Pittsburgh Officer’s January Memo Alerted Police Command Of Fund Diversion

A map of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with its neighborhoods labeled. For use primarily in the list of Pittsburgh neighborhoods. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Pittsburgh police Deputy Chief Paul Donaldson ordered a secret credit union account to be shut down after learning of its existence in January from then-Assistant Chief Regina McDonald, he said Friday night.

The deputy chief confirmed that he has been cooperating with federal investigators probing the flow of funds into the Pittsburgh police bureau‘s personnel and finance office and has been interviewed by the FBI.

In January, Deputy Chief Donaldson said, Assistant Chief McDonald, who is now acting police chief, approached him after being made aware that an officer at police headquarters had written a formal memo documenting concerns about potentially questionable financial practices involving colleagues.

The memo, obtained by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, was dated Jan. 18 from Officer Christie A. Gasiorowski to her supervisor, Sgt. Carol Ehlinger.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/pittsburgh-officers-january-memo-alerted-police-command-of-fund-diversion-678558/#ixzz2N3QmJVuw

Daylight Saving Time: Why Do We Do It?

As we set our clocks forward an hour this Sunday, there are at least a few things we can be sure of:

• There will be lots of groaning about losing an hour of sleep,

• People will be cheery about the growing length of the day (and sunshine), and

• Lots of people will debate why we even have Daylight Saving Time.

The government tells us that DST does three fundamentally good things — saves energy, saves lives by preventing traffic injuries, and reduces crime. But where’s the proof? Where are the studies?

“There’s really not anything recent that’s been done,” said Bill Mosley, public affairs spokesman for the Department of Transportation, which oversees the nation’s time zones and observance of DST.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130309/NEWS01/130309404/daylight-saving-time-why-do-we-do-it-

All West Reading Police Officers Back On Streets

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

The West Reading Police Department is back to full force following a firearms certification mix-up that temporarily took six officers off the streets.

Sgt. Keith Phillips, acting officer in charge, confirmed that all of the officers, including himself, had been recertified and returned to regular duty by Friday afternoon.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=457738

Reading Mayor’s Campaign Finances Being Probed

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

Mayor Vaughn D. Spencer’s 2011 mayoral campaign committee – and its $10,000 gifts to each of two Philadelphia City Council candidates – is the focus of the Berks County Election Board’s probe begun in August, the board chairman confirmed Friday.

The chairman, Commissioner Mark C. Scott, also confirmed that he is the one who sought approval for the probe after studying the campaign finance reports of the Friends for Vaughn Spencer committee.

He said the Philadelphia questions are one aspect of the probe, but there are others.  He did not elaborate.

Scott said the election board has taken testimony from a number of witnesses and is reviewing the evidence.  He said the board has not yet adopted any final recommendations, but likely will issue its report in about a month.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=457692