Press And Journal
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2015
VOLUME 125 - NO. 9
14 PAGES
75 CENTS
Middletown, LD debut spring musicals
The cast of Middletown Area High School’s spring musical, “Damn Yankees.’’
By Jim Lewis
Press And Journal Staff
Press and Journal Photo by Eric Wise
Local high schools will raise the curtain on their spring musicals this week – and theater fans can go from the devil to the deep blue sea this season. Middletown Area High School will present the Adler and Ross musical, “Damn Yankees,’’ at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday,
SHOWTIME!
MIDDLETOWN
Council nixes handicapped parking revisions
Please See SHOWTIME, Page A5
THIS OLD HOUSE
Daylight Saving Time Begins Sunday, March 8 • 2 a.m. Turn Your Clocks Ahead One Hour
Quick
NEWS
By Dan Miller
Vandals damage walls, doors at student complex
Press And Journal Staff
If you live in Middletown and have applied for an on-street handicapped parking space – and you’re still waiting for an answer – you may end up waiting a lot longer. Middletown Borough Council voted 5-4 on Monday, March 2 to reject revisions to the borough’s existing policy regarding on-street handicapped parking spaces. The revisions had been put together over the past several months by borough Code Enforcement Officer Jeff Miller. While the vote as listed on the agenda was whether to approve the revised policy drawn up by Miller, borough officials said after the vote that as a result of council’s decision, the existing policy is suspended.
Press and Journal Photos by Dan Miller
Dr. Thomas Grosh, far right, and members and supporters of the Middletown Area Historical Society view the layout of an old train setup from a landing in the Grosh house.
Please See COUNCIL, Page A5
He’s charged with DUI twice in one day By Dan Miller
Press And Journal Staff
A Middletown man was arrested for DUI twice in one day on Sunday, Feb. 22 by two different police departments after two separate hit-and-run accidents, according to court records. And the arrests came while Richard F. Pennington Jr., 49, was scheduled to enter a plea in Dauphin County Court on another DUI charge that occurred in Swatara Twp. in 2014, police said. The Feb. 22 incidents involving Pennington occurred just five hours apart, according to criminal complaints filed by Lower Swatara Twp. and Middletown police. The first happened just before 3 p.m. when Middletown police say Pennington drove a silver Dodge Durango into a house and fled the scene, according to the court records. Police found him
New town museum was dentist’s labor of love By Dan Miller
Press And Journal Staff
I
n 1982, Dr. Thomas Grosh fled the flooding that had plagued his dentist’s office on Route 230 in search of higher ground in Middletown. He found it in an old building at 29 E. Main St. The building was historic – dating to 1755. Over the next 30 years, Grosh would discover just how special it was. In 2012, Grosh decided it was time to retire after 40 years as a dentist. He put the building up for auction, and it was acquired by Middletown Borough for $90,000. The borough eventually transferred the property to the Middletown Area Historical Society. The society plans to turn the building into a museum to house and showcase the history of Dauphin County’s oldest town. Today the property remains known as the Grosh Please See OLD HOUSE, Page A5
Council hires firm to draw up new downtown zoning
Dr. Thomas Grosh, left, points out some of the features of his old dentist’s office to members of the Middletown Area Historical Society.
Please See CHARGED, Page A5
LOWER DAUPHIN SCHOOLS
District to provide laptops to students in grades 9, 10 By Eric Wise
Press And Journal Staff
C H AM PIONS
Photo by Bill Darrah
Steelton-Highspire captured the District 3 Class AAA boys’ basketball title with a thrilling victory over Bishop McDevitt on Thursday, Feb. 26 at the Giant Center. Could a state championship be next? Check out our story on the game, and photos by local photographer Bill Darrah, on B1.
Vandals damaged walls, doors, ceiling tiles and a water line valve in the Nittany Village of Apartments – and the complex’s management is offering a month’s free rent to any college student who provides information that leads to the conviction of those responsible. Thousands of dollars of damage was done to the complex, officials said. Glass was broken in several doors, obscene words were written on walls, holes were punched and kicked in walls, ceiling tiles were knocked out and a water line valve was broken, causing water to leak in the buildings, Lower Swatara Twp. police said. The vandalism occurred between Feb. 27 and March 2. Most of the occupants in the complex, in the 400 block of W. Main St., are Penn State Harrisburg students. Got a tip for authorities? You can call township police at 717-939-0463 or management at the complex at 717-944-4440.
Every Lower Dauphin School District student in grades 9 and 10 would receive a school-owned laptop for their use as the district plans to move forward with its “1 to 1” technology initiative, Superintendent Sherri Smith reported to the Lower Dauphin School Board on Monday, Feb. 16. While the district has planned for staff training, parent meetings and student procedures concerning the use of the laptops, the initiative is a proposal for the coming school year’s budget that arrives with a price tag of roughly $200,000. One person will be hired as a technology coach for the program, Smith said. The district’s plans are well underway for the change to its current technology, which has some problems. With the current system, computers are inconsistently available and frequently have connectivity issues, administrators said. Although one computer is available for about every two students, many district-owned computers are reaching the end of their useful lifespan and cause lags that detract from the benefits the technology provides. Students would receive their assigned laptops in October for the next school year, Smith said. As the program continues, laptops would be distributed prior to the first day of school for incoming high school freshmen. Middletown Area School District began a similar program of issuing Apple iPads, small
Middletown Borough Council voted 9-0 on Tuesday, Feb. 17 to hire a consulting firm from Philadelphia to draw up new zoning to spur downtown redevelopment. KSK Architects Planners Historians will be paid $42,780 to come up with what borough officials refer to as a Revitalization Zone Overlay for the downtown. KSK must complete the project by June 20, 2016. Eighty percent of the project cost is being funded by a grant to the borough from the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission. The borough will cover the remaining 20 percent. As the name suggests, the new zoning would overlay the borough’s existing downtown zoning. The overlay could impose new regulations to better protect historic properties, to prohibit specific uses, and to ensure consistent standards. However, the flexibility could also allow developers to do projects in the downtown that are not currently possible under the present regulations. Whatever KSK delivers will be subject to public hearings.
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