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Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick announced a new legislative initiative that strengthens background checks for school employees and ends the process of "passing the trash," while speaking Tuesday at the Bucks County Conference on Crimes Against Children
"Even with the good work done by the law enforcement agents and children advocates here, more than 450 teachers and school employees were arrested last year alone on charges of sexual misconduct with children. That's more than one per day," Fitzpatrick said. "What's more appalling is that these are just the cases we were able to catch. According to the Government Accountability Office, the average pedophile teacher preys on and assaults 73 children over a lifetime."
Fitzpatrick will introduce the Protecting Students from Sexual and Violent Predators Act next week. The bill will expand background check requirements for teachers, staff, contractors and coaches as well as prohibit districts from hiring staff who have committed certain crimes, including any violent or sexual crime against a child.
"Every single child deserves the right to a quality education free from the fear and devastation of a sexual or violent crime committed by those they trust to teach them," Fitzpatrick said. "Our children are our nation's greatest resource. This measure continues my commitment to protecting our students in a place they should be most safe."
The Becahi girls find themselves back in the second round of the state tournament. For the seniors and upper classmen on the roster, this is nothing new. They've made this same journey three straight years, and they hope to advance to the quarterfinals again with a win tomorrow night. This time around, the Golden Hawks will face Conrad Weiser in the second round game, a team that has caught fire at the right time of the year. So the Becahi players know they have to be at their best, and having so much postseason experience should help them know what to expect and keep their focus as they play in round two.
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It's a fierce competition for more than 500 middle and high school students from Berks, Lehigh and Northampton counties.
The students are taking part in the regional Science Olympiad at Kutztown University.
Teams representing 28 high schools and 13 middle schools faced off in 23 different events. Some students took part in several competitions.
"We are in a multitude of events, including, some of them, we're in a lot of them together," said Millan Patel, Emmaus High School freshman. "We're right stuff, which is building a plane. We have a studying for anatomy physiology forensics, technical problem solving, and I'm also in bridge building and he's in protein modeling."
The top four middle school teams and the top six high school teams will advance to the state competition at Juniata College next month.
The Pennsylvania Pastors Network said it's backing the use of a cross in the Lehigh County seal, despite the threat of a possible lawsuit.
The Freedom from Religion Foundation, a Wisconsin-based group, requested the seal be changed in the fall after being contacted by a local citizen.
"There's a Latin cross, a Christian cross in the middle of the county seal, which there are a number of federal cases ruling that crosses on government seals and logos are unconstitutional, and so we've informed them of that and hope that they will follow the law," said Patrick Elliott, staff attorney for FFRF.
Sam Rohrer, president of the Pennsylvania Pastors Network and a former Berks County state representatives, didn't hold back on what he thought of the ordeal.
"Lo and behold, what in the world is the Freedom for Religion Foundation doing here in our backyard, in Pennsylvania, trying to tell somebody here what they can or cannot do," he said.
"This has nothing to do with the United States constitution," he added. "The states were in place before the federal came along, this is a matter that's dealt with within the state."
The seal, which was adopted in December 1944, is a blend of local symbols and references and does have a cross at its center.
The county board of commissioners is now reviewing the seal, according to Brad Osborne, the board's chairman.
"The board is still evaluating its options and therefore not in a position to comment on the matter at this time," Osborne said. "There will be a formal decision, to be made in the near future."
Snow plows may be sitting idle for now, but road crews are as busy as ever because it's prime season for potholes.
Can crews keep up? The short answer is no, at least during this time of year. It's because asphalt companies have yet to open crews can only to do temporary patch work, and if it rains, it can undo what was just laid down.
"It's like off-roading. As you can see, it's all torn up" said Mary Rose Wilson, who lives on the now-very porous Wall Street in Bethlehem. "Tried to patch it up, but as you can see, it's just as bad now."
Potholes result from water seeping beneath the pavement through cracks, freezing and expanding and then thawing again. Crews across the region have been busy in this seemingly never-ending battle, including those in Bethlehem.
"We finally got a break in the weather and we can finally focus on this little bit," said Mike Alkhal, the director of Bethlehem Public Works.
Alkhal said the harsh winter put his department $150,000 over budget, but said that wouldn't affect the city's ability to battle potholes.
Allentown crews are busy, too, but both departments said this is only a temporary fix.
"I think it's going to rain today, so it will undo what we did. It's not very cost-effective to deal with restoration," Alkhal added.
Permanent patching can't start until asphalt companies open. In the meantime, those on the road may want to switch their driving motto to dodge or face the consequences.
"There are a couple in my neighborhood where I had to get out and check the car afterwards to make sure you didn't break anything," said Steve Eberly.
