Thaddeus Stevens Bridge Opens To Traffic

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

“I was hoping the bridge would be open,” Robert Haehnle said. “I didn’t think I’d be the first car.”

But Haehnle happened to time it just right. He was the first motorist to cross the new Lititz Pike bridge — officially, the Thaddeus Stevens Bridge — when PennDOT opened it to southbound traffic about noon Wednesday.

Haehnle, a retired civil and environmental engineer who lives with his wife in Brethren Village, said he was on his way to Water Street Mission to have lunch with a man he mentors there.

He goes into Lancaster fairly regularly, so the construction has been a bother, he said. The congestion led to his being hit in a fender-bender about a month and a half ago.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/thaddeus-stevens-bridge-opens-to-traffic/article_44a4ab50-07c4-11e4-8c42-0017a43b2370.html

Lancaster City Alliance Moves Toward New Phase Of Revitalization

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

Stadium: Check.

Arts district: Check.

Convention Center: Check.

Tourism: Check.

Sixteen years after business leaders tried to revive Lancaster city with an economic development plan, many of the plan’s major components have come to pass.

Lancaster is a very different city than it was in 1998.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/lancaster-city-alliance-moves-toward-new-phase-of-revitalization/article_0c4d62e2-ecee-11e3-a77e-001a4bcf6878.html

Armstrong Starts $41M Expansion Of Dillerville Road Plant

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

Armstrong World Industries formally started an expansion Friday of its Lancaster floor plant, so it can begin making luxury vinyl tile there.

The $41 million project, announced by the company in October, is expected to create 60 jobs.

Shipping of luxury vinyl tile from the city plant is expected to begin in mid 2015.

The product made in the 1067 Dillerville Road plant will replace product made for Armstrong by a manufacturer in China.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/business/local_business/armstrong-starts-m-expansion-of-dillerville-road-plant/article_da8d7aa2-c0c0-11e3-8ebf-001a4bcf6878.html

Miller’s Smorgasbord, Plain & Fancy And AmishView Offered For Sale

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

Three major tourism businesses and their properties in eastern Lancaster County are for sale, it was announced Wednesday.

The businesses are Miller’s Smorgasbord, Plain & Fancy Farm and the AmishView Inn & Suites.

They employ a combined 280 people and post annual revenues exceeding $12 million.

“There will be a transition, but it doesn’t have to happen tomorrow,” said Al Duncan of Thomas E. Strauss Inc., which owns the businesses.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/business/local_business/miller-s-smorgasbord-plain-fancy-and-amishview-offered-for-sale/article_d0c5d524-a4b8-11e3-bfa2-0017a43b2370.html

Crane Installs $40,000 Public Art Project In Lancaster

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

Workers used a crane this morning to install an “artwork cistern” on the Walnut Street side of the Lancaster Brewing Company building.

The cistern, commissioned by Lancaster city’s public art program, is made of steel and lengths of native wood.

Inside, a tank will hold 750 gallons of rainwater from the brewery roof. The cistern water will be used to support the plants in a rain garden along the street.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/912608_Pictures–Crane-installs–40-000-public-art-project-in-Lancaster.html#ixzz2jKNY9pnh

Armstrong World Industries To Invest $41 Million In Lancaster Plant, Will Lead To 57 New Jobs At Facility

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

Armstrong World Industries said Thursday it will invest $41 million in its Lancaster floor plant, so it can make luxury vinyl tile there.

Adding production of the residential and commercial vinyl tile will lead to 57 new jobs at the 160-employee facility, the company said.

Armstrong will start constructing the new lines inside the current Dillerville Road plant in the first quarter of 2014.

Shipping of luxury vinyl tile from the 600,000-square-foot city plant is set to begin in mid-2015.

Armstrong now has its luxury vinyl tile made for it by a manufacturer in China.

Shifting that production here will enable the company to serve its North American customers faster and less expensively.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/904464_Armstrong-World-Industries-to-invest–41-million-in-Lancaster-plant–will-lead-to-57-new-jobs-at-facility.html#ixzz2hRRxQSUC

Amtrak Raises Monthly Fares On Keystone Line

English: 30th Street Station In Philadelphia. Roughly speaking, the center of commuting in Philly, the former center of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Philly’s main Amtrak station (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For the third time in 18 months, Amtrak recently increased its monthly fares for commuters.

The 2 percent increase imposed in June adds $3.28 to the cost of a monthly pass between Lancaster and Harrisburg.  With the increase, the cost of that pass is now $164.

For a Lancaster commuter traveling to Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station, the monthly pass increased by $5.64, to $282.

The increase affects only Amtrak’s Keystone line between Harrisburg and Philadelphia.  Lancaster is the busiest station between those two points.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/686619_Amtrak-raises-monthly-fares.html#ixzz20N4lfowz

Cape Air To Pull Out Of Lancaster Airport

Cape Air Cessna 402 at SRQ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Cape Air has decided to stop serving Lancaster Airport, a company executive said Wednesday.

