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The Bangor High Area High School football team got a new head coach Monday night.
Brian Miller's appointment, at $7,964 for the 2015-2016 season, came at the end of a Bangor school board meeting.
Miller told the board he was "thrilled to get started" and said he intends to use football "as a tool to teach life skills."
Miller replaces Donnie Hawk, who resigned after two seasons in November.
Miller's football career has included stints as defensive coordinator at Lehighton Area High School and Dieruff High School in Allentown, and as a special teams coordinator and linebackers coach at Muhlenberg College.
Miller, a graduate of Quakertown High School, graduated from East Stroudsburg University, where he played linebacker on the football team.
In other action, the board accepted a donated undercover police car from Washington Township, which is in the process of updating its police cars.
The board also hired two part-time police officers, Steven Lindstedt and Vanessa Cruz-Smith, at $20 an hour, up to 29.5 hours a week, effective Jan. 20.
A homeowner in Pottstown cleaned up the rubble after a car went careening off the road and into his home causing substantial damage.
"We have had some slips, people jumping the curb and hitting poles out front. But nothing this bad. Nothing this bad," said Paul Decarlo of Pottstown.
Paul Decarlo stood in amazement looking at the hole in the side of his brick home.
His house sits at the corner of North Hanover Street and 3rd Street in Pottstown.
There have been accidents there before, but he tells us this is the first time his home actually stopped a car careening out of control.
"I saw the car and was like oh man," said Decarlo. "She was really moving to do this damage."
Police tell us a 59-year-old woman was behind the wheel.
Her trail of destruction started on South Hanover Street at the Route 422 westbound ramp in North Coventry Township.
That is where police said she struck a vehicle around 11:20 a.m. and kept going several blocks down Hanover Street before slamming into the brick home.
The impact of the crash was so powerful that it actually pushed bricks across the room and into the opposite wall.
"The entire living room was a pile of rubble. It literally was.
You could not even get into the living room. The door were shut from all of the bricks that had fallen," said Christine Miller of Pottstown.
Thankfully no one was home at the time, except their dog, who was a bit shaken.
Paul and Christine had a construction company remove the parts of the home that were compromised and secure the rest of the structure before they begin to rebuild.
"It is a nice old house. So we will have to fix it up," said Decarlo.
The driver was taken to Reading Hospital.
Police are still investigating both accidents, however the driver told police her gas pedal stuck which caused her to lose control.
Young people were able to get a look at what times were like in our country back in the 1960's during the peak of the civil rights movement through the movie Selma.
ArtsQuest center in Bethlehem offered a free viewing of the movie for people 17 and under on Dr. Martin Luther King Junior Day.
"It was amazing, the boys really enjoyed it and honestly it made me want to learn so much more about Martin Luther King," said Suzzanne King.
Grace Harris said, "I feel happy because in school we are learning little tiny bits about it, but now I get to know more details of what happened to Martin Luther King."
Eddielee Jenkins took his granddaughter and said, "Sometimes you really don't understand what it was like or what we as a people had to go through to vote."
After viewers watched the movie Selma, they discussed what they learned in the film.
Sharon Brown does diversity training and is one of the organizers of the event.
She said, "They felt that it was a way to really have a great dialogue around the movie Selma and to invite members of the community."
When the community members left the theatre, many said they had a better understanding of the civil rights movement, some were even crying.
They expressed that while our country has come a long way, we still have a long way to go.
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Local landlords spoke up about fees and codes enforcement at Monday night’s Muhlenberg Township Board of Commissioners meeting, the first in the new township building.
Muhlenberg resident and landlord Chuck Smith addressed his concerns over the $150 rental unit inspection fee. “We are constantly being bombarded with fees and fees and fees,” he said.
The fee is charged per unit for a mandatory safety and codes inspection, and all fees are due within 30 days.
There are currently approximately 2200 rental units in Muhlenberg Township, and each unit is inspected on a schedule every three years.
Smith argued that the fee is excessive and that it is unreasonable to require it within 30 days of the inspection, particularly now in the middle of winter when heating bills are high.
Commissioner John Imhoff suggested to the board that they should extend the payment period.
The board unanimously agreed. “I do agree that the deadline is aggressive,” board president Michael Malinowski agreed.
No official resolution was reeached to change the payment requirements at Monday night's meeting but the change is pending.
To Smith’s argument that the fees are too high, the board explained that a Code Enforcement Officer position has been created to ensure safe living conditions for all residents and to address code violation issues throughout the township in an effort to clean up the area.
“People have been complaining to us about the looks of the neighborhoods […], hopefully this is going to turn some things around,” Commissioner Steven Wolfinger said.
Tony Lupia, another resident and landlord, also questioned the fees imposed on rental property owners and spoke to the state of many of the properties in the township.
“I think the township should be stronger in enforcing these quality of life laws.
Maybe they can lighten this burden on responsible landlords who try to keep up with their properties.”
Commissioner Kevin Lerch explained that processes have been in place to improve enforcement and clean up the area, but that the changes are going to take time.
“I think the board is working very hard to make Muhlenberg the community it can be. We ask for your patience while we ask for your input.”
In other board news, long time Township Manager and Secretary Steve Landis announced his retirement.
Landis has worked for the township for over 40 years. “My heart is and will be with Muhlenberg, but after 40 years I think it’s time to relax and do something else,” Landis said.
He will remain active with the board for several more months fulfilling transitional duties.
The board also announced it will be holding an open house on April 20, 2015 prior to its regular meeting for residents to tour the new township building.
The driver responsible for hitting a 10-year-old girl and leaving the scene on Friday in Northampton County turned herself in Monday night.
Amanda Miller, 21, of Bath called police and turned herself at approximately 5 pm Monday.
"We received a call from the 9-1-1 center that a female had called in and said she was the one who hit the little girl so and that she was waiting outside her house in Bath," said Northampton Borough Chief of Police Ronald Morey.
Earlier Monday, police released a photo of a suspected car, which was included in our 5 and 6 pm broadcasts, prompting the woman to contact police.
"Well with the picture of her car being on the news is what did it," said Morey.
The girl was hit at about 8:30 am in Northampton, while walking to school on Main Street near ninth and 10th streets.
Morey said the girl is now home from the hospital recovering with her family.
"With the injuries here it is probably going to be a misdemeanor one and then rendering aid and then failing to report the accident so it is going to be three charges," Morey said.
Police charged Miller with charged of accidents involving death or personal injury, duty to give information and render aid, immediate notice of accident to police department, according to a press release from police.
Miller is potentially facing jail time, police said.
Police said Miller was taken to central booking in Easton Monday evening for her arraignment.
Allen's boys aren't playing today, but they do have an interesting game tomorrow night. They'll host Salisbury who has been the Colonial League's best team so far this season. That could be a nice win for Allen, one that will help their seeding in the District playoffs, but it's also fun because a lot of these kids don't live that far from one another.
