Kamala Harris Headlines: • Clergy, teachers rally outside Sen. Martin’s office for fair public school funding: The event was one of several throughout Pennsylvania organized by the interfaith advocacy group POWER. (Source: LNP) • Vice President Harris promotes child tax credit on Pittsburgh trip: Harris said the Biden administration’s expansion of the child tax credit…
Information About Covid-19 Coronavirus in Lancaster County, PA
Chief Bey pledges to build trust
Lancaster police Chief John Bey speaks to the media at Musser Park on Monday, June 21, 2021. (Photo: Tim Stuhldreher) Asked Monday afternoon what his appointment as Lancaster’s police chief means to him as a Black man, John Bey said: “It means a lot. … This is very personal.” Bey, 57, has been serving as…
Interim no more: John Bey named Lancaster city police chief
Lancaster Police Chief John Bey (Source: Provided) Interim Lancaster police Chief John Bey is no longer “interim,” Mayor Danene Sorace announced Monday. He is now the city’s official police chief, effective immediately, the mayor said. “After weighing community input, a national search, an extensive interview process, and witnessing his service as interim chief over the…
Splitting costs, building friendships through shared housing
Jim Kalish (Source: Provided) With more seniors choosing to age in place at home rather than moving into long-term care facilities, and with the cost of rent and home ownership a daunting prospect for younger generations, alternative housing options may soon gain more popularity. One arrangement that is attracting interest involves mixing ages among non-related…
It’s Lancaster city Mayor’s Neighborhood Week
(Source: City of Lancaster) This week is Mayor’s Neighborhood Week in Lancaster city. City Hall describes the week as “a celebration of Lancaster’s vibrant neighborhoods and the people that call them home.” Events kick off today and include a bicycle tour, a “pop up” informational event on proposed changes to the South Duke Street corridor…
News: Monday, June 21
Sen David Argall, R-Schuylkill/Berks (Source: Senatorargall.com) Headlines: • Pa. may not make 70% vaccination threshold before June 28 mask mandate lift: According to the Department of Health, 57.8% of Pennsylvanians 18 and older are fully vaccinated, and 73.7% have received their first dose. (Source: FOX 43) • Biden infrastructure plan could help improve majority of…
On World Refugee Day, let’s stand in solidarity with the world’s displaced peoples
(Source: UNHCR) Sunday is the 20th annual World Refugee Day, a day designated by the United Nations to honor refugees around the globe. Thursday night, during Church World Service Lancaster’s Stronger Together virtual event, Omar Mohamed, author of “When Stars Are Scattered,” reminded us that World Refugee Day is a day to both celebrate refugee courage…
Juneteenth reflections: Cheryl D. Holland-Jones
Cheryl Holland-Jones (Source: Provided) Juneteenth: “From The Frontlines To Delayed Benefits” Historically, African-Americans have been deprived of information which would ultimately propel them to new levels. In many instances, we initially seem to be the foundation (sometimes without our knowledge or understanding), and ultimately end up on the front lines. This should afford us the…
Juneteenth reflections: Leroy Hopkins
Leroy Hopkins (Source: Provided) In my youth, the Crispus Attucks Community Center, where my mother was an assistant cook and I attended daycare and the hot lunch project, offered an annual program, “Negro History Week.” I have no conscious memory of attending one of the programs, and as other African Americans of my generation who…
Juneteenth reflections: Nelson M. Polite Jr.
Nelson Polite Jr. (Source: Provided) Juneteenth’s meaning When I think of Juneteenth I am reminded of the American Civil War when President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, effective Jan. 1, 1863, freeing all enslaved persons in the Confederate States of America. This news reached Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865. However the Juneteenth Proclamation…
Juneteenth reflections: Ismail Smith-Wade-El
Ismail Smith-Wade-El (Source: Provided) Juneteenth, to me, is the most American holiday. July 4 is an incomplete independence day, though they all are, really. Every day that we celebrate a step closer to true justice and freedom for all people in this country, we mark also how much further we have to go. Be it…
News: Friday, June 18
Some of the speakers who participated in the raising of the Juneteenth flag at Lancaster City Hall on Friday, June 18, 2021. From left: NAACP Lancaster President Blanding Watson; Ted Darcus, former City Council President and former executive director of the Governor’s Advisory Commission on African American Affairs; City Council President Ismail Smith-Wade-El; former County…
CWS Lancaster to host World Refugee Day events (video)
(Source: CWS Lancaster) Church World Service Lancaster is honoring the 20th annual World Refugee Day with a virtual community gathering and an in-person concert. The virtual gathering, “Stronger Together,” is from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 17. The hour will feature remarks Omar Mohamed, author of “When Stars Are Scattered,” a short…
Black Artist Waystation: Read the featured artists’ personal statements
(Source: YWCA Lancaster) YWCA Lancaster is premiering its Black Artist Waystation this weekend as part of the Lancaster community’s recognition of Juneteenth. The project is a first of its kind for the nonprofit. Its goal “is to be a catalyst for artists who create works that define the movement toward freedom and recognize the many…
Lancaster LGBTQ+ health consortium is on the way
Participants in the LGBTQ+ Vaccine Clinic “Vogue, Vaccines & Visibility” celebrate the event on Saturday, June 12, 2021. (Source: Lancaster LGBTQ+ Coalition) Central Pennsylvania lacks a network of advanced providers to coordinate comprehensive care for the LGBTQ+ community. The new Lancaster LGBTQ+ health consortium plans to change that. The consortium is spearheaded by Dr. Sharee…
By the numbers: Covid-19 going, going, but not quite gone
The collapse of the pandemic in Lancaster County has been so steep in the past two weeks that our research group thought it worthwhile to share the positive news of what is happening now, rather than at month’s end. All significant measures of the virus have trended down to levels not seen since the first…
Thursday, June 17
Former Pa. governor and U.S. secretary of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge. (Source: Ridge-Lane Limited Partners) Headlines: • New F&M poll reveals Covid-19 concern, support for modifying election law: Only 7% of respondents named Covid-19 as Pennsylvania’s most important problem, compared to 31% in March. (Source: LNP) The poll also found a majority of Pennsylvania registered voters…
Lancaster NAACP to host Juneteenth vigil, more
(Source: NAACP Lancaster) The Lancaster chapter of the NAACP, in partnership with numerous community organizations, has planned a full slate of events to mark Juneteenth this Saturday. The day will kick off with a “celebration and vigil,” running from 10:45 a.m. to 12 noon in the Broad Street parking lot at Thaddeus Stevens College of…