Lebanon Daily News
Tool library opens in South Lebanon Township
Lebanon County’s first tool library officially opened Saturday, Sept. 12, to get tools and equipment into the hands of residents who need but can’t afford them. The Central Pennsylvania Tool Library and Makerspace organizers welcomed residents and...
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DIGITAL DETOX
A trove of recent articles bemoan the collapse in recreational reading among younger Americans, with COVID-19 pandemic-related reading declines, artificial intelligence and social media often described as causes. But as the authors of “How Gen Z...
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‘Extremely tight budgets’
Robert, who had a doctorate in dental medicine, is not someone people would expect to be in need of the Lebanon Rescue Mission’s services, according to Executive Director Susan Blouch. But in 2013, he slipped on some icy steps and received urgent...
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Hotel
A Palmyra manufacturing and commercial construction business is looking to tear down a blighted former Main Street hotel property to expand. On Sept. 8, Palmyra Borough Council members unanimously approved a waiver for the requirement of a land...
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Former DOJ official starts gun rights group
WASHINGTON – Former U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin is launching a new gun rights group aimed at restoring firearm access to Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes, an initiative that seeks to boost conservative turnout in this fall’s midterm...
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A GENERATION OF AFTERSHOCK
Aquarter-century later, 9/11 still echoes. The worst terrorist attack in U.S. history has been followed by other seismic events, from a once-in-a-century global pandemic to the rise of artificial intelligence that is transforming commerce, education...
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UNPLUGGED
When the COVID-19 pandemic forced in-person classroom instruction to go virtual, students suddenly needed to have their own laptops or tablets in order to interact with teachers and complete assignments. Most states used federal pandemic funding to...
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‘It’s extremely emotional’
Robert Koch served with the 34th Engineer Battalion in a village just south of Saigon during the Vietnam War. His unit would clear jungle and build landing zones for helicopters to fly troops in and out of combat. h One of his Koch’s friends since...
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Lawmaker’s egg freezing is upending norms
Armed with a cream-colored $15 Target lunch box containing thousands of dollars’ worth of medication and needles, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, went about her business in the nation’s capital. One day she was in the green room of ABC...
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A ‘living, breathing’ memorial to 9/11
Bruce White and a group of cyclists flash past rain-spattered cotton fields, undeterred by the wet June weather as they pedal toward Reading on their monthlong trek around the 9/11 National Memorial Trail. They’d been on the roughly 1,500mile route...
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AN IDLE THREAT
Abus company that left its buses’ engines running while parked in Boston neighborhoods has settled a lawsuit by agreeing to pay $5.6 million in damages for the resulting air pollution. The settlement came in a citizen-enforcement lawsuit under the...
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PRESS UNDER PRESSURE
In his White House Correspondents’ Association dinner speech on July 24, President Donald Trump made his usual diatribes against the news media. He derided the “failing” New York Times and reiterated his complaint that CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins...
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PAUSE & REFLECT
Despite the rain and the humidity, The Wall That Heals rolled into Campbelltown Community Park on Tuesday, Sept. 1, to honor Vietnam veterans’ sacrifice and educate visitors about the continuing impact of the war. Escorted by 117 motorcycle riders and...
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Midterm candidates split on data centers
As data centers become a defining issue on the midterm campaign trail, some voters are drawing a line in the sand over a yes-or-no question that’s dividing candidates across the country, especially Democrats. Support for moratoriums, or bans, on data...
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‘ISOLATED’
Severe storms, heat waves and wildfires can shut down the social life of a community, flooding out festivals, canceling community events and keeping people indoors. They’re also evidence of how climate change isn’t just changing the environments we...
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‘He’s touched so many people’
Kasey Daley said her husband, Ratha San, was born in a refugee camp in Thailand 45 years ago after his family fled a war in Cambodia. More than two years later, his family came to the United States through a sponsorship program. h “He actually grew up...
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Cup of care &ambition
In 1973, Dolly Parton wrote “I Will Always Love You” to soften the blow of leaving her business partner Porter Wagoner after years of producing hit country duets together. Parton was ready to pursue a solo career. So she played the song for Wagoner to...
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Colleges confront decline in reading
Anyone who has spent time on a college campus lately has probably heard laments from faculty about their students’ reading habits, or rather nonreading habits. Such complaints are more than an unfounded nostalgia for a bygone age. Reading – not just...
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Rescuers pulled driver from truck on tracks
Neptune Fire Company firefighters Kevin Kepley and Daulton Faust, along with Myerstown resident Rory Righter, were not expecting to leap into action the morning of Aug. 1. That was before a construction truck struck another vehicle and the railroad...
