Larry W. Stout has worn lots of hats over the years; a decorated military veteran, ordained pastor, university professor in Europe, and missionary to the former Soviet Union. He has authored textbooks on human resource management and leadership that have been translated into six languages as well as had published two novels. He currently invests his energies as a foster parent and board member for eight different community organizations. He is a native of Montgomery, graduating from Montgomery Area High School in 1970, who married his high school sweetheart Debbie, and together they have raised two sons and two daughters, one of which is adopted, but they cannot remember which one.
Every newly elected governmental body inherits the problems of the past administration plus the new ones that arise. This was true when Tony Mussare, Jack McKernan, and Rick Mirabito began as a new board of commissioners for Lycoming County in January 2016. The one big elephant in the room was the problem of budget deficits.
Everyone knows about calling 911 when there is an emergency requiring the police, fire, or ambulance services. What is not nearly as well known is calling 211, the number for information on available social services. At a recent County Commissioners Meeting, Jack McKernan distributed pamphlets to the “Help Line” serving North-Eastern Pennsylvania, including Lycoming County.
Yes, it is a new year, and we are all thinking about the future, but for the moment, take a trip back in time with me. Imagine that I am meeting myself twenty years ago. 20th Century Larry (20C Larry) meets me (21C Larry), and we start talking about communications. “Oh, look at this,” 20C
After several severe storms that depleted the federal insurance programs, a law known as the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 was enacted. The idea was to require flood insurance premiums to actually reflect the real risk of flooding. At the time of the enactment, the National Flood Insurance Program was $24 billion in
In this column last year at this time, I wrote that a crude analogy could be made between giving birth to a baby and developing a government budget. The baby is incubated in joy, followed by a long and tedious growth process in the womb, and finally, in due time, through much agony and pain,
A frequent visitor to the County Commissioner’s Meetings is a Jersey Shore resident by the name of Todd Lauer. Mr. Lauer serves in the capacity of a self-appointed community conscience, often asking the commissioners questions about the validity of various expenditures or contracts. But at one recent meeting, he criticized the general public. He openly
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