Today's News

George Washington was known as the “Father of our Country,” and fittingly so, he proclaimed our nation’s first Thanksgiving in 1789.

Now, the fourth Thursday in November is celebrated as Thanksgiving. Washington’s wisdom as a “nation’s father” is ironic because this late fall holiday is all about family. As we know he was wise beyond his years, which is a major reason he became our first commander-in-chief.

I still remember all those things we said about a candidate we didn’t like. I still remember those fibs we used in our letters to the editor.

I haven’t forgotten how we criticized one human being out of the entire population of Lancaster County for  mowing grass on Sunday. I suppose the devil made us do it when we tried to make some other Christian look as devilish as we were when we wrote, unholy and ungodly things about some person we hardly knew.

This has been a challenging year for the city of Lancaster. We were faced with the courthouse tragedy and named the most vulnerable county in the nation by Forbes magazine.

Now the Christmas season is here, let’s show our Christmas spirit! The city has done an awesome job of placing the Christmas spirit all around town and after Thanksgiving we will see the marvelous sight of all the trees, lights and welcome signs the city has worked so very hard on.

The state isn’t the only government entity with budget problems.

Because of budget cuts at the state level, Lancaster County Council gave final approval to a 1 percent,  across-the-board budget cut Monday night.

Expenses are going up for the county due to the state cuts, such as increased expenses for mental patient security at Springs Memorial Hospital due to a loss of beds in the state mental health system. Lancaster County sheriff’s deputies provide the security.