Will it be Northern or Dover?  The decision about where Washington Township's students will go to school now rests with all seven of the Commonwealth Court judges.

    Ralph McGregor, president of the Washington Township Education Coalition (WTEC), reports a three-judge Commonwealth Court panel deemed the case "too important" to be decided by just those three judges.  On September 23, the judges decided the case should be heard "en banc," or by all seven Commonwealth Court judges, a move typically reserved for the most important cases.  The matter will go before those seven judges sometime during the week of December 12.

For more information see the October 13th, 2016 edition of the Dillsburg Banner

 

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60th Queen Pageant
by Carolyn Kimmel

    With a confident onstage presence and a stellar performance of the R&B hit "Rise Up" by Andra Day, Northern High School sophomore Lexi Hunter sparkled brightly enough to be crowned Dillsburg's 60th Farmer Fair Queen on Monday night.

    In keeping with the pageant's theme, "Diamonds," in honor of its 60th year, Lexi challenged the audience to "Rise up and become the diamonds we are meant to be."

     As she belted out "Rise Up," pictures of those who had done just that flashed on a screen Ð cancer survivors, sick children, military heroes and veterans among them.

    "I was really shocked," Lexi said in the moments after she was crowned. "Every girl is so amazing and I think it must've been so hard for the judges to pick just one of us."

    That kind of mutual support among contestants was something that Fair Queen Committee Member Audi Kimmel said was noticeable this year.

 

Seated is the 2016 Farmers Fair Queen Lexi Hunter flanked by First Runner-Up Mary Secord, left, and Second Runner-Up Madison Seitchik.

For more information see the October 13th edition of the Dillsburg Banner

 

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Northern, top team in District 3-AAA, moves to 15-0
by Andy Sandrik

    The Northern girls soccer team, facing perhaps its toughest opponent of the season, came through with a win to remain undefeated.
Seth Lehman's Polar Bears improved to 15-0 on Thursday with a 1-0 victory over backyard rival Mechanicsburg, the leader of the Mid-Penn Keystone Division.

    Just as the score indicates, it was a close game that came down to the slimmest of margins. The contest remained undecided until the 75th minute. That's when Camille Waits took a cross from Abby Searfoss and pushed the ball into the back of the net.

Abby Monko races to the ball against Mechanicsburg.

For more information see the October 13th, 2016 edition of the Dillsburg Banner

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Polar Bears blast Rockets;
Mifflin County H.S. next
by Joe Guty

    Homecoming provided just what the varsity Polar Bears needed in week 6 last Friday night: A 56-6 Mid Penn Colonial Division win over James Buchanan. Northern improved their league record 1-2 and evened up  to 3-3 overall while the Rockets fell to 0-3, 0-6. Northern travels to face Mifflin County H.S. this Farmer's Fair Friday.

    Northern posted 21 unanswered first quarter points and increased their lead to 42-0 at halftime. With the mercy rule in effect for the second half, the hosts added 14 points in the fourth quarter and gave up one TD. At 10:02 in the first quarter on second and long, quarterback Curtis Robison pitched out to Kyle Swartz who threw a 42-yard pass to Dylan Baxter. Kicker Aidan Alves, on a place hold by John Kearney, booted the first of seven extra points on the night. Jake Coover found daylight and added  another score on a 35-yard TD run.  Robison made a quick shovel pass to Wyatt Lewis who bolted 53 yards to the 3-yard line. On the next play, Kyle Swartz found the end zone at 0:41.

Wide receiver Kentucky Nelson carries the ball while Ben Collins follows on defense.

For more information see the October 13th, 2016 edition of the Dillsburg Banner