Caltagirone Seeks Funds For Reading’s War On Crime

Shaking a few trees could bear fruit for crime-fighting efforts in the city, state Rep. Thomas R. Caltagirone said Friday.

“I’m on the board of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency,” the Reading Democrat said. “I’m going to make a special appeal to see if there’s any money or different programs available.”

Police Chief William M. Heim said the department would welcome the money.

“We could use it for additional training for our officers, such as investigative and operational seminars, as well as providing supervisory and management training for new sergeants and lieutenants,” he said. “We could also use help to upgrade and replace the laptop computers in our patrol cars to accommodate updated technology.”

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=389138

Up To 364 Jobs On The Block In Reading School District

Nancy Swope knows a thing or two about education.

She’s been teaching in the Reading School District for 32 years, longer than some in the capacity crowd gathered inside the Reading School District’s board room Wednesday night have been alive, she pointed out with a smile.

Swope spoke passionately to the school board about her dedication to the district. About her passion. About giving her heart, her soul, her blood, sweat and tears to Reading schools.

It was a stark reminder of what the district will be losing.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=388948

14 Houses Put On Blighted List By Reading Panel

The city’s Blighted Property Review Committee on Thursday certified 14 more houses as blighted, despite requests from some owners for more time to fix them.

It also removed six properties from its target list because owners had resolved problems. And it tabled action on three other properties.

Despite the certifications – which allow the city to take the properties, by eminent domain if necessary – the owners are in little jeopardy of the homes being wrested from them any time soon.

The Reading Redevelopment Authority, which would take ownership of the homes, has said it won’t take any property unless the city has an identified use for it – which is rare.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=386947

Hispanics In Berks County Double Since 2000

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Berks County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ibrain Marquez-Pacheco knows exactly why he came to Reading: the low cost of living.

“He’s seen that poor people can survive here,” said Luz Mendez, who was translating on Thursday for the 73-year-old man originally from Cuba. “For him, this is like any other city he can go to, but here he can live and survive.”

Marquez-Pacheco was one of several hundred Hispanics who were having their daily lunch at the Daniel Torres Hispanic Center’s senior center at Fifth and Washington streets, where Mendez is a case manager.

Marquez-Pacheco is also one of tens of thousands of Hispanics who came to Berks since the 2000 Census.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=386940

Wyomissing School Board Accepts Krem’s Retirement

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States Public School Districts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  That didn’t take long!!!!!!!

The Wyomissing School Board has accepted the resignation of Superintendent David P. Krem and hired his successor.

Krem submitted his resignation for the purpose of retirement Monday night. His final day with the district will be June 29.

Krem will be replaced by Julia R. Vicente, the district’s assistant superintendent/ director of elementary and secondary education.

The magnitude of the moves was belied by the mechanism, a board vote to approve a personnel report that spelled out the administrative changes.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=386236

Reading City Schools Finances Not So Dire, Officials Say

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States Public School Districts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The budget outlook in the Reading School District isn’t good, but it’s not quite as bad as originally advertised, district officials said Wednesday night.

The Reading School Board held a public budget meeting at Reading High School, providing the dozens of parents, teachers, students and others who attended an update on the 2012-13 budget and a chance to speak about potential cuts.

From the outset, administrators and board members challenged the picture painted by former administrators – eight of whom were fired two weeks ago – that the district is facing a $53 million budget shortfall.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=385317

Some Reading Neighbors, Officials Leery Of Liquor License At Perkiomen Avenue Site

The owner of the planned Shop Smart Buy Smarter grocery has spent more than $1 million on the building at 1626 Perkiomen Ave. and wants to open a 38-seat restaurant that’s in the same building but separate from the store.

To do that, state law says he needs City Council’s OK to transfer an out-of-town liquor license to the restaurant.

But city officials and neighbors told council at a hearing Wednesday that they don’t need yet another liquor outlet in the area that’s already got plenty of taverns.

Council plans a vote on the measure May 29.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/Article.aspx?id=385287

Taxes Set To Rise As Wilson School District Board Of Education Approves Budget

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States Public School Districts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Wilson School Board on Monday approved an $87 million tentative budget that would require a 2 percent tax hike. The vote was 5-2.

The budget doesn’t require layoffs, furloughs or any program cuts, said Diane J. Richards, director of finance and support services. To balance the budget, Wilson needs to use $525,000 from reserves to cover higher pension contributions.

The 0.46-mill proposed property tax hike would increase the tax to 23.77 mills. The owner of a property assessed at $100,000 would see a tax bill increase to $2,377 from $2,331.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=384861

Kitten Tortured With Pen Dies In Home

Editor’s note:  I think there is a special room in hell for people who torture animals!

A kitten that was tortured with a pen before it was found in Mount Penn has died at the home of the woman who adopted it, authorities said Monday.

The kitten, which was about 5 months old, was rescued in March by a Mount Penn couple who found it with a pen stuck in its body near their house in the 2600 block of Perkiomen Avenue.

The kitten was taken to the Animal Rescue League of Berks County and underwent emergency surgery to remove the pen. League staff named her Susie.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=384867

Treasure Hunters Take Over Downtown Reading

Downtown Reading, Pennsylvania; with Berks County courthouse on left; July 2007 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Fourteen teams with names like The Mad House, Lady Berks and The Lucky Stars did a fast-walking search for treasure up and down Penn Street on Saturday afternoon, looking through stores, talking to total strangers and peering into restaurants.

The organizers, the Downtown Improvement District, hoped the participants would find that Penn Street itself is the treasure.

The is DID’s second year for the Downtown Reading Treasure Hunt, and with 87 people on the teams, including six groups returning from last year, there were double the participants.

