March 2009 Archives

I couldn't believe it either.

The little brewery up the road from my hometown that I came to know for its gold cans of Premium - before its Lager was Lager - is poised to become the largest American-owned brewery in the United States.

How can it be? I see Budweiser and Bud everywhere, along with Miller and Coors. Ah, but they aren't totally American owned anymore. For example, Budweiser and the other Busch products recently became Belgian. That's fairly well known.

But MillerCoors (yes, I put the names together) is a complicated single entity with an ownership stake from Canada's Molson on the Coors side. And a foreign company with its roots in South Africa has an ownership stake in the Miller side.

American beer is becoming an exclusive club, so exclusive that Yuengling can produce an extremely small percentage of the total beer sold in the United States and still eye the top spot for an American brewer.

Yuengling is closing in on Sam Adams for that honor.

Read a little more about it here.

Met an interesting person at Wednesday's York College career expo.

His name was Andrew Snyder, a 2008 graduate of the college who majored in professional writing.

Snyder landed a job at Sprint, the communications services company, after graduation.

But that's not his dream job. Therefore, Snyder was back at his alma mater Wednesday to check out the roughly 60 employers looking to fill all types of positions.

It's not unusual to see alumni reach out to the college to tap its career services resources, said Beverly Evans, who heads the college's career services office.

Those alums might e-mail questions to the office or send in their resume for a review, Evans said during a recent interview.

Therefore, it wasn't surprising to see Snyder scouring the employers' displays at the college's Grumbacher Center Wednesday.

Snyder picked up some information about taking a civil service test, because he may be interested in pursuing a government job.

He said his position at Sprint is a "decent job," but he is looking for something more fitting to his major, professional writing.

"I just want to be happy," Snyder said. "I want to do something I enjoy and get paid for it."

Craig Eberly had an idea.

Like any idea, it was subject to criticism in its early stages.

Members of Eberly's own family asked him: Are you sure this is a good time to start your own business?

But the Mount Wolf resident's mind was made up. Recently, Eberly left his network engineer job at Double Dog Communications to start his own information-technology business, Versa Technologies.

Eberly got the idea for the new venture while he was working at Double Dog. People would call him to inquire about off-site data backup.

Double Dog didn't offer that service, Eberly said. As more and more people inquired, though, Eberly realized that a demand existed for off-site data backup.

That's exactly what his new company, Versa, now offers.

Leaving Double Dog wasn't easy, Eberly said. His first stint there ran from 1997 to 2000 and his most recent stint started in 2003.

Eberly wasn't sure when to tell his superiors that he'd be leaving. He was afraid that they'd show him the door before he was ready to start Versa, thus leaving him without a viable source of income.

The bosses were understanding when Eberly gave his two-week notice, he said.

"Double Dog is a good company," Eberly said. "Being where I was at, everything felt stagnant. I just want to make myself better."

Some stimulus package information to note:

The government is giving out tax credits for some high-efficiency wood and pellet stoves placed in service between Jan. 1, 2009, and Dec. 31, 2010, according to a Philadelphia-based heating, ventilating and air-conditioning product distributor.

The tax credits may provide for up to 30 percent of the cost of each stove, according to Peirce-Phelps, which has an office in York.

The units must operate at 75 percent efficiency, according to Peirce-Phelps, and must burn "either pellets, wood or biomass fuel to heat a home or provide hot water."

Friday is the first day of spring.

That means free Italian ice at Rita's.

This is the 17th year that Rita's has offered a free, regular-sized Italian ice to all of its visitors on the first day of spring, according to the company's Web site.

Here's where to find some York-area Rita's locations:

East York Rita's
3000 E. Market St.
York, Pa.
757-5152

Crossroads Shopping Center Rita's
351 Loucks Rd.
York, Pa.
846-2665

Queen Street Rita's
901 S. Queen St.
York, Pa.
846-6893

Got some more info on the April 30 closing of the Sam Keeney Organ and Piano Center in York Township.

The following is stuff from the notebook that didn't make it into Thursday's story.

Keeney, right, owner of the center since 1970, wants to be remembered for his honest business dealings.

"I've pretty much tried to keep my nose clean," he says.

Others see him that way, too. Even Keeney's competitors can't help but tip their hats.

"Sam was always a good, clean competitor," said Joel Menchey, owner of Menchey Music Service, which has a location in Springettsbury Township. "The kind of competitor that a fellow music dealer would want to have."

Keeney started working at the center's current location on South Queen Street in 1965, he said, when it opened as Baker's music store.

Keeney says he is now "past retirement age," but he is "not ready to sit in a rocking chair and watch TV yet." He plans to continue performing organ programs for local nursing homes, retirement centers, weddings and funerals.

I've thought for years that car companies should start selling those little gas-sippers they market in Europe here in the United States. Wow they would have made a lot of money when gas hit $4 per gallon last year, instead of now requiring billions of American taxpayer dollars just to stay in business.

But there is a difference between the Europeans and the United States: One side of the pond has an overbearing government that makes the rules for the marketplace, and it has a huge effect on fuel economy on that particular side of the Atlantic.

You might think I'm talking about higher European emissions standards, and that this is some message championing European socialism. Nope, at issue are American safety regulations.

Read this from The Wall Street Journal this morning:

"U.S. government crash standards, for example, require car makers to take into consideration the potential harm to passengers who aren't wearing seat belts when designing the crash-safety features of their cars. European governments assume that everyone riding in a car is wearing a belt -- a standard that's easier and less costly for car makers to meet."

What do you think? Should this rule be changed?

The brackets are out.