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LOVE, ALWAYS
Dolly Parton, the “Queen of Country” singing and songwriting icon with a personality as bold as her signature blond coif and rhinestoneencrusted outfits, has died. She was 80. Parton’s death was announced by her family on her social media pages and...
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DNCR honors rangers, paramedic
Around 2:30 p.m. May 30, bicyclists Sean Nam and Bill Blandford were traveling along the Swatara State Park trail system. As they were mountain biking on the trails, Blandford suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. Nam, a TowerDirect paramedic, immediately...
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Job seekers say hiring process is ‘broken’
After getting a layoff notice in May, software engineer Todd Hendricks, 46, started his job search. One Friday, he signed on to Zoom for the coding round of an interview process. No one appeared. He reached out to the recruiter and heard nothing...
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Palmyra wrestling coaches reinstated
Whistles and cheers filled the Lingle Avenue Elementary School cafeteria Thursday night as the new Palmyra Area School Board voted to reinstate the wrestling coaches’ contracts for the 2026-27 school year. During their Thursday night meeting, school...
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One killed when plane crashes into helicopter
The pilot of a private plane was killed in a midair collision with a Pennsylvania State Police helicopter on Wednesday at the Carlisle Regional Airport. Two troopers in the helicopter were also injured in the Aug. 19 crash, which is still being...
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ICE insurance would protect local officers
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has put forward an insurance plan that could protect local police officers who make immigration arrests from potential financial consequences if they are accused of misconduct while on...
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Trump plan could hit science funding
Most Americans don’t read the rules that govern the federal grants funding science. Those rules, called the Uniform Guidance, shape how cancer research is funded, graduate students are trained, clinical trials are sustained, universities stock their...
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Police seek video, help after rash of vehicle break-ins
South Lebanon Township Police Department is asking for residents’ help as they investigate a series of incidents involving attempted vehicle entries. Police said items were stolen from several vehicles that were broken into. One vehicle itself was...
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Child Support Awareness Day held to support families
The Lebanon County Domestic Relations Office held its third annual Child Support Awareness Day to support local families. Office employees and volunteers held their annual event for parents and children outside of the Lebanon County Courthouse on Aug....
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Mass hearings held in immigration courts
Lines have stretched out the front door of courthouses. Overflow seating has been set up in hallways. And there have been classroom-style exchanges, with judges asking people to raise their hands in response to generic questions about their...
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DOJ pressed, dropped officer assault cases
Christian Garcia admits that he threw a water bottle toward officers guarding a federal building near Los Angeles during an immigration protest last summer. h The plastic bottle was empty, he said, and hit no one but Garcia himself – the wind blew it...
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How to find an ethical adoption provider in PA
Families exploring adoption are pursuing a process that’s both emotionally and financially taxing, a combination that can put people at risk, advocates say. A USA TODAY Network Pennsylvania investigation found several instances in which families...
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‘Fake electors’ figure holds White House role
A figure in Arizona’s “fake electors” case continues to have an influential role in President Donald Trump’s White House. Boris Epshteyn, an adviser and personal lawyer to Trump, was accused of working with Arizona Republicans and other Trump allies...
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Al-Qaida, Islamic State group adopting AI
Artificial intelligence may not create a new kind of terrorism, but it makes existing tactics cheaper, faster and easier. That is the central argument of a July report from the U.S.-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies. h It...
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‘It’s going to be a great addition’
Lebanon County government and community officials broke ground on a $10 million expansion project at the Lebanon Valley Expo Center Aug. 10, with officials saying it’s the start of creating much needed space for various events. The construction of the...
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Military bases delay toxic PFAS cleanup
It’s been almost five years since Brandi and Brad Hyatt found out the well at their home next to an Army base in Washington is contaminated with “forever chemicals.” h They started using bottled water for everything from making coffee to rinsing off...
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Major fights await Senate after break
WASHINGTON – The Senate just went out with a bang – passing a government funding bill to try to avert another shutdown, confirming Todd Blanche as attorney general and bucking a voter ID measure. Overnight, a quick flurry of legislative activity...
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Palmyra school board gets major shakeup
Palmyra Area School Board got a major shake-up during its Aug. 6 meeting as new members were appointed to fill four recently vacated positions, including that of former Vice President Corey Andrew. To applause from residents in attendance, remaining...
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Immigrants a key role in U.S. economy, experts say
For years, employers from Florida to Ohio have relied on immigrants taking part in a humanitarian program to staff hard-to-fill job openings for construction workers and home health aides. h In recent months, they warned, the Trump administration’s...
