TheBurg

12 | THEBURGNEWS.COM | 01.23 10. BOOK BUILDING In 2019, on a sweltering August day, I stood at the corner of N. Front and Walnut streets as Dauphin County Library System officials announced an ambitious plan. ey would buy the historic Haldeman Haly house next door, connect it to the existing McCormick Riverfront Library and renovate both buildings. e problem? ey would need to raise about $3.5 million to make it happen. ree years later, mission accomplished. In October, DCLS unveiled the renovated, expanded library with new rooms, new spaces and a renewed vision for the future. As I've stated in past years, I like to begin this annual list on a positive note, and this was certainly positive news in Harrisburg over the past year. 9. FULL HOUSE When it comes to politics, we tend to stay in our lane here at eBurg, focusing on city elections. However, in 2022, we extended that lane a bit to include state government races following a favorable redistricting for Harrisburg. e city now has two state Assembly members, an increase of one, with a third member based just over the city line in Susquehanna Township. I find this significant for several reasons. Sure, it gives Harrisburg greater representation in the statehouse, which is welcome. But it also demonstrates the rising political power of our urban area, as well as its quickly increasing diversity. Moreover, Harrisburg-centric legislative districts now include much of the metro area, offering more common ground between city and suburbs. We can only hope this marks the beginning of the end for the ridiculous, counter-productive, tired old west/east shore divide. 8. PIE IN THE EYE Having grown up just outside New York, I consider myself something of a pizza snob. So, when I moved here, I was unimpressed by the offerings. en came Knead, which I thought was even better than the pizza of my childhood. So, I happily feasted, especially with the snug slice shop located just across the street from my office. en, one summer day, Knead's dozen or so workers announced a plan to unionize; the business swiftly closed. Like many of our readers, I had never heard before of a corner pizza shop unionizing. In my New Jersey hometown, pizza joints were everywhere, each one seemingly run by some middle-aged guy named Tony and his two blockhead sons. Anyway, in the end, there were no winners in this sad saga. With the business shut, everyone lost: the owners, the employees, the customers and the city. 7. FUND TIMES For nearly a year, residents awaited a plan for Harrisburg's $47 million bounty, the city's share of money from the federal American Rescue Plan Act. en it came, in part. In June, City Council approved an administration plan to allot about $15.6 for a new HVAC system for the public safety building, for fire and police bonuses, and to reimburse the city for pandemic-related expenses. e administration has stated that it would like to use the rest for a waterpark at Hall Manor and for an affordable housing initiative. ese proposals, though, have yet to be publicly detailed, teeing up a potential top news story for 2023. In late October, the city got more good news on the funding front. e commonwealth selected Harrisburg to receive a $13 million federal grant to upgrade several parks and convert the aging Jackson Lick pool to a spray park. at's no play money. 6. MENDING BRIDGES Harrisburg is a river city, and that means bridges— lots of them. In 2022, PennDOT offered continual fodder for bridge drama. Early in the year, it released a proposal to rehab the Market Street Bridge, only to significantly change it a few months later to include an unsightly utility bridge. It also made public a plan to rehab the Maclay Street Bridge. But perhaps the biggest bridge news was PennDOT's own-goal as it lost a court challenge to toll the South Bridge. Separately, the Harrisburg Area Transportation Study issued its four-year improvement plan, which includes transforming the long-dormant CAT bridge for bicycles and pedestrians. e Walnut Street Bridge also is set for rehab work, though I argued, in this space, for rebuilding the truss bridge's western span, which was destroyed in a devastating January storm 27 years ago. 10 LITTLE STORIES Our editor offers his top Harrisburg news of 2022. BY LAWRANCE BINDA T he holidays are behind us, the calendar has flipped to a new year, and you know what that means—my annual top-10 list of Harrisburg news stories. OK, maybe you don't know that, but it has been a tradition in this column for over a decade. So, have a seat, pour that last glass of eggnog before its sell-by date, and read through what I consider some of the top local news items of the past year.

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