2008-11-26 00:29:00
DAVE PIDGEON
The bespectacled and bow-tied Rick Gray slouched in his chair late Tuesday afternoon, and his eyes drooped toward a 43-page budget document resting on his lap.Gray, the mayor of Lancaster city, was in the middle of his third newspaper editorial board meeting in 24 hours about his proposed ......
2008-11-14 02:54:00
JON FERGUSON
James McMurtry used to steer clear of political songwriting.The Texan always figured that the surest way to ruin a perfectly good tune was to sharpen it to a fine polemic point."Most of them suck," McMurtry said of political songs during a telephone interview, "and th......
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......
2008-11-13 00:01:00
In the weeks leading up to Election Day, Congressman Joe Pitts was asked if a Barack Obama victory would sound the death knell for moderate Republicans seeking the presidency — at least in the near term.Pitts, a traditional conservative, said he did not believe that would be the case......
2008-11-12 01:14:00
DAVE PIDGEON
In the aftermath of last week's election, a showdown for the top positions in the state House is brewing, and that could force Lancaster County-based legislators to make some tough choices.At stake are the most influential posts inside the chamber — house speaker and majority lea......
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......
2008-11-06 01:37:00
JEFF HAWKES
I simply do not believe Lancaster County voters oppose controls on taxes, spending and debt.I simply do not believe they think it's a bad idea to expose county government to greater public scrutiny.I simply do not believe they aren't in favor of checks and balances, term lim......
2008-11-06 01:10:00
DAVE PIDGEON
The buzz of clippers blended with the R&B bass groove on the stereo at Champ Hall's Barber Shop in Lancaster city Wednesday afternoon. Black youths silently sat in barber chairs and watched in the wall-length mirrors as stylists trimmed their hair and beards.For at least five month......
2008-11-05 11:03:00
TOM MURSE
NEWS ANALYSIS
You've heard it time and time again in the last two years — how important Lancaster County would be to winning the all-important battleground state of Pennsylvania. Well, it was. To Democrat Barack Obama. The U.S. senator from Ill......
2008-11-05 11:00:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Sen. John McCain needed to win big in Lancaster County to help him win big in Pennsylvania. Neither happened, and Sen. Barack Obama won the presidential race Tuesday, sweeping into office on a message of change and hope in a country feeling battered by the economy and unhappy with the current R......
2008-11-05 11:30:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Another election, another landslide win for U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts. Democrats did not come close on Tuesday to budging the six-term Kennett Square Republican. The dour economy and voters' disapproval of President George W. Bush did not help three challengers — Democrat Bruce Slater,......
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 02:58:00
P.J. REILLY
Lancaster County voters said "no" to home rule in overwhelming numbers Tuesday.As a result, the county's form of government, which has remained relatively unchanged for the past 277 years, is preserved."It's done," said county Commissioner Scott Martin. &......
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......
2008-11-05 02:31:00
JENNIFER TODD
While Democrats made considerable gains in Congress on Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts pulled off a solid GOP victory in the 16th District.Pitts, a Kennett Square Republican, said he was confident voters would consider his experience and responsible fiscal record and elect him to a seventh tw......
2008-11-05 02:10:00
TOM KNAPP
The desire for change that seemed to sweep the nation Tuesday appears to have left the 98th state House district alone.Republican incumbent Rep. Dave Hickernell easily defended his seat Tuesday, earning a fourth term from voters in northwestern Lancaster and eastern Dauphin counties....
2008-11-05 01:38:00
CARLA DI FONZO
As the Republican GOP gathering drew to a close Tuesday night, attendee Jennifer Davis sighed deeply."Wow, that election was like a marathon," the Lititz resident said, looking at her friends. "Is anybody else tired?"No one can say we didn't campaign hard. It......
2008-11-04 00:05:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Election Day has finally arrived, and when it concludes, Lancaster County will learn if Democratic registration gains here have affected local, state and maybe even national races.Lancaster also will learn whether America will elect its first black president or give the nod to a Vietnam Wa......
2008-11-02 00:21:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
Tuesday's election could produce a record turnout. And that, advocates of the home rule charter agree, could be the charter's best shot at passage. In a normal election cycle, the fact that the the county Republican committee is working against voter ratification of the charter ......
2008-11-02 00:16:00
JEANNETTE SCOTT
Fayra Molina, of Lancaster, gave the Obama campaign 71 $9 money orders at a rally for the Democratic presidential candidate at Penn Square Saturday afternoon. Nine dollars because Molina is nine years old. But her first money order was $22 because she collected it April 22, the date of the......
2008-11-01 01:16:00
LORI VAN INGEN
For more than 25 years, Bob Fritz has been the "official unofficial" mayor of Smoketown — a town that has no mayor.This year, however, Fritz just may be unofficially elected the honorary president of the United States.Signs have been popping up in Smoketown urging vo......
2008-11-01 01:10:00
PATRICK BURNS
Topics of discussion at Clair Ansel's barbershop in Terre Hill have been all over the map since the business opened in 1947.Baseball is a perennial favorite. Photos of Ansel's two sons pitching for Garden Spot High School dot the shop's walls. One features his son Ted with Bruc......
2008-10-30 00:29:00
JENNIFER TODD
Rep. Joe Pitts knows that when voters head to the polls Tuesday, many will have change on their minds.But the Republican congressman said he is confident voters will consider his record and experience and elect him to a seventh term in the 16th District."They need someone in th......
2008-10-30 00:04:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Tennessee's former Sen. Fred Thompson stumped for Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain here on Wednesday, and Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey Jr. did the same for Democrat Sen. Barack Obama, the same day a new statewide voter survey showed Obama maintaining a solid lead.Thomp......
2008-10-29 01:14:00
DAVE PIDGEON
The Vietnam War veteran, dressed in a dark suit and blue tie, still stiff from wounds he received as a POW but nonetheless smiling, leaned into the microphone and told about 10,000 supporters inside the Giant Center he would win the presidential election come Tuesday."I'm not afra......
