Wilmington, New Castle County Officials Hail New Police Strategy

Map of Delaware (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WILMINGTON, DE — As dozens of Wilmington and New Castle County police officers were sworn into adjoining jurisdictions Friday, officials championed a new level of cooperation among law enforcement agencies.

“We have to team up, we have to work together,” county police Chief Elmer Setting said. “And the idea that we’re driving up to an invisible line and turning around is not a good thing. We’ve got to be able to go over those lines.”

Those words might have been a bit of overselling the change, considering state law already allows police to pursue anyone suspected of committing a felony, misdemeanor or motor vehicle code violation anywhere within the state regardless of original jurisdiction.

Even with that in mind, Ken Haas, a professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Delaware, believes the move could ease the tribalism and competitiveness often found among law enforcement agencies. That could lead to an increased emphasis on getting the job done instead of confrontations about who should get credit, he said.

Read more: http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20130504/NEWS/305040032/Crossing-lines-public-safety?nclick_check=1

Baltimore Co. Hopes To Attract Thousands Of Jobs To Sparrows Point

BETHLEHEM STEEL PLANT AT SPARROWS POINT – NARA – 546808 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A new marine terminal could bring 9,000 jobs to the Sparrows Point peninsula, Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz said Friday as he laid out the county’s vision for remaking the land around its closed steel mill.

A terminal in the peninsula’s Coke Point area could take 10 to 12 years to become a reality, he said, and plans depend on the Maryland Port Administration‘s negotiations with the land’s private owners, among other factors.  The area has complicated environmental problems, but county leaders say the peninsula offers an exceptional location and the infrastructure to attract new investment.

Kamenetz formed the Sparrows Point Partnership last spring to study how the area’s 3,300 acres could be redeveloped if the steel mill closed, and the group’s recommendations were released Friday.  The mill, once the world’s largest and an employer of tens of thousands, laid off the roughly 2,000 workers remaining last year after owner RG Steel declared bankruptcy.

“Even though things looked bleak, we’ve remained optimistic in this county,” Kamenetz said.  “We were determined to overcome this obstacle in order to bring thousands of good jobs back to Sparrows Point.”

Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-county/dundalk/bs-md-co-sparrows-point-future-20130503,0,3115241.story#ixzz2SN1zCjTX

Pittsburgh Marathon: Let The Running Begin

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

Runners, lace up your shoes, pin on your race number and make your way Downtown to the starting line. Pittsburgh is ready for you.

The course is set, winding 26.2 miles through 13 city neighborhoods.  The bands, musical accompaniment to aching muscles, are booked.  Medical teams will be out in force, traffic will be diverted and security measures, fine-tuned after the Boston Marathon attacks, will be in place.

A race that was on hiatus for the five years before 2009 is now a rite of spring, and this weekend, the Dick’s Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon marks its fifth year back in Pittsburgh with a record registration.  A year’s work, planning that started after the final runner crossed the finish line last year, will be showcased as the first runner steps over the starting line this weekend.

Race director Patrice Matamoros, speaking Friday at a news conference, said the city is ready.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/let-the-running-begin-686207/#ixzz2SL13YOOH

Funeral Home: No One Wants To Bury Bomb Suspect

Map of Massachusetts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

BOSTON – A funeral home director was scrambling to find a cemetery that would bury a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings, ignoring protesters gathered outside his business and saying everybody deserves a dignified burial service no matter the circumstances of his or her death.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died from “gunshot wounds of torso and extremities” and blunt trauma to his head and torso, said Worcester funeral home owner Peter Stefan, who has Tsarnaev’s body and on Friday read details from his death certificate. The certificate lists the time of his death as 1:35 a.m. on April 19, four days after the deadly bombing, Stefan said.

Tsarnaev died after a gunfight with authorities who had launched a massive manhunt for him and his brother, ethnic Chechens from Russia who came to the United States about a decade ago. Police have said he ran out of ammunition before his younger brother dragged his body under a vehicle while fleeing.

Tsarnaev’s family was making arrangements Friday for his funeral as investigators searched the woods near a college attended by 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was captured less than a day after his brother’s death.

Read more:  http://www.philly.com/philly/news/nation_world/20130504_ap_funeralhomenoonewantstoburybombsuspect.html

Council Appoints Cyril Burke Jr.To Vacant Seat In Norristown

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

NORRISTOWN ­­— Cyril Burke Jr. was unanimously appointed by council Friday night to temporarily fill the at-large council seat vacated by former Councilman Dwayne Royster.

Burke has served on the Norristown Municipal Waste Authority for the past four years.  He and his wife, Donna, have resided in Norristown for the past six years.

Burke is a retired Census Office manager who managed the federal Census office in Norristown from 2009 to 2010, according to his resume.  He was the chief operations officer/director of Encapsulation Systems Inc. in Havertown from 2001 to 2008.

