The Sanatoga Post

Thomas Kocon.

POTTSTOWN PA – Thomas A. Kocon, the Pottstown PA teenager charged with homicide and other offenses in a one-car accident last December that resulted in the deaths of two friends and injuries to several others, faces a Montgomery County (PA) trial, television station WFMZ in Allentown reported Tuesday (Feb. 16, 2010).

Kocon waived his rights Tuesday to a preliminary hearing, setting the stage for a full trial in coming months.

Two Pottstown High School students, Breanne Brothers and Andrea Antonio-Harris, died in the Dec. 12 (2009) accident on Route 100 between Farmington and Moyer roads in Upper Pottsgrove (PA) Township. Kocon, the driver of the sports utility vehicle involved, was said to be speeding and taking his hands off the steering wheel when the crash occurred.

An 18-year-old Pottsgrove School District student who attended the Western Center For Technical Studies in Limerick PA, Kocon was arrested Dec. 30 (2009) on two counts of homicide by vehicle, five counts of recklessly endangering other persons, careless driving, operation of a motor vehicle without insurance, and other related offenses.

Three other passengers in the vehicle, one of them also a Pottsgrove student, were injured.

Related:

• Pottsgrove Driver Charged With Homicides
• Accident Driver Uninsured, TV Report Claims
• Services Set For Pottstown Accident Victim
• Candles Flicker In Students’ Memorial
• Dealing With Grief In Accident Aftermath
• Two Killed, Others Injured in Route 100 Accident

Photo from the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office

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POTTSTOWN PA – A fund-raiser staged last month by the Parent-Teacher Organization at Lower Pottsgrove Elementary School, 1341 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA, to benefit a student stricken with cancer, collected more than $4,000, the PTO announced Friday (Feb. 12, 2010) with the release of its February-March newsletter.

Beth Reifsnyder, a Lower Pottsgrove second-grade student, was diagnosed in September (2009) with neuroblastoma, a form of cancer that affects the nervous system of children and infants. She is being regularly treated at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and attends school when possible.

The PTO dedicated its Jan. 22 (2010) Family Fun Night in an effort to help the Reifsnyder family pay for medical and other expenses. A Philadelphia juggling duo provided the night’s entertainment, followed by a raffle that featured product-filled baskets contributed by dozens of local merchants.

“Thank you to everyone who made this possible,” PTO leaders said through the newsletter.

Related:

• PTO Hopes For Big Fun Night Crowd
• PTO’s Fund-Raiser Benefits 2nd Grader

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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.

Tuesday, Feb. 16

EMS: Abdominal Pains
Buchert Rd & Laurel Way; Lower Pottsgrove; 2010-02-16 @ 20:53:34;

EMS: Head Injury
Evergreen Rd & W Lightcap Rd; Lower Pottsgrove; 2010-02-16 @ 20:52:48;

EMS: Abdominal Pains
King St & N York St; Pottstown; 2010-02-16 @ 20:46:21;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident Unknown Injuries
3rd Ave & College Ave; Trappe; 2010-02-16 @ 19:39:33;

EMS: Head Injury
Eagle Rd & Starling Ct; Upper Providence; 2010-02-16 @ 19:17:16;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident
Main St & Park Ave; Schwenksville; 2010-02-16 @ 18:50:27;

EMS: Respiratory Emergency
Black Rock Rd & S Trappe Rd; Upper Providence; 2010-02-16 @ 18:37:28;

Traffic: Disabled Vehicle
Ramp Rt422 Eb To Egypt Rd & Rt422 Eb; Upper Providence; 2010-02-16 @ 18:35:44;

EMS: Subject In Pain
Palmer Ct & Bean Dr; Skippack; 2010-02-16 @ 18:28:22;

EMS: Lacerations
Overlook Dr & Mine Hill Rd; Lower Frederick; 2010-02-16 @ 18:15:14;

Traffic: Disabled Vehicle
Rt422 Byp Wb & Armand Hammer Blvd Overpass; Lower Pottsgrove; 2010-02-16 @ 18:13:31;

