Editor's note: Jordan Gruber is Grove City High School's Class of 2009 valedictorian. He has requested - due to the controversy surrounding his right to address his class at graduation and the amount of interest in the content of his commencement speech - that Allied News publish his speech for public access. It follows.

Abraham Lincoln wouldn't bail out AIG. Or would he? It was Lincoln, the Republican, who signed the National Bank Act of 1864, creating a new system of banks and a federal government agency to regulate it. Just four years earlier, the country had a hodge-podge of currency, with more than 10,000 different bank notes circulating; banks failed; the economy struggled.

Mercer Community Band, under the direction of Dr. Hendley D. Hoge, will present a Red, White and Blue concert in honor of America’s 232nd birthday at 7:30 p.m. July 4 on the historic Mercer Courthouse Square.

The story of two Peregrine falcons that have nested on the ledge of Harrisburg’s Rachel Carson State Office Building since 2005 will continue this year before a worldwide audience now that the cameras that broadcast their experiences are live online. Two cameras will chronicle the falcons round-the-clock while streaming the footage live via the Web to interested viewers around the world. The video is available on the Department of Environmental Protection’s Web site, www.depweb.state.pa.us, keyword: Falcons.

Slippery Rock University students and borough residents are partnering to “Polish the Rock.”

It happens much too often.
A beautiful summer afternoon glittered with sunshine and blue skies sneaks its way into western Pennsylvania. It becomes the quintessential day for a group of friends to spend their picture perfect afternoon riding their dirt bikes, periodically slipping into tricks frequently performed by the members of their clique as they hop like bunnies over enlarged mounds of dirt.