The DID will provide clean-up and maintenance activities, on-street public information/security personnel, marketing of the downtown, and conduct site and beautification improvements once it becomes operational.

The plan was proposed by the Mayor and a task force he named, comprised of downtown property and business owners and civic leaders. In creating the new authority, which will be governed by a 13-member board of directors, property owners within the DID boundaries would annually pay a surcharge to the authority to pay for the expanded services.

The DID boundaries are roughly Walnut to Paxton streets, from Front to Fifth streets. It can be expanded to include other parts of the downtown in the future if there is sufficient interest expressed by other property owners.

The newly-formed authority must now proceed to file incorporation documents with the state government, conduct a public hearing on the plan, and allow property owners within the boundaries a period of 45 days to support or oppose the plan. State law requires that two-thirds of the total number of affected property owners owning at least two-thirds of the assessed value of real estate within the district must support the measure.

Reed noted that many of the affected property owners have already been serving on the task force or task force committees and do support the plan, which they helped craft.

Under the law, the DID would exist for five years. After that period, the plan would again have to be authorized by the property owners and also by the mayor and City Council.

“This is the next major step in the downtown’s renaissance and evolution as the commercial, financial, entertainment, and tourism center of the region’s hub community,” said the Mayor.

Before becoming a full-time staffer, Love had been working at WQXA FM for over two years as a part-time weekend jock, and as the host of Beats on the X, an electronic dance show. At his new position, Love will be replacing Maria Davis, who will be moving on to Traffax.

“We are thrilled to have Blaine as part of the full-time X-team,” says Claudine DeLorenzo, program director for the X. “His enthusiasm and initiative is appreciated and welcomed as he enters his new position within the company.”

The Education Subcommittee is responsible for developing and managing an extensive and well-balanced curriculum for the annual Marketplace. Topics will range from personal development to business management, operations, sales, and marketing. The 35-course curriculum is designed to challenge thinking, enhance skill-sets, entertain, and compliment the professional and personal development of each delegate and the association as a whole.

“Pennsylvania’s home-grown fruits and vegetables are ‘Simply Delicious’ and simply the best,” Hayes said. “Gov. Ridge and I invite all Pennsylvanians to look for the ‘Simply Delicious’ logo in their favorite store or farmers market to ensure that you are buying the highest-quality produce available.”

Hayes and Rich launched this year’s campaign at a Weis Markets store in Lewisburg, Union County. Weis Markets is among more than 900 participating stores and 300 growers across Pennsylvania this year proudly displaying the “Simply Delicious” logo in their stores, and in promotional and marketing materials.

Launched by the Ridge Administration in 1998, the “Simply Delicious” campaign is sponsored by the Department of Agriculture and the Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association, in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Vegetable Marketing and Research Program.

The VanGo!, a retrofitted city bus, features annual exhibitions of original works of art. The current exhibition is entitled “The Art of Illustration” and includes works of art in many media, all of which tell a story. All children taking part in the VanGo! program receive a guided tour of the exhibition and take part in the VanGo! program. As part of the “Art of Illustration” program, each child will make their own pop-up book page.

The campaign seeks to raise $2.5 million to extend Girl Scouting’s reach to more girls in central Pennsylvania. The council will make much needed capital enhancements at each of its four program sites to increase the capacity and improve the quality of programs offered at each.

“Hemlock Girl Scout Council is thrilled to receive the support of the Kresge Foundation,” said Campaign Chair Joy B. Dougherty. “This grant will enable many more girls to experience the benefits of Girl Scouting and help ensure the success of the capital campaign.”

The Kresge Foundation grant will be designated to the construction of a dining hall/residential facility at the council’s Golden Pond Program in Huntingdon County. The dining hall and other planned improvements will enable the council to offer summer resident camp at Golden Pond and more than double the program center’s winter capacity. Currently, the program center can only accommodate day and weekend camping.

Construction of the dining hall will start in the fall. The council expects to being offering resident camp at Golden Pond by next summer.

The Cora S. Forker Family of Funds will honor the contributions of women to their families and communities and will provide endowment and annual support for programs for women and children at the YWCA of Greater Harrisburg. Those who wish to recognize and honor a family member (especially a mother), a friend, or a member of the organization, may join the “Family of Funds” by establishing a fund in that person’s name. Contributions to the Fund may be designated by the donor to be used for the annual support of YWCA programs, for endowment, or a combination of both. Contributions may also be designated for use in specific programs.

The adult program will be part of the Cystic Fibrosis Center. Established in 1955, the Center is directed by Muttiah Ganeshananthan, M.D., and supported by a multi-disciplinary team of physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, nutritionists, and social workers.

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation approved the adult program, which has a team of adult care physicians, because more cystic fibrosis patients are living into adulthood. “When I started in this field 25 years ago, the average patient with cystic fibrosis only lived until their teens and was treated by pediatricians. With new treatments the average age has risen to 31 years, causing a need for more adult care physicians to participate in treatment,” explained Dr. Ganeshananthan.

