Scranton To Return Part Of ‘Free Money’ For Firefighters

After learning the hard way that closed fire stations can slow responses to fires, city officials last month celebrated an almost $8.2 million federal grant that would pay for recalling laid-off firefighters and hiring more.

Now, they plan to reject about a third of the money.

The grant was enough to pay for calling back 29 laid-off firefighters plus one on military leave and for adding 20 new firefighters – a total of 50 – for two years, but Mr. Doherty decided to decline the money for the new firefighters because the city could not afford to keep paying them after the two years and because the city would have to pay unemployment benefits when they were laid off.

It is unclear whether the city will be able to afford to keep all the other 29 after two years.

Read more: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/scranton-to-return-part-of-free-money-for-firefighters-1.1331750

Braddock Looks To New Kevin Sousa Restaurant As Urban Renewal Project

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

Editor’s note:  Now this is walking the talk! Good luck Chef Sousa!

Even more people are going to think chef Kevin Sousa is nuts: He’s not only opening his next restaurant in busted-down Braddock, he’s also moving his family there.

At a press conference today at County Executive Rich Fitzgerald’s office, the multi-tasking co-owner of Salt of the Earth in Garfield — and Station Street Hot Dogs and Union Pig and Chicken in East Liberty — announced that he’s opening a restaurant in the former Cuda’s Italian Market building at Eighth Street and Braddock Avenue, a desolate corner in one of the region’s most desolate business districts.

As a sign of his commitment to this broke but the once-bustling borough on the Monongahela River, Mr. Sousa decided he’s going to live there, too, in the old Ohringer Building just down the street.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-south/braddock-looks-to-new-kevin-sousa-restaurant-as-urban-renewal-project-641021/#ixzz1yHTCD9Sl

Mack Reports Another Strong Month

 

MACK TRUCKS (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mack Trucks is continuing to see high demand for its rigs.

The truckmaker produced 2,687 rigs in May, up almost 60 percent over the same month a year ago, the company reported Monday.

Mack, a division of Sweden’s Volvo AB, is headquartered in Greensboro, N.C., and produces all rigs at its Lower Macungie Township plant, which employs roughly 1,700 workers.

The company has produced 12,191 rigs through May, up 56 percent compared with the same span in 2011.

Manure Pits, Gas They Give Off Claim Lives

Editor’s note:  Very dangerous!

 

On the afternoon of May 23, a quiet 14-year-old Peach Bottom boy named Cleason Nolt somehow slipped into a liquid manure pit where he was working on a large Kennedyville, Md., dairy farm and died.Cleason’s 18-year-old brother, Kelvin, and 48-year-old father, Glenn, also vanished into the pit.

A family member who drove to the scene that evening after the Nolts failed to respond to cellphone calls found only a parked pickup truck and two tractors, their engines switched on.

The three bodies were recovered the next day.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/670915_Manure-pits–gas-they-give-off-claim-lives.html#ixzz1yHHGBbMa

No Wegmans Stores On The Horizon For Berks County

Wegmans Food Markets (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Berks County is in the cross hairs of grocery retailer Wegmans, but somehow the ninth-largest county in Pennsylvania has never been the target.

Now Berks falls between a new distribution hub in Schuylkill County and some of its stores.

This spring, the Rochester, N.Y., upscale grocer opened the $70 million warehouse in Cass and Foster townships, Wegmans’ third and largest warehouse in Schuylkill.

The company said in May that the move completes a distribution hub for fresh and frozen foods. More than 200 new employees were hired to staff it. The distribution hub was subsidized with state incentives of $731,650 in opportunity zone and job training money and job creation tax credits.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=394286

Reading Wants Tougher Enforcement Of Quality-Of-Life Tickets

Editor’s note:  Three cheers for Reading City Council!

Reading City Council wants neighborhoods cleaned up, and they know it’s going to take some toughness to do it.

At a workshop meeting Monday night, council heard an update on the city’s quality-of-life ticketing program by Lenin Agudo, community development director. The program has city workers issuing tickets to residents for problems like high weeds and trash piling up in yards.

Agudo presented council with a list of recommendations – created through feedback from council, city administrators and the public – aimed at improving the program.

One of the main issues, Agudo said, is making sure residents know what is acceptable and what isn’t.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=394302

Program At Pottsgrove Manor: “For Preserving The Health Of Soldiers”

Pottstown, PA (May 18, 2012) — Between 11:00am and 3:00pm on Saturday, July 7 at historic Pottsgrove Manor, visitors will be able to step into the revolutionary past with the living history program, “For Preserving the Health of Soldiers.”

The British were not the only enemy the Continental Army was fighting in the Revolutionary War.  A constant battle had to be waged against infection and disease in the military camps.  In this program, visitors will learn about camp life and the rules and regulations that were intended to keep soldiers healthy.  Re-enactors Ed and Wendy Moyer will present information about health, hygiene, and medical practices during the war, with a display of reproduction items used for such purposes.  Other re-enactors, portraying soldiers in the Continental Army, will be on hand to display their gear and show how soldiers dealt with life in the field. 

A donation of $2 per person is suggested for this program.  This program is being held in conjunction with Pottsgrove Manor’s current exhibit, “Matters Personal, Details Private: Cleanliness, Hygiene, and Personal Pursuits in the Colonial Home.”  Guided tours of the exhibit will be offered on the hour during the program.

The exhibit can also be viewed during a guided tour of Pottsgrove Manor during regular museum hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Sunday, 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Tours are given on the hour.  The last tour of the day begins at 3:00 p.m. The site is closed Mondays and major holidays.  Groups of 10 or more should pre-register by calling 610-326-4014. 

Pottsgrove Manor is located at 100 West King Street near the intersection of King Street and Route 100, just off Route 422, in Pottstown, Pennsylvania.  Pottsgrove Manor is operated by Montgomery County under the direction of the Parks and Heritage Services Department.  For more information, call 610-326-4014, or visit the website at http://historicsites.montcopa.org/pottsgrovemanor.