Happy Independence Day and Happy Birthday to Jason from our staff. I think that it says something for your degree of patriotism if you are born on the 4th of July. The biggest race of the year in this area is the July 4th race in Altoona. They had a 2 mile walk, a 5K race (3.1 miles) and a 15K race (9.3 miles), I did the 15K. This is longest I’ve run since last September. I finished 43rd overall in a field of 213 15K racers and 2nd in my age group with a time of 70 minutes and 8 seconds. That equates to an average time per mile of 7:32. Charlotte and I went to the family picnic today and the big hit was my brother’s 2 week old baby, Trey. He is doing well and likes to be held by his Uncle John. I got the grass cut this evening and need to get ready tomorrow for another week in Harrisburg. There’s nothing new on that front as far as I know. I did get a lot of feedback this morning at the race about the budget and again, no one wants a tax increase.

- John