Population

CHAMBERSBURG, PA. - At age 77, Allen Twigg of Chambersburg did not appear very worried that, on average, a Franklin County, Pa., resident can expect to live to be 78 years old. "At least I've got part of a year yet," joked Twigg, who turns 78 in January. On Friday, he was handing out information about the Meals on Wheels program at the 2006 Senior Fair at Southgate Mall. The fair was hosted by state Rep. Rob Kauffman, R-Franklin/Cumberland. According to "Eight Americas: Investigating Mortality Disparities across Races, Counties, and Race-Counties in the United States," a study that appeared in the online PLoS Journal, a Franklin Countian can expect to live longer than the average Pennsylvanian, whose life expectancy is 76.7 years, or 31st in the nation.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. ? At age 77, Allen Twigg of Chambersburg did not appear very worried that, on average, a Franklin County, Pa., resident can expect to live to be 78 years old. "At least I've got part of a year yet," joked Twigg, who turns 78 in January. On Friday, he was handing out information about the Meals on Wheels program at the 2006 Senior Fair at Southgate Mall. The fair was hosted by state Rep. Rob Kauffman, R-Franklin/Cumberland. According to "Eight Americas: Investigating Mortality Disparities across Races, Counties, and Race-Counties in the United States," a study that appeared in the online PLoS Journal, a Franklin Countian can expect to live longer than the average Pennsylvanian, whose life expectancy is 76.7 years, or 31st in the nation.

Washington County grew by more than 10 percent over the past decade. Which, in a Maryland sort of way, explains why we might lose 25 percent of our delegation to the General Assembly in the upcoming redistricting effort. This, of course, presents the question of whether this is a bad thing, or whether fewer representatives might actually be to the county’s advantage. Redrawing the state-lawmaker boundary lines every 10 years always provides some intrigue, some subterfuge and usually a monstrous threat or two before everything settles back pretty much to the way it was before.

By RICHARD F. BELISLE Staff Writer CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Franklin County officials are getting ready to make room for a fourth judge for Franklin and Fulton counties. The Franklin County Commissioners will spend more than $200,000 for office, chambers and courtroom space for the new judge, his secretary, law clerk and law library, said John Hart, county administrator. The state will pay the $104,000 annual salary for the new judge. Room could be found in existing courthouse space or elsewhere, Hart said.

The election of 2012 is fast approaching and will almost certainly send a message about the status of the welfare state in America. Is the dislike for government health plans and other social support programs so vocally disparaged by the Tea party and many Republicans in danger, or do they represent the voice of radical change? While it is historically true that we, as a culture, are dominated by an individualistic ethos, it is also true that a communitarian set of values has blunted its impact.

If you don't know where a candidate stands on growth issues, don't blame the Citizens for the Protection of Washington County, which both held a public forum on the topic and compiled a lengthy questionnaire pinning down would-be office holders on a number of sticky topics. Normally I'm leery of any group that has the word "Citizens" in its title. As an old political dog from West Virginia once said, democracy is fine until the people start getting mixed up in it. So it is with some trepidation that I quote from the CPWC document, and I do so only because growth has pushed its way to the forefront of the 2002 local campaigns.

Another layer of government is not the answer To the editor: Someone must take issue with Tom Firey's letter printed Jan. 11. Only a bureaucrat would argue that the best way to control government spending is to create as many layers of it as possible. It is ridiculous to argue that the residents of Hagerstown will ever pay less for, or get more from government, than the county residents in the unincorporated areas. The question has become: Is a separate city worth the cost?

A mass of people holding cat carriers waited in line Saturday at the Antietam Humane Society for a spay and neuter clinic. Debbie DeWees, executive director of the humane society, said feral and homeless cats are such a huge part of the growing pet overpopulation problem that the clinic is held every other month. “It's a humongous problem,” DeWees said. From 8 to 9 a.m., 83 cats were dropped off in their cat carriers, which were stacked three high in the shelter waiting for Dr. Matthew Murphy of Keystone Mobile Veterinary Services in Chambersburg, Pa., to perform the procedures.

It began with piece of junk mail. Because you were busy, you tossed it on a table, and moved on to other, more important things in your life. But the next day, a magazine and a store catalog landed there, plus several birthday cards from friends and a week's worth of newspapers. Every time you passed by, you considered sorting through the items and discarding what you didn't need. Instead, you continued adding to the pile, telling yourself you'd get around to straightening things up as soon as you had some free time.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Washington County's Spanish-speaking population increased by nearly 48 percent between 2000 and 2004. Robert Bernstein, public affairs specialist for the census bureau, said the county's Hispanic population was 1,570 in 2000 and 2,322 in 2004. Figures weren't available for 2005, he said. "The Hispanic population is growing a lot faster than the population as a whole" in Washington County, Bernstein said. Between 2000 and 2004, the county's population grew by nearly 6 percent, from 131,923 in 2000 to 139,624 in 2004, he said.