Now the fun begins.

Employees in offices all over the country this week are welcoming the great diversion that is the NCAA men's basketball tournament, more commonly known as March Madness.

In case you aren't familiar, here's how this thing works:

Everyone who's interested prints out a blank bracket. They then proceed to predict the winner of each game, all the way to the national championship.

Usually, there is one person within the office who coordinates the pool, meaning that person will collect the filled-out brackets and the entry fee, which is due before the games begin Thursday.

Coordinating the pool is an important task, because the coordinator is expected to send out regular updates on who is leading in the standings.

It's fun for everyone in the office and is sure to inspire some drama and intrigue as the April 6 national title game nears.

Is your office doing a pool this year? Let us know. Send an e-mail to reporter Kevin Horan at khoran@ydr.com or call him at 771-2029. Make sure to include your name, phone number and the name of your company.

Everyone asks how the American government plans to pay for all of this "stimulus" going on. The answer is selling bonds to the Chinese, and we'll pay back those bonds later.

It's what we've always done. But now that the word depression is getting thrown around our country, China is worried we won't be able to pay it back.

Wonderful.

The giant white rose that adorns the cafe entrance to the White Rose Bar & Grill at West Philadelphia and North Beaver streets will be taken down Friday afternoon.

The restaurant, a mainstay of downtown York, is undergoing renovations set to be completed this spring.

More people will be able to sit outdoors along West Philadelphia Street and North Beaver Street, with a raised outdoor patio on the way. Customers have long requested more outdoor seating, general manager Jeremiah Anderson said.

The windows along those walls will be knocked out and replaced with French doors so that servers can move easily between the bar area and the patio.

One of the most noticeable changes, however, will be the absence of the giant rose, which has become somewhat of a York landmark. In its place, the restaurant's name and logo will be printed on the façade.

The giant rose will be taken to an outfield pavilion in Sovereign Bank Stadium, where the White Rose Bar & Grill will provide catering services.

The York Coffee Company at Beaver and King streets in York is up and running, under new management.

Two brothers, Stephen and Patrick Linebaugh, are running the coffee shop.

The two said they envision the coffee shop as a place where friends can meet for a cup of coffee, lunch, poetry readings and to listen to live music or see other types of performances.

And it looks fabulous.
Sam Dellinger, a graphic artist here at the York Daily Record, came in the office today with a new hairdo.
Before, Sam had long brown hair. Now it's beautiful and short. Six inches are gone.
Who cut it?
Her husband.
Why?
Because she wanted to save money.
Cool haircut. Didn't pay a dime.
Bravo, Sam.

In case you missed the story in Wednesday's Daily Record: The McDonald's in West Manchester Township is now using a remote-order service in its drive-through.

The vast majority of the restaurant's drive-through orders are taken by someone stationed in North Dakota or New Mexico, said Jeff Schroll, area supervisor for seven local McDonald's restaurants.

That person, in turn, enters your order, which appears on a monitor in the local McDonald's kitchen.

Here are a couple notes that didn't make it into Wednesday's story:

-- At least some of the order-takers stationed in North Dakota and New Mexico are able to work from their homes, Schroll said, but it is unclear exactly how many.

Verety -- the Illinois-based company that administers the service -- has five locations in North Dakota and one location in Roswell, N.M., according to its Web site. Four of the company's five North Dakota locations support work-at-home associates, according to the Web site.

-- Wendy's spokesman Denny Lynch said his company isn't seriously considering a remote-order service now, offering this perspective: "It's not free. You have to weigh the increase in sales and the increase in customer satisfaction scores against the increased cost."

The government released its foreclosure prevention plan today, making it possible for people to refinance their mortgages so they can stay in their houses. The plan aims to make payments low enough so people who are stretched thin can keep paying.

Sounds like a good idea. I think it is. But then I saw how much a person could still have to pay after their mortgage is adjusted.

It's up to 31 percent of their gross income. That's before-taxes income. After taxes it could approach or exceed half what a person makes. And that's supposed to make their financial situations better?

I can't imagine paying that much. My wife and I recently purchased a home and we worry about paying a percentage of our income that is far, far below that amount. We were called "ultra-conservative" during the process - which I took as a compliment - and with the economy being what it is, I still worry about paying as much as we did.

And we'd probably drown, let alone ever be able to go to a movie or a restaurant or otherwise help the rest of the economy by spending, if we had to pay 31 percent.

What do you think? Does this plan have the teeth to actually help, or does it still leave room for too many people to be "under water?"

The rumors have floated around long enough, Adam Jackson says.

Jackson, the general manager of Damon's in Hanover, wants to make one thing clear: His restaurant is not going out of business, despite rumblings to the contrary.

To reinforce Damon's continued existence, Jackson has organized a "not going out of business sale."

It will run from March 16 through April 11.

Each day, Damon's will offer beer and food specials; some days, there will be trivia games and other promotions. A "not going out of business" banner will be hung outside the restaurant, Jackson said.

The Miller Lite girls are even scheduled to make an appearance.

"If nothing else, squash the rumor," Jackson said. "Let them know that we're still gonna be here."

Another interesting promotion to report on today:

Staub & Associates, a company with offices in York, Hanover, Camp Hill and Lancaster, is offering free business training sessions to anyone who buys a copy of "The Sandler Rules" on amazon.com Tuesday.

The rules outlined in the book are intended to help salespeople succeed. The 208-page book is currently going for $16.47 on Amazon.

Anyone who buys the book through Amazon Tuesday will get a free training session and two internet training broadcasts, according to a statement from Staub & Associates.