2008-10-28 11:38:00
TOM MURSE and AD CRABLE
Republican presidential nominee John McCain vowed to "fool the pundits" and win Pennsylvania a week from today, while running mate Sarah Palin sharply criticized Democrat Barack Obama's spending and tax plan, referring to him as "Barack the wealth spreader" at a raucus ral......
2008-10-27 00:05:00
DAVE PIDGEON
All right, Pennsylvania. Get ready for the political limelight.Whether or not it makes sense, Republican Sen. John McCain appears to be making a last stand in our state, essentially willing Pennsylvania into being his gateway to the White House.And Democratic Sen. Barack Obama has n......
2008-10-26 00:21:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
The yard signs sponsored by opponents of the county's proposed home rule charter say it all: "Home rule = Bigger Govt. = HIGHER TAXES." Except, proponents of home rule say, that's not true. Home rule counties actually have a lower rate of tax increases over time, and a be......
2008-10-26 00:12:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
Voters are likely to be inundated with claims and counterclaims about taxes and home rule in the next week, as the battle over the charter heats up. Last week, every household in the county got a postcard from the Lancaster County Government Study Commission outlining features of the charter....
2008-10-25 00:33:00
MADELYN PENNINO
Since an apparent act of vandalism at the GOP headquarters this week, all has been quiet.However, Lois Herr, the executive director of the county Democratic Committee, said people are calling Democratic headquarters daily to report signs being stolen from their property."I woul......
2008-10-24 10:02:00
TOM MURSE
There's less than two weeks until the election, and emotions are running high. But this is a little ridiculous. Vandals firing either pellet guns or real firearms blew a pair of small holes through a window at the county GOP headquarters earlier this week. They also to......
2008-10-24 01:41:00
MICHAEL YODER
Claudia Sciarretta supports Sen. Barack Obama in his run for president, and she's sick of receiving e-mails saying the Illinois Democrat is a Muslim and a socialist who hangs out with terrorists.So when she opened up a copy of a local advertising newspaper this week with a voters' ......
2008-10-24 01:28:00
DAVE PIDGEON
The Straight Talk Express bus pulled up to a Lancaster city curb beneath a building whose windows were decorated with campaign signs for Sen. Barack Obama."It's a 'We're Not Bitter' tour!" said former Gov. Tom Ridge, stepping off the bus to the welcome of a local ......
2008-10-23 02:20:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Who's winning the race for president depends on who's asking the question.A poll released by Franklin & Marshall College on Wednesday says Democrat Sen. Barack Obama is up 5 percent nationally over Republican Sen. John McCain among likely voters.But wait. An Associated P......
2008-10-22 01:29:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Republican Sen. John McCain attempted Tuesday to sow doubts about his Democratic opponent's readiness to handle a crisis by using the words of Sen. Joe Biden."This weekend, Sen. Biden guaranteed that if (Democrat Sen. Barack Obama) is elected, we will have an international crisis ......
2008-10-21 02:03:00
JEFF HAWKES
OK, who's responsible for knocking some sense into Lloyd Smucker?Whoever you are, they're not paying you enough.Back in April, before winning the four-man GOP primary race for state Senate, Smucker had this to say at a forum about school funding:"If additional fu......
2008-10-21 01:31:00
STAFF REPORT
Former presidential hopeful and U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee will headline a Lancaster Republican luncheon Oct. 29.A private reception will begin at 11:15 a.m., with lunch at noon. The event will be held at Lancaster Host, 2300 Lincoln Highway East, East Lampeter.Tickets for......
2008-10-21 01:28:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Pennsylvania's secretary of state accused state Republicans on Monday of filing an "unwarranted" lawsuit against him and the community activist group ACORN to undermine the upcoming election.The state GOP filed the suit Friday, accusing ACORN of fostering voter registration f......
2008-10-19 00:21:00
PAULA WOLF
With the GOP ticket trailing in national and swing state polls as the general election draws near, Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin urged a crowd of about 8,000 supporters Saturday who packed Clipper Magazine Stadium to help McCain-Palin pull off a comeback win. The Alaska gover......
2008-10-19 00:18:00
JON RUTTER
"Isn't She Lovely?" A handful of Sarah Palin detractors didn't see her that way Saturday morning. But legions of her fans did. They cheered loudly when the Republican vice presidential candidate took center stage in Clipper Magazine Stadium, Stevie Wonder's 19......
2008-10-18 13:15:00
STAFF and WIRE REPORTS
Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin made her pitch for a ninth-inning comeback in Pennsylvania at Clipper Magazine Stadium Saturday morning. Palin hit Democratic rival Barack Obama hard on tax policy, drawing enthusiastic support and boos for her rival from the estimated crowd of......
2008-10-18 01:03:00
MICHAEL YODER
As the sun cast long shadows on the infield of Clipper Magazine Stadium on Friday evening, more than a dozen workers set up steel barriers, a stage and a walkway stretching the entire length of the right-field line in preparation for a political powerhouse.This morning, Alaska Gov. Sarah P......
2008-10-17 11:17:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Paul Kaylor did a double-take when he got a new voter ID card in the mail two weeks ago. A lifelong Republican, the 45-year-old now was registered as a Democrat. "I was pretty ticked off about it, to be honest with you," said Kaylor, who has GOP signs hung all over his city home. What......
2008-10-17 01:03:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Joe the Plumber was the star of Republican Sen. John McCain's rally here Thursday.McCain, speaking to about 2,000 supporters inside a gymnasium, said small business owners like Ohioan Joe Wurzelbacher — whose videotaped sparring over taxes with Democrat Sen. Barack Obama thr......
2008-10-16 12:45:00
STAFF
Dozens of people lined up Thursday morning at Lancaster County Republican headquarters to pick up free tickets for the Saturday visit by GOP vice-presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin at Clipper Magazine Stadium. The rally is set for 10:30 a.m. Saturday. The governor of Alaska, Palin will spe......
2008-10-16 01:49:00
JEFF HAWKES
Is Sen. Arlen Specter conflicted about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin? The reluctant endorsement he offered Tuesday in Lancaster says it all.Specter said the folksy governor of Alaska is "obviously an intelligent woman" who has "potential."Potential?Isn't tha......
