Dingmans Seeking
BLS Support
DINGMAN — Dingman Township Volunteer Fire Chief Mark O'Brien has found a basic life support (BLS) provider that is willing to assist the department.
O'Brien said a company based near Philadelphia is willing to provide two BLS EMTs at a cost of $105 an hour.
The Department has been speaking with Lackawaxen Township discussing how they structure their paid staffing. Supervisor Chairman Thomas Mincer said the cost of this group is much higher than the organization assisting Milford Borough. O'Brien said the situation with Fire and EMS struggles is "very frustrating to say the least" but that they are working to provide services.
The Pocono Mountain Woodland Lakes Aspen Road School Bus Stop is temporarily closed as PMWL works to repair the project and bring it up to code. PMWL has informed the Supervisors that they are working on acquiring a bond to ensure the project will be completed and have acquired contractors to complete the project.
Mincer said he received phone calls from community members who said the township was at fault for the bus turnaround closure.
Township Solicitor John Klemeyer said the PMWL online posting hinted at the fault lying with the township as well. PMWL has been in an ongoing struggle with the Township since their bus turnaround and parking lot project was completed falling short of the specifications submitted to and approved by the Township.........For more infomation subscribe to our paper.
$300,000 For Housing Programs
PIKE COUNTY — A combination of state funding and local recording fees brings $300,000 to Pike County's Emergency Safe Housing Assistance Program (ESHAP) & Senior Bridge Rental Assistance Program. Pike County recently received $150,000 through the Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement (PHARE) fund, sometimes referred to as the state Housing Trust Fund, managed by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency. In addition, a $150,000 match will come through the Optional Affordable Housing Funds Act, formerly known as Act 137 of 1992, which allows counties to fund projects and programs to increase the availability and quality of affordable housing through fees charged for the recording of deeds and mortgages.
"This important funding will help to provide much needed services to low-income households in Pike County to prevent homelessness and to attain and maintain housing stability," according to the Pike County Commissioners.
The Emergency Safe Housing Assistance Program (ESHAP) assists low- to moderate-income households with staying in their home during an emergency financial situation. These funds will be used to pay one-time household rents, back rents, mortgages, provide funding to remove unhealthy barriers to staying in the home, and roof repairs. To apply, call the Pike County Office of Human Services at 570-296-3434.
The Senior Bridge Rental Assistance Program assists low-income households with rental assistance when at least one member of the household is a senior citizen 60 years of age or older. This includes seniors who are rent burdened, moving to new rental housing, or are in the Shared Housing and Resource Exchange (SHARE) program.
To apply, call the Pike County Area Agency on Aging at 570-775-5550.
Log On For Milford Readers & Writers Virtual Festival
MILFORD — This weekend, on Sept. 11 to 13, the Milford & Readers Writers Festival will be broadcast live and free on Facebook, Twitter & YouTube. Please join us for Doing it Write, four special conversations, celebrating the fifth year of the festival.
Each session will run for 75 minutes, including feedback and questions from viewers. It is free to all.
Gloria Steinem, who appeared at the first festival, will return to talk about "How the Women's Vote Can Shape the Election." A lot has happened since 2016 — multiple crises that were unanticipated and unprecedented. On Sept. 11 at 7:30 p.m., she and longtime colleague and cofounder of the festival Suzanne Braun Levine will celebrate the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage by looking at how the gender gap may play out in November.
The program on Saturday evening, Sept. 12, at 7:30 p.m., will provide a light perspective on our current times from three of the most well-known cartoonists in the industry. All three have had work published numerous times in the New Yorker and will be unveiling their new book at the event. Two-time festival star Bob Eckstein will interview fellow cartoonists Roz Chast and Matt Diffee exploring "Humor in Trying Times."
On Sunday, Sept. 13, there will be two programs.
At 1 p.m., Nebula- and Hugo-award-winning science fiction editor Gordon Van Gelder will be in conversation with legendary author Samuel R. Delany, also a multiple Hugo and Nebula Award winner.
In addition to exploring the ways science fiction has anticipated the current pandemic experience, they will highlight Milford's role in the history of science fiction - the famed "Milford Method," which originated here in the 1950s and which they both attended.
Finally, on Sept. 13 at 7:30 p.m., George M. Johnson, activist and magazine writer, will talk about debut their autobiography "All Boys Aren't Blue." Directed at a young adult audience, it tells their story of growing up black and gay. They will be in conversation with Mark S. King, also an activist and award-winning journalist and blogger, who has been writing about living with HIV since 1985.
The conversations are free and will include a live Q & A session. Please share this information with your family, friends and neighbors. The Doing It Write conversations can be accessed on the Milford Readers & Writers Facebook page, Twitter and YouTube pages at the scheduled times.
For more information, visit www.milfordreadersandwriters.com, or the festival's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MRWFestival/ or Instagram page at https://www.instagram.com/mrwfestival/.
The Milford Readers & Writers Festival is a project of Pike Artworks, Inc., a 501-c-3 not-for-profit organized by a group of community volunteers from the Upper Delaware River Valley region.