Sarah Nicell

2 months ago | lancasteronline.com | Sarah Nicell |Jaxon White

Lancaster County’s Board of Elections this week approved nine polling place changes for the March 25 special election in the 36th Senate District. The changes, first proposed at last week’s meeting, were unanimously approved. Chief Clerk of Elections Christa Miller said six of the new polling places will only be needed for the special election. Voters in these precincts will vote at their regular locations in the municipal primary on May 20.

2 months ago | lancasteronline.com | Sarah Nicell |Jaxon White

Crescentia Volz considers themself lucky they changed the gender marker on their federal passport to an “X” two years ago. Volz, of Holtwood, wouldn’t be able to do so now, following President Donald Trump’s executive order declaring the U.S. government only recognizes two sexes – male and female. The string of executive orders targeting transgender individuals and the multiple lawsuits challenging them has created an atmosphere of uncertainty for Volz and others like them.

2 months ago | lancasteronline.com | Sarah Nicell |Jaxon White

At least four executive orders issued by President Donald Trump in the past three weeks specifically target transgender Americans, prompting lawsuits challenging their merits. Even before Trump officially took office on Jan. 20, groups like Lancaster County Chooses Love say they were receiving a large volume of calls from LGBTQ+ community members seeking clear answers on what the orders mean. “It’s really unfortunate that we don’t have a lot of the answers right now.

Jan 26, 2025 | lancasteronline.com | Jade Campos |Sarah Nicell

As a whole, Lancaster County received $106 million in federal recovery money and most of the funds have been put toward revenue replacement, county technology services and infrastructure, and community donations. A handful of municipalities have received additional money from the county for projects including stormwater work in Caernarvon Township and a new fire station in Lancaster Township. Here’s how the county has allocated its ARPA dollars.

Jan 26, 2025 | lancasteronline.com | Jade Campos |Sarah Nicell

Local governments throughout Lancaster County faced a big deadline on Dec. 31 – finalizing how they planned to spend any remaining federal recovery money they received via the American Rescue Plan Act, a pandemic recovery law signed by former President Joe Biden in 2021. ARPA, as the law is known, delivered billions of dollars to local governments across the country. Pennsylvania received $6.15 billion to distribute to municipalities across the state based on population.