Down River

By John Lipez

County Wawa Still in Play:
Word came recently that Wawa has announced plans for a new convenience store along Maynard Street in Williamsport, about a thousand hoagies end-to-end down the street from a nearby Sheetz,
The new Wawa there will be the rapidly expanding company’s first foray into Lycoming County. The southeastern PA convenience store giant committed earlier this year to its first two stores in Centre County, one along the Benner Pike not far from a Sheetz and a Rutter’s, the other along N. Atherton Street on the other side of State College.

Meanwhile our Mill Hall mole says a Wawa for the old Creekside Restaurant site across from Peters Marine remains in play with the possibility of the project commencing sometime in 2024, although there’s been no public announcement to this point. Test borings were made onsite there earlier this year and reportedly came back favorably.

And our Wayne Township mole says a Rutter’s could be happening somewhere along the Route 220 corridor, not all that far from the road to the old Henry Shoemaker estate near McElhattan. Rutter’s is a family-owned enterprise out of York County, quietly expanding into other parts of Pennsylvania and beyond

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Waiting for an Answer:
Did you take note the Clinton County Commissioners last week, without comment, approved an early incentive retirement program, one that can kick in as soon as 25 years in the county fold for those looking to leave county employ.

The commissioners made the vote as part of the most recent of the slam-bang meetings run by board chairman Miles Kessinger, they did it without virtually any comment, other than to say the county retirement board had approved the incentive program earlier in the month.

Otherwise, nothing else. Down River, as a Zoom viewer, couldn’t ask a question at the time of their vote, but followed up with an email query or two to each of the three commissioners. They were asked what prompted this change in county policy, what was their thinking and who is on the retirement board. We know in the past the local school district instituted an early retirement program, announced at the time to get higher paid veteran employees to check out, to make way for new hires at a lower cost.

Down River has learned there may be four or five veteran county employees with the option to take the early out and more power to them. But in a time when the county is often looking to fill vacancies in various county departments, the commissioners should be more forthcoming in their rationale in instituting the new policy aimed at getting current employees to exit sooner. Taxpayers deserve to know what the commissioner thinking was so those who pay these salaries can make their own judgment on the new incentive program.

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Flaming Foliage Expose:
Here’s one you might find amusing.

The Record’s Emily Wright, in an upcoming story on the history of the Flaming Foliage Festival, delved deep into this western Clinton County institution dating back to the late 1940s.
Among the nuggets she uncovered was this:

“Royal events were elevated in 1980 when the first ever all-male “Miss America” Pageant was held at Bucktail High School. Butch Knauff won the title the first year. Getting the event off to a memorable start, Knauff kissed both the M.C. James Knauff, who happened to be his father, along with the head judge, and state representative Russell P. Letterman.”

The only Butch Knauff we’re aware of is James “Butch” Knauff, venerable western Clinton County representative on the Keystone Central School Board. Contacted by The Record’s investigative unit, Knauff did not attempt to deny this newspaper’s account of his crown-winning performance from 43 years ago and did acknowledge there could have been an occasional youthful indiscretion on his part better than four decades ago.