DEP approves permit for Chestnut Street bridge

The state Department of Environmental Protection granted a permit for the borough to repair the Chestnut Street bridge, damaged in the flooding last September and closed to traffic ever since. You might remember a post late last year complaining about the delay.

Borough staff reported last Thursday night, at Borough Council's monthly business meeting, that DEP had just granted the permit that day. Construction should begin soon.

Borough Council initially had approved repairs totaling nearly $71,000 to the bridge. Because DEP told the borough the initial design was "inadequate," council approved a change order last week adding nearly $15,000 to the cost. That basically amounts to additional materials. The good news is that the Federal Emergency Management Agency will reimburse all the costs.

A new bakery is coming to Elizabethtown

A new bakery is coming to Elizabethtown. Called J's Sweet Treats, proprietors Jodi Stapler and Jamie Harris plan to open at 1 S. Market St., Suite 101, in the middle of March, according to the bakery's blog. In fact, they recently contacted the Food Network show "Cupcake Wars" at the urging of Jodi's kids. The show asked them to submit a video, which I've embedded below. The news that a new business -- and a bakery at that -- is opening in town is fantastic! And  if they can get themselves on a national television show, it will be great PR for our fair town. We wish them the best!

Convenience store owner, employee arrested

Law enforcement authorities today arrested the owner of CR Friendly's Market on East High Street and an employee there and charged them with selling illegal bath salts and synthetic marijuana and accepting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, as payment.

Baljeet Singh, 40, of Lancaster, and the owner of the business faces 34 counts related to the ongoing investigation, including eight counts of buying or exchanging Federal food order coupons, stamps; and eight counts of fraudulent traffic in food orders.

Jaspreet Singh, age 29, from Elizabethtown, and an employee at the store, faces the same 16 counts, among others.

Authorities served a search warrant on the business today after receiving information that illegal substances were being sold at the store, according to a news release from the Elizabethtown Police Department. The information also indicated that individuals may be using their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program SNAP card to purchase the substances.

For the past several weeks, undercover officers have been working with confidential informants to verify this information by making numerous undercover purchases of the illegal substances at the business, police said. Some of these purchases were made using a SNAP card. These purchases occurred on January 13, 20, 31, and earlier today before the search warrants were served. The substance purchased was packaged as incense but was determined to be a Schedule I narcotic commonly referred to as synthetic marijuana and/or bath salts.

Officers executing the search warrants seized computers, electronic storage media, business records, video recording devices, illegal drugs, monies and funds received or dispersed relating to the unlawful conduct and all equipment used in connection with the SNAP ACCESS card transactions.

The investigation was a cooperative effort between federal, state and local law enforcement. Those agencies include the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Office of the Inspector General, Pennsylvania State Police, U.S. Marshall’s Eastern District Violent Crimes Fugitive Task Force, Pennsylvania Department of Revenue-Bureau of Cigarette Tax Law, the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office, the Lancaster County Sherriff’s Department and the Elizabethtown Police Department.

Following is a list of the charges that Baljeet Singh faces, as outlined verbatim by in the police department's news release:

PACC 5111 Dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities (F1) 3 cts
VCSA 780-113 Possession with the intent to deliver (F1) 3 cts
PACC 7313 Buying or exchanging Federal food order coupons, stamps, authorization cards or access devices (M1) 8 cts
PACC 7314 Fraudulent traffic in food orders  (M1) 8 cts
PACC 3922 Theft by deception (M3) 6 cts
PACC 4106 Deceptive or fraudulent business practices (M2) 3 cts
PACC 3925 Receiving stolen property (M2) 3 cts

Follwing is the list of charges that Jaspreet Singh faces:
PACC 5111 Dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities (F1) 3 cts
VCSA 780-113 Possession with the intent to deliver (F1) 4 cts
PACC 7313 Buying or exchanging Federal food order coupons, stamps, authorization cards or access devices (M1) 8 cts
PACC 7314 Fraudulent traffic in food orders (M1) 8 cts
PACC 3922 Theft by deception (M3) 5 cts
PACC 4106 Deceptive or fraudulent business practices (M2) 4 cts
PACC 3925 Receiving stolen property (M2) 3 cts

Police said the investigation into continues and additional charges are pending based on the property, items and information seized as a result of the search warrants.

Borough cops name Shane Deardorff 2011 Officer of the Year

Police officers in the Elizabethtown Police Department selected Shane M. Deardorff as the 2011 Officer of the Year. He was honored at the Jan. 19 Borough Council meeting.

Dearforff is the first officer to have received the honor twice. He also was named the 2006 Officer of the Year.

In 2011, Officer Deardorff oversaw the police department's Field Training Officer program after the borough hired two new officers. He also completed the training of a third officer who was hired in 2010.

The FTO program is designed to mold fresh-out-of-the-academy police officers through an intense 8- to 16-week program, teaching them everything that is expected of them. This includes the most routine tasks to the most dangerous situations. Deardorff has expanded the program and developed into a model.

"The administration of the FTO program is very demanding," said police Chief Jack Mentzer. "It requires daily documentation, patience and one-on-one evaluation and feedback. Those tasks are in addition to his normal duties as a police officer. He is very conscientious and thorough in every facet of the job."

Deardorff's work in the FTO program was underscored at the Borough Council meeting when three of the four new officers attended to show their support.

In addition to his achievements in 2011, Deardorff has received numerous honors and recognition from the police department. They include letters of commendation, congratulatory letters, Distinguished Unit Citaitons and a marksmanship award. He was hired as a part-time police officer in 1998 and brought on full time in May 1999.

E-town's population drops 2.8%

Did you know Elizabethtown's population dropped 2.8 percent, according to the last U.S. Census? In 1990, the Census counted 11,879 residents in the borough, but two years ago it counted 11,545. It was the first drop in the borough's population since 1960, when Elizabethtown had 6,780 residents.

I have to thank a neighbor, Mike Schwartz, with compiling these numbers and putting them into a nice readable format online. If you're interested, I also created a Google Documents spreadsheet. In both cases, you can see how Elizabethtown compares with the state, Lancaster County and the rest of the country.

I could spend time speculating and surmising what the numbers mean. But I'm not sure that would be very enlightening, meaningful or helpful. If you have any thoughts, please share them in the comments.