Despite reducing its 2020 schedule due to the coronavirus pandemic, Monday’s Market, now in its third year, still managed to squash previous attendance records.
James Mentzer
James Mentzer is a freelance writer and lifelong resident of Pennsylvania. He has spent his professional career writing about agriculture, economic development, manufacturing and the energy and real estate industries, and is the county reporter and a features writer for LebTown.
James is an outdoor enthusiast whose hobbies include hunting, Ultimate frisbee, disc golf, spikeball and pickleball, biking, traveling and attending live concerts for a number of bands, including moe., String Cheese Incident and Widespread Panic.
His published works include the books Pennsylvania Manufacturing: Alive and Well; Bucks County: A Snapshot in Time; United States Merchant Marine Academy: In Service to the Nation 1943-2018; A Century of Excellence: Spring Brook Country Club 1921-2021; Lancaster Development, Inc.: An American Story of Family and Infrastructure, and several other titles. He has also had business profiles published in Central Pennsylvania: Our Time Has Come, and an article in The Columbiad, a scholarly publication of Civil War Times Illustrated, concerning a little-known African American fort and battle along the James River in Virginia. Another book is currently in production for Morris Country Club in Morris, Illinois.
Posted inBusiness & Nonprofits
Awakenings Coffee Shop opens at Palmyra First United Methodist Church
Awakenings, a new Palmyra-based coffee shop opening Tuesday, has a dual purpose: to nourish the body and the soul.
Posted inNews
Commissioners tentatively approve mask campaign contract, agency asked to include max number of local firms
The $2.8 million public relations initiative, part of the state CARES Act settlement, will be led by Lebanon marketing agency Fresh Creative.
Posted inCrime & Safety
Inside Lebanon County EMS’ (mostly volunteer) hazmat team
The mostly-volunteer team has already responded to more calls in 2020 than its previous record of 74 in 2018.
Posted inPeople & Places
Back from the brink: intervention program saves lives for those who want to be saved
The Renaissance Crossroads intervention and rehabilitation program gave Andy Donkel a second chance at life.
Posted inPeople & Places
Meet Lebanon County piano virtuoso Max Ludwig
The 17-year-old pianist seems to impress wherever he plays. LebTown caught him between gigs to talk about music, his band, and his future.
Posted inNews
County taps firm to print/mail absentee & mail-in ballots for general election
The county commissioners voted unanimously Thursday to outsource to a Harrisburg-based company the printing and mailing of absentee and mail-in ballots for the upcoming general election.
Posted inPeople & Places
County work-release director retires after 36 years of service
Stuckey, who started part-time as a corrections officer in 1984, implemented several cost-savings initiatives as director of work release.
Posted inEducation
How school bus operators plan to mitigate COVID-19 spread
Student transportation will look markedly different this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Posted inBusiness & Nonprofits
Local bars, restaurants face uncertain future as mandates hamper profits
One thing is crystal clear: very few, if any, restaurants can afford to stay open operating at 25 percent capacity.
Posted inBusiness & Nonprofits
Restaurant industry baffled by new mandates: ‘No one goes into business to earn 25 percent profits’
Gov. Tom Wolf’s latest ruling regulating restaurants during the pandemic has not been welcome news to local eatery owners.
Posted inBusiness & Nonprofits
County commissioners approve rehabilitation tax abatement for Myerstown businesses
Lebanon County Commissioners approved a resolution Thursday to provide tax abatement for the rehabilitation of commercial properties in Myerstown Borough via the state’s Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance Act program.
Posted inPeople & Places
Lebanon church that predated Civil War closes
St. John’s United Church of Christ closed June 28. The church had been active for 159 years.
Posted inBusiness & Nonprofits
Demand for retail space in Lebanon County expected to remain high
Commercial developer Arthur Campbell believes the future growth of retail space in Lebanon County looks bright.
Posted inNews
Commissioners approve tax abatement for new Hershey warehouse in Annville
The commissioners approved by a unanimous vote a request to grant Hershey a 10-year tax abatement under the Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance Act (LERTA) program.
