BON-TON STORES COMMUNITY DAY EVENT RAISES OVER $6.5 MILLION FOR LOCAL NON-PROFITS

The Bon-Ton Stores Semi-Annual Community Day Event Generates Donations

Milwaukee, Wisc. (November 30, 2010) - The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. is pleased to announce today that the Company raised over $6.5 million for local non-profit organizations and agencies through its semi-annual Community Day event held on Saturday, November 13, 2010.

To kick-off the holiday giving season, The Bon-Ton Stores, under its eight nameplates: Bon-Ton, Boston Store, Carson Pirie Scott, Bergner's, Elder-Beerman, Herberger's, Younkers and Parisian (Detroit-area), held its signature Community Day event on November 13. Through this charitable-giving event, organizations raised donations for important projects and causes in their communities.

The event provides an opportunity for local 501(c)(3) organizations and schools to raise donations needed to support their mission. By selling $5 discount savings booklets and retaining 100% of the donation, local non-profit groups raise money for their charity. In return for their donation of $5 to the organization, customers receive a $10 coupon and multiple discounts to be used on Community Day. Over the past twelve years, The Bon-Ton Stores have helped thousands of local non-profit groups raise over $80 million through the successful Community Day event.

"The Community Day event allows us to make a meaningful impact on thousands of organizations in the markets in which we operate," said Bud Bergren, President and CEO, The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. "We thank our customers and associates who contributed. We know that fundraising is a crucial activity for local non-profit groups, regardless of their size, and we are honored to support them through this program."

The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc., with headquarters in York, Pennsylvania and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, operates 277 stores, including 11 furniture galleries, in 23 states in the Northeast, Midwest and upper Great Plains under the Bon-Ton, Bergner's, Boston Store, Carson Pirie Scott, Elder-Beerman, Herberger's and Younkers nameplates and, under the Parisian nameplate, stores in the Detroit, Michigan area. The stores offer a broad assortment of brand-name fashion apparel and accessories for women, men and children, as well as cosmetics and home furnishings.  The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc is an active and positive participant in the communities that it serves.

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(Kansas City, Kan., November 24, 2010) - EPA Region 7 has ordered Heartland Plating Co., of Bettendorf, Iowa, and its owners to immediately address a series of issues related to the improper storage and management of hazardous wastes at the metal electroplating facility.

Last month, EPA representatives inspected Heartland Plating's operations at 3900 Elm Street in Bettendorf, and documented throughout the facility spilled and abandoned materials for which the company's representatives could not provide complete and accurate hazardous waste determinations.

Based on container labels and information provided by Heartland employees, EPA inspectors were able to determine that the company was storing or treating a number of wastes, including chromium, zinc, cyanide, cobalt, potassium permanganate, sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide and hydrogen peroxide.

A unilateral administrative order issued today in Kansas City, Kan., requires Heartland Plating and its owners, Marion Patigler and the Estate of Gerhard Patigler, to take several immediate actions to address violations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).

The order directs the respondents to refrain from removing or relocating materials currently located at the facility until EPA determines the waste is being handled safely; immediately certify compliance with hazardous waste regulations or halt the generation and management of wastes until such certification can be made; identify all solid and hazardous wastes currently being treated, stored or disposed at the facility; and restrict access to areas of the property where solid and hazardous wastes have been stored or disposed, and to areas where hazardous material has been released.

Additionally, the respondents are ordered to formulate a plan for proper management or disposal of all solid and hazardous wastes at the facility in compliance with RCRA regulations, and to conduct an investigation to determine if wastes have migrated off the site. They must also undertake an immediate cleanup of any hazardous releases on the property, as well as a cleanup of the building and any surrounding areas that may be contaminated.

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Learn more about EPA's civil enforcement of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act:

http://www.epa.gov/compliance/civil/rcra/index.html

Peer support is powerful, especially when it comes to your health.   For example, a recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found people with diabetes who managed their symptoms together had better outcomes than doing so on their own.  And for the increasing number of people living with hypertension, diabetes, arthritis and cancer, the combination of skills development and peer support can make a difference in how they cope with their condition and the pain, anxiety and fatigue that often comes with it

Based on the work of Stanford University researcher Kate Lorig, DrPH, Better Choices, Better Health™, (available at selfmanage.org) is an online workshop that teaches self-management management skills in the context of a virtual group.  Rigorous studies have demonstrated that this program helps individuals decrease their fatigue, exercise more, expand their self-confidence and improve their health.

The National Council on Aging is currently piloting Better Choices, Better Health in Iowa. While the program is valued at approximately $200 per person, it is now provided free of charge to participants, thanks to pilot funding from The Atlantic Philanthropies.

