The Sanatoga Post

SANATOGA PA – Repair of the East High Street bridge that crosses Sanatoga Creek between Sanatoga Road and Allison Drive begins in earnest next Monday (April 19, 2010), the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s District 6-0 office in King of Prussia PA announced yesterday (Monday, April 12).

Traffic shifts may begin next week on the East High Street bridge between Sanatoga Road and Allison Drive.

Crossing Construction Co. of Washington Crossing PA, which won the bid to rehabilitate the 96-year-old stone arch bridge, is likely Monday to begin preliminary work that includes altering lanes across the bridge to create a shift in the street’s traffic pattern, according to PennDOT. The agency announcement did not specify if the change will be created with cones, barriers, painted lines, or by other means.

The traffic shift is expected to be in effect, it added, Mondays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and on weekends from Friday at 6 p.m. through Monday at 6 a.m. for 95 total days between April 19 and July 13.

After that, township officials have been told, the bridge and highway will be closed so remaining repairs can be completed. Its re-opening isn’t expected until late August, with plans for a detour that takes drivers over Evergreen Road, U.S. Route 422, and Armand Hammer Boulevard. Access to all adjacent properties will be maintained throughout construction, PennDOT has said.

Crossing Construction is being paid $2,212,369 for the rehab work, which includes removal of “deteriorated” parapets and a stone wingwall, repairing the existing stone arches and three remaining three wingwalls, removing old pavement and installing a new concrete slab with an asphalt top, and replacing the parapets with concrete walls covered by stone veneers.

News of the bridge-lane shift follows a pre-construction meeting PennDOT held last Thursday (April 8) in King of Prussia. It was attended on behalf of Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township by Chad Camburn of Bursich Associates, the township’s engineering firm.

Related (to the East High Street bridge):

• State Says High St. Bridge Repairs To Cost $2.2M
• PennDOT Offer Sanatoga Bridge Work Timeline
• Details Are In That Pesky Paperwork
• PennDOT Set For Meeting On Bridge Work
• Missing Walks Latest Bridge Complaint
• Will Road Be Closed When School Re-Opens?
• State Says No To Keeping Bridge Open
• Township Looks To Pols For Bridge Help
• Bridge Closing Threatens Businesses, Board Says
• Sanatoga Bridge Closing This Spring
• Bridge Repairs Next Year

Sign up to get The Sanatoga Post delivered free daily by e-mail. Share this article.
See our galleries for photos that appear in The Post. Got news for us? E-mail The Post.

CLOSING ANOTHER CHAPTER IN CRASH DEATHS – A Pottsgrove High School teen, Austin J. Ewers, was sentenced Monday (April 12, 2010) in a Montgomery County (PA) court to placement in a Western Pennsylvania treatment facility for his role as the drug-influenced driver of a sports utility vehicle that crashed during November 2009 in East Coventry PA. Two classmates and passengers in the vehicle – Michael Cantamaglia and Andrew Case – were killed, and several others were injured. The tragedy resonated across the student body and the community, high school Principal Christopher Shaffer testified during Monday’s sentencing hearing. That was evidenced by basketball shoes, above, worn by a member of the Pottsgrove Falcons’ team during a Jan. 27, 2010, game against Upper Perkiomen Valley. Cantamaglia’s initials were part of the message the shoes bore for the world to see: “Rest in peace, MDC.”

Related:

• Perhaps, Further Closure
• School District Praised For Accident Response
• Funeral Services Set For Accident Victims
• Pottsgrove Student Accident Widely Covered
• Social Media Reflects Sorrow And Loss

Sign up to get The Sanatoga Post delivered free daily by e-mail. Share this article.
See our galleries for photos that appear in The Post. Got news for us? E-mail The Post.

POTTSTOWN PA – Summer’s only two months away and so too are the summer reading programs in the Pottsgrove School District. Board of School Directors‘ member Nancy Landes hopes the coming programs’ book lists are more entertaining than those offered last year.

• The directors’ first April meeting is scheduled to be held tonight (Tuesday, April 13, 2010) at 7:30 p.m. at Ringing Rocks Elementary School, 1401 Kauffman Rd., Pottstown PA. A meeting agenda has been available to the public since Monday (April 12). It can be downloaded from the district website as a Microsoft Word document.

Although no one’s guaranteeing five-star reviews, the selections certainly will be different, Landes learned.

Directors got an earful of complaints last August (2009) from students and parents alike, who told them the summer reading choices for Pottsgrove High School were less than satisfying. “Blech,” actually, was the word Director Fred Remelius used at the time to describe the listed books.

