Manheim Central school board approved a 2 percent tax hike for 2009-10 on a split vote.The $43 million budget approved June 23 increases the tax rate to 15.85 mills, up from 15.54 mills. The increase boosts property taxes $31 per $100,000 of assessed property value.Included in the b......

Regular readers of this space will recall that over the past few months we've been tracking the progress of the movement to add table games — blackjack, roulette, etc. — to Pennsylvania's slot machine parlors.As we've said before, table games are coming here —......

Manheim Township school board Thursday approved a $74.9 million budget for 2009-10 that will boost property taxes by $98 next year for the average homeowner.The spending plan increases the district's tax rate by 4.1 percent, the maximum permitted by the state, to 16.55 mills.Und......

Homeowners in Eastern Lancaster County School District will finally share property tax relief revenues with residents in the state's 501 other districts.The Elanco school board voted Monday to accept $446,713 being provided this year under the state's 2006 Taxpayer Relief Act....

The Christiana American Legion will close for 15 days in July, the result of its fourth violation of a state law governing small games of chance. Benner-Shoff Post No. 865 was cited Aug. 7, 2008, for "failure to maintain complete and truthful records" of its small games of chance. The Chri......

Students who are feeling college's pinch in their pocket may be in luck.In April, Gov. Ed Rendell held a conference call for high school journalists across the state to ask questions concerning the future of public education. Eighty students from 31 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties to......

A Manheim church is holding an unusual "drive-through" petition drive Saturday to collect signatures of those opposed to bills that would expand gambling in Pennsylvania. "This creates more folks who sadly gamble away their money," said the Rev. Richard Conner of Salem Unite......

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......

Maybe it takes the messed-up prosecution of a casino owner with alleged mob connections to make people realize that Pennsylvania's gambling regulations are sadly deficient.The case in point is the ill-fated prosecution of Louis DeNaples, owner of the Mount Airy Casino resort.DeN......

Eastern Lancaster County School District's idea to scrap strings from its music program has struck a sour chord in the community, and some 40 people attended a budget meeting Tuesday, asking the board to reconsider.According to an April 23 letter from superintendent Robert M. Hollister......

It's the rumor that won't go away: Didja hear they're going to put slot machines in the new convention center and hotel downtown? For seven years at least it's been whispered, asserted and published. A letter to the editor in both of Lancaster's daily newspapers last......

For the second year in a row, more than 100,000 Lancaster County property owners will be getting a break on their school taxes from slot machine gambling revenue.Gov. Ed Rendell announced Monday that $770 million will be available for tax reductions in 2009-10, based on the amount of slots......

Trying to predict the future can be a fool's game, but one thing you can bet on is that legalized gambling in Pennsylvania is only going to get bigger and more varied.We already have a state lottery. Seven slot machine casinos have opened around the state with more to come.Next ......

In the midst of the worst economy in 35 years, Pennsylvania's slots casinos continue to be big winners.Gross revenue at the six slots parlors that were in operation in February 2008 and 2009 reached $125.9 million last month — an increase of 14.3 percent. If the winnings from the......

Should Pennsylvania legalize video poker as a way to help defray college tuition costs?Gov. Ed Rendell thinks so. He says illegal video poker games are racking up millions in sales, so why not license the machines and use the proceeds for tuition relief at Pennsylvania's 28 state-owned......

Gov. Ed Rendell told an audience at Millersville University on Thursday that it's time the state Legislature takes its head out of the sand and legalizes video poker.Those were Rendell's words during his visit to the school, where he touted his state tuition-relief plan. Rendell......

A political initiative begun in anger is moving forward seeking harmony.At Blue Ball Fire Hall Thursday night, Elanco School District residents met six citizens who each want one of four school board seats available in this year's election. About 30 people attended the event, sponsored......

Editor's note: Because of the sensitive nature of the topic, and at the request of Gam-Anon participants who were interviewed for this story, their names are fictitious.

Eileen isn't a gambler, but she took a big gamble when she married her husband more t......

•Accept and learn to live with the fact that compulsive gambling is an illness. •To question or interrogate the gambler will serve no purpose. You are powerless over this situation. If the gambler has something he or she wants to hide, the truth cannot be forced from the gambler. Why ......

