Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Airport Director Says He Isn’t Worried About Federal Cuts

One day after the president of the United States signed a bill regarding sequestration, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport Director Barry Centini scoffed at the notion his airport would be one of the casualties of the potential across-the-board spending cuts.

On Wednesday, Barack Obama signed the Sequestration Transparency Act of 2012, which requires him to provide details within 30 days on how sequestration – severe budget cuts to most federal agencies – would be implemented if enacted on Jan. 2. The legislation also requires the directors of federal agencies, such as the Federal Aviation Administration, to develop a plan and submit it to Congress, detailing how they would deal with such cuts.

According to Todd Hauptli, the senior executive vice president of the American Association of Airport Executives, the FAA is still developing a plan for how it would cope with the projected $1.35 billion, or nine percent, cut from its annual budget. However, a study done by the American Center for Progress – a liberal think-tank – suggests the administration likely would have to close more than 100 U.S. airports, including the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport, to decrease its expenditures and meet the budget reduction.

Despite all of that, Mr. Centini says he isn’t concerned about the airport’s future.

Read more: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/scranton-wilkes-barre-airport-director-says-he-isn-t-worried-about-federal-cuts-1.1356523

Cities Across The United States Gear Up To Celebrate The Centennial Of Julia Child’s Birth

Signature of Julia Child (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Julia Child loved to socialize almost as much as she loved to cook.  So nobody would have enjoyed the big celebration fans are cooking up in honor of her centennial next week more than the Grand Dame of American Cookery herself.

Cities all across the U.S. are paying tribute with special Julia-themed dinners and cooking demos, and her longtime publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, who introduced the towering French cook (she was 6 feet, 2 inches tall) to the world in 1961 with the publication of the groundbreaking “Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1,” is whooping it up in a big way, too.

In May, the New York publishing house launched a 100-day celebration on various social media sites called JC100.  Meant to provide something for every Julia lover out there, it includes themed events in bookstores along with written tributes and links to special recipes re-created by more than 100 food bloggers (one recent seasonal example we just had to try was Tomatoes Provencale; see recipe on page E-2).  It also has released the first Julia Child app, from iTunes ($2.99).  It brings to your fingertips 32 recipes from her seminal “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” plus clips from the DVD version of “The Way to Cook” video series, grocery lists, audio pronunciations of some of the difficult-to-pronounce French dishes, and rare photographs.  It also comes in a Nook version.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/life/food/cities-across-the-united-states-gear-up-to-celebrate-the-centennial-of-julia-childs-birth-648163/#ixzz235waT7P8

Weis Market Buys Farm Show Hall Naming Rights

HARRISBURG, PA — The Corbett administration has inked a five-year deal with a central Pennsylvania-based grocery store chain for the naming rights to part of the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg.

 

Weis Markets Inc. of Sunbury, Northumberland County, will pay the state $750,000 over the next five years to have its name on the side of the large exposition hall in the sprawling complex on the edge of downtown Harrisburg.

“This is a good example of a public-private partnership that will help us more efficiently,” said Nicole Bucher, a spokeswoman for the state Agriculture Department, which oversees the complex. “It’s something we’ve been trying to do for the last five years.”

The exhibition hall is perhaps best known as the site of the food court for the annual Pennsylvania Farm Show, where tens of thousands of people snack on fried vegetables and suck down the show’s famous milkshakes each January.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/pennsylvania/mc-pa-farm-show-naming-rights-20120809,0,5797996.story

Easton Moves Forward With Commuter Tax

English: Skyline of Easton, PA from Lafayette College (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Easton City Council approved a commuter tax Wednesday, raising the earned income tax for more than 10,000 people who work in Easton but live outside the city an average of $127.

City officials estimate the new tax will generate $1.35 million, which Easton can use only toward offsetting a $1.8 million increase in pension obligations. The commuter tax, which takes effect Jan. 1, raises the earned income tax for non-Easton residents from 1 percent to 1.75 percent, the same rate city residents pay.

Council’s 6-1 vote came after an impassioned debate between Mayor Sal Panto Jr. and Councilman Jeff Warren, who wrote a recent op-ed piece opposing the commuter tax. Panto accused Warren, the only council member to vote against the tax, of political grandstanding.

“You keep saying you’re against this but you haven’t laid out any alternatives,” Panto told Warren. “What are you coming up with? What is your solution?”

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/easton/mc-easton-commuter-tax-vote-20120808,0,1762718.story

Sparrows Point Purchased For $72 Million By Plant Liquidator

Steel mill workers were hoping for an operator, but none show at auction

BETHLEHEM STEEL PLANT AT SPARROWS POINT – NARA – 546808 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A liquidation firm won the bidding for Sparrows Point, offering $72 million for the Baltimore County steel mill — less than a tenth of what the complex sold for just four years earlier — and realizing the worst fears of its roughly 2,000 employees.

Mill advocates vowed to push for a miracle to keep steelmaking going there.  The local United Steelworkers union had hoped for a steelmaker would buy and restart the mill — idled after owner RG Steel filed for bankruptcy in May.  But no steelmaking companies showed up to bid at the Tuesday afternoon auction in New York, said Joe Rosel, president of Local 9477 in Locust Point.

The mill’s general manager, Glenn Mikaloff, sent an email to managers late Tuesday that identified Hilco as the winner and the size of its bid.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/business/bs-bz-sparrows-point-sold-20120808,0,1409767.story