A rich reward for those who volunteer
A look at the week that was, the issues and people who made headlines, and a few darts and laurels for those who deserve them.
LAUREL: To Morton Borough. They’re rewarding those who volunteer as first responders and non-profit medical services volunteers in their community with a tax break. The measure could lop 20 percent off the real estate property tax for borough residents. Other towns such as Haverford also are considering setting up such programs. If it means getting more people to volunteer, we’re all for it.
DART: The truth is one of the biggest challenges these volunteer departments faces is the fact that few and few people are volunteering. Replacing these invaluable volunteers with paid services would wreak havoc with municipal budgets, so offering a tax credit in hopes of finding more people to volunteer, thus halting the need for paid services, is a big plus.
LAUREL: Speaking of first responders, a big thumb’s up to the folks at the Broomall Fire Co. They soon will be getting new digs after breaking ground last weekend on a new home for the volunteer fire department. LAUREL: Upper Darby, Radnor, Ridley Park. What do they all have in common? Each in recent weeks has offered a town hall style meeting to help residents answer questions concerning the opioid epidemic. This scourge does not recognize any demographic, or geographic boundaries. It’s everywhere. And it continues to take a horrific toll on our communities every day.
DART: To the Pharma industry that has been too interested in pushing these pills into our communities, and not nearly as interested in the devastating effects of how quickly people with legitimate pain issues fall into the grips of addiction.
LAUREL: To Holy Child Academy in Upper Darby, where kids are now getting state of the art education in the hot new field of STEAM. That stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. The school recently rolled out a brand new $167,500 STEAM lab. LAUREL: To the program at Amosland Elementary School in Ridley that staff and students used to beautify their school. They used a grant from Loew’s to start a beautification program that included new gardens, flowers and shrubbery at the entrance to the facility.
LAUREL: To all those who turned out last weekend to welcome home U.S. Army PFC Nate Journey on his return home to Brookhaven. Nate’s “Journey” is hardly complete. After some R&R at home, he will be headed to Fort Bliss, Texas. Be safe, soldier. LAUREL: To the recent program held at Neumann University on the Vietnam War. Nam vets offered students and others their first-hand accounts of what it was like to serve at the time. They gave an honest, real view of what it was like to serve, from the Tet offensive to Khe Sanh to the Ho Chi Minh trail.
LAUREL: To Middletown Township and Roosevelt School. The township of late has been engulfed with one controversy after another surrounding opposition to the Mariner East 2 pipeline project. But last weekend they rolled out a new use for the old school, which now houses the collection on the township’s past courtesy of the township historical society. LAUREL: To State Street in Media. The Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Planning Association has discovered something most people in Delaware County already know. State Street is popping. The home of the popular summer “Dining Under the Stars” program has been named a recipient of the “Great Streets” award from the group. LAUREL: To Kenneth Brathwaite. The former Ridley Park council member has been tapped by President Trump to become ambassador to Norway. It’s not Brathwaite’s first run at public service. He’s a longtime decorated Navy officer.
DART: To Seth Williams. The Democrat was the top lawman in Philadelphia, easily rolling to big wins as district attorney. But from the minute he took office, he started lining his own pockets with expensive gifts, travel and other goodies from people seeking his influence. This week a federal judge sentenced Williams to five years in prison. Talk about a reversal of fortune.
DART: Speaking of Dems gone wrong, two consultants to power Democrat Congressman Bob Brady, D-1, this week were charged by the feds in a scheme to pay a primary opponent to get out of the race. Brady was not charged and has denied any wrongdoing. Not a great week for the region’s Dems.
LAUREL: To police in Upper Darby for training programs indoctrinating officers in the RITE program. That stands for Racial Intelligence Training and Enagement. It’s a program developed by two longtime police officers to get cops in tune with their own emotional intelligence, as a way of stopping volatile interactions with the community before they even start. Now these officers will train others in the department. Good idea.
DART: Another week, another disgrace in Harrisburg. Yes, there is now a funding mechanism in place for the state budget. It was passed by the Senate and House and it now sits on Gov. Wolf’s desk. But it borrows a ton of money from the tobacco settlement fund, greatly expands legalized gaming in the state, and fails to implement a severance tax on natural gas. In other words, there is little in the way of recurring revenue needed to reverse the state’s fiscal woes. DART: Another seemingly weekly award, this time to the plague of gun violence in Chester. Last weekend officers responded to five separate shooting incidents in a 24-hour period. In one instance, two gunmen fired from an elevated position on a bridge onto a crowded basketball court in the Bennett Homes projects. Luckily, none of the injuries proved life-threatening.
LAUREL: To the announcement that $25,000 in state funds will be used to create a Gun Violence Task Force tasked with coming up with a solution to the epidemic of gun violence in the city .
DART: To Phil Ahr. He stepped down this week as president of the Radnor Board of Commissioners, but indicated he will hold onto his 7th Ward seat on the board. All of this comes in the wake of horrifying child porn charges filed against him. Under state law, Ahr can’t be removed from his seat unless he is tried, convicted and sentenced.
LAUREL: A big thumb’s sup to St. Madeline’s Parish in Ridley Park. The faithful recently gathered to celebrate their 110th anniversary.
LAUREL: To Carson Wentz and the Philadelphia Eagles. Wentz showed the rest of the nation why he was the No. 2 pick in the draft with another dazzling performance in prime time during the Birds’ big Monday night win vs. the Redskins.
LAUREL: To Doug Pederson. This time last year the Eagles were about to go off a cliff and everyone was wondering if their head coach was part of the reason why. Not any more. Pederson has the Birds at 6-1, best record in the NFL.
DART: The Eagles injury list continues to grow. The thrill of victory Monday night was dampened by the loss of two key players. Both offensive left tackle Jason Peters and linebacker Jordan Hicks will miss the rest of the season. As Pederson says, “Next man up.”