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

Quote for today… “”There are so many people involved and so many pieces of the puzzle, it’s just incredible. And they all had their piece to do. And so far, every single piece is working incredibly.” – Deb Adamik, president of Main Street Gettysburg, talking about the small town’s (population: 7,645) handling of the infusion of 200,000-plus visitors in this Harrisburg Patriot-News article: “Gettysburg 150: A small town rising to the occasion or busting at the seams?”

• Columbia man killed in construction accident – Lehigh Valley Live

• “Ten facts about Gettysburg: It is the site of the bloodiest battle of the Civil War and one of the most visited places in the United States, but Gettysburg is still plagued by misinformation.  Set the record straight with these ten key facts.” – Civil War Trust

• In a news release, Representative Dave Hickernell states: “I am pleased that for the third year in a row we have met our duty to pass an on-time budget. This is a fiscally responsible budget that funds the core functions of government as it stays within our means and still funds basic education at $5,526,129, the highest level in our Commonwealth’s history.” In the newsletter he states that Columbia Borough School District, Lancaster County, received – $8,715,399, an increase of $195,176, … (which) include(s) “Basic Education Funding, Accountability Block Grants, student transportation and charter school student transportation, school employees’ Social Security, and the state’s portion of pension obligations for school employees. The budget also funds Head Start and Pre-K counts early childhood programs at $6.4 million, and adds $5 million for Early Intervention to children ages 3 to 5 with developmental disabilities.”

• Pennsylvania Facts – 2013 – Penn State Data Center

• Will a Fukushima-like incident at TMI or Peach Bottom result in “shadow evacuations?” Shadow evacuations occur when “people independently examine official protective action recommendations (including the absence of any official recommendations) and make an independent evaluation of the situation that might result in their taking protective action even though authorities believe that this is not needed (e.g., shadow evacuation).” Are there any answers in Senator Bob Casey’s inquiry?

• Some readers will remember the dearth of accurate information in the 1979 incident at Three Mile Island. Some will recall the individual responses predicated on the information they received from official or unofficial sources. Is it any better today? Will it be any better tomorrow or when it happens? Depends on what you believe or which report you read.  “Evacuation Time Estimates for the Three Mile Island Plume Exposure Pathway Emergency Planning Zone” – “25 YEARS LATER: EMERGENCY PLANNING STILL UNREALISTIC”
  

SOURCE: Independent Report on the Mid-February 2007 Winter Storm Response for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

• But … what if it happens during a weather event? Have will it be any different; have we learned anything since the “Valentine’s Day Massacre?” Remember that 2007 PA snow emergency?