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Reports: U.S. missile supply badly depleted
The war on Iran has severely depleted key U.S. missile stockpiles and left the nation and its allies in a vulnerable position for potentially years to come, several experts and reports say. U.S. missile stockpiles were low before President Donald...
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Tractor-trailer crashes into Swatara Twp. garage
A tractor-trailer crashed into a Swatara Township garage Wednesday, Aug. 5, closing a section of Route 72 for motorists, according to PennDOT. The incident with a Sherwin Williams tractor-trailer happened at about 9:08 a.m. at Route 72 and...
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Gunshot detection tech ignites controversy
When gunshots ring out on America’s streets, bystanders face an instant, high-stakes dilemma. h Do I call the cops? Were those even gunshots? Maybe it was just fireworks. h Every moment of hesitation risks a delay in medical treatment or gives a...
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Remembrance through floats
Fourteen years ago, Kortne Stouffer disappeared from her residence without a trace, and her family is still looking for answers and closure. h On Saturday, Aug. 1, the Stouffer family and others drove near Swatara Creek Park in Hershey and lined the...
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‘Housing imbalance’
On July 28, Nancy Johnson was eating lunch in the two-hour parking lot behind the Lebanon City Hall in her sedan. She used to call living in her car going “out for a stroll” after she lost her apartment back in late April. “I couldn’t pay the rent, so...
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Primary wins, GOP attacks draw attention to the left
Ahead of a challenging midterm election, Republicans have seized an opportunity to castigate their opponents as extremists after democratic socialists won Democratic congressional primaries in New York City, Colorado and Washington, DC. GOP leaders...
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York’s Haitian community fears for future after ruling
The Rev. Gusmane Michel, pastor of the First Haitian Church of York, was heartbroken. One of his parishioners, a man who had immigrated from Haiti about three or four years ago, had been picked up by West York Police, Michel believed, for unpaid...
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Attack sparks fears wars could merge
WASHINGTON – Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States insisted that leaders in Kyiv are not playing “a game of chess” with their recent drone strike on an Iranian ship and have no interest in leveraging their conflict with Russia into a wider, global...
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Dems seek answers on polling site plans
With the midterms only months away, Senate Democrats pressed Trump administration officials to disclose any possible plans to send federal agents or National Guard members to polling places this fall. In a letter led by Sen. Ed Markey,...
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Different kinds of justice
WASHINGTON – Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett likes to note that the black robes she and her colleagues wear show that the nine justices are “united symbolically.” h Despite different personalities, legal philosophies and backgrounds, the robes...
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PA budget adds millions for mental health as challenges persist
This article mentions suicide. If you’ve experienced thoughts of suicide, confidential help is available for free through the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling 988 in the United States. You can find more information at 988lifeline.org. Additional...
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OpenAI’s hack was unnoticed for a week
SAN FRANCISCO – The OpenAI agent that broke into tech firm Hugging Face went on a dayslong hacking spree that OpenAI didn’t notice until well after the threat was contained and the FBI was alerted, according to people familiar with the...
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‘THE DECLINE IS SIGNIFICANT’
When Ashton Reed voted for President Donald Trump in 2024, he was drawn by Trump’s vow to recharge the economy and curb the inflation that many around his hometown of Jackson, Missouri, blamed on then-President Joe Biden. Reed, 22, who has worked at...
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U.S. inflation report tells only part of the story
Consumers learned July 14 that inflation “cooled” in June, thanks in part to falling gas prices. But prices still rose. In fact, the 3.5% annual inflation rate for June was higher than the inflation rate in any month of 2025. Inflation is...
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U.S. quarantines citizens at NY base
WASHINGTON – U.S. health officials quarantined 14 American citizens at a New York military base for four days after a recent return from Congo, where an Ebola outbreak is underway, according to records seen by Reuters and two people familiar with the...
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NATO steps up security in Arctic
EVENES, Norway – During a frozen morning in Arctic Norway, a group of British and Norwegian soldiers padded softly through a snow-blanketed birch forest. They were on a simulated NATO reconnaissance mission, among some 30,000 troops who took part in a...
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Residents get peek at 1976 time capsule artifacts
Lebanon City residents got a blast from the past with items from the city’s time capsule, which were displayed to the public for the first time in 50 years. City officials displayed the contents of the 1976 Bicentennial Time Capsule for residents...
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Extreme weather sweeps U.S., killing at least 8
At least eight people died as flash flooding, powerful thunderstorms and extreme heat swept across the United States in recent days. In southern Utah, floodwaters racing through a canyon killed five members of a family, according to the Wayne County...
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Data centers face protests in 42 states
Opponents of the rapid buildout of data centers held 142 protests across 42 states on July 18 in the first nationwide effort to channel anger at the AI infrastructure expansion that has ramped up over the past year and roiled local politics. The...
