The Sanatoga Post

First responders were called Tuesday at 6:10 p.m. to a multiple vehicle accident on East High Street near Cutillo's Restaurant, between South Sanatoga Road and Allison Drive. See the dispatchers' entries below.

NORRISTOWN PA – Montgomery County (PA) emergency dispatchers directed police units, firefighters and emergency medical responders within the past 24 hours to a variety of incidents. A selective list of their activity appears below.

The entries are taken from publicly available feeds supplied by the county Department of Public Safety. Feed content has been edited by The Post for relevance to readers in Lower Pottsgrove and Limerick PA townships, the borough of Pottstown, and surrounding municipalities. It consequently is incomplete and is not intended to be comprehensive.

In most cases, the entries can be read as:

1. Type of service (EMS = emergency medical services, Traffic = police, Fire = firefighters);
2. Type of incident (vehicle accident, etc.)
3. Location of incident (usually by closest intersection or landmark, and the name of the municipality)
4. Date and time of the incident (YYYY-MM-DD) @ (“at”) (HH:MM:SS) in military time format.

Dec. 15, 2009

EMS: Cardiac Emergency
Evergreen Rd & W Lightcap Rd; Lower Pottsgrove; 2009-12-15 @ 22:28:15;

EMS: Respiratory Emergency
Old Schuylkill Rd & E Schuylkill Rd; Chester County; 2009-12-15 @ 21:34:43;

EMS: Cardiac Emergency
Buchert Rd & Jordan Dr; Douglass; 2009-12-15 @ 19:22:14;

EMS: Vehicle Accident
High St & Allison Dr; Lower Pottsgrove; 2009-12-15 @ 18:21:33;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident Injuries
High St & Allison Dr; Lower Pottsgrove; 2009-12-15 @ 18:21:52;

Fire: Fire Alarm
High St & Allison Dr; Lower Pottsgrove; 2009-12-15 @ 18:10:28;

EMS: Cardiac Emergency
Spruce St & N 6th Ave; Royersford; 2009-12-15 @ 17:50:04;

EMS: Unconscious Subject
York St & Rowan Aly; Pottstown; 2009-12-15 @ 17:24:25;

Fire: Gas-Odor/Leak
King St & Penn St; Pottstown; 2009-12-15 @ 15:15:21;

Traffic: Disabled Vehicle
Rt422 & Ramp Egypt Rd To Rt422 Eb; Upper Providence; 2009-12-15 @ 14:25:18;

EMS: Hemorrhaging
Jefferson Ave & N Evans St; Pottstown; 2009-12-15 @ 13:56:46;

Fire: Building Fire
Green Tree Rd & Rr Crossing; Upper Providence; 2009-12-15 @ 13:53:13;

Fire: Fire Alarm
Washington St & E 6th St; Red Hill; 2009-12-15 @ 12:35:50;

Fire: Fire Alarm
Market St & Water Loop Dr; Upper Providence; 2009-12-15 @ 11:29:21;

Fire: Fire Alarm
Broad St & Town Center Dr; Upper Providence; 2009-12-15 @ 10:27:44;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident
Main St & Church St; Schwenksville; 2009-12-15 @ 08:42:33;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident Stand-By
Rt422 Byp & Laurelwood Rd Underpass; Chester County; 2009-12-15 @ 08:11:25;

Fire: Vehicle Accident
Main St; Red Hill; 2009-12-15 @ 07:07:52;

Traffic: Disabled Vehicle Blocking
Main St & N 4th Ave; Royersford; 2009-12-15 @ 06:10:03;

EMS: Respiratory Emergency
Ash St & W Vine St; West Pottsgrove; 2009-12-15 @ 05:26:08;

EMS: Cardiac Emergency
Schuylkill Rd & S Keim St; Chester County; 2009-12-15 @ 02:22:24;

EMS: Unresponsive Subject
Colonial Ave & Clahor Ave; Collegeville; 2009-12-15 @ 00:51:51.

