Don’t Give Up On Reading, Albert Boscov Tells Crowd

A 1947 topographic map of the Reading, Pennsylvania area. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It was a different Reading back in the day when Albert R. Boscov, then just a child, would go to work at his father’s store on North Ninth Street.

“When I was growing up, Penn Street was the most vital area you could go to.  It had five movie theaters,” the Boscov’s Department Stores chairman recalled of the city in the first half of the twentieth century.  “When I look at Reading today, it’s not what I would like to see.”

“It’s not the Reading I know,” Boscov told a crowd of about 100 at Alvernia University on Friday night.  “And it’s not the Reading it has to be.”

Boscov came to Francis Hall on Friday for the kick-off of Leadership Berks’ “Leaders, Legends, and Visionaries” series.  The discussion was moderated by David Myers, director of Alvernia’s O’Pake Institute for Ethics, Leadership and Public Service.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=510966

Reading Police Targeting Specific People, Addresses, Chief Says

A 1947 topographic map of the Reading, Pennsylvania area. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

To function better with less manpower, Reading police target specific addresses and people who are the sources of much of the city’s crime, Police Chief William M. Heim said Monday at a monthly strategy meeting of city officers.

“We engage in a very focused type of policing,” Heim said.

When one burglar is caught, burglaries in that neighborhood often dramatically decrease, Heim said.

City police have been having the monthly meetings for seven years, but they have become more vital now that the police force has dropped from 215 to 168 officers due to spending cuts, Heim said.

Read more:   http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=462229

Alvernia University On The Rise

English: Alvernia University Category:Alvernia University Category:University logos (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When Dr. Thomas F. Flynn took over the presidency at Alvernia University in 2005, the future looked bright.

The university was growing rapidly, and officials were putting together an aggressive plan to expand the campus in the next decade.

Then the recession hit in 2008, just as the university began not only its strategic plan, but its first comprehensive capital campaign.

Despite the challenges of the past five years, Alvernia flourished and moved forward faster with its plans than anyone expected.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=446239

Alvernia Student Hoping Artwork Inspiring For Reading

English: Alvernia University Category:Alvernia University Category:University logos (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  I love these kinds of stories!  Imagine what could be accomplished if more people tapped into positive energy!

Reading’s elegance can be manifested through a higher state of awareness and consciousness, one Alvernia University student believes.

She tapped into this positive energy by giving away inspirational art throughout the city on Friday.

Susan Rehhausser, 53, of Reading dedicated much of 2012 to creating a community project, which she believes can foster encouragement and hope in a city that faces many challenges.

“I thought it would be great to have neighbors communicate to neighbors, to believe they can make a better city,” Rehhausser said.  “We can make a difference by believing in each other.”

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=422196

Nonprofits Give More Money, Manpower To Reading

Editor’s note:  Sometimes you just have to ask!

From a $10,000 gift to Reading police to clearing a trash-clogged storm drain, the city’s three-month effort to get more local nonprofit groups to voluntarily pay either cash or services in lieu of taxes is paying off.

The city has received $27,000 in new payments it didn’t get last year from more than a dozen churches and several other groups.

It’s also gotten more than 9,000 new volunteer work hours in more than 30 new service projects including more than two dozen cleanups – worth $65,000 at minimum wage – from local groups.

“We have received an overwhelming response,” Mayor Vaughn D. Spencer said.

Read more:http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=409729

Even In Death, Pennsylvania Senator Mike O’Pake Gives To Back The Community

Image via Wikipedia

Recently deceased Pennsylvania State Senator, Mike O’Pake is paying it forward, even in death.  The senator’s will includes generous donations to local institutions.

St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, where Mike O’Pake graduated from, was bequeathed $2 million dollars.  The use of this gift was left to the discretion of the university.

Alvernia University, in Reading, will be the repository for the senator’s entire political memorabilia collection, which chronicles his 42-year career in politics.  Eventually the collection will be made public for use by students, scholars and for viewing by the public.  Alvernia University was also entrusted with the archives of Shillington native and world-famous author John Updike.  Alvernia University said it was “humbled” to be entrusted with the senator’s collection.

Alvernia is slated to receive money from the senator’s estate.  However, the amount is unclear at this time.  Also in the senator’s will are the Jesuit Center in Wernersville and St. Margaret’s Catholic Church in Reading.  What ever money remains, after all other bequests and bills are paid, is to be split between these three institutions.  Senator O’Pake’s properties and their contents were bequeathed to a caretaker of a disabled family member.

RIP Senator O’Pake.