MAY 22-28, 2014 Your Local News
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Northampton Regional EMS Receives Award Page 10
The Home News
Depression, then war effort Led to newspaper’s beginning
Lower Nazareth to have Open discussion on CRPD issue in June
By BILL HALBFOERSTER The Home News
Lower Nazareth Township Supervisors Vice Chairman James Pennington announced at their meeting on Wednesday, May 14 that they will have a public discussion concerning the Colonial Regional Police Department. It will take place on Wednesday, June11 at 6:30 p.m. in the Lower Nazareth municipal building. At that time public input will be welcomed. At the supervisors’ meeting on Wednesday in the Lower Nazareth Elementary School, the announcement drew questions from two people,
a resident, Martin McEnrue, and CRPD Police Chief Roy Seiple. McEnrue, evidently angered at the possibility that Lower Nazareth may drop CRPD, asked Pennington, “Seventy-five percent of the people don’t want to give up the services of Colonial Regional. Why don’t we have a vote in getting rid of the police department?” He further suggested the figure could be 90% of the residents who want to retain CRPD, and asked Pennington if they could get rid of the superviContinued on page 12
School board favors 2.47% tax increase William J. Halbfoerster, Jr (far right) in the Northampton High School print shop. By BILL HALBFOERSTER The Home News
T
he Great Depression of 1929 and into the early 1930s found the family of William and Edna Halbfoerster at a loss. While Bill Sr. had a job with the Elizabeth Daily Journal in New Jersey, the hard times took their toll and the family lost their home in Roselle, New Jersey to foreclosure—something that is all too familiar now in the early 2000s. Bill Sr.’s brother Ferd, a former piano player in Vaudeville, had established an egg business at his farm in the Jamesville area just west of Bath, Pennsylvania. Here was an opportunity to start over again; Bill Sr. and his wife and two young children moved to Pennsylvania.
Printing Business
With his printing background, Bill Sr. started the Main Street Press in Bath in 1936 and Edna had a stationery store at the front of their home at 91 W. Main St. In a building to the rear of Schaeffer’s Candy Store next door was a newspaper business called The Bath News, run by Alfred “Yockey” Green. After World War II started in 1941, there was a gigantic push to build planes, tanks, and artillery. The war effort drew Green to Bethlehem Steel and he abandoned the newspaper, which, at the time, was a full-sized sheet of very few pages and contained much boilerplate advertising along with news of happenings in Bath. It was a good weekly newspaper.
The Home News
Beginnings Home News Born
With its demise, Bill Sr. saw an opportunity to get into the newspaper business and he started a tabloid called The Home News in December of 1942. It was only four pages with local ads and most news written by another next-door neighbor, the late John Sencenbach, who had a shoe store and typed news for a city newspaper, writing his notes on used envelopes.Your editor often visited him as a youngster and got some words of wisdom from John. I had just turned 12 years old. Continued on page 6
By BILL HALBFOERSTER The Home News
on the Democratic side over gets on the Polled at Monday night’s what Gov. Corbett side. meeting, the Northampton Republican Director Judy Odenwelder Area School Board favored an commented, as the board disincrease of 2.47% in the 2014- cussed the increase: we 15 budget. At that, the millage were sworn in and “One, pledged rate will go up by 1.18. students would reBoard President David Go- that the a good education, and gel had suggested 2.34% “in ceive we have a responsibility the spirit of compromise” two, our constituents. We are as higher figures were pro- to to the lowest in school posed, as high as 2.68%, but next taxes (to Pen Argyl) and we the 2.47% prevailed. a building project. None Director Dr. Michael Baird have the others do. We haven’t had some questions, one of of to cut any programs and them the cost of cyber edu- had shows a tremendous team cation. Schools Supt. Joseph it Kovalchik said that it is ex- effort.” Continued on page 16 ceedingly high and the taxpayers are paying a great deal for it. Kovalchik noted, “We’re 73rd Year, Issue No. 21 not against competition. I www.homenewspa.com have a problem with how it’s funded.” Dr. Baird was also concerned with what message might come out of this Tuesday’s primary election if Tom USPS 248-700 Wolf gets a landslide vote
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