Rotary Names Det. Long 'Person of the Year'

Pottstown Police Det. Heather Long

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by the Pottstown Rotary Club.

The Rotary Club of Pottstown is pleased to announce Detective Heather Long as its selection as the 2015 Person of the Year. 

A juvenile detective and forensic Interviewer, Detective Long graduated from Mansfield University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice and a minor in Human Development Psychology. 

She has been employed with the Pottstown Police Department since January 2007 and was transferred to the detective division in July 2010, assigned as the juvenile detective.

In this capacity, Detective Long specializes in the investigation of child abuse and sexually based crimes. She is a member of the Montgomery County Drug Task Force, Montgomery County Sexual Assault Task Force (SATF) and the multi-disciplinary team (MDT) at Mission Kids Child Advocacy Center. She is also a trained forensic interviewer at Mission Kids CAC.

Detective Long is currently the president of the Pottstown Police Officers’ Association. Over the last five years, she organized the annual PPOA Fishing Derby for children of the community. 

For the last three years, she organized the annual Gregg Boyle Memorial Golf Outing, which allows community members to golf with police officers and pay respect to one of Pottstown’s finest.

This is not the first time Detective Long has been recognized for her outstanding service to the Pottstown community. She was honored as Pottstown Police Officer of the Year for 2014. 

Detective Long was also honored by the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office for her work

Long, right, is congratulated by

Montgomery County DA Risa Vetri Ferman

on a child rape case, where the offender (71 years old) pled guilty and was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison.

The Pottstown Rotary Club annually recognizes a member of the greater Pottstown community for outstanding contributions in areas such as the arts, business, education, health care, non-profit public service, and government service. 

Members of the community are invited to the ceremony scheduled for Wednesday, September 9 at the Rotary Pavilion in Riverfront Park. 

The ceremony followed by dinner will begin at 6 pm. Tickets are $20 and must be purchased in advance. For tickets and additional information, contact Ted Flint at 610-943-4443.

The Pottstown Rotary is a local and international service organization comprised of men and women committed to making a positive contribution in their community and the world. 

The Rotary Club of Pottstown supports a number of programs in Pottstown, including, literacy building, the Pottstown Halloween Parade, student scholarships, Operation Backpack, and Meals on Wheels. 

The club also sponsors the Pottstown High School Interact Club, a service club for high school students. 

To learn more about The Rotary Club of Pottstown, visit www.PottstownRotary.org.

Tell a Story About Pottstown, On Film

Blogger's Note: Since the crackerjack desk team at The Mercury failed to put this story as a sidebar to our awesomely cute story about a "Kid-umentary" film being made in Pottstown (no, I'm not bitter), we'll have to settle for reading it here....

Lights! Camera! Pottstown!

Kids are not the only ones who can make a film about Pottstown.

Next June, the “Pottstown InFocus Short Film Festival” will be held, and this week the organization began accepting entries.

Films can be submitted at the group’s web site — www.pottstowninfocus.com — in five categories: documentary, comedy, fiction, science fiction, music video, plus a special sixth category — Love Letter to Pottstown.

“Pottstown In Focus Short Film Festival is a new event soliciting short film submissions from entrants across the country and around the world. The challenge for filmmakers is that each thirty-minute or shorter film must have as its character, theme, setting or inspiration the revitalizing Borough of Pottstown, Pennsylvania — a town with renewed focus,” according to the web site.

Assistant Borough Manager Erica Weekley is spearheading the effort and questions about the festival or film submissions can be directed to her at 610-970-6515.

You can also contact the organizers by email at films@pottstowninfocus.com.

The effort also has its own Facebook page.

The film festival is tentatively scheduled for June, 2016, but entries are being accepted starting right now!

Their Ducks Are In a Row ... at First

Mercury Photo by John Strickler

The Rotary Club's signature giant duck makes its way down High Street during this year's July 4th parade.

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by The Rotary Club of Pottstown 

The Rotary Club's 24th Annual Rotary Duck Race will be held this Saturday, Aug. 15th at 4 p.m. at Memorial Park, Pottstown. 

This year, the Rotary Duck Race, a long-standing tradition in Pottstown, is being held in conjunction with and in tribute of Pottstown’s Bicentennial Celebration. 

For added family fun, Rotary’s signature 16 foot high big yellow duck (seen above) will be on hand for the race.

Started in 1991 by the Rotary Club of Pottstown, The Rotary Duck Race was founded to help community-based charities/non-profit groups raise money to support their programs. 

Rotary, along with members of participating charities/ non-profit groups, sell tickets for the race, with a pro-rated portion of all ticket sales reverting back to those groups to help support their work in the community. 

Each ticket sold has a number that corresponds to a plastic duck with that same number. 

Numbered ducks are then released into and float down the Manatawny Creek in Memorial Park for the race. 

A host of prizes is awarded to ticket holders of those ducks fastest to cross the finish line, and a prize is even given for the last duck to finish the race.

