The Sanatoga Post

SANATOGA PA – If you were among the hundreds of motorists caught Thursday (Sept. 22, 2011) in the hours-long traffic jam caused by an accident on U.S. Route 422 between the Sanatoga and Armand Hammer interchanges, you should take a gander at what you waited for.

Talented local photographer and Sanatoga Fire Company member Robert Ward on Friday (Sept. 23) posted a series of 12 photographs from the rush-hour accident in an album on the company’s Facebook page. Find three of them above and below, and the remainder (trust us, they’re just as fascinating) here.

A crash between a tractor-trailer and maroon car left the truck stuck on the guardrail in 422′s median. Ward noted that company firefighters and fire police, as well as units from companies at Ringing Hill, North Coventry and Pottstown were on the scene, as well as Lower Pottsgrove and Limerick police.

The highway’s westbound land was shutdown Thursday from about 4:30 to 5:45 p.m., and traffic was backed up at one point from Sanatoga to Oaks, a distance of 13 miles.

Photos by Robert Ward

Be safe, and get rid of stuff like this

AMBLER PA – Residents of Lower Pottsgrove and Limerick (PA) townships, the borough of Pottstown, and surrounding municipalities in western Montgomery County can  dispose of items of hazardous household waste today (Saturday, Sept. 24, 2011) from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Ambler campus of Temple University, 1431 E. Butler Pike, Ambler PA.

The Ambler site is one of 26 different drop-off locations the county has made available for household hazardous waste removal this year. Only one more collection day remains: it is scheduled for Oct. 22 at the Lower Merion Township Public Works Department, 1300 N. Woodbine Ave., Penn Valley PA.

These events have been added to The Post calendar.

Household hazardous waste is the discarded, unused or leftover portion of household products containing toxic chemicals. Hazardous usually can be identified by labels such as: “Warning,” “Caution,” “Poisonous,” “Toxic,” “Flammable,” “Corrosive,” Reactive,” or “Explosive.”

The program is limited to private residents carrying up to 220 pounds or 25 gallons per vehicle. Each container cannot be more than five gallons. For more information, call the county Recycling Hotline at 610-278-3618.

Tropical Storm Lee on Sept. 2

NORRISTOWN PA – Montgomery County residents whose properties sustained damages during Tropical Storm Lee earlier this month (Sept. 2011), as well as those affected by Hurricane Irene during August, may be eligible to receive assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The agency has added the county to its major disaster declaration list, county officials said Friday (Sept. 23).

Uninsured and under-insured homeowners, renters and businesses may be eligible to receive grants for temporary housing, home repair, home replacement and permanent housing construction. They are urged to call FEMA at 1-800-621-FEMA (3362), or apply online here for disaster assistance.

A disaster recovery center staffed by federal, state and county agencies to help residents and businesses has ben opened at the county Public Training Campus, 1175 Conshohocken Rd., Conshohocken PA. It is open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., including Saturdays and Sundays until further notice.

Those needed assistance should first register with FEMA before visiting the center. It  includes representatives from FEMA and the federal Small Business Administration; the Pennsylvania departments of Public Welfare, Environmental Protection, and Transportation; and the county Health Department, Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, and Aging and Adult Services.

Photo from Our Amazing Planet

SANATOGA PA – About 150 people arrived Thursday (Sept. 22, 2011) for two hearings at Sunnybrook Ballroom in Sanatoga over whether the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) should allow the twin nuclear reactors at Exelon Corp.’s Limerick Generating Station to be licensed for operation beyond 2024, more than a decade from now. And just as the size of the crowd was about evenly divided between the meetings, so too, it seemed, were its opinions.

Some praised the Limerick operation, its safety record, and its positive effects on the economy. Others openly worried about environmental safety, the inability to evacuate area residents if an emergency arose, and the storage and disposal of spent fuel rods.

• Watch a video (above) of opinions expressed during the evening meeting, or see it at The Post’s YouTube user account.
• See a gallery of photos (below) from the evening meeting. Click on any thumbnail image to enlarge it.

The evening meeting, which began at 7 and followed an afternoon session that began at 2, appeared well controlled. People were there for a serious purpose, many said, but they smiled and waved at neighbors they knew, looked at several display tables and talked with representatives staffing them, and generally treated differing opinions respectfully.

