Amanda Green-Hawkins says she could have joined a high-powered law firm, or gone to work defending working families.   She chose the latter.   In New Jersey, she clerked for a Superior Court judge.  Back in Pennsylvania, she gained experience in government by serving on Allegheny County Council.   Ms. Green-Hawkins is running for one of two open […]

Pennsylvania’s Superior Court is an appellate court that fixes errors of law in cases that involve children and families.  After an elected judge has served 10 years on the bench, the voters decide if he or she will continue in that capacity.  Before Judge Olson was elected to Superior Court, she was on the Court […]

To appreciate fully the recreational possibilities in Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania, one should recall the Ice Age. Near the end of the Pleistocene epoch, thousands of years ago, the lake was formed by a large block of ice that melted and filled in a depression in the land. Down the street from the lake, a reminder […]

Marsy’s Law is named after a woman who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend.   A few days after the crime, Marsy’s mother and brother ran into him in a grocery store.  They had not been notified that he was out on bail.   Soon after, Marsy’s brother Henry started a crusade for victims’ rights in California.   In […]

The town of Hatboro is located on land purchased from William Penn around 1705 by the family of Nicholas More.  Original construction by early residents of the town occurred between 1715 and 1719.  Early settlement pre-dating the Hatboro name occurred in the Crooked Billet area east of York Road, between Moreland Avenue and Byberry Road. […]

The borough of Camp Hill is in Cumberland County, across the Susquehanna River from Pennsylvania’s capital city of Harrisburg.  The name “Camp Hill” is believed to stem from a split in a local church congregation. One faction of the church began meeting outdoors on a hill.  During the Civil War, in late June of 1863, […]

The idea of authorizing certain individuals on school property to have guns to protect students isn’t new.  But a state senator wants to clarify exactly who is permitted to possess guns for that purpose.   Senator Mike Regan, Republican from Cumberland and York Counties, wants to expand the definition of a “school resource officer.”  He wants […]

In 1785, the word “Emporium” was carved into a tree at a land surveyor’s camp at the mouth of the Portage River.  Five years would pass until the word first appeared on a map.  Emporium’s first settler would have to wait until 1810. Its population continued to grow at a very slow rate until Cameron […]

The new budget due at the end of June will be the first one Rep. Matt Bradford has considered from the perspective of a leadership position.  He thinks it’s time to spend new money on needs that have been deferred for too long a time, such as education and infrastructure.   Issues orbiting the budget at […]

Some small communities in Pennsylvania say they don’t have enough money to pay for their own local police force.  That means they rely on the State Police for protection.  But Governor Wolf and a Democratic lawmaker want those communities to pay a fee for that service.  Rep. Mike Sturla says the current arrangement amounts to […]