The Sanatoga Post

POTTSTOWN PA – So let’s say you’re cruising east on High Street, heading from Stowe to Sanatoga, with your brand-new WiFi-enabled tablet computer sitting on the adjacent seat in your car. All of a sudden, you get this urge to send an e-mail to your aunt, who you haven’t talked to since she forced you to cut your hair in the ’70s. You pull over and, right there at the curb, you begin pecking away, “Dear Aunt Minnie …”

Hey, it could happen. And now thanks to cable television and Internet service provider Comcast, it could happen for free – twice – this month only.

During July (2011) only, use free WiFi twice in greater Pottstown where you see a red square

A Comcast executive in his blog on Friday (July 1, 2011) announced that the company’s Xfinity-brand WiFi hotspots, which cover thousands of small and usually connected areas in southeastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, would be free for use by the public twice during July for up to 60 minutes each time.

There are dozens of such hotspots in Pottstown PA along West High, High, and East High streets, by the way (shown as red squares on the map above), which make your missive to Minnie possible. There are lots of others nearby, too. Search for those near you, here.

Sure, sure, there are rules and caveats with any give-away. This one’s no exception. It applies only to out-of-home WiFi services; you’ll still pay, as an example, without a discount or break for whatever services Comcast provides at your house. You’ll be required to log-in, which is how you’ll be limited to two timed uses. Hotspots are locations outside a home, usually at a business but sometimes also out on the street, where you can also connect to the Internet.

Usually, you’d pay a fee for the privilege. Not so during July. Use your computer’s capability to find an Xfinity hot spot near you, log onto it, register and follow the prompted instructions, and you’ll be surfing.

Hopefully, however, not while you’re also cruising. That’s just dangerous, and think of how ashamed Minnie might feel.

Video story-telling is one of the activities that won a foundation grant.

POTTSTOWN PA – Helping youngsters to plan for their career, play in a band, and learn how to tell stories with video are among three of several projects sharing in $10,000 awarded in mini-grants by the Pottsgrove Eduction Foundation for cultural education and innovative teaching, Pottsgrove School District Superintendent Dr. Bradley Landis recently told the Board of School Directors.

Board members learned of the awards during their last public meeting (Sept. 28) in the administration building on Kauffman Road, but the list of grant winners was published Monday (Oct. 11, 2010) in the district’s “Pottsgrove Achiever” newsletter, according to spokeswoman Beth Trapani.

The foundation, created in 2000, is a non-profit organization that supports programs benefiting district students and residents.

District staff members who won mini-grants are:

• Sarah Stutzman, for “Visual Arts in a Digital World,” to integrate art and language arts in the art classroom;
• Kathy Williams, for “Band Instrument Recruitment,” an opportunity to supply used musical instruments to students who lack the resources to buy their own;
• Kristen Hyde, for “Music Performance, Composition, Assessment and More,” an opportunity for students to use technology to enhance and assess their musical performance, composition and improvisation skills;
• Christina Kleinfelter, for “Career and College Exploration for 8th Grade,” which provides  eighth graders a chance to visit colleges and technical schools as they begin planning high school schedules;
• Deb McIlvain, for “Movie Making at PGMS,” to teach production of professional quality digital movies and how to apply the skills in content classes; and
• Elaine Armstrong, for Pottsgrove’s Reading Olympics program, to provide materials and registration for students to compete in the county-wide Reading Olympics.

Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ Sept. 28 meeting):

• Download a copy of minutes from the Sept. 28 meeting, approved Oct. 26
• Pottsgrove Foundation Announces Grant Awards
• Pottsgrove MS Retaining Wall Needs ‘Significant’ Repair
• Pottsgrove Considers ‘Impairing’ Teen Drivers, For Safety’s Sake
• Ringing Reimbursement On Pottsgrove School Agenda

Photo from Clipart.com

POTTSTOWN PA – Lower Pottsgrove Elementary School just got labeled, and that, according to district spokeswoman Beth Trapani, is an energizing event.

Lower Pottsgrove Elementary School on Buchert Road is one of only 26 school buildings in the state to win an Energy Star award.

The Pottsgrove School District building for 700 students in kindergarten through 5th grade, at 1329 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA, is just one of 26 schools across Pennsylvania that have earned an Energy Star building label from the U.S. Department of Energy, Trapani reported Tuesday (Oct. 5, 2010). The recognition is awarded for buildings that demonstrate superior energy efficiency, she said.

As the district’s newest school building, Lower Pottsgrove “had access to more energy efficient technology and systems, and could more quickly achieve the savings needed to earn the Energy Star designation,” according to Trapani. The district, which enrolled in the Energy Star program last year, is working to get similar energy savings from its older buildings too.

Heading up he effort is district Director of Facilities and Physical Plants Michael Katzenmoyer.

He says Pottsgrove hopes to reduce its total energy costs by more than 20 percent by June 2012, which would qualify it as an Energy Star leader among public educational institutions. That designation is based on a rating system that looks at how well schools use and conserve energy. So far, according to Katzenmoyer, the district has saved more than $200,000 in energy costs, mostly by adjusting heat and lighting systems.

