News
New Borough Manager in Mahanoy City
By Myla Wall I interviewed the new Mahanoy City Borough Manager, Cindy Soley, about her job. She said she thinks it’s great that young people are learning and experiencing careers in journalism through Coal Cracker, especially during a time when journalists seem to be getting attacked... Read More
Flying with Mark Bullet Wartman
By Joei Shaller “Where words fail, music speaks,” wrote Hans Christian Andersen. Music and songwriting are outlets. Some of us dream about being famous musicians, but believe it’ll never happen. But what if it really is possible? Mark “Bullet” Wartman had the same dream and is now fulfilling it. He... Read More
Deanne Rupert’s Debut Novel
By Taylor Evans Deanne Rupert is a 2009 alumni of Mahanoy Area who has taken off on a career as a writer with her debut novel, “To Live Without Knowing.” She is self-taught and worked hard to get to where she is today. I interviewed Deanne to learn more about... Read More
Your Dream Park
In our spring issue, we asked readers to share their ideas about what equipment or amenities they’d like to see at Kaier’s Park on North Main Street in the borough when it is constructed. In no particular order, here’s what they said: Open-use charcoal grills The star from the top... Read More
Kaier’s Park Share Your Ideas
By Meredith Rhoades Blight is a problem facing much of northern Schuylkill County, but people in Mahanoy City have a plan to counteract this growing issue. The plan is to turn the historic 13,000-square-foot space where Kaier’s Brewery once stood into Kaier’s Park in the summer... Read More
Students Strive for Solutions
By Taylor Evans Youth Summit Focuses on the Opioid Crisis The Schuylkill County Youth Summit is an organization of students that strive to solve local issues that affect the community as a whole. Six students from each county school district are chosen based on their character, work ethic and problem-solving... Read More
Living in the Age of School Shootings
By Serena Bennett When I was in Kindergarten, they taught us about stranger danger. They taught us that a school is a safe place, and the bad people lay outside of it. In school, however, we are all friends. When I was in second grade, we... Read More
Cryptocurrency and Bitcoin
Is it the Future of Finance? By Nick Cavenas Looking for the next big investment opportunity? Cryptocurrency and bitcoin mining might be a step in the right direction. Cryptocurrency is a new kind of money that uses cryptography — or computer encoding — to secure... Read More
Lindenmuth Named News Editor of The Keystone
Kutztown University freshman and Coal Cracker alum, Kaylee Lindenmuth, was named as the next news editor for The Keystone newspaper at the publication’s November 6 meeting. Lindenmuth joins five other students as new additions to The Keystone’s executive board. She will begin her term as news editor on Monday, January... Read More
Five Years in Print
Marking a Milestone By Serena Bennett, Editor I have been a reporter for Coal Cracker since its beginning in 2014, and I have watched it grow exponentially ever since — 2018 will be our fifth year in print. While our editorial team used to meet at... Read More