Philly Says Yuengling Owes $6.6 Million In Taxes

English: Finished bottles of Traditional Lager being placed into cases at Yuengling Brewery, Pottsville, PA. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WHEN Dick Yuengling bought a round of beers for more than 10,000 Philadelphians on National Drink Beer Day last year, he said “the city has truly shown our family business brotherly love, and we’d like to raise a glass to that.”

Now, Dick Yuengling may be throwing back a few of his own brews after receiving a civil lawsuit from the city that claims his brewery, D.G. Yuengling and Son Inc., has failed to pay more than $6.6 million in city taxes, interest and penalty fees.

How does a Pottsville-based beer company that doesn’t have a brewery or a plant in Philadelphia come to owe millions in business-income and receipts taxes to the city?

Read more:  http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/city/20130205_City_says_Yuengling_owes__6_6_million_in_taxes.html

The Best Pizzas In America?

English: Tony’s special Neapolitan pizza ready to eat (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Best-of lists start more arguments than they settle.

New York Magazine’s rundown of 101 awesome pizzas surely will have pie fans debating the inclusions and the omissions.

Let’s start with the eight Philadelphia-area selections.

Some are painfully obvious – otherwise fine choices plucked from every other best-of list – like the Lombarda from Osteria, Margherita from Pizzeria Stella, Neapolitan from Nomad Pizza, and Lardo from Barbuzzo.  Same for the duck-fat-enriched deep-dish crusts from Garces Trading Company.

Read more:  http://www.philly.com/philly/food/The_best_pizza_in_America.html

Pottstown Reconsiders Government ‘Mission’ And ‘Core Values’

Location of Pottstown in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  I would say you get what you pay for but Mr. Flanders makes more money that many mayors of Pennsylvania’s largest cities.  Then again, we are asked to believe that in the entire United States of America there is no one more qualified to run a borough of 22,377 people than the Pottstown Chief of Police.  Interestingly enough, Pottstown’s crime rate is higher than many major cities in Pennsylvania.   I wonder if that was the determining factor for his selection 😉

POTTSTOWN — It is not uncommon for a new company or a new administration to try to re-boot their operation by sitting down and asking themselves “what is our mission?” or “what are our core values?”

Well, you can add the Borough of Pottstown to the list of those organizations.

And even though the borough’s mission statement and core values were updated as recently as Oct. 11, 2011, Borough Manager Mark Flanders has presented borough council with drafts of a new mission statement and new core values for the borough.

He wants to know what they think before they become official.

The mission statement discussion is on the agenda for Wednesday night’s borough council meeting.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130205/NEWS01/130209753/pottstown-reconsiders-government-mission-and-core-values-#full_story

Sensor Gear Helps Lancaster City Rate Streets

Researchers spent about 10 days last summer cruising Lancaster city’s streets looking for the good, the bad and the ugly.

And, they did so looking straight down.

The specially equipped van carried laser-guided sensors that recorded details of every inch of the 110 miles of city streets, 10 miles of city-owned alleyways and the 20 miles of state roads that cut through the city.

The result of the collected data is the city’s first pavement management plan.

The plan lists the city streets and ranks them by which ones most need repair and repaving.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/811319_Sensor-gear-helps-Lancaster-city-rate-streets.html#ixzz2K3prMFwe

Man Charged With Assaulting, Torturing Elderly Sisters Waives Hearing

A 22-year-old man will be tried for binding, beating and torturing three elderly Mennonite sisters last year in what police called a case of “ethnic intimidation.”

Dereck Taylor Holt and his attorney, Alan Goldberg, waived a preliminary hearing Tuesday morning on numerous offenses, including felony aggravated assault, robbery, unlawful restraint and reckless endangerment.

In turn, District Judge Tony Russell ordered Holt to be tried on 23 charges related to the Dec. 14 incident in Clay Township.

Holt, locked up on $1 million bail since his arrest Dec. 16, appeared in the Ephrata courtroom only to sign paperwork.  He said nothing.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/811494_Man-charged-with-assaulting–torturing-elderly-sisters-waives-hearing.html#ixzz2K3oNvcKr

City Of Reading Amnesty Nets $351,000 In Fees And Fines So Far

A 1947 topographic map of the Reading, Pennsylvania area. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

With less than two weeks left to go, the city’s amnesty program for overdue rental housing fees and quality-of-life fines has reached $351,000, or about 70 percent of its goal, codes manager Ron Natale said Monday.

The offer that began in mid-December ends Feb. 15, and property owners who don’t contact the city by then will be turned over to its new collection firm, Harrisburg-based National Recovery Agency, Natale told City Council.

The city has about $2.8 million in delinquent quality-of-life fines and rental housing fees from 22,000 unpaid bills.  Officials had hoped to collect about $500,000 of that with the amnesty program, which waives penalties and late fees if the property owners pay the original amounts.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=450373

Brecknock Township Receives An Unlikely Inheritance

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

It started when Brecknock Township suddenly found itself the owner of a mansion, secluded on a 47-acre wooded lot off Fitterling Road in the township.

A lawyer from Oregon, executrix of the will of a man they knew little about, Philip T. Buxton, called in 2011 to say Buxton had left the township the house and land to use for a park.  The only stipulation was that it be named for him and his late wife, Jane.

That came as a surprise to township officials.

“We were very happy to be the recipients of it,” said Jeffrey M. Fiant, supervisors chairman.

Read more:   http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=450358