Timeline Of San Diego Mayor Bob Filner Scandal

English: US Rep. Bob Filner (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Key dates in the sexual harassment scandal of San Diego Mayor Bob Filner:

Nov. 6, 2012: Filner, a 10-term congressman, is elected mayor.  He is the first Democrat in 20 years to lead the nation’s eighth-largest city.

Dec. 3, 2012: Filner takes office.

June 20, 2013: Filner communications director Irene McCormack Jackson confronts Filner at staff meeting about unwanted sexual advances.  Allen Jones, Filner’s deputy chief of staff, quits.

July 8: Filner’s fiancee, Bronwyn Ingram, says she ended engagement, later says the mayor sent sexually explicit messages to other women and set up dates in her presence.

Read more: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/aug/23/timeline-of-san-diego-mayor-bob-filner-scandal/

Obama & Biden In Scranton: Five Takeaways From The Presidential Visit

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

SCRANTON, PA — It was a climactic and emotional end to President Barack Obama’s two-day bus tour of college campuses in New York and Pennsylvania.  Mostly, because it was he first featuring Vice President Joe Biden, whose participation in the tour was curtailed when his son Beau fell ill early in the week.

With Biden’s hometown as the backdrop, Obama’s visit to Scranton’s Lackawanna College had all the makings of rich political theater, even as the president largely recited the same college affordability speech from his three earlier stops.

Here’s five takeaways from Obama’s Scranton visit:

Read more: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/08/obama_biden_in_scranton_five_t.html#incart_m-rpt-2

PPL To Raise Rates 6.7%

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

Consumers who’ve stayed with PPL Electric Utilities these past three-plus years might be getting second thoughts.

PPL is raising its residential rate by 6.7 percent effective Sept. 1, the company announced Friday.

The upturn marks the second consecutive quarterly increase for the utility and PPL’s highest price in two years.

As the rate climbs to 8.777 cents per kilowatt-hour from 8.227 cents, it will add about $5 to the monthly bill of the consumer using 1,000 kwh.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/886672_PPL-to-raise-rates-6-7-.html#ixzz2cu0Ptv1S

Blaze Destroys Mahanoy City Firetruck, Guts Fire Station

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

A fire that broke out this morning in Mahanoy City destroyed an aerial truck and gutted the historic fire station, hours before a parade of 485 vehicles was to commence in celebration of the community’s 150th anniversary and annual firefighters convention.

The fire broke out at about 4:35 a.m. at Washington Hook and Ladder Co., producing heavy, black smoke and extensive damage to the brick structure in Schuylkill County.  The aerial truck, which The Pottsville Republican Herald reports cost $249,500 in 2011, also was destroyed.

Two firefighters sustained minor injuries and were treated at the scene, fire officials said Saturday morning.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-mahanoy-city-fire-truck-blaze-20130824,0,7659768.story#ixzz2ctxxU37N 
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Trenton Ties Record For Most Homicides In A Year

Map of New Jersey (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) – Trenton has tied its record for most homicides in a year.

Authorities say 26-year-old city resident Jafar Lewis was shot and killed Friday night during a confrontation on a city street, making him the 31st person killed in Trenton this year.  That ties the record set in 2005.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/20130824_ap_5b8050ec626c41c69fc929b19513884b.html#9FUR1S7ecbicc7vc.99

Pa. Leads In Casino Tax Revenue

Map of Pennsylvania (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

From 2009 through 2012, Pennsylvania collected more money from casino gambling taxes than any other state.  The four-year total was $5.4 billion.

Because it keeps almost half the money casinos win from gamblers – more than all but a couple of states – Pennsylvania’s casino tax revenue even topped the combined totals of Nevada and New Jersey, long the two biggest gambling states, from 2009 through 2012.

But in the 12 months ended June 30, Pennsylvania’s total take of $1.41 billion was 2.8 percent less than the $1.44 billion the year before, as the spread of casinos in Maryland, Ohio, and New York turned the tables on Pennsylvania.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/homepage/20130825_Pa__leads_in_casino_tax_revenue.html#uKHaJOE3IE0lGZlb.99

Pottstown Teacher Charged With Sexual Assault Suspended Without Pay

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

POTTSTOWN — More than a month after a Pottstown Middle School teacher was charged with aggravated assault of a child, the school district confirmed he will not be returning for the start of the new school year.

“Jared Leimeister has been suspended and will not be in the classroom for the 2013-14 school year,” said John Armato, the community relations director for the Pottstown School District.

Leimeister was the eighth-grade science teacher.  The school district’s website says “TBA” next to the open position.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130823/NEWS01/130829647/pottstown-teacher-charged-with-sexual-assault-suspended-without-pay-#full_story

Vehicle Thefts In Reading At 10-Year Low

A decade after vehicle thefts became an epidemic in Reading, police say the crime is on a pace to reach a 10-year low.

As of the end of July, 170 vehicles had been stolen in the city this year, compared to 246 at the same point last year, said Officer Keith Merkel, one of three city policemen assigned full time to a state police regional auto theft task force.

But Merkel isn’t ready to pop champagne corks. He noted August and September were the busiest months for vehicle thefts in the city last year.

While auto thefts have declined locally and nationally in recent years, car thefts actually spiked in Reading in 2012.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=504178