Saint Vincent Reaches Final Agreement With Highmark

Headquarters of the insurance company in Pittsburgh, , . Address 120 Fifth Ave., Downtown. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  Those folks at Highmark are gobbling up anything that’s not nailed down!

Erie, PA – The future of Saint Vincent Health System is now in the hands of Erie County Orphans’ Court.

Saint Vincent and Highmark Inc. have reached a definitive agreement for the Erie hospital to join Highmark’s integrated delivery system — the newly named Allegheny Health Network.

Saint Vincent would join Jefferson Regional Medical Center and West Penn Allegheny Health System in the network.  The Pennsylvania Insurance Department announced its approval Monday of Highmark’s takeover of West Penn.

“We look forward to joining the Highmark (network) in the very near future, along with Jefferson Regional Medical Center and West Penn Allegheny Health System, as we work to preserve health-care choice and ensure access to the highest level of quality care for residents throughout all of western Pennsylvania,” Saint Vincent Chief Executive Scott Whalen said in a statement.

Read more:

http://goerie.com/article/20130430/NEWS02/304309961/Saint-Vincent-reaches-final-agreement-with-Highmark

Harrisburg Neighborhood Safety Zone Program Nabs 16 Guns, Cites Over 150 Code Violations

HARRISBURG — Police confiscated a gun, wrote nine traffic tickets and issued 100 citations for property code violations during the third phase of the capital city’s Neighborhood Safe Zone initiative.

The eight-day crackdown on crime targeted North Sixth Street between Radnor and Woodbine streets, and along North Fourth Street from Radnor to Jefferson streets, Mayor Linda Thompson said.

Thompson spoke during a news conference Tuesday to provide an update on the NSZ program launched two months ago.

Modeled after initiatives in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., the program increases enforcement in specific areas for a brief duration: police crack down on crime, then code enforcement officers survey properties for violations — resulting in everything from littering citations to deeming structures unfit for human habitation — and illegal dumping.

Read more:  http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/04/harrisburg_neighborhood_safety.html#incart_m-rpt-2

Will Dauphin County Create The State’s First Land Bank To Fight Blight?

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

The Dauphin County Commissioners will begin discussing legislation Wednesday to become the first municipality in the state to create a land bank authority to clean up vacant and blighted properties.

A land bank allows a government agency — in this case as part of the Dauphin County Redevelopment Authority — to acquire properties that are abandoned, run down and whose owners are delinquent on property tax payments.  The land bank could then rehabilitate the property and resell it or demolish the building for some kind of green space.

Land banks have been used to revitalize communities in Michigan, the Cleveland area and around Atlanta, among other places.  In year, Gov. Tom Corbett signed the Land Bank Act, hoping that municipalities here would have similar success.  City councils in Reading and Philadelphia have discussed creating land banks, as have several counties, but so far none have.

The county commissioners will discuss the measure at their weekly 10 a.m. meeting, and are expected to hold a vote next week.

Read more:  http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/04/will_dauphin_county_create_the.html#incart_river_default

Harrisburg Mayoral Race: The Bottom Line On Bankruptcy

Harrisburg mayoral candidate Eric Papenfuse has suggested entering bankruptcy would hand control of the city over to an unelected federal judge, but that’s just not true.

Even in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy for businesses, the judge does not take over operation of the company, notes Widener law professor Juliet Moringiello. In a Chapter 9 filing for municipalities, the powers of the judge are even more limited.

Separating fact from fiction is not always easy as bankruptcy becomes a talking point in the Harrisburg mayoral election.

The Patriot-News has talked to a number of bankruptcy experts, including people involved with the Harrisburg Receiver’s negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak on the record about the process.

Read more:  http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/04/harrisburg_mayoral_race_the_bo.html

Pittsburgh City Council Approves Security Cameras For Homewood

Locator map with the Homewood West neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania highlighted. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After heated discussion, Pittsburgh City Council passed two bills to install surveillance cameras and a gunshot detection system in a three square mile area in Homewood at a cost of $1.15 million.

The bills were sponsored by Councilman Ricky Burgess, who said recent violence in the East End underscores the need for the surveillance cameras and the gunshot detection system, which has the ability to pinpoint the location of gunshots and notify authorities.

Councilman Patrick Dowd and Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak opposed the package of bills.  Ms. Rudiak said she was concerned about how the project was proposed and funded.  The money for the project will come from the 2014 capital budget, banking on the fact the city will likely run a surplus this year.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/pittsburgh-city-council-approves-security-cameras-for-homewood-685652/#ixzz2Rz6U5M4S

U.S. Steel CEO Surma Says Company Studying Ways To Cut Costs

U.S. Steel Tower in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The same day his company reported a worse-then-expected quarterly loss, U.S. Steel chairman and CEO John P. Surma told shareholders the Pittsburgh steel producer is undertaking a thorough study of how to reduce costs and is considering an iron-related joint venture with Republic Steel‘s plant in Lorain, Ohio.

