Broke Shamokin, Pa., Seeks State Crutch That Few Cast Off

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

(Reuters) – Shamokin, Pennsylvania, tucked away in the coal country about 120 miles northwest of Philadelphia, has $800,000 of unpaid bills and can’t get a loan from a bank. It’s so broke, the gas service to city hall was temporarily cut off last month.

So the council for the city of 7,000 residents has agreed to seek entry to a state financial oversight program dating from 1987 that facilitates access to credit and permits the levying of certain taxes. Now, though, some lawmakers say the program is more like a trap than a benefit: municipalities get into it, and few get out.

Just seven of the 27 local governments to enter state oversight under the program, known as Act 47, have ever been released from it. As a result, legislators want to cap how long cities can stay under state oversight and, in the hardest cases, impose a municipal death penalty that amounts to disincorporation and a state takeover. The law was passed in a bid to help Pennsylvania cities battered by the decline of the American steel industry in the 1970s and ’80s.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/Broke_Shamokin_Pa_seeks_state_crutch_that_few_cast_off.html#CTx13mYx3Q210qd0.99

Pennsylvania Woman Admits Craigslist Killing In Interview

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

SUNBURY, PA (AP) – A Pennsylvania woman charged along with her newlywed husband in the murder of a man they met through Craigslist admitted to the slaying in a jailhouse interview with a newspaper and said she has killed more than 20 others across the country, claims police said they are investigating.

In an interview with the Daily Item in Sunbury, Pa., 19-year-old Miranda Barbour said she wants to plead guilty to killing Troy LaFerrara in November. She also said in the interview that she has killed at least 22 other people from Alaska to North Carolina in the last six years as part of her involvement in a satanic cult.

“I feel it is time to get all of this out. I don’t care if people believe me. I just want to get it out,” Barbour told the newspaper for a story published Saturday night.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20140216_ap_c3ff99fc4eb54cb6a30ca4bb31f44c24.html#fGKigjOtU384Zp0E.99

Police: Sunbury Newlyweds Killed Man For Thrills

Locator map of the Sunbury-Lewisburg-Selinsgrove in the central part of the of . The three components of the CSA are colored separately: Sunbury Micropolitan Statistical Area: red Lewisburg Micropolitan Statistical Area: yellow Selinsgrove Micropolitan Statistical Area: green (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

SUNBURY, Pa. (AP) — Newlyweds just three weeks removed from their wedding day lured a Pennsylvania man to his death with a Craigslist ad because they wanted to kill someone together, police said.

Elytte Barbour told officers before his arrest Friday night that he and his wife, Miranda, had planned to kill before but their plans never worked out until last month when Troy LaFerrara responded to an online posting that promised companionship in return for money.

Elytte Barbour, 22, and Miranda Barbour, 18, both face criminal homicide charges in LaFerrara’s death. His body was found Nov. 12 in an alley in Sunbury, a small city about 100 miles northwest of Philadelphia. The couple recently moved to nearby Selinsgrove from North Carolina.

According to Sunbury police, Elytte Barbour told investigators he hid in the backseat of the couple’s SUV as his wife picked up LaFerrara at a mall on Nov. 11. He told police that, on his wife’s signal, he wrapped a cord around LaFerrara’s neck, restraining him while Miranda Barbour stabbed him.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20131207/police-sunbury-newlyweds-killed-man-for-thrills

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

New Gallery Opening On First Friday In Downtown Lancaster

Northumberland County couple hang shingle on Water Street

They were only supposed to be visiting for the day.

In early June, Jody and Cheryl Fallon came to Lancaster to see a friend’s art exhibit on Gallery Row.

The Fallons, married artists who live about two hours north of Lancaster, walked around town and wound up in a gallery on Water Street.

They noticed the space next door was vacant and learned it was for rent. They looked at each other, Jody Fallon recalled, and an idea formed.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/696570_New-gallery-opening-First-Friday.html#ixzz227PgVsv7

Annual Sunbury River Festival – August 20 & 21

Do you like food, car shows, craft shows, eating contests and live music?  Consider a trip to Sunbury for their Annual River Festival August 20 & 21.  Sunbury is located on the Susquehanna River.

For those of you not familiar with Sunbury, it is the home of Weis Markets and  located a few short hours from Pottstown.  If you are looking for family fun take a trip to Sunbury.  They have something for everyone.

Click on the link below for any and all information about the festival:

http://sunburyriverfestival.com/