First, the freon. It's amazing what a little freon will do. Actually, about five pounds of it! The AC guy came over Thursday morning to check out the system. Turns out I was out of freon! There's probably a small leak somewhere in the system. It probably took a few years for it to all leak out. But, thinking back, the level was probably low last year. I remember thinking that the AC really wasn't making things as cool as it should have. Anyway, I'm all filled up with freon now. By the time this stuff leaks out, I'll probably need to get a whole new, modern cooling unit.
As for the beer, here's an update on the Rolling Rock situation. Congressman John Murtha is now getting involved. The AP reported today that he's trying to set up some kind of deal involving the Pittsburgh Brewing Company, makers of Iron City beer. It all seems to be in the "I made some calls" stage right now, but I guess Murtha's idea is to, somehow, have PBC buy the brewery in Latrobe and then maybe work out some sort of licensing deal with Anheuser-Busch to keep brewing Rolling Rock in PA.
I'm not sure Murtha's plan will ever get past the talking stage. For one thing, the Pittsburgh Brewing Company is in bankruptcy protection. I'm no financial whiz, but Chapter 11 does not really seem like a good time for a business to go out and buy big ticket items - like a brewery. Murtha would probably have to cook up some kind of grant or loan package - maybe based on the Latrobe brewery's historic value? - to make the money part happen.
Beyond that, is Anheuser-Busch. They now own the Rolling Rock name and recipe. It's theirs, and they can brew the beer wherever they please. In this case, it's supposedly going to be an A-B brewery in New Jersey. An article in one of the Pittsburgh papers quoted an A-B spokesperson as saying, basically, we won't take work away from our own employees. I suppose A-B might reconsider, but Murtha would have to come up with a VERY nice financial package for them, too, I think.
HERE is an article from June 1 about Murtha's efforts.
HERE is a follow-up article from June 2.