FINANCIAL TIMES: Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, one of Iran’s most influential political leaders, has raised hopes of a comprehensive nuclear deal with world powers within a year. In a rare interview with the Financial Times in Tehran, Mr Rafsanjani, 79, declared that Sunday’s interim deal was the hardest step because it meant overcoming decades of diplomatic […]
Month: November 2013
Harrisburg Sets Sale of Incinerator That Drove Insolvency
The Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority said it would issue $132.3 million in tax-exempt revenue bonds as early as next week to finance its purchase of the incinerator, according to deal documents and William B. Lynch, the city’s state-appointed receiver.
LETTER: This is a new take on the importance of getting exercise…
The study results: They found that fitness levels, not weight, predicted whether or not a participant had died in the study’s intervening years. Unfit people, regardless of their weight, had twice the risk of dying during the study than fit people, and overweight and obese people who were fit had similar mortality risks as fit, […]
Before Pa. state officials expand cyber-charters, take a look at the data
All 11 cybers scored among the lowest schools in the state. Not one of these cyber schools met or exceeded the average performance of Pennsylvania’s public and charter schools
Pa. Labor Force Shrinkage Continues
PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE: Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate fell for two straight months, from 7.7 percent in August to 7.6 percent in September and then 7.5 percent in October, according to figures released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The report covered two months because the partial government shutdown in October delayed the reporting on September’s figures. […]
No, Obama’s Iran Deal Was Not a Munich-Style Surrender
DAILY BEAST COLUMN: Within hours of the Obama administration’s interim nuclear deal with Iran, Bill Kristol was already invoking Munich. Benjamin Netanyahu’s minions have been doing so for months. Ostensibly, that’s because the agreement doesn’t doesn’t dismantle Iran’s nuclear program but stalls it in return for partial sanctions relief. That’s true. But Kristol and Netanyahu […]
Airfares have risen across the USA (But ours have dropped!)
USA TODAY: Airline ticket prices have taken off in some cities that have seen sharp drops in domestic air service, while some airports that gained flights saw prices slide, a USA TODAY Network analysis of domestic fares at the nation’s 100 busiest airports shows.
Weekend following JFK assassination
Events continued to unfold Saturday, Nov. 23, 1963. Greenville Record-Argus publisher Frank Frampton said we needed local coverage of the weekend in Washington. With crowds expected in the millions at the capitol, travel by car would be impractical.
Iran nuclear deal: Mixed global reactions over Geneva accord
ALJAZEERA: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu harshly condemned the international community’s historic nuclear deal with Iran on Sunday, while Saudi Arabia remained conspicuously quiet, reflecting the jitters felt throughout the Middle East over Iran’s acceptance on the global stage… Secretary of State John Kerry disagreed with Netanyahu’s appraisal, saying that Israel had been made safer […]
Letter from State Sen. Daylin Leach to Gov. Tom Corbett re Medical Marijuana
Mr. Pagni then said that even though you will stand in the way of easing Garrett’s suffering, this should not be construed as decreasing your “compassion for children.” But I’m sure you can understand how hollow such expressions of compassion are to the parents of a boy whose life could be saved if you’d only agree to save it.
Remembering Peter Lewis
Peter Lewis and I were respectful acquaintances although we did not develop a friendship. We both supported and worked towards drug policy reform. On occasions over two decades we had frank discussions concerning the movement, its directions, and its leadership. I think he spent his money a lot wiser than did George Soros, although the […]
LETTER: Opportunities for City of Lancaster squandered
In 1997, an agreement for the Harrisburg Area Community College to open a major branch in the Watt & Shand building was in place and ready to be enacted. However, (then) newly-elected mayor Charlie Smithgall promptly blocked its implementation. Now HACC is located on a large campus between Old Philadelphia Pike and Pitney Road, where thousands of young adults attend.
Pension reform likely to be next major issue for Pa. Legislature to tackle
“The additional mandated costs to cover the significant pension increases will have an immediate and somewhat devastating effect upon school budgets that will require school boards to both increase taxes and possibly decrease educational offerings,” said Northern Lebanon School District Superintendent Don Bell…
Any more relief from NCAA sanctions on Penn State likely a year away
Former Sen. George Mitchell addressed Penn State’s board of trustees Friday, saying he recommended the NCAA take a multi-phased approach in relieving the unprecedented sanctions levied on the football program in July 2012.