Panel OKs data for drawing district maps

HARRISBURG (AP) » The fiveperson commission redrawing Pennsylvania General Assembly district lines gave its approval on Monday to adjusted and validated census-based data they will use to craft preliminary maps over the coming months.

“Even though we have 90 days to develop a preliminary plan under the provisions of the state constitution, we’re all hopeful that we can get it done much sooner than that. That will be our goal,” said former University of Pittsburgh chancellor Mark Nordenberg, who chairs the Legislative Reapportionment Commission.

It voted 4-1 to certify census data that shifts just under 27,000 state prison inmates back to their home districts for the maps that will be used for state legislative elections during the coming decade.

Grace L. Freeman

Grace L. Freeman, age 95, died September 9, 2021 at The Willows retirement home in Hatfield. She was a longtimeresidentandnativeofHatfieldandLansdale. Grace was born in 1926, the ninth of 11 children of Helen (Huston) Longaker and John Ullmann Longaker. Her father was the longtime owner of the Longaker Hotel in Lansdale, where Grace spent her childhood. She was predeceased by her husband

of 54 years, George Freeman and her 10 siblings. Grace graduated Lansdale High School in 1944. She then worked one year in Philadelphia for Bendix Aviation Co., earning recognition as a “Rosie the Riveter” for the manufacturing job she did to help in the WWII effort. In later years Grace worked in a Lansdale factory that produced instant coffee,

and also for Penn Elastic in West Point. She is survived by several nieces and nephews. A Memorial Service for Grace will be at 10 a.m., October 29, 2021 in St. John’s United Church of Christ, 500 W. Main St., Lansdale, PA. Arr. ShellyDinan Funeral Home, Lansdale. Condolences may also be sent to www.dinanfuneralhome.com