2008-10-16 01:17:00
DAVE PIDGEON
The final presidential debate between Democrat Sen. Barack Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain may not have produced an obvious winner, except maybe a new icon for the American middle class: "Joe the plumber."That was the conclusion of several political observers from the regio......
2008-10-16 01:05:00
DAVE PIDGEON
A tidal wave of Republican politicos is bearing down on the region less than three weeks before the Nov. 4 election.Republican Sen. John McCain is scheduled to rally supporters in Downingtown around noon today, the second time in as many weeks that he has followed up a high-profile televis......
2008-10-15 11:41:00
RYAN ROBINSON
Sarah Palin is coming back to Lancaster County. The Republican candidate for vice president will speak at a rally at Clipper Magazine Stadium sometime Saturday morning, local campaign officials confirmed today. Tickets will be available between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday at G......
2008-10-15 01:11:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
A side effect of presidential elections is the proliferation of campaign signs decorating lawns.Invariably, some of those signs end up missing when supporters of one candidate take offense to such a visible show of support for the other side.Given the contentiousness of this year......
2008-10-15 01:00:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Republican Sen. John McCain told a GOP crowd in this Philadelphia suburb the nation's economic conditions require the "government to act," as the presidential hopeful unveiled a new $52.5 billion plan.The plan includes making unemployment benefits tax exempt, slashing capital......
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. ......
2008-10-15 00:28:00
MADELYN PENNINO
U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter didn't mince words Tuesday when he talked to local college students about the recent Wall Street bailout or Republican vice presidential candidate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's credentials to lead the country. ...
2008-10-14 00:16:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Former White House hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton led 2,000 people in chants of "Jobs, baby, jobs!" during her second day stumping for Democrat Sen. Barack Obama in Pennsylvania.Her 30-minute speech to a modest crowd gathered in the pastoral setting of Graeme Park, the 18th-century......
2008-10-13 00:04:00
DAVE PIDGEON
The loud thud you heard coming from Harrisburg last week was the sound of Gov. Ed Rendell's second-term agenda hitting the floor of the state Senate.Whether it can stagger back to its feet remains in serious question.Senate Republicans — arguably the most influential polit......
2008-10-12 00:15:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
In Leola on Saturday, Republican Party officials were attacking the county's proposed home-rule charter as a special-interest power play. A half-hour later in Lancaster, other Republicans, including former Congressman Bob Walker, were defending the charter as the best opportunity to move La......
2008-10-09 01:46:00
DAVE PIDGEON
As Democrat Sen. Barack Obama pulled away in Pennsylvania polls, Republican Sen. John McCain tried to outflank him Wednesday on the housing crisis during a boisterous rally at Lehigh University.However, comments by one of the rally's speakers about Obama's middle name threatened to......
2008-10-09 01:30:00
P.J. REILLY
Passive electioneering will be allowed in all Lancaster County voting places Nov. 4.That means voters will be allowed to wear T-shirts, hats, buttons and other items promoting their favorite candidates and issues.But they can't do anything to "actively" call attention ......
2008-10-09 01:27:00
MICHAEL YODER
U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter said he has been noticing a sense of anger among Pennsylvanians over the $700 billion Wall Street bailout package approved by Congress last week.Speaking briefly to reporters outside the Hamilton Club on Wednesday morning after meeting with local GOP officials, Spec......
2008-10-08 11:08:00
CHAD UMBLE
Speaking in Lancaster this morning, U.S. Sen Arlen Specter said that although Pennsylvanians remain "very angry" about the $700 billion economic bailout package approved last week, it was the "lesser of undesirable alternatives." Specter spoke briefly with members of the med......
2008-10-08 02:34:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
If the campaign posters polluting our landscape and the empty promises polluting our airwaves didn't clue you in, I have news for you: It's Election Time.Even though I'm a registered Democrat — for many Lancaster County residents, that's on par with being a registered......
2008-10-08 02:14:00
DAVE PIDGEON
The verdict: Not a game changer.Local political observers said neither Democrat Sen. Barack Obama nor Republican Sen. John McCain emerged triumphant from Tuesday night's debate in Nashville, Tenn."Tonight would not be a game changer in my judgment," said Steve Peterson......
2008-10-08 02:10:00
DAVE PIDGEON
A federal judge dismissed Tuesday an Elizabethtown woman's lawsuit against Lancaster County Republican Committee, saying the GOP's action did not violate her rights under the U.S. Constitution.Millie Max, a Republican committeewoman from Elizabethtown, accused the local GOP of infr......
2008-10-07 10:15:00
CHAD UMBLE
On Monday, U.S. Rep Joe Pitts criticized comments Sen. Barack Obama made last August about U.S. troops in Afghanistan as the McCain campaign started running an ad highlighting Obama's statements. Speaking at a press conference at Lancaster County GOP headquarters Monday afternoon, Pitts said Ob......
2008-10-07 01:58:00
DAVE PIDGEON
A comment Sen. Barack Obama made more than a year ago has emboldened America's enemies more than Osama bin Laden eluding capture for seven years, U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts said Monday.Republicans Pitts and Ryan Aument, Lancaster County Clerk of Courts and an Iraq war veteran, seized on somet......
2008-10-07 01:40:00
P.J. REILLY
It's been three years since city resident Eugene Freeman voted in an election.This year, he and his wife, Glenda, decided it was time he got back into the electoral game."I felt I need to now," the National Novelty Brush Co. employee said Monday afternoon. "The wa......
2008-10-06 11:45:00
TOM MURSE
The number of registered voters in Lancaster County surged by 20,000 in the past year, a dramatic 6½-percent jump fueled by the hotly contested Democratic primary and the race for president. With a 5 p.m. registration deadline looming today, the county said it had 322,595 voters — ......
2008-10-06 00:03:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Welcome back to the Nest, where we're tempted to crack open a cold one to mark just one more month to the Nov. 4 election.Tempted, but part of my code for living is not to celebrate until the job's done. We'll call that the "Thomas E. Dewey Rule." So the special brew ......
2008-10-04 02:00:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
You've heard Sen. Barack Obama. You've heard Sen. John McCain. Now hear President Theodore Roosevelt.In this time of political speeches, the 26th president of the United States will make a stop this weekend at the Strasburg Rail Road, riding the rails with voters and giving whistle......
