Longtime gas station owner passes away at 87 — A2
P&J’s Etter sees Packers in Green Bay — B1
Bon Appetit honors Sukle’s Rhode Island restaurant — A5
Press And Journal A NEW HOME
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2016
Business group might finally get off ground
VOLUME 126 - NO. 34
14 PAGES
Downtown board had leaders, funding before abrupt 2015 shutdown Press And Journal Staff
Abrupt shutdown
In late 2014, plans were announced for an inaugural meeting of the association that was to be held at Penn State Harrisburg in February 2015. But the meeting was Please See BUSINESS, Page A6
JASONMADDUX
We want you on the P&J editorial board
There will many changes to the Press And Journal by the end of the year, especially when it comes to the look of the newspaper and our website, pressandjournal.com. But also on the way are changes to what you read. We want you to be involved with one new and important improvement to our Viewpoints page. We are seeking a public member of our editorial board, to help us shape the opinions we express as a newspaper on the Viewpoints page. So what does that mean? The Viewpoints page is made up of opinions. Yours. Ours. Theirs. We have letters to the editor, regular columnists, guest columns and Facebook feedback, as well as the ever-popular Sound Off. The lefthand column until recently was labeled Editor’s Voice in the description at the top. It has been renamed, for now at least, as P&J Editorials. The left column of the opinion page in most newspapers is reserved for editorials. Those are the pieces that don’t have bylines. They Please See BOARD, Page A6
Lower Swatara makes 4 key hires Public safety director, 2 police OK’d
By Dan Miller
Almost two years ago after being incorporated with the state, why is there still no downtown business association in Middletown? It’s not for lack of effort among a handful of business leaders, who persistently keep knocking their heads against the wall toward creating a group to promote the interests of Middletown businesses and to provide a vehicle for marketing the town’s growing number of attractions to the rest of the world. Economic development consultants advocated the need for a Chamber of Commercelike business association in Middletown in May 2014 in a study that was completed by Commonwealth Economics LLC for borough council. In December 2014, articles of incorporation for the Middletown Business Association were filed with the Pennsylvania Department of State by the Middletown Industrial and Commercial Development Authority. The authority created the association and approved a $20,000 grant that was supposed to cover start-up costs, like paying lawyers to draw up and file the incorporation papers, and to develop and launch a website to market and promote Middletown-area businesses and attractions. The papers were filed and a site was launched, although the site is now defunct. The $20,000 grant for start-up costs may still be available. For reasons never made clear, it appears the authority used another funding source to cover the costs of incorporating the association and of the website. “The money was promised but the check was never cut,” Councilor Dawn Knull said of the $20,000 grant to the Press And Journal. Borough council should turn the $20,000 grant over to the association as a matter of “good faith” and to demonstrate its support for the effort, Councilor Diana McGlone said. “It would be a very meaningful gesture on council’s part and would signify that council is committed to economic development.”
75 CENTS
By Eric Wise
Press And Journal
Press And Journal staff photos by Dan Miller
Members of the Blue Raider football team practicing for the new season were among the first students to get a peek inside the new high school. Please see more photos on B8.
It’s not just the high school that’s upgraded — the way students learn is changing By Dan Miller
Press And Journal Staff
If the new Middletown Area High School has the feel of a college campus, the feeling is intentional, says high school Principal Michael Carnes, who took the Press And Journal on a tour of the new $41 million high school on Aug. 19. The new school is meant to prepare students for what awaits them in the post-secondary educational experience, Carnes said. The entire building has an open-space feel, to support an educational philosophy embracing independent and collaborative learning among these legions of iPad-armed students. Given the rapid pace of change in education — so much of it driven by advances in technology — designing a building to anticipate the future of learning is a daunting if not impossible task. “We had to think when you design this building to last 70 years, what’s education going to look like in 70 years?” Carnes said. “I don’t know. I’ll be gone. But you’ve got to make it a little closer to what you think it might (be).” In planning and designing the new high school, it appears the intent is not so much trying to predict what education will be like 50 or 70 years from now, but instead to build a space that is adaptable and flexible enough to accommodate those changes to come — whatever they will be. Just about everything in the classrooms can easily Please See NEW, Page A6
Principal Michael Carnes checks out the Apple TV system set up to support the use of iPads and other media in Beth Gannon-Rittenhouse's 10th grade English classroom.