Landes, during the board’s most recent (March 23, 2010) meeting, sought assurances from Terri Koehler, the district’s supervisor of secondary education and assessment, that things are bound to get better.

The Pottsgrove Middle School reading list has already been determined, Koehler reported, and all involved there seem to be happy with its contents, she said. The high school list, at the time, had been delayed by other matters in the high school library but was in the process of being compiled, she added. Its contents probably would significantly change, Koehler added.

Grade-by-grade lists of summer reading novels currently appear on the high school library’s web pages, but it could not be immediately determined whether they were the lists for the summer of 2010 or of the prior year.

Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ March 23 meeting):

• Pottsgrove Teachers Review District Accountability Plan
• School Board Criticizes Lack of Students’ Improvement
• Economic Tales, Exec Sessions, And Long Night At Pottsgrove
• Geothermal Now ‘Locked’ Into Ringing Re-Build
• How Estimated Costs For Ringing Shape Up
• School Board ‘Topic A’ Tonight? Bet On The Budget

Sign up to get The Sanatoga Post delivered free daily by e-mail. Share this article.
See our galleries for photos that appear in The Post. Got news for us? E-mail The Post.

Installing new energy saving windows is one way to earn a tax deduction, PICPA says.

PHILADELPHIA PA – Interest in “going green,” or taking steps to preserve natural resources and protect the environment, has grown over the past decade. There can be tax benefits when home owners take environmentally friendly steps, such as minimizing energy usage. The Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA), which operates offices in Philadelphia, Harrisburg and Pittsburgh PA, explains how helping the environment can cut thousands of dollars off this year’s tax bill and home energy costs.

New Incentives
Last year’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act included a tax credit – the Non-Business Energy Property Credit – that encourages individuals to make energy-efficient home improvements. While the government had previously offered this incentive for making energy-friendly upgrades, the credit percentage and maximum credit allowed have been increased.

Qualifying property owners can now receive a tax credit for 30 percent of the total cost of qualifying improvements, in some cases including the labor to install the products. A maximum credit of $1,500 is allowed for the improvements put in place in 2009 and 2010. To qualify, improvements to a principal residence must be made between Jan. 1, 2009, and Dec. 31, 2010. The credit does not apply to new construction.

The types of improvements covered include insulation; energy efficient windows, doors, and skylights; some roofs; and a variety of other specified residential energy products.

Alternative Energy Choices
Those aren’t the only incentives available. Another energy tax credit – the Residential Energy Efficient Property Credit – applies to the purchase of qualifying alternative energy equipment, including solar electric systems and water heaters, geothermal heat pumps, and wind turbines.

The credit is allowed for up to 30 percent of the cost of qualifying equipment, including labor in most instances, with no maximum limit on the amount. This credit expires Dec. 31, 2016, and is good for existing homes and new construction, as well as for both principal residences and second homes. It does not apply to rental residences.

The products or materials used must meet the IRS standards for energy efficiency, which have been raised for this new credit. As a result, be sure to check for a manufacturer’s certification attesting to the fact that products used meet IRS standards. Consumers may be familiar with the Department of Energy’s “Energy Star” label, which can be found on many appliances, but not all of them qualify for credits.

Pennsylvania’s HELP program <www.keystonehelp.com> also offers incentives to go green.

Get The Facts
Credits can be claimed tax returns this year. Ask a certified public accountant (CPA) or other recognized financial expert about the details and how to qualify. Tax credits lower the tax you have to pay on a dollar-for-dollar basis, so they are worth claiming by those who qualify. Property owners who missed these credits and have already filed a return can send an amended one using Form 1040X.

Editor’s Note: This article was prepared by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and reviewed and distributed by the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA). To find a CPA in Lower Pottsgrove or Limerick (PA) townships, the borough of Pottstown, or elsewhere visit www.IneedaCPA.org.

Photo from Clipart.com

Sign up to get The Sanatoga Post delivered free daily by e-mail. Share this article.
See our galleries for photos that appear in The Post. Got news for us? E-mail The Post.

NOT YOUR TYPICAL CAR WASH – Saturday’s (April 10, 2010) car wash, conducted by Pottsgrove Middle School students to raise funds for their annual trip to Dorney Park in nearby Allentown PA, saw more than its share of coupes, sedans, vans, and SUVs, Pottsgrove school board member Fred Remelius reported. The kids, he said, “washed a bunch of cars and trucks. I thought they would never stop coming.” And business was not only good, it was … well, unusual too. That’s because former board president Darryl Hendershot, of Hendershot Hitch in Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township, stopped by with two of his Clydesdale horses. The students hand-bathed the beautiful animals, and their owner gave them a power-wash rinsing.

