Land Bank Formed to Fight Blight
By Amber Lawrence Have you ever walked past an empty lot or a building that has been struck by neighborhood blight? Did you ever wonder how someone could put the property to use again? The Schuylkill County Land Bank may be able to help with that.... Read More
Slide into Summer!
By Rhiannon Barkus School is over, and you know what that means. No more homework, and we get a break for a few months! Sure, we have some short breaks during the school year. We have Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and Act 80 days, which happen for... Read More
Libraries and Local News
Coal Cracker was featured in the June issue of American Libraries Magazine, the official publication of the American Library Association, along with the Community Reporting Alliance and our sister publications Manor Ink, of Livingston Manor, NY and the Ferguson Phoenix, of Ferguson, Missouri. The article focused on how libraries are... Read More
Easy Freeze Pops Recipe
By Taylor Walsh During the summer, I have a lot of time on my hands. One of the things I do to keep myself occupied is try new things. Last summer, I went searching and I found the perfect summer treat: freeze pops! My favorite drink... Read More
2016 Give Us Your Best Shot Winners
The Schuylkill Conservation District and Schuylkill County Conservancy recently held the annual Give Us Your Best Shot photo contest, which included two categories: It’s Schuylkill County—Naturally! and Nature Matters to Me. This year’s contest judges were Robert “Bob” Evanchalk, Schuylkill Conservation District’s Parks and Recreation Supervisor; and Coal Cracker Publisher... Read More
The Unwelcome Ones – Chapter One
An Excerpt of Original Science Fiction By Joseph Peters “We have to go Myran. You know what’ll happen if we get caught here, and it damn well won’t fare good for us.” It stung to hear these words escape from my brother Alixer’s lips, but I knew... Read More
Mahanoy vs. Shenandoah Walking Challenge
The University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health and The PA Department of Health are partnering with Schuylkill County’s VISION to increase opportunities for physical activity in the Mahanoy Area and Shenandoah Valley school districts through an initiative called WalkWorks. By establishing community-based walking routes and forming walking groups,... Read More
The Full Moon – A Lunar Lesson
By Oceana O’Boyle Staying with the science theme that I usually write about, I will be exploring the full moon, which is “the lunar phase that occurs when the moon is completely illuminated as seen from the earth,” according to Wikipedia. “This occurs when the moon... Read More
Peacocks Rock
By Myla Wall I love all the colors of peacock feathers when they fan them out. They are beautiful animals! I wanted to learn more about them so I did some online research at ScienceKids.com and Animals.NationalGeographic.com. Peacocks are birds in the family of pheasants. Actually,... Read More
Thanks for Your Donations!
The Mahanoy City American Legion Auxiliary Post #74 thanks everyone who contributed to its recent American Flag Program. Your generosity helped the Auxiliary to purchase approximately 50 flags and brackets that are now hanging on Centre Street lamp posts from Catawissa to 3rd streets. The national American Legion organization was... Read More