Philadelphia Has 4 Homicides In 12-Hour Span Sunday

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Antonio Flores, 17, was the fourth person killed in a 12-hour period in Philadelphia on Sunday, police say.

And detectives are still searching for the 23-year-old who they believe is behind Flores’ shooting death inside a friend’s apartment in Spring Garden.

Flores was hanging out with friends on the 1600 block of Wallace Street around 3:25 Sunday afternoon when at some point, one of those friends pulled out a gun and fired once, homicide Capt. James Clark said.

Flores was hit in the head, and the friends in the apartment scattered, Clark said. One stayed behind and called police as Flores lay bleeding on the floor. He was pronounced dead at Hahnemann University Hospital about 20 minutes later.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20140401_Phildelphia_has_4_homicides_in_12-hour_span_Sunday.html#a7JLE47vWX81U3AT.99

Upcoming Lehigh Valley Arts Box Office Performances

Bach & Handel Chorale:

April 26th: 30th Anniversary Concert Gala

Chamber Music Society of Bethlehem

April 11th: Daedalus Quartet

April 25th: Gryphon Trio

May 16th: Walden Chamber Players

Moravian College Music Institute

April 4th: Moravian College Wind Ensemble

April 6th: Moravian College Community Orchestra

April 12th: Jazz @ Moravian

Moravian College Theatre Company

April 25th & 26th: Jesus Christ Superstar

PA Sinfonia Orchestra

April 12: Chamber Orchestra – All Nature Sings

Click here for more information and tickets: http://lvartsboxoffice.org/

Pennsylvania Partners In The Arts Project Stream Grant Workshops

Calling all artists, community groups and arts organizations!

The Lehigh Valley Arts Council invites you to apply for up to $2,500 from the Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts Project Stream to fund arts projects or activities benefiting the communities of Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton counties. Anyone interested in applying is encouraged to join us for one of our free PPA grant workshops.

May 6th, 4 PM to 5:30 PM: Lehigh Valley Arts Council (Allentown)

May 8th, 4 PM to 5:30 PM: Sigal Museum (Easton)

Mark your Calendar! The PPA deadline for Project Stream Applications is June 20th, 2014!

Click here for more information: http://lvartscouncil.org/programs/workshops.html

#ARTS: Mobile Technology For Dummies

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The Lehigh Valley Arts Council will host,#Arts: Mobile Technology for Dummies on Wednesday April 30th, 2014 from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m at the Butz Corporate Center, 840 Hamilton St., Allentown PA 18101

This interactive session focuses on the adaptation and implementation of mobile technology to help tell the story of your brand, expand your marketing efforts, and grow your sales and business. To hit the ground running, bring your laptop, tablet, and smartphone to this hands-on seminar. Refreshments will be provided.

The member fee is $25; nonmembers pay $45. Tickets are available at www.LVArtsBoxOffice.org 

Bailey Park Development Takes Shape On Pittsburgh’s Mt. Washington

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

Bailey Park is so new, it had to be given a name.

“There is no sub-neighborhood here,” developer and architect Justin Cipriani says of the new one he is working on. “So that’s why we came up with Bailey Park.”

He is talking about a community of 11 homes and an apartment building on the fringe of Grandview Park right where Bailey Avenue and Beltzhoover Avenue meet.

He wants the area to be its own neighborhood so much that he is building a loop street around two of the homes and behind the other nine.

The street will meet city standards so all municipally provided functions — such as garbage collection and snow removal — can take place there.

Read more: http://triblive.com/business/realestate/5766786-74/park-says-homes#ixzz2xYrCLBwA
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Last Year’s Gridlock Looms Large Over Pirates’ Opener

PNC Park (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Fans arriving for Opening Day on Monday will be getting an earlier start to tailgating around PNC Park, and so will police hoping to avoid last year’s gridlock — but not by much.

Police spokeswoman Sonya Toler said officers assigned to ease congestion and operate signals at the busiest intersections will start arriving at their posts at 10:30 a.m., at least 45 minutes earlier than last year.

But this year’s first pitch is about a half-hour earlier, about 1 p.m. Parking lots and garages open to tailgaters at 9 a.m., and the ballpark gates open at 11. Officials urge fans to have patience, use mass transit or park farther away from the ball field.