Finishing touches still being completed By Dan Miller
Press And Journal Staff
Suski
The new Middletown Area High School will be ready for the first day of classes on Monday, Aug. 29. Superintendent Lori Suski guarantees it. At the same time, it was obvious from our tour of the building on Friday, Aug. 19, that there is still work to be done. People working for the contractor and the building architect could be found
all over the new school, attending to what Suski called a “punch list” of last-minute to-dos. There were men on ladders, men painting, men putting in and adjusting shelves, and floors still to be waxed. Working and moving around all this are the administrators, building staff, and the teachers — who started moving in on Monday, Aug. 15. There are Please See TOUCHES, Page A6
You will be caught ... I promise you that!” — it happened, and arsonist is now in prison By Dan Miller
Press And Journal Staff
Press And Journal Photo by Eric Wise
Esmeralda Gonzalez stands next to the home-made sign she displayed on her front porch after her home in the 100 block of North Catherine Street in Middletown was targeted by an arsonist in August 2015.
At first Esmeralda Gonzalez could feel only raw anger toward the young man who on Aug. 18, 2015, set fire to her house in the 100 block of North Catherine Street in Middletown. Her anger manifested itself in a sign she placed on her front porch, before an arrest was made — “You will be caught … I promise you that!” But somewhere along the line that anger turned to sadness. Almost a year later to the day — Aug. 16, 2016 — 19-year old Carl E. Nelson III of Ann Street in Middletown pleaded guilty to arson in Dauphin County Court and was sentenced to two and one-half
to 5 years in state prison. He has already served one year of his sentence in Dauphin County Prison. According to police reNelson cords, Nelson set fire to the residence after he and Gonzalez’ son had argued over a skateboard. Nelson and a friend drank some cough syrup, and Nelson came back to the residence with a bottle of Gatorade filled with kerosene. Inside the house at the time was Gonzalez’ daughter, her boyfriend, and the couple’s 10-month old baby.
The fire caused at least $8,000 in damages, mostly to vinyl siding on the front and side of the porch. Gonzalez knew from the start that Nelson had been behind the blaze, but the sentencing in the courtroom had been her first opportunity to confront him face to face. “’I’m not even mad at you anymore. I feel bad for you,’” Gonzalez said she told Nelson. “’I have a son your age. I wouldn’t want my son to go where you are going.’” She told Nelson that he had never apologized for what he had done, and if he would, “‘I would be the first to speak up for you at the parole hearing’” if Nelson would ever be considered for early release from prison. Please See PROMISE, Page A6
Lower Swatara commissioners voted Aug. 17 to hire a public safety director, a construction code official and two police officers. Frank Williamson, who retired earlier this year as public safety director and police chief in Lower Allen Township, Cumberland County, will become the township’s public safety officer Aug. 29. He will oversee the police department, fire protection and coordination with emergency management agencies, said Tom Mehaffie, president of the commissioners. Former Police Chief Richard Brandt retired July 1. “I have been retired for about five months and was looking for a second career,” Williamson said. His retirement from Lower Allen Township had been planned three years prior when he entered a deferred retirement program, setting up his retirement at the close of 2015, but continued into 2016 at the request of the township. Williamson said he wants to establish “open communication between all those agencies,” including the police, fire department and EMS agencies. His first goal is to establish improved coordination and cooperation as they respond together. Jact DelaCruz has been named the township’s construction code official. Alan Knoche retired earlier this year as the codes official. The commissioners voted to extend conditional offers to Ryan Lesko and Artemus Tuisl as police officers. Four candidates were interviewed for the openings. The new officers have additional tests to complete before the offers become official, according to Anne Shambaugh, township manager. Two police officers left Lower Swatara in 2015, and a third resigned in May 2016, when the commissioners voted to begin the hiring process.
Correction The Aug. 17th front-page story “Man’s death called sign of drug problem that keeps growing” contained incorrect information. The Middletown Police Department carries naxolone, a drug that reverses the effect of an overdose.
public notices in this week’s press and journal: ELIZABETHTOWN BORO: Zoning Board Hearing
LETTERS TESTAMENTARY: Stauffer, Bryan, Hilbolt
MILLER-VALENTINE GROUP: Sealed Bids/Harrisburg Housing Authority Project