Revisit One of Montco's Most Infamous Murder Cases

Commissioner Bruce Castor will be featured in an upcoming episode of "Cold Blood" detailing the case of the General Wayne Inn murder in 1996.

From the Montgomery County Office of Communications: When Commissioner Bruce L. Castor Jr. was the district attorney in Montgomery County, he prosecuted many cases, but few generated more attention than his successful prosecution of Guy Sileo. Sileo, the co-owner of the General Wayne Inn in Lower Merion, was convicted of killing his business partner, Jim Webb, at the restaurant on Dec. 27, 1996.  This Thursday, May 3 at 9 p.m., Castor will be featured in an episode of Cold Blood detailing the murder, the investigation and the prosecution of Sileo. The show runs on the Discovery ID channel (channel 111 on Comcast and channel 123 on Verizon. Find the TV Guide listing here.) This is the second of Castor’s cases to be featured on the series …

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County Commissioners Embrace Social Media

The county is making use of new technology like never before.

Montco residents got more than just a historic power shift in the last election, they now have a tech savvy Board of Commissioners who are making full use of the social media technology available to them. The county has a Twitter account (@MontcPA) it uses to interact with residents and spread county news, as do all three commissioners – Josh Shapiro (@Josh_Shapiro), Leslie Richards (@_LeslieRichards) and Bruce Castor (@BruceCastor). The county, Castor and Shapiro all have Facebook pages as well (if Twitter isn't your bag). You can find them here: What's more, the county is now putting it's meeting agendas on its Facebook page to make it easier for Montco residents to find out what's going on. You can find today's Montgomery County Board …

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Montco's New Government Takes Its Seat

Shapiro: 'Rancor and acrimony will yield to respect and accord'

New county commissioners Josh Shapiro and Leslie Richards joined returning commissioner Bruce Castor as the county's new government was sworn in during a ceremony at Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell this morning. "Starting right now, rancor and acrimony will yield to respect and accord," said Shapiro during his remarks after he officially took office. "There have been zero statements undermining each other in public and zero statements undermining each other in private" since last fall's election, Castor said during his own remarks. "I think it bodes well. I think good things are going to happen," Castor said. A color guard detachment of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department raised and lowered the national, state, and …

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Montco Commissioners Announce New Senior Staff

Robert D. Fox, chairman of the transition committee, said job descriptions were developed for all of the senior positions.

According to a release on Montgomery County commissioners-elect Josh Shapiro and Leslie Richards' website today, the pair have announced a new organizational structure in the commissioners’ office and the senior staff that will fill the positions.  The new structure and staff was endorsed by Commissioner Bruce L. Castor, Jr. and is the product of intense work by Shapiro, Richards and their transition team, led by Robert D. Fox. The organizational structure will be led by a Chief Clerk/Chief Operating Officer, who will be assisted by a Deputy COO for Policy and Planning and a Deputy COO for Operations. The rest of the senior staff includes a county solicitor, chief financial officer and a director of communications. "We wanted a structure …

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County Scrambles to Retool Budget by Deadline

Hoeffel said commissioners will meet on weeknights and weekends if necessary.

The clock is ticking for Montgomery County to finalize its 2012 operating budget and the county government will be holding a series of public meetings over the next two weeks to achieve that goal, County Commissioner Joseph Hoeffel said this morning. Hoeffel indicated that a county tax increase was likely to figure prominently in the discussions after commissioners received more than 4,000 public comments objecting to massive program cuts in the preliminary budget announced Nov. 30. "We had 300 people in a public meeting who stood up and asked us to raise their taxes," Hoeffel said, referring to last week's public hearing on the budget. Matthews Expected to Participate Public meetings will be held in the 8th floor boardroom at One …

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Matthews: 'There Has to be a Tax Increase...'

A question about plans for a possible tax hike prompted Montco Commissioner James Matthews to express his opinion that an increase is needed or county services will suffer.

Though not exactly on the agenda for the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners' meeting this morning at One Montgomery Plaza, an impromptu discussion of the county's current budget situation arose, as did the possibility of a tax hike. The tax hike question was addressed when a reporter asked about rumors of one coming before the current commissioners leave office. The county's current budget status was raised by Commissioner Joe Hoeffel who took the opportunity to chide fellow commissioner Bruce Castor for his comments during his campaign about the county's perceived budget woes. "I'm disappointed in the public comments and the lack of public understanding with the county's [current] financial situation," said Hoeffel. He suggested …

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Jack Minster

8:21 pm on Saturday, November 5, 2011

Bruce Castor is the minority Commissioner of the Democrat-lead 3-member team, and cast more “no” votes in his one term as Commissioner than the previous 20 years of minority commissioners combined. Hoeffel and Matthews have driven Montgo's finances so deep into debt on their pet-project spending that our bond ratings have fallen. Meanwhile the government buildings in Norristown are in immediate …   more ›

Republican Candidates Spend the Weekend Stumping

County Commissioner Bruce Castor and Pennsylvania Superior Court candidate Vic Stabile turned up at an Upper Dublin picnic to address the crowd.

Yesterday, a collection of state and county Republican candidates gathered at Mondauk Common in Upper Dublin for the annual Upper Dublin Republican Commitee picnic. County commissioner Bruce Castor was among those attending, and gave a speech to the crowd. Castor began by recounting election results as far back as 2006, to put the upcoming elections in context. "We had a horrific year back in 2008 with the election of Barack Obama; it's hard to find anybody to put their hand up and say I voted for that guy," said Castor. "And then things started to change, all of the sudden, when the far left got what they wanted, when the tax and spend and borrow agenda finally went through... and in 2009 we saw [Obama's] polling go straight down, we …

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Candidates for Montco Commissioner Face Off at UM Forum

The candidates traded barbs Monday morning at a “Meet the Candidates Forum” at the Upper Merion Senior Service Center.

Castor and Brown Talk Transparency, Ethics

The two pledge to advance "true reform" in county government.

Describing Montgomery County a 21st century county living with an 18th century government, Bruce Castor and Jenny Brown said Tuesday that under their leadership, the county's board of commissioners would advance "true reform" and restore public trust in county government. During a meeting with the media at Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown, Castor stressed a particular need for rules to protect whistleblowers in county government. The incumbent commissioner said that county employees approach him on "almost a daily basis" to tell him about hostile workplace situations, "mischief" and unethical practices taking place in county government. He declined to cite specific examples because, he said, the current lack of a whistleblower …

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Five Things to Know for Thursday, Sept. 15

Here are five things to know about Norristown and life today.

1. The Interagency Council of Norristown is holding its Fall Kick-Off Breakfast Meeting this morning from 9 to 10:30 a.m. in the community room at the Montgomery County Human Services Center at 1430 Dekalb St. Admission is $5, payable at the door. Keynote speaker Casey O'Donnell will talk about Trauma Informed Care. Come get connected to our area's many social service agencies and the people who make them great. 2. There's still time to get tickets for the fourth annual Oktoberfest this Saturday evening at Elmwood Park Zoo. You can come support one of Norristown's greatest treasures and enjoy great food, craft beers and plenty of German music and dancing. Tickets are $45 in advance and $50 at the gate. Tickets for designated drivers are …

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