Press And Journal
WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015
VOLUME 125 - NO. 30
14 PAGES
Night Out to unite cops, neighbors By Jim Lewis
Press And Journal Staff
Do you know your local police force? Your neighbors? Your town? Camaraderie is important, if you’re interested in keeping your neighborhood safe. For the third consecutive year, you can meet your local police and neighbors – and get to know your town – at Middletown Night Out, a free celebration of borough fellowship, good cheer and togetherness that aims to make the town a safer, better place to live. The celebration will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 4 at Hoffer Park.
This year’s event will be limited to just one park – last year’s Night Out was split between two parks, Hoffer and Oak Hills Park – but there will be more vendors this year, according to Middletown police Officer Gary Rux, who is spearheading the volunteer effort to stage it. Seventy-three vendors are scheduled to appear, compared with 68 last year. The American Legion Post 594 will grill about 1,200 free hot dogs, and residents of Frey Village will bake about 300 free cupcakes for the event. “Its a way they can participate and give back to the community,’’ said Tracy Klein, an administrator at Frey Village. A trolley provided by Premiere 1 Limousine will offer a Please See NIGHT OUT, Page A4
75 CENTS
NATIONAL NIGHT OUT • Royalton, 5 to 8 p.m. on
Tuesday, Aug. 4 at Kiwanis Park • Highspire, 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 4 at Memorial Park • Steelton, 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 4 at park at South Third and Mohn streets
MIDDLETOWN
Borough council discussed lease money during private session Councilors emerge to vote on control of funds’ expenditure By Dan Miller
Press And Journal Staff
Middletown Borough Council discussed the proposed expenditure of money the borough has received from leasing the town’s water and systems in an executive session during a meeting on Monday, July 20, councilors said. Councilors emerged from the nearly two-hour executive session to vote 5-1 – in public – on a motion that any further spending of proceeds from the lease with United Water – called a “concession’’ – be subject to council approval. The motion was made by Councilor Ben Kapenstein, who after the meeting told reporters that it was not his intent to discuss the issue behind closed doors. “That was not my plan at all,” Kapenstein said. “I had a different plan when I came here tonight. It changed.” Asked if the issue could have been discussed in public, Kapenstein said, “Sure. I’m discussing it right now, or I would have just said, ‘No comment.’ I have no problem discussing it in public.” The borough received $43 million from leasing the water and sewer systems to United Water. Most of that money has already been committed to paying off borough debt and to fund public works projects like replacing water and sewer lines under Main Street. Council’s closed-door discussion – based on comments from councilors who were there – had to do with $3.8 million of the remaining concession proceeds that has been transferred from the borough’s water and sewer authority to the Middletown Industrial and Commercial Development Authority. The money could be used to support projects like the planned downtown street scape improvements and the opening of a craft brewery/ distillery/brew pub in the Elks Building. The Pennsylvania Sunshine Act includes six specific exceptions that allow council and other public agencies to hold discussions behind closed doors. Based on the act, these exceptions are: • Personnel – discussing matters involving the employment or performance of specific officers and/or employees of the agency. • Meetings involving collective bargaining, labor relations and arbitration. • To consider the purchase or lease of real
Who are these guys and
NEWS Steel-High coach waives charges to court
WHAT DO THEY WANT?
Press And Journal Photos by Jim Lewis
Tattered Flag partners Ben Ramsey, left in insert, and Matt Fritz say their brewery and distillery proposed for the Eliks Building, pictured, will be a unique regional attraction.
Tattered Flag partners to present their brewery project to public By Dan Miller
What’s the deal with Tattered Flag?
Press And Journal Staff
T
he proposed craft brewery/distillery/brew pub that Tattered Flag wants to open in the Elks Building in Middletown would be a regional attraction unlike anything else in south-central Pennsylvania – or on the East Coast, two of the four Tattered Flag partners told the Press And Journal on Friday, July 24. While partners Ben Ramsey and Matt Fritz said that there will be “nothing else like it,’’ they did not get more specific in an interview at the Press And Journal’s office on Friday, saying they feared that competitors might steal some of their ideas if details were released now. “Tattered Flag is designed to be an attraction that highlights what is good about south-central Pennsylvania,” Ramsey said. “You can do everything from take the family out for a meal, come out and get a drink, come out and get a tour and see how beer is made, how whiskey is made. We will have a venue area where we want to highlight the personalities, celebrities, and people of this area.” Tattered Flag would also be the first “truly co-branded Please See TATTERED FLAG, Page A6
• Tattered Flag, a partnership of four 2000 graduates of Susquenita High School in Perry County, wants to lease 13,000 square feet of the Elks Building in Middletown – all but the Elks Theatre – for a craft brewery, distillery and brew pub. • Tattered Flag says it has qualified for a bank loan through the Small Business Administration and has outside investors and personal equity funding. • The Elks deal is contingent upon a $1.5 million loan from Middletown Borough to Tattered Flag for improvements to the Elks Building to make it suitable for the company. Tattered Flag would repay the loan through a long-term lease. • The $1.5 million is not borough tax dollars but proceeds from the $43 million payout the borough received this year from United Water as part of United Water’s 50-year lease of the borough’s water and sewer systems. • The Middletown Industrial and Commercial Development Authority planned to vote on a lease with Tattered Flag during a meeting at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 28 at the MCSO Building. • The $1.5 million loan would be subject to approval by Middletown Borough Council, which could vote on it at its meeting on Monday, Aug. 3. • If the deal with Tattered Flag is approved, the company would need four to six months to open its brewery, distillery and brew pub.
