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

Quote for today … “I’m all for eating a home-cooked meal, but I’m not sure it’s fair to base the cleanliness of a restaurant on one poor health inspection. Check out the state’s health inspection database and judge for yourself.” – Post at York Common Cents blog. If only all the restaurants inspections followed the State’s guidelines! If only all the municipalities were in the state’s Food Safety Inspection database system. According to the Depart of Agriculture Inspection site: “The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture is working to create a single, statewide food safety inspection report system, as required in Act 106 of 2010.” That’s a long time to still have one Lancaster County municipality not have food establishments follow state inspection guidelines nor appear at the state database.

• And the company spokesperson tells the truth: “No indication of release, spill from train derailment, Norfolk Southern spokesman says.” – Harrisburg Patriot-News

• Really good article about municipal pension plans – “The pension question: Who’s guarding the nest egg? Reading Eagle article finds “Municipal pension plans in Berks County and across Pennsylvania involve big money but little accountability.”

• Ah, municipal transparency … This Reading Eagle article “Local pension records often hard to get” said, “One municipal official asked him to file two Right-to-Know requests for the pension documents. A few weeks later, the official apologetically told Anthony that her township did not have a pension plan.”

• OPINION: The Cash Committee – “Lawmakers are lining up for a chance to take money from the banks – and do their bidding.” – The New York Times

• Air shows and plane crashes: “The FAA was here, we had five FAA officials here, they investigated, no one did anything wrong.  It is just something that happens when you have a lot of airplanes flying.” – FOX43

• LIP says “LNP likes Mike” – Lancaster Independent Press

• A complete listing of all inspections at food serving facilities in Lancaster, York counties and the entire state, except those in Columbia, are listed at the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Website.