Allegiant Air Wants To Run Lancaster-To-Orlando Flights

English: This is a photo of an Allegiant MD-83 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A discount airline wants to provide nonstop jet service between Lancaster and Orlando — if the local airport authority pays its expenses here.

Allegiant Air has contacted the Lancaster Airport Authority to express interest in flying the route twice a week.

“It’s not as glamorous as it might appear,” David Eberly, airport director, said.

“They’re in a lot of smaller communities like Lancaster, and they don’t want to pay the community anything.”

In a separate development, the authority has asked the federal government to subsidize daily service to a new city on a new carrier.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/655489_Airline-wants-to-run-Lancaster-to-Orlando-flights.html#ixzz1wBAcSWfK

Community Hub Resumes In Lancaster City

Eastern Market launches 7th season Saturday

 

Lancaster city’s Eastern Market serves many roles.

The seasonal market is intended to get fresh, locally grown produce to residents of the low-income East King Street neighborhood. It also serves as a business incubator for upstart entrepreneurs, as a community hub and as part of an initiative to promote a sustainable urban lifestyle.

Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., the market begins its seventh season working to meet those goals.

Under the shadow of the former market house, now home of Tabor Community Services, the market will occupy the plaza at 308 E. King St.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/655998_Community-hub-resumes-in-Lancaster-city.html

Pending Home Sales Up 28.9% In Lancaster County

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lancaster County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Pending home sales grew by 28.9 percent here in April, the Lancaster County Association of Realtors said Friday.

Last month saw 495 pending sales here, up from 384 in April 2011, according to the Realtors group.

With the April surge, pending home sales in Lancaster County have climbed in 11 of the past 12 months, including the last seven in a row.

“We’re going in the right direction, and that’s exciting stuff,” said Quentin Miller, LCAR president. “I’m cautiously optimistic about the trend. This is the best we’ve seen in years.”

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/651268_Pending-home-sales-up-28-9–in-Lancaster-County.html#ixzz1vWZ0jWNT

Manheim Township School Board Backs Fee Hikes For Activities

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lancaster County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Taxes will be going up next year for all Manheim Township School District property owners, but those whose children participate in sports and other extracurricular activities will face an additional tax burden.

At least that’s how Bob Geisenberger sees it.

Geisenberger, of Suffolk Drive, was one of four residents — two parents and two students — who complained about the school board’s decision to double student participation fees for sports and other after-school activities next year.

The fees will increase from the current $60 for an unlimited number of activities to $120 for the first activity, $80 for the second and $60 for each subsequent activity, with no cap on how much each student or family could pay.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/646170_Manheim-Township-board-backs-fee-hikes-for-activities.html#ixzz1uZrxIXNz

Bank Of America Closes Lancaster City Branch

Bank of America closed its Penn Square branch last Friday, ending eight years of operation there.

Bank of America had acquired the Griest Building branch through its 2004 purchase of FleetBoston Financial.

Griest Building owner Rob Ecklin said two other banks have expressed interest in opening in the 4,100-square-foot location.

“I’m hopeful of getting another bank in there, but I just don’t know. It’s too early to tell,” Ecklin said.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/641057_Bank-of-America-closes-Lancaster-city-branch.html#ixzz1uKScUYck

The Three Statistics That Every Downtown Should Live By

Editor’s note:  This is phenomenal advice for all downtown shopping districts and their umbrella organizations i.e. Pottstown Downtown Improvement District Authority.

Lancaster and its James Street Improvement District are prime examples of living by these three simple rules!  I suggest a field trip for any struggling downtown merchants or downtown organizations who want to see what is possible!

I call this the 7-8-7 rule because of the three most important statistics that make a downtown a successful and vibrant destination. Think of your favorite destination downtowns. Are they beautiful? Do they feel safe? Are there things to do after 6:00 pm?

Read more: http://www.rogerbrooks.org/2012/04/30/the-three-downtown-statistics/

Lancaster’s Spring ArtWalk Will Be Hands-On

During next weekend’s ArtWalk in downtown Lancaster, you won’t just be looking at the art — you’ll be a part of it.

Community-made paintings will be one byproduct of the hands-on, interactive events offered by several galleries and studios around town Saturday and Sunday.

For example, you can step into the paint-flecked shoes of Jackson Pollock, helping to create one of several paintings on the second floor of Tellus360/Gallery360, 24 E. King St., from noon to 3 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday.

