Rick Shrum

Nov 25, 2023 | observer-reporter.com | Rick Shrum

Sheetz will be expanding its footprint in Washington County, with the foot landing in Houston Borough. “This is not a rumor, it’s a definitive ‘yes,’” council president Larry Scears said during a telephone interview Tuesday. Scears said Sheetz, a family-owned convenience store chain based in Altoona, has begun asbestos abatement work at the site where it will build – at the intersection of North Main and East Pike streets, which is swathed in red tape.

Nov 18, 2023 | observer-reporter.com | Rick Shrum

For the second time this calendar year, WHS Washington Hospital got a stellar report card from the Leapfrog Group. The group, a national nonprofit watchdog that sets standards for excellence in patient care, gave the Washington-based hospital an “A” Hospital Safety Grade for fall 2023 – to complement an A it received earlier this year. Leapfrog assigns A, B, C, D and F grades to general hospitals nationwide based on more than 30 national performance measures.

Nov 11, 2023 | observer-reporter.com | Rick Shrum

Teddi Lombardi has never met the owners of Brunton Dairy, but she and husband Chris will be supplying milk of human kindness to operators of a business enshrouded in tragedy. “We can’t wrap our heads around how they are dealing with something like this,” said Teddi, co-owner with Chris of Birch Creek Farmery in the Eldersville section of Jefferson Township. “So we obviously wanted to do something for them.”A massive fire on Oct.

Nov 4, 2023 | observer-reporter.com | Rick Shrum

A website design company based in Donora has been acquired by a Pittsburgh firm. Blink, a marketing and advertising agency, announced in a news release recently that it had acquired Green Brain Design Factory, a website design, development and branding agency that services southwestern Pennsylvania. Green Brain, which launched in 2013, designs and develops e-commerce sites for businesses, working with industry partners such as Google, Shopify, GoDaddy, and WordPress.

Oct 31, 2023 | observer-reporter.com | Rick Shrum

As if owning and running a destination operation weren't intensive enough, Russ and Melanie Bedner expanded their workload. "I make wine as a hobby and got my winery license," Russ said. "We sell my wines in the store: five different dry reds, two or three dry whites and some fruit-based."The couple has added grape expectations to the great expectations they have for their Cecil Township business. And why not?