There was, however, a significant law enforcement presence to ensure the meetings were orderly. The Lower Pottsgrove Police Department placed four officers inside the ballroom during the evening proceeding as a precaution. No trouble was expected, one officer said, “but you never know and you don’t want to take chances,” he added.

The 13-year time lag between Thursday’s meetings and the expiration of current licenses at Limerick, in 2024 and 2029 respectively, was mentioned by several commenters as a concern. They wondered how the NRC could adequately judge, so far in advance, if Exelon would be a suitable candidate for relicensing.

Related (to federal re-licensing of Limerick Generating Station):

• Police Detail At Limerick Hearings Cost $1,468
• Local Voices Endorse, Worry Over Nuclear Relicensing
• NRC Holds Public Meetings Thursday At Sunnybrook
• NRC Holds Public Meetings Sept. 22 At Sunnybrook
• NRC Legal Notice: Meetings Ahead At Sunnybrook
• NRC Staffers Stop By, Say ‘Hi’ To Commissioners
• Exelon Nuclear Renewals Win Two Early Endorsements
• Exelon Officially Asks To Extend LGS Operating Licenses
• Meeting Wednesday To Review Limerick Nuclear Safety
• LGS License Renewals Topic At May Chamber Breakfast

Other coverage:

• Nuclear regulators hear comments about Limerick plant (WFMZ-TV)
• Terrorism, Cost, Evacuation Discussed At Nuke Hearings  (Pottstown Patch)
• Tweeting Live From The NRC’s Hearings (Limerick Patch)
• Pros, cons aired at hearing on Limerick nuclear plant (The Mercury)

Pottsgrove Middle School

POTTSTOWN PA – A regional coordinator for a week-long science-based camp conducted this summer at Pottsgrove Middle School praised school officials Thursday (Sept. 22, 2011) for the way it operated.

More than 40 elementary students were part of the Pottsgrove edition of Camp Invention on the middle school campus at North Hanover Street, Pottstown PA, according to coordinator Susan Z. Clarke. They were challenged to solve a variety of problems using science, technology, engineering, and math concepts they learned during the week.

“I especially want to thank camp director, Elaine Armstrong, her talented local teaching staff and counselors, and the creative students in the Pottsgrove area for their exceptional work,” Clarke said in an e-mail.

YORK PA – A Pennsylvania-headquartered road and high-speed train contractor, Ameri-Metro of York, said Tuesday (Sept. 20, 2011) that a subsidiary it owns had “finalized an agreement” to build a new combination railway and toll road at a cost of $7 billion, representing a “once-in-a-lifetime project” that would generate 14,000 construction jobs.

Concept sketch of a train station proposed for a toll road-rail line project announced Tuesday in Alabama, which reportedly would be built by a York PA company

While that sounds somewhat similar to projects proposed for western Montgomery County PA during the past 18 months, and its timing seems ironic given public criticism of highway tolling voiced last week at a meeting in Royersford PA, rest assured you haven’t missed any important decisions. Ameri-Metro was NOT referring to U.S. Route 422.

Instead, its plans cover a 300-mile stretch from port operations in Southern Alabama to the Tennessee state line, the Andalusia (AL) Star News newspaper reported. Moreover, the newspaper added, the announcement “caught economic leaders throughout the state off-guard.” The Star News cited other media outlets’ reports that “officials with (Alabama) economic and transportation offices had no advance knowledge of the project being announced.”

Toll road and rail line discussions focused on the 422 Corridor from King of Prussia PA to the Berks County line have made headlines locally for some time, but were heightened with a highly charged public forum on the subject last week at Pope John Paul II High School in Royersford. The (Pottstown) Mercury newspaper, in an editorial published Thursday (Sept. 22), declared the suggestion to impose tolls along 422 to pay for highway and rail improvements there as “an idea … doomed through poor handling by its supporters and overwhelming opposition.”

The Alabama project, in contrast, is one the contractor claims has been reviewed over several years. Full details are still months from being finalized, Shah Mathias, chief executive officer of Ameri-Metro, told The Star News. However, he also said his company had an aggressive timeline that could enable work on the four-lane limited access toll road to begin in Fall 2012.