Photos by Fred Remelius

Sign up to get The Sanatoga Post delivered free daily by e-mail. Share this article.
See our galleries for photos that appear in The Post. Got news for us? E-mail The Post.

They paid how much?

POTTSTOWN PA – The top price paid for real estate within Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township from Nov. 28, 2009-Jan. 8, 2010, was $185,000, the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper reports. The property is located at 880 Bleim Rd.

A second property, at 1536 Brooke Rd., sold for $159,900.

By contrast, during the same period, the top real estate sales price in Pottstown PA Borough, immediately to the west was $137,000; Limerick PA Township, east, $179,900; New Hanover PA Township, northeast, $119,239; Upper Pottsgrove PA Township, west, none listed; and in North Coventry PA Township, south, $229,900.

Across all of Montgomery County, the highest-priced property sold during the period went for $1,245,000, at 510 Northwick Ln., Lower Merion PA.

This week’s top reported prices were listed in “The Top 50,” the newspaper’s weekly review of highest prices paid for real estate sold within the city of Philadelphia and townships in its surrounding counties.

Related:

• What They Sold For, Nov. 23-Dec. 31, 2009
• What They Sold For, Nov. 16-Dec. 25, 2009
• What They Sold For, Nov. 9-Dec. 18, 2009
• What They Sold For, Nov. 5-Dec. 9, 2009
• What They Sold For, Oct. 26-Dec. 3, 2009
• What They Sold For, Oct. 20-Nov. 27, 2009
• What They Sold For, Oct. 15-Nov. 24, 2009
• What They Sold For, Oct. 8-Nov. 18, 2009
• What They Sold For, Oct. 7-Nov. 11, 2009
• What They Sold For, Oct. 1-Nov. 4, 2009
• What They Sold For, Oct. 26-28, 2009
• What They Sold For, Sept. 27-Oct. 23, 2009
• What They Sold For, Oct. 12-16, 2009
• What They Sold For, Oct. 5-9, 2009
• What They Sold For, Sept. 29-Oct. 2, 2009
• What They Sold For, Sept. 14-18, 2009
• What They Sold For, Sept. 1-11, 2009
• What They Sold For, Aug. 26-31, 2009
• What They Sold For, Aug. 20-25, 2009
• What They Sold For, Aug. 13-19, 2009
• What They Sold For, Aug. 5-12, 2009
• What They Sold For, July 29-Aug. 4, 2009
• What They Sold For, July 24-28, 2009
• What They Sold For, July 20-23, 2009
• What They Sold For, July 13-17, 2009
• What They Sold For, July 6-10, 2009
• What They Sold For, June 29-July 3, 2009
• What They Sold For, June 22-26, 2009
• What They Sold For, June 15-19, 2009
• What They Sold For, June 8-12, 2009
• What They Sold For, June 1-5, 2009
• What They Sold For, May 25-29, 2009
• What They Sold For, May 18-22, 2009
• What They Sold For, May 11-15, 2009
• What They Sold For, May 4-8, 2009
• What They Sold For, April 27-May 1, 2009
• What They Sold For, April 20-24, 2009
• What They Sold For, April 13-17, 2009
• What They Sold For, April 2-12, 2009
• What They Sold For, March 30-April 1, 2009
• What They Sold For, March 19-27, 2009
• What They Sold For, March 18-20, 2009
• What They Sold For, March 5-11, 2009
• What They Sold For, Feb. 26-March 4, 2009
• What They Sold For, Feb. 18-25, 2009
• What They Sold For, Feb. 4-11, 2009
• What They Sold For, Jan. 28-Feb. 3, 2009
• What They Sold For, Jan. 19-27, 2009
• What They Sold For, Jan. 10-18, 2009
• What They Sold For, Jan. 1-9, 2009
• What They Sold For, Dec. 22-31, 2008
• What They Sold For, Dec. 15-19, 2008
• What They Sold For, Dec. 8-12, 2008
• What They Sold For, Nov. 26-Dec. 5, 2008
• What They Sold For, Nov. 18-24, 2008
• What They Sold For, Nov. 10-17, 2008
• What They Sold For, Oct. 28-Nov. 3, 2008
• What They Sold For, Oct. 20-27, 2008
• What They Sold For, Oct. 13-17, 2008
• What They Sold For, Oct. 6-10, 2008
• What They Sold For, Sept. 29 -Oct. 3, 2008
• What They Sold For, Sept. 22-26, 2008
• What They Sold For, Sept. 15-19, 2008
• What They Sold For, Sept. 8-12, 2008
• What They Sold For, Sept. 1-5, 2008
• What They Sold For, Aug. 25-29, 2008
• What They Sold For, Aug. 18-22, 2008

Sign up to get The Sanatoga Post delivered free daily by e-mail.
See our galleries for photos that appear in The Post. Got news for us? E-mail The Post. Share this article.

