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VOL. 117, NO. 158 GettysburG, Pennsylvania • saturday, July 4, 2020 www.gettysburgtimes.com $1 Reaching OveR 80,000 ReadeRs eveRy Week With Real neWs in adams cOUnty, hanOveR & nORtheRn maRyland

Times Staff Report

Community Media of South Central PA received a 2020 Hometown Media Award from the Alliance for Community Media Foundation.

The awards program was established to honor and pro-mote community media and local cable programs that are distributed on Public, Educa-tional and Governmental (PEG) access cable television chan-nels, according to a release.

Community Media received the national award for overall excellence in programming based on a sampling of content produced throughout 2019 by the New Oxford based organi-zation.

The sampling of media con-tent included community event coverage of the 2019 Adams County Community Founda-tion’s Giving Spree, Adams County Overdose Awareness Day Walk, 75th Anniversary of D-Day ceremony in Get-

tysburg, The 2019 Apple Har-vest Festival, Colonial Career and Tech Center tour, the 2019 Dancing with Local Stars fun-draiser, United Hook and Lad-der 33’s 10th anniversary and engine dedication, 19th Annu-al Callie Awards, candidate debates for local office, Open House programming, as well as area parades, municipal meet-ings, and sports coverage.

“We are honored, refreshed

Community Media receives national award

submitted Photo

shoot — brandon Glorioso readies a camera for a studio production at Community media’s facilities in new oxford.

by Jim haleTimes Staff Writer

Social media posts about a supposed flag-burning event here Saturday, July 4, have been discredited, but law enforcement has made exten-sive collaborative preparations for potential counter-protests.

Event permits were issued to only “two small groups of five to six people each” to distribute information about the Constitu-tion and slavery, “but counter protest groups could be in the park all day,” according to a Gettysburg National Military Park (GNMP) release.

“Visitor safety is our top pri-ority and is achieved through

extensive planning and collabo-ration with federal, state, and local law enforcement agen-cies” according to the release.

GNMP’s “objective is to pro-vide the highest level of pub-lic safety and to minimize the impact of all activities upon the historic resources of the park and park visitors,” according to the release.

U.S. Department of Home-land Security vehicles were parked at Gettysburg Area Mid-dle School Friday afternoon.

Gettysburg Police Chief Robert Glenny Jr. said Fri-day he is hoping for a “busi-ness as usual” day July 4, but “we’re going to put a large police presence on the ground

throughout the park, town-ship, and borough.”

“We have our collective criminal intelligence sections evaluating the posts to obtain all possible information. We want to assure those we protect that we are jointly and coopera-tively working on this and are planning a measured response” including “ a coordinated effort among federal, state, and local agencies,” according to a joint release issued by Glenny, Cum-berland Township Police Chief Donald Boehs, and GNMP Chief Ranger Joseph Lachowski. The township surrounds the borough and includes much of the park.

authorities prep for possible park protests

alex J. hayes/Gettysburg Times

u.s. department of homeland security vehicles stand outside Gettysburg area middle school Friday as law enforcement prepares for potential counter-protest activity saturday at the Gettysburg national military Park.

darryl Wheeler/Gettysburg Times

mike riser, at left, operates a combine as he harvests a field of wheat in straban township on Friday. many farm-ers are taking advantage of the hot, dry weather to harvest wheat and bale the straw but they really look forward to some otherwise much needed rain.

Hot summer days for wheat harvest

Times Staff Report

very dry conditions call for extreme caution in the use of fireworks, Fairfield Fire Chief bill Jacobs said.

“it would be advisable not to do them” at all, he said.

sparks can ignite material on the ground as soon as an hour after rain falls, Jacobs said.

anyone who decides to light fireworks should be vigilant about where sparks land, including those from aerial devices, because embers can “sit and smolder for half an hour to an hour,” he said. Falling embers are a danger to roofs, fences, wooded areas, and more, he said.

areas around where fireworks are to be used should be carefully policed to remove flammable materials, and users should have water on hand to put out any flames, he said.

even greater caution is needed near farm fields, Jacobs said.

“any grain that’s ready to be harvested is very volatile. that stuff burns like crazy, fast and hot,” he said.

Fireworks warning issued

Times Staff Report

The County of Adams has designated Pa. Interfaith Com-munity Programs Inc. (PICPI) to administer the CARES Rental Relief Program for the county. PICPI will begin accepting applications for the rental assistance funds on July 6. Information and applications are available on PICPI’s web-site at www.adamscha.org.

Up to $750 of rental assis-tance per month, for up to six months, can be provided on behalf of renters who can demonstrate a 30 percent loss

of income since March. Pay-ments will be made directly to the landlords. Landlords and renters must both submit documents in order to be pro-cessed. Households at or below 100 percent of the area median income are eligible to apply. In Adams County the median income is $85,700 for a family of four. Applications must be received by Sept. 30.

The moratorium on evic-tions expires in Pennsylvania on July 11.

“We encourage renters and landlords to work together to apply for this help,” said Steph-

anie McIlwee, PICPI’s execu-tive director. “We are excited to be partnering with Adams County on the RRP program to bring much needed assistance to the county.”

Adams County Commission-er Marty Qually is encouraging everyone to spread the word about the program.

“During these challenging times, it is critical that we work together as a community,” said Qually. “We need your help to identify residents in need of rental assistance due to the pandemic. While not everyone will be eligible, if you rent, you

know a renter, or a landlord, please let them know about this program.”

The CARES Rent Relief Program was established to provide rental assistance to assist households experiencing job loss or a substantial loss of income as a result of the COV-ID-19 health crisis. The federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, passed by Congress in March, provided $3.9 billion for Pennsylvania.

In late May, the General

PICPI administering CARES rental relief

(See PreP on Page a2)

(See reLief on Page a2)

(See aWard on Page a2)