This month marks the third anniversary of the shutdowns from the COVID virus. The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Almost immediately, Governor Wolf announced that Pennsylvania needed a two-week pause to ‘flatten the curve’ to help prevent the spread of the virus. Maybe it was because it was
READ MOREA petition for a referendum seeking the establishment of the office of controller for Lycoming County was filed with the Bureau of Elections at the Court House Friday afternoon. The petition, which contained the signatures of 112 electors of the county, was referred to Marshall C. Anspach, county solicitor for approval. If the petition is
READ MORE“I don’t even know where to start in describing this project.” So spoke Jason Yorks, director for the Lycoming County Resource Management Services (LCRMS), more commonly known as the County Landfill. Jason made this comment while standing at the podium at the Lycoming County Commissioners Meeting on Thursday, February 16th. He was advocating for the
READ MOREIt was noted in the article a couple of weeks ago entitled “Blueprint for ARPA Funds” that the primary focus for disseminating the $22 million federal grant funds to our area would be for generational projects. Commissioner Metzger emphasized this again at the Lycoming County Commissioners Meeting on February 9th. The commissioners keep mentioning this
READ MOREIf there were a known serial killer in our area, all of us would be up in arms. Parents would be protecting their children 24/7. Everyone with a carrying permit would be carrying. What would you say if I told you that this killer has taken the lives of seven Lycoming County residents in the
READ MOREFunny things happen when a person wins a big pile of money in the lottery. They suddenly discover a whole lot of friends and relatives that they never knew they had. The same thing happened to Lycoming County when they were awarded $22 million from the federal government in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
READ MOREWhen the Lycoming County Commissioners brought up the subject of live-streaming their meetings a few years ago, I had to smile. It was hard enough for me to sit through those work sessions and regular meetings week after week; I could not imagine following them virtually from a single static camera. But, and not for
READ MOREFor the past several years, I have always used the last week of the year to look back at my columns and see what my readers thought of my articles. I want to thank all those who have spoken to me personally or written comments to let me know your opinions about those articles. Feedback
READ MOREThe building directly across the street from the Lycoming County Courthouse is 33 West Third Street. Owned by the county for the past couple of decades, it has largely served as a rental property, but over time the tenants have moved out, and this has opened up the possibilities for the county to house services
READ MOREIf the birth of a child is one of the happiest moments a mother and family can experience, the death of such a child in the first year of life would have to be one of the most horrible events imaginable. Tragically, each year there are about 3,400 sudden unexpected infant deaths that occur in
READ MOREFor most of the 1990s and into the first decade of the new millennium, I lived in Eastern Europe and wore a number of hats, one of which was working as a human resource management specialist. Picking up my MBA in Belgium and Ph.D. in Latvia, and postdoctoral work at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government,
READ MOREAs noted in last week’s article, the issue of a permanent location for the Lycoming County Coroner’s office is one of the hottest hot potatoes that the county commissioners have faced in some time. The incredible irony is that all three of the commissioners are completely on board with securing a center for the coroners’
READ MOREI remember well my first visit to a Lycoming County Commissioners Meeting in April of 2016. Jim Webb Jr. had asked me to attend to see if covering these meetings could become a weekly column. I had great doubts going in, but I was surprised at the dynamic that took place between the Commissioners at
READ MORESeptember is National Preparedness Month, which certainly does not cause parades and festivals from communities around the country — but it is something that we should not just push aside lightly. The tragedy that occurred in the United States on September 11th, 2001, was recently commemorated by thousands of bikers at the 911 Memorial Ride.
