Community leaders speak: What America’s 250th means to me

July 4, 2026

The Williamsport Sun-Gazette asked several people from throughout the region their perspectives on the meaning of the United States of America ahead of the 250th Fourth of July: John Leeser, Williamsport Sun-Gazette, Publisher/Advertising Director Looking back to the bicentennial in 1976, I was just a kid growing up in Milton. The bicentennial offered parades, special events and festivities. My family went to Williamsport to see the Freedom Train. That was a major highlight for me as a teenage kid. But truth be told, I probably didn’t fully appreciate what it all meant outside of ...

Amid $41B shortfall, Pennsylvania teachers’ pension cites private equity as biggest drag

July 4, 2026

The Center Square) - Pennsylvania's public-school employees' pension fund is $41 billion short of what it needs to pay promised benefits. Last year, it missed the investment benchmark that officials set, a result they said was "primarily due to performance within private equity." As of Dec. ...

Harrisburg misses budget deadline for 5th straight year

July 4, 2026

For the fifth year in a row, state leaders have failed to meet the June 30 deadline for finishing an annual budget - a situation that will have little practical effect in the short term but raises the ugly specter of last year’s 135-day impasse. In 2025, even though political leaders spoke ...

Community celebrates opening of Lumber Yards baseball and softball complex in Williamsport

July 3, 2026

A formal dedication took place Thursday for the Williamsport Lumber Yards baseball and softball complex. About a dozen or so “heavy-hitters” spoke for an hour of how a former trash dump in the 1970s, and Brownfield site, has been transformed into a seven-field youth and collegiate ...

Lycoming County commissioner addresses gun violence in wake of teenager’s death

July 3, 2026

Following a week when another young person in the community lost their life to gun violence, Lycoming County Commissioner Scott Metzger urged the cooperation of local leaders to help “identify and develop strategies and solutions together.” “A beautiful summer afternoon, we have kids swimming in the public pool, and we have youth over in the park…unfortunately we hear the sounds of gunfire. This is all too common now, not acceptable…a life lost, two other lives injured, and a family shattered,” said of the incident which took place near Memorial Park. “We’d like to ...

Fourth of July holiday’s heat to be a challenge across eastern U.S.

July 3, 2026

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Heat as oppressive as British colonial rule is bearing down on the eastern U.S. heading into the long Fourth of July weekend, prompting some communities to cancel, postpone or otherwise alter their Independence Day plans. Dangerous, record-breaking heat will continue across much of the central and eastern U.S. through Friday and will continue along the East Coast through the weekend, the National Weather Service said Thursday. Temperatures in the high 90s Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius) were forecast for the Northeast; Philadelphia and Boston could top 100. ...