We had the governor visit York County -- specifically, Voith -- on Tuesday touting energy jobs and hydropower.
Voith has seen its fair share of news lately. After some negotiations, the company and union reached a contract agreement in September.
And it was only a short year ago, that then, Senator Barack Obama visited the plant on a campaign stop.
Talk to most area new car dealers and you'll likely learn that the government's Cash for Clunkers program has been a success.
Thanks to the program, demand for new cars is on the rise while dealer inventories are shrinking.
However, there seems to be a dark side of the program that many customers will likely experience soon.
And that dark side is debt. Lot's of debt.
The program has attracted the wallets of people not in the right financial position to buy a car. Advertisements seem to scream that you can save up to $4,500 on a new car.
Who could resist that kind of offer. Even I was thinking of buying a new car.
But I knew that, even if bought an $18,000 car and saved $4,500 by trading in my current set of wheels, I would still be stuck with a loan of $13,500. That's not a very wise decision to make during a recession.
I know the government needs people to spend money to get the economy back on track, but it shouldn't be at the expense of throwing more people into debt just to sell a few more sedans.
Electric cars are available for free test drives with admission to the Maryland Science Center now through July, according to the Baltimore Sun.
The cars don't go too fast and their charges don't last too long, the Sun reported. Top speed is 35 mph and the car travels 120 miles per charge.
Still, the program is a great way to draw attention to electric cars. The center will start a car-sharing program in August, according to the Sun.
Lots of news today, folks.
Sean Adkins reports that Spring Garden Township's Memorial Hospital will lay off 32 workers and leave 21 other positions unfilled.
These moves, like so many others lately, come in response to the recessed economy. The hospital reported a 6 percent drop in its volume of patients and a "significant jump" in bad debt from people who couldn't pay their bills.
*
Teresa McMinn reports that visitors to the 93rd Annual Pennsylvania Farm Show are spending lots of time looking at farm equipment, but haven't been buying as much as they used to.
"We normally sell 1,000 units a year," said Arlene Ingram, of PA International Trailers. "We're down to about 350."
*
Own a small business with 100 employees or fewer? Brent Burkey reports today that you may be eligible for an allocation of up to $25,000 from the Alternative Energy Investment Fund, which was passed last summer.
The money is intended to help businesses cut energy use by 20 percent and save at least $1,000 per year. The businesses are also expected to use the grants for a maximum of 25 percent of a total project.
I just read a brief in the November issue of Consumer Reports about groups and organizations that have "green" sounding names, but in fact aren't very green.
With the explosion of the environmental movement, it's always important to keep in mind that some groups may just be trying to ride the coattails of a successful movement.
For example the Heartland Institute, one of the examples used in the brief, claims it has expertise on climate issues, but has advocated for smokers' rights and accepts money from ExxonMobil and Philip Morris.
You can check out more at www.frontgroups.org.
So I just said about an hour ago on the blog gas prices have fallen a lot, down to $2.75. Well, I just saw $2.59 while running out to walk my dog.
So where do you think the bottom is? Will it actually get "cheap" again? And what exactly would a "cheap" price be?
A colleague of mine says gas isn't "cheap" until it falls below $2 per gallon for regular. And apparently a lot of you out there agree.
A couple-year-old local service that tries to hook up commuters with possible carpool partners send me a press release today, saying that it added 1,000 new participants since early September.
Commuter Services of South Central Pennsylvania, as it is known, now has 11,000 members. The growth is despite gas prices falling since early September to around $2.75 per gallon for regular.
So my question is this: Is this because people have the foresight on the interest in saving the environment to start carpooling? Or are people so scared about the economy that they are pinching the pennies they were willing to spend just a few months ago?