2008-10-03 18:45:00
TAYLOR BUNDY, 18, Freestyle
Everybody noticed the balloon arch first. As students filed into the room, their eyes wandered toward the red, white and blue display which stretched over the stage.Manheim Township High School seniors entered the school's Convocation Hall and took their seats before a stage strung wit......
2008-10-03 01:10:00
DAVE PIDGEON
U.S. Sen. Joe Biden accomplished his goals of taking Republican Sen. John McCain to task and defending Democrat Sen. Barack Obama, but Thursday night's debate belonged to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, according to two Elizabethtown College pundits. ...
2008-10-02 00:26:00
LORI VAN INGEN
On Sunday, 33 pastors in 22 states defied the Internal Revenue Service's regulation against certain tax-exempt organizations endorsing political candidates on the grounds that it was their First Amendment right to speak freely about politics and moral issues.Local church officials, how......
2008-10-02 00:25:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Polls show a shift in voter sentiment away from Republican Sen. John McCain and toward Democrat Sen. Barack Obama, with one putting Obama up by 15 percentage points in Pennsylvania.What's of particular concern for Republicans, however, are the numbers 43 and 42.The first number ......
2008-10-01 00:29:00
MADELYN PENNINO
This year's presidential election is turning college students who were once apathetic about elections into activists with an urgent message for their peers: Get out and vote.Elizabethtown College senior Megan Hoffa said she didn't give a thought to politics until she heard Democrat......
2008-09-30 01:01:00
JEFF HAWKES
The economy is teetering, and we have high-powered financiers, elitists all, to thank.With their derivatives and hedge funds, they've benefited handsomely from a rarefied form of capitalism that leaves the average Joe scratching his head and, worse, holding the bag.If anyone des......
2008-09-30 00:42:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Stocks tumbled almost 778 points Monday, the largest point drop ever, fueled by Congress's rejection of a $700 billion bailout agreement.And while on Capitol Hill, Democrats and Republicans blamed each other, on the streets, taxpayers fretted over what the economic woes mean for them....
2008-09-30 00:29:00
DAVE PIDGEON
U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts said Monday afternoon Congress would pass a Wall Street bailout this week despite partisan bickering that helped lead to the downfall of a historic $700 billion proposal just hours earlier.And the Chester County Republican who represents Lancaster County pointed the fin......
2008-09-27 01:11:00
LORI VAN INGEN
Local pundits believe the first presidential debate of 2008 ended in a tie, with each candidate scoring points."Both candidates had strong performances but interesting differences," said Adam B. Lawrence, assistant professor in Millersville University's department of governme......
2008-09-27 01:02:00
CARLA DI FONZO
Lancaster shoppers say there are better things to do with taxpayers' money. Some cite health care, the environment and education as more worthy causes.•••When Lancaster residents were asked to give their opinions about the $700 bill......
2008-09-26 00:29:00
JENNIFER TODD
Sen. Joe Biden was always the "leader of the pack," his younger sister said — not because he was a bully, but because he had a gift for inspiring people."He was always encouraging, always saying, 'Go ahead, just try it,' and other kids looked up to him for that......
2008-09-26 00:10:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Bruce Beardsley stood with a massive grin on his face Thursday as he reminisced about a time when local Democrats had a harder time feeling fervent about, well, being Democrats."I remember in the New Holland parade a few years ago," Beardsley said, referring to a time when local ......
2008-09-25 02:06:00
JEFF HAWKES
"My health-care plan will make it easier for more Americans to find and keep good health-care insurance."(Sen. Barack Obama's) plan will force small businesses to cut jobs, reduce wages, and force families into a government-run health-care system where a bureaucr......
2008-09-25 01:18:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Ideas on how to help the economy? Politicians with local and state ties have a few.Rep. Joe Pitts said Wednesday the way to help the struggling economy is not bailout legislation but extensive tax cuts.He proposed eliminating capital gains taxes "for a couple of years" plu......
2008-09-25 00:58:00
MICHAEL YODER
Tom Corbett says he takes comfort in the wisdom of Dr. Seuss.The Pennsylvania attorney general, speaking at Wednesday afternoon's meeting of the Rotary Club of Lancaster, said he still reads the Seuss book "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" for inspiration.A few lines fro......
2008-09-24 01:10:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum told a radio show in January that a Sen. John McCain presidency would be "very, very dangerous for Republicans" because McCain often sided with Democrats on domestic issues.Santorum's perspective, however, has changed.During an interview ......
2008-09-20 00:55:00
DAVE PIDGEON
The presidential candidates are men, but women may determine who wins Pennsylvania's vital 21 electoral votes."Women are 53 percent of the vote; that's what the exit polls show," said G. Terry Madonna, director of the Franklin & Marshall College Center for Politics &a......
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,......
2008-09-18 01:02:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama released a national television ad Tuesday highlighting a Pennsylvania factory that closed four years ago and blaming tax policies embraced by his opponent, Republican Sen. John McCain, for the job losses.The factory — Corning Inc.'......
2008-09-17 00:58:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Although Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden has been campaigning in the media shadow cast by Sarah Palin, he asks Lancaster County residents to consider the Alaskan governor's accessibility to interviewers."The truth of the matter is we don't know what her r......
2008-09-17 00:37:00
P.J. REILLY
Lancaster County Commissioner Craig Lehman said Tuesday that his board should not be interfering with the work of the county's government study commission."On a personal note, I don't believe the board of commissioners should be the referee when it comes to the home-rule issue......
2008-09-16 00:05:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Pennsylvania's senior senator, the 78-year-old Republican Arlen Specter, slowly walked to where a female prisoner sat, her right leg bouncing nervously.The prisoner, a Vietnamese woman with long black hair and wearing faded royal-blue prison garb, looked up at Specter, who stood before......
2008-09-15 00:22:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Pennsylvania's senior senator, Republican Arlen Specter, is in Lancaster this morning visiting Lancaster County Prison, and he plans to meet with not only prison officials and local law enforcement but prisoners as well.Why? Specter's leading the charge for a bill in the U.S. Senat......
