Allegheny County Receives Upgraded Credit Rating

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

Allegheny County’s credit score has gotten another boost.

Financial rating agency Standard & Poor’s issued a news release Monday saying that it was upgrading the county’s long-term rating by one step, from an A+ to AA-.

The upgrade gives Allegheny County its highest rating in nearly 12 years, the county announced today in a news release.

“This is great news for Allegheny County and really reflects that we are heading in the right direction and making headway in improving our financial outlook,” County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said in a statement. “I am really proud of the job we have done in improving the fund balance, having an end-of-year cash balance, reducing reliance on one-time revenues for our budget and working cooperatively to address the issues that have impacted our bottom line.”

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/business/2014/01/28/Allegheny-County-receives-upgraded-credit-rating/stories/201401280148#ixzz2rjtZjmzr

PNC Shrinks Branch Network

PNC Bank shrunk its branch network by 160 offices last year, the most of any bank nationwide except for Bank of America, an analysis released Monday by SNL Financial found.

Collectively, banks cut their branch total by 1,487 locations in 2013, SNL said, as the industry contended with persistently low interest rates, slow loan growth and escalating costs.

Lenders large and small “grappled with weak revenue growth and heavy [regulatory] compliance costs that are motivating them to reduce the fixed expenses tied to large branch networks,” said SNL, a Charlottesville, Va.-based research firm.

PNC, Pittsburgh’s dominant bank and the eighth biggest nationwide, closed 182 branches and opened 22 others across its 19-state footprint in 2013 for a net loss of 160, SNL said. Bank of America, the nation’s second-biggest bank, had a net loss of 189 branches.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/business/2014/01/28/PNC-shrinks-branch-network/stories/201401280041#ixzz2rjqmajiY

Hearing Call Of ‘All Aboard’? Experts Discuss Feasibility Of Passenger Rail Service

Locator map of the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre Metropolitan Statistical Area in the northeastern part of the of . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WILKES-BARRE, PA — Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority President Lawrence Malski said Monday studies show major industries are looking to get out of congested metropolitan areas and move to areas like NEPA.

Passenger rail service that links Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and Hazleton, he said, would be a major factor in attracting those companies to the area. U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Hazleton, suggested the idea on Friday to spur economic activity.

“It’s (passenger rail service) is a major requirement that they have,” Malski said. “When you connect cities like Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and Hazleton to a major city like New York, major industries will follow that rail line out here because they would have an efficient and reliable form of transportation for workers.”

Read more: http://timesleader.com/news//1152788/Hearing-call-of-All-aboard

Comcast Could Buy Time Warner N.Y. Cable Franchises

Logo of Comcast Latina: Insigne Comcast (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Comcast Corp. could acquire Time Warner Cable Co.’s New York cable-TV properties, along with other franchises on the East Coast, in a deal with Charter Communications Inc., according to sources in the industry.

A deal would expand Comcast’s market power along the I-95 corridor between Boston and Washington.

Comcast, the nation’s largest cable-TV company, already offers cable and Internet in Boston, Philadelphia and Washington.

Charter declined to comment Monday. Comcast also had no comment.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20140128_Industry_sources__Comcast_could_acquire_Time_Warner_Cable_N_Y__franchises.html#HAyimeAaYY2LBdix.99

Teen Charged As Adult With Attempted Abduction And Rape In Lansdale Park Headed For Trial

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

LANSDALE, PA — A 16-year-old El Salvadoran citizen charged as an adult with the attempted knifepoint abduction and rape of a woman in front of her three young children at a Lansdale park earlier this month waived his preliminary hearing Tuesday, while prosecutors added another charge to the long list of criminal counts he’s facing and Lansdale detectives revealed more information about the teen.

Handcuffed, clad in a red prison jumpsuit and wearing a sullen expression, Gerson Portillo-Guardado was led by Lansdale police into District Judge Harold Borek’s Lansdale court early Tuesday morning, and after conferring briefly with Ayla O’Brien, his public defender, with the help of a translator — as he does not speak English, police said — Portillo-Guardado waived all charges filed against him for trial in connection with the alleged Jan. 13 incident.

Just prior to the hearing, the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office charged Portillo-Guardado with felony attempted kidnapping on top of the 10 charges already filed against him at his Jan. 13 preliminary arraignment — a list that includes felony attempted rape and felony attempted sexual assault, as well as misdemeanor charges of simple assault, unlawful restraint, recklessly endangering another person, disorderly conduct and more.

Read more: http://www.timesherald.com/general-news/20140128/teen-charged-as-adult-with-attempted-abduction-and-rape-in-lansdale-park-headed-for-trial

2 Arrested For Pair Of Thefts From Pottstown Citgo

POTTSTOWN, PA — Police arrested two men who each allegedly stole from a borough Citgo gas station in two different incidents earlier this month.

Scott T. Sinclair, 48, and Marzel D. Brickhouse, 46, were arrested over the weekend on charges related to stealing cash and lottery tickets, respectively, from the Citgo convenience store on the first block of West High Street.

Pottstown Police Capt. Robert Thomas said the first incident at the Citgo occurred Jan. 14 and involved “no confrontation.”

A cash box was placed somewhere inside the convenience store toward closing time and went missing, Thomas said. Pottstown Police responded around 9:23 p.m.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20140127/2-arrested-for-pair-of-thefts-from-pottstown-citgo