Vandals Strike Gravesite Of Former Pennsylvania Governor

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

Editor’s note:  Is there something in the water?  People are just going off the rails lately!

Something puzzling has happened in Meadville, a community 90 miles north of Pittsburgh.

The gravesite of former Gov. Raymond Shafer was desecrated last month, its monument defaced, the grave dug down to the vault and messages written in spray paint on the exterior of a nearby church, cursing the late governor in French.

State police in Meadville have no suspects and no leads.  And the family of the late governor, who led Pennsylvania from 1967 to 1971 and who died in 2006, has no idea what prompted the vandalism.

“We do know that it’s probably not somebody who did it on the spur of the moment,” said the late governor’s daughter Diane Shafer Domnick, who lives in Meadville and teaches at the University of Pittsburgh in Titusville.  ”People had to be ready to do the damage that they did.”

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/region/vandals-strike-gravesite-of-former-pa-governor-666864/#ixzz2FSwTZStA

Verizon Offers Up To $50,000 Reward In Reading Vandalism Case

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Verizon is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of people who vandalized the phone company’s copper telephone cables that run under the Bingaman Street Bridge.

Two recent incidents put public safety at risk for hundreds of customers in the Reading area and caused unnecessary telephone service outages, said Lee J. Gierczynski, Verizon spokesman.

Gierczynski said cables that run under the bridge were vandalized on Sept. 16 and on Tuesday.

The vandalism, which police suspect is being committed by copper thieves, caused a loss of phone service in some areas of south Reading and Kenhorst.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=417676

More Metal Thieves!

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 A reward of up to $5,000 is being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the theft of 50 sections of guard rail stolen last week from a Berks County township.

State police in Reading said the guard rail was stolen between 1:41 a.m. and 2:04 a.m. March 5 from the Union Township Municipal Authority’s property at 177 Center Road.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-guard-rails-stolen-in-berks-county-20120312,0,3083637.story

Verizon Loses $300,000 To Copper Thieves In Fayette County, Pennsylvania

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A sign of rough economic times is people breaking the law to get money.  Usually, things like shoplifting, armed robbery and burglary are the most common.  However, some clever criminals in Fayette County are stealing telephone line to strip the copper wire out and sell it. 

We had a copper thief here in Pottstown.  They were stealing copper rain gutters off churches, of all things, and selling it.  They were  fortunately apprehended.

In Fayette County, 35 thefts of telephone line have occurred since April.  Since October, 19 of these thefts have occurred.  Guess somebody needs some Christmas cash?

Verizon is offering up to $50,000 in rewards for information leading to an arrest. The downside is, in addition to Verizon being out money, Verizon customers are losing their phone service. 

Fayette County is mostly rural and located south of Pittsburgh.  The county shares its southern border with West Virginia.  The county seat and largest city is Uniontown.