PPL Upgrades Should Help Keep the Lights on in Salisbury

Planned upgrades to the main power line connecting PPL’s regional electric transmission lines to the Emmaus substation should help alleviate extended post-storm power outages.

If you are one of the PPL Electric Utilities customers who lost your electricity for an extended period in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, or the infamous Halloween snowstorm of 2011, listen up. There’s some good news coming from PPL. PPL is about to undertake a $2.8 million project that will rebuild and “storm harden” the main power-line connecting PPL’s regional electric transmission lines to the Emmaus substation off Furnace Street, near S. 10th Street in Emmaus, according to a PPl press release. The line, which runs through a wooded area, serves nearly 7,000 homes and businesses in the Salisbury and Emmaus areas. The rebuilt line will be taller and constructed on sturdier poles with stronger wires, according to the release, which …

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Sandy Victim Gets $37.74 in Insurance for Destroyed Home

Woodbridge homeowner Jason Crea's house was totaled in Hurricane Sandy. He took out his anger on a $37.74 check from his insurance company in a sign letting the world know his plight.

NORTHERN JERSEY -- Drive down Watson Avenue in Woodbridge, and you'll notice an odor. It's a musty, moldy smell that permeates a street that some say was the hardest hit by Hurricane Sandy's storm surge back in October. On a sunny day in January, you hear the sound of workers roofing a house denuded by the hurricane, or chucking out yet more storm-damaged possessions. Every other house, it seems, has a neon-orange tag noting the building is unsafe to enter. Even among all this leftover misery, Jason Crea's Watson Avenue home stands out. Not just because it's the hardest hit home on the hardest hit street in Woodbridge. Or because the basement walls on both sides of the steps were blown out by the storm surge. It's the big sign that Crea …

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$60 Billion In Sandy Recovery Aid Shelved by Congress

Frank Lautenberg, Chris Smith and other New Jersey-area congressman rip Congressional leadership for failing to pass the bill

Officials from New Jersey and other state hardest hit by Superstorm Sandy blasted Congressional Republicans on Wednesday for not passing a bill that would fund $60 billion toward recovery efforts. Since the outrage, a vote is now expected to come as early as Friday. See Patch photos of Ocean City, N.J. after the storm Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg said in a press release that the move denies aid to "families, communities and businesses that were devastated by one of the worst storms to ever hit the United States. “Denying emergency aid to Superstorm Sandy victims is a new low for House Republicans,” Lautenberg said. Lautenberg said Congress should put partisan politics aside, as it does for other disaster recovery efforts, and "extend a…

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Hurricane Sandy Relief Concert at Musikfest Cafe Nov. 30

Susan Cowsill and Todd Wolfe to headline at Nov. 30 concert for Superstorm Sandy victims. American Bank will match concert proceeds for Red Cross Disaster Relief.

  Susan Cowsill and the Todd Wolfe Band headline the Lehigh Valley Concert for the Cause, a benefit show for the victims of Hurricane Sandy, on Friday, November 30 from 6:30-10 p.m. at the ArtsQuest Center’s Musikfest Café at SteelStacks. Tickets for the show, which will benefit American Red Cross Disaster Relief, are $15 and $20 and are on sale at www.artsquest.org and 610-332-3378. The artists and ArtsQuest are partnering with American Bank and the Red Cross for this benefit concert. American Bank has offered to match donations to American Red Cross Disaster Relief up to $50,000 through Dec. 31. ArtsQuest will donate 100 percent of proceeds from the Lehigh Valley Concert for the Cause. Proceeds from the concert will help people …

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Corbett's Approval Rating Up Thanks to Hurricane Sandy

Gov. Tom Corbett has seen a boost in his approval ratings after Hurricane Sandy

By Eric Boehm | PA Independent HARRISBURG – A new poll from Quinnipiac University shows Gov. Tom Corbett with a positive approval rating for the first time since March. Corbett’s approval rating in the poll is 40 percent among registered voters, with 38 percent of those voters disapproving. The governor has struggled with low approval ratings for most of the year, but pollster Tim Malloy said he won points with both Democrats and Republicans for his handling of Hurricane Sandy, which struck Pennsylvania in late October, causing flooding and widespread power outages that left 1.3 million Pennsylvania homes without electricity. “We would call this a Sandy bump,” Malloy said. “People like the way he handled everything recently during the …

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Beware of Flood-Damaged Used Cars in Wake of Hurricane Sandy

Consumer groups warn that even potential buyers looking for used cars far away from where Sandy hit should be on the lookout for flood cars.

Washington, DC -- As tens of thousands of flood-damaged cars enter the car market via auto auctions, two national consumer organizations, Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS)  and National Consumers League (NCL), warned car buyers today to beware of new and used cars that suffered flood damage from Hurricane Sandy. "Flood cars are ticking automotive timebombs," said Rosemary Shahan, President of CARS.  ”Flood cars are inherently unsafe, particularly since all the electronic systems that control the engine, brakes, air bags, and other vital safety systems are hopelessly contaminated and will inevitably fail. The groups noted that even consumers buying cars far away from where Sandy hit should be on the lookout for flood cars.  “…

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American Bank to Match $50,000 in Hurricane Relief Efforts

American Bank has announced it will match the first $50,000 raised in a fund to help hurricane relief efforts by the Red Cross.

'Little Shop of Horrors' Opens to Standing Ovation

School cancellations due to Hurricane Sandy couldn't stop Salisbury High School's production of the musical "Little Shop of Horrors," which runs Nov. 9-11.