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, April 15, and Sunday, April 21.
1. Parents confront Warwick school board over secret meeting with lawyer who has helped schools ban books
Two Warwick school directors met Thursday, April 11, with the lawyer at the center of divisive school district policies around Pennsylvania, prompting criticism from parents at a school board meeting last Tuesday night.
A photo taken by Warwick Township resident Kellye Martin showed Warwick School Board President Emily Zimmerman and Vice President Scott Landis meeting with Independence Law Center Chief Counsel Randall Wenger outside the district office.
Martin, a Warwick graduate with two children in the high school, said she was at the district for a 2 p.m. meeting when she saw the two board members. Around 3 p.m., after she left her meeting, she saw them escort Wenger outside. She sent a copy of the photo to LNP | LancasterOnline.
“I was first surprised, and then I was disappointed and worried, because I hadn’t heard anything else about this law center in a year,” Martin said. “So I was surprised to see it come back around again.”
It’s not the first time Warwick board members met with Wenger. Last April, three board members — Jim Koelsch, Dan Wooley and Scott Landis — admitted to having separately met with the lawyer.
The meetings did not lead to the district enlisting Wenger’s firm. However, the historically Republican-dominated school district has seen a major reshaping since then.
2. Long's Park Summer Music Series 2024: Here's the lineup for the free, outdoor summer concert series
The Long's Park Summer Music Series kicks off in June, bringing with it a dozen free outdoor concerts, food trucks and more.
With the exception of the U.S. Army Band, "Pershing's Own," every band performing this summer will be new to the summer concert series.
"We're picking bands, and then we're also — kind of like you do in an art gallery — curating the lineup so you have things that work well with each other, or a good contrast," said Kristin Chronister, chairperson for the Summer Music Series. "So, we're not having country music, and then bluegrass, really close together in the summer."
The concert series kicks off June 2 and continues weekly on Sundays through Aug. 18. Most concerts run from 7:30-9 p.m., with exceptions noted below. There will be food trucks every week.
3. Solanco High School closed Tuesday after shots fired toward employee home
Solanco High School was closed last Tuesday after gunshots were fired toward the home of a school employee last Monday night.
“We are closing Solanco High School today out of an abundance of caution. Since this happened in the evening hours, we wish to provide time for the police to progress in their investigation,” the school said in a statement released on social media.
Quarryville Borough Chief of Police Rick Stone said officers were called to the 200 block of Meadow Lane, less than 0.3 miles west of George A. Smith Middle School, for a report of shots fired at 9:13 p.m.
Officers arrived a minute later, saw multiple bullet holes in a home on the block, and evacuated residents in the affected residence.
Stone said the person or persons responsible for the shots fled before the police arrived.
![Solanco High School closed Tuesday after shots fired toward employee home; police investigating [update]](https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/lancasteronline.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/a/65/a65c9e7e-1ceb-11ea-9fd6-ff936490d85c/5df24e9dd93e3.image.jpg?resize=760%2C550)
4. ‘I’m emotionally and physically drained’: Drag queen performer cancels another event
A Drag Queen Story Hour event that was scheduled for later this month at a church in Mountville has been canceled.
Christopher Paolini, who performs as Miss Amie Vanité, said that the decision was made to cancel the event after a news article by another media outlet was posted Saturday, April 13, incorrectly saying the event was a reschedule of the canceled March Drag Queen Story Hour at the Lancaster Public Library.
“Hate started piling in with comments and shares on social media,” Paolini said.
The church hosting the event, the Vision of Hope Metropolitan Community Church, had posted on its social media that a story hour was to be held later this month but at no point referred to it as a rescheduling of the March library event.
5. New owners reopen The Pretzel Hut roadside restaurant, petting zoo near Brickerville
The Pretzel Hut reopened last week under new owners who are maintaining the tradition of the roadside restaurant and petting zoo north of Brickerville.
The 45-seat restaurant along Route 501 features a menu of burgers, cheesesteaks, soft pretzels and soft-serve ice cream. The petting zoo behind the restaurant includes goats, rabbits, pigs, turkeys and a peacock.
“The moment you’ve been waiting for … WE ARE OPEN,” read a Facebook post announcing the Wednesday opening. “Come stop in and enjoy a made from scratch soft pretzel, black raspberry & peanut butter soft serve, & more.”
Angie and Tom Rabold, who had owned and operated the business since 2004, listed it for sale in late November because they wanted to retire. In February, Dwight and Kathi Zimmerman bought the 5-acre property at 2224 Furnace Hills Pike in Elizabeth Township for $850,000.
CHAD UMBLE | Staff Writer
