Jones to replace Dave Eller, who died suddenly Apri......
2009-05-04 00:02:00
DAVE PIDGEON
He glided with broad shoulders through downtown Lancaster during the Fall of 2008 as if he'd come back to the city block where he grew up. One of the most recognizable Republicans anywhere, he mingled with shop owners and competed in a good-spirited jabfest......
2009-04-30 00:48:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Local politicians and medical professionals are not high on a proposal coming out of Harrisburg.State Rep. Mark Cohen, a Democrat representing Philadelphia County, has introduced a bill that would permit the use of marijuana for medical purposes."As time goes on, citizens and g......
2009-04-30 00:32:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Republican Matt Holden announced Wednesday an unusual measure in his bid to win a seat on Lancaster City Council — he's trying to nab one of four Democratic nominations as well as one from the GOP.Holden, the only GOP candidate in the race, said Wednesday he's urging Democrat......
2009-04-30 00:28:00
MICHAEL YODER
State Sen. Mike Brubaker's initiative to provide oversight of the spending of billions of dollars from the federal stimulus program passed its first hurdle Tuesday.Senate Bill 6, which was unanimously approved by the State Government Committee, would create a bipartisan commission to p......
2009-04-30 16:30:00
PAUL FRANZ and GIL SMART
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2009-04-29 11:00:00
TOM MURSE
U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter's defection to the Democratic Party achieved what many thought impossible. It united the Republican Party. At least for a few minutes. Conservatives and moderates alike — including many who have bemoaned the GOP's rightward shift and seeming lack ......
2009-04-29 01:16:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Intrigue and disappointment ran deep in Lancaster County's political circles Tuesday in the wake of U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter's switch from 44-year Republican to the state's newest Democrat.The centrist Specter announced Tuesday in Washington, D.C., that he would run for re-elect......
2009-04-29 00:01:00
He voted for the death penalty, for permanent tax breaks, for a federal "flat tax," against gun-control measures including a ban on assault weapons and against the Employee Free Choice Act. He entered the 1996 presidential primary because, he said, President Bill Clinton was neglecting ......
2009-04-28 12:32:00
STAFF and WIRE REPORTS
Veteran U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, facing what would have been the political fight of his life in 2010's Republican primary, announced today he is switching parties to become a Democrat. The 79-year-old, five-term Pennsylvania lawmaker said in a statement announcing the switch: "I am ......
2009-04-28 01:21:00
JEFF HAWKES
The sky might be falling on Sen. Arlen Specter.The latest poll has the five-term Republican incumbent down by 21 points to right-wing challenger Pat Toomey.The same poll shows that nearly 60 percent of Republicans are less likely to vote for Specter because he crossed party lines to......
2009-04-27 11:03:00
TOM MURSE
U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter says his vote in favor of the controversial $787 billion stimulus bill has caused "an enormous political problem for me." But the 29-year veteran lawmaker, who faces the political fight of his life in 2010, said he supported the package as a "matter of nec......
2009-04-23 00:01:00
DAVE PIDGEON
A bill approved Tuesday by the state House on Tuesday would add more stringent requirements for landscape architects to acquire a license to practice in Pennsylvania.The bill would mandate anyone wishing to obtain a landscape architecture license pass an exam and take 24 total hours of con......
2009-04-21 10:57:00
TOM MURSE
Lancaster County has purged nearly 13,000 inactive, deceased or relocated voters from its rolls ahead of this year's municipal primary, shrinking the gain made by Democrats before the hot 2009 presidential contest. Still, the biennial cleaning of voter rolls left intact an important if symb......
2009-04-21 00:01:00
A questionable decision by Gov. Ed Rendell has triggered the first dustup of the 2010 gubernatorial election — a race in which Rendell will not be a candidate.Patrick Meehan, the former U.S. attorney in Philadelphia and a likely Republican candidate for governor, has challenged the R......
2009-04-18 01:06:00
MICHAEL YODER
Turkey jerky, red and green peppers, horseradish pickles, celery, Utz pretzels and potato chips and a peanut butter milkshake.It wasn't millions of dollars pumped into the Lancaster County economy, but U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. did his small part with several purchases at Central Market ......
2009-04-16 01:14:00
MICHAEL YODER
When Chris Wright introduced then-Sen. Barack Obama at a campaign rally in Buchanan Park in September, the registered Republican said two core beliefs had drawn him to the GOP.One was fiscal responsibility, where "the ends justify the means." The other was personal responsibility......
2009-04-16 01:02:00
MICHAEL YODER
The rally cry of a frustrated public weary of more taxes and larger government arose across the nation Wednesday, all the way from Lancaster, Calif., to Lancaster, Pa.More than 400 people braved a steady downpour of cold rain Wednesday afternoon to attend the Lancaster Tea Party in Musser ......
2009-04-15 11:31:00
TOM MURSE
Pat Toomey, the Republican whose insurgent 2004 U.S. Senate run nearly knocked off Arlen Specter, announced today he will challenge the veteran lawmaker again in 2010. And supporters here in Lancaster County — the epicenter of Toomey's conservative base — believe their candidate......
2009-04-14 11:22:00
TOM MURSE
Charlie Smithgall might be headed for a political comeback. He just doesn't know it. And he might not even want it. Supporters are orchestrating a write-in campaign for the affable former mayor in next month's mayoral primary — and haven't bothered to tell their own candidate....
2009-04-14 01:06:00
JEFF HAWKES
First-term County Commissioner Scott Martin railed against Somali pirates last night in an address to a joint session of Congress."Lawlessness on the high seas cannot stand," Martin said in a 96-minute prime-time address interrupted 17 times by applauding members of Congress and ......
