Each Monday, our digital team takes a look at last week’s top stories on LancasterOnline.
We look at news, sports, business, life, culture and local history.
Here are the most-read stories between Monday, Feb. 17, and Sunday, Feb. 23.
1. Daryl Heller also owns Lititz restaurant that is behind on rent
Since opening a little over five years ago, Blackworth Live Fire Grill, a 130-seat restaurant in the former Wilbur chocolate factory in Lititz, has earned a reputation for offering top quality steaks, craft cocktails and attentive service in the heart of town.
“Everything is phenomenal, and everybody is super friendly,” said Sean Decker, who was among the crowd last Saturday during Lititz’s Fire & Ice Festival. Decker, who recently moved to the area with his wife from Scottsdale, Arizona, said Blackworth is one of the reasons he wants to buy a home in Lititz.
Bruce Renninger, who already lives in Lititz, said he was able to eventually find a seat at the bar last Saturday. Talking to a reporter outside, he raved about the restaurant’s steaks as well as an espresso martini, before adding in a conspiratorial half whisper, “I think the ATM guy is involved.”
2. A Manheim Township athlete exposed himself to a teammate, but school officials failed mandatory reporting
On a Saturday night last April, Manheim Township boys lacrosse players settled into their hotel rooms after a bruising afternoon loss in western Pennsylvania.
The coaches called lights out at 10 p.m. and made a round of room checks.
A short time later, one of the players pinned down a teammate on a hotel room bed while another teammate, naked from the waist down, repeatedly thrust his genitals at the victim’s face, according to a confidential report from a student and a school investigation of the incident, confirmed by the victim’s parents.
3. ‘I hope we never get caught’: Hempfield firefighters battled fires they are now charged with starting: police
The three Hempfield volunteer firefighters arraigned on arson charges Tuesday fought the fires they are now charged with intentionally starting with a lighter, according to a criminal complaint filed by East Hempfield Township police.
Joshua Lightcap, 23, of Columbia; Mason Howard, 21, of Akron; and a 16-year-old from East Petersburg face multiple arson charges in connection with five fires started in East Hempfield and Penn Township in October and November.
According to an affidavit filed Friday by police, investigators had suspicions about the fires shortly after they began.
4. Federal ICE officers detain man outside Bainbridge Elementary School
U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement officers detained a man across the street from Bainbridge Elementary School on Tuesday, Feb. 18, according to police.
Elizabethtown Area School District spokesperson Troy Portser said staff members at the school contacted police to report a suspicious vehicle in the school’s parking lot at 416 N. Second St. in Conoy Township. He said staff members noticed there were a couple of people inside a dark van upon their arrival at around 6:30 a.m.
5. Lancaster Pride removes its president after internal audit, investigation
Lancaster Pride announced last week that its board of directors has voted to oust its president, Tiffany Shirley, after an internal audit and investigation.
In its social media post, Lancaster Pride says Shirley was removed due to "financial violations of the Lancaster Pride Association Bylaws and Code of Conduct."