When it enrolled in Energy Star, the district first looked at how it used heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems, and adjusted their operations to occupied and unoccupied times during a school day. “No one had analyzed those systems for years to see if adjusting the times made sense,” Katzenmoyer said. Now, he noted, classroom temperature controls kick in at 8:30 a.m., rather than 6 a.m., saving 2-1/2 hours of power per unit daily.

The district has also been retrofitting lights; changing them to more energy-efficient systems. It also is training maintenance and custodial staff on its energy reduction policies. Pottsgrove even instituted a new energy management policies that govern, recycling plastic and glass, and conserving water.

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KING OF PRUSSIA PA – A 7-hour fair intended to introduce PECO energy customers – which include many Lower Pottsgrove, Limerick and Pottstown PA area residents – to new and existing electric generation suppliers will be held Wednesday (Sept. 22, 2010) from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Radisson Valley Forge Hotel, 1160 First Ave., King of Prussia PA.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

The fair is free, open to the public, and is designed to familiarize consumers with their options in choosing electrical energy suppliers after Jan. 1 (2011) when utility deregulation takes effect in Pennsylvania. Visitors can meet supplier representatives, review their energy needs, and learn about competitive offers. Those attending may find it helpful to bring a copy of a recent utility bill for use during discussions with suppliers.

In addition, two presentations will be offered to explain the basics of electric choice. An explanation of “PECO Default Service Options” will be held at 8:30 a.m., followed at 9 a.m. by “Customer Experience Choosing A Competitive Supplier.”

Advance registration is not necessary but would be appreciated, PECO said. Registration can be for any one of three time frames: 7-9 a.m,9-11 a.m., or 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Registration can be entered online here.

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SANATOGA PA – Pottstown area residents and businesses can safely shred unwanted personal and confidential documents during a free business shred day event to be held  Wednesday (Sept. 22, 2010) from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., rain or shine at the Sunnybrook community office of National Penn Bank, 1830 E. High St., Pottstown PA.

This event has been added to The Post calendar.

Items such as receipts and invoices can be brought to the office to be shredded in a secure manner. Paper clips and staples will go through the shredder, but participants are asked to remove all plastic binders or black binder spring clips. Shredding must be limited to 10 boxes (of a size 16 inches long, 13 inches wide, and 10 inches high) per individual.

For more information, call 610-327-0568.

National Penn and its divisions are hosting shredding events for their sixth consecutive year, and for a second year for mid-week schedules. Last year more than 2,700 people shredded 150,000 pounds of personal documents at such events.

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Bank employees worked during an earlier shredding event in May, too.

SANATOGA PA – Pottstown area residents and businesses can safely shred unwanted personal and confidential documents during a free business shred day event to be held Sept. 22 (2010; Wednesday) from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., rain or shine at the Sunnybrook community office of National Penn Bank, 1830 E. High St., Pottstown PA.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

Items such as receipts and invoices can be brought to the office to be shredded in a secure manner. Paper clips and staples will go through the shredder, but participants are asked to remove all plastic binders or black binder spring clips. Shredding must be limited to 10 boxes (of a size 16 inches long, 13 inches wide, and 10 inches high) per individual.

For more information, call 610-327-0568.

National Penn and its divisions are hosting shredding events for their sixth consecutive year, and for a second year for mid-week schedules. Last year more than 2,700 people shredded 150,000 pounds of personal documents at such events.

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Identify yourself to the school district, and get only those e-mails you want.

POTTSTOWN PA – Although the advertising slogan that once promoted long-distance telephone calls – “Reach out and touch someone” – may be long out of fashion, its intent still carries a sense of urgency within the Pottsgrove School District.

The district has tried various ways in recent years to better communicate with residents and student families. It hired a media publicist, updated and revised its website, revamped its quarterly newsletter, and employed a phone messaging service called Global Connect, all to deal with persistent comments that Pottsgrove wasn’t doing enough to keep in touch with its constituents.

The Board of School Directors decided Tuesday (Aug. 24, 2010) to add yet another weapon to its communications arsenal: topical, opt-in e-mail blasts.

“Topical” means users get to select the subjects of district e-mails they receive. Parents who have children in elementary and high schools, for example, can get digital messages about them only and never need to read news from the middle school. “Opt-in” means only those who voluntarily provide their e-mail addresses, and no others, will get messages. If they ever tire of e-mails, opting out (removing a listed address) is quick, easy and immediate.

That kind of list management can be time-consuming, though, so the school board voted unanimously to pay $540 a year for management services that will be provided by Biglist Inc. of Media PA.

Biglist will include self-service links on the district website’s home page so recipients can specify which topics they’re interested in, and to which addresses e-mails should be sent. The district will ensure privacy (the list won’t be sold or distributed) and promises it won’t send spam e-mails (because no one likes a clogged inbox). Topic choices and the ability to add e-mail addresses should be ready within weeks.

“We’re trying to make the process as granular as we can,” district Superintendent Dr. Bradley Landis explained to board members.