2009-04-09 01:21:00
BILL HANNEGAN, Staff and CIVIA KATZ, Correspondent
The president of Manheim Central school board announced her resignation Tuesday in a letter she read at a district executive meeting.Dixie Winters said Wednesday that her departure, effective April 30, was not linked to a controversy over administrative pay raises, but resulted from change......
2009-04-09 00:56:00
P.J. REILLY
Democratic Lancaster County Commissioner Craig Lehman on Wednesday accused his Republican colleagues of "pandering and trying to score political points" and of attempting to "divide this board" through a resolution targeting the proposed Employee Free Choice Act of 2009....
2009-04-07 10:50:00
TOM MURSE
State Sen. Mike Brubaker is calling for a halt to paying prevailing wages on school and local government building projects until the economy recovers — a move he says could save taxpayers millions in labor costs. The Warwick Township Republican says his bill would allow schools and munici......
2009-04-07 00:01:00
Sen. Stevens was victim of prosecutorial misconduct, but doesn't merit reinstatement•••Let's get one thing straight at the start.The Justice Department — the Republican Justice Department of the Bush administration ......
2009-04-03 01:02:00
P.J. REILLY
Republican Lancaster County commissioners Dennis Stuckey and Scott Martin see the proposed Employee Free Choice Act of 2009 as a threat to workers' "fundamental right" to vote on unionizing by secret ballot.Democratic Commissioner Craig Lehman disagrees."This act ......
2009-04-03 00:50:00
TIM STUHLDREHER
Advocates of stricter gun laws are hailing a Lancaster County judge's decision this week to uphold an ordinance against discharging firearms in Lancaster city.Curtis L. Swinton was charged under the ordinance in December 2007 when he fired what he told police was a warning shot to stop......
2009-04-02 10:25:00
TOM MURSE
Pennsylvania's top state senator, Joe Scarnati, says the most critical issue facing lawmakers is cleaning up after the numerous Harrisburg scandals that have eroded public confidence. "Without out doubt, there is no issue more important today. The No. 1 issue we have is restoring respe......
2009-04-02 01:28:00
DAVE PIDGEON
The state Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill Tuesday that would bar illegal immigrants from accessing public benefits such as Medicaid.But the bill's future is in doubt as it moves to the Democrat-dominated state House, and Gov. Ed Rendell has signaled his displeasure with it.T......
2009-04-01 00:36:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Republican state Sen. Mike Brubaker said Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell's attempts to bring accountability to how federal stimulus funds are spent don't go far enough.Rendell announced Tuesday the creation of a bipartisan Pennsylvania Stimulus Oversight Commission, charged with reviewi......
2009-03-31 10:24:00
CHAD UMBLE
Nearly five months ago, voters put the kibosh on a proposed home rule charter, stopping a plan that would have dramatically changed the structure of Lancaster County government. But next Tuesday afternoon, those who served on the home rule study commission will gather for one final meeting to s......
2009-03-21 01:02:00
TOM MURSE
If the last couple elections taught us anything, it was that voters were fed up with Republicans who controlled the White House and Congress. They remain so. "Many people began to view Republicans as the problem — not part of the solution," former U.S. Rep. Bob Walker, who spent two ......
2009-03-18 01:09:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Republican state Sen. Mike Brubaker has joined with other GOP lawmakers in calling for legislative involvement in determining how federal stimulus funds will be spent in Pennsylvania.On Tuesday, Brubaker introduced in the state Senate a bill that would create a nine-member bipartisan commi......
2009-03-16 00:01:00
The 226th anniversary of Marbury v. Madison passed a few days ago. But the scrum for power in the three branches of the federal government, the centerpiece of that landmark case, is still kicking up mud.Last week, President Barack Obama told his subordinates to check with the Justice Depar......
2009-03-15 00:15:00
PAULA WOLF
A few weeks after being snubbed by the Manheim Township Republican Committee in his bid to win endorsement for a third term, incumbent township Commissioner J. Michael Flanagan confirmed last week that he's running again. And he's being joined by two others who also failed to get the GO......
2009-03-15 00:10:00
PAULA WOLF
The candidates put forward by new Lancaster County Republican Committee Chairman Craig Ebersole to hold GOP executive offices were confirmed last week by members of the committee's advisory committee. Abby Odell, of Providence Township, is the new vice chair. A member of the Republican Committe......
2009-03-14 01:19:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Members of the public will not be able to attend Bill Ayers' controversial presentation at Millersville University next week.By 9 a.m. Friday, students and faculty had nabbed all 300 tickets for the event in the Lehr Room of Gordinier Hall, where the noted urban education expert with a......
2009-03-13 00:39:00
MICHAEL YODER
Sam Rohrer senses average Americans have grave concerns about rapid and aggressive changes coming from the federal government.The state representative from Berks County said that, as a result of that concern, a growing number of his constituents are calling on legislators to re-examine the......
2009-03-13 00:29:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Four newcomers will be replacing four incumbents on the School District of Lancaster board at the end of the year.Incumbent board members Jackie McCain, Nenita Miller, Patrick Snyder and Marta Howell are not seeking re-election.Five SDL board candidates, including two attorneys, are......
2009-03-12 01:01:00
JENNIFER TODD
"Umm … I don't know who that is," a confused Kelsey Houdeshel said when asked what she thought about Bill Ayers' visit to Millersville University next week.When the MU freshman was told that Ayers is an expert on urban education and a former radical whose appearanc......
2009-03-10 01:54:00
JEFF HAWKES
We're 39 days into the William Ayers controversy with nine more to go until his talk at embattled Millersville University, and what have we learned?First and foremost, we've learned that MU president Francine McNairy is a leader with strong guiding principles and a backbone even st......
2009-03-10 01:13:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Gov. Ed Rendell announced Monday a $31 million package of emergency measures to protect needy Pennsylvania families from the stormy economy. ...
