Columbia and Northumberland counties going "green"

BLOOMSBURG — Columbia and Northumberland counties will be among 12 statewide to join the Pennsylvania’s least-restrictive “green” phase of coronavirus mitigating regulations June 12, Gov. Tom Wolf said Friday.

Also moving to “green” will be Adams, Beaver, Carbon, Cumberland, Juniata, Mifflin, Union, Wayne, Wyoming and York counties.

That will leave just 33 counties in the “yellow” phase, as all of the state moved out of the most-restrictive “red” phase Friday.

Columbia, Northumberland going green

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The lockdown will get a little looser for Columbia and Northumberland county residents next Friday, when they will join Montour in the green phase of COVID-19 recovery.

That means that gyms, barbers and hair salons will be able to reopen, as can indoor dining at restaurants and bars. Overnight camps and organized youth sports can begin or resume, and gatherings of up to 250 people will be allowed, although large demonstrations over the past week around Pennsylvania protesting police brutality routinely exceeded 250 people.

Racist texts by BU fraternity brothers spark outrage

BLOOMSBURG — A black Bloomsburg University student went public this week with a thread of racist text messages shared among some of his white fraternity brothers that included the repeated use of a racial slur. 

The social media post drew widespread outcry, with the university, in an email to the academic community, condemning the racist language as “abhorrent and offensive.”

The university and a fraternity’s national headquarters said they are investigating.

Protest beginning at Bloomsburg town square

By 5 p.m., crowds had grown to a couple hundred protestors filling the area between Main Street and Third Street, displaying signs, with police keeping watch on the gathering.

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Roughly two dozen protestors had gathered by 2:50 p.m. for the "Say Their Name" protest on Market Square in Bloomsburg, and the crowd is growing.

Police have set barriers at Market Street, and changed the traffic light at the intersection to blinking to keep vehicles moving through the intersection, since turning is not possible.

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Wolf: Montour to go "green"

Montour County is among 17 Pennsylvania counties that on May 29 will move into the least-restrictive “green” phase of the state’s coronavirus mitigation measures, Gov. Tom Wolf announced Friday.

The same day, Luzerne County will be among eight counties that will join others in the “yellow” phase of restrictions, Wolf said.

And by June 5, the rest of the state also will move to “yellow,” Wolf said.

Underside of former Geppetto's roof overhang crashes to ground

BERWICK — More than 20 feet of concrete soffit from the former Geppetto's crashed onto the sidewalk below on Thursday afternoon, leading the borough to close off the sidewalk around the building.

The borough has been worried about the building since October 2018, when a section of roof was seen separated from the wall.

At the time, Berwick shut down the sidewalks around the building at the corner of West Front and South Market streets, and ordered owner Wade Perry to repair the structure.

Man found bloodied in Berwick apartment

BERWICK — Police found a bloodied man in an apartment in the 100 block of North Mulberry Street this morning, setting off a daylong investigation that still wasn't completed as of late Monday afternoon.

In a brief press release, Police Chief Ken Strish said officers found a large amount of blood on the sidewalk of the street around 9 a.m. this morning. Officers followed a blood trail, and located a man nearby with physical injuries.

Police: Landlord attempted to stab tenants with screwdriver

BERWICK — An ongoing landlord-tenant dispute turned violent here Monday morning when police say an 81-year-old landlord tried to stab two people with a screwdriver and threatened another with a handgun while attempting to evict them from his property.

Victor Ramos allegedly confronted Donald Franklin Jr. outside the rental property at 220 W. Ninth St. and told him he was “out” before entering the apartment without prior notice to the other tenants Vicki Myers and Greg Fox about 7:30 a.m.

AP: Gov says Columbia can move to yellow on May 22

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Another 2.6 million people across western Pennsylvania began to emerge from pandemic restrictions Friday as Gov. Tom Wolf prepared to announce that 12 more counties soon would join them in a partial easing.

Wolf planned to announce that Adams, Beaver, Carbon, Columbia, Cumberland, Juniata, Mifflin, Perry, Susquehanna, Wyoming, Wayne and York will be the next batch of counties moving to the “yellow” phase of his reopening plan, effective May 22, The Associated Press has learned. They are primarily in the south-central and northeast regions of the state.

Columbia County defying governor, going yellow

BLOOMSBURG — Columbia County is going yellow.

County commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to move into the state’s less-restrictive phase of controlling the coronavirus pandemic — either by May 22 with Gov. Tom Wolf’s permission, or this Friday in defiance of his orders.

If Wolf says he’ll let the county move to yellow by May 22, the commissioners said, they’ll agree to wait until then. Otherwise, they’re declaring the county to be in “yellow” at 12:01 a.m. Friday.

Commissioners made the move despite the objections of several residents who spoke at the meeting.

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