Local News

With the November 7th elections rapidly approaching, the Friendly Community Center hosted an informative “Meet the Candidates” Forum (Oct. 23rd) to help residents familiarize themselves with the candidates for Supervisor and their views. Voters will select two of the four candidates who are Loree Guthrie, Grant Hilfiger, Patti O’Keefe and Michele Sistak. The forum was moderated by Sue Ruskin-Mayer and attended by approximately 50 residents. Each candidate made introductory comments, a concluding summary, and answered questions. We have tried to faithfully capture the substance of each candidate’s responses, with some sentences being abbreviated to speed your reading.

Join hike leader Carol Hillestad for a challenging hike of up to 3 miles. The specific route will depend on how much water is in the creek on the day of the hike.

WHEN: 10 a.m. Saturday, November 25, 2017
COST: Free, but registration is required. Directions will be provided upon registration.

Update 1/10/18
Photo updated.  The recycling bins have been removed.

At the Barrett Township Supervisor meeting on Wednesday September 27, the supervisors made a motion to shut down the Recycling Center in front of the Maintenance Department on Sand Spring Road. 

To Whom it may Concern:
Based on the provided chat transcript (PTD Tech Support), please beware that using This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. email accounts for sensitive communication is not advised. When you call in to PenTeleData (the internet provider for Blue Ridge Cable customers), the technician asks for your account number, phone number, email address, or other means of searching for your account in their system. From that screen, the admin is able to see your email account password in plain text. Therefore, any tech PTD support agent is able to log in and access your inbox - if they so choose - because it’s on the honor system.

This means that essentially ANY email service is going to be a better choice than PTD: even Gmail. If you own a domain name for your business or organization, you should be using an email address like This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., anyways. That generally means your email is running through your hosting company, so the passwords SHOULD be encrypted, there, too… as long as you’ve chosen a reputable host.

Get out and Vote!

Date: Tuesday, November 7, 2017
Hours: 7am - 8pm

Candidates for Township Supervisor:

• Loree Guthrie (D)
• Patricia O'Keefe (D)
• Grant Hilfiger (R)
• Michele T Sisak (R)

IF YOU GO
Join hike leader Carol Hillestad for this challenging hike of about 5 miles. A shorter option will be offered (see below).

WHEN: 10 a.m. Saturday, September 23, 2017

WHERE: Meet at Paradise-Price Preserve, Henry’s Crossing Road. Take Route 191 in Paradise Valley to Cranberry Creek Road. From Cranberry Creek Road, take Henry’s Crossing Road. When you cross the railroad tracks, the trailhead is on your right. If you wish, bring a snack to enjoy at the falls.

SHORTER HIKE OPTION: An easy, 1-mile round-trip walk is planned for 10 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 24, 2017, at this preserve. No view of the falls, but we will see a large glacial split rock and enjoy a leisurely walk in the early fall woods.

COST: Free; registration is required.

INFORMATION: Call 570-839-1120 or 570-629-2727; email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. For information about this and other hikes in the free Get Outdoors Poconos series, go to brodheadwatershed.org/gopoconos. The hike series is administered by Brodhead Watershed Association and supported by a grant from the William Penn Foundation.

Click here to view the current data

From the USGS:

Gage Height

Discharge

Here is the letter received from Blue Ridge:

Dear Customer:

Internet access is an integral part of all of our lives and the consumption of data and need for speed has increased dramatically over the years. Almost every household has multiple Internet enabled devices (smartphones, laptops, tablets, smart TVs and gaming systems) consuming massive amounts of data and challenging network capacity. In anticipation of these needs, we have invested millions of dollars into network and speed improvements.

Monroe County is conducting a Reassessment of all 102,000 properties in the county. The County last revalued properties in 1989. Much has changed since then, including property values.

We understand that Reassessment can be a confusing process. Tyler Technologies and Monroe County are committed to conducting this project in a fair and equitable way.

Please let us know if you have questions.

Tax Assessment: (570) 517-3133
Tyler Technologies: (570) 517-3895

Join hike leader Carol Hillestad for this moderate hike of about 2 miles.

When: 10 a.m. Saturday, July 15
Where: Meet at Mount Airy Trail Network’s Red Rock trailhead on Red Rock Road. From Route 191 in Paradise Valley, take Red Rock Road for eight-tenths of a mile. Trailhead is on your right.

(from the Monroe County Comprehensive Plan Update - December 2014) 

"...As the County’s prime agricultural soils become increasingly scarce, the importance of protecting the future value of farmland as a food producing resource for generations of Monroe County citizens cannot be overemphasized. (page 64) 

Failure to act will surely mean the devastating loss of a continual source of food, economic productivity, environmental and cultural qualities and the heritage of one of Monroe County’s prime assets. (page 65)