READ MORELycoming County has very few big employers. The medical community (UPMC Hospital & Susquehanna Physician Services), the educational community (Pennsylvania College of Technology, Lycoming College, and the Williamsport and Loyalsock School Districts), and another major employer that many do not recognize as such — Lycoming County government itself. The county employs 550 full-time and another
READ MOREThe one government official that I have the most admiration, as well as the most sympathy for, is Lycoming County Director of Voter Services Forrest Lehman. Listening to Forrest is like sitting in a college classroom and hearing a brilliant professor explain a complex system in such clear terms that even a freshman would be
READ MOREAn interesting addendum to the East Third Street/Old City Revitalization Project that was highlighted in this column last week was the objection to the process given by Commissioner Scott Metzger at the close of the Thursday, August 4th meeting. His comments were quite poignant and hit pretty hard as both commissioners Mirabito and Mussare apologized
READ MOREA very special guest came to the Lycoming County Commissioners Meeting on Thursday, July 28th — Lycoming College President, Kent Trachte. He came to ask the commissioners to approve a grant for a new 165-stall parking structure which is part of the East Third Street/Old City Revitalization Project. The presence of Dr. Trachte magnified the
READ MORESometimes history is made, and no one notices it happened. This was the case at the Lycoming County Commissioners Meeting on Thursday, July 21st, when the commissioners voted to award $20,000 each to the 28 fire companies in Lycoming County from Act 13 funds. The commissioners routinely disperse funds to many different organizations outside of
READ MOREThe Lycoming County Commissioners met for their weekly meeting on Thursday, July 14th, at 10:00 a.m. The agenda was not much different than any other in the past number of years. It opened with the standard protocols of prayer, pledge of allegiance, approval of previous meeting minutes, etc. At most of these meetings, there is
READ MOREDuring this week, 50 years ago, Lycoming County and the rest of the area of the Susquehanna River Basin were in the throes of the most destructive and severe flooding seen in the area up to that time. The flood was caused by heavy rains from June 20 to 24, 1972, from the remnants of
READ MOREThere are times that even the best of writers are at a loss for words. The incredible tragedy that took place at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, which took the lives of nineteen children and two adult teachers, is simply unfathomable to comprehend. What causes an individual to not only want to take
READ MOREDuring the comments section at the end of the Lycoming County Commissioners Meeting on April 19th, the subject of election integrity came up again. Pennsylvania’s 2020 election has been an ongoing hot topic in the Commonwealth, with various lawsuits and even a proposal by Republican legislators for a forensic audit into that election’s results. To
READ MOREThe Community Chest, the Red Feather Campaign, the Lycoming United Fund, and finally, the Lycoming County United Way — this organization that has been serving the local community faithfully for years, recently celebrated its 100th anniversary. “It all began in 1922 with what was known as the Board of Trade, now the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of
READ MOREThe abundance of people who spend money on lottery tickets all dream that someday they will be the one to hit it big. Imagine what it would be like to win a million dollars! All your problems would be over, right? According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, one-third of all lottery winners will declare
READ MOREI served as a township supervisor for ten years and have been asked from time to time if I was interested in running for Lycoming County Commissioner someday. I quickly answer — “No!” Having been an active spectator since 2014, I greatly understand the demands and difficulties that the board of three commissioners must face
READ MOREVolunteer fire companies and ambulance services face major manpower shortages and challenges these days. In a bid to adequately deal with this, three volunteer fire companies in northcentral Lycoming County — Hepburn Township, Trout Run, and Ralston — have embarked on an ambulance alliance that is hoped will deal with this problem. These companies cover
READ MOREThere is a running joke with those of us who regularly attend the weekly Lycoming County Commissioners Meeting. We know it means a long meeting when we see a short agenda. We could call it the Lyco Comm Law — the shorter the agenda, the longer they talk, talk, talk about each agenda item. At
READ MOREThe purpose of this column is to keep the general public updated on what is going on in our local government, particularly at the county level. Routinely, the County puts out press releases from various departments that cover a wide swath of interest areas. Given that this is a weekly column, sometimes the deadline would
READ MOREThe upcoming primary election on May 17th and the general election on November 8th promises to bring a host of visitors to come knocking on our doors. There will be those with petitions to get themselves on the ballot, those who are on the ballot and want your vote, and those plugging for these candidates.
READ MOREScott Metzger could arguably be considered one of the best prepared Lycoming County Commissioners given his three decades of experience in the Adult Probation Department, half of those years as Deputy Chief, as well his lifetime experience as a business owner. Seeing from both the government and business sides of the coin, Scott is also
READ MOREMy tribute to volunteer firefighters, “God Made a Volunteer Firefighter,” based on Paul Harvey’s essay, “God Made a Farmer,” was one of the most read articles of mine in 2021. But little did I realize that my article only hinted at the incredible commitment, generosity, and just plain grit that our area firefighters and those
READ MOREMy headline is a bit misleading, as, in many ways, I am NOT looking forward to 2022. I am largely pessimistic about our short-term future, but in the long-term, I have a stubborn belief in the American spirit to steady itself when the ship of state shifts too far to the right or to the
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