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By staff reportsJuly 25, 2007

Last updated: Wednesday, July 25, 2007 7:14 AM EDT

After a decade of hard work, millions of dollars and frequent setbacks, all Cumberland County police, fire, ambulance and EMS are finally equipped with high-tech 800 MHz radios.

The smile worn by Cumberland County Commissioner Bruce Barclay Tuesday included a mixture of contentment and relief.

"It was just one thing after another," he said moments after activating the 800 MHz radio system for all fire and EMS companies. "But one by one, we just started checking things off."

The OpenSky radio system went live with the Upper Allen Fire Department and included a mock incident in which Barclay coordinated a "response" involving Upper Allen Police Lt. Mike McLaughlin, Upper Allen Deputy Fire Chief Jim Salter and Ken Dupree of West Shore EMS.

The smooth communications left everyone beaming.

"With the new system, it's so much better to be able to communicate," Barclay said. "We're ahead of the curve."

Officials gathered last week to hail the new 800 MHz connection between county police units and state troopers, including the state police helicopter. Eventually, the county plans to link the system with other state agencies.

Along with this story from Sentinel Reporter John Hilton, here's what else to look for in today's print and on-line editions:

Lerew honored at Shippensburg Fair -- Frank Lerew didn't expect to see most of his family join him on stage Tuesday night at the Shippensburg Community Fair for a session of "This is Your Life."

Lerew, who founded the fair 50 years ago and has presided over it ever since, is stepping down as president this year, although he will remain on the board.

His goal was to bring the rural residents and those who lived in town together, and also to encourage young people to learn more about agriculture and perhaps to pursue it as a career.

Lloyd M. Lerew of Dillsburg said, "Frank was born a leader. Of course, I came along a couple years later, and he led me -- sometimes into trouble." Among other escapades, Frank swiped a couple of their father's half-smoked cigars and some matches and the boys lit up.

"I remember choking and spitting," Lloyd Lerew said. "I thought I was gonna die."

Dickinson College class investigates how food makes us American -- On Tuesday morning, six men sat around a table in downtown Carlisle's Casa Mani coffee shop, discussing food.

The table was empty.

The irony of that was not lost on Dickinson College Professor Ted Merwin, who grinned and said yes, the students would like it if the class involved more actual food.

But eating isn't the point of "Food and Foodways in the U.S.," which made its debut at the college this summer. Instead, Merwin and his seven students are spending hours concocting an answer to the question, "Is there a definition of American cuisine?"

"I think we just keep shifting," said Luke Nam, a senior English major whose turn it was to lead the daily discussion.

Merwin agreed.

"It just keeps coming back in different forms," he said.

The topic du jour was ethnic foods -- specifically, Chinese and Italian foods.

"We're very into experiencing other cultures," said Merwin, immediately qualified that by noting that much of what Americans consider ethnic food bears little resemblance to the real thing.

"All these dishes are different," said senior economics major Erik Frain.

Full-day kindergarten study presented to Mechanicsburg board -- After eight weeks of preparation, the Demographic Study Committee of the Mechanicsburg School Board presented their study on the possibility of a full-day kindergarten to the board members at last night's special work session meeting.

The study covered two areas, one dealing with the expected enrollments for the next couple of years at each of the schools and the other addressing two options the school could have if they went toward a full-day kindergarten.

The major part of the study included Filbert Elementary School, which has not been in use since it was closed in 2004 with Shiremanstown Elementary School. However, the report indicates that without the classrooms that Filbert could potentially provide, the enrollment would exceed the capacity of the school district by 100 students. With Filbert included, the district would have 200 seats over the highest K-5 enrollment.

To open the elementary school would inevitably require costs. The renovation for Filbert is estimated at $2.1 million from what the district has seen of other renovations at its schools, though no architect has formally looked at the school, according to Alan Vandrew, business manager and committee member.

The committee recommended four other ideas for the board to discuss at a later date on what it could do to address the growing population in Mechanicsburg. The committee suggested that the board look to constructing a new wing at the Middle School so it will hold more classrooms for the students, who are slightly over capacity at the moment and more so in the projected enrollment of 2015-2016 with 1,049 students over the 900 student capacity. Even then, the enrollment projections are a little less than what the reality may be, since the 2007-2008 projected enrollment is 50 students over the current number with 905 students. The committee wanted to remedy that mistake by having the Pennsylvania Economy League update the demographic study for the 2009-2010 school year.

What we are working on

Sentinel reporter Heather Stauffer is checking out if there is any connection between the Bike Fest held at the Carlisle Fairgrounds last weekend and the fact that four motorcycle accidents took place in the area last Saturday. See what she finds out in The Sentinel in the next few days.

Yesterday's most-viewed stories on www.cumberlink.com

1. Convenience store ends gas war that cut price more than $1

2. Nifty Miss 50 at Shippensburg Fair

3. Sentinel Morning Update: Man arrested in Weis pharmacy robbery

4. Tuesday's Sentinel police reports

5. A family's sacred duty