2008-09-13 01:04:00
DAVE PIDGEON
The microphones have been turned off, the colorful signs stashed away and the stages torn down. Lancaster County's brief moment at the center of America's presidential campaign has passed.Yet the county remains a vital front in what could prove to be the battleground state......
2008-09-10 01:26:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain brought his campaign to Franklin & Marshall College on Tuesday afternoon, promising a charged, sign-waving crowd of 7,000 that he's the real agent of change in this year's election. ...
2008-09-10 01:17:00
CARLA DI FONZO
To some people, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is a "rock star."Or at least, that's what some attendees of the "Road to Victory" rally at Franklin & Marshall College's Alumni Sports & Fitness Center on Harrisburg Pike said Tuesday afternoon."I was s......
2008-09-10 00:55:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
Only a handful of protesters appeared Tuesday afternoon at Franklin & Marshall College for the McCain/Palin rally, but they seemed to get under the skin of some fans waiting in lines thousands deep.Keystone Progress, a nonpartisan organization just six weeks old, protested Republican v......
2008-09-10 00:46:00
TOM KNAPP
Meghan Berasley was flushed with excitement as she grabbed a friend by the arm and exclaimed, "He touched my hand."Berasley was one of thousands of people who flocked to Franklin & Marshall College on Tuesday to catch a glimpse of Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McC......
2008-09-09 11:31:00
TOM MURSE
Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin, on their way to Lancaster for an afternoon rally today, will portray themselves here as reformers who will "drain the Washington swamp" and fight special interests, aides and recent appearances suggest. The GOP presidential nominee will renew h......
2008-09-09 01:53:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Sen. John McCain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin get their turn today.The Republican presidential and vice presidential nominees will spend most of the day in Lancaster County, culminating with a rally at Franklin & Marshall College this afternoon, just five days after Democratic nominee B......
2008-09-09 01:43:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Gov. Ed Rendell Monday summed up Sen. John McCain's campaign and the Republican National Convention last week with three words: "The Big Lie."Making his first remarks here since the GOP convention, Rendell convened a news conference Monday afternoon on the grass-and-concrete ......
2008-09-09 01:15:00
LORI VAN INGEN
Horns were sounding Monday evening in Penn Square in response to signs that encouraged drivers to honk if they wanted change.About 20 people, organized by Lancaster Coalition for Peace and Justice, held signs saying "Tax Credits for People, Not Big Business," "End Violence N......
2008-09-09 01:06:00
JENNIFER TODD
Eighteen months ago, the last thing on Dan Wagner's mind was the millions of people suffering from extreme poverty and disease in Africa.But after watching a simulcast in which U2 front man Bono spoke on behalf of the ONE Campaign, which seeks to promote international aid, the Franklin......
2008-09-08 00:08:00
JENNIFER TODD
Karin Cramer exited Republican headquarters Sunday afternoon with a smile on her face a mile wide.In her hand were two tickets to Tuesday's rally at Franklin & Marshall College for GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain. More importantly to her, they were tickets to see McCain&#......
2008-09-08 00:01:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into Harrisburg's political waters, the Legislature is going back in session next week.For the House and Senate, Sept. 15 will mark the first time either chamber has convened since state Attorney General Tom Corbett charged an ex-lawmaker, a......
2008-09-05 02:15:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama fought back Thursday against Republican attacks during a rally under the shade of oak trees in Lancaster's Buchanan Park.As a crowd estimated at 15,000 and a horde of local, state and national media watched from the parched lawn of the cit......
2008-09-05 01:50:00
JENNIFER TODD
Suzanne Yoder can rattle off a term paper's worth of reasons why Sen. Barack Obama should be the next president of the United States.Not only does Obama have new and inspiring ideas, but more importantly, he also has a plan to see them through, the Franklin & Marshall College sopho......
2008-09-05 01:36:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
It was just another steamy Thursday in Columbia's historic Market House — until the Secret Service surrounded the building and a presidential candidate dropped in.Sen. Barack Obama made an unscheduled stop at the market on his way to a rally at Buchanan Park.Within minutes......
2008-09-04 01:39:00
DAVE PIDGEON
On the day his Republican rival officially becomes the GOP standard-bearer, Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama will rally supporters on the lawn of Buchanan Park, his campaign confirmed Wednesday.Obama's visit comes at a time when the Illinois senator is trying to hold o......
2008-09-04 01:32:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain will make a campaign stop Tuesday on the campus of Franklin & Marshall College for a town hall meeting, several Republican sources told the Intelligencer Journal Wednesday.McCain will appear at the F&M Sports & Fitness Center, ac......
2008-09-04 01:07:00
LORI VAN INGEN
Anne Beiler, founder of Lancaster-based Auntie Anne's Pretzels, said it was "very exciting" to speak Wednesday in front of the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn. ...
2008-09-03 01:28:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama is expected to make a stop in Lancaster County Thursday, a source close to the Obama campaign said Tuesday.The source, who did not want to be named because she was not authorized to speak about Obama's schedule, said potential sites w......
2008-09-03 01:23:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Republicans at their party's national convention remained determined — even angry — in their support of vice-presidential nominee, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, even as potentially damaging revelations about her continued to brew, local and state sources attending the event said Tuesda......
2008-09-02 11:38:00
TOM MURSE
Lancaster County's delegates to the Republican National Convention rallied behind the surprise pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for vice president after learning Monday that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is pregnant. "The people are pumped," said Dale Murray, 58, a Mount Joy r......
2008-08-30 00:58:00
CARLA DI FONZO
Whether or not Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is the best choice as Sen. John McCain's running mate depends on whom you ask.Some suggest that Palin, the first woman chosen by the GOP to run for vice president, looked like a good option after the McCain camp reviewed polls indicating a signifi......
2008-08-29 02:01:00
PATRICK BURNS
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama delivered his message of hope and change Thursday before 80,000 people in Denver, Colo.Some Pennsylvania Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts, rallied for GOP hopeful Sen. John McCain in Denver, Pa. — total population about 3,......
