Milton Hershey School

A 13-YEAR-OLD Delaware County honor-roll student was denied admission to the Milton Hershey School, which serves low-income students, because he's HIV positive, a federal discrimination lawsuit filed Wednesday in Philadelphia alleges. The complaint came the day before World AIDS Day, pointed out Ronda Goldfein, executive director of the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, which filed the suit. The boy sought admission to the Hershey school's residential program for this school year, according to the complaint, but was told that his application would not be considered because "[the student's]

For the 100th time, students will assemble today for the first day of classes at an institution whose promotional literature boasts, "There is no other place like Milton Hershey School. " And it's true. Indeed, there is no other place on Earth quite like it. It is the world's wealthiest, largest residential school for students in prekindergarten through 12th grade, school officials say. It sprawls over 10,000 acres of rolling green hills and is centered on a domed, marble building.

Four prominent Pennsylvania Republicans are earning more than a combined $1 million a year as directors on three boards connected with the Milton Hershey School, one of the state's wealthiest charities and the nation's largest residential school for disadvantaged children. LeRoy Zimmerman, a former two-term attorney general who has headed the charity since 2006, earned the most, $499,996, according to the group's latest tax filing with the Internal Revenue Service. The others are: James Nevels, a Philadelphia investment manager, who was compensated $325,359 on two Hershey-related boards.

Facing negotiations with the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General after a yearlong investigation, the $7.5 billion Hershey charity for disadvantaged children has hired as its general counsel Philadelphia lawyer John H. Estey, a former chairman of the Delaware River Port Authority and chief of staff for Ed Rendell when he was Pennsylvania's governor. Estey's appointment comes as the charitable section of the Office of Attorney General has concluded the fact-finding part of its investigation and is said to be seeking changes at one of the nation's wealthiest charities.

Any trial in the case of the Delaware County teenager who has sued the Milton Hershey School for denying him admission because he is HIV-positive should be held in Philadelphia, his attorney contends. The school has asked U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, where the suit was filed, to move the trial to Harrisburg, about 15 miles from the boarding school founded by the famous chocolate merchant, and thus closer to key witnesses involved in the day-to-day operation of the school.

Arthur R. Whiteman, 78, of Hershey, a retired banker who served on the board of the Hershey Foods Corp. and helped found the Hershey Medical Center, died at his home Thursday. Mr. Whiteman was the last surviving member of the Hershey boards of directors to be appointed by the company's founder, Milton S. Hershey. A 1927 graduate of the Milton Hershey School, he was president of the Hershey Bank, the Hershey Trust Co. and the former Hershey Estates, now known as the Hershey Entertainment and Resort Co. (HERCO)

The Hershey Trust Co. board, heavily criticized for exploring a sale of the Hershey Foods Corp. last summer, will become more local and also will add two people with ties to the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office under an overhaul announced by that office yesterday. Ten of the current 17 members of the board will leave, and four new members will be added, leaving the trust with an 11-person board when the new arrangement takes effect in January. Six of the 11 live in central Pennsylvania.

Five former board members of the charitable trust that controls Hershey Foods Corp. - including a former chief executive officer of the chocolate-maker - yesterday questioned the trust's decision to put the storied company up for sale. The former board members said they were worried about the adverse impact that the sale of Hershey Foods might have on employees and the community at large. "I'm very concerned that, if there's a takeover, there will be less contributions" to the community from Hershey Foods, John Aichele, a former board member, said.

Any trial in the case of the Delaware County teenager who has sued the Milton Hershey School for denying him admission because he is HIV-positive should be held in Philadelphia, his attorney contends. The school has asked U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, where the suit was filed, to move the trial to Harrisburg, about 15 miles from the boarding school founded by the famous chocolate merchant, and thus closer to key witnesses involved in the operation of the school. But in an opposing petition filed Monday, lawyer Ronda Goldfein said the move "would simply shift the inconvenience of a two-hour commute" to "a low-income family.

By Pablo Eisenberg The fervor with which Gov. Corbett and Attorney General Linda Kelley denounced Penn State officials for tolerating the alleged sexual transgressions of assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky stands in sharp contrast to their stance on the long-lasting problems at the Milton Hershey School, the repercussions of which are probably as serious. For a couple of decades, the Hershey School, established for indigent children by chocolate baron Milton Hershey, has been the focus of continuous scandals.

A 13-YEAR-OLD Delaware County honor-roll student was denied admission to the Milton Hershey School, which serves low-income students, because he's HIV positive, a federal discrimination lawsuit filed yesterday in Philadelphia alleges. The complaint came the day before World AIDS Day, noted Ronda Goldfein, executive director of the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, which filed the suit. The boy was told that his application would not be considered because "[the student's]

William Charney Jr. walked into the federal courthouse in Harrisburg 10 days ago and was sentenced to more than seven years in prison. The charge: possession of almost 700 images and 40 videos of child pornography. A vile crime in any circumstance, it is particularly chilling in the case of Charney. The 43-year-old, married and the father of two children, was responsible for the residential life of about 800 teenage students and was living on the campus of the Milton Hershey School for impoverished children.

Facing negotiations with the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General after a yearlong investigation, the $7.5 billion Hershey charity for disadvantaged children has hired as its general counsel Philadelphia lawyer John H. Estey, a former chairman of the Delaware River Port Authority and chief of staff for Ed Rendell when he was Pennsylvania's governor. Estey's appointment comes as the charitable section of the Office of Attorney General has concluded the fact-finding part of its investigation and is said to be seeking changes at one of the nation's wealthiest charities.

This was not the America that foreign students expected to find when they signed up to work at a Hershey Co. candy warehouse in central Pennsylvania. They believed that they would get a chance to experience American life and culture, practice their English, and earn money to take back home. But what sounded like a sweet deal has been anything but that - if troubling allegations made by the students are true. They say they were misled by recruiters and have been mistreated as cheap, hired help to fill a labor shortage in candyland.

The U.S. Labor Department said Wednesday that it had opened two investigations into working conditions for foreign cultural-exchange students employed at a Hershey Co. candy warehouse in central Pennsylvania. At the same time, the organizations responsible for employing the students were seeking to resolve a standoff with them by offering a week's paid vacation and cultural-enhancing day trips to Philadelphia, Amish country, and Gettysburg. Hundreds of placard-waving students protested last week, including in Center City, over the conditions they encountered after arriving in the United States on J-1 visas.

Four prominent Pennsylvania Republicans are earning more than a combined $1 million a year as directors on three boards connected with the Milton Hershey School, one of the state's wealthiest charities and the nation's largest residential school for disadvantaged children. LeRoy Zimmerman, a former two-term attorney general who has headed the charity since 2006, earned the most, $499,996, according to the group's latest tax filing with the Internal Revenue Service. The others are: James Nevels, a Philadelphia investment manager, who was compensated $325,359 on two Hershey-related boards.