UPMC Memorial Hospital, York. (Source: UPMC) Headlines: • Pa. confirms 1st case of omicron variant: A man from northwest Philadelphia tested positive for the Covid-19 variant, the Pa. Health Department said Friday. (Source: WGAL) • York County woman wins suit to give husband ivermectin: A judge said UPMC Memorial Hospital must allow Keith Smith’s doctor…
Information About Covid-19 Coronavirus in Lancaster County, PA
By the numbers: Local Covid-19 case counts rising
Lancaster County is heading into the last month of 2021 with its Covid-19 case counts and hospitalizations heading in the wrong direction. According to Friday’s update of the state’s Covid-19 Early Warning Monitoring System Dashboard, Lancaster County reported 1,526 new Covid-19 cases over the past seven days, up 23% from the week before. Average hospitalizations…
A local ER nurse discusses Covid-19, vaccination
Renee Heller Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, healthcare workers have been putting all their energy into helping others. United Way of Lancaster County recently interviewed Renee Heller, a local emergency room nurse, who talked about what she is seeing in the ER and how frustrating it is for her to see people continuing to decline or…
LG Health seeks blood donors
Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health is stepping up its call for blood donors. “The United States is currently experiencing a dangerous shortage of blood supplies,” the health system said, encouraging “all eligible donors” to make a donation. They can do so at LG Health’s blood donor center or at a blood drive (see below). In…
Fulton Theatre renovations enhance beauty, accessibility (photos)
The Fulton Theatre’s main stage as seen from the balcony. (Photo: Olivia Smucker) Of all the renovations done by the Fulton Theater over the past few years, the new bathrooms have been the most appreciated. “I encourage you and invite you to see the potties, because it’s the biggest deal for everyone,” Nicole Hackmann, the…
News: Friday, Dec. 3
The former Conestoga View nursing home is now known as Lancaster Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. Headlines: • Co-owner of former Conestoga View sentenced to probation: Chaim Steg received five years’ probation in a plea deal settling charges that he contributed to the deaths of three patients at a Philadelphia-area nursing home that he managed. Judge…
Bench Mark receives state grant for anti-violence work
(Source: Bench Mark Program) A Lancaster nonprofit has received a state grant to support is efforts to steer young people away from street violence. Bench Mark Program will receive $143,968 through the Violence Intervention & Prevention grant program, Gov. Tom Wolf announced Wednesday. It is one of 40 entities receiving a total of $15.7 million…
News: Thursday, Dec. 2
(Source: Wikimedia Commons) Headlines: • LG Health, Wellspan pause elective surgeries: The health systems did so in response to rising Covid-19 inpatient counts. (Source: LNP) • Pa. House Majority Policy Committee holds hearing on nurse shortages: Penn State Health officials said they have 400 nursing vacancies, and said it’s difficult to compete with high pay…
Argall, Sturla want localities to have more options to fight blight
From left, state Sen. David Argall, state Rep. Mike Sturla and moderator Andrea Maninno of the Housing Alliance of Pa. discuss blight at the Homes Within Reach conference at Hershey Lodge on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021. (Photo: Tim Stuhldreher) “I have never agreed with (state Rep.) Mike Sturla more than I did in the last…
News: Wednesday, Dec. 1
In this still image from surveillance video, one individual carries another past a menorah installed in Penn Square. (Source: Lancaster Bureau of Police) Headlines: • Lancaster County school districts adjust to mask mandate’s reinstatement: Elizabethtown Area and Warwick school districts said they will once again require masks, based on the Pa. Supreme Court’s temporary order. (Source:…
Pa. Supreme Court reinstates K-12 mask mandate, pending appeal
(Source: School District of Lancaster) Pennsylvania’s highest court has reinstated the Wolf administration’s K-12 mask mandate while it hears an appeal challenging the order. The state Supreme Court on Tuesday issued an order reversing a Commonwealth Court order nullifying the mandate earlier this month. That court, in a 4-1 decision, had ruled that acting Health…
City adopts new parking rules to aid plowing, street sweeping
A sign listing no-parking hours for street cleaning is seen along Pearl Street in Lancaster. (Photo: Tim Stuhldreher) Lancaster City Council has signed off on changes to snow emergency and parking rules requested by the Department of Public Works. The new rules, passed by unanimous council vote on Nov. 23, will make it easier for…
A Q&A with Lancaster City Alliance President Marshall Snively (Part 1)
Marshall Snively (Source: Lancaster City Alliance) Marshall Snively has been the Lancaster City Alliance’s president for the past four years. Snively, 53, was vice president of the James Street Improvement District before it merged with the Lancaster City Alliance eight years ago. In all, he been at the two organizations for 14 1/2 years. Based…
A Q&A with Lancaster City Alliance President Marshall Snively (Part 2)
Lancaster City Alliance President Marshall Snively shows off his 2021 LAUNCH Music Festival badge next to an alliance banner. (Source: Lancaster City Alliance) Marshall Snively: One of the things we’re most proud of is our relationship with the merchant community. We have monthly meetings with them, and usually we get between 50 and 60 that…
Today is Giving Tuesday
Today is the 10th annual Giving Tuesday, a holiday season observance that encourages people to donate to the charities of their choice. Launched in 2012 by the 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation, Giving Tuesday has become an international movement. Last year, it attracted nearly 35 million participants worldwide and raised nearly $2.5…
News: Tuesday, Nov. 30
(Source: Hersheys.com) Headlines: • CDC corrects Pa. vaccination figures: After rectifying the data and removing duplicate entries, the percentage of Pennsylvania’s adults vaccinated against Covid-19 dropped from 73.7% to 68.9%. (Source: WGAL) Pa. Department of Health officials say the challenge of getting the data right is “overwhelming.” (Source: ABC 27) • Prosecutors ask U.S. Supreme…
Community support ‘overwhelming’ after menorah damage: JCAL president
The newly repaired menorah in Penn Square. (Photo: Kevin Ressler) On behalf of the Jewish community, Miriam Baumgartner expressed heartfelt gratitude to the hundreds of Lancastrians who showed their solidarity by joining local synogogue members in Penn Square on Sunday evening for the lighting of a menorah on the first day of Hanukah. “We just…
LG Health offers child Covid-19 vaccine clinics in Paradise, Peach Bottom, Quarryville
Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health is hosting a series of Covid-19 vaccine clinics for children ages 5-11 in rural Lancaster County. The first is today at The Factory Ministries in Paradise. It will be followed by clinics at the Robert Fulton Fire Co. in Peach Bottom on Monday, Dec. 6, and at the Quarryville Library…