The plant is operated by the city’s Department of Public Works and served seven municipalities, processing wastewater and stormwater for the removal of various pollutants before the treated water is discharged into the Susquehanna River. The city plant has served both the city and major suburbs on the East Shore for years, Reed said, and has adhered to high operational standards.

The city has now received the George W. Burke Safety Award from the Water Environmental Association, a national organization, because of its safety maintenance and training activities. It is the highest national award for protecting public and employee safety.

Formerly known as the Blue Mountain Golf Club, Felicita is located 10 minutes north of Harrisburg. A Japanese Zen Garden, an Alpine Swiss garden, and a bog garden are just some of the garden themes being incorporated into each of the 18 holes.

The grounds of Felicita offer inn and lodge accommodations, fine dining, a spa and fitness center, and, of course, championship golf.

Within that same report, AS&SI ranked among the top 100 firms in the nation with public relations expertise in health care.

Since its founding in 1990, AS&SI has achieved an average growth of 22% per year focusing on public relations, marketing, and research services. Today the firm, owned by Nancy H. Sacunas, APR, and Robert S Saline, APR, has grown to include 15 professionals, six of whom hold APR designation – the industry’s certification standard in public relations expertise.

Recently, the firm was also named the 1999 Small Business of the Year by the Capital Region Chamber of Commerce, based on excellence in staying power, workplace innovation, commitment to community, and goal attainment.

WHTM News Director Greg Zoerb described Seitz’s work as “the best, more than good … just as we believe ABC-27 News represents the best in quality news,” he said, “Blair Seitz’s vision of Harrisburg, York, and Lancaster also represents quality.”

Using regional photographs as the focus originated with David Weller, a New York designer who created sets for “20/20” and the ABC National News. ABC-27 recommended the selection of superb photographs that create visual appeal as well as stir local pride.

Noted attractions on the set include the York County Courthouse, the State Capitol’s West Wing, and Hershey’s Founders Hall. York County farms, Susquehanna River islands, and an Amish wheat field testify to the region’s scenic beauty.

“Pennsylvania’s agricultural community strongly supports the Governor’s timely actions to proclaim a drought emergency in many of the state’s counties,” said Secretary Hayes. “The Governor’s proclamation sends a signal for the department to work with federal officials to begin determining the impact of the drought on crops and livestock.”

The one-man show is set to open September 1 and continues through October 16. It will be the last of his life to commemorate both his and the college’s 100th birthday.

“The show is a major retrospective of his work,” says curator Milt Friedly, member of the art faculty of Elizabethtown College. “It’s a significant show because it is rare to have an artist of his caliber who is still painting.”
A few months ago at age 99, the artist received the “Ageless Hero” award and a citation from Governor Tom Ridge.

“We want to maximize the opportunities at both airports,” said David Holdsworth, executive director at SARAA. “The concepts currently in consideration position our airports to better serve travelers and to better support the regional economy.”

Improvements under consideration include adding aircraft gates, constructing a parking garage, expanding cargo facilities, installing new aircraft instrument landing system equipment, constructing a parallel aircraft taxiway, and expanding general aviation facilities.

John Ward, SARAA board member, said passenger convenience and comfort are are priorities as well as improved cargo service.

Ward said that forecasts show great opportunity for increasing air cargo activity at HIA. The concepts for HIA include expansion of facilities to more effectively serve air cargo companies.

“There are opportunities to increase the cargo capacity of the airport, thereby creating new jobs for the region,” said Ward.

Reed said the Childhood Lead Prevention Program, first begun by the Mayor in 1997, was conducted by the City in conjunction with National Lead Awareness Week. Children from a number of city daycare centers attended the special program, which helped children learn ways to avoid lead poisoning.

The Mayor said the Polyclinic Medical Center’s Lead Poisoning Prevention Center, under contract with the city using Federal funds, does the screening and testing of persons who may have been exposed. The city’s comprehensive lead reduction hazard control program seeks to reduce lead-contaminated housing stock in the city and provide community education about the problem of lead poisoning.

Reed said the city is continuing its comprehensive lead abatement program through which city homes identified as being contaminated with lead paint are being treated and cleaned of the hazard.

The Mayor first proposed the South Front Street Connector Project in the late 1980s to aid development of a large vacant tract of land on south Front Street and to eliminate the prospect of traffic using the quiet residential streets of the historic Shipoke neighborhood.

The project includes the construction of a single lane of roadway beginning at the intersection of Front and Paxton Streets and running south to underneath the I-83/John Harris Memorial Bridge, where it will connect to South Front Street just south of the Shipoke neighborhood. The project will also include the demolition and replacement of the brick soundwall that parallels the I-83 ramps, a move that will block noise and provide a full visual barrier between the highway and the neighborhood.