Local News

Effective March 15, all East Penn Banks and Harleysville branches officially become part of First Niagara.

The conversion is the result of the merger of Harleysville National Corporation, headquartered in Harleysville, Montgomery County, with First Niagara Bank, headquartered in Lockport, N.Y., which is a suburb of Buffalo.

Harleysville National Corporation sustained a net loss of $219.5 million in 2009.

In comparison, First Niagara's portfolio shows operating net income at over $100 million for the year, an 18 percent increase from 2008.

Carbon County Friends of Animals will hold a rabies clinic on Sunday, April 18, at Jim Thorpe Memorial Park, from noon until 4 p.m.

Also available will be distemper vaccinations, heartworm and Lyme disease testing, and FIV/FeLV testing. Dr. Karen Hess will be providing the vaccinations.

All dogs must be on a leash and all cats must be in a pet carrier, or they will be turned away. Carriers are available upon request.

All proceeds from this event will benefit CCFOA. For additional information, please contact Susie Yaich at (570) 325-8983.

Sunshine during the day and frigid temperatures at night make a perfect recipe for creating these icicles that keep forming on the side of the house of TIMES NEWS correspondent, Andy Leibenguth in Tamaqua. He knocks them down every day, but they keep growing back. They are beautiful but dangerous.

Unlike Vancouver, Canada, where there's a shortage of snow for the Winter Olympics, the setting couldn't have been more appropriate this past weekend in Jim Thorpe, as the chamber of commerce held Winterfest 2010 in downtown Jim Thorpe.

In the dead of winter, under a blanket of white, the historic center of the town was as alive as ever for the festival, as multitudes of visitors strolled Broadway and Race Street, and shopped the town, visited the galleries, and dined in the restaurants, from the train station to the opera house and beyond.