Better Choices, Better Health:  How It Works

Throughout the six-week workshop, individuals interact with peers and trained facilitators - many of whom have a chronic condition themselves. They come together and set their own goals and build action plans to achieve them.  Participants discuss ways to reduce stress, find and use community resources, and learn better ways to talk to their doctor and families about their health.

Available Online and In the Community

Better Choices, Better Health is the online version of Stanford University's internationally recognized Chronic Disease Self Management Program (CDSMP), which takes place in-person in community-based settings.

Iowa also offers the community-based program, called Iowa Healthy Links available at www.iowahealthylinks.org or (617) 624-5440, which is provided through the state Department of Public Health.  Both Iowa Healthy Links and Better Choices, Better Health programs are effective in addressing a wide range of chronic health conditions.

You can view a video of the community-based version of the program here: http://www.ncoa.org/improving-health/chronic-disease/healthier-lives.html

I'd like to put you in touch with Jay Greenberg, SVP of Social Enterprise at NCOA, Kate Lorig, founder of CDSMP and director of the Stanford Patient Education Research Center, or a program instructor or participant to further discuss how Better Choices, Better Health and Iowa Healthy Links are impacting the local community.

The beauty and bounty of Iowa's own natural resources are too often underestimated.  Driving through 14 counties in Iowa this week, the harvested landscape greeted passersby as far as the eye could see.  Windshield farming is a favorite pastime I've long enjoyed.  As a lifelong Iowan, I very much appreciate our "beautiful land between two rivers."  During this season of Thanksgiving, I appreciate even more its bountiful gifts that keep on giving.

Consider how Iowa's agricultural abundance has made important contributions to global food security, humanitarian relief, economic growth, job creation and national security.  Harnessing Iowa's natural resources -- from traditional row crops to biomass and wind -- bears untold potential to help achieve America's goal to increase the supply and demand for clean, renewable, homegrown energy in the 21^st century.

Without a doubt, agriculture helps anchor the state's economy, supporting tens of thousands of jobs, from transportation, to farm machinery, manufacturing, seed, financial services and the emerging renewable energy industries, including 39 ethanol refineries and dozens of wind farms.

The modern "windmills" dotting Iowa's landscape are helping the state lead the country in the percentage of wind-powered electricity consumption, 17-20 percent in 2010.  Iowa's booming wind energy industry shows how good public policy can achieve a public good.  In the U.S. Senate, I wrote the original federal tax incentives to encourage private sector investment and growth of this emerging industry.  Today, Iowa wind farms boost local property tax receipts; provide new income for landowners; support hundreds of manufacturing jobs, from Newton, to Cedar Rapids and Fort Madison; and generate a growing source of clean energy.

Before "green jobs" and "green energy" became politically popular, Iowa farmers for generations have honored a culture of conservation and conscientious stewardship.  Maintaining and improving water and soil quality is fundamental to a farmer's livelihood, land values and long-term prosperity.  From reduced tillage, to installing terraces and cover crops, farmers look for ways to protect valuable natural resources.  The federal government also encourages producers to maintain and expand their conservation practices through the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP).  The 2008 farm bill authorized funds that in the last year dedicated more than $20 million to Iowa farmers, covering nearly 800,000 acres.  To be considered for the next round of funding, farmers must apply before January 7, 2011.  Check in with the local USDA Natural Resources Conservation field office or its website: www.nrcs.usda.gov to learn more about eligibility requirements.

Iowa's agricultural abundance once again set a high bar this harvest season.  According to the USDA, Iowa's corn crop is estimated to reach over 2.1 billion bushels, averaging 167 bushels per acre compared to the national average of 154 bushels.  Corn yields slid behind last year's average due to unseasonably wet conditions in July.  The USDA estimates the soybean harvest in Iowa will average 52 bushels per acre.  With Mother Nature's cooperation and commitment to sound stewardship, Iowa farmers stand ready to feed a growing world population and displace a growing percentage of fossil fuels with clean-burning renewable energy.

Wrapping up my 30th annual road trip across Iowa, I've met face-to-face with constituents in each of Iowa's 99 counties at least once every year since 1980.  I appreciate the opportunity to listen and discuss the issues that matter the most to Iowans.  The factory floor, classrooms, hospitals, coffee shops and Main Street businesses provide an unrivaled exchange of ideas to help me better represent Iowans in Washington.

As Iowans gather around their Thanksgiving table to recount their blessings with friends and family, Barbara and I join in giving thanks to farmers whose hard work puts food on our tables 365 days a year and to Iowa's agricultural bounty that keeps on giving year after year.  I also give thanks for the trust that Iowans have placed in me to serve our state in the United States Senate.  It's an honor and a privilege that I work to uphold every day of the year.

by Senator Chuck Grassley, R-IA, Friday, November 12, 2010