Jonathan Frid, Ghoulish ‘Dark Shadows’ Star, Is Dead At 87

Jonathan Frid, a Shakespearean actor who found unexpected — and by his own account unwanted — celebrity as the vampire Barnabas Collins on the sanguinary soap opera “Dark Shadows,” died last Friday, April 13, in Hamilton, Ontario. He was 87.

He died from complications of a fall, said Kathryn Leigh Scott, who played several characters on the show. Mr. Frid, who lived in Ancaster, Ontario, leaves no immediate survivors.

Mr. Frid, along with several castmates, makes a cameo appearance in Tim Burton’s feature film “Dark Shadows,” to be released on May 11. Johnny Depp stars as Barnabas.

Read more:http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/20/arts/television/jonathan-frid-ghoulish-dark-shadows-star-dies-at-87.html

Charles W. Colson, Watergate Felon Who Became Evangelical Leader, Dies At 80

Charles W. Colson, who as a political saboteur for President Richard M. Nixon masterminded some of the dirty tricks that led to the president’s downfall, then emerged from prison to become an important evangelical leader, saying he had been “born again,” died on Saturday. He was 80.

The cause was complications of a brain hemorrhage, according to Prison Fellowship Ministries, which Mr. Colson founded in Lansdowne, Va. He died at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va., and lived in Naples, Fla., and Leesburg, Va.

Mr. Colson had brain surgery to remove a clot after becoming ill on March 30 while speaking at a conference, according to Jim Liske, the group’s chief executive.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/us/politics/charles-w-colson-watergate-felon-who-became-evangelical-leader-dies-at-80.html?_r=1&hp#

Governor Corbett To Attend Solar Farm Unveiling In Phoenixville

PHOENIXVILLE, PA – State officials including Gov. Tom Corbett will be visiting Aqua America‘s largest water treatment facility Friday for the unveiling of a 6.5-acre solar farm.  According to a press release from Aqua America, Corbett will be at the Pickering water treatment facility around 11 a.m. as the company unveils the $6.5 million solar farm that powers the facility serving half a million residents of Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties. The panels will provide 1.5 megawatts of power.

Read more:  http://business-news.thestreet.com/the-times-herald/story/corbett-attend-solar-farm-unveiling-phoenixville-0/1

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

Owner Of ViVA Hopes To Buy Club

The owner of ViVA Good Life-Wyomissing Inc. signed an agreement of sale to buy Green Valley Country Club, if he can get subdivision approval.

Jeffrey D. Hettinger said his company, JMH Inc., wants to buy 14 of the 26 available acres to expand its event operations.

The remaining 12 acres would stay in the ownership of the country club.

If Lower Heidelberg Township supervisors don’t approve subdividing the land, Hettinger said he would not buy the property, but instead would enter into a 10-year lease with the club.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=381091

Reading Mayor Defends How He Built Team

Reading City Hall on the NRHP since April 13, 1982. At 8th and Washington Streets, Reading, Pennsylvania (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Since his Jan. 2 inauguration, Mayor Vaughn D. Spencer has awarded six outside consulting contracts, worth a total of $176,000, to give him more people to carry out his agendas.

All of these contracts circumvented the city’s normal contract-awarding process; all of them bypassed City Council; all but one of them involved members of his campaign and/or transition committees; and one was for the services of a media manager, who council had previously rejected for a city job.

Council members’ responses have ranged from livid to concerned. Several claim it’s all political patronage for those who got Spencer elected, and several say the city could better use the money to hire a badly needed police officer or firefighter.

But Spencer defends the contracts, saying they give him the extra help the administration needs and are the only way the city can plan how to do a better job, which he defines as saving money or raising revenue without increasing tax rates.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=381111