Published July 1, 2009, 12:29 AM EST

by LARRY ALEXANDER

LANCASTER, Pa. - It has been a strange week here at Lancaster Newspapers with the merger of the Intelligencer Journal and the Lancaster New Era.For New Era subscribers, it probably has been a major change.You might be used to coming home from work and finding your newspaper wherever it landed, possi......

Published June 30, 2009, 7:52 AM EST

by AD CRABLE, Outdoor Trails

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. - Pennsylvania could be largely devoid of bats within two to three years. That's the startling and sad outlook foreseen by Greg Turner as the sudden and mysterious white-nose syndrome fungus sweeps through the state. "I don't think anyone thinks we can stop it. We'll easil......

Published June 28, 2009, 12:02 AM EST

by PEGGY SCHMIDT, Daze of Our Lives

LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - By the time this is printed, we might be basking in sunshine; but, at this writing, we have been suffering from a dearth of natural light. If, at the beginning of 2009, we were experiencing a shortage of rainfall, I'm sure by now that has been corrected. We wake in the morning to gray skies and......

Published June 26, 2009, 8:44 AM EST

by Jack Brubaker, The Scribbler

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. - Isaac R. Horst, who has been mentioned from time to time in this column, died last November at his home in Ontario, Canada. He was 90 years old. The Center for Pennsylvania German Studies at Millersville University has just published a memorial tribute containing some of Horst's writing and......

Published June 24, 2009, 12:04 AM EST

by LARRY ALEXANDER

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. - Unless you just awoke from a coma, you recall that last week President Barack Obama killed a fly while taping a TV interview.The fly was buzzing around Obama's head, prompting the interviewer to say he had never seen such a persistent fly. This was a clear indication that the interview......

Published June 23, 2009, 6:58 AM EST

by AD CRABLE, Outdoor Trails

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. - On the surface, there's something decidedly lifeless about the Eastern Penn Mushroomers. I mean the object of their fascination mostly live on dead, rotting things, for heaven's sake. On a recent club foray in the woods of Gifford Pinchot State Park in York County, Cathy Cholmel......

Published June 21, 2009, 12:02 AM EST

by P.J. REILLY, Woods and Waters

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. - I got mine Wednesday. Buying my annual hunting license is somewhat of a ritual.Is that weird?I buy it every year the first week licenses go on sale and always from The Sportsman's Shop in New Holland. Through my entire hunting career over the past tw......

Published June 21, 2009, 12:02 AM EST

by PEGGY SCHMIDT, Daze of Our Lives

LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - On a recent journey through a few southern states, Old Dad and I passed countless streets with names that captured our attention, names such as Detour Road, Equipment Street and Good Intent Road. While we hadn't time to see where these avenues would lead, my interest in road names was piqued. &......

Published June 21, 2009, 12:02 AM EST

by LINA BIERKER, No Reservations

LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - I had been traveling like a fiend. When I got back a few weeks ago, all I wanted was some home cookin'. Alas, I had a column due, so off to The Red Rose we went. In the heart of downtown Lancaster, it has a revamped look, and it is a dining establishment that has a broad menu of Americana. But ......

Published June 21, 2009, 12:01 AM EST

by ANNE KOENIG, Among the Living

LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - It disturbed him. Our visit to the American Visionary Art Museum, in Baltimore, left my husband feeling a tad unsettled. So much of the art, Tim noted, had dark themes. Skeletons. Mental anguish. Frenzy. Pain. Loss. And then there were the exhibits of "junk" pieced together in kook......