Pennsylvania

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Nov 1, 2011

StateCollege.com: State College Council Members Fight Environmental Proposal, Cite Procedural Concerns

StateCollege.com: State College Council Members Fight Environmental Proposal, Cite Procedural Concerns

With a week left before Election Day, a State College Borough Council majority has begun lobbying against a proposed borough-charter amendment. The amendment would add an environmental bill of rights and a ban on commercial natural-gas drilling to the borough charter, the municipality’s governing document. Groundswell PA, a local environmental-advocacy group, has led the charge for the amendment.

Read More | Community Wires

Oct 5, 2011

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Natural gas drilling ban remains on Peters ballot

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Natural gas drilling ban remains on Peters ballot

Peters officials do not plan to challenge a judge’s decision to allow a controversial referendum question on the ballot for the Nov. 8 general election that, if passed, would prohibit new natural gas extraction and likely spur lawsuits over access to Marcellus Shale deposits…. Washington County Common Pleas Judge Paul Pozonsky Monday dismissed an attempt by the township to block the referendum. In a brief order, the judge wrote that he could not act before the election because there was no “immediate harm caused by the presence of the measure on the ballot.”

Read More | Community Wires

Oct 4, 2011

CELDF Press Release: “Peters Township Citizens Prevail: Local Bill of Rights and Fracking Ban to Appear on Ballot”

CELDF Press Release: “Peters Township Citizens Prevail: Local Bill of Rights and Fracking Ban to Appear on Ballot”

Washington County Judge Paul Pozonsky turned down a request by Peters Township Council to bar a referendum question from appearing on the ballot in November that, if approved by the voters, would create a local Bill of Rights and ban fracking. Judge Pozonsky ruled that the court lacks jurisdiction to impose an injunction against the proposed home rule charter amendment, and that allowing the voters to approve or deny the adoption of the amendment did not create an immediate harm to the township.

Read More | Community Wires

Sep 14, 2011

Observer-Reporter: Unclear if referendum will make PT ballot in election

Observer-Reporter: Unclear if referendum will make PT ballot in election

With less than two months to go before the Nov. 8 general election, it’s still unclear whether a referendum on a home rule charter amendment will make its way onto the ballot in Peters Township.

Read More | Community Wires

Sep 13, 2011

The Almanac: PT advances gas referendum

The Almanac: PT advances gas referendum

Peters Township Council voted unanimously Monday to let a Washington County Court judge determine whether a referendum on a home rule-charter amendment seeking to ban natural gas drilling in the municipality is legal and can appear on the ballot in November. About 2,400 registered township voters signed a petition presented Aug. 8 to Washington County Director of Elections Larry Spahr seeking the referendum on a home rule-charter amendment.

Read More | Community Wires

Sep 13, 2011

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Peters council heads to court to block shale referendum

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Peters council heads to court to block shale referendum

A lawyer representing Peters council is expected to be in Washington County court this morning in an attempt to block a voter referendum on whether to ban natural gas drilling. “In my opinion, it’s patently illegal,” said solicitor William Johnson. The referendum, which is slated to appear on the Nov. 8 ballot, asks Peters voters whether to ban gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing — or fracking — of the Marcellus Shale, and other natural gas extraction activities.

Read More | Community Wires

Sep 13, 2011

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Judge to rule on Peters drilling referendum

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Judge to rule on Peters drilling referendum

A Washington County judge has set a Sept. 28 hearing for arguments over whether to block a voter referendum on natural gas drilling in Peters. At a brief hearing this morning, Judge Paul Pozonsky said he will try to make a decision about a petition from Peters Solicitor William Johnson before the first week in October, when absentee ballots for the general election are to be printed and mailed.

Read More | Community Wires

Sep 12, 2011

The Raw Story: Penn. township challenges fracking with ballot initiative

The Raw Story: Penn. township challenges fracking with ballot initiative

A small township in western Pennsylvania is fighting back against fracking and attempting to write a ban on the practice into their local Bill of Rights, but they may be thwarted by their own town council. Peters Township in Washington County, population 21,213, is home to the Peters Township Marcellus Shale Awareness Group, an activism group formed after residents viewed Josh Fox’s anti-fracking documentary “GasLand.” PTMSA collected 2,422 signatures to place their Home Rule Charter amendment on the ballot on November 8 of this year, asking the question below.

Read More | Community Wires

Aug 30, 2011

CELDF: The Real Frackasaurus Coloring Book

CELDF: The Real Frackasaurus Coloring Book

On November 15, 2010, South Fayette Township in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania passed a zoning ordinance regulating the location of oil and gas extraction activities in the municipality.

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Aug 30, 2011

StateCollege.com: Proposed Gas-Drilling Ban, Environmental-Rights Question Set for State College Ballot

StateCollege.com: Proposed Gas-Drilling Ban, Environmental-Rights Question Set for State College Ballot

State College voters will decide Nov. 8 on a proposed borough-charter amendment — an amendment that would ban commercial gas drilling and establish environmental rights within borough limits. Elections-board members voted 3-0 Friday to include the referendum item as part of the borough’s general-election ballot. Earlier this summer, just more than 1,000 borough residents signed a petition to qualify the proposal for placement as a referendum item.

