today’s news and information gleanings from here and there!

Quote for today… “Many of you have not been to a gentlemen’s club, and it’s hard for you to understand what goes on.” – Jeff Levy, executive director of the Pennsylvania Hospitality and Entertainment Association, at last night’s well-attended meeting in Chanceford Township (York County) hearing about about the impact of an adult cabaret. Read more in this York Daily Record article.

• Penny wise; pound foolish: “Homes in the direct path of the monster tornado that roared through Oklahoma City suburbs Monday were all but certain to be destroyed. Yet inexpensive construction techniques could have kept up to 85 percent of the area’s damaged houses standing, according to a civil engineer.” – NBCNews/Science

• Want to help the folks in Oklahoma? Here’s how. – Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era

• “LOOKING FOR ATTENTION” HOAX: “An alleged kidnapping victim has been charged with faking her abduction Tuesday in Lancaster city.” – Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era

• It’s often stated by many that “The fire service has a reputation of being ‘200 years of tradition unhampered by progress.’” But today’s fire service professionals embrace the culture of change, particularly the culture of change in safety; incident management and resource management. Nicholai Machievelli’s famous writing about the introduction of any cultural “change” is superbly stated with this quote: “There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. For the reformer has enemies in all those who profit by the old order, and only lukewarm defenders in all those who would profit by the new order, this lukewarmness arising partly from fear of their adversaries … and partly from the incredulity of mankind, who do not truly believe in anything new until they have had actual experience of it.” Change for procedural improvement; systems betterment or affordability runs into the same cultural roadblocks and barriers today as Machievelli wrote of in the 16^th century. The enemies who would profit by the old order dig in. This Fire Engineering article attests to the need for change in the tactical safety side of the tradition. The next two bullet items address the culture of change in the fire service in two American towns – Charleston, South Carolina and Columbia, Pennsylvania.

• Change for the better: There is a new video that is essential for every firefighter to watch. New firefighters, old firefighters, fire officers, fire chiefs – everyone. The Charleston Fire Department members have horrifically “been there and done that” … from the fire, to the lessons learned … to the total transformation of the fire department. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqiRN9rygoI&feature=youtu.be

• one person’s perception: Consolidation ruminations, part 9 

• “With her announcement to not press criminal charges or even bring a civil action against those who have abused the Hershey Trust, state Attorney General Kathleen Kane, in typically disappointing fashion, fits in perfectly with her predecessors in the office.“- Opinion column, Harrisburg Patriot-News [Columbia news, views & reviews note: Another instance of “Money talks … loudest.”}

• “Perdue AgriBusiness, which wants to build a $59 million soybean-processing plant in Conoy Township, has launched a website devoted to the project. The website is www.perdueagribusinesspa.com.” – Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era

• Chip implant? Letter to the editor – York Daily Record

• Lancaster County Prison: a happy place? Read the article and the raft of reader comments. – Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era

• Joe cares and ACLU silence in today’s letters to the editors in the Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era

• POLICE LOG: “WEST HEMPFIELD TWP.: A New York man was taken into custody after driving the wrong way on Route 30 Thursday morning, police reported. Township police stopped William Hopes-Cuollo, 62, of Brooklyn, N.Y., as he was driving a van east in the westbound lanes of Route 30, they said. The 2:47 a.m. traffic stop was  just east of the Malleable Road overpass. Police took him into custody for suspected drunken driving and his van was towed from the scene, they said. Charges are pending the results of blood tests. – MARIETTA: William L. Klase III, 34, of 8 W. Market St., Marietta, was charged with simple assault and terroristic threats after he allegedly threatened a woman with a knife, punched her and head-butted her during a domestic dispute Wednesday at his home. – Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era