The City of Lancaster is now offering the option of paying bills online with a credit or debit card, the City’s Director of Administrative Services, Patrick Hopkins, announced Tuesday night. Parking tickets, utility bills, trash bills, and property taxes can be paid through an online portal accessible on the city’s web page, www.cityoflancasterpa.com. In order […]
Tag: News and Commentary
City Council Defends, Passes Franchise Agreement with Comcast
Lancaster City Council unanimously passed a cable franchise agreement with Comcast that awards the city 5% of annual gross revenues, despite concerns that the city could have negotiated a better deal. Mayor Rick Gray believes there was some public misunderstanding about the agreement. “No one is being granted a monopoly,” he said at Tuesday night’s […]
Commissioners Expected to Approve $9.6M in Federal Grants for Amtrak Renovations
At their weekly public meeting, Wednesday, the County Commissioners are expected to approve a grant application with the the U.S. Department of Transportation towards the renovations to the Lancaster City Amtrak Station. Additional state funding in the amount of $2 million will match roughly 17% of the total funding amount, which is $12 million. Federal […]
County to Hold Public Auction September 27
The County will be holding an auction on Saturday, September 27, 2008 to dispose of unwanted items. The Pennsylvania Code states that the County must hold an auction if the value of the material it wishes to discard exceeds $1,000. The Auction will be held in the Maintenance Area of Lancaster County Central Park at […]
Study: Newspapers need to enhance web presence
An article appearing at MSNBC.com is headed “Study: Shrinking newsrooms hurt quality; Stories are shorter overall, the survey finds, and coverage tends to be local.” The report describes “The many and deepening cuts at newspapers across the country” and says this is “starting to take a toll on their content.” The article goes on to […]
Amtrak Reveals Plans for Expanded Parking
Approved site plans for future parking at the Lancaster Amtrak Station will provide for 89 more parking spaces. The plan also allows for a local bus canopy, taxi drop off area and a Trailways Bus canopy. The prior proposed plan, criticized by NewsLanc, only added 36 spaces, and those spaces were remote from the train […]
"Not just around Christmastime": Local Salvation Army Lives the Gospel
You’ve seen them in front of stores around the holidays – all bundled up, ringing those bells. Maybe you’ve even tossed in some spare change. Among all the extravagance and commercialism, they serve as a stark reminder that there are many people who can barely even afford to eat. They are the Salvation Army. And […]
LETTER: Comcast franchise contract with City
The City votes on the cable franchise proposal from Comcast on Tuesday. According to Lancaster Newspapers, they’ve worked out a deal that includes $470,000 and a channel to be used by SDL and SACA. Comcast, however, values the Lancaster cable TV market at between $60 million and $90 million, with annual cable TV revenues of […]
PSP vs PKF projections of occupancy
In a July 20th article entitled “Marriott Lancaster on schedule for March”, the Sunday News reports: “Developers have said the 14-story hotel needs to maintain a 68 percent occupancy rate to meet fiscal projections.” The 2006 PKF Feasibility Study reports on Page ll-10, “Our stabilized year projection assumes an annual occupancy rate of 53.0 percent […]
EDITORIAL: "Lifting up the fallen."
It saddens us to see pictures on the front page of the July 18th Intelligencer Journal of people protesting in front of the home of former state Representative Tom Armstrong because he has given sanctuary to individuals who have paid their debt to society and who now seek to get on with life. Of the […]
Possibilitly looms for jump in interest rates on CC Project bonds
A subsidiary of Wachovia Corporation, Wachovia Securities Trust, is being inspected “as part of part of a broad probe into questionable practices involving auction-rate securities” accoding to the Associated Press. The release goes on to explain: “Auction-rate securities had been seen by many as a safe investment. They were used, among other things, to fund […]
No New Convention Center Bookings During June; Authority’s $25 million investment with MBIA safe
No new opening-year Convention Center bookings were made during the month of June, its Director of Sales & Marketing said Thursday. Nevertheless, Josh Nowak remains optimistic that the Center will be able to meet its goals for 2009. 13 events have been booked for 2009, reflecting $183,600 in revenue. This amount is 36.3% of the […]
Millersville Tuition to Rise 3.5% for 2008-2009
The Patriot-News of Harrisburg reported, late Thursday morning, that the Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) has approved a 3.5% tuition hike for the commonwealth’s 14 state-owned universities. “The yearly [undergraduate] tuition will rise to $5,358, an increase of $181,” writes reporter Jan Murphy. She goes on to report […]
NewsLanc challenges Newspapers to split cost of trolley poll
In one minute radio spots on three local stations, NewsLanc.com challenges the Lancaster Newspapers to split the cost of a professional poll to determine whether residents of Lancaster City want trolley cars on their main streets. The challenge can be heard as part of the third of three radio spots dated July 14th and posted […]