2008-08-29 01:55:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Eighty-one-year-old Hazel Jackson recalls a time when she, because she is black, was kept from voting and was not permitted to teach in Lancaster's public schools.So for her, Thursday's acceptance by Sen. Barack Obama of the Democratic Party's presidential nomination was a monu......
2008-08-28 01:22:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
A new $25 tax for those receiving child support may be repealed before it's ever collected.State Rep. Kate Harper, a Montgomery County Republican, is calling for legislators to repeal the annual tax, which was announced to parents in July."August is Child Support Awareness ......
2008-08-28 01:11:00
MICHAEL YODER
G. Terry Madonna and Sen. Joe Biden share a few things in common — a love of politics, a school adviser and an alma mater.Madonna was a first-year graduate student at the University of Delaware in the mid-1960s, majoring in political history, when Biden was a senior history and polit......
2008-08-27 01:04:00
MICHAEL YODER
Sen. Hillary Clinton may have lost the Democratic nomination for president, but her supporters, both locally and nationally, are still loyal to her vision for the country.But in the meantime, most of those same supporters have put personal views aside and are fully supporting Sen. Barack O......
2008-08-27 00:57:00
LORI VAN INGEN
Anne Beiler, founder of Lancaster-based Auntie Anne's Pretzels, will be one of the prime-time speakers at next week's 2008 Republican National Convention.Beiler is scheduled to speak Wednesday on the theme for the evening, "Prosperity."Wednesday's program will ......
2008-08-22 01:37:00
JEFF HAWKES
State Rep. Mark Mustio is a Pittsburgh-area Republican who has this really goofy idea that the state Legislature is too big.He thinks we could reduce the cost of government and improve legislative accountability by simply shrinking the pool of politicians who pass laws.Can you imagi......
2008-08-21 00:37:00
DAVE PIDGEON
If votes can grow out in the fields of rural Pennsylvania and across the nation, presidential contenders John McCain and Barack Obama are hoping for a plentiful harvest this fall.Both campaigns drew attention to the rural vote Tuesday as a retired state senator from Lancaster joined the Mc......
2008-08-19 01:03:00
DAVE PIDGEON
As the state attorney general digs for evidence of improper use of public money by the state House Republican caucus, local GOP lawmakers say they're in the dark about where the investigation might lead."We don't know anything other than what we're reading in the paper,&qu......
2008-08-18 00:04:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Hallam … Wrightsville … Mountville … Landisville.The towns slipped past the windows of John McCain's Straight Talk Express bus as the presumptive Republican nominee and his campaign rambled Tuesday from an energizing townhall meeting in York to a brief visit with t......
2008-08-15 00:54:00
MICHAEL YODER
Sen. Joe Lieberman's criticism of Sen. Barack Obama at Sen. John McCain's town hall meeting in York on Tuesday drew an angry response from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.Pelosi, interviewed Wednesday on a radio program in San Francisco, called Lieberman's comments about the Democra......
2008-08-14 00:42:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Democrat Sen. Barack Obama would squeak by his Republican rival and seize Pennsylvania's vital 21 electoral votes if the presidential election were held today, according to a new Franklin & Marshall College poll of Pennsylvania voters released Wednesday.There are, however, troublin......
2008-08-13 01:47:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Manheim Central senior Jeremy Knosp grasped a football, dropped back and fired a pass to a wide receiver.Knosp's teammate caught the ball, but all eyes quickly shifted from the play to a man walking nearby.Strolling around the bleachers and onto the artificial turf of Elden Rett......
2008-08-13 01:40:00
STEPHANIE WEAVER
Sen. John McCain's visit to York County on Tuesday not only assured those skeptical of his ability to side with conservatives, but proved he's willing, and ready, to put party differences aside to better the country, many who attended said. ...
2008-08-13 01:35:00
KIM O’BRIEN and MICHAEL YODER
In what has become a tradition when prominent Republican politicians make appearances in Lancaster County, local protesters took to the streets Tuesday to challenge the visit of Sen. John McCain, the presumptive GOP presidential candidate.McCain spoke in Manheim after holding a town-hall-s......
2008-08-13 00:53:00
TOM KNAPP
After campaigning Tuesday morning with Sen. John McCain in York, Arlen Specter stopped in Lancaster to air his thoughts on the energy crunch, Russian aggression and bipartisan one-upmanship in the nation's capitol.Congress, Pennsylvania's senior senator said emphatically, ought to ......
2008-08-12 21:03:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain turned in a Knute Rockne-type performance Tuesday afternoon as the Arizona senator stopped by football practice at Manheim Central High School in Manheim, Pa.Gone was the tie and suit jacket in favor of a powder-blue dress shirt, open collar and ......
2008-08-12 01:44:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain likely will stop in Lancaster County today after a town-hall event in York County, an anonymous Republican official said Monday.However, just where and when McCain will make the stop remains unknown. And a number of local Republican leaders say t......
2008-08-11 00:04:00
DAVE PIDGEON
"Sorry I fell back there," a perspiring state Rep. Bryan Cutler said Wednesday as sweat cascaded off his face, lungs heaving, legs with grapefruit-sized calf muscles propelling him along a road up a steep hill. "I had to shoot some goo."Cutler, as he continued to j......
2008-08-09 01:23:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Gov. Ed Rendell stopped at a Denver mattress factory Friday, where he announced that Lancaster County would receive more than $30 million through his "Putting Pennsylvania to Work" economic-stimulus program.•••Promoting new jo......
2008-08-08 17:56:00
RYAN DUNN, 19
Teen EditorialPeople either old enough to know such things or those young enough to still have hope like to bombard you with statistics about why you should vote in the presidential election this November.Their rhetoric doesn't seem ......
2008-08-08 00:38:00
DAVE PIDGEON
About 200 local Democrats, dressed in hippie, casual, hip-hop or business attire, crammed into Obama campaign headquarters in Lancaster city Thursday evening."They have to demean him," Mayor Rick Gray said, speaking of recent Republican attack ads aimed at Barack Obama, the Democ......
2008-08-07 00:44:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain next week will make his first appearance in central Pennsylvania since becoming the GOP's presumptive nominee, a local campaign official confirmed Wednesday night.Frank Orban III, McCain's campaign co-chair in Lancaster County, said the A......
