LancasterOnline -

Lampeter-Strasburg school board votes to borrow $30 million

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:42:00 EST

Lampeter-Strasburg school board members agreed to borrow more than $30 million during a Nov. 16 meeting, with the option of having access to $1.5 million more.The borrowing came in two separate decisions.The first approval was for a 2009 general obligation note, including a principal totaling $14,58...

Home sales building here

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:21:00 EST

Once could be a fluke.But four straight times … well, that's a legitimate trend.Pending home sales here in October rose 26 percent from their October 2008 level, the Lancaster County Association of Realtors said Friday.Pending home sales have surpassed their year-earlier level by more tha...

Man crashes into Lititz playground

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:02:00 EST

A Manheim man crashed his car into a Lititz playground Thursday, then kicked police officers trying to arrest him.Kevin Sean Lovendoski, 51, of Gish Road, Manheim, lost control of his car as he tried to negotiate a turn at West Second Avenue and South Spruce Street on Thursday, police said.His car w...

Battle over $1.25M bequest in judge's hands

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST

The legal battle over a Columbia man's $1.25 million bequest to the Lancaster Public Library is now in the hands of a judge.Thomas Bucher, who died in July 2008 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, left his estate to the library rather than his relatives.Bucher's family members took the matt...

Vacant West Hempfield Township home gutted by fire

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:36:00 EST

For the second time in two years, tragedy visited a West Hempfield Township home.The house at 545 Pitney Road, which was for sale and is believed to still be owned by Donna and Reiad Danfora, was ravaged by a fire early Friday morning."It pretty much gutted the place," said West Hempfield Township p...

Elizabethtown man charged in another sex assault

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:21:00 EST

Four years ago, Ricky Kenneth Goodin was charged with sexually assaulting a young girl.He pleaded guilty, was placed on probation and registered as a sex offender under Megan's Law rules.Now, Goodin has been arrested again, police said, for allegedly sexually assaulting another little girl &mdas...

Woman rescued from river

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:33:00 EST

Rescue crews helped remove a Berks County woman from the Susquehanna River Friday after she jumped from the Route 30 bridge.The 32-year-old woman, whom police declined to identify pending notification of her family, was driving west on the Route 30 bridge between Columbia and Wrightsville when she s...

Woman survives jump from Route 30 bridge

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:33:00 EST

A woman jumped from the Route 30 bridge into the Susquehanna River at mid-day — and survived. The woman jumped at about 1:45 p.m., after parking her car on the westbound side of the bridge. The woman was described as having light-colored hair and wearing a red coat and jeans. After she jumped,...

Opinion: SMART REMARKS: Palin in 2012!

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:46:00 EST

...

Couple charged with falsely reporting car stolen

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:23:00 EST

An Elizabethtown couple has been charged with insurance fraud, police reported today.William B. Warren III, 29, and Tabitha Warren, 26, both of the 200 block of South Market Street, told police their vehicle was stolen from a street near their home overnight Aug. 10, Elizabethtown police said. The c...

YWCA ends classes

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:31:00 EST

Two or three times a week, Mary Ellen Schaeffer of East Lampeter Township would see her fellow "regulars … we sort of were like one big family."She was a regular at the swimming pool at the YWCA of Lancaster for its water-exercise classes, which kept her in shape and also "aren't as hard ...

Counterfeit bills passed at Manheim Auto Auction

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:30:00 EST

Eight counterfeit bills were passed during vehicle sale transactions at the Manheim Auto Auction, police reported today.Six $100 bills, a $20 bill and a $10 bill, all bogus, were passed during three separate transactions on Wednesday, Penn Township police said.The counterfeit cash was seized and the...

Convention Center $1 million in red

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:23:00 EST

The question has never been whether the Lancaster County Convention Center would lose money. The question has always been how much.The answer Thursday night: $973,084 next year.That number is the bottom line of the Lancaster County Convention Center Authority's operating budget for the center fo...

Guards will fight salary freeze

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:22:00 EST

The union representing corrections officers at Lancaster County Prison said Thursday it is "prepared to fight back" against the county commissioners' decision to reject 7-percent raises awarded to the officers by an arbitration panel.Republican commissioners Dennis Stuckey and Scott Martin, who ...

Gap woman killed when car hits tractor trailer

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:10:00 EST

A Gap woman was killed when her car struck a tractor trailer head-on Thursday afternoon on Route 30 in Gap, police reported.Anna Mary Stoltzfus, 66, was driving west in a Buick sedan near the county's border with Chester County, state police said.Shortly before 4 p.m., she crossed into oncoming...

$24.5M prison facility proposed

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:08:00 EST

The Lancaster County Prison Board heard a proposal Thursday for a $24.5 million work-release facility that would house almost 400 prisoners.The purpose of the facility, it was told, would be to house and train eligible prisoners who would work in community jobs.Those jobs would provide inmates with ...

School District of Lancaster afternoon tutoring, activities return

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:42:00 EST

The salsa lessons, drill team practices and math and reading help are finally returning to School District of Lancaster schools.The district plans to resume its free after-school tutoring and enrichment programs Dec. 1 — two months later than usual because of the state budget standoff.To compe...

School District of Lancaster gets $3.4 million from feds

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:02:00 EST

More academic help for students, stronger supports for teachers and better access to information for parents are three goals of new and expanded programs School District of Lancaster plans to pursue in the coming years with federal stimulus funds.SDL is getting $3.37 million in Title 1 grants throug...

Denlinger: Ban interest-rate 'swaps'

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:01:00 EST

A Lancaster County lawmaker will call for a statewide ban on the use of controversial interest-rate "swaps" by school districts and local governments, which, in some cases, have cost taxpayers millions of dollars.State Rep. Gordon Denlinger, a Narvon Republican who is one of only a few certified pub...

Brubaker Farms owner honored with Delp Award

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:16:00 EST

The highest honor in the Lancaster County agriculture industry was presented to Luke Brubaker at the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce & Industry's agriculture industry banquet at Shady Maple Banquet & Conference Center Thursday night.Brubaker is an owner of Brubaker Farms in East Donegal Township.T...