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FILLING OPERATIONS CONTINUE IN SANATOGA – A steady stream of trucks and tractors continued Tuesday morning (Dec. 15, 2009) to haul, dump and spread earthen fill onto vacant property being considered for development at the Sanatoga interchange of U.S. Route 422, on East High Street just west of the Turkey Hill convenience market at Rupert Road. Neighbors have complained to the Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township Board of Commissioners about the growing plateau of fill material that in some places is now more than 20 feet high. Residents who appeared at recent board meetings claim the pile is at least unsightly, and said they fear it may also be unsanitary. The township engineering firm, Bursich Associates, said it had tested the fill content for contamination and found nothing troublesome. A follow-up report on the developer’s plans for the pile is anticipated during Thursday’s (Dec. 17) final board meeting of the year.

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Tri County FCU Student Branch Representative Laurie Wallace, left, helps a Pottsgrove student with her banking business.

POTTSTOWN PA – Students at Pottsgrove High School no longer need to go to a bank for routine transactions like depositing paychecks, withdrawing money, or even applying for a loan. That’s because the bank has come to them.

Tri County Area Federal Credit Union, which operates on Medical Drive in Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township, opened an in-school branch office last week (Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009) at the high school, 1345 Kauffman Rd., Pottstown PA. It will provide common banking services Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and also Wednesdays from 2 to 3 p.m.

High school business department Chairwoman Megan Delena said she expects having a branch of the credit union in the high school will be “very convenient for … students and teachers” alike. It’s “so much easier to walk down the hall than to drive to the credit union,” Delena noted.

Tri County Area FCU is a full-service financial institution with more than 16,000 members. “We are very excited to see the branch open,” Tri County President Andy Pistoria added. “We are always looking for new opportunities that will better our community, and there is no better time than right now to provide financial literacy to this generation of students.”

The branch hopes to teach students about responsible personal financial management. “We (want to) encourage younger students to open savings accounts and start saving for class trips while they are freshmen and sophomores,” Delena said. Beginning next month, students also will assist with branch operations under the supervision of Tri County FCU Student Branch Representative Laurie Wallace.

The credit union and Pottsgrove School District reached agreement on opening the branch last April, in a deal brokered on the district’s behalf by Market Street Sports Group. Under a three-year contract, the credit union will pay fees to the district for naming rights to the high school gymnasium, and the ability to provide in-school financial services.

Cutting a ribbon to open the Tri County Area Federal Credit Union branch office at Pottsgrove High School were, from left, Jeff Bertoni, president of sales, Market Street Sports Group; Tri County board members Dr. C. Ross McFarland and Charles Palladino; Andrew Pistoria, credit union president; Christopher Shaffer, high school principal; and Dr. Bradley C. Landis, Pottsgrove district superintendent.

Top photo from the Pottsgrove School District
Bottom photo from the TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce

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Editor’s note: This story, which was initially published Tuesday at 6:34 a.m., was updated at 12:49 p.m.

POTTSTOWN PA -Friends of Andrea Antonio-Harris, 16, and Breanne Marie Brothers, 15, who died during a weekend automobile accident on Route 100 north of Farmington Avenue, are expected to gather tonight (Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009) at 8 p.m. at the front of Pottstown High School, 750 N. Washington St., Pottstown PA, for a candlelight vigil in their memory.

Many students spent Monday (Dec. 14) consoling each other and creating works of art to pay tribute to their fellow students. Some of those pieces are expected to be on display at the school, which coincidentally is hosting a basketball game against Pottsgrove High School at the same time in the Pottstown gym.

Meanwhile, authorities investigating the one-car accident, which occurred late Saturday night (Dec. 12), have not yet released the names of four other students injured. They are said to be the 18-year-old male driver of the SUV, who attended Pottsgrove; a 17-year old Pottsgrove girl, a 17-year-old Pottstown girl, and a 12-year-old Boyertown girl. No charges have yet been filed in relation to the accident.

• An earlier Post story on the accident is here.

Social Media

Three Facebook-related pages have been established since the accident was reported.

• R.I.P Breanne Brothers and Andrea Marie (1,074 members Tuesday as of 12:49 p.m.)
• R.I.P Andrea Antonio-Harris and Breanne Brothers (425 members Tuesday as of 12:49 p.m.)
• A Facebook tribute was posted by the Upper Pottsgrove (PA) Fire Company.

Obituaries

Obituary information was not available Tuesday as of 12:49 p.m. When obituaries become available they often can be located online using the ObitFinder page at Legacy.com.