2008-08-06 00:51:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Sen. John McCain predicted Tuesday night that Pennsylvania will play the kind of decisive role Florida and Ohio did in the last two presidential elections."We're going to have to campaign hard here, and I realize I'm the underdog," the Arizona senator said during a 45-min......
2008-08-05 00:38:00
DAVE PIDGEON
He's a Bible student with a knack for numbers, and he's now the Lancaster County Republican Committee's new executive director.He's 23-year-old Bill Coder of Lancaster, who's taking over a position left vacant since May, when Andrew Heath left to work with Anne Beiler o......
2008-08-01 00:38:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Republican Chet Beiler said Thursday morning that he would push for a change in Pennsylvania law to allow the office of auditor general to inspect the spending habits of the state Legislature.Beiler, the former chairman of the Lancaster County Republican Committee, also slammed current Aud......
2008-07-31 01:04:00
DAVE PIDGEON
State Sen. Mike Brubaker is expected to return to a full schedule in two weeks after successfully undergoing surgery Wednesday to remove his prostate.The 50-year-old Warwick Township Republican learned earlier this year he had prostate cancer, but the illness had been diagnosed early....
2008-07-30 01:32:00
JENNIFER TODD
Legislation signed Tuesday by President Bush will tighten sanctions against Myanmar's ruling military regime by blocking the importation of precious gemstones to the United States from the southern Asian country.The legislation will eliminate a significant source of funding for the cou......
2008-07-17 01:30:00
JEFF HAWKES
Lancaster County Republican leaders are out to torpedo home rule, ginning up fear and insulting our intelligence.By voice vote to drown out dissent within its ranks, the GOP committee last week passed a resolution so maliciously dishonest, so florid in its warnings of "powerful intimi......
2008-07-14 00:23:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Patrick Meehan's time in the spotlight didn't last long. And that could be to his advantage.The U.S. attorney who oversees Pennsylvania's eastern district announced his resignation July 7, and immediately the political realm began chatting about the possibility of the Republica......
2008-07-13 00:21:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
By Tom Corbett's account, if he were a painter, he'd be the guy cutting in around the windows and woodwork. He wouldn't be wielding a roller on the walls. "A prosecutor can't paint with a broad brush," the state attorney general told members of Lancaster County AC......
2008-07-11 12:25:00
CHAD UMBLE
Here's an understatement: The local GOP opposes the home rule charter. The Republican Committee of Lancaster County got off the sidelines of the home rule debate in a big way Thursday night, soundly rejecting the proposed charter in a resolution that said the plan would "deform rather ......
2008-07-11 12:16:00
TOM MURSE
As if Pennsylvanians need one more reason to distrust state lawmakers. The public-corruption charges that rocked the Capitol and rippled through the state today read like a Hollywood script, tarnishing not only the accused but the entire legislative body as well, local lawmakers say. "......
2008-07-11 12:00:00
TOM MURSE
Scott and Jennifer Brubaker were two peas in a pod, both local high-school grads whose passion for politics earned them accolades not just in Lancaster County but in the halls of the Capitol as well. In April of 1997, for example, the couple were named "Democrats of the Year" by the l......
2008-07-11 11:20:00
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tally of charges in probe
A quick look at the defendants in Pennsylvania's legislative bonuses probe. Each defendant was charged with at least one count each of conflict of interest, theft and conspiracy. • Mike Veon, former House Democratic whip, 59 counts. ......
2008-07-11 01:45:00
JEFF HAWKES
Lancaster County Democrats, have a word with your leader. Please.Bruce Beardsley, your unfailingly optimistic, indefatigable county chairman, is in need of a reality check.While Beardsley is a courageous partisan, always marching the flag of Democratic values into the gale of Lancas......
2008-07-11 01:23:00
LARRY ALEXANDER and DAVE PIDGEON
The former chairman of the Lancaster County Democratic Party and his wife are among 12 people accused by a grand jury of using taxpayer money for political campaigns.Scott and Jennifer Brubaker, former Elizabethtown residents who have been deeply involved in the Democratic House Caucus, ar......
2008-07-11 01:18:00
MARK SCOLFORO
(AP)Twelve people connected to the state House Democratic caucus, including a state representative and the former caucus whip, were charged Thursday after grand jurors concluded that millions of taxpayer dollars were illegally siphoned from the public treasury to underwrite political campaigns....
2008-07-10 00:02:00
P.J. REILLY
Factions at odds over weapon's use in hunting seasons•••Crossbows are once again back in the crosshairs in Pennsylvania.Efforts to allow the use of crossbows statewide during all hunting seasons — including the fall arc......
2008-07-10 18:00:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Correction — The story below, posted on LancasterOnline Tuesday, about the resignation of U.S. Attorney Patrick L. Meehan incorrectly reported the results of Meehan's prosecution of Lancaster County builder Philip Garland. Garland pleade......
2008-07-09 01:20:00
P.J. REILLY
The home-rule charter put to Lancaster County voters in November will not call for electing commissioners by district, the Government Study Commission decided Tuesday. Member Sam Mecum, who proposed the districting idea, said rejecting it could doom the charter's chances of ratification....
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......
2008-07-05 00:08:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
A lawsuit filed against state Sen. Michael Brubaker, which stemmed from an incident at a Turkey Hill store last year, has been tossed out of court for the second time.Barbara Showalter, a Denver resident who advocates for tighter regulations on Pennsylvania's commercial dog kennels, fi......
2008-07-03 01:03:00
DAVE PIDGEON
It's been through many rewrites during the past week, but a bill mandating private insurance coverage of autism treatments for children is headed to the governor for his signature.The state Senate and House approved the legislation in the last two days, with the Senate voting 49-1 Wedn......
2008-07-01 02:03:00
JEFF HAWKES
Persecuted for his Quaker faith, William Penn founded Pennsylvania as a "holy experiment" where people would be free to worship as they choose.As a result Catholics, Lutherans, Mennonites and Amish joined Quakers in settling Penn's Woods 300 years ago.Penn's charte......