He was the co-owner and operator of the Savannah Restaurant in Hartford, Conn. from 1997 to 2001.  He was the managing director of investments at Connecticut Innovations Inc. in Rocky Hill, Conn. from 1990 to 1996.

Read more:  http://www.timesherald.com/article/20130503/NEWS01/130509819/council-appoints-cyril-burke-jr-to-vacant-seat-in-norristown#full_story

Rep. Barletta Working To Beautify Blighted Hazleton Trestle

English: Official portrait of Congressman Lou Barletta. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Congressman Lou Barletta is all too familiar with efforts to spruce up a railroad trestle near the southern gateway to his hometown Hazleton.

Plans for beautifying the South Church Street bridge were developed by Greater Hazleton Civic Partnership during his tenure as Hazleton’s mayor.

Officials at the time believed they had the answer to addressing the graffiti-covered trestle by having Hazleton artist Dave Corrado paint a mural on wood, which would have been mounted to the bridge, Barletta recalled.

The idea fell by the wayside after local officials learned that the wooden mural would have interfered with bridge inspections.

Read more:  http://standardspeaker.com/news/rep-barletta-working-to-beautify-blighted-trestle-1.1483757

Incumbents Ousted In Penn State Trustees Election

Counties constituting the Happy Valley Region of Pennsylvania (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In what one newly elected member called a referendum on the Penn State board of trustees, alumni chose three new members and ousted veteran members Paul Suhey and Stephanie Deviney.

Endorsed by the family of former head football coach Joe Paterno and vocal alumni critical of the board’s response to the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal, the election winners emerged from a field of 39 candidates, including the two incumbents.

The election results came during a meeting Friday on the University Park campus, where the board voted to adopt sweeping changes as Penn State University continues its effort to revamp procedures following Sandusky’s conviction last summer for molesting 10 boys.  Sandusky is serving 30 to 60 years in state prison.

The winners in the monthlong election, which saw nearly 34,000 alumni cast ballots, are Edward “Ted” Brown III of State College, Barbara Doran of New York and William F. Oldsey of Basking Ridge, N.J.

Read more:

http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-penn-state-trustees-election-20130503,0,1472995.story

Nazareth Teacher Accused Of Molesting Boy Student; ‘Who Checked This Guy Out?’ Board Member Asks

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

A Nazareth Area Middle School drama teacher has been arrested on charges that he sexually molested a male student at the school over a two-year period, according to court records filed Friday.

Shawn William Salevsky, 39, of the 1500 block of Kennington Lane in Lower Macungie Township, is charged with 22 offenses that include involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and indecent assault of a victim under age 16, sexual assault, corruption of a minor and reckless endangerment.

Among the allegations in court papers, police said that during a school production of “Snoopy,” Salevsky followed the boy into the bathroom during a wardrobe change and touched the boy’s penis before the boy ran and shut himself in a stall.

On a bus trip to see a play in New York, Salevsky “did open his pants and attempt to lay on top of the victim,” according to court papers.

Read more:  http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-c-nazareth-middle-school-drama-teacher-sex-stud-20130503,0,332875,full.story

‘No Simple Formula To Success,’ YouTube Co-Founder Tells Twin Valley Students

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

ELVERSON — It’s not often that a high school student can brag to others that a famous person graduated from their school.

But the students at Twin Valley High School can, and on Thursday night, the new inductees to the National Honors Society got to meet one of their famed alumni.

Brent Hurley graduated from Twin Valley in 1997, nine years before Google purchased the company that Hurely helped found.  That company is a little video sharing website called YouTube.

Along with his brother, Chad, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim, Hurley helped launch YouTube in February of 2005.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130504/NEWS01/130509706/-no-simple-formula-to-success–youtube-co-founder-tells-twin-valley-students#full_story

Sinking Spring Borough Hires First Manager

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

For the first time in its 100-year history, Sinking Spring has a borough manager.

Regina M. Shade, secretary/treasurer since 2000, was named to the new post by a 5-0 vote Thursday night. Councilmen George Butkus and Steven Suruskie were absent.

“She’s already doing the job without the title,” said Councilman Edward D. Oswald Jr., who made the motion to appoint Shade near the close of council’s monthly meeting.

“Where most municipalities have managers, we’ve been running as if it’s still 1963,” Oswald said.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=475077

State Auditor General Rips Reading School District

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

They very well may be the worst accounting practices in the state.

That was Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale‘s assessment of the financial situation in the Reading School District, which he shared during a press conference Friday in Reading.

“To be direct,” he said, “the Reading School District has failed its students, failed the children of Reading.  It has failed the taxpayers.”

DePasquale was in the city to release the findings of a major audit his department did on the school district.  The audit was the result of requests by local legislators to investigate the district following the discovery of a more than $15 million accounting error in December.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=474980