Two state lawmakers from West Lampeter Township say they won't get involved in a debate over whether the municipality should allow alcohol sales."It's a local decision, and it's up to the voters of West Lampeter Township to decide the direction and the future of their town......

More often than not, state Rep. Mike Sturla gets it.He's a dependable champion of such noble causes as insuring the uninsured and funding schools so every student has a fair opportunity to achieve.Local progressives never fail to rally around Sturla because he's the one and ......

Elanco Taxpayer Alliance members believe the ball is squarely in their court following their successful skirmish last year with the Eastern Lancaster County school board.The citizens' group has now formed a political action committee.Alliance founder Tim Shay said the PAC will w......

Should Pennsylvania allow small games of chance — bingo, punchboards and the like — to get a bit bigger?These gambling outlets may seem a bit tame, especially now since slot machine casinos have come to the state.But it's believed that small games of chance, often op......

When Pennsylvania decided to allow slot machine gambling the state made a deal with the devil. As such it isn't necessarily a bad deal, but one that requires constant vigilance, lest the loss of the public soul.On this note we have to wonder about the continued relations between the Pe......

The owners of about 33,000 properties in Lancaster County have a little more than a month to sign up for their piece of the property tax relief pie.About 114,000 property owners received discounts totaling $17 million on their school taxes last summer under the first year of the tax-relief......

As the Bush administration heads out the door it is leaving behind new rules blocking Internet gambling.The problem is that these new rules will aim to enforce a law that in itself has been criticized as being vague and unfair.Then why the rush? Your guess is as good as ours. Maybe ......

Voters in Eastern Lancaster County School District voted Tuesday to join the other 500 districts in the state that accept real-estate tax-relief money generated by slot-machine gambling.The unofficial results on the referendum question of "Do you favor Eastern Lancaster County School ......

Eighth Ward Beneficial Association, 842 St. Joseph St., was cited Oct. 9 for violating the Pennsylvania Local Options Small Games of Chance Act. The act allows veterans and fraternal clubs to operate small lotteries and bingo games to fund charitable work. Qualified clubs may operate such ......

REVIEW: DVDWe're all Ben Campells. Even if you're not, you can still relate. He's a soon-to-be graduate student applying for a prestigious scholarship to Harvard School of Medicine. OK, so I'm none of the above, but underdog Ben......

The state's Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement Tuesday cited Amvets Post 19, 715 Fairview Ave., for violating the Pennsylvania Local Options Small Games of Chance Act. According to State Police District Commander Sgt. Troy Lokhaiser, enforcement officers investigated the post as "a follow-up ......

Lancaster County Board of Elections has stripped a reference to gambling from a ballot question proposed by Eastern Lancaster County school board regarding property taxes.The elections board unanimously voted Tuesday to reject the school board's proposed wording.The question wil......

Members of the Eastern Lancaster County school board Monday unanimously approved wording for a slot-money property-tax reduction ballot question.If the wording is approved by county election officials, the following question would appear on ballots Nov. 4:"Do you favor resident......

The American Legion post in Christiana was issued its fourth citation for violating the law governing small games of chance Aug. 7. The Benner-Shoff Post No. 865 American Legion Home Association of Christiana was fined $500 in 2004 for exceeding payout limits and failure to maintain complete an......

Another Lancaster County club has been cited for illegal gambling. The Veterans of Foreign Wars, Red Rose Post 2435, 401 Manor St., Columbia, was cited July 24 for operating a football pool on Super Bowl Sunday. The club was busted because the State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcem......

On Monday, Tim Shay found himself literally at the center of a furor in the Eastern Lancaster County School District over the school board's decision to reject state gambling revenue that would have lowered most school tax bills by about $66. Specifically, Shay was standing in the Garden Sp......

Gas prices near $4 per gallon are credited with driving up costs in all sectors of the economy. The economic turbulence may have also created an interesting dichotomy: Consumers who shell out extra dough at supermarkets, beer distributors and, of course, gas stations are buying more long-shot l......

Hundreds of Eastern Lancaster County School District residents debated the morality of gambling Monday night with members of their school board.The residents attended the board meeting in the Garden Spot High School auditorium — held there to accommodate the sizable crowd &mdas......

Tim Shay is a retiree and homeowner in Eastern Lancaster County School District, and he isn't pleased with a decision made by members of his school board.Shay said he was "disappointed and somewhat outraged" by the board's decision May 29 to reject money generated by the state's legalized ......