Last year, the Rotary Club of Pottstown, along with local individuals and businesses, contributed over 100 prizes for this event, totaling over $10,000 in value. 

Rotary expects this year’s event to be an even bigger success, and will be awarding a wide range of prizes, including $1,000 cash, a 40 inch HDTV Television, and an iPad.

In addition to being lots of fun, the Rotary Duck Race is a great way to support our local community. 

In fact, since the inception of the Rotary Duck Race, The Rotary Club of Pottstown has contributed more than $315,000 to non-profit organizations in the Pottstown area because of this wonderful event.

Tickets for this Pottstown tradition can be purchased from participating charities/non-profits or from
Rotary Club members. 

 Rotary will also be selling tickets on Rotary Duck Race Day at Memorial Park Saturday. 

For a complete listing of participating charities/non-profits which will benefit from this event and who are selling Rotary Duck Race tickets, visit www.PottstownRotary.org.

Rotary is a local and international service organization comprised of men and women committed to making a positive contribution in their community and the world. 

The Rotary Club of Pottstown supports a number of programs in Pottstown, including, literacy building, the Pottstown Halloween Parade, student scholarships, Operation Backpack, and Meals on Wheels.

The club also sponsors the Pottstown High School Interact Club, a service club for high school students. To learn more about The Rotary Club of Pottstown, please visit www.PottstownRotary.org.

High School Roof Leaks and Lower PSSA Scores

Photo by Evan Brandt

Lots of work being done to the entrance of Pottsgrove High School during summer construction.

What started off seeming like a quick summer meeting of the Pottsgrove School Board stretched out a bit Tuesday night when the subjects of high school renovation and PSSA scores came up.

Superintendent Shellie Feola told the board that although construction on the high school was coming along well, that a few problems had cropped up.

Tuesday afternoon's driving rain revealed rood leaks over two classrooms, both in the choral area. One of the romms had computers in it and another sustained water damage to the wall.

She said the consultant had warned the contractor to patch the spots but it hadn't been done before the rain and she she is "very upset" about it.

Feola also said its unlikely the cafeteria and library and a few other of the areas in the building will be completed when school opens, but it will still open on time.

She also addressed the letter she sent out to parents warning them that the state's movement of standards on the PSSA tests and changing of the tests would lower scores.

The board approved a resolution calling on the state to reduce standardized testing as much as possible.

Here are the Tweets from the meeting.

Don't Let Us Get in Your Way

So whether by inspiration, dedication or perspiration, Pottstown Borough Council saw the light and decided against opposing a zoning variance required to keep the Fecera's project moving forward.

With a unanimous vote (Travis Gery was absent), could sent the variance along to the zoning board without comment, the least they could do considering they caused the issue in the first place by changing the parking rules after planning for the project was already very far along.

Anyway, you can get the full skinny in today's Mercury story by clicking here.

Other interesting notes that bear a closer and more thorough look are:

• The announcement that the Phillies and North End Fire Companies have signed a partnership agreement;
• Ryan Procsal's announcement that Fire Chief Richard Lengel has put together plan in case of an accident with the oil trains rolling through town with greater frequency;
• That street sweeping won't start until the end of the month;
• That the price of the new borough garage keeps going up;
• And that the plans for erecting a station in Memorial Park for the Colebrookdale Railroad are moving along.

You can find it all in the Tweets below;

Colebrookdale RR to Get New Car, Steam Engine

Once a Pullman sleeping car, the 'Lake Girard' will soon be plying the tracks of the Colebrookdale Railroad.

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by the good folks at the Colebrookdale Railroad.

The volunteers and donors of the Colebrookdale Railroad will welcome two additional piece of railroad history to Boyertown this Tuesday and Wednesday.

A new open car will arrive from Duncansville, PA, and unlike the Railroad’s other coaches, will arrive not on rail but rather by truck.

Huge rubber-tired dollies will take a 174,000-lb railroad car on a journey on Pennsylvania’s highways ending at the Colebrookdale’s railyard on Third Street. The funds to move the car were donated by Robert Hart, Sr.

“We are thrilled to welcome the car into the fleet,” said Nathaniel Guest, Executive Director of the Railroad. Guest estimates the work needed to fit out the car will cost about $25,000. 

“It’s not going to require as much work as the other cars, since it’s an open car, but all the same we’d welcome donations and sponsors so we can have it in service for our busy season at the end of the year,” he said.

(You can donate on the railroad's web site by clicking here.)

The new car was originally a Pullman sleeping car built in 1924. Later in life it became part of the Pennsylvania Railroad and was assigned as number8663 the "Lake Girard". 

Like our current heavyweight, this antique car is heavy. Records show standard Pullman sleeping cars weighing 174,000 pounds. With some minor restoration work, the new car will be ready for service.

This 1942 Porter 0-6-0 engine will require much restoration

before it can begin to run on the Colebrookdale.

