Bill Horlacher
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Matt Rhule: Coming Home to Beaver Stadium as Nebraska’s Head Coach
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You might have read about Matt Rhule. Yep, the guy who was rumored to be Penn State’s top choice to replace James Franklin as head football coach. In fact, you probably read about him every day from Oct. 12, when Franklin was fired, until Oct. 30, when Rhule’s contract extension at the University of Nebraska…
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Penn State Wrestling: Ironhead Expects Another Year of Greatness From Lion Dynasty
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It’s become a bit of a tradition—one that I don’t take lightly—for me to conduct a pre-season interview on Penn State wrestling with Jeff Byers. Known by his friends as “Ironhead,” Byers is a major on-air presence for Sports Radio 98.7 – The Fox and is the longtime radio voice for Nittany Lion wrestling. Our…
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Sowers Harvest Café: At 10 Years and Counting, What Are the Secrets to Its Success?
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Any new customer at Sowers Harvest Café might feel a certain measure of curiosity. After all, this downtown State College restaurant has somehow attracted a growing clientele while ignoring most of the strategies or shortcuts used by other eateries. The café just marked its 10th anniversary in early September, and it’s experiencing out-the-door lines of…
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Willie Morse: Hall of Fame Comes Calling for State High Legend
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All sorts of commendations and congratulations will go to each person inducted into the Centre Country Sports Hall of Fame this Sunday. And that is altogether appropriate for these remarkable individuals. But from where I sit, there’s one who merits extra attention. He is William “Willie” Morse, a four-year basketball starter for State College Area…
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Penn State’s New International Students Show ‘Resilience, Persistence and Perseverance’ in Getting to Campus
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International students have long been admired by many Happy Valley residents for their courage. Who else has navigated so many cultural obstacles, educational challenges, financial demands and language barriers in order to attend Penn State? Who else has overcome so many fears of the known and the unknown? This year, things got even tougher for…
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Ephraim McKenzie Steps Into Father’s Shoes as Pastor of State College’s Unity Church
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A shift in pastoral leadership can be as unsettling to a church congregation as a transition from one ship’s captain to another. But when Unity Church of Jesus Christ in State College underwent a recent change at its helm there were few concerns, if any, and certainly no distress signals. Pastor Harold McKenzie has stepped…
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Masterful Mom Who Triumphed Over Tragedy Earns ‘Mother of the Year’ Recognition
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Life must have seemed very sweet and very full to Jane Linsky as she began her day on June 26, 1959. She and her husband, Penn State professor Chester Linsky, were wrapping up a year of living in the magical city of Paris where “Chet” was based as a consultant to European manufacturers. Jane loved…
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Ironhead Reviews a Stellar Season for Penn State Wrestling, Offers NCAA Predictions
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The sporting side of his life is paradoxical. On the one hand, Jeff Byers is a lifelong fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the team that seems stuck at the bottom of the National League Central division due to baseball’s economics. But lest you grieve too much for Byers over the pitiful performances of his Pirates,…
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Can Another Nickal Enhance Happy Valley’s Wrestling Prominence?
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With last June’s hiring of Jason Nickal as head wrestling coach, it seemed to me that State College Area High School had staked a claim to future mat transcendence. Sure, I know it’s dangerous to predict the future even with a stalwart leader like Nickal. There’s a reason why Wall Street firms monotonously say, “Past…
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Strawberry Fields’ Scraps & Skeins Celebrating 10 Years of Serving the Fiber Arts Community
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Several weeks ago, I received a phone call from a fellow member of State College High School’s outstanding Class of 1970. My good friend Ellen Herman Campbell wanted to know if I might be able to write a column about the 10th anniversary of Scraps & Skeins, a special fabric store operated by Strawberry Fields.…