Six southern Lancaster County townships will soon take possession of the 23-mile Enola Low-Grade rail line abandoned by Conrail nearly 20 years ago.

The townships — Bart, Conestoga, Eden, Martic, Providence and Sadsbury — have sales agreements in hand for the line that crosses 850 acres. The  price: $1.

Most of the townships have already signed the pact and the rest are expected to follow suit.

The agreements come with payments from Norfolk Southern, the successor to Conrail, ranging from $80,000 to $350,000 for bridge maintenance and/or demolition (as per a 1997 PUC ruling).

The changeover would bring to a close a controversial chapter in the life of a controversial board of county commissioners who — well-intentioned though they might have been — tried to muscle its way to ownership of the rail line by resorting to eminent domain.

The commissioners, who have since left office, wanted to convert the rail line to a recreational rail trail for all Lancastrians to enjoy, but they were rebuffed by the courts in 2004.

Now it's up to those individual townships to determine the property's future.

Most are open to a rail trail, and that's encouraging. But it remains to be seen whether the six municipalities can come together as one on this worthwhile idea.

If the past 20 years tells us anything, it won't be easy.


People who favor selling beer at convenience stores apparently don't realize how convenient it already is to buy a beer — or six or 12 or 24.

So says David Shipula, president of the Malt Beverage Distributors Association of Pennsylvania, writing recently in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

To make his point, Shipula cites U.S. Census Bureau figures showing there are 2,400 gas stations, 2,700 supermarkets and 2,900 drugstores in Pennsylvania.

Compare this, he says, to 1,300 beer distributorships, which sell beer by the case or keg, and 500 "deli" license-holders that allow people to buy up to two six-packs to go. Then add 12,000 bars and restaurants, many of which sell beer to take out.

"If there is power in numbers, that's proof that we have convenience of access to beer," he wrote.

Shipula's association is currently embroiled in a legal dispute with the Sheetz convenience stores and the Wegman's grocery chain over selling beer at cafes attached to the stores.

Shipula has an ax to grind — selling beer by the case or keg is his livelihood.  Giving beer-drinkers more options on where to make their purchases could cut into the profits of his Wilkes-Barre distributorship and others statewide.

Yet the numbers he has come up with are convincing, particularly to those — like this newspaper — who think it's not the state Liquor Control Board's business to encourage beer sales.


Thirty years ago this Memorial Day weekend, Atlantic City kicked off legalized gambling, optimistic that it would save a poor city struggling with crime, drugs and joblessness.

Thirty years later, glistening hotels and dominate the Atlantic City skyline, generating billions of dollars for New Jersey government, but the crime and joblessness largely remain in the shadow of the casinos.

Just two blocks away, a poor population lives in substandard housing. It's like living in a third-world country.

The situation is bad, and it's not likely to get better anytime soon.

The Atlantic City casinos, themselves, have struggled recently, what with competition from slots parlors in neighboring Pennsylvania and New York.

In the meantime, Maryland voters will vote this fall on whether to legalize slots. If the measure passes, it will mean even more competition for the gambling dollar.

The slots boon, it seems, is passing a lot of people by.


Comcast has taken a lot of guff from  Lancastrians, who apparently aren't alone in their criticism of the giant cable  company.

Comcast's customer-satisfaction ratings are at an all-time low, according to the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index.

Part of the problem may be the rapid growth of Comcast, the nation's largest cable TV provider.

But Comcast isn't making excuses.

"We get it," said Rick Germano, senior VP of national customer operations. "We're listening."

Let's hope so.