Days Of Promise Fade For Ethanol

Editor’s note:  Wondering when we will end our dependence on foreign oil?  This isn’t the way to do it!

Backed by government subsidies and mandates, hundreds of ethanol plants rose among the golden fields of the Corn Belt, bringing jobs and business to small towns, providing farmers with a new market for their crops and generating billions of dollars in revenue for the producers of this corn-based fuel blend.

Those days of promise and prosperity are vanishing.

Nearly 10 percent of the nation’s ethanol plants have stopped production over the past year, in part because the drought that has ravaged much of the nation’s crops pushed commodity prices so high that ethanol has become too expensive to produce.

A dip in gasoline consumption has compounded the industry’s problem by reducing the demand for ethanol.

Read more:  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/us/17ethanol.html?hp&_r=0

Highmark CEO Compensation Tops $6M

English: Highmark Place from PNC Park in Pittsburgh, taken 2008 showing the new Highmark branding atop. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Last year, Highmark Inc. dished out more than $6 million to compensate its three CEOs.

In compensation figures filed with the state Department of Insurance this month, the state’s largest insurance company said it paid former CEO Kenneth Melani $3.3 million in 2012, even though he was fired April 1.  He was the highest-paid company employee for the year.

In fact, three of Highmark’s 10 highest-paid employees in 2012 are no longer with the company, having left early in the year.  In addition to Dr. Melani, former Highmark legal officer and corporate secretary Maureen Hogel and retired auditor and compliance officer Elizabeth A. Farbacher also had left Highmark by April.

Current Highmark CEO William Winkenwerder Jr., who was hired over the spring and began work July 16, took home $1.87 million in total compensation — $562,712 for his half-year of salary, plus a $1.18 million bonus and $131,000 in “other” compensation.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/business/news/highmark-ceo-compensation-tops-6m-679520/#ixzz2NiolPvSN

Berks Population Rose By More Than 2,000 From 2010 To 2012

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

A combination of births, deaths and migration added more than 2,000 residents to Berks County from 2010 to 2012.

With a population of 413,491, Berks had the ninth-largest population of 67 counties in the state and is tied for 18th-highest growth rate at 0.5 percent.

But statistics released this week by the U.S. Census Bureau also show that 3,044 more residents moved out of Berks than into it from elsewhere within the country.

The only other counties that had more people move out to settle elsewhere in the country were Delaware, which lost 4,282, and Philadelphia, which lost 14,535.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=460364

State Puts Reading School District On ‘Financial Watch’

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States Public School Districts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The state has officially labeled the Reading School District as being in “financial watch status,” a step away from state intervention.

The Department of Education announced Friday that the district has hit several financial-difficulty indicators in the Act 141 early warning system. Passed last year, Act 141 is the state’s law to help financially distressed school districts.

Four districts – Harrisburg, Duquesne, Chester-Upland and York – already have been placed in Act 141 financial recovery and have state-appointed recovery officers overseeing their finances, something Reading officials are hoping to avoid.

Dr. Carlinda Purcell, superintendent, said she sees the designation as a positive step toward dealing with the chronic financial struggles.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=460369

Stores Raided In Pottstown Food Stamp Fraud Investigation

POTTSTOWN — Two people were arrested after police served search warrants at three borough stores in connection with a fraud investigation involving food stamp access cards.

Adbu Aljash, 38, of Pottstown, and Kuldip Kaur, 40, of King of Prussia, were both charged with felony corrupt organization and other related charges, according to court documents.

Kaur worked at the Quick Mart Grocery Store on 55 E. High Street. Customers were able to buy cigarettes, non-food items and could receive cash back on their government-issued ACCESS cards, according to court records.

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General had been monitoring Kaur and the store since last August 2012, according to the police report.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130316/NEWS01/130319489/video-stores-raided-in-pottstown-food-stamp-fraud-investigation#full_story

Sears Opening Appliance Store In Pottstown

POTTSTOWN — The Pottstown Center shopping center will soon be getting a new tenant.

Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores will be opening a Sears Home Appliance Showroom in late April in the center off Route 100 and Shoemaker Road.  The store will provide customers with access to home appliances, mattresses and services through Sears.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130316/NEWS01/130319468/sears-opening-appliance-store-in-pottstown