News Resources

In scanning available news feeds for more information regarding the accident, The Post on Tuesday found these stories for reader reference, listed with the most recent first. These are different from, and in addition to, references provided Monday:

• Tragic News Stuns Holiday Plans (The Mercury, Pottstown PA)
• Candlelight Vigil Set At Pottstown (The Mercury, Pottstown PA)
• Two Schools Reeling In Aftermath of Horrific Car Crashes (The Mercury, Pottstown PA; its editorial opinion)
• Candlelight Vigil Tonight In Pottstown For Crash Victims (The Inquirer, Philadelphia PA)
• Authorities Still Investigating Cause Of Fatal Crash (The Mercury, Pottstown PA)
• Second Pottstown Area High School Loses Students In Crash (The Inquirer, Philadelphia PA)
• Students Encouraged To Talk About Loss Of Classmates (WFMZ-TV, Allentown PA)
• Montco Police Investigate Crash That Killed 2 HS Students (KYW-AM, Philadelphia PA)
• Montco Crash Victims Identified (The Inquirer, Philadelphia PA)

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Putting pennies into the kettle.

POTTSTOWN PA – For a second consecutive year, students at the Pottsgrove School District‘s Ringing Rocks Elementary School are being asked to contribute money to charity rather than spend it on holiday gifts to exchange between themselves or their teachers.

All donations, which are voluntary, will be given to The Salvation Army of Pottstown, and to the Pottstown Cluster of Religious Communities’ Outreach Center to buy food for families and individuals in need.

The school also is collecting food, personal care items, baby clothing, and new childrens’ books through Dec. 22 (2009; Tuesday) for the Outreach Center.

When the school, 1401 Kauffman Rd., Pottstown PA, conducts its Holiday Sing-A-Long on Dec. 23 (Wednesday) at 2 p.m., teachers and staff members will discuss the project’s results and thank them as a group for their contributions.

Photo from HowStuffWorks.com

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2010 OFFICERS OF SANATOGA FIRE COMPANY – Firefighters and volunteers of Sanatoga Fire Company, 2222 E. High St., Pottstown PA, gathered Monday night (Dec. 14, 2009) at the fire hall to close out their 100th anniversary year and elect new officers for 2010. Heading the company during the next 12 months, from left, are Mike Misiak, treasurer and Fire Police lieutenant; Don Woodley, president; Rich Brendlinger, chief; Mark Schaeffer, deputy chief; Ken Linsenbigler, chief engineer; Garry Schmoltze Sr., assistant chief and secretary; Joe Guber, assistant treasurer and Fire Police captain; and Ed Keegan, vice president. Twenty-five members in attendance ended the year with a meal cooked by the department’s auxiliary.

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A Google map of the stretch of Route 100 north of Pottstown along which the accident occurred.

Editor’s note: This story was updated Monday at 11:18 a.m. It was first published at 6:34 a.m.

POTTSTOWN PA – Officials in the Pottstown School District were preparing to offer grief and other counseling resources to their high school students this morning (Monday, Dec. 14, 2009) after news spread of a one-car automobile accident Saturday night (Dec. 12) on Route 100 between Farmington and Moyer roads in Upper Pottsgrove (PA) Township, in which two Pottstown students were killed.

Four other passengers were injured in the vehicle, according to WCAU-TV; three were said to be students of Pottsgrove High School; one was from Pottstown. The SUV in which they were riding hit a guard rail and was flipped onto its roof.

The Pottstown victims were Breanne Brothers and Andrea Antonio-Harris, according to several reports. Identifications of those injured from Pottsgrove were not available this morning, and no mention of the accident was found on the Pottsgrove School District website as of 10:47 a.m.

In latest developments (Monday as of 11:18 a.m.):

• Pottstown High Principal Stephen Rodriguez was scheduled to address the accident with his students this morning using an in-school television system;
• The Montgomery County District Attorney’s office continues to investigate the accident.

Social Media

Two Facebook group pages have been established since the accident was reported.

• R.I.P Breanne Brothers &nd Andrea Marie (665 members as of 10:47 a.m.)
• R.I.P Andrea Antonio-Harris and Breanne Brothers (269 members as of 10:47 a.m.)

Obituaries

Obituary information was not available as of this morning. When obituaries become available they often can be located online using the ObitFinder page at Legacy.com.