EMS: Fall Victim
Washington St & E 5th St; East Greenville; 2010-02-16 @ 18:00:15;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident
Ridge Pike & Kline Rd; Upper Providence; 2010-02-16 @ 17:55:21;

EMS: Diabetic Emergency
Walnut St & N Evans St; Pottstown; 2010-02-16 @ 17:08:54;

Fire: Fire Police Needed
Game Farm Rd & Smith Rd; Lower Frederick; 2010-02-16 @ 17:05:51;

EMS: Unknown Medical Emergency
Spring St & Manatawny St; Pottstown; 2010-02-16 @ 16:38:29;

EMS: Syncopal Episode
Main Campus Dr; Collegeville; 2010-02-16 @ 13:55:19;

EMS: Subject In Pain
River Crest Dr & Golf Club Dr; Upper Providence; 2010-02-16 @ 13:50:21;

Fire: Building Fire
Warren St & Master St; Pottstown; 2010-02-16 @ 12:54:21;

EMS: Choking
Sell Rd & Manatawny St; West Pottsgrove; 2010-02-16 @ 12:18:09;

EMS: Hemorrhaging
Sanatoga Rd & Evergreen Rd; Limerick; 2010-02-16 @ 11:43:35;

Traffic: Disabled Vehicle Blocking
Buchert Rd & N Pleasant View Rd; Lower Pottsgrove; 2010-02-16 @ 11:12:14;

EMS: Subject In Pain
5th St & Bitting Aly; Red Hill; 2010-02-16 @ 11:08:07;

EMS: Abdominal Pains
Prison Rd; Skippack; 2010-02-16 @ 10:55:44;

EMS: Respiratory Emergency
Main St & Williams Way; Trappe; 2010-02-16 @ 10:45:45;

EMS: Syncopal Episode
Kugler Rd & Deer Run Ct; Limerick; 2010-02-16 @ 10:28:27;

EMS: Nausea/vomiting
Briar Ct & Lakeside Dr; Limerick; 2010-02-16 @ 10:25:43;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident
E Main St & E 3rd Ave; Collegeville; 2010-02-16 @ 10:09:34;

Traffic: Disabled Vehicle
Pleasant View Rd & Welsh Dr; Lower Pottsgrove; 2010-02-16 @ 10:08:00;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident
Bridge Rd & Creamery Rd; Skippack; 2010-02-16 @ 09:25:58;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident
Swamp Pike & Neiffer Rd; Limerick; 2010-02-16 @ 09:02:50;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident Unknown Injuries
Limerick Rd & Saylor Rd; Limerick; 2010-02-16 @ 08:57:56;

Fire: Vehicle Accident
Bridge Rd; Skippack; 2010-02-16 @ 08:53:53;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident Unknown Injuries
Township Line Rd & Collegeville Rd; Skippack; 2010-02-16 @ 08:36:40;

Traffic: Road Obstruction
Big Rd & New Hanover Square Rd; New Hanover; 2010-02-16 @ 07:10:02;

EMS: Seizures
Washington St & E 7th St; Red Hill; 2010-02-16 @ 04:34:16.

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POTTSTOWN PA – Expenses of more than $5,900 to send Pottsgrove School District administrators and teachers to a variety of conferences, seminars and workshops were approved Jan. 26 (2010; Tuesday) by the district Board of School Directors.

In a unanimous vote without comment, board members authorized:

• Todd Davies, Supervisor of Elementary Education and Assessment, to attend the Pennsylvania Association of Federal Program Coordinators’ annual conference at a cost of $1,130, without need of a substitute.
• High school teacher Megan DeLena to attend the Pennsylvania DECA State Career Development Conference at a cost of $361. Her classes will taught by a substitute at an additional cost.
• Three administrators – Shellie Feola, assistant superintendent; Terri Koehler, Supervisor of Secondary Education and Assessment; and Davies – to attend the Montgomery County (PA) Intermediate Unit’s Curriculum Leadership Academy at a cost of $900, without need of substitutes.
• High school athletic trainer Jack Thomas to attend the Knee and Shoulder Today Symposium at a cost of $485, without need of a substitute.
• Two teachers of gifted students – Elaine Armstrong (elementary) and Deborah Frasca (middle school) to attend the Montgomery County (PA) Intermediate Unit’s Lego Mindstorms in STEM Education at a cost of $322. Their classes will taught by substitutes at an additional cost.
• Director of Technology Dr. Kristen Kozloski and data systems specialist Margaret Rebecca Luft to attend PowerSchool Advanced Administrator Training at a cost of $2158, without need of substitutes.
• High School Teacher Mark Shuster to attend the DECA States Competition at a cost of $578. His classes will taught by a substitute at an additional cost.