Also arriving Wednesday, a new old steam engine making its return to its Pennsylvania birthplace.

Project 02, owners of the locomotive, will be restoring it to operation. 

A 1942 Porter 0-6-0 tank engine built by the Porter Locomotive Works in Pittsburgh, the locomotive is privately owned but will reside on the Colebrookdale Railroad. 

“We’re excited to bring it home,” said Preston McEvoy of Project 02. “It will not be operating for some time as most steam locomotive restorations take years,” McEvoy said.

Pennsylvania's Taxation Without Representation

A U.S Appellate Court ruled last week that the restrictive a voter ID law adopted in Texas discriminates against minorities and violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

This comes as no surprise to those who view such laws as thinly veiled attempts to thin the ranks of potential Democratic-leaning voters.

The law was enacted in the wake of the 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision "that blocked the voting act’s most potent enforcement tool, federal oversight of election laws in numerous states, including Texas, with histories of racial discrimination," the New York Times reported.

"The Texas ID law is one of the strictest of its kind in the country. It requires voters to bring a government-issued photo ID to the polls. Accepted forms of identification include a driver’s license, a United States passport, a concealed-handgun license and an election identification certificate issued by the State Department of Public Safety," according to the Times.

Only in Texas would a concealed-carry permit allow you to vote, but a library card would not.

It also serves as unfortunate notice that a state once regulated for its racism returned to it immediately once freed from the shackles of government oversight.

This ruling is good news; as was a judge's ruling suspending Pennsylvania's own version of voter ID, a law which boldly solved a problem that does not exist and, at the same time, handily discouraged minorities from voting.

Protesters in Harrisburg speak out against Pennsylvania's Voter ID Law.

Both rulings highlight what seem to be an admission by the Republican Party that with national demographics working against them -- Hispanics will be the majority within the next decade or so -- they are now forced to win elections by restricting voters rather than by winning them over with the inclusiveness of their policies.

In other words, scared of losing in a fair fight, they rig the rules.

Anyway, we're not here to talk about race. Heaven forbid.

But Pennsylvania has another long-standing voter restriction that has nothing to do with race, but is a truly insidious form of discrimination. It works against independent thinkers.

This particular voter discrimination goes largely un-remarked and, arguably has more negative impact on fair representation at the polls than the disreputable voter ID law.

Because Pennsylvania has a "closed primary" system, those who are not part of a registered party cannot vote in the spring primaries.

This is not unique in America and is the result of the argument that those not members of a party should not allowed to help choose its nominees. 

This seemingly rationale argument would be less harmful if not for the fact that most school board races in Pennsylvania get decided in those primary elctions.

This is due to another innocent-sounding rationale, that school board's are "non-partisan."

Those of us who attend school board meetings on a regular basis know this to be a load of horse hockey. 

There are often few places more partisan. The only difference is the partisanship on school boards is not always related to party, but to faction -- property tax hawks versus the "anything for the children" faction.

But as the result of something called "cross-filing," school board candidates are legally allowed to seek BOTH the Republican and Democratic lines on the spring ballot.

(Does anyone else find it fatuous that people not registered as Democrats or Republicans are not allowed to vote for a nominee, but the candidates themselves, can win the nomination, no matter what their party registration, if any?)

Yet another injustice, independent voters can't get one of these cool

stickers during the spring primary election.

Often ignored, these primary elections, which attract the smallest percentage of voters, become the place where school board candidates, who will have sway over the largest part of your tax bill, often win the election out right by taking both ballot lines.

This leaves those who, understandably, cannot stomach the shenanigans of either party, no say in their school board representation.

They are allowed to vote in November, yes; but often the only choice they have is which party line to cast their vote for the only candidates available.

This is not democratic (small "d.")

Worse, it represents the illusion of democracy, made more egregious by the fact that few positions have more power over our pocketbooks, the value of our homes and the future of our children, than that of school board.

Only the state government has the power to change this but, since no powerful school board lobby is lining their re-election pocket, it goes unaddressed.

They're too busy arguing about where we buy our booze, as if any of us cares.

There are two easy fixes. 

The state government could, like other states, change to an "open primary" system in which registered independent voters could vote in one primary or the other.

But since this could unbalance the hegemony each party has over its ballot line, don't look for a "come to Jesus" moment from any of that pack any time soon.

The easier solution, more likely because it doesn't gore any of Harrisburg's sacred cows, is to stop allowing cross-filing. 

This simple change would mean that come November, registered voters who are not registered Democrats or Republicans would more likely have a choice in who raises their school taxes.

Sadly, it does not solve the problem of too few candidates running for school boards and other local offices, although the rigged primary probably does little to encourage fledgling candidacies.

But at least it removes the structural exclusion of independents on those occasions when an actual contest might take place.

Otherwise, for independent voters, cross-filing is truly taxation without a say in representation.

And I thought we were supposed to be opposed to that here in America.