“If people can curtail their excitement with a little bit of patience, we’ll be able to help them get where they need to go,” Toler said.

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/5830137-74/parking-pirates-fans#ixzz2xYokJ1U5
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Westtown Manager Bob Layman Replaced Abruptly

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WESTTOWN TOWNSHIP, PA— Abruptly and without explanation, township supervisors have replaced Township Manager Bob Layman.

“We don’t discuss personnel matters,” said Carol DeWolf, chairwoman of the board of supervisors. “We have handled all of this in executive session as we are allowed to.”

Supervisors declined to comment on the circumstances surrounding Layman’s departure.

According to the township code “the Manager shall be appointed for an indefinite term by a majority of all the members of the Board, shall serve at the pleasure of the Board, and shall be subject to removal by the Board by majority vote. At least 15 days before such removal, the Board shall furnish the Manager with a written statement setting forth its intention to remove the Manager.”

Layman served the township for 11 years.

Read more: http://www.dailylocal.com/general-news/20140330/westtown-manager-bob-layman-replaced-abruptly

$100K In Sherman Hills Upgrades Begin

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WILKES-BARRE, PA — The proposed $100,000 worth of security improvements at the troubled Sherman Hills apartments are underway with the installation of a fence around the property.

Security consultant John Daly said work began last week.

“They’re putting up a 1-inch mesh fence like they proposed earlier and will move on to the next phase,” said of the McLane Investigative Group of New York City.

The possibility of losing the nearly $2 million in rent subsidies by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development prompted the owner Sherman Hills Realty of Brooklyn, N.Y. to promise changes at the complex that has been the scene of drug arrests, violent crimes and a fatal shooting last November.

Read more: http://timesleader.com/news/local-news-news/1289298/$100K-in-Sherman-Hills-upgrades-begin

Rock Lititz Gets Rolling: Tait Towers, Clair Global Begin Work On $100 Million Campus

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

This month, on a farm near Route 501, construction began of an innovative facility named Rock Lititz Studio.

The studio is being built to fill a need in the concert-tour industry for affordable, accessible and available production-rehearsal space.

Costing more than $7 million to develop, according to industry sources, Rock Lititz Studio is set for completion in August.

Rock Lititz Studio will start as a 52,000-square-foot building, or roughly the size of a supermarket, except with  a 100-foot-high roof.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/rock-lititz-gets-rolling-tait-towers-clair-global-begin-work/article_d8c3c464-b6b7-11e3-b66c-001a4bcf6878.html?mode=story

Braddock Library Looking Ahead At 125th Anniversary

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

John Hempel remembers his father, Robert, pausing every time he drove past the Braddock Carnegie Library.

“That’s where I taught myself to read,” Robert would tell his young son as he’d point to the stately building.

The elder Hempel’s story likely mirrors those held by many residents of the library’s service area. For more than a century, the building has served as a hub for community activity and education, as intended by its founder and namesake, Andrew Carnegie. As the 125th anniversary of the building approaches, library leaders are preparing to celebrate all that has taken place during its storied past.

“Andrew Carnegie said he intended this to be a center for light and learning for generations to come,” says John Hempel of Braddock Hills, president of the library’s board. The memories of his father inspired Hempel to get involved more than two decades ago. “It’s such a neat mission statement and really what the whole place is all about.”

Read more: http://triblive.com/lifestyles/morelifestyles/5768153-74/library-carnegie-braddock#ixzz2xV02JAgJ
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Here Are Options For Windows XP Apocalypse

Microsoft Windows XP wordmark official. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Are you ready for the “XP Apocalypse” on April 8?

That’s when Microsoft Corp. plans to stop issuing security updates for the aging but still popular XP version of its flagship Windows operating system, which by some estimates is still running on nearly 1 in 3 personal computers in homes and offices around the world, along with some bank ATMs and other commercial systems.

Security experts say those machines will become significantly more vulnerable to viruses, spyware and other malicious hacks once Microsoft withdraws its support. No one’s predicting a Mayan-style cataclysm, but if you’re still using XP, here are some things to consider.

