Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Pensions for county police, firefighters get funding infusion
Retirement plans for police, firefighters and municipal workers in Chester County will receive $8.1 million in state aid.
It’s all part of a $299 million funding infusion announced by state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale to help support retirement plans for police, firefighters and municipal workers who work to keep communities safe and functioning.
“This funding is about looking out for the people who look out for us every day,” DePasquale said. “If the money was not available, the retirement of a lot of police officers and firefighters would be in jeopardy.”
The $299 million in state pension aid went to 1,495 municipalities and regional departments to support pension plans covering police officers, paid firefighters and non-uniformed employees.
West Chester will receive $815,000, the most funding of any Chester County municipality. Tredyffrin will receive $665,000, Phoenixville, $609,000, West Goshen, $594,000, Coatesville. $430,000, West Whiteland, $341,000 and Kennett Square Borough, $224,000. Modena Bor-
Española is poor. It’s been called the heroin overdose capital of the country and I was warned to not shop at Walmart after dark. “Nips” or “airline bottles” are sold at convenience stores and litter the roadways.
Adobe is everywhere, including at the almost 1,000 year old Taos Pueblo. Adobe is solid. Nuff said.
Taos Ski Area is the most difficult area I’ve ever skied. To get to the tippy-top you’must carry your skis and hike past the high end of the lift.
Many churches dot the landscape. They are simple and basic.
Tricked-out lowriders are a passion for many. Somehow, the car suspension adjusts up and down, sometimes radically, which makes it hard to see a driver. The cars are major investments and are tacky in a gorgeous way.
I discovered shards of Indian pottery and arrowheads. The summer heat was dry and bearable. I spotted a mountain lion print.
Carvings in rock, or petroglyphs, are etched into many of the boulders. Spotting petroglyph carvings in boulder fields is like taking a scavenger hunt. You have to slow down and look closely.
We regularly took a ride to the Monastery of Christ in the desert. The monks here make beer and one house guest told me that it seemed like the world’s most dangerous road. Barely wide enough for a single vehicle, and mostly on the edge of a precipice, this dirt road is exciting.
Los Alamos was less than an hour away. The hills are littered with radioactive waste and there are almost more Phd’s here than anywhere else. During the war effort, they kept this place’s mission to build an atomic bomb secret for years.
Just don’t leave the path, sidewalk or roadway. Security here is intense. Federal employees still develop and hold secrets.
My time in New Mexico was too short. I miss that food most.
This isn’t Levi’s territory. Wranglers are worn here. Blue jeans are the clothing choice for almost everybody, including lawyers to politicians. And the politics are vicious. In many ways it still is the Wild, Wild West. Bill Rettew is a weekly columnist and Chester County native. He enjoyed a mighty fine cheese steak, with green chili, in Las Vegas, N.M. You may contact him at brettew@ dailylocal.com