HARRISBURG – This month’s local TV program hosted by Senator David G. Argall (R-Berks/Schuylkill) focuses on the ongoing battle against blight and new strategies put forth to address this issue.
“When it comes to fighting blight, it doesn’t matter one damn bit if you’re a Republican or Democrat,” said Senator Argall. “We’re forging a bipartisan consensus to find a way to breathe new life into these old towns.”
Senator Argall has lead the Statewide Blight Task Force which is made up of Republicans and Democrats from both the House of Representatives and the Senate. As a result of the work that the Task Force has completed, new laws have been created to provide stronger enhancement tools to municipalities to hold problem property owners accountable if their property falls into a dangerous state of disrepair. Other laws have also been crafted to help municipalities remediate blighted properties in their communities.
“When I talk about blight, one of my favorite stories I like to talk about is the story of the Borough of Shenandoah,” Senator Argall continued. “Shenandoah has seen a very significant decrease in population in the past 100 years. At one time, the community had the largest population in Schuylkill County with 30,000 people but today the small borough only hosts 5,000 people. Regardless of this decrease in population and increase in blight, the people of this community don’t give up and are ready to work each and every single day to re-build their community to be a place where one can settle down and start a family.”
This edition of the Argall report will air on:
- Blue Ridge Communications (Channel 13) every Monday at 10 a.m. and every Wednesday at 10:30 p.m.
- Berks Community Television (Comcast – Channel 15 and Service Electric – Channel 19) on Thursday at 8 p.m. and Friday at 6 p.m.
- Comcast On-Demand on Channel 1 – Get Local – Government – State Senate.
- Reading (Channel 21) and Hamburg (Channel 19) every Monday at 3 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. and every Tuesday at 9 a.m.
- The program is available on Shen-Heights TV, Hazleton’s WLYN TV 35 and MetroCast Communications Channel 10. Please check local listings for air times.
Senator Argall’s report is also available online at www.SenatorArgall.com.
Contact: Joshua J. Paul
717.787.2637