But it will keep flying between here and Baltimore-Washington International until a successor starts operating here.

“Cape Air is committed to providing uninterrupted, great daily air service … until another airline can begin,” said Andrew Bonney, vice president of planning.

Whether another airline offers to serve Lancaster, and which city it would fly to, remains to be seen.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/625177_Cape-Air-to-pull-out-of-Lancaster-Airport.html#ixzz1ryuKZsVO

Berks Grows But Pace Behind 5 Nearby Counties

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

Berks County tied for the 19th-highest growth rate among Pennsylvania’s 67 counties from 2010 to 2011, according to new U.S. Census Bureau estimates.

“This is good news for Berks County,” said county commissioners Chairman Christian Y. Leinbach.

Part of the reason for that growth is Berks is in the middle of a growing corridor from Lehigh to Lancaster counties, Leinbach said.

Lehigh tied for Pennsylvania‘s second-highest growth rate and Lancaster tied for fifth.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=378413

Amtrak Seeks Leisure Travelers

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A banner hanging in Lancaster‘s Amtrak station advertises a special promotion for travelers going to the current Philadelphia flower show.

The 15 percent reduction on tickets on Amtrak’s Keystone line is an effort to get more people to ride the rails rather than drive.

In the near future, there could be similar signs hanging in Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station or the Harrisburg train station advertising First Fridays in Lancaster.

Amtrak and the state Transportation Department — Amtrak’s partner in the Keystone line — hope to build more leisure travel on the 104-mile line between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, Toby Fauver, deputy secretary for local and area transportation, said.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/601295_Amtrak-seeks-leisure-travelers.html#ixzz1ojKUHhx7

Mail Processing To End At 10 Pennsylvania Postal Service Sites

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United States Postal Service mail processing facilities in Altoona, Erie, Greensburg, Lancaster, New Castle, Reading, Scranton, Washington and Williamsport, as well as the Southeastern operation are slated to close.

Read entire article: http://www.ydr.com/state/ci_20029285

“Chameleon Club” Is An Intimate Portrait Of Lancaster’s Flagship Venue

The life of most rock-‘n’-roll nightclubs is short. Few survive, even fewer thrive and become places of real import. In his new documentary “The Chameleon Club,” filmmaker Allen Clements, who first got to know the 27-year-old club as a performer on its stage just a few years ago, tries to find out why Lancaster’s famed concert venue has been among the lucky few.

 

Through interviews, newspaper clippings, fliers and well-sourced archival footage and animation, Clements covers the venue’s entire history in less than an hour, a length that undoubtedly leaves many favorite stories untold, but makes for a well-paced story that doesn’t get bogged down in minutia.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/580706_-Chameleon-Club–is-intimate-portrait-of-city-s-flagship-venue.html#ixzz1ljK4BB5L

PennDOT Looking At Mass Transit Coordination In Central Pennsylvania

Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon and York counties will be participating in a PennDOT sponsored mass transit study aimed at making regional mass transit better.  The study will look at Capital Area Transit, Red Rose Transit, redrabbit and Lebanon Transit see how these four systems can best work together to benefit the Harrisburg, Lancaster, Lebanon and York metropolitan areas.  The goal is to enhance service while making all four transit systems more cost-effective.

13 Storm Related Deaths In Pennsylvania

Last week’s massive flooding in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has left 13 people dead.  The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) listed 13 possible storm-related deaths on Sunday in the following counties:

3 Lancaster, 2 Bradford, 2 Dauphin, 2 Lebanon, 1 Chester, 1 Luzerne, 1 Philadelphia and 1 York.

Central PA Flooding Claims Five Lives

Flood waters have claims five lives in the midstate and two people are missing.  Dauphin, York, Lancaster and Lebanon counties all reported deaths related to flooding.

Front Street in Harrisburg has flooded.  The Shipoke section of Harrisburg was evacuated along with the Governor’s Mansion.  Several blocks in Midtown had power shut off to force residents to evacuate.  An 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew has been issued by the mayor’s office.

The Susquehanna River at Harrisburg is predicted to crest at 26.5 feet at around 8 p.m. this evening.

717 Area Code To Run Out Of Numbers in 2012

The 717 area code is running out of numbers.  Area code 717 was split in 1998.  The northern counties, formerly in 717, became 570.  Now it seems the 717 area code is back to square one.

Population growth in South Central Pennsylvania is creating a need for more phone numbers.  York County is projecting a 12.4% increase over the 2000 census.  Lancaster County will also show an increase of about 7%.  Other “717” counties are growing as well.

Two options are being considered.  1.  An overlay like 610 & 484 or 2. creating another entirely new area code.  73% of York County business owners who responded to a survey said they preferred the overlay option.  Either option costs businesses money.

The Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission is holding hearings to get public opinion on how to proceed.