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SANATOGA PA – If you long to re-live the days when Sanatoga’s historic Sunnybrook Ballroom was packed with Christmas revelers, and organist George Batman supplied the evening’s background music, the popular video sharing website YouTube can now satisfy your desire … in under four minutes.

A slide show of photos taken during what appears to be the winter holiday season of 1998 and later – accompanied by Batman playing Sunnybrook’s organ “back in the good old days; dining, singing and dancing the night away,” according to its description – was posted late last month (Jan. 27, 2010) at the YouTube user account of georgebatmandm.

The photos also give some warmer weather glimpses of high Street in downtown Pottstown PA, when the borough still had a J.C. Penney department store and other then-thriving businesses.

The ballroom, at 50 Sunnybrook Rd., Pottstown PA, was refurbished and re-opened in recent years, and now hosts several events monthly.

Related:

• Read a Sept. 2, 2001, article published by The (Reading PA) Eagle-Times newspaper, and archived by Google News, about Batman and his care of what was then known as “Ursala,” Sunnybrook’s 1928 theater organ.

Related (to Sunnybrook Ballroom re-development):

• Sunnybrook Sign Money Awaits Hearing, Paperwork
• Sunnybrook Displays Vision Of A New Sign
• Still Hope For Sunnybrook Grant Township Rejected
• Its Grant Gone, Sunnybrook Looks To ‘Something Else’
• Township Says No To Sunnybrook Grant, Citing Risks
• Sunnybrook Grant On Township’s Agenda
• Sunnybrook, Township at Odds Over Grant

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Happy with Comcast? Say so. Unhappy? Ditto.

SANATOGA PA – Until last year, when Verizon Corp. and its FiOS-branded digital television products arrived in Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township, local residents who wanted to watch more than generally broadcast television programming had to buy a cable signal supplied by Comcast Corp.

So how’s Comcast doin’ lately?

That’s the question the township Board of Commissioners is seeking to have answered Thursday (Feb. 18, 2010) during a public hearing to be held at 7 p.m. in the municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA. The company’s 10-year cable franchise contract with the township is due to be renewed next year, and the hearing’s stated purpose “is to review the past performance of the cable operator, Comcast, and to identify the future cable-related community needs” in Lower Pottsgrove.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

“Citizens are invited to testify” at the hearing, according to an advertisement published last week (Feb. 11, 2010) in The (Pottstown PA) Mercury, the township’s newspaper of public record. In short, if you’re a township resident who’s got something to say – good or bad – about Comcast, how it treats you as a customer, or the performance of its services and products, the hearing is your chance to speak up.

The cable franchise contract furnishes tens of thousands of dollars in annual revenue to the township, and Comcast is the only cable service provider currently serving Lower Pottsgrove and surrounding municipalities within a 10-mile radius. With the exception of Verizon – whose build-out of services to the township is not yet complete – and various satellite-based services, Comcast has no foreseeable competition.

Township Manager Rodney Hawthorne was responsible in the past for handling the bulk of the negotiations with Comcast, and charged with getting the township the best deal possible in its contract. For the newest agreement, the township is using the services of a Pittsburgh law firm that specializes in cable TV, hired by the Montgomery County (PA) Consortium of Communities, a municipal organization of which Lower Pottsgrove is a dues-paying member.

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ICING ON THE LIGHTING – A decorative external light fixture hanging over a garage door at the Sanatoga Fire Company, 2222 E. High St., Pottstown PA, collected some extra icy adornment Sunday (Feb. 14, 2010), thanks to warmer temperatures and a series of roofline drips in just the right places. By late in the afternoon, the water had re-frozen into a shroud that surrounded the lamphead.

