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

Quote for today… “ … to ‘survive’ as community in the next 50 years, the attitude has to focus on the positive attributes and involve a wide cross-section of the community. …  Middletown has the capacity to be successful at implementing the Main Street program in their community, but the trust and support have to be behind any local effort.  Money alone can not ‘fix’ downtown.  It is an issue of the people.  Until the people are truly engaged in an honest effort the situation will remain stagnant.” – Interesting quotes extracted from the Downtown Middletown Ohio Website.

• Rt. 441 groundbreaking Friday morning – LancasterOnLine

• Tablets for Columbia’s Senior Center – MyColumbiaNews

• Familiar ring? Middletown PA looks to the future with coordinated grant proposal – Harrisburg Patriot-News

• But the town still has personnel issues and irregularities including “‘unethical’ behavior on the part of some council members.” – Harrisburg Patriot-News

• Foot shooting 101: “Elanco once again makes news for idiotic decision making. So sad.” This comment from this article about poorly thought through, dumass decisions at another county school says it all. – Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era

• “Perhaps the best way citizens can bring change to their community … is to stick together.” A comment from this Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era article about another community’s insensitive leadership saying that “it’s difficult to get information from their elected officials, and that there are projects going on that could affect a lot of people, but the township doesn’t keep them informed.”

See this “Rhymes with Orange” cartoon yesterday? It was published in hundreds of newspapers. Reminded us of the land use at the River Park. While a few folks come to the park for “adventure, love and peace of mind,” there are more than twice as many parking spaces for vehicles with trailers as vehicles without trailers. Points out, painfully, that the River Park is a distorted name for a boat launching area. Perhaps it should have been called a marina.

The drivers of these five vehicles without trailers were parked at River Park Marina last evening;these drivers were luckier than the one car that was ticketed by a Columbia police officer on Sunday afternoon.

• Another unprovoked pit bull mauling: this time a 62 year old woman in York – The York Dispatch

• Are pit bulls a dangerous breed? The record suggests they are: “In the 9-year period from 2005 to 2013, pit bulls killed 176 Americans and accounted for 62% of the total recorded deaths (283). Despite being regulated in Military Housing areas and over 700 U.S. cities, pit bulls contributed to 78% (25) of these deaths. Pit bulls make up about 6% of the total U.S. dog population.” – DogsBite.org

“Petey” was a pit bull. – SOURCE: ASPCA.ORG

• Are pit bulls more dangerous with proper handling? Actually, badly trained or motivated handlers or owners of pit bulls contribute to the perception. While indiscriminate breeding can be a contributor, bad owners are the bigger dilemma. “The Truth about pitbulls.”

• “How crusade to end ‘age of entitlement’ replaced ‘war on poverty’” – The Conversation

• Et too,  tumeric? – “Health Check: eat food, not (blockbuster) nutrients” – The Conversation

Notice the addition to the top floor at the Turkey Hill Experience? Guess this is the operator’s interpretation of the completed top floor that was promised at the get-go. Alas, as in the first go-round, this one, too, seems unfinished. Notice there’s nothing in the window space at the extreme right of the above photo.

• Mountville readies for 200th anniversary celebration events – Mountville Website

• Central Dauphin’s superintendent’s Power Point presentation about the new security program and staffing presented to the school board. Click here.

• Learn how (and why) at the Grow Your Own Food Summit! FREE AND ONLINE FROM JULY 7-14.