Hazardous-material loads on the Morrisville Line through Falls Township would climb from 3,106 a year to 7,838 under projections tied to the proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger, and two Lower Bucks lawmakers have asked federal regulators to stop and study the deal first. Closer to home, a Wind Advisory and up to an inch of rain on Sunday are thinning out the weekend calendar, so check with organizers before you head out.
What Bucks County read this week
DA launches Safe From Hate roundtables
District Attorney Joe Khan is bringing religious, racial and ethnic community leaders together with experts and police to work out how the county responds to hate crimes. The first session, for Lower Bucks, is Tuesday at 3 p.m. at the Peace Center in Langhorne, and the county says each one will be livestreamed.
Local restaurant operator files Chapter 11
Integritty Group, the Middletown-based company behind the Falls Township Dave’s Hot Chicken and the QDOBA at Summit Square, filed for Chapter 11 while fighting its lender in federal court over a $20 million loan. Chapter 11 lets a business keep operating while it reorganizes, so the filing doesn’t by itself close either restaurant.
Rail merger could push more freight through Morrisville
State Sen. Steve Santarsiero and state Rep. Jim Prokopiak asked the Surface Transportation Board for a full review of the merger. Projections cited in their filing show freight volume on the line up 51.1 percent by year five and about 105 more trucks a day at the Morrisville Intermodal Terminal on Cabot Boulevard.
Commissioners ask the state to ban kratom
The county commissioners passed a resolution asking Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Debra Bogen to use her emergency powers to list kratom as a Schedule I drug. The resolution bans nothing on its own; it is a formal request for state action.
New martial arts gym opens in Fairless Hills
Encoded MMA is now open at 179 Lincoln Highway, run by a coach with about 15 years in Lower Bucks. Classes cover jiu-jitsu, wrestling, boxing, sambo and mixed martial arts for kids, teens and adults, and no experience is required.
Out and about, Sept. 27 to Oct. 2
- Sunday, Sept. 27, 1 to 4 p.m.: Live music at Nissley Vineyards, Peddler’s Village, Lahaska.
- Sunday, Sept. 27, 4 to 6 p.m.: Conversation and Controversy, a free talk series on the 250th anniversary of the War for Independence, held at the Erwin Stover House in Tinicum Park, Erwinna. Space is limited; reserve by emailing ashollander@buckscounty.org.
- Monday, Sept. 28, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.: Half-off day at the Friends of the Yardley-Makefield Library fall book sale, 1080 Edgewood Road, Yardley (library calendar).
- Monday, Sept. 28, 11:15 a.m.: Teddy Bear Clinic for kids and their stuffed animals, New Hope-Solebury Library, New Hope.
- Wednesday, Sept. 30, 11 a.m.: Library 101, a free open house at the Mercer Museum Research Library, Doylestown.
- Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2:30 p.m.: Gallery talk on B.J.O. Nordfeldt’s Lambertville years, Michener Art Museum, Doylestown. $10 members, $22 nonmembers.
- Thursday, Oct. 1, 8 p.m.: Loudon Wainwright III with Wesley Stace, Sellersville Theater 1894, Sellersville. Tickets $35 to $62.
- All week: FallFest at Shady Brook Farm in Yardley runs through Oct. 30 with a corn maze, pumpkin picking and wagon rides.
Rain has already knocked out some weekend plans. DCNR canceled Sunday’s Moss and Lichen walk at Delaware Canal State Park and Amphibian Ambience at Ralph Stover State Park.
Wind and rain, then a dry week
The National Weather Service has a Wind Advisory for Lower Bucks through noon Sunday, with north gusts up to 50 mph that could bring down limbs and cause scattered outages. A Coastal Flood Advisory for Lower Bucks runs through 5 a.m. Sunday, with up to a foot of water possible in low-lying areas along the river and tidal creeks.
In Doylestown, showers come in tonight, mostly after midnight, with a low around 55 and a 90 percent chance of rain. Sunday stays wet: showers, a high near 64, gusts to 35 mph and a 100 percent chance of rain, with three-quarters of an inch to an inch possible. Showers taper before 2 a.m. Monday, with a low around 58.
The rest of the week dries out. Monday has a 30 percent chance of early showers and a high near 67, then it’s partly to mostly sunny Tuesday through Friday, with highs of 72 to 76. Full forecast on our weather page.
From the meeting rooms
Bensalem schools name a superintendent. The Bensalem Board of School Directors voted unanimously Sept. 23 to make interim Superintendent Dr. Victoria Velazquez the permanent superintendent. She’ll be sworn in Oct. 1 at 6 p.m. at the high school, the Bucks County Herald reports.
Wrightstown moves on a new public works building. Supervisors authorized the township engineer to write bid specifications for an enclosed building to replace the three-sided structure on Penns Park Road, which has stood for more than 30 years, with construction planned for early spring 2027. They also approved $20,015 from capital reserves for filter membranes at the Chapman Corners sewer plant, according to the Herald.
New Britain Township writes data center rules. Supervisors are drafting a curative amendment to define where data centers could go and what limits would apply. They take up the ordinance framework on Oct. 5, covering setbacks, height, lot sizes and zoning districts, and face a Jan. 25, 2027 deadline to enact it, the Herald reports.
Central Bucks reorganizes student services. The district plans to split its single pupil services director job into two posts, one for specialized educational services and one for student services, pending school board approval, according to the Herald.
On the calendar. The DA’s first Safe From Hate roundtable meets Tuesday, Sept. 29, at 3 p.m. at the Peace Center in Langhorne. On Thursday, Oct. 1, Pennsbury’s board holds its wellness committee at 4 p.m. and facilities committee at 5 p.m. at Charles Boehm Middle School, and the Newtown Township Zoning Hearing Board meets at 7 p.m.
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