bcox@lewistownsentinel.com
LEWISTOWN – A grant program aimed at providing much-needed financial help to the hospitality industry that has been hit hard by COVID-19 is soon coming to Mifflin County.
The Mifflin County Commissioners on Thursday approved a contract for CHRP (which stands for COVID-19 Hospitality Relief Program) after hearing from county planning director Mark Colussy about the program and the speed with which it has come into being.
“For how important this is to get the money in the hands of the hospitality industry, which is specifically for hospitality businesses, lodging and restaurants, I was very impressed with how the state was able to fast-forward all of this as well as the commissioners to have this moving forward,” Colussy said.
ethompson@lewistownsentinel.com
LEWISTOWN A new wireless provider seeks to offer internet accessibility at an affordable rate for Mifflin County residents.
Cody Wian, of Mifflin County Wireless, described the mission behind his company, which he said was founded in June of last year, to Mifflin County Commissioners during the board’s meeting on Thursday.
Wian thanked Commissioners for allotting the business CARES Act funding, which he said helped the lower cost to customers and helped expand the network’s reach.
“Mifflin County residents are faced with increasing internet costs due to data caps that providers are now putting on,” said Wian. “Today, more and more people are relying on the internet for education, flexible instruction days and entertainment needs. People need the internet and the speeds in some of our areas are not capable of what our people need it for.”
kharris@lewistownsentinel.com
The Lewistown Borough Council held a special virtual meeting Monday evening to discuss several orders of business, including the resignation of Councilman Sievers.
The board unanimously voted to accept Mr. Sievers’s resignation.
Fire Chief Bob Barlett also spoke, detailing the three fires the department had responded to in December to the Council. He also took the moment to pay tribute to Fire Inspector Mike Force, who recently passed away due to COVID-19 complications. Barlett said that Mike joined the Brooklyn Station in July of 1974 as an FF/EMT and held numerous offices over the years. In November of 1991, Mike was appointed Fire Investigator and served in that post until present. He publicly thanked Inspector Force for his service.