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04.01.11
The government you ask for

I'm always amused when people get the precise government they asked for with their votes, and have to face the consequences.

A perfect example is the election of Tom Corbett as governor of Pennsylvania.

Only a few short months after the majority of Pennsylvania voters bought into Corbett's promises of balancing the state budget and cutting state spending, they're finding out that the way he's going to do that is by pushing the tax burden onto local government. Over all, each of us will end up paying more to maintain the same or fewer services than we now have.

07.29.11
Northgate extends kindergarten

At least a portion of Northgate School District’s full-day kindergarten program could be restored, thanks to a state grant that will provide some funding.

Northgate eliminated full-day kindergarten in budget cuts last month. The program had been funded by a state accountability block grant of nearly $200,000, funds that were drastically cut in Gov. Tom Corbett’s 2011-12 budget for Pennsylvania.

05.27.11
Letters to the Editor 5-27-11

Editor:

05.13.11
Northgate cuts full-day kindergarten

The proposed final budget that will be voted on by the Northgate School Board Monday night will not include an increase in property taxes. It also will not include full-day kindergarten, a spring musical or a number of classes that could be lost due to teacher furloughs.

Although the board will vote Monday to approve the final proposal for spending in 2011-12, that proposal will not become the final budget until the board votes on June 20.

04.15.11
Letters to the Editor 4-15-11

BENEFITS OF MUSICAL THEATER Editor: It was a magnificent joy to watch our Northgate kids perform "All Shook Up," a musical set in 1955 with Elvis’ music and Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" plot. Musical theater has become a wonderful community tradition that gives back to our community, yet it is severely threatened by the state budget cuts.

04.01.11
Northgate budget blues

"Everything is on the table."

That statement by Northgate superintendent Dr. Reggie Bonfield sums up the district's approach to doing whatever is necessary to eliminate a $1.6 million budget deficit facing the school in the coming fiscal year.

In an open letter to residents of Avalon and Bellevue that was posted on the district's Web site last week, Bonfield outlines the impact of Gov. Tom Corbett's proposed cuts in educational spending, which could add another $700,000 to the $900,000 deficit already faced by the district.

03.25.11
Taxpayers looking for answers from Northgate

A room full of residents looking for answers to the Northgate School District’s financial problems didn’t get them at Monday’s school board meeting.

With no budget discussion on the agenda, the issue was left to the taxpayers who attended to stress their concerns over another proposed tax hike and what programs could be cut.

After last year’s 3.1 mill property tax increase, the district has requested permission from the state to increase taxes by another 2.5 mills for the coming year in an effort to mitigate a $1.3 million budget deficit.

03.18.11
Avonworth cuts 15 aides

The Avonworth School District will eliminate 15 aide positions in the next school year, the first step in budget cuts that could encompass an end to full-day kindergarten, salary freezes, and a request for voluntary concessions from union employees.

03.18.11
State budget ups Northgate deficit

Northgate’s 2011-12 budget is “in deep trouble” after funding cuts in the proposed state budget threaten to add another $700,000 to the existing deficit.

Finance committee chairman Daniel O’Keefe said at Monday’s committee of the whole school board meeting that Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposed spending plan is expected to reduce Northgate’s reimbursements and state revenue by some $640,000 to $700,000.

Added to the previously projected deficit of approximately $900,000, the district now needs to make up between $1.3 million and $1.5 million.

03.19.10
Obituaries 3-19-10

Margaret Nichols Margaret A. Owens Nichols, 85, of Emsworth, died Friday, March 12, 2010. She was survived briefly by her husband, Robert E. Nichols; two children, Donald Nichols and his wife Roberta and Alice Hoffmaster and her husband Russell; and nieces and nephews. Friends were received at McDonald-Linn Funeral Home, Avalon, where services were held on Monday.

Robert Nichols Robert E. Nichols, 86, of Emsworth, husband of the late Margaret A. Owens Nichols, died Friday, March 12, 2010.

10.23.09
Huckabee To Preach

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee will preach at Christ Church at Grove Farm in Ohio Township on Sunday, Nov. 1.

08.07.09
Marmo named to county bench

Although he lost his bid for nomination in the spring primary election, a local attorney will become a judge in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas long before anyone who ran against him.

06.19.09
Letters to the Editor

TAX AND SPEND

Editor:

Wonder how many of the Avonworth School Board members who voted for the recent tax increase for the school district complained this week when the Governor raised the state income tax? I am sure there were a few.

Between the governor and school board, they have now wiped out any savings from the funds received from the casinos across the state for property owners.