Swoyersville Borough Council Calls For Fire Department Summit

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

Swoyersville Borough Council wants a summit meeting with the fire chiefs of the borough’s three volunteer companies in order to dampen a controversy and move toward a consolidated fire service.

A funds solicitation letter sent by Swoyersville Hose Company No. 1 has become the catalyst for council action on issues that need clarification, borough coordinator Gene Breznay said.  Those issues include the operational status of Hose Company 1, its finances, membership and leadership, fire engine use and insurance coverage.

Breznay is working to set the meeting between borough officials and the fire chiefs of the three volunteer companies. No date has been set.

Swoyersville’s volunteer companies date back to the beginning of the 20th Century.  Swoyersville Hose Company No. 2 started in 1912 as the Broderick’s Company named after the Broderick family.  Maltby Fire Company, dating back to 1915, was named after the Maltby section of the borough and the Maltby Colliery.  A recent fundraising letter sent out by Swoyersville Hose Company No. 1 boasts of 99 years of service, meaning a startup date in 1914.

Read more:  http://citizensvoice.com/news/swoyersville-council-calls-for-summit-1.1488144

4 Kids, 2 Adults Die In Pottsville House Fire

View of Pottsville, Pennsylvania. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Six people are dead after flames tore through a single home in Pottsville around midnight Sunday.

Schuylkill County Deputy Coroner Joseph Pothering identified those killed as Eric Brown, 30, and his children Joy Brown, 8; Jeremiah Brown, 7; Emily Brown, 3; and, Elijah Brown, 2.

Also killed was Christina Thomas, 26, the children’s aunt and sister-in-law of Eric Brown.

Read more:  http://citizensvoice.com/news/4-kids-2-adults-die-in-pottsville-house-fire-1.1488375

The Micro-Enterprise Resource Center To Hold Spring Fling In Norristown

The Micro-Enterprise Resource Center (MERC) will present a Spring Fling to showcase how graduates of the Be Your Own Boss Classes are starting businesses.

June 1^st, 12:45-4:00pm

Norristown Library, Swede and Elm St., Norristown

Please contact MERC Director, Geraldine Savoy at 610-277-6363 X 141

Youth Leadership Conference To Be Held In Pottstown

The TCN Youth Development Committee in partnership with the Pottstown School District will hold a Youth Leadership Conference at Pottstown Middle School on Wednesday, May 15.  There will be several workshops on topics such as banking basics, social networking, safe dating, emergency preparedness, healthy lifestyles, drug and alcohol abuse, and stress management.

The Conference will also include brain break activities, an educational movie, and a resource fair for students to learn more about after school programs.  Students from both Pottstown and Pottsgrove Middle Schools will participate.

Special thanks to event sponsors:  Pottstown Area Health & Wellness Foundation, Susquehanna Bank, Coqui Studio, Wawa, Freshstart Fitness, Rita’s Water Ice, and Giant.  For more information, please contact TCN at 610-705-3301.

Customer Detains Robbery Suspect

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

WILKES-BARRE, PA – A customer stopped a masked man from leaving a convenient store after a robbery at Quick Food Mart on North Main Street on Sunday, according to charges filed.

Christopher Thomas, 25, of West Maple Street, Wilkes-Barre, was arraigned Monday by District Judge Joseph Halesey in Hanover Township on two counts of robbery, and one count each of tampering with evidence, theft and criminal mischief.  He was jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $25,000 bail.

According to the criminal complaint:

Ghanshyam Majmundar called police just after 11 a.m. saying a robbery suspect is being detained by a customer inside the food mart.

Read more:  http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news/509989/Customer-detains-robbery-suspect

Downtown Pittsburgh Building Boom Shows No Signs Of Letting Up

Pittsburgh Downtown at Night (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The development boom in the city center is showing no signs of abating.

Whether it’s in urban living, where three-quarters of the residents are relative newcomers, or light-rail transit usage, which saw an increase last year thanks to the new North Shore Connector, or reports of yet another hotel in the works, Downtown’s fortunes continue to be on the rise.

At least that appears to be the case based on a new Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership report measuring economic activity in and around the Golden Triangle last year.  The “State of Downtown Pittsburgh 2013” details a number of encouraging trends, from the widely reported bump in residential and office space demand to an increase in the number of building permits issued for improvements last year.

Overall, the partnership counted 60 projects totaling more than $2.2 billion that have been announced or are under construction in the city’s core and fringes, including the 33-story, $400 million Tower at PNC Plaza on Wood Street, which is scheduled to open in the summer of 2015.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/downtown-pittsburgh-building-boom-shows-no-signs-of-letting-up-687244/#ixzz2TBe3tPvI

NBC Cancels Several Series

Last fall it appeared that NBC might finally be making inroads in its quest to return to its former frontrunner status in the Nielsen ratings.  But appearances turned out to be deceiving.  NBC’s success was built on the slender shoulders of just two series, reality competition “The Voice” and freshman drama “Revolution,” and when those shows took a break between December and March, NBC’s ratings again collapsed.

NBC is poised to end the 2012-13 TV season later this month in fourth place among total viewers behind No. 1 CBS, No. 2 Fox and No. 3 ABC.  (NBC will likely rank third place among adults 18-49 behind No. 1 CBS and No. 2 Fox; when it comes to the audience demographics advertisers crave, ABC is arguably in worse shape.)

With an abundance of low-rated series, the pink slips were bound to fly and they did.  NBC canceled “Deception,” “Go On,” “Guys with Kids,” “The New Normal,” “Rock Center,” “1600 Penn,” “Smash,” “Up All Night” and “Whitney,” adding these series to a refuse pile that already included the 2012-13 shows “Animal Practice” and “Do No Harm.”  (NBC has not yet made a decision on the futures of “Hannibal” and “Celebrity Apprentice.”)

NBC will replace these programs with three new dramas and three new comedies this fall, and the network ordered an additional five dramas, three comedies and three reality shows to also air during the 2013-14 TV season.  Previews of these programs will be unveiled to advertisers today in New York as part of the annual “upfront” week when advertisers buy commercial time in programs up front before the start of the fall TV season.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/ae/tv-radio/nbc-cancels-several-series-687406/#ixzz2TBauZcNR

Cold Stretch To Continue Overnight, Record Low Temp Possible In Philly

Philadelphians could wake up to a new record-low temperature on Tuesday.

The cold-for-May snap hitting the region today — temperatures are about 15 degrees below normal — should continue overnight, with a low temperature of around 41 degrees expected, the National Weather Service says.

If the mercury drops any lower than that, Philadelphia would have a new record: The coldest temperature ever recorded on May 14 is 40 degrees, according to the weather service.

The weather service is calling that mark a “possible vulnerable record low.”

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/Cold_stretch_to_continue_overnight_record_low_temp_possible_in_Philly.html#3eUFqHvhv5DTxxW8.99