POTTSTOWN PA – Upper Pottsgrove (PA) Township commissioners have officially announced that next Monday (April 19, 2010) they will follow the lead of their counterparts in Lower Pottsgrove and, as expected, approve an amendment to a Pottstown Metropolitan Regional Planning Committee agreement that gives planners greater flexibility in determining how land across the region can be developed.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

The agreement covers Lower, Upper and West Pottsgrove, North and East Coventry, and Douglass and New Hanover townships; and Pottstown borough. The Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners gave its approval to the same amendment during its April 5 meeting.

In an advertisement that appeared Saturday (April 10, 2010) in The (Pottstown PA) Mercury newspaper, Upper Pottsgrove’s publication of record for legal notices, the Upper Pottsgrove board made clear its intent “to adopt and enact” the amendment during its regular meeting in the municipal building, 1409 Farmington Ave., Pottstown PA.

Both Upper and West Pottsgrove stand to be the first beneficiaries of those changes.

The committee’s Pottstown Metropolitan Regional Comprehensive Plan was initially created, in part, to keep commercial development focused in Pottstown. The two townships, however, want to allow construction of shopping centers along Route 100 north of Upland Square Drive that potentially would siphon business growth, and the tax dollars it brings, away from the borough. Changing the plan gives committee members broader latitude in interpreting it without having to seek permission to do so from individual municipalities.

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ April 5 meeting):

• Commissioners Impatient For Sunnybrook Sign Application
• Peee-yew! Whiff The Price Of Trash Pick-Up
• Stop, Thief! Stones, Trees Go Missing From Park Land
• Township Legal Move Saves District Time, Money
• What The Fashionista Politician Wears Now
• Comissioners OK Municipal Plan Changes
• Commissioners Tonight Consider Regional Plan Changes

Sign up to get The Sanatoga Post delivered free daily by e-mail. Share this article.
See our galleries for photos that appear in The Post. Got news for us? E-mail The Post.

POTTSTOWN PA – On the Pottsgrove School District sports schedule for today (Monday, April 12, 2010) through Sunday (April 18):

Today (Monday, April 12)

• Girls Varsity Lacrosse @ Pottstown, 3:45 p.m.
• Boys Varsity Lacrosse VS. Spring-Ford HS, 3:45 p.m.
• Boys Varsity Baseball @ Spring-Ford HS, 4 p.m.
• Boys Junior Varsity Baseball @ Spring-Ford HS, 4 p.m.
• Girls Varsity Softball VS. Spring-Ford HS, 4 p.m.
• Girls Junior Varsity Softball VS. Spring-Ford HS, 4 p.m.
• Boys Junior Varsity Lacrosse VS. Spring-Ford HS, 5 p.m.
• Girls Junior Varsity Lacrosse @ Pottstown, 5 p.m.

Tuesday, April 13

• Coed 8th Track @ Phoenixville, 3:30 p.m.
• Girls Varsity Lacrosse VS. Nazareth Academy, 3:45 p.m.
• Girls 8th Softball VS. Owen J Roberts, 3:45 p.m.
• Girls 7th Softball VS. Owen J Roberts, 3:45 p.m.
• Boys Freshman Baseball VS. Perkiomen Valley, 3:45 p.m.
• Girls 8th Lacrosse @ Arcola Intermediate School, 3:45 p.m.
• Girls 7th Lacrosse @ Arcola Intermediate School, 5 p.m.
• Girls Junior Varsity Lacrosse VS. Nazareth Academy, 5 p.m.
• Girls Junior Varsity Lacrosse VS. Nazareth Academy, 5 p.m.