Just how realistic the timeline is, or even whether the Alabama project comes to fruition, is being openly questioned.

The Mobile (AL) Press-Register newspaper reported Thursday that a 2010 filing with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission at the time indicated Ameri-Metro was “thinly capitalized” and potentially unable to finance the ambitious proposal.

Related (to U.S. Route 422 Corridor planning):

• Toll Road, Rail Line Deal Announced … NOT For 422
• Candidates Criticize DVRPC Toll Info Position
• On 422 Toll Plan, DVRPC Fights Information Requests
• Notebook Worthy (U.S. Route 422 Forum Edition)
• Drivers will subsidize new rail line in 422 tolling plan (The Pennsylvania Independent)
• Agendas Abound Tonight At 422 Forum In Royersford
• Quigley Seeks Crowd As Source Of Comments On 422
• State Road Tolls A Future Funding Solution, Official Agrees
• Report Expected To Suggest Law For Road Toll Authority
• I-95 A Big Problem; 422 A Solvable Problem (With Tolls)
• Even With Tolling, 422 Might Be Free (For A Few Miles)
• County Candidates Brown, Castor Oppose 422 Tolling
• Quigley, Other Reps Questioning 422 Tolls Proposal
• 422 Toll Proposal Wins Some PA Commission Backers
• Exec Highway Group To Hear Rt. 422 Tolling As ‘Model’
• 422 Questions Answered, For Your Viewing Pleasure
• In 422 Tolling, Planners Say, Studying Doesn’t Make It So
• Former Reporter Asks Commissioners To Support 422 Tolls
• Online Survey Seeks Opinions On Local Road Congestion
• 422 Plus Project Plays Offense With FAQs Debut
• Peering Into The Future? Gov’s Bridge Proposal And 422
• Another Township Endorses 422 Master Plan
• Neighboring Limerick Supervisors Endorse 422 Master Plan
• Understand 422 Plan Endorsement, Lower Pottsgrove Advised
• Lower Pottsgrove Holds On 422 Plan Endorsement
• Engineers Claim PA Roads Worse Now Than In 2006
• Tuesday Session Tackles Funding For 422 And Elsewhere
• Tolls, Lower Pottsgrove Station Part Of 422 Plan
• Pending Decision May Affect Route 422 Projects
• Last Day For Your Say On Route 422 Plan
• Notebook Worthy (Aug. 24, 2009)
• Consultants Express Interest In Studying 422
• Don’t Like 422 Tolling? Website Wants Your Alternative
• Truckers Alerted On Highway Partnerships Bill
• In 422 Debate, Time A Hindrance And Help
• Notebook Worthy (June 29, 2009)
• Growth, Planners Say, Is 422’s Growing Problem
• Tech Used To Draw For 422 Meetings
• Route 422 Toll Meetings Next Week
• 422 Repairs, Delays Start Tuesday
• 422 Proposal, Like Traffic, Creeps Ahead
• Got A Route 422 Idea? Time To Air It
• Train Service On The Front Burner Once More

Illustration from AmeriMetro

NORRISTOWN PA – A Lower Pottsgrove man allegedly abused his 17-week-old “defenseless infant” to the extent the baby boy suffered fractures to his skull, ribs, leg, forearms and shoulder, according to authorities, The (Pottstown PA) Mercury newspaper reported Thursday.

Jacob Govinda Zlomek, 24, most recently of the 3000 block of East High Street, was arraigned Wednesday on eight counts each of aggravated assault, simple assault, endangering the welfare of a child and recklessly endangering another person in connection with alleged incidents that occurred earlier this year, The Mercury said.

• Read a story by reporter Carl Hessler Jr., titled “Lower Pottsgrove man charged with infant abuse” and published Thursday by The Mercury, here.

Editor’s Note: Jacob Zlomek is the son, and the infant cited is the grandson, of Post Managing Editor Joe Zlomek and his wife, Debbie. In an attempt to assure objectivity and avoid a perception of conflicts of interest, Zlomek has decided against reporting or writing on this story himself. Instead The Post will refer readers, as it has above, to stories produced by other media outlets.