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POTTSTOWN PA – Living in western Montgomery County (PA) and looking for work? Here’s news that might help:

Researchers Claim Things Improving

The ease of finding a job is one factor the Conference Board considers in its employment outlook reports.

Indicators from a non-profit research group seem to point to an improving employment outlook.

The Employment Trends Index of the New York City-based Conference Board rose during January (2010) for the fifth consecutive month, leading experts to believe that employers will add more jobs in the first quarter of this year.

The index measures responses to a variety of statistics, including the percentage of job seekers who said work was hard to find, the number of temporary employees, the number of people who were part-time workers for economic reasons, the availability of job openings, industrial production rates, and real manufacturing and trade sales.

Meanwhile, the federal government reported Feb. 5 (2010; Friday) that the national unemployment rate fell to 9.7 percent in January from 10 percent in December. In Pennsylvania, where the most recent unemployment data is from December, the unemployment rate was 8.9 percent.

Those figures aren’t much comfort, of course, if you’re among the roughly 9 percent or so still without work. Extrapolating the state’s current unemployment rate across the adult-adjusted population in Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township, that translates to more than 650 unemployed local residents.

Medical Employment Open House In Reading

Nursing and allied health professionals – such as licensed practical and registered nurses, and those in physical, occupational, speech, and respiratory therapies, and health information – are the targets of an employment open house scheduled for March 13 (2010; Saturday) from 8 a.m. to Noon in the conference center of the Reading Hospital and Medical Center, Fifth Avenue, Reading PA.

Registration and a continental breakfast are planned for between 8 and 9 a.m., followed by a presentation by Matthew C. Grissinger, RPh, who will talk about “Intimidation In The Workplace.” The discussion has been approved as a one-hour nursing continuing education by the Pennsylvania State Nurses Association. Tours of the hospital and on-site interviews will follow beginning at 10 a.m.

For more information, call 610-988-9800.

About Job Watch

Job Watch is a weekly feature of The Sanatoga Post, The Limerick Post, and The Pottstown Post that focuses on employment-related news items. It is published Mondays. It is NOT intended to be a jobs marketplace or a collection of individual employment openings, but instead an aggregation of articles about local events, notices, tools, and advice about work and work issues considered relevant to readers.

The Post encourages local companies and businesses – those in the 19464, 19465, 19468, 19512, 19518, 19525, 19473, 19474, 19457, 19426 and 19460 zip codes – to submit news articles or press releases of 200 or fewer words to Job Watch. Send them via e-mail.

Photo from the state of Ohio

Related:

• Job Watch, Feb. 8, 2010
  Traveling for work; Popular job websites; Good news, bad news in labor report
• Job Watch, Feb. 1, 2020
  Government website USAJobs; Temp job fair in Pottstown; Marketability with adult education

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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.

Monday, Feb. 15

EMS: Head Injury
Moyer Rd & Gilbertsville Rd; Upper Pottsgrove; 2010-02-16 @ 01:42:50;

EMS: Unknown Medical Emergency
King St & N Evans St; Pottstown; 2010-02-15 @ 21:53:20;

EMS: Cardiac Emergency
Springfield Dr & Linden Way; Upper Providence; 2010-02-15 @ 20:51:37;

EMS: Respiratory Emergency
Old Schuylkill Rd & E Schuylkill Rd; Chester County; 2010-02-15 @ 21:43:07;

EMS: Respiratory Emergency
4th St & Perkiomen Ave; Schwenksville; 2010-02-15 @ 21:41:43;

EMS: Dehydration
Chestnut St & Gable Ave; Pottstown; 2010-02-15 @ 18:53:17;

Fire: Gas-Odor/leak
Spring Haven Cir & Muirfield Dr; Limerick; 2010-02-15 @ 17:29:44;

Traffic: Disabled Vehicle
Main St & Pottstown Ave; Pennsburg; 2010-02-15 @ 17:54:46;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident
Lightcap Rd & Evergreen Rd; Limerick; 2010-02-15 @ 17:05:22;