Director April Kontostathis applauded the addition. “E-mails are definitely more appropriate than the phone for many messages” the district sends, she said. “It’s a step in the right direction.”

And while Director Nancy Landes generally agreed, she encouraged continued use of the Global Connect telephone service. After all, she noted, “there are still plenty of people in the district who don’t have computers” to receive e-mails on.

Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ meeting of Aug. 24):

• Coming Soon: Opt-In List For Pottsgrove E-Mails
• After Month’s Work, Pius Deemed Set For Ringing Pupils
• Pottsgrove School Board To Meet; Coaches OK’d Earlier

Photo from Clipart.com

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POTTSTOWN PA – Forget rubber tires. Shelve those steel girders, and pass on PVC plastics. Despite the wide array of goods that Pottstown area industries make now or have made in the past, blogger Sue Repko thinks the borough’s manufacturing future can be found in fashion clothing infused with environmental edginess.

The place that produced the Golden Gate Bridge, Pottstown blogger Sue Repko believes, certainly can conquer the world of recycled fashions.

Repko, a native who writes the “Positively Pottstown” blog, on Sunday (Aug. 15, 2010) suggested the borough should actively market itself as a hub for green fashion design, a line of businesses that create clothing in whole or part from recycled materials.

It’s not the first time Repko has mentioned this idea. She referenced it back in June (2010) too, in a lengthier piece about visions for revitalizing Pottstown. She re-visited the theme this week after reading a New York Times article about growing interest among fashion empires in a zero-waste movement.

The former Firestone plant in Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township made tons of tires. Pottstown’s now-gone Bethlehem Steel factories supplied the framework for the Golden Gate Bridge, among other modern marvels. Occidental Chemical (which has similarly disappeared from Lower Pottsgrove) produced polyvinylchloride resins to make plastics.

• Read Repko’s blog entry, “Pottstown As Fashion Hub??,” here.

Photo by Christopher Chan Via Flickr

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Daredevil No. 83 is among the comics in the collection being auctioned.

NORRISTOWN PA – Comic book characters like Superman and Spiderman have been fighting fictional crime for years. Now a Montgomery County (PA) law enforcement official is using a national auction service, created by a former Lower Pottsgrove resident, to have them help battle bad guys in a very real way.

County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman on Monday (Aug. 2, 2010) said she was selling to the highest online bidder “a rare comic book collection and a rare sports trading card collection” that were forfeited to her office because both were bought with money from an illegal drug sale. The web-based auction platform Ferman chose is Municibid.com, headed by Greg Berry, a Pottsgrove High School graduate and former North Sanatoga Road resident.

The auction began Monday, and closes next Monday (Aug. 9) at 9 a.m. The collections are being sold separately.

• Find the comic book auction here.
• Find the sports card auction here.

Under Pennsylvania laws, property purchased with proceeds from illegal drug sales can be seized, forfeited and sold, Ferman explained.  She said she plans to use the money generated by the auctions “to enforce drug laws throughout Montgomery County.”

Greg Berry

Berry started Municibid in 2006, specifically with an eye on surplus and unneeded items municipal governments and agencies seek to sell for added funds. The service has grown steadily, he noted Tuesday (Aug. 3) in a newsletter article. “While we are strong in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, we are growing faster and faster every day, and moving into new states like Illinois, New Jersey, New York” and elsewhere in the northeast, Berry wrote.

Municbid and Berry were subjects in a July 11 article published by The Boston Globe about where governments are finding non-tax revenue, and in a Philadelphia Business Journal technology column published this week.

Among the 115 comic books being sold are titles that feature “Superman,” “The Amazing Spiderman,” “Daredevil,” and “X-Men.”

All-time sports greats Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle, Steve Carlton, Joe Namath, Gale Sayers, Michael Jordan and Eric Lindros are some of the personalities contained in the sports trading card collection. Besides finding them online, a complete listing of all cards is available, Ferman said, by calling the District Attorney’s Forfeiture Unit at (610) 278-3107.

Photos from Municibid

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The twin towers of the generating station as seen from Evergreen Road.

LIMERICK PA – Almost 84 hours after an abrupt but reportedly safe shut-down, the Unit 1 nuclear reactor at Exelon Corp.’s Limerick Generating Station was returned to service Sunday morning (June 27, 2010) and has resumed producing electricity.

The reactor was manually turned off Wednesday night (June 23)at 8:51 “as a result of an electrical fault on a non-safety portion of the plant,” company spokesman Joseph Szafran said in a brief news release. It went back online Sunday at 8:37 a.m. “following repairs to electrical equipment,” he added.

The time of Wednesday’s outage, initially reported by Exelon as 8:54 p.m., was revised by three minutes. Its earlier announcement of the closure also said the shut-down was specifically caused by two re-circulation pumps that stopped working.

During the shut-down, “the plant responded as expected, safely and without incident. There was no risk to the public and no injuries associated with the event,” Szafran said.

Limerick’s Unit 2 reactor continued to generate electricity during the Unit 1 outage.

Related:

• LGS’ Unit 1 Manually Shut Down In Pump Loss

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