News Resources

In scanning available news feeds for more information regarding the accident, The Post found these stories for reader reference, listed with the most recent first:

• Crash Kills 2 Teens, Hurts 4 (WCAU-TV Channel 10, Philadelphia PA)
• DA Investigating Crash That Killed Two High School Students (WFMZ-TV, Allentown PA)
• Pottstown Girls Killed In One-Car Crash (The Mercury, Pottstown PA)
• Friends Mourn Students Killed In Pottstown Accident (WPVI-TV, Philadelphia PA)
• Montco Police Probe Crash That Killed 2 Teens (KYW-AM, Philadelphia PA)
• Two Pottstown Students Killed In Accident In Montgomery County (WFMZ-TV, Allentown PA)
• 2 Pottstown students killed in crash (The Mercury, Pottstown PA)
• 2 Teens Dead In Upper Pottsgrove Crash (KYW-TV Channel 3, Philadelphia PA)
• Crash kills two girls in Montco (The Inquirer, Philadelphia PA)
• Montgomery County (PA) emergency dispatches of Saturday make two references to the accident. See The Post log here.

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SANATOGA PA – Rates of taxes to be collected during 2010 by Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township other than those levied against real property – the four so-called Act 511 taxes – would remain unchanged from this year if approved following a public hearing Thursday (Dec. 17, 2009) at 7 p.m. by the township Board of Commissioners in the municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

Commissioners have already announced their intent to keep 2010 property tax rates unchanged as well.

Revenues from three of the four Act 511 taxes have dropped from budgeted numbers of the previous year, reflecting a general expectation of continuing decline in the local economy. The proposed taxes, rates, and amounts of revenue the township estimates each will raise over the next 12 months, are:

An annual per capita tax. Fifteen dollars per person is collected for all individuals age 18 and older who live in Lower Pottsgrove. Of that amount, the Pottsgrove School District receives $10; the township, $5. Low-income senior citizens can apply to be exempted. Revenue: $29,000, $1,500 less than budgeted for 2009.

A real estate (or realty) transfer tax. One percent of the selling price of a property is charged to both sellers and buyers – for a total of 2 percent – when a deed is recorded. Montgomery County (PA)’s Recorder of Deeds collects the money and forwards 1 percent to the state, and a half-percent each to the school district and township. Revenue: $100,000, which is $150,000 less than budgeted for 2009.

An earned income tax. One percent of wages paid to township residents is deducted by most employers from workers’ paychecks, and the money is forwarded to a collection agency. A half-percent each goes to the township and school district; both use Berkheimer Associates as their agent. Revenue: $1,270,700, which is $229,300 less than budgeted for 2009.

A local (emergency and municipal) services tax. The annual $52 fee is collected from all employed persons in Lower Pottsgrove and is equally split – $26 each – by the township and school district. Revenue: $110,000, which is $10,000 more than budgeted for 2009.

Act 511 is the Pennsylvania Legislature’s local tax enabling act. It authorizes a variety of different taxes for municipalities and school districts. Revenue estimates are taken from Lower Pottsgrove’s tentative 2010 budget, which is available for public inspection weekdays during regular business hours (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) in the municipal building.

The tax rates and revenue amounts were advertised last Monday (Dec. 7, 2009) in The (Pottstown PA) Mercury, the township’s newspaper of public record for legal notices.

Related:

• No Change Expected In Township 2010 Tax Rate
• Lower Pottsgrove Introduces Budget Tonight

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SUNDAY WAS A SLICK DAY FOR DRIVERS – Rain throughout the day Sunday combined with variable blasts of arctic air, according to AccuWeather, to create roads that were simply wet in some spots to dangerously icy in others. Depending on where they were, drivers encountered freezing rain, sleet and fog, too. Ice formed in the shoulders on North Pleasant View Road in Lower Pottsgrove PA, for example, above, but state and township road crews were out early with salt trucks to try and minimize problems. Monday’s weather is expected to be significantly warmer and drier.

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BOYERTOWN PA – A free holiday concert performed by the Pottsgrove Community Band will be held Dec. 21 (2009; Monday) from 7-8 p.m. at the Chestnut Knoll retirement community, 120 W. 5th St., Boyertown PA. The public may attend, and light refreshments will be served. For morning formation, call 610-473-8066.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

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