Berks County Unemployment Declines

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

Berks County‘s unemployment rate decreased to 7.3 percent in November from 7.4 percent in October, the lowest unemployment rate since January 2009, when it was also 7.3 percent, the state Department of Labor and Industry reported Friday.

Berks’ unemployment rate was the eighth-lowest among the state’s 14 metropolitan statistical areas, or MSAs.

“For Berks, as an MSA, it did rather well compared to other MSAs,” said Steven Zellers, industry and business analyst at Labor and Industry.

Lebanon and Centre counties had the lowest rates, 5.8 percent, while Scranton/Wilkes-Barre‘s was the highest at 9.1 percent.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article/20140104/MONEY/301049989#.Usgx5_RDsxI

Mohnton Firehouse Feud Flares

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

The rift between Mohnton‘s fire crew and the social club that oversees it was years in the making.

But the catalyst, both sides agree, was a dispute over the Friendship Fire Company No. 2 of Mohnton’s stand selling waffles and ice cream at Gov. Mifflin Community Days.

The fire crew and social club clashed over where fundraising proceeds should go and who should be allowed to volunteer at the stand. Simmering tensions between the two factions boiled over, leading to the first of back-to-back suspensions of Fire Chief Allen Detwiler.

Now Detwiler and his volunteer engine crew are asking borough government to separate the department and social club.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=520511