Caterpillar Distribution Center To Stay In York County

Map of York County, Pennsylvania, United State...

Map of York County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Caterpillar will keep its distribution center – along with its 200-employee workforce – in York County.

The decision, announced Monday at the company’s Memory Lane facility, comes about one year after Caterpillar said it might move the Springettsbury Township logistics/distribution operation to another site somewhere in the eastern United States.

This year, Caterpillar celebrates its 60th anniversary in York County.

“We do have a long history here,” said Jim Dugan, chief corporate spokesman for the Illinois-based heavy equipment manufacturer. “We have a great base of employees here who know this business and have been doing this type of work for some period of time. That’s not to be underestimated.”

Read more: http://www.ydr.com/business/ci_24206395/live-blog-caterpillar-officials-discuss-future-york-county?source=rss

DA: No Bail For Aiello In Wilkes-Barre Homicide Case

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County

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

WILKES-BARRE — The city man accused of shooting his wife to death last week is not eligible for bail, Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie J. Salavantis said this morning.

Vito J. Aiello, 48, who is recovering from what police say is a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the face, was arraigned in his hospital bed Monday afternoon at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in PlainsTownship.  He was arraigned via teleconference on an open count of criminal homicide in the Thursday night slaying of Jane Aiello, 47.

Read more: http://www.timesleader.com/news//874428/DA:-No-bail-for-Aiello-in-homicide-case

Wal-Mart Plans ‘Largest Ever’ Warehouse In Pennsylvania

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Northampton C...

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

Pennsylvania, once the Workshop of the World, where big factories made big stuff, is now America’s Warehouse, where shippers import goods through Eastern ports and send them out via free Interstate highways to points South and West.

Wal-Mart says it will open “its largest ever” warehouse in Bethlehem, Pa., in the Spring, and hire 350 workers to ship electronics, toys, guns and other popular items.  Liberty Property Trust says it has leased to Wal-Mart the newly-completed 1.2 million square foot facility at 2785 Commerce Center Blvd.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq-phillydeals/Wal-Mart-Amazon-boost-Pa-warehouse-hiring.html#hUKUwkOltyZx2aZu.99

Amazon To Hire 70,000 Seasonal Workers

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lehigh County

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

Amazon.com Inc said it expects to hire more than 70,000 full-time seasonal employees across its order fulfillment centers in the United States, a 40 percent increase from last year.

Amazon operates a fulfillment center in Upper Macungie Township.  That warehouse had about 2,000 Amazon employees last year, making it the Lehigh Valley‘s ninth-largest employer.

Amazon, which has about 88,400 employees, said it has converted more than 7,000 temporary employees in the United States into full-time employees so far this year.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-amazon-hire-seasonal-workers-20131001,0,3597728.story#ixzz2gVPZBw86 
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Merck To Cut Costs By $2.5 Billion, Eliminating 8,500 Jobs

Location of Upper Gwynedd Township in Montgome...

Location of Upper Gwynedd Township in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Merck & Co, taking a cue from other drugmakers that have slashed research spending to bolster earnings, on Tuesday said it plans to slash 8,500 jobs and cut annual operating costs by $2.5 billion by the end of 2015.

The job cuts announced Tuesday, representing more than 10 percent of the company’s global workforce of 81,000 employees, would be in addition to previously announced cuts of 7,500 positions.

Merck has 11,700 employees at seven sites in Pennsylvania, including those working in West Point and Upper Gwynedd in Montgomery County.  Spokeswoman Lainie Keller said the job cuts are companywide and could not say how many would affect the Pennsylvania sites.

By slimming down, Merck aims to narrow its focus to products with the best chance of winning regulatory approval and achieving substantial sales, while jettisoning research products with less likelihood of success.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-merck-cuts-jobs-20131001,0,511705.story#ixzz2gVN0aY3m
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Broadway Musical – Spring Awakening Sept 26 – Oct 13 At Steel River Playhouse

Picture 577Contains mature themes, sexual content, and adult language

Winner of 8 Tony Awards including Best Musical, 4 Drama Desk Awards, and 4 Olivier Awards including Best Musical, “Spring Awakening” explores the journey from adolescence to adulthood with a poignancy and passion you’ll never forget.  It’s a powerful celebration of youth and self-discovery in a world of unresponsive adults.  A rock and folk musical adaptation of the Frank Wedekind’s 1891 expressionistic play about the trials, tribulations, and exhilaration of the teen years, Spring Awakening features “the most gorgeous Broadway score this decade”. (Entertainment Weekly)

For more details, click here.