Wednesday, April 14

• Boys Varsity Track VS. Upper Perkiomen, 3:15 p.m.
• Girls Varsity Track VS. Upper Perkiomen, 3:15 p.m.
• Boys 8th Baseball VS. Owen J Roberts, 3:45 p.m.
• Boys 7th Baseball VS. Owen J Roberts, 3:45 p.m.
• Girls Varsity Lacrosse @ Methacton High School, 3:45 p.m.
• Boys Varsity Lacrosse VS. Perkiomen Valley, 3:45 p.m.
• Boys Varsity Baseball VS. Pottstown, 4 p.m.
• Boys Junior Varsity Baseball VS. Pottstown, 4 p.m.
• Girls Varsity Softball @ Pottstown, 4 p.m.
• Girls Junior Varsity Softball @ Pottstown, 4 p.m.
• Boys Junior Varsity Lacrosse VS. Perkiomen Valley, 5 p.m.
• Girls Junior Varsity Lacrosse @ Methacton High School, 5 p.m.

Thursday, April 15

• Boys Varsity Tennis @ Upper Perkiomen, 3:30 p.m.
• Boys Freshman Baseball @ Phoenixville, 3:45 p.m.
• Girls 8th Softball @ Perkiomen Valley East, 3:45 p.m.
• Girls 7th Softball @ Perkiomen Valley East, 3:45 p.m.

Friday, April 16

• Boys Varsity Lacrosse VS. Phoenixville, 3:45 p.m.
• Boys 8th Baseball @ Arcola Intermediate School, 3:45 p.m.
• Boys 7th Baseball @ Arcola Intermediate School, 3:45 p.m.
• Girls Varsity Lacrosse VS. Spring-Ford HS, 3:45 p.m.
• Boys Varsity Baseball @ Upper Perkiomen, 4 p.m.
• Boys Junior Varsity Baseball @ Upper Perkiomen, 4 p.m.
• Girls Varsity Softball VS. Upper Perkiomen, 4 p.m.
• Girls Junior Varsity Softball VS. Upper Perkiomen, 4 p.m.
• Girls Junior Varsity Lacrosse VS. Spring-Ford HS, 5 p.m.
• Boys Junior Varsity Lacrosse VS. Phoenixville, 5 p.m.

Saturday, April 17

• Boys Varsity Track – GREAT VALLEY RELAYS, 9 a.m.
• Girls Varsity Track – GREAT VALLEY RELAYS, 9 a.m.
• Boys Varsity Baseball @ Phoenixville, 1 p.m.
• Boys Junior Varsity Baseball @ Phoenixville, 1 p.m.

Sunday, April 18

• None listed

Schedules from HighSchoolSportsNet

Sign up to get The Sanatoga Post delivered free daily by e-mail. Share this article.
See our galleries for photos that appear in The Post. Got news for us? E-mail The Post.

President Barack Obama at the White House, in a photo taken last Wednesday (April 7, 2010).

POTTSTOWN PA – The Obama Administration’s foreign policies go under scrutiny this Wednesday (April 14, 2010) during a panel discussion of five specialists that will be held in Blue Bell PA but will be simultaneously broadcast from 12:30-2 p.m. to South Hall Room 216 on the West Campus of Montgomery County Community College, 101 College Dr., Pottstown PA.

This event has been added to The Post calendar.

The program is part of the spring installment of MCCC’s “Issues and Insights” interview and talk program.

Wednesday’s broadcast puts special emphasis on Iraq, Afghanistan, and the war on terror under President Obama’s leadership. Panelists include anthropologist Dr. Janet Amighi, historians Dr. Lawrence Backlund and Dr. Lowell Young, and political scientists Jodi Empol-Schwartz and Benn Prybutok.

“Issues and Insights” is intended to contribute to expanding awareness of major issues of public interest, the college said in a press release. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 215-641-6380.

White House photo by Lawrence Jackson

Sign up to get The Sanatoga Post delivered free daily by e-mail. Share this article.
See our galleries for photos that appear in The Post. Got news for us? E-mail The Post.

The Liberty Belles in concert.

SANATOGA PA – The Liberty Belles, described as a “charming and gifted group of performers who dazzle and delight audiences” with performances of World War II-era songs and medleys, will be featured Wednesday (April 14, 2010) on the stage of Sunnybrook Ballroom, 50 Sunnybrook Rd., Pottstown PA.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

The Belles and an accompanying act, that of Abbott and Costello impersonators Bill Riley and Joe Zeigler, provides an authentic re-creation of an old-fashioned USO show. The performance includes lunch.

Tickets cost $48 per person. Discounts are available for groups of 24 or more people. For reservations or more information, call the Sunnybrook box office at 484-624-5186.

Photo from the USO of Hampton Roads

Sign up to get The Sanatoga Post delivered free daily by e-mail. Share this article.
See our galleries for photos that appear in The Post. Got news for us? E-mail The Post.