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The county commissioners approved $7,204,410 in construction contracts for the second phase of upgrades at the Agricultural Center in Leesport - four contracts awarded in a single vote on October 29. On November 5 the board followed through, moving $3.3 million in bond money into the project account so purchase orders can start, on the record of the county's own draft minutes.
The stories Berks County is talking about today, summarised by the Journal and credited to the reporters who filed them.
Easterseals Eastern Pennsylvania has received a $50,000 grant from The Wyomissing Foundation to expand Club Curious, its free learn-and-play program for children from birth to age five who are not in formal childcare. The two-year grant is expected to reach at least 100 Berks families. Source: BCTV, November 11, 2026.
Berks County Parks & Recreation will welcome visitors back to Gring's Mill as the annual Holiday Lights display returns for its 38th year, beginning Saturday, November 28 - a walk-through season of festive displays and special events at one of the county's best-loved parks. Source: Berks Weekly.
Rockland, Richmond and Douglass townships and Laureldale Borough voted Monday to advertise their proposed 2027 budgets — the first of two steps toward adoption. Rockland’s motion is the only one that says anything about taxes: no proposed tax increases. Spring Township reviewed its own budget the same night.
The Reading School District board approved a three-year agreement with TransPar Group to manage its transportation department — about $695,000 a year — and a $917,000 state solar grant request for Glenside Elementary. Both passed 9–0 on October 28, alongside more than $5 million in construction bills.
The YMCA of Reading & Berks County has appointed Duane S. Crouse to lead its philanthropic initiatives. The Y runs five branches across the county — in Adamstown, Mifflin, Reading, Sinking Spring and Tri Valley. The appointment was announced November 3.
Reading’s Alvernia University has announced plans to acquire Marian University in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin — a proposed partnership the schools say is aimed at strengthening both Catholic institutions and expanding educational opportunities.
Berks County officials are warning residents about an increase in sophisticated scams targeting people throughout the county — including older adults, veterans, business owners and families. One current scheme uses a fake sheriff’s office voicemail.
Creepin’ for Critters — a Halloween tradition that began with one Berks County family’s love of decorating — raised more than $12,000 in donations and supplies this year for the Animal Rescue League of Berks County.
Three desks read the county so you don't have to - every agenda, every board packet, every town notice, every morning.
The commissioners, the courts and the county budget - the meetings in the Services Center on Court Street, read closely and reported plainly, from the Agricultural Center contracts to the canvass of the November vote.
School boards, colleges and the county's classrooms - Reading's busing contract and solar grant, Alvernia's expansion, and what your district's next budget means for your tax bill.
Blandon to Boyertown, Wyomissing to Wernersville - township budgets, main-street businesses, parish and club news, and the small stories that make a county a community.
One Berks County business in the spotlight each day - with the film beside the story.
Thorn Alley Kitchen, the restaurant inside GoggleWorks Center for the Arts in downtown Reading, is expanding its table: a new Sunday brunch service launched November 8, and the kitchen has welcomed a new general manager. It is the kind of small, good news the Journal exists to catch - a downtown dining room betting on Sunday morning. Source: Berks Weekly.
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