“Our goal is to introduce people to downtown Reading who would not normally come down here,” said Charles R. Broad, DID executive director. “People get amazed at the kind of things they find here.”

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=384488

Landlords Vent Over Reading’s Quality-Of-Life Program

Reading City Hall on the NRHP since April 13, 1982. At 8th and Washington Streets, Reading, Pennsylvania (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mayor Vaughn D. Spencer walked into the lion’s den Tuesday night, answering hardball questions hurled by local landlords in the Real Estate Investors Association.

They were angry at the $505 cost of a half-hour codes inspection for a rental property.

They were livid at what they called the Gestapo mentality of city inspectors, and warned that sooner or later some landlord will hurt them because of their attitudes.

But they vented mostly about the quality-of-life program, with its $25-and-more tickets, which began in early 2011.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=383644

West Reading Gets Grants For Streets Work

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Berks County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Big changes will be coming to several West Reading streets this summer, thanks to $300,000 in grants from the state Department of Community and Economic Development.

According to Dean L. Rohrbach, who manages the borough’s Elm Street program, West Reading will be designated as one of the first Keystone Communities Elm Streets in the state, making it eligible for various revitalization grants through the Elm Street program.

“If we’re not among the first, we will be the first,” he said.

The borough has been approved for two grants: one for $250,000 for public improvements and one for $50,000 to help implement various revitalization programs.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=383070

Reading Schools Budget Fiasco Blamed On Mismanagement

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States Public School Districts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It’s easy to see that the Reading School District has some major problems.

A $53 million budget gap. Claims of nepotism and favoritism. Local, state and federal investigations.

But how far does the dysfunction go?

The Reading Eagle has conducted an investigation of the district leadership, looking at issues ranging from finances to contracts to hiring practices. The results show a pattern of behavior that is at best neglectful and wasteful.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=383087

Development Group To Buy Abraham Lincoln Hotel Garage

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Berks County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Reading Parking Authority Board agreed Wednesday to sell the parking garage at The Abraham Lincoln hotel to Alan Shuman Development Group, Reading, for $1.05 million.

Authority Executive Director Lawrence H. Lee said the board wanted to sell the garage at North Fifth and Washington streets to whoever was purchasing the hotel, for which the development group has an agreement of sale.

Details on the hotel purchase were not available.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=382186

State OKs $10 Million Loan To Reading For New Sewer Main

Editor’s note:  Every community downstream is thankful!

The state has approved a $10 million low-interest loan to Reading from its PennVest program to help the city build a new 8,700-foot sewer main from the Sixth and Canal streets pumping station across the Schuylkill River and to the treatment plant on Fritz’s Island.

Officials also announced Wednesday that the state has approved a nearly $2 million grant to the Berks County Conservation District to help four dairy farms keep manure from polluting storm water runoff before it reaches local streams.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=382102

8 Administrators Axed In Reading City Schools Purge

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States Public School Districts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  The drama continues!

The Reading School Board without warning Wednesday night fired eight top administrators, including the district’s acting superintendent.

The board voted 6-2 – with James Washington and Frank Denbowski voting no – to fire Dr. J. Drue Miles, acting superintendent.

The board then voted 5-3 – with Denbowski, Washington and Rebecca Acosta voting no – to fire Miles’ two assistant superintendents, the director of elementary education, the director of secondary education, the director of student services, and both the director and assistant director of special education.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=382193

Losses At Reading Civic Centers Likely To Hit $700,000

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Berks County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Echoing their projections of two months ago, members of the Berks County Convention Center Authority said Thursday that the two venues likely will show an operating loss of $700,000 by the end of the season June 30.

They also voted to let the Jehovah’s Witnesses pay the rent for their upcoming summer conventions by replacing, for $29,000, an outdated processer in what the board acknowledged is the arena’s terrible sound system.

Board members said they are making plans to head off losses the next season.

“We can’t and won’t have a replication of that in the next year,” said Carl E. Herbein, board treasurer.

Read more:

City Of Reading Needs More Cops, Police Chief Warns

Despite needing 174 officers this year and budgeting for 168, the Reading Police Department has fewer than 140 officers able to do their full jobs, Police Chief William M. Heim told City Council on Monday.

And the Reading Fire Department is down seven firefighters from its already pared force – a gap being filled by mandatory overtime because the firefighters are too tired to volunteer for it – acting Fire Chief Jeffrey Squibb said.

Mass retirements have plagued both departments, and council asked the chiefs what their needs were for the city’s safety. The question was partly a reaction to council’s earlier, grudging approval of two new hires for the mayor’s office.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=380219

Unfinished West Reading Project Leaves Residents With Dirt, Weeds, Fading Hopes

Every year on the anniversary of her move-in date, Holly Zdravecki picks up the phone to call West Reading Borough Hall.

She bought the first town house in the promising Villas at West Reading development off Tulpehocken Avenue on March 16, 2008.

But Zdravecki still doesn’t have a paved street in front of her home.

Instead, mounds of dirt covered with grass and weeds adorn the lot at the entrance to the development. Six large concrete foundations with utility lines poking through the ground make up the north side of the complex.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=379000

City Of Reading Hires Montgomery County Firm For Payroll

At Mayor Vaughn D. Spencer’s request, City Council on Monday awarded data processing giant ADP a $214,100 contract to take over the city’s payroll operations.

The move will get rid of an error-prone, in-house system for which the IRS has fined the city more than $100,000.

“We’re not payroll experts; we’re getting out of the business,” said Christopher Zale, acting director of administrative services.

The IRS fines - $50,400 each for tax years 2007 and 2008 because the city’s W-2 forms weren’t compatible with IRS computers, and weren’t re-filed properly until months after the deadline – were levied in 2010.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=378811