 

Annie Schwartz, of Tellus360, said 11 stretched canvases of various sizes will be placed on the floor, and visitors can take turns dripping various colors of donated house paint onto the canvases, experiencing Pollock’s technique.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/636260_Lancaster-s-spring-ArtWalk-will-be-hands-on.html#ixzz1tXIHrEQH

UGI Plans Big Project In Lancaster City

UGI Utilities will upgrade more than two miles of underground gas main in Lancaster city starting Monday, April 30.

The $1.3 million project, to be completed in mid-July, will insert high-density plastic pipe inside cast-iron pipe that’s as much as a century old.

Targeted are gas mains resting three to four feet under Orange Street and New Holland Avenue.

“When it was installed, it was state-of-the-art. But it’s served its purpose.  All these years later, plastic is the way to go,” UGI’s Mike Fessler said.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/631150_UGI-plans-big-project-in-Lancaster-city.html#ixzz1si9AJMdt

Lancaster’s Lemon Street Expands Downtown To The North With Stores, Markets And Apartments

Editor’s note:  Lancaster is leading the way as a highly walkable urban community.  Continued development to bring people and businesses downtown is paying big dividends.

 

Fifteen years ago, real estate developer Ed Drogaris sought to breathe life into a mostly moribund block on North Prince Street.

 

His Prince Street Center project eventually redeveloped two vacant tobacco warehouses and a former car dealership.

 

They became 130,000 square feet of residential, commercial, retail and restaurant space.

 

In recent years, his efforts have shifted to the corner of the block.

 

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/626451_Sweet-on-Lemon.html#ixzz1sDpjV5U6

 

Cape Air To Pull Out Of Lancaster Airport

Cape Air Cessna 402 at SRQ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Cape Air has decided to stop serving Lancaster Airport, a company executive said Wednesday.

But it will keep flying between here and Baltimore-Washington International until a successor starts operating here.

“Cape Air is committed to providing uninterrupted, great daily air service … until another airline can begin,” said Andrew Bonney, vice president of planning.

Whether another airline offers to serve Lancaster, and which city it would fly to, remains to be seen.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/625177_Cape-Air-to-pull-out-of-Lancaster-Airport.html#ixzz1ryuKZsVO

Distilling New Life Into Lancaster City Sites

In the window of the Fulton bar there is taped a copy of the judge’s injunction that shuttered the business in October.

But recently, a second sign was added at the dark 637 N. Plum St. bar. The orange notice refers to Monday’s Zoning Hearing Board meeting.

Blocks away, a similar orange notice is posted in the former Señorita Burrita, at 227 N. Prince St.

The applicant in both cases is the same.

Robert McGrath, owner of the four-store Roburrito’s chain in York County, is coming to Lancaster in a big way.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/625865_Distilling-new-life-into-Lancaster-city-sites.html#ixzz1ryrlpdyv

 

Lancaster County Convention Center, Local Tourism Looks Stronger

In recent weeks, the Lancaster County Convention Center has played host to gun enthusiasts, fly fishermen and winemakers for the first time.

For the third straight year, it hosted thousands of quilters.

And, this spring, the downtown Lancaster center will be the backdrop for conservative commentator Glenn Beck, Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in three separate events.

Life is good at the convention center right now, Marketing Director Josh Nowak told Lancaster Convention Center Authority board members Thursday.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/615174_Convention-center–local-tourism-looks-stronger.html#ixzz1qqQe74o3

Lancaster Downtown Investment Group Looks To Future

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lancaster County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Last fall, representatives of Lancaster city’s Downtown Investment District began asking what the organization should be doing to improve the city’s center over the next few years.

Among the recommendations were to consider expanding the district’s boundaries, seek more funding from nonprofit property owners and provide funding for downtown surveillance cameras.

Drafting a plan for those things will take more time than DID has before its charter expires at the end of this year, its officials say.

With that in mind, the organization is proposing a short-term charter renewal  that would keep current initiatives in place. New endeavors would wait until the next charter renewal period

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/616728_Downtown-investment-group-looks-to-future.html

Lancaster-Based Armstrong World Industries Reports 10-Fold Profit Increase

Image via Wikipedia

Armstrong World Industries today reported a profitable fourth quarter and a ten-fold increase in profits for the full year.

Helping the results were sharply lower restructuring charges, the absence of asset-impairment charges and lower selling, general and administrative expenses.

Lancaster-based Armstrong also announced it will build its first manufacturing plant in Russia, continuing its expansion into what it calls “emerging markets.”