It's an increasingly deer-angerous time of year.

HARRISBURG PA – It’s now the season when white-tailed deer get caught in more than just headlights, the Pennsylvania Game Commission reminded drivers Wednesday (Sept. 21, 2011). Motorists must be extra careful, particularly at dawn and dusk, to reduce the risk of hitting a deer with their cars, commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe said.

Deer collisions are an annual occurrence that will continue through Thanksgiving week and begin to decline in mid-December.  For public safety, the commission urged motorists to drive cautiously after dark during the next several months.

“Personal tragedies and property losses caused by deer-vehicle collisions touch the lives of Pennsylvanians statewide,” Roe said. “It’s an unfortunate and often painful consequence of living with white-tailed deer.”

If a deer is struck by a vehicle, but not killed, drivers are urged to stay their distance because some deer may recover and move on.  However, if a deer does not move on, or poses a public safety risk, drivers are asked to report the incident to a local law enforcement agency. If the deer must be put down, the commission will direct the proper person to do so, Roe added.

The fall the deer-breeding season isn’t the only period during which deer-vehicle collisions increase, according to the commission.  The other is in the spring, as does separate from other deer to give birth to fawns.

Photo from the North Carolina Department of Public Safety

Biggest class of participants

POTTSTOWN PA – What a difference a small change can make.

When Pottsgrove High School ended classes in June, it also ended a summer reading program that in years past was heavily criticized by parents and even members of the Board of School Directors. Under it, students had been required to read several books and report on them when school resumed. But, like so many stained copies of Tolstoy’s “War and Peace,” that practice was abandoned.

A landmark number of pages

Instead, this summer, students were asked – not ordered – to read just one book. They then talked about it in school with others who read it too, and completed a related short project (examples: post a blog entry about the story, or create a video depicting its characters, or take photos suggestive of the book’s theme.)

The emphasis, high school library reading specialist Danielle Small said at the time, was on pleasure reading, fun activities, and group interaction.

Now the results are in, Small reported last week by e-mail. And, yes, she proudly proclaimed, they’re as good looking as a new dust jacket on an ages-old best-seller:

Number of readers overall (up from 12 last year)

20.5 percent. That’s how many high school students (225 in all) completed the modified program this year. Compare it to last year: 1 percent, 12 students.

2000 or more. The number of book pages read and logged by 38 of those 225 students, all of whom earned “distinguished summer reading” honors. Another 49 students read 1000 or more pages, for an “honors summer reading” award.

86. The number of ninth graders – the largest single group – that took up a book during vacation months. They were followed by the 12th grade, 70 readers; 10th grade, 48 readers; and 11th grade, 21 readers.

Raeders' top pick

Suzanne Collins’ “The Hunger Game” Trilogy. The young-adult science fiction adventure series consisting of three books – “Hunger Games,” “Catching Fire,” and “Mockingjay” – was the most popular read.

Sarah Gruen’s “Water for Elephants” rated highly too, read by 40 students.

“Building reading as a culture at Pottsgrove” has been her task, Small explained. “With the support of high school teachers and administrators, I am trying to have everyone participate and share in their love of learning and reading.”

Most teachers participated in the summer program too, she added, by reading at least one book on the list of 31 choices offered. It created “great book discussions between the students and faculty members,” Small said.

Small has adjusted her sights for the school year currently in session. “This year I will continue to invite students to browse” the library and read. “There are over 22,000 titles on our shelves,” she said, “something for everyone.”

Photos from Google Images

Amanda Carr

SANATOGA PA – Singer Amanda Carr will be the featured performer as she accompanies the Sunnybrook Dance Band in a show scheduled for Oct. 15 (2011; Saturday) beginning at 8 p.m. in Sunnybrook Ballroom, 50 Sunnybrook Rd., Sanatoga PA.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

Tickets for the event cost $25 in advance and can be purchased from the Sunnybrook box office online, here, or by calling 484-624-5186. Tickets purchased after Oct. 8 or at the door cost $30.

• Watch a video (above) of an earlier Carr performance at Sunnybrook, or see it at the YouTube user account of aVideoSharing.

Photo from Sunnybrook Ballroom