Former Pottstown Personal Banker Jailed For Stealing From Elderly Clients

NORRISTOWN — A former personal banker at a Pottstown financial institution is headed to prison after admitting to engaging in a scheme to steal money from six elderly female clients.

Jon Dugan, 30, formerly of the 500 block of Douglass Drive, Douglass (Berks), and most recently of Township Line Road, Royersford, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court on Friday to five-to-23 months in the county jail, to be followed by five years’ probation, after he pleaded guilty to multiple charges of theft by deception in connection with incidents that occurred while he worked for the Wells Fargo Bank branch, 1470 E. High St., between June and August 2011.

Judge Gary S. Silow also ordered Dugan to pay $7,671 in restitution to the bank.

Dugan must report to jail on July 26 to begin serving the sentence.  Dugan is eligible for a jail work-release program during his incarceration.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130719/NEWS01/130719179/former-pottstown-personal-banker-jailed-for-stealing-from-elderly-clients#full_story

Charleroi Area Lunch Ladies Steal Cafeteria Proceeds, Police Say

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

Editor’s note:  Is nothing sacred!!!!????

Two Charleroi Area School District cafeteria workers stole about $94,000 in a scheme that involved pocketing cafeteria money and using it to gamble at a casino, according to Washington County criminal complaints.

Stacy Lee Shipley, 50, and Sheila Ann Cook, 49, both of Charleroi, went to The Meadows Racetrack and Casino with money that Ms. Shipley stole from the school cafeteria, the complaints say.

Ms. Shipley would tell Ms. Cook that she had “extra money” with the understanding that the money was stolen. The pair promised each other they would split all winnings, according to the complaint.

Ms. Cook told police that she “just got caught up in the thrill of it all.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/washington/charleroi-area-lunch-ladies-steal-cafeteria-proceeds-police-say-672844/#ixzz2JayX4LgW

‘Hometown Holiday’ Turns Season Green In Pottstown

POTTSTOWN, PA — There’s a lot of money to be made, a lot of money to be spent and a lot of money to be won in downtown Pottstown this year as part of the “Hometown Holiday Celebration” planned by the Pottstown Downtown Improvement District Authority.

The money to be made and spent obviously involves shopping in local stores, but you probably want to know more about how the money can be won.

Well, there are two ways.  The first is an innovative raffle idea called “Five at $25.”

For $25, shoppers buy a raffle ticket at selected locations and spend $25 in four different participating downtown stores. Return the raffle ticket to the PDIDA offices on North Hanover Street with receipts attached and you’re eligible to win three prizes — $2,000, $1,000 and $500 in gift cards.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20121119/NEWS01/121119369/-hometown-holiday-turns-season-green-in-borough

A More Simplified Way Of Explaining The U.S. Economy/Debt‏

Editor’s note:  This came in my email today and I liked the comparison between the home budget versus the national budget.  I don’t know anybody who would run their household budget the way our government runs the national budget.  I think this applies across the aisle!

This rather brilliantly cuts thru all the political doublespeak we get.  It puts it into a much better perspective.

Lesson # 1:
* U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
* Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000
* New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000
* National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
* Recent budget cuts: $ 38,500,000,000

Let’s now remove 8 zeros and pretend it’s a household budget:
* Annual family income: $21,700
* Money the family spent: $38,200
* New debt on the credit card: $16,500
* Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
* Total budget cuts so far: $3.85

Got It ?????

OK, now Lesson # 2:

Here’s another way to look at the Debt Ceiling:

Let’s say, you come home from work and find there has been a sewer backup in your neighborhood….and your home has sewage all the way up to your ceilings.

What do you think you should do ……

Raise the ceilings, or pump out the crap?

Pennsylvania Makes Magazine’s Top 10 As Tax-Friendly To Retirees

Map of Pennsylvania, showing major cities and roads (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Allegheny County residents smarting from the sting of new property assessments may not agree, but Pennsylvania was just picked as one of the 10 most tax-friendly states for retirees.

The rankings by Kiplinger magazinecompared a variety of taxes including sales, income, retirement and inheritance taxes.

Local taxes were not a factor.

Pennsylvania ranked high overall primarily because the state largely avoids dipping into retirees’ nest eggs by not taxing Social Security benefits, public and private pensions, or distributions from IRAs and 401(k)s, said Rachel Sheedy, retirement editor for the personal finance publication.

The state’s high ranking from Kiplinger follows several other recent surveys that have pointed to the Pittsburgh region in particular as one of the most livable places for retirees.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/state/pa-makes-magazines-top-10-as-tax-friendly-to-retirees-652374/#ixzz25tLU1PE1

Recession Buster Alert!

Image via Wikipedia

Wawa stores are offering any size Wawa coffee for $1.00, the entire month of January.  So if you live near Wawa and like coffee, you might want to include them in your daily routine this month!

Gotta take advantage of those savings when we can!

Citizen’s Bank To Abandon Downtown Norristown – Will Leave Huge Empty Building

Citizen’s Bank is not renewing their lease in a large downtown Norristown commercial building, leaving borough and county officials scrambling to find a new tenant!

http://eyescoop.blogspot.com/2010/12/citizens-bank-withdrawing-from.html

It Could Be A Shoppers Market This Holiday Season

With the Christmas shopping season fast approaching, it appears that consumers may be in the driver’s seat this year.  Retailers are positioning themselves to offer deep discounts in an effort to lure recession-weary consumers into parting with their cash.

Economic jitters are making people hold on to their money and only spend on essentials.  Back-to-school sales were great for the first two weeks of September, but then sales trailed off after consumers felt they had spent enough.  This is a sign that people are holding on to their money and resisting the temptation to spend excessively.

We are looking at a 2 – 3 percent sales growth this season.  4 percent is considered healthy, if inflation is low.

Many people are sticking to necessities and practical gifts this year.  Wal-Mart is following that trend this season.

Look for big sales and deep discounts this holiday season!

Merry Recessmas.

CNN Money Ranks Abington Township In Top 100 Best Places To Live In USA

CNNMoney.com has released its 100 Best Places to Live list.  Nearby Abington Township was rated the 29th best place to live in the United States of America!  That’s pretty awesome!  Abington Township is the home of the Willow Grove Mall and the Keswick Theatre. 

Abington Township is a 30 minute commute from Philadelphia and has a population of 54,000 people.

The other Pennsylvania municipality that made this list was Millcreek Township which is Erie’s largest suburb with 54,000 inhabitants.  Millcreek Township came in at number 79. 

Erie International Airport, Presque Isle State Park, college, graduate school facilities and the Millcreek Mall Complex are located in the township.  The Millcreek Mall Complex features 175 stores and restaurants. 

Upper Peach Street runs through the township and is the most significant center of urban sprawl in Erie County and features at least seven shopping centers.  The locals refer to Peach Street as Peach Jam because of the traffic around the shopping centers.