Although tax rates are increasing in every school district in Lancaster County in 2008-09, thousands of residents will get some pleasant news when they open their school tax bills in the coming days.Thanks to the infusion of $17 million in state funds from gaming revenue, many of those bil......

The lure of $613 million in state tax-relief funds for public education has proved irresistible to every school district in the state — except one.Eastern Lancaster County school board May 29 voted against accepting the district's share of the money — $441,818 — becau......

Paul Resch, the former president of Columbia Borough Council, has been named acting director of gaming operations for the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. Resch, who was appointed by a seven-member board on Thursday, is taking over as director of operations in place of Kevin Hayes. Hayes......

School District of Lancaster property owners are likely to see their taxes increase by an average of $125 next year.But those who qualify for state tax relief from gambling revenue — estimated at $458 per property owner — likely will pay less in taxes than they paid this year....

Three times, the American Legion Post in Christiana has been cited for violating a law governing small games of chance in social and fraternal clubs. It's not the only one. Statewide, many such clubs are being hit for violating the law, even as they rally support for a bill to expand it....

State Rep. Mike Sturla's campaign finance records have been subpoenaed as part of a grand jury investigation into a Scranton millionaire casino owner's alleged mob connections.In 2005, nearly one-quarter of Sturla's campaign contributions came from Mount Airy Casino Resort owne......

State Rep. Tom Creighton is betting proposed legislation currently before the House Gaming Oversight Committee will help gamblers keep their pastime from turning into a full-blown addiction.House Bill 783, which has more than 60 co-sponsors, would require gaming facilities to issue monthly......

Fred Lipkin uses the word "kazow" to describe the effect of walking through the front doors of the brand-new $310 million Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course. You won't find the word in the dictionary, but you'll know what the marketing director means about the glitz......

If ever you're looking for me but can't find me, try the new Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course in Grantville. I'll be the one sitting in front of the $100 slot machines.No, I won't be playing them, unless I've sustained a severe blow to the head. Instead, I&......

Like most Americans, Margaret Kurtz is concerned about who will be the next president of the United States.Kurtz, who is celebrating her 100th birthday today, is able to name all 18 presidents who have served during her lifetime — from Theodore Roosevelt to George W. Bush.A Ne......

Hollywood is waiting. Penn National, operator of the new Hollywood Casino near Grantville, was waiting on word from the state Revenue Department today on whether it will be allowed to open on Tuesday. If it gets clearance, tumblers on the casino's 2,020 slot machines could spin at 10 a......

Once the most powerful Republican in the state House, Rep. John Perzel re-emerged this week with a proposal that may derail Democratic plans to provide broadly based property tax cuts.What's being called "Perzel's amendment" passed 159-36 with strong bipartisan support Tu......

Here's a Happy New Year's message from the state's budget guru: Lancaster County homeowners will get between $37 and $252 — and likely far more — in school property-tax cuts later this year thanks to slot-machine revenue. Budget Secretary Michael Masch said Monda......

The state's budget chief says slot-machine gambling revenue will provide property tax cuts to all Pennsylvania homeowners this year.Budget Secretary Michael Masch said a property tax-relief fund now contains more than $576 million in slots proceeds; the fund needed to reach a $570 million ......

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......

People are saying the momentum to reform state government has lost its steam.The reform movement, prompted by the controversial legislative pay raise in 2005, helped lead to more than a dozen incumbent lawmakers and a state Supreme Court justice losing their seats in 2006.This year,......

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......

(AP)Anyone could read the letter then-Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy wrote in support of a group of investors seeking a horse-racing license in his city. The letter, on file with state horse racing regulators several years ago, was in a stack of applications.The public, however, is not allowe......

The first: a gradual reduction of the state’s personal income tax over the next two years. The second: a ban on owning any stake in gambling firms by public officials, executives and their families. The tax-cut legislation, which originated in and was passed by the House in May, would reduce t......

The Republican lawmaker, a staunch opponent of new gambling initiatives, is drafting a measure that would require the state to either sell or auction off slot licenses to the highest bidder.

By contrast, legislation expected to hit the Senate floor as soon as Tuesday, the licenses would b...

Gambling opponents fear quick roll of dice by state The hot talk is that Republicans could rush their own plans into law before governor-elect Rendell can introduce his. Officials say it won't happen. -......