I think I had an April Fool’s Day trick played on myself, as I dreamed about a meeting where the three commissioners; Jack McKernan, Tony Mussare, and Rick Mirabito (the 3 Ms, as I like to call them), were asking their department heads for ideas on better ways to promote Lycoming County. I saw Kim
READ MOREBarry Rake is a man on a mission. That mission is to educate young people to save them from the scourge and dangers of drug and opioid abuse. To do so, he has an initiated an educational program in which sport water bottles with the slogan “TOO SMART TO START” emblazoned on them, included is
READ MOREThose who follow this column might notice that there have been several articles this year relating to future plans and concerns for Lycoming County. The reason for this is preparation for the approval of the study: “Lycoming 2030: Plan the Possible,” the new Comprehensive Plan for the county. The last plan was done in 2006,
READ MOREDoes anyone ever remember reading a headline that stated, “Airliner Lands Safely at Williamsport Regional Airport”? Of course not. That is not news because that is what is supposed to happen. News is when something bad happens, or unusual, or threatening. This is where the newspaper adage comes from, “When it bleeds, it leads.” It
READ MOREThe result of the Law of Unintended Consequences is that sometimes fixing one problem creates another one. In the 20th century, mental health hospitals were designed to improve on the insane asylum model of the previous century. Unfortunately, supply exceeded demand, and the result was increased neglect of the patients. A movement known as deinstitutionalization
READ MOREThe county commissioners normally meet twice weekly — a work session on Tuesday mornings at 10:00 a.m. and the regular session at the same time on Thursday. The work session is designed to discuss and review agenda items that would be voted on in the regular session. Because of this, it is more informal in
READ MOREOne of the oldest clichés is that failure to plan is planning to fail. It also just happens to be true. Think of it like checking the weather. If I am out walking and suddenly it rains, I get wet. However, if I checked the weather reports before I left my home, and knew there
READ MOREWhen Hamlet was musing, “to be or not to be,” he hesitated because death is the “undiscovered country”. Charles E. “Chuck” Kiessling Jr. is one who stands in the threshold of that mystery. As the Lycoming County Coroner, his duty is to determine the manner and cause of deaths that occur in his jurisdiction. But
READ MOREA couple of weeks ago it was noted in this column that there were several hot-button issues that the Lycoming County Commissioners would have to deal with in 2018. The White Deer Golf Course is one of those that will be closely watched throughout the year. The County Commissioners have made it clear that this
READ MOREThe County Commissioner’s Meeting on Thursday, January 25th was memorable in many ways. Last week’s column featured the awarding of the day reporting center contract, which was almost a year in the making. But the meeting had some other interesting aspects that also deserve mention. At the 10:00 a.m. start time, the meeting room was
READ MOREEvery 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.
READ MOREThose of us who grew up in the outlying boroughs and townships of Lycoming County in the 1960s and 70s remember traveling to Williamsport for shopping and entertainment and passing miles and miles of farmland along the route. But as the world changed, so did Lycoming County. Children of farmers decided they wanted to go
READ MOREEveryone 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.
READ MOREYes, 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
READ MOREAfter 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
READ MOREThis past summer, there was a major battle over a proposed county ordinance for a five-dollar county fee on every non-exempt vehicle registered in the county. Hours and hours of debate ensued over it before it was finally passed at a County Commissioners Meeting on June 15, 2017, as Ordinance 2017-02. The story “The Five
READ MOREIn 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,
READ MOREA 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
READ MOREThis past summer, there was a major battle over a proposed county ordinance for a five-dollar county fee on every non-exempt vehicle registered in the county. Hours and hours of debate ensued over it before it was finally passed at a County Commissioners Meeting on June 15, 2017, as Ordinance 2017-02. The story “The Five
READ MOREOne of the urban legends of government spending is the $600 hammer. Immortalized by everyone from late-night comedians to political leaders, the infamous military hammer was simply a bundled purchase with many different spare parts, some very expensive. For bookkeeping purposes, all the items on the list were allocated engineering expenses divided equally, so the
READ MOREAn interesting exercise in government transparency is coming up soon. Based on the 1992 JFK Records Act, October 26th is the final date for the United States government to release about 3,000 never-before-seen documents also with 34,000 previously redacted files related to President Kennedy’s assassination in November of 1963. The investigation into the causes of
READ MOREIt was an unusually hot Tuesday afternoon in Williamsport on September 19th as Agents Bryan Bower and Adam Lorson of the Lycoming County Adult Probation Office were driving to visit a few of their clients. As they were slowly going along one of the city streets, Bryan noticed one of his former clients walking along
READ MOREThe middle of February can mean just one thing. Spring Training has begun in Florida and Arizona for America’s pastime of summer. Wish I were there. Here on the local front, great high school basketball and wrestling action takes the main stage as the regular seasons wrap up and District Championship play gets underway. If
READ MOREThe middle of February can mean just one thing. Spring Training has begun in Florida and Arizona for America’s pastime of summer. Wish I were there. Here on the local front, great high school basketball and wrestling action takes the main stage as the regular seasons wrap up and District Championship play gets underway. If
READ MOREMany of you have been reaching out to me about current events going on here at home, in Washington and of course in regarding Mr. Trump and Ms. Hillary. I’m taking a little break from that energy draining reality to enjoy all the good going on here in our little corner of Penn’s Woods. No
READ MORECongrats to Katie Jones! The South Side Senior High flyer set the state pole vault record on the way to the gold medal. The young lady cleared 13 feet, yes 13 feet… Amazing! Jones has been the odds on favorite all season at the AA level, making her accomplishment even more special. Sometimes that target
READ MOREA great title for our Presidential candidates and their campaigns, I’m so glad the primary season is coming to an end. However, it’s more about the second part of my story. It’s time to get out and vote. It doesn’t matter if you vote for Mr. Donald “Open Mouth Insert Foot” Trump, Ms. Hillary “Prison
READ MOREBefore I get to this, it is hard to believe March Madness and The Masters are in the rearview mirror. This can mean only one thing – Spring has sprung! The crack or bing off the bat can be heard at every level from Little League to Big League. Things are greening up nicely even
READ MOREMy favorite week of the year on page 2. I get to dress up as your friendly neighborhood Spiderman. I thought about a different look for you this year, maybe Barak Obama but with Webb as my last name there is really only one choice of attire. Now for my public service message for Halloween
READ MOREThere is so much to talk about in the early weeks of 2016. Usually January is a slow, get your feet under you, put the holidays in the rearview mirror month. Not this year! Locally, Williamsport hired a new Police Chief; Pennsylvania State Police Captain David J. Young. Captain Young will take over the reins
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