Read More | Community Wires

Jul 25, 2011

State College: As Anti-Drilling Push Unfolds, Penn State Campus Could Land in No-Drill Zone

State College: As Anti-Drilling Push Unfolds, Penn State Campus Could Land in No-Drill Zone

For generations, Braden Crooks’ family has maintained a farm in Clarion County, in western Pennsylvania. Its lifeblood, as with so many other homesteads in that rural expanse of Pennsylvania, is its well water. “If we don’t have the well water, we can’t live there,” Crooks explained to me last week. “That’s very direct — very personal.” That direct, personal connection is helping to drive his leadership of Groundswell PA, the new environmental-advocacy group that Crooks, a 2011 Penn State landscape-architecture graduate, founded. We’ve written before about Groundswell, whose most immediate goal is to place, on State College general-election ballot for November, a voter referendum on an environmental bill of rights.

Read More | Community Wires

Jan 10, 2011

‘Fracking’ issue tests citizens’ authority

‘Fracking’ issue tests citizens’ authority

Plain Township, Canton and other public officials currently face a direct human and environmental assault on their communities over “fracking” — vertical and horizontal gas drilling.

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Jan 4, 2011

Democracy Matters

Democracy Matters

Pittsburgh City Councilman Doug Shields headlines our “Best of 2010” interviews on Democracy Matters

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Dec 29, 2010

Peters Twp, Washington County PA

Peters Twp, Washington County PA

Marcellus Shale Awareness Group to meet Jan. 5

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Nov 18, 2010

Holy Frack! Pittsburgh Bans Gas Drilling Through Rights-based Ordinance

Holy Frack! Pittsburgh Bans Gas Drilling Through Rights-based Ordinance

Pittsburgh is the first major U.S. city to adopt a rights-based ordinance that includes the legal rights for nature.

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Nov 15, 2010

Lehman Denies People’s Right to Get Action on Gas Drilling

Lehman Denies People’s Right to Get Action on Gas Drilling

This process is not as predictably safe as the industry would allow us to believe.

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Nov 10, 2010

CELDF Says it is Ready For Fight.

CELDF Says it is Ready For Fight.

As Pittsburgh City Council debated the merits of a bill that would ban future drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation within the city limits, it became clear that some members were curious how much it would cost to defend the bill in a court of law.

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Nov 10, 2010

Shale gas can pollute the air, too…But Marcellus companies might even profit from preventive measures

Shale gas can pollute the air, too…But Marcellus companies might even profit from preventive measures

“Drilling opponents and supporters can all agree that if Marcellus Shale development proceeds, it should happen in a manner that protects workers, the environment and communities.”

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Nov 7, 2010

Blaine Township

Blaine Township

Blaine Township is a small rural township some 45 miles west of Pittsburgh, in Washington County, Pennsylvania. Western Pennsylvania has been mining coal for 250 years, but no mining has occurred in Blaine and its residents and township supervisors aim to keep it that way.

Read More | Community Wires

Oct 26, 2010

DuBois council hears concerns about gas drilling

DuBois council hears concerns about gas drilling

Bill Belitskus, co-chair of Northwestern Pennsylvania Community Rights Network, has appealed to DuBois City Council to draft an ordinance prohibiting oil and gas extraction in residential areas.

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Oct 23, 2010

Gas Drilling and Your Rights

Gas Drilling and Your Rights

date: Saturday, October 23, 2010 time:1:00 PM to 3:00 PM

venue: Quakertown Branch James A. Michener Branch

address: 401 West Mill Street Quakertown, PA 18951

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Oct 10, 2010

Letter to the Editor

Letter to the Editor

A Corporate State

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Oct 3, 2010

Marcellus Shale

Marcellus Shale

whose scare tactics?

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Sep 17, 2010

Pennsylvania Homeland Security “Intelligence” Bulletins in pdf files

Pennsylvania Homeland Security “Intelligence” Bulletins in pdf files

Welcome to the Enterprise Portal

Log in to your personalized Portal account.

If you are a citizen and have an existing account, enter your Username and Password. If you are a Commonwealth Employee, or other individual with specialized credentials, please insert the appropriate domain name in front of your username (example: domainname\username)

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Jul 19, 2010

Northwestern Pennsylvania Community Rights Network Launches with a Blog

Northwestern Pennsylvania Community Rights Network Launches with a Blog

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Jul 14, 2010

Join the Pennsylvania Community Rights Network on Facebook

Join the Pennsylvania Community Rights Network on Facebook

Join the Pennsylvania Community Rights Network on Facebook.

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Apr 6, 2010

Press Release: Packer Township to enforce environmental standards the State says are too strong

Press Release: Packer Township to enforce environmental standards the State says are too strong

Municipality rejects State preemption

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Feb 28, 2010

State Bar to Propose Reforms

State Bar to Propose Reforms

The Pennsylvania Bar Association joined the fray last week by announcing the formation of a review commission to offer recommendations on what sort of constitutional changes should be taken up.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Feb 28, 2010

Constitutional changes not imminent prospect

Constitutional changes not imminent prospect

The Pennsylvania Bar Association joined the fray last week by announcing the formation of a review commission to offer recommendations on what sort of constitutional changes should be taken up.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Feb 20, 2010

Press Release: Laying the Groundwork for a People’s Constitutional Convention Pennsylvania Community Rights Network Launched

Press Release: Laying the Groundwork for a People’s Constitutional Convention Pennsylvania Community Rights Network Launched

To organize a people’s convention of delegates, representing municipal communities, who will propose constitutional changes to secure the inalienable right to local, community self-government free of state and corporate preemption.

Read More | Community Wires, News from the Grassroots

Jan 23, 2010

Blaine Township, PA takes on King Coal

Blaine Township, PA takes on King Coal

Small town takes on giant coal companies by applying local democracy to deny corporate “personhood.”

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