The $100 million mineral-fiber ceiling plant is expected to begin operations in 2015, said Armstrong, although the company did not name the city where the plant will be located.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/594659_Armstrong-reports-profitable-fourth-quarter–sees-10-fold-increase-in-profits-over-last-full-year.html#ixzz1nbRWCT1O

“Chameleon Club” Is An Intimate Portrait Of Lancaster’s Flagship Venue

The life of most rock-’n'-roll nightclubs is short. Few survive, even fewer thrive and become places of real import. In his new documentary “The Chameleon Club,” filmmaker Allen Clements, who first got to know the 27-year-old club as a performer on its stage just a few years ago, tries to find out why Lancaster’s famed concert venue has been among the lucky few.

 

Through interviews, newspaper clippings, fliers and well-sourced archival footage and animation, Clements covers the venue’s entire history in less than an hour, a length that undoubtedly leaves many favorite stories untold, but makes for a well-paced story that doesn’t get bogged down in minutia.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/580706_-Chameleon-Club–is-intimate-portrait-of-city-s-flagship-venue.html#ixzz1ljK4BB5L

Lancaster Catholic Graduate Not Idle On “Idol”

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Naomi Gillies knows more than she’s telling.

Gillies, a 22-year-old music student from Lancaster County, is an entry-level contestant in the 11th season of “American Idol.” And she knows what happens next.

“I grew up watching the show, and I was like, wow, I’m in this show,” she said Sunday during a telephone interview from Boston.

While she can say she passed the audition — which aired on “American Idol” last week — and appears in the “Hollywood Week” edition that airs this Wednesday on Fox, she can’t, according to a nondisclosure agreement with the network, say if she made it through grueling elimination rounds in Pasadena to appear in the semifinals.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/582114_Catholic-graduate-not-idle-in–Idol-.html#ixzz1ljF877iZ

Hershey Chocolate Fest 2012 – Sunday, January 29th

Sample tastes of mostly chocolate creations by area confectioners, restaurants, hotels and caterers. Enjoy the live entertainment, silent auction, children’s activities and the impressive cake competition.

Location
HERSHEY Lodge
West Chocolate Ave. & University Dr.
Hershey, PA 17033

Reception and Sessions Schedule

Premiere Reception
11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
$50.00

Session #1
1:00 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.

Session #2
3:15 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Session Ticket Prices
$20.00 in advance
$25 at the door (as available)
Children 5-12, $5.00

Events
• Host: Jere Gish, WGAL 8, WINK 104
• Tastes of Chocolate
• Silent Auction
• Entertainment
• Children’s Activities

How to Purchase Tickets

By Phone
717-232-7509

In Person
Boscov’s (at select locations)
The Hershey Lodge
Giant Food Stores (at select locations)
Metro Bank

Chocolate Fest benefits Keystone Human Services: http://www.keystonehumanservices.org/

Stupid News – Repeat Offender Jailed After Stealing From Second Employer

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Editor’s note:  I find the stupidity here beyond comprehension.  Not just on the part of the thief but also on the part of the second employer for not doing a background check!

Kelley Lee Breniser was spared prison last April, the first time she was sentenced for stealing from her employer.

She wasn’t so fortunate the second time.

A Lancaster County judge jailed Breniser for 9 to 23 months for stealing more than $11,600 from a different employer.

In both cases, Breniser served as property manager for local housing communities.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/573525_Repeat-offender-thief-jailed-9-23-months-for-stealing-from-employer.html#ixzz1kJ6ThPHh

Park City Center Plagued With Migrating Crows

After several weeks of citizen complaints about late-night booms, Lancaster city officials Thursday restricted the hours that Park City Center can set off its propane cannons that ward off crows.

The wee-hours detonations, which reverberated across the suburbs up to several miles away, were blamed on problems with timing devices on new cannons.

Mall officials apologized and said they would comply with the 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. time frame for firing the rooftop cannons.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/559311_Lancaster-city-restricts-hours-Park-City-Center-can-shoot-off-cannons.html#ixzz1i2x1UH39

Hallelujah! Singing Flash Mob Hits Lancaster Central Market

Hundreds of shoppers at Central Market got a glorious surprise Saturday morning when at least 125 people around them suddenly began singing the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s “Messiah.”

At 9:30 a.m. a mass of people, many wearing Santa hats and reindeer antlers, found their way to the center of market and suddenly, the opening chords of the “Hallelujah Chorus” filled the air and voices rose in unison to sing the Christmas classic.

Commerce pretty much came to a halt for the next four minutes as standholders and shoppers stopped to listen and possibly join in.

Central Market had its very first flash mob.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/552482_Hallelujah–Singing-flash-mob-hits-market.html#ixzz1gqpkGng8