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Quartz countertops driving health crisis
If you walk into a Costco, Home Depot or Lowe’s and order a countertop for your kitchen renovation, the store will likely contract with a local fabrication shop, instructing them to make one from a material called engineered stone. h Often marketed as...
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Group: Brazil farm costs far below those in U.S.
DES MOINES – Farmers in the United States are paying significantly more for the seed, chemicals and other supplies needed to grow crops than their major global competitors in Brazil, a new report from the National Corn Growers Association shows. The...
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U.S. and Iran trade infrastructure attacks
DUBAI – The United States struck bridges and an airport in Iran on July 17 and Tehran responded by hitting a power and desalination plant in Kuwait, as the warring foes risked further escalation by expanding their targets to include infrastructure. In...
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Social media shaping kids’ career dreams
A second grader in Norway drew a YouTube logo when my colleagues and I asked what they wanted to be when they grow up. When we asked why, the child explained that YouTubers are famous and make lots of money. When we asked second graders in Wisconsin...
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Kirk memorials fail to gain traction
It didn’t take long after Charlie Kirk’s assassination on a university campus in September to hear calls to erect memorials in his honor. Lawmakers, councilmembers, pastors and college leaders announced plans to rename highways, build statues and...
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Digital assistants gaining ground with major banks
NEW YORK – Major banks are ramping up how they incorporate digital assistants in their daily operations, determining how such agents interact with human colleagues and clients as they race to get ahead. Banks are competing in the adoption of agentic...
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SpaceX, AI wealth fuels demand for private jets
NEW YORK – Aviation lawyer Amanda Applegate skipped her annual vacation in June as a surge of wealth from AI startups and SpaceX sent a wave of tech investors shopping for private jets, burying her in paperwork for aircraft-purchase agreements. The...
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Heat
Most people know that heat waves can be dangerous. What they may not realize is that the heat indoors can be much worse than outdoors. When the power goes out and air conditioning stops, a house starts to function like a greenhouse. Heat enters...
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‘People are calling for help, not bullets’
LOUISVILLE – Rebecca Hall believes things could have turned out differently, with her daughter still alive. On two other occasions in recent years, she said, there had been 911 calls as her daughter Katelyn attempted suicide, once by swallowing pills,...
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Probe: Actions by Sudan force amount to genocide
GENEVA – Members of Sudan’s RSF carried out mass killings, abductions of women and girls, mass gang rapes and forced starvation in a city they besieged and captured last year, as part of an intentional policy amounting to genocide, a U.N. probe said...
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Thousands cheer as Big Boy steams into Lebanon
The world’s largest steam locomotive chugged into Lebanon’s 8th St. Station to the roar of crowds as part of a coastto-coast tour to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary. Thousands of people came out to witness the Big Boy No. 4014’s whistle stop...
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Program gives struggling artists $1,000 a month
Though artificial intelligence is making it easier than ever to produce images, music and text, the technology is also making it harder for the people who have traditionally produced this work to earn a living. A photographer who once was commissioned...
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‘Once in a lifetime event’
Around 7 p.m. July 4, Lancaster resident Virginia Johnson was crammed into the Brightbill Arena after volunteers alerted the public about an incoming thunderstorm. Despite the sounds of rain on the roof and the shutters shaking, Johnson could be seen...
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Safety issues beset Silicon Valley defense startup
Ayear ago, Ryan Tseng, the head of U.S. defense tech startup Shield AI, announced his company had turned a new page. h After a gory incident that partially severed a U.S. Navy official’s fingers during a test of its V-BAT drone, Shield AI had addressed...
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THE MEANING OF REVOLUTION
Like Americans today, the people living in the United States in 1826 were preparing to celebrate a milestone for their country. July Fourth of that year marked the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. As what was known as the “Jubilee”...
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SWEET LAND OF LIBERTY
The 56 steps, cut from pink granite, ascend to a neoclassical temple that seems plucked from ancient Greece and deposited on a Kentucky hilltop. One for each year of President Abraham Lincoln’s life. h If the first eight steps, rising amid the site’s...
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Muslims a part of America’s story
In the 1520s and 1530s, a man named Esteban de Dorantes, known as Estevanico, walked across the deserts of what is now Texas, New Mexico and Arizona – decades before the English founded Jamestown in 1607 and a full century before the Pilgrims reached...
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TIME CAPSULE
Sonia Martinez Urquizu was 13 when the bicentennial time capsule was buried in Coleman Memorial Park. Joining her mom and her younger brother, Urquizu said she remembers watching the organizers seal and bury the cylinder into the ground in the summer...
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