EMS: Unconscious Subject
Winterberry Ln & Sugarpine Ln; Upper Providence; 2010-02-15 @ 16:56:45;

Traffic: Road Obstruction
Rt100 Sb & Shoemaker Rd; Pottstown; 2010-02-15 @ 16:26:14;

EMS: Cardiac Emergency
Little Rd & Kulp Rd; New Hanover; 2010-02-15 @ 15:41:18;

EMS: General Weakness
Franklin St & Lesher Aly; Pottstown; 2010-02-15 @ 15:02:21;

EMS: Respiratory Emergency
Evergreen Rd & W Lightcap Rd; Lower Pottsgrove; 2010-02-15 @ 14:52:05;

EMS: Syncopal Episode
High St & Montgomery St; Pottstown; 2010-02-15 @ 14:46:15;

EMS: Unknown Medical Emergency
5th St & Bitting Aly; Red Hill; 2010-02-15 @ 13:54:49;

Fire: Fire Alarm
Green Tree Rd & Rr Crossing; Upper Providence; 2010-02-15 @ 13:39:25;

Fire: Building Fire
Plainfield Ave & Oscar Rd; Skippack; 2010-02-15 @ 12:38:02;

EMS: Dizziness
High St & Brown St; Lower Pottsgrove; 2010-02-15 @ 12:33:37;

EMS: Fall Victim
5th St & Bitting Aly; Red Hill; 2010-02-15 @ 12:15:17;

EMS: Subject In Pain
3rd St & Johnson St; Pottstown; 2010-02-15 @ 11:56:09;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident
Lewis Rd & Foxmeadow Dr; Limerick; 2010-02-15 @ 11:22:09;

EMS: Unknown Medical Emergency
N 5th Ave; Royersford; 2010-02-15 @ 11:19:23;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident
High St & S Bailey St; Pottstown; 2010-02-15 @ 10:58:07;

EMS: General Weakness
Hanover St & E 4th St; Pottstown; 2010-02-15 @ 10:24:58;

EMS: Respiratory Emergency
Zieglerville Rd & N Gravel Pike; Lower Frederick; 2010-02-15 @ 08:56:04;

Traffic: Hazardous Road Conditions
Deep Creek Rd & Layfield Rd; New Hanover; 2010-02-15 @ 08:25:07;

EMS: Vehicle Accident
Hanover St & Schuylkill Ave; Chester County; 2010-02-15 @ 07:55:05;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident Injuries
Hanover St & Schuylkill Ave; Chester County; 2010-02-15 @ 07:52:46;

Fire: Fire Alarm
Ridge Pike & Kline Rd; Upper Providence; 2010-02-15 @ 06:37:46;

Traffic: Disabled Vehicle
Schenkler Rd & Lee Rd; New Hanover; 2010-02-15 @ 06:36:27;

EMS: Nausea/vomiting
Fruit Farm Rd & Mennonite Rd; Upper Providence; 2010-02-15 @ 05:37:39;

EMS: Respiratory Emergency
Pebble Beach Dr & Calloway Ct; Limerick; 2010-02-15 @ 05:23:31;

EMS: Seizures
Nottingham Ln & Quincy St; Upper Providence; 2010-02-15 @ 03:54:14.

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A sign on U.S. Route 422 warns of lane closures.

KING OF PRUSSIA PA – Pennsylvania Department of Transportation contractors will continue their work this week to replace guide rails along U.S. Route 422 east-bound lanes in Upper Providence and Limerick (PA) townships, PennDOT reports, and that will occasionally restrict traffic from two lanes to one between the Collegeville and Royersford interchanges.

Lane limits may occur between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Crews also will continue their installation of intelligent transportation conduits along the roadside, closing the left lane of 422 west-bound from 7 p.m. to 2 p.m. between the two interchanges, PennDOT announced. Finally, general road reconstruction work may affect west-bound traffic daily from 10 a.m. to 5 a.m.; and east-bound traffic from 7 p.m. to 2 p.m.

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