2008-07-01 00:26:00
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
The details of a $28.2 billion state budget deal reached overnight remained vague Monday, as aides scrambled on the last day of the fiscal year to distill the handshake agreement into understandable facts and figures.The agreement between Gov. Ed Rendell and top legislators, announced just......
2008-06-30 00:06:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Private insurance companies will continue denying coverage of autism treatments under a bill passed 49-1 by the state Senate on Sunday, opponents said prior to the vote.The opponents originally stood as proponents of a mandate forcing private coverage, but the final version of the bill was......
2008-06-24 00:47:00
DAVE PIDGEON
The words spill out of Tim Haun's mouth so quickly about his favorite movie, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," that they're hard to distinguish — a sign of the zealousness the 14-year-old harbors for a memorable scene.Tousled brown hair, lanky arms waving emphatica......
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......
2008-06-18 00:43:00
BRIAN WALLACE
The School District of Lancaster board approved a 2008-09 budget Tuesday that calls for hiring 24 new employees, but how many of those positions actually get filled will depend, in part, on the state Legislature.SDL is in line for a hefty 16.9 percent hike in state funding under Gov. Ed Re......
2008-06-16 00:04:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Through the sizzle of eggs and bacon on the griddle where Dad was cooking breakfast, the familiar urgent cadence of stringed instruments would flow from the television, along with a voice announcing: "From NBC News in Washington, This is 'Meet the Press' with Tim Russert."...
2008-06-12 01:06:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain swung into this city Wednesday for a town-hall meeting at which he painted his Democratic rival as risking another Great Depression with his economic platform.Democrat Barack Obama has called for taxing oil companies' windfall profits and ren......
2008-06-11 01:15:00
MARC LEVY
(AP)The state Senate has broken a yearlong stalemate on a statewide smoking ban, approving a compromise bill Tuesday that would make Pennsylvania the 33rd state to outlaw smoking in many workplaces and public spaces.The Senate voted 41-9, sending the bill to Gov. Ed Rendell to be signed in......
2008-06-10 11:31:00
BERNARD HARRIS
If he wins in November, John McCain would be the oldest person ever elected U.S. president. While age will be a factor in the race, Frank Fryburg believes McCain's age — he turns 72 in August — will help him get elected. In fact, Fryburg said, "some of us consider him ......
2008-06-04 11:16:00
CHAD UMBLE
Nearly 200 members of the Republican Committee of Lancaster County gathered at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Farm and Home Center to pick new officers. By 7:15, they had re-elected David Dumeyer to a fourth term as chairman of the local GOP and approved a new slate of officers. Dumeyer was unopposed, a......
2008-06-04 00:54:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Pennsylvania moved a step closer to imposing a ban on indoor smoking as a bipartisan legislative committee approved a compromise bill Tuesday.The bill is full of exemptions. If it becomes law, smokers in drinking establishments, nursing homes and some hotel rooms would still be allowed to ......
2008-06-02 00:02:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Elections are the purest means of holding government officials accountable.And if you desire accountability, it's essential to have as many competitive races as possible each November.Sadly, Pennsylvania has about as many truly competitive contests this year as the Phillies have......
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......
2008-05-29 01:02:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
A plan to expand veterans' benefits under the GI Bill has many former soldiers at odds with their commander-in-chief and the Republicans' front-running presidential candidate.The bill, part of a 10-year, $250 billion spending package, includes a $52 billion expansion of the GI Bill......
2008-05-28 01:03:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Snuffed out just a couple weeks ago, the debate over a proposed statewide smoking ban in public areas is about to light up again.The six-member legislative conference committee charged with drawing up a bill that the state House and Senate would approve is scheduled to meet twice next week......
2008-05-23 14:36:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
County Republican Party Executive Director Andrew Heath is resigning to take a job in the private sector. Heath, who was named to run the county GOP in 2006, said he wasn't looking for a change, but he was approached by representatives of businesswoman Anne Beiler, the founder of Auntie Ann......
2008-05-22 02:25:00
JEFF HAWKES
Unlike generals who get scouting reports on the size of enemy forces, educators battling dismal dropout rates often don't know what they're up against.The nation's graduation rate is said to be as low as 70 percent and as high as 83 percent, The Center for Public Education repo......
2008-05-22 01:36:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Congressional Republicans and oil company executives on Wednesday pushed for access to domestic territory cut off from oil exploration.Among the Republicans was Rep. Joe Pitts, who's adding a supportive voice to a GOP energy package — introduced the same day oil executives testif......
2008-05-21 02:05:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
The following is an intelligence test for gas station owners, so listen up:Say I pull into your station, where you are selling gas for $3.859 per gallon, and I buy exactly 1 gallon of gas. (Careful! Here comes the tricky part.)How much change should you give me if I put $3.86 on the......
2008-05-21 01:20:00
DAVE PIDGEON
Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell expressed openness to a package of tax cuts proposed by Senate Republicans Tuesday as legislators prepared to ratchet up state budget negotiations.Most of the GOP tax-cut proposals are aimed at businesses, but one measure would raise the threshold for state incom......
2008-05-19 20:17:00
DAVE PIDGEON
It was Sen. John McCain's turn on Saturday Night Live last weekend."What should we be looking for in our next president?" McCain asked during one segment. "Certainly, someone who is very, very, very old."McCain, a sprightly 71, told the audience he has the ne......
2008-05-16 01:25:00
DAVE PIDGEON
There's only so much state money to go around, so while advocates for alternative energy development and health care reform are falling over each other for their share, local libraries also are clamoring for more dollars.Officials with the Library System of Lancaster County met Thursda......
2008-05-15 00:01:00
JEFF HAWKES
Maybe I underestimated Scott Martin.He ran for commissioner last spring saying a county health department would be a "tremendous mistake."I thought, "Tremendous mistake?"Betting against Eli Manning and the Giants was a tremendous mistake. Invading Iraq, th......
2008-05-14 00:56:00
DAVE PIDGEON
A bill authored by a Lancaster County senator aimed at cleaning soap detergents that pollute waterways became law Tuesday, making Pennsylvania the second state in the nation with this type of