Microsoft started selling XP back in 2001 — long before the much-maligned Vista and two subsequent versions known as Windows 7 and Windows 8. The company says it’s already overextended the natural life cycle of XP, while newer versions of Windows offer better security and performance, especially when it comes to newer Web services and touch-enabled programs.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/business/technology/2014/03/30/Here-are-options-for-Windows-XP-apocalypse/stories/201403300126#ixzz2xUxkUud7

Pittsburgh Bald Eagles Live Cam

A pair of bald eagles have taken up residence in a Pittsburgh neighborhood and two of their three eggs have hatched.  If you want to see the live video feed of the eagles, click here: http://www.pixcontroller.com/eagles/index-old.htm

Pittsburgh Post Gazette story about the eagles: http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/outdoors/2014/03/28/Experts-say-baby-eagle-is/stories/201403280187

Patton Township Woman Charged With Heroin Distribution

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

A Patton Township woman was arrested Friday on heroin distribution charges.

Tiffany Ingram, 33, of Fredericksburg Court, was charged by the Office of Attorney General’s Bureau of Narcotics Investigation, according to a news release.

Ingram was charged along with Landare Hines, 37, after a search of his Harrisburg home, according to the news release. The bust was part of an ongoing investigation into the distribution of heroin in central Pennsylvania.

At the residence, agents seized 71 bags of heroin packaged for delivery and 11 grams of heroin not yet packaged for delivery, with a total street value of $12,420, according to the AG. They also seized approximately $1,600 in cash.

Read more here: http://www.centredaily.com/2014/03/28/4108905/patton-township-woman-charged.html?sp=/99/264/&ihp=1

Fresh, Local Food Making A Comeback At Central Market York

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

Central Market York was designed to fit the crop cycle of local farmers.

One day they’d harvest, and the next day they’d display their fresh produce for market patrons, hungry for the local items.

Over the years, Central Market York added other vendors, and the fresh produce was no longer the main attraction.

But now, more people are asking for the farmers who once defined the market with fresh and local food, said Cindy Steele, COO of Central Market York.

Read more: http://www.ydr.com/local/ci_25447848/fresh-local-food-making-comeback-at-central-market

Recent Task Force Sweep Focused On Those Who Committed Crimes In Wilkes-Barre

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

The Luzerne County Sheriff’s Office released new information on the fugitive sweep on Wednesday that picked up 20 individuals with outstanding warrants in Luzerne County.

The Advanced Tactical Anti-Crime Unit – the newly formed task force comprised of local, state and federal law enforcement – conducted its second roundup, picking up individuals on warrants for everything from driving under the influence and retail theft to burglary and simple assault.

Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis said this sweep was supposed to focus not just on arresting those from Wilkes-Barre, but those who committed crimes in Wilkes-Barre but live outside of the city.

Out of the 20 people picked up, 12 of them were arrested in Wilkes-Barre, according to the sheriff’s office.

Read more: http://citizensvoice.com/news/recent-task-force-sweep-focused-on-those-who-committed-crimes-in-w-b-1.1659093

Victim’s Family Seeks Injunction To Stop Sale Of Sherman Hills

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

Attorneys for survivors of a woman killed last year at the Sherman Hills Apartments are seeking an injunction to stop the sale of the troubled apartment complex in Wilkes-Barre.

The attorneys for Shantique Goodson’s family argue the sale of the Coal Street low-income housing project would make the complex “judgment proof” in a lawsuit they have planned against Sherman Hills.

Goodson died Nov. 11, 2013, after being shot several times at the complex. The shooting occurred just days after officials with the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development visited Sherman Hills to address “life-threatening security issues” that were spotlighted by high-profile violent crimes, the court documents say.

Local attorneys Jamie Anzalone and Patrick Doyle, of the Anzalone Law Offices in Wilkes-Barre, are asking a judge to grant an emergency injunction to block the sale of Sherman Hills due to the pending lawsuit in connection with Goodson’s death.

Read more: http://citizensvoice.com/news/victim-s-family-seeks-injunction-to-stop-sale-of-sherman-hills-1.1659101

After Sandy, Feds Mull Plan For Artificial Islands

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SEASIDE HEIGHTS, N.J. (AP) – A string of artificial islands off the coast of New Jersey and New York could blunt the impact of storm surges that proved so deadly during Superstorm Sandy, according to a proposal vying for attention and funding as the region continues its recovery.

