Backyard news, 09.19.08 TGIF edition

* I’ve been told that a local developer wants to purchase the former gas station on N. Mountain Rd. in Linglestown (pictured) and build a car wash on it. The buyer needs a zoning change and special permission to build a car wash on a half-acre lot (township regulations require a minimum one-acre lot). Citizen watchdog group SWAN is lobbying township officials to turn down the zoning change.

* An anonymous commenter on this blog took exception with SWAN pushing for additional tests at a hazardous waste site in Lower Paxton Twp., and widely known community, nuclear power and political activist Eric Epstein has taken a stab at setting the record straight. Check out the blog post and comments, and then read Epstein’s response.

* A Lower Paxton Twp. man will be spending more time behind bars for making online threats.

* Look for The Paxton Herald to side with Centennial Acres residents who are seeking changes to a mountainside housing development proposed by McNaughton Homes.

* For those of you chomping at the bit for a new cable TV option, look for the Lower Paxton Twp. Board of Supervisors to take action during October on a proposed franchise agreement negotiated by Capital Region Council of Governments that will enable Verizon to launch its FiOS digital TV service in the township. Verizon already has the channel lineup for LP posted on the Web.