Lower sales and shipments brought about the loss, Mr. Surma said.

U.S. Steel reported it lost $73 million, or 51 cents per share, versus a loss of $219 million, or $1.52 per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Sales fell 11 percent to $4.6 billion while shipments declined 3 percent to 5.5 million tons.  Pricing was flat compared to fourth quarter levels but below prices in last year’s first quarter.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/business/news/us-steel-reports-larger-than-expected-quarterly-loss-685642/#ixzz2Rz4SE7hE

Allentown Hockey Arena Zone Businesses Putting Up Money For Downtown Improvements, Facades

The PPL Building (seen here in the distance) is the tallest building in Allentown, Pennsylvania. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Conscious that the borders of Allentown’s new arena district could become a visible dividing line between the haves and have nots, two downtown businesses are pumping $300,000 into the neighborhood just outside the arena zone.

City Center Investment Corp. will donate $200,000 and PPL will kick in $100,000 to help as many as 30 businesses along Hamilton Street remake their storefronts.

The deal comes as city and community leaders have spent months considering how to help the massive tax incentives undergirding the $272 million arena, hotel and office complex spill into the struggling communities just outside the Neighborhood Improvement Zone.

Under the program, businesses along Hamilton Street, between 10^th and 12^th streets — the first two blocks outside the NIZ — can get grants of roughly $15,000 to reface their shops.  By the time city officials finished their 20-minute news conference Monday to announce the program, six eligible businesses had already expressed interest in the free money.

Read more:  http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-allentown-hockey-arena-facades-20130429-55,0,6163711.story

State Legislators Respond To ACLU Lawsuit Against Norristown

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

NORRISTOWN — Rep. Mike Vereb (R-150th Dist.) and Rep. Todd Stephens (R-151st Dist.), along with Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman urged Norristown officials to repeal or modify its controversial nuisance ordinance to protect victims of domestic abuse and discussed possible legislation to ensure that those victims would be protected statewide at a press conference on Tuesday morning.

The ordinance, which is currently being challenged in federal court by the American Civil Liberties Union, was adopted in 2008 and permitted the suspension or revocation of a rental license if the police are called to the property three times for disorderly behavior.

“For me, the most important part of today is speaking directly to the victims of domestic violence who are in the community,” said Ferman.  “I think it’s so important that they know that they can call the police.  They should call the police.  They should call for help.  We will not allow anything to stand in their way and we will be here to support them.”

“We’re here for victims, to let them know that we’re not going to allow any borough, municipal, or city ordinance get in the way of their access to help,” said Vereb.  “We should focus on the goal here.  The goal is to get the thugs off of the streets and out of the rental properties.”

Read more:  http://www.timesherald.com/article/20130430/NEWS01/130439974/state-legislators-respond-to-aclu-lawsuit-against-norristown#full_story

Manhunt For Alleged Pottstown Killer Ends; Maurice Andrews Apprehended

NORRISTOWN – A Pottstown man, the subject of a police manhunt for his alleged role in a plot to execute another man in a hail of bullets outside a borough bar, is no longer on the run.

Maurice Laverne “Reece” Andrews Jr., 19, whose last known address was in the first block of North Charlotte Street, has been apprehended by Montgomery County detectives in connection with the 2:17 a.m. March 22 gunshot slaying of Victor Enrique Bonilla Baez outside Brian’s Café in the 300 block of Jefferson Avenue.

“We never stopped looking for Mr. Andrews.  It was a 24 hour, seven-day-a-week pursuit of Mr. Andrews and ultimately we were able to apprehend him due to the great work of our detectives and law enforcement agencies,” Assistant District Attorney Nathan Schadler said on Tuesday.  “This was a full court press.  We used every means available. It ended successfully.”

Andrews is charged with first-, second- and third-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and firearms violations in connection with the alleged shooting death of Baez, who authorities said was unarmed. Authorities alleged Andrews was involved in an ongoing feud with Baez at the time of the fatal shooting.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130430/NEWS01/130439953/manhunt-for-alleged-pottstown-killer-ends-maurice-andrews-apprehended#full_story

Cindy Conard For Pottstown Council In The 7th Ward

Revitalization in our community will require partnerships between local, county and state governments as well as local grassroots leaders.  Council representatives not only represent their constituents, they represent the community.  By nurturing relationships with decision makers at every level we can bring focus to our goals and objectives.