Friday, May 18, 2012
Three faults were documented when the Limerick nuclear plant was planned over 30 years ago.
Local residents last month questioned whether the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission knew of local faults when the Limerick power plant was planned for construction. "The short answer is, 'yes,'" said Diane Screnci, NRC senior public affairs officer. Folks at a meeting in Limerick Township last month showed NRC officials a document which referred to "the Sanatoga fault" and asked whether the NRC was aware of its proximity to the Limerick site prior to initial licensing. The NRC hosted the meeting – which included workers from the commission and Exelon – to discuss with the public an annual safety performance assessment of Exelon's Limerick nuclear power plant. At that time, members of The Alliance For A Clean Environment brought copies…
Parks and roads departments being consolidated; county's legal department being rebuilt.
Last fall, residents thronged a hearing held by the previous Montgomery County administration after a preliminary version of the 2012 operating budget proposed the elimination of the county's parks department, among other drastic funding cuts. That Board of Commissioners eventually passed a budget that hiked property taxes by 17.5% and kept the Parks and Heritage Services department intact. Thursday morning, Montgomery County Commissioner Josh Shapiro announced that the department had been eliminated, after all. Parks and Heritage will soon cease to exist. The same goes for the Public Property department and the department of Roads and Bridges. In their place will be a single, new department – Infrastructure and Public Assets. "The system …
Thursday, May 17, 2012
The head of the county's Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program was suspended in April.
According to The Times Herald, Karen Ricca, the assistant district attorney who was inexplicably suspended on April 27, was fired today during a county salary board meeting. Ricca and District Attorney Risa Ferman declined to comment on the cause of the original suspension at the time and today, Ferman would only say that an investigation revealed Ricca's conduct "was entirely inconsistent with the high standards we have tried to maintain. She has therefore been terminated, effective immediately." "I will not comment on the specifics of this matter because it remains under investigation," Ferman told the Herald. Ricca led – and decided whether applicants qualified for – the county's Accelerated Rehabilitation Disposition (ARD) program. The…
40.116063
-75.34366
Montgomery County Courthouse
493 Swede St, Norristown, PA
/articles/ada-karen-ricca-fired-today
1266307
/locations/7049404
The ballot question is required to amend the Home Rule Charter to raise the minimum amount Norristown would have to advertise for when it's seeking bids for purchases and contracts from $10,000 to $18,500.
Norristown Municipal Council voted to add a question to the ballot in the November election asking for approval to amend the Home Rule Charter at the Tuesday, May, 15 meeting. At issue is Act 84, signed into law by Gov. Corbett last year, which raises the threshold for the minimum amount that townships seeking bids for purchases and contracts would have to advertise for from $10,000 to $18,500. The minimum was still $10,000 when the Home Rule Charter was written, so to comply with the new law and save the municipality money on advertising fees, the Home Rule Charter has to be changed to reflect the new state requirements. Before they can change the Home Rule Charter, however, the ballot measure asking for the change has to be passed by the…
40.11451
-75.33945
Norristown Municipal Hall
235 E Airy St, Norristown, PA
/articles/council-votes-to-add-ballot-question-in-november
1265566
/locations/7037637
Watch a live stream of todays Montgomery County Board of Commissioners' meeting starting at 10 a.m.
Download the full agenda for today's meeting in our PDF section.
Also on the agenda are plenty of resolutions, advertising for bids and RFPs and over $500,000 in contract awards.
The Montgomery County Board of Commissioners meets again today, Thursday, May 17, at 10 a.m. in the Commissioners’ Board Room on the 8th floor of One Montgomery Plaza. On the agenda today is the county's quarterly financial report, more than a half dozen authorizations of grant applications, various agreements, a filing deadline change for county board of assessment appeals and a for a bond refinancing for the Cherry Street Garage in Norristown. The also be discussing advertising bids for PODs for the Health Department, food service disposables for Parkhouse, and driveway repairs and window replacement at the Youth Center as well as request for proposals for a medical service provider for Parkhouse, relocation of the Black Horse storage …
40.11532
-75.344159
1 Montgomery Plz, Norristown, PA
/articles/county-commissioners-to-hear-quarterly-financial-report-today
/locations/7038475
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Norristown Police Chief Russel Bono hopes to use the federal funds to upgrade the police record reporting software.
During the Public Safety Committee report at last night's municipal council meeting, council members were treated to some good news from Norristown Police Chief Russel Bono. Chief Bono informed council that a federal Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) in the amount of $57,116 was awarded to Norristown and Pottstown. Norristown's portion comes to $37,691. Chief Bono told council that he hoped to use the funds to upgrade his department's aging records reporting system. "It is my preference that we use the bulk of it to upgrade our Cody records management system," Chief Bono said. According to Chief Bono, the upgraded system would allow officers to write their reports in their squad cars while still in the field. Currently officers must return to…
40.11451
-75.33945
Norristown Police Department
235 E Airy St, Norristown, PA
/articles/police-to-upgrade-reporting-system-with-jag-grant-funds
1844145
/locations/7030414
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Watch a recorded live stream of tonight's municipal council meeting.
You can download the full agenda for tonight's meeting in our PDF section.
40.11451
-75.33945
Norristown Municipal Hall
235 E Airy St, Norristown, PA
/articles/watch-live-norristown-municipal-council-meeting-may-15
1265566
/locations/7029225
Norristown Municipal Council has a full agenda tonight, including a public hearing on several zoning requests.
Norristown Municipal Council meets tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Norristown Municipal Hall. Among the topics on the agenda are discussions of new sidewalks on West Marshall Street, a health care ammendment and some conditional use requests. Council will also be awarding contracts for the 2012 Road Program and Sterigere Street drainage improvements and an approval of a land use agreement for use of Bartasch Park for the proposed Norristown Community Garden. You can download the full agenda for tonight's meeting in our PDF section. You can also watch tonight's meeting live right here on Norristown Patch. Check back later for a live stream of the proceedings.
40.11451
-75.33945
Norristown Municipal Hall
235 E Airy St, Norristown, PA
/articles/council-to-discuss-new-sidewalks-community-garden
1265566
/locations/7025125
Berks County state Rep. Jim Cox's bill would fund school districts with earned income and sales tax increases and new taxes on food, clothing, TV and air transportation.
Several media outlets are reporting on state Rep. Jim Cox (R-129th District – Berks County) and his HB 1776 – the "Property Tax Independence Act." Hundreds of supporters of the proposed bill descended on Harrisburg last Monday to rally "for change to keep the American dream alive across the commonwealth," attendees told WFMZ TV in Allentown. Cox recently visited The Times Herald to talk about the bill which he says will raise $5 billion by increasing the earned income tax from 3.07% to 4% and the state sales tax to 7%. He said the state would bring in an additional $4.6 billion by adding new taxes on food, clothing, TV and air transportation. Pennsylvania allocated over $10 billion for education in the 2010-2011 budget. "We’re well on our…
NOYB
12:25 pm on Saturday, May 19, 2012
What does Skippack have to do with firing Karen Ricca! Sounds like someone is jealous of Marty Mullaney!!!' more ›