It’s a big proposal that would cost $10 billion to $12 billion. But it’s also the kind of innovative idea that federal officials requested as they consider how best to protect the heavily populated region from future storms.

“We’ve discussed this with the governor’s office of Recovery and Resiliency and the Department of Environmental Protection, and they all look at me like, ‘Whoa! This is a big deal!” said Alan Blumberg, a professor at New Jersey’s Stevens Institute of Technology. “Yes, it is a big deal. It can save lives and protect property.”

The “Blue Dunes” proposal is part of Rebuild By Design, a competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to come up with novel ways to protect against the next big storm. It is one of 10 projects that will be evaluated and voted on next week, but there’s no guarantee any of them will receive funding. Other ideas include building sea walls around cities, re-establishing oyster colonies in tidal flats to blunt wave action and creating water-absorbent nature and recreational preserves.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/20140329_ap_1e8e64f34e79453995e001fecbadea40.html#Az12YvxsczmA1fud.99

Southern California Shaken By 5.1 Earthquake, Minor Damage Reported

A locator map showing Los Angeles County — in Southern California. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A magnitude-5.1 earthquake shook buildings, ruptured gas lines and caused other minor damage and injuries in Southern California late Friday.

The quake, centered 2 miles east of La Habra, Calif, was reported at 9:09 p.m. according to the United States Geological Survey. The shaking originated about 5 miles underground. The 5.1-magnitude quake was followed two minutes later by another 3.4 quake, officials said.

Reports of natural gas leaks began flooding in once the shaking stopped, said Los Angeles County Fire Department Dispatch Supervisor Ed Pickett. Firefighter assessed the leaks as minor, Pickett said, but a broken water pipe did flood a CVS Pharmacy.

A rockslide in Brea, Calif. in Orange County caused a car to overturn, causing only minor injuries, officials said. Southern California Edison officials reported about 2,000 customers were without power late Friday because of the earthquake. The earthquake also sent rocks tumbling off the 10 Freeway, creating a traffic hazard, according to California Highway Patrol officials.

Read more: http://dfm.timesherald.com/article/los-angeles-county-shaken-by-51-earthquake-some-damage-reported/91bba0fe9d3a2d719a7a92ca7b7557fd

Report: Absence Of School Funding Formula In PA Costs Pottstown $5 Million A Year

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

POTTSTOWN, PA — Borough property owners would be off the hook for generating more than $5 million in school funding this year if the state funding formula abandoned by Gov. Tom Corbett in 2010 were still in place, according to a report.

Further, as a result of that formula’s absence in calculating state education funding, Pottstown has lost more state aid in the past few years than almost any other district in Montgomery County, the report found.

At $2.5 million, only Norristown schools lost more in the last three years than the $1.5 million in state funding Pottstown has lost since 2010-11, the study found.

In an attempt to reverse the problems highlighted in that study, the Pottstown School Board on Monday unanimously adopted a resolution calling on Harrisburg to establish “a fair and equitable school funding formula.”

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20140328/report-absence-of-school-funding-formula-in-pa-costs-pottstown-5-million-a-year

Drugs Found At Scene Of Monessen Slaying

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

Seven packets of heroin were found outside, just feet from where masked assailants fired at least four shots through a back door, striking and killing Chris “Snaxx” Fincik at his Monessen home.

Westmoreland County Detective Ray Dupilka testified on Thursday during the third day of the second- and third-degree murder trial of Chalsee Hughes that even more drugs were found on a kitchen table.

Prosecutors contend Fincik, 36, was gunned down during a robbery on Dec. 3, 2012, at his Maple Avenue home. His attackers left behind more than $3,200 and 390 packets of heroin, Dupilka said.

Hughes, 21, of Duquesne is charged as an accomplice in the slaying. Police said she used her identification to purchase a $16 box of ammunition that was used in the shooting.

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/westmoreland/5842700-74/hughes-dupilka-pinkney#ixzz2xHRIyf3W
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