State of the Borough Address To Be Given By Mark Flanders And Erica Weekley At TCN Monthly Meeting

State of the Borough Address

Receive new and exciting updates on:

Community Collaborative Initiatives

Pottstown Area Rapid Transit

Pottstown Municipal Airport

Infrastructure Projects

Manatawny Gateway & Mini Golf Complex

TCN Membership Meeting

Tuesday, October 15th, 8am-10am

Montgomery County Community College, West Campus

101 College Drive, Pottstown

Community Room

You’re invited to join a TCN Committee and help address community issues.  Committees will meet during the second hour.
Caregivers Support – Community Partners Against Abuse – Environmental Health & Safety – Homeless Services – Workforce Development – Youth Development 

The Fundraising Gala Committee will meet 10am-10:30am. 

Registration required.  Click here to register or call 610-705-3301, Ext. 2.

Pottsgrove Manor To Host Open-Hearth Cooking Workshop

Deb PetersonPottstown, PA On Saturday, October 19, 2013, from 10:00am to 3:00pm, historic Pottsgrove Manor will host an open-hearth cooking workshop entitled “Cast-Iron Chef” in the manor’s reconstructed colonial kitchen.

A common material for cooking equipment in past centuries, cast-iron is experiencing a resurgence in popularity among modern cooks for its durability and versatility. In this hands-on workshop, historic cook Deborah Peterson will teach participants how to cook with and care for cast iron cookware. Historically and seasonally appropriate dishes of the colonial period will be prepared and consumed by the participants.

The workshop is open to participants ages 12 and up, but those under 16 should be accompanied by an adult. There is a fee of $50.00 per person. To ensure one-on-one instruction, the class size is limited to eight. Registration forms may be picked up at Pottsgrove Manor or downloaded online at http://montcopa.org/DocumentCenter/View/4381.

The workshop is being held in conjunction with Pottsgrove Manor’s current exhibit “Forging a Lifestyle: Ironworking with the Potts Family,” which runs until November 3, 2013 and can be viewed during a guided tour of Pottsgrove Manor during regular museum hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 10:00am to 4:00pm and Sunday, 1:00pm to 4:00pm. Tours are given on the hour. The last tour of the day begins at 3:00pm. The site is closed Mondays and major holidays. Groups of ten 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, Trails, & Historic Sites Division of the Assets and Infrastructure Department. For more information, please call 610-326-4014, or visit the website at www.montcopa.org/pottsgrovemanor. Like Pottsgrove Manor on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pottsgrovemanor.

Muhlenberg Guest Artist Doppelskope Offers Existential Therapy Session — With Puppets

doppelskopeAllentown, PA — The performance duo Doppelskope — Ora Fruchter and Muhlenberg alum Christopher Scheer ’07 — brings its trademark show “An Existential Sing-Along” to the Muhlenberg College campus, Oct. 8 and 9.

The Scheer describes Doppelskope as “an interactive and absurd neo-vaudeville theater group that makes wild, freewheeling new shows with puppetry, magic and clown in order to splatter your reality in an hour or less.”

The duo employs whimsical performance techniques to explore obsession, anxiety and uncertainty. Scheer says that the interactive show features nightly raffles, giveaways, and choose-your-own-adventures, and that “after you leave ‘An Existential Sing-Along’ your perspective and/or marital status will never be the same again.”

“These two slightly off-the-wall and uninhibited artists take the personalized human experience and condition to an entirely new level,” writes Alan Vetter in the Taos (N.M.) News. “Singularly, Scheer and Fruchter’s energy are downright enchanting, but together, they put forth what appears to be mind-numbing brilliance.”

Muhlenberg College is a liberal arts college of more than 2,200 students in Allentown, Pa. The college offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in theater and dance. The Princeton Review has ranked Muhlenberg’s theater program as in the top twelve in the nation for the past seven years, and Fiske Guide to Colleges lists both the theater and dance programs among the top small college programs in the United States. Muhlenberg is one of only eight colleges to be listed in Fiske for both theater and dance.

Performances of “An Existential Sing-Along” are Oct. 8 at 8 p.m. and Oct. 9 at 7 and 9 p.m. All tickets are $8. Performances are in the Studio Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre and Dance, Muhlenberg College, 2400 Chew St., Allentown.