• Ephrata Borough officials upset by distributors absence regarding parking kiosks problem: Monday, a representative of Butts Ticket Systems in Ephrata Borough did not show up to the highway committee meeting, which frustrated officials. Council President Thomas Reinhold explained the borough asked someone from the company to be at the meeting to answer hard-hitting questions about ongoing issues with the kiosks and its connected parking app, Flowbird. The kiosks have been turned off by officials through the end of June. Director of Municipal Services Bart Ganster called Mitch Butts, owner of Butts Ticket System, during the meeting to ask about the no-show. Ganster said Butts claimed he wasn’t asked to come and declined to participate in the meeting over phone. Tuesday, Butts explained that the no show was due to a miscommunication. Butts told Ganster he would issue him and apology over email and is expected to attend the next highway committee meeting at 5:30 p.m. May 27. (Source: LNP)
• Democrats build motivation for seeking purple seat after special election win: 2023 Hempfield Democrats broke through when two Democrats won school board seats. Two years later, following the win of Democrat James Malone, Democrats have motivation for the upcoming municipal primaries. The 36th District includes East and West Hempfield, which comprise Hempfield School District. Malone won East Hempfield over Commissioner Josh Parsons. Five of the Seven precincts in West Hempfield, turned blue. Michael Mezzetti, who chairs the Hempfield Area Democratic Committee, said the party is energized and He’s optimistic Malone’s victory could be an indicator of what’s yet to come for Hempfield in this year’s municipal and school board elections. The grossly populated areas in Lancaster County are turning shades of purple, meaning neither party is dominate in the election. Purple municipalities in the 36th District turned blue for Malone: East Hempfield, Manheim townships as well as the boroughs of Elizabethtown, Lititz and Columbia. (Source: LNP)
• Lancaster county residents support the resignation of city council member: Tuesday evening, during the city council meeting residents took to the podium during public comment to voice their support and opposition to Council Member Janet Diaz. Diaz, running for Lancaster mayor, is encountering calls to resign over a since-deleted Facebook post about fellow council member, Ahmed Ahmed, the first former refugee to serve on the Lancaster City Council. Diaz claims the post, was written by a teenage staffer. The post, references Ahmed’s current reelection campaign and said in part, “We have other candidates running that were born/raised in Lancaster.” Several residents have condemned the calls for Diaz resignation citing that Diaz cares for the community; while others argue that Diaz needs to be held accountable for her actions. In a statement to News 8, Lancaster City Council President Amanda Bakay explained, “I believe Councilor Diaz ought to resign based on the racist and xenophobic content of her since-deleted social media post.” (Source: WGAL)
• WellSpan initiatives legal action to acquire ownership of sports complex coming to York County: WellSpan is requesting ownership of the “WellSpan Sports Complex, after it claims York company Inch & Co. failed to hold up its end of an agreement. In September of 2024, Inch & Co. broke ground on the 243,000 square-foot complex. The complaint filed April 21, 2025, WellSpan said it entered into an agreement with Inch & Co., the owner of the property, that stated if Inch & Co. did not increase the proper investments in time, the company would transfer the property to WellSpan, which paid $5,000,000 toward the sports arena. (Source: CBS 21)
• Nation/world: Legal Immigrants in Texas Panhandle left in Limbo amid Trumps crackdown (Source: AP News) NASA budget cuts threaten wildfire fighting programs (Source: NBC News) About three deaths linked to Spain power cut (Source: BBC News) New European datacenters announced by Microsoft (Source: UPI)
