While reading the “hold-it-in-your-hands” Lancaster Sunday News this morning, we again applaud the variety, portability, breadth and depth of information we have in this country. And we revel in the quest for transparency that government and public agencies must, and newspapers and quality media reporting can, bring to the forefront. We are thankful that those who constructed the United States Constitution, and those who defend it, for press freedom.
Sunshine Act example
In the legal notices classification of the classified pages of the Sunday News, the Penn Manor School Board has announced a Committee Meeting that will be held on Monday, April 11. According to the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act, “Public notice of meetings must be given at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled meeting time, including an announcement in a newspaper of general circulation of the date, time and place. A notice of the meeting must be posted at the office of the agency or at the place where the meeting will be held.”
Rental property violations
There is a new column in the Lancaster Sunday News. On page B2, is a column entitled “Lancaster Landlord Citations.” The article continues that the Sunday News will publish each month a listing of city landlords cited for rental property violations. It then lists the property owner(s); the property owner(s) address; the address of the rental property and the violation.
Each week the Sunday News publishes the recent health inspections of establishments that serve prepared foods (restaurants, schools, community living facilities, etc.).
Letter to the editor from a Columbia Woman
Loretta Valle’s letter to the editor in the Lancaster Sunday News says “there is a link between abuse of animals and violence and abuse towards humans … .”
Nulear power plant issues
People living in Lancaster County began to get notice that something happened at Three Mile Island in the late morning of March 29, 1979. Now we know the incident actually began much earlier, but it was different then. While we thought we were advanced, the speed of information flow was quite slow. And it was filtered. And for the next six or so days, it was tough to get answers. Today’s newspapers in Lancaster, York and Harrisburg have articles and/or columns about nuclear power plants and Three Mile Island.
We have been working on an article about events in March, 1979 (you may recall in Lancaster County we were dealing with the polio incidents among the Amish, high gas prices and limited supplies and then, Three Mile Island) for this publication when we received an email last week from a reader that contained a list of the nuclear power generation plants in the United States with their “calculated earthquake risk potential” according to an article from an article at http://www.msn.com/.
Here is the text from the email:
What are the odds? US nuke plants ranked by quake risk. So much for San Andreas: Reactors in East, Midwest, South have highest chance of damage
1. Indian Point 3, Buchanan, N.Y.: 1 in 10,000 chance each year. Old estimate: 1 in 17,241. Increase in risk: 72 percent.
2. Pilgrim 1, Plymouth, Mass.: 1 in 14,493. Old estimate: 1 in 125,000. Increase in risk: 763 percent.
3. Limerick 1 and 2, Limerick, Pa.: 1 in 18,868. Old estimate: 1 in 45,455. Increase in risk: 141 percent.
4. Sequoyah 1 and 2, Soddy-Daisy, Tenn.: 1 in 19,608. Old estimate: 1 in 102,041. Increase in risk: 420 percent.
5. Beaver Valley 1, Shippingport, Pa.: 1 in 20,833. Old estimate: 1 in 76,923. Increase in risk: 269 percent.
6. Saint Lucie 1 and 2, Jensen Beach, Fla.: 1 in 21,739. Old estimate: N/A.
7. North Anna 1 and 2, Louisa, Va.: 1 in 22,727. Old estimate: 1 in 31,250. Increase in risk: 38 percent.
8. Oconee 1, 2 and 3, Seneca, S.C.: 1 in 23,256. Old estimate: 1 in 100,000. Increase in risk: 330 percent.
9. Diablo Canyon 1 and 2, Avila Beach, Calif.: 1 in 23,810. Old estimate: N/A.
10. Three Mile Island, Middletown, Pa.: 1 in 25,000. Old estimate: 1 in 45,455. Increase in risk: 82 percent.
The nuclear incidents in Japan have re-positioned nuclear power plants as something to now be scrutinized much in much greater detail. Ironically, this article from
Here are more links to articles about the incident in Japan from newspapers in other parts of the world:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/health/2011-03/17/c_13784188.htm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/world/japan-nuclear-reactors-and-seismic-activity/
[Editor’s NOTE: This article entitled, “The revenge of the nukes,” (“After decades of neglect, nuclear power makes a comeback in the popular mind”), appears in the current issue of Natural Hazards Observer, a publication of the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado.
Passwords jungle
If you are managing a slew of passwords for the many Internet sites you visit regularly to check your account activity and status, this syndicated column on page D3 may be of interest: Make managing passwords simple.
Columbia news, views & reviews 