Please See COUNCIL, Page A6
Nancy Schenck dies
Open for business Middletown area residents have anticipated the opening of the new Sheetz convenience store on West Harrisburg Pike in Lower Swatara Twp. for months as construction has progressed. Their wait ended on Thursday, July 23, when the store opened to customers. Among its features: a barista on duty 24 hours a day, for those who crave a cappuccino at 3 a.m. Check out our coverage of the grand opening in our Out & About feature on page B8.
Quick
Former Red Cross official helped local residents with food, heat, clothing By Eric Wise
Press And Journal Staff
Press And Journal Photo by Eric Wise
Joe Sheetz, president and CEO of the Sheetz convenience store chain, and employees at the chain’s new Lower Swatara Twp. store cut a ribbon at the store’s grand opening ceremony.
Many people from Middletown were saddened by the death of Nancy Schenck, the former executive director of the Middletown office of the American Red Cross. She died on Thursday, July 23 in western Pennsylvania. Friends remember Schenck, a Middletown native who retired from the Red Cross in 2014 and moved to Cranberry to be with her daughter, for her joyful singing voice and her talents in baking, in addition to her work with the Red Cross and Homestead Nancy Schenck Savings. Schenck’s efforts made Middletown’s Red Cross office, housed in borough hall, more than a typical Red Cross office. While the agency typically focuses on providing disaster relief, support for military
The boys’ basketball coach at Steelton-Highspire High School waived to Dauphin County Court three charges against him stemming from an April accident on Cameron Street in Harrisburg, according to court records. Richard A. Binder, 61, who has won three state championships at Steel-High, waived a charge of DUI-highest rate of alcohol, DUI and involvement in an accident causing damage to an unattended vehicle to county court on Friday, July 17, court records show. Two other charges, reckless driving and involvement in an accident involving damage to an attended vehicle, were withdrawn by the Dauphin County District Attorney’s office during a hearing before District Judge Robert Jennings III of Harrisburg, court records show. Harrisburg police said Binder was the driver of a vehicle that struck two other vehicles, one of them parked in a lot in the 1900 block of North Cameron St. on April 15. Binder, who ranks third in wins among Steelton-Highspire’s basketball coaches, is scheduled to be arraigned by a county judge on Sept. 1.
Father, son charged with impersonating cops A Lower Swatara Twp. man and his son were charged with impersonating a police officer for allegedly entering and rummaging through a township home on June 22 while claiming to be looking for someone, according to Lower Swatara police. Ray M. Arnold Jr., 56, and his son, Dillon J. Arnold, 22, both of the 100 block of Eby Lane, entered a home in the 100 block of Lake Dr. around 5 Ray a.m. claiming they Arnold, Jr. were cops looking for an individual they believed was there, police said. One was brandishing a baseball bat, police said. The Arnolds caused about Dillon $1,000 worth of Arnold damage to the residence, police said. Ray Arnold was charged with impersonating a public servant, burglary, criminal trespass, disorderly conduct, criminal mischief and making, repairing or selling offensive weapons, police said. Dillon Arnold was charged with impersonating a public servant, burglary, criminal trespass, disorderly conduct and criminal mischief, police said. They were arraigned before District Judge Steven Semic on Thursday, July 16 and held in Dauphin County Prison in lieu of $10,000 bond. A preliminary hearing for the two is set for Wednesday, Aug. 12 before District Judge Michael Smith.
Please See SCHENCK, Page A6
Are you a 1930-39 MAHS Alumni? If so, we want to hear from you!
The Middletown Area High School Alumni Association will be honoring all 1930-39 graduates at Homecoming on October 24, 2015. Please call: Earl Bright III at (717) 944-5454, Susie Spadone at (717) 944-0228 or Audra Henderson at (717) 944-6911
Contact Us
Write: 20 S. Union St., Middletown, PA 17057 • Phone: 717/944-4628 • E-mail: Info@PressandJournal.com • Home Page: www.pressandjournal.com
This is: Fred Sembach’s hometown newspaper.