Franklin County

Commissioners pass resolution for fire cleanup, repairs The Franklin County (Pa.) Commissioners on Thursday passed an emergency resolution that will allow for repairs and cleanup following a May 17 fire in their building. Sparks from demolition of an adjacent building ignited the commissioners' office building at 14 N. Main St. The second-floor meeting room and two offices sustained “extensive water damage,” County Administrator John Hart said Thursday.

The Franklin County (Pa.) Commissioners recently adopted a new comprehensive plan for the county with a strategy for proper growth and conservation. “This project began in late 2010 and was a collaborative process involving numerous meetings and interviews to gather input from all segments of the community, including local governments, school districts, business and community leaders, and the general public,” Planning Director Phil Tarquino said in a news release. The latest revision to the comprehensive plan is called “Franklin County Forward.” The plan calls for an information resource center within the Franklin County Planning Department.

According to Franklin County Emergency Services, the following roads were closed as of 6 a.m. Friday: Greene Township • Mount Pleasant Road between Brookens Road and Cook Road • Woodstock Road between Shadle Road and Cook Road Guilford Township • Loop Rd near Franklin County Career and Technology Center Hamilton Township • Leafmore Road at the bridge Lurgan Township • Burnt Mill Road • Park...

Franklin County's unemployment rate dropped one-tenth of a percentage point in August, according to the latest data released by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. Franklin County's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.8 percent, while neighboring Fulton County's rate was 8.9 percent. Franklin County lost 200 nonagricultural jobs between July and August, but its overall gain from a year ago was 900 jobs. The transportation, warehousing and utilities sector in the county returned to a record high set earlier in the year.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Franklin County, Pa., decreased two-tenths of a percentage point to 6.2 percent in March, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry announced Tuesday. Franklin County ranked sixth for the lowest unemployment rate among Pennsylvania's 67 counties. Neighboring Fulton County's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 8.9 percent. It ranked 54th among the counties. “Pennsylvania's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped two-tenths of a point to 7.9 percent, while the nation's rate went down one-tenth of a point to 7.6 percent,” labor department analysis stated.

The portion of Leitersburg Road that runs under Interstate 81 in Franklin County, Pa., has been closed because of a traffic accident that occurred at about 1:50 p.m. today, a Pennsylvania State Police dispatcher said. Further details were not immediately available.

The following incidents were reported Friday by Franklin County (Pa.) Emergency Services: At 12:47 a.m., a traffic accident in the 5200 block of Philadelphia Avenue in Greene Township. At 1:28 a.m., a commercial fire alarm in the first block of Second Street in Chambersburg.

The Franklin County Commissioners and Planning Department is asking for input from the public into its county comprehensive planning project. Three meetings have been scheduled around the county in July. They are: July 18 — Norlo Park Community Center, 3050 Lincoln Way East, Fayetteville, Pa., 6 p.m. July 25 — Renfrew Park Visitors Center, 1010 E. Main St., Waynesboro, Pa., 2 p.m. July 25 — Peters Township Municipal Building, 5000 Steele Ave., Lemasters, Pa., 6 p.m.

Interstate 81 in Chambersburg was closed for nearly five hours after a tractor-trailer caught fire near the 13-milemarker, a 911 dispatcher said.  Southbound I-81 was closed between exits 14 and 10 for more than four hours for the fire, which occurred at about 5:30 p.m., a Franklin County 911 dispatcher said.  The interstate was reopened about 10:20 p.m., a dispatcher said.  The driver of the tractor-trailer was not hurt in the fire, a Pennsylvania State Police spokesman said.