Category: Featured
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No “Doubt” About BTE’s Commitment to Bloomsburg
Read more: No “Doubt” About BTE’s Commitment to BloomsburgFounded in 1978, the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble performed for three summer seasons in the Central Columbia Middle School “cafetorium” before moving in to the former Columbia movie theater in downtown Bloomsburg. From their home at the Alvina Krause Theater, named in honor of their founding artistic director, BTE has become not only what American Theatre Magazine hailed as “a perfect illustration of ‘commitment to place’” but also a nationally recognized and respected leader in the Ensemble Movement. Members have travelled the globe while developing new works, honing their skills, and passing on the lessons they’ve learned to other community ensembles.…
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Why Isn’t Local News More Open?
Read more: Why Isn’t Local News More Open?As a librarian at Penn State University, my job centers on helping users—students, faculty, and community members—find the information they need. Focusing on this important task for over fifteen years has given me a valuable perspective on how information is created, published, and made available. To a librarian, there’s nothing more exciting than an information challenge—helping someone find the newspaper articles or the books they need to dig deeper into a research area. During the recent Bloomsburg flood, my skills as a librarian were put to the test. I read about the Bloomsburg Press Enterprise’s paywall—re-erected after five days of…
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A Flood of Silence: Sarah Rudolph
Read more: A Flood of Silence: Sarah RudolphA Flood of Silence is an ongoing series of digital stories from those personally affected by the 2011 flood in Bloomsburg, PA. The third vignette being released today is titled, “Just Like That, It Is Gone.” This scene features Sarah Rudolph and her 12 year old grandson, Clay, in a story that shares the pain of losing everything and an amazing willingness to do things that are well beyond the expected. Mrs. Rudolph told us that her back yard opens to the Fairgrounds. Her neighbors had a hot dog cart on Leonard Street and used it to feed workers during…
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Plagued by Doubts, Flood Victims Begin Again
Read more: Plagued by Doubts, Flood Victims Begin AgainWarm October days, cool crisp evenings, the noise of saws and hammers, slowly dwindling piles of debris. All of these sights and sounds makes one think that a month after the flooding caused by Tropical Storm Lee, life is starting to return to normal in Bloomsburg. But for Tina Parks Erb, her husband Marlin, and their sons Kyle (17) and Walker (8), things are far from normal. For them, their neighbors in the west end of town, and all families affected by the flood, new worries and dangers abound. On Wednesday, September 7th the sheriff’s office alerted Mrs. Erb and…
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The Unknowns of Condemned Homes in Fernville
Read more: The Unknowns of Condemned Homes in FernvilleIn Fernville and all over our area, we are facing a steep learning curve in order to understand the process of home condemnation after the flooding damage. Tri-County COG IBC Inspection Service (Tri County Council of Government, International Building Code) is the third-party agency that is legally responsible for inspecting flood damaged homes for the Commonwealth here in Columbia County. They cover Fernville and the 22 other municipalities surrounding Bloomsburg. The town of Bloomsburg has their own inspectors. Stephen G. Bielskie, Sr. is the person from Tri-County COG IBC whose duty it is to inspect homes and report damage levels…
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“We Wanted to Find a Way to Help.” (Stories of the Relief Effort)
Read more: “We Wanted to Find a Way to Help.” (Stories of the Relief Effort)On Friday, October 7, the Wesley United Methodist Church on Market Street in Bloomsburg served the last of its AGAPE-sponsored, post-flood lunches. By the end of that day’s service, the church and AGAPE volunteers, led by Wesley kitchen coordinator Tracy Beere, served over 17,000 meals to members of our community during this time of crisis. Some of us needed to eat because our kitchens were destroyed and we could not cook for ourselves. Some of us were hungry after a long morning of volunteering to clean-up. And some of were simply too distracted to realize we were hungry until someone…
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FEMA at Lowes through Wednesday
Read more: FEMA at Lowes through WednesdayFEMA hazard mitigation specialists are on hand through Wednesday at the Lowe’s home improvement store in Bloomsburg to provide information about ways to rebuild or remodel that can reduce the risk of damages from future disasters. They also will be there to answer questions about FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program. Rebuilding or repairing a home after a disaster can be a daunting task – but, with the right information, homeowners can build back safer, smarter and stronger. FEMA specialists are available in Columbia County to provide that information through Wednesday, October 12. FEMA Mitigation Outreach Lowe’s 50 Lunger Drive Bloomsburg,…
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How Well Do We Predict Floods?
Read more: How Well Do We Predict Floods?By Melissa Beattie-Moss Research/Penn State There was no Ark involved and it didn’t last 40 days — but when the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee dumped more rain on the already saturated Northeast, the result was the Susquehanna River’s worst flooding in nearly 40 years. Thousands were evacuated, a number of lives were lost, and damage to homes and businesses is said to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Given that floods are the most common natural disaster in the United States, could we be doing more to predict them and safeguard flood-prone communities? “We are continuing to…
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Bloom Hospital Staff Saved ER from Flooding
Read more: Bloom Hospital Staff Saved ER from FloodingAs Tropical Storm Lee rained on Bloomsburg, people worried about water rising from Fishing Creek and the Susquehanna. What would happen to the low lying areas of the community? No one gave a thought to the higher ground. Four employees of The Bloomsburg Hospital: Chuck Andreas, Scott Tanner, Brad Lurowitz, and Rick Millheim discovered that water from above is just as threatening as water from below. Their efforts in the early hours of Tuesday morning prevented the water running off the the hills above The Bloomsburg Hospital and into the Emergency Room. Andreas, Director of Security for the hospital, recalled,…
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The Moose Exchange Donation Center: Q&A with Rachel Troychock
Read more: The Moose Exchange Donation Center: Q&A with Rachel TroychockFocused on children’s clothing and supplies, the AGAPE donation center at the Moose Exchange has been up and running since mid-September, thanks to the work of a tireless volunteer named Rachel Troychock. Rachel took some time recently to answer a few questions for us. Q. What do you do for a living? I am a Manager of Technology Learning Services at KPMG (geeky computer stuff). I work remotely and the rest of my team is in Montvale, NJ and Washington, DC. Q. How did you become involved in the Moose Exchange donation center? I volunteered through AGAPE to prepare meals…