Lancaster-York : In the News

While more Amish residents move out of Pennsylvania than those who move in, the state's Amish population nonetheless leapt by nearly 82 percent in that same period, according to revised figures from the Young Center.

The study estimates that Pennsylvania now has 59,500 Amish residents, up from 56,500 two years ago and only 32,700 in 1992. That works out to a 4.3 percent increase in the last year. The center estimates the national Amish population to total 240,000.

Original Source: The Huffington Post

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The federal education jobs money is expected to save about 161,000 education jobs nationwide, including about 5,900 in Pennsylvania. The money is designated for only compensation of teachers and other staff at the school level, not central administrator pay, facilities or other expenses. States will have to show that they are maintaining their effort to fund education to qualify for the money.

Original Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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PA CareerLink, part of the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, operates locations across the state aiming to help those out of work find employers who are looking for workers. Baltimore Life also conducted interviews at the office Monday, according to CareerLink.

The CareerLink office is a good place to look for workers, Fullaway said, because people are constantly in and out of the office looking for work. The company is looking for people to work in its call center, to staff outside events and home shows and to do neighborhood canvassing.

The ultimate goal is a system of stops and connections spanning from Berks to Franklin County in central Pennsylvania.

The study, which is funded by a state grant, will examine technology that would make fares universal from bus system to bus system. It will also determine how much regionalization would cost and look at ways to pay for it.

The funded solar projects are forecast to generate at least 26,600 megawatt-hours of electricity each year--enough for around 2,700 Pennsylvania homes.

The systems are expected to save $5.2 million a year in energy costs over the next 20 years.

Among the projects awarded funding, an $8.6 million solar photovoltaic array planned for a senior housing community in East Whiteland will receive a $2.7 million grant. The 1.8MW ground-mounted facility will generate 2.3 million kilowatt-hours of energy a year, saving $286,000 in energy costs each year.

According to the latest report by the USDA, the number of markets in the country tripled since the mid-1990s. They're being touted as the panacea for everything from the obesity epidemic to the exploitation of farmers by big-chain supermarkets. Locavores love them. Environmentalists adore them. Raw foodies can't do without them.

Linda Aleci, a historian and co-founder of the Local Economy Center at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, undertook a three-year study of the farmers' market in her city. Her findings suggested that the local farmers' market -- serving a poor, food-insecure community -- was suffering from the growth of markets in the Philadelphia metro region and in Lancaster County. Salon spoke to her to find out more.

State Rep. Eugene DePasquale, D-West Manchester, was one of five Democrats from the state House of Representatives who developed the project. He said state lawmakers might or might not take the suggestions submitted.

In fact, given the proximity to the June 30 deadline for a new state budget, it's likely that any suggestions would be adopted for next year's state budget rather than this one. Still, DePasquale said he and his colleagues figured any viable suggestions they glean from the site would make the project worth it.

"Every dime you can save, you should," DePasquale said.

A report to be presented to the faculty union Monday in Harrisburg is expected to include recommendations for "shared programs" in foreign languages and physics, according to officials such as Karen Ball, vice chancellor for external relations for the State System of Higher Education.

Officials said the pilot programs could use software that enables distance learning. The proposal stems from a review of undergraduate and graduate programs that have low enrollments on individual campuses.