The good news is the asphalt companies could open soon.
Rob vaughn: Two people charged with killing a former Marine from Schuylkill County are heading to trial. Charges were held for court for both Oliver Trizarri and Stanley Kralik today. The two are accused of luring Corey Samuels into the woods.. And beating him to death last year. Police say one of the defendants claims the act was revenge.. After another friend claimed Samuels raped her. Both are charged with first-degree murder.
In Shenandoah, Schuylkill County, it's not potholes, but pipes that are the talk of town.
An abundance of frozen water lines has prompted a disaster emergency declaration as some residents have been without water for nearly three weeks.
Shenandoah resident Lori Longenberger says she's frustrated over frozen water lines outside her home.
"17 days today. I had no water coming into my home at all. My faucets are open wide and nothing is coming in," said Longenberger.
She's not alone.
Prolonged below freezing temperatures followed by slight warm ups have left many residents of this Schuylkill County borough without water. The borough is now peppered with construction cones and pocked by repaired sinkholes.
"Half of its frozen and half of it works. That's pretty much what the problem is," said resident Anthony Swetavage.
The problem is so big, Friday borough leaders declared a disaster emergency.
Giving the municipal water authority the ability to hire temporary workers, rent equipment and purchase repair materials without waiting for the customary bureaucratic process.
Timothy Flurio is a residential plumber who says he knows the water crews attending to the growing number of leaks have their hands full and are severely understaffed. He says everyone is trying to pitch in.
"A lot of plumbers have been out there trying to thaw the line but because it's so deep it takes quiet some time to thaw," said Flurio.
While crews work to restore water and patch damaged roads, residents like Lori Longenberger are waiting and hoping the water will be back on soon.
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U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), in a speech on the Senate floor Tuesday, called on the Senate to pass his bipartisan , Protecting Students From Sexual and Violent Predators.
Toomey also said the Senate should prevent "passing the trash" - the practice of a school helping a known child predator obtain a new job in a different school district.
Toomey intends to offer his legislation as an amendment during this week's debate on Senate Bill 178, the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015.
Toomey's speech can be viewed .
Pennsylvania officials are making changes at a state corrections facility that has been plagued by several escapes in recent years.
The Wernersville Community Corrections Center in South Heidelberg Township is no longer housing parole violators, John Sommers, the deputy director of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Community Corrections announced Tuesday.
Approximately 35 parole violators who were being housed at Wernersville have been transferred to the York County Prison, said Sommers.
The move was made, officials said, in the interest of public safety.
Several inmates being held at the center have escaped over the past few years, with the most recent being on the afternoon of March 2, according to state police.
Some of the escapees have been recaptured; others remain at large.
One of the escapees is jailed on murder charges for his alleged role in a deadly shooting that happened prior to his incarceration at Wernersville on unrelated charges, police said.
Raymond Martinez III escaped from the center on Jan. 2 and was arrested in the Bronz, New York, on Jan. 23.
Another inmate who signed himself out of the facility in October boarded a BARTA bus, got off at the next stop on Penn Avenue and burglarized a home in a nearby retirement village, all the while posing as a concert promoter, police said.
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Most of Pennsylvania's transit agencies, including BARTA in Berks County, are bucking nationwide increases in public transit ridership, according to the American Public Transportation Association.
The association's annual ridership report shows BARTA experienced a 0.14 percent ridership drop in 2014, with 3.174 million rides provided. Nearly 3.179 million rides were provided by BARTA in 2013, according to the report.
SEPTA, which serves Philadelphia and its four surrounding counties, saw one of the biggest ridership declines in Pennsylvania, with a two-percent drop.
Slight increases were reported in Harrisburg and Beaver County.
Across the U.S., the association said public transportation ridership reached the highest level in 58 years, with 10.8 billion rides.
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By Joe Sestak
This week I officially launched my campaign for the United States Senate, driven by the strong conviction that, when we work together, we can help restore the American Dream for all.
For too long, ideology has paralyzed our government, and “trust deficit” is the phrase I use to describe the state of our union. I am entering this race because I want to change that, and we must start by holding our leaders, of both parties, accountable for their actions.
For the next few weeks, I will cross Pennsylvania on foot – all 422 miles, from New Jersey to the border with Ohio – to demonstrate that I intend to be a different kind of Senator, one who will walk alongside and be a reliable advocate for all communities.
As the precocious narrator in To Kill a Mockingbird reminds us – you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. So in that spirit, I want to earn the trust of Pennsylvanians – one step at a time.
We Pennsylvanians are rightly proud of our unique place in American history. For it was here, over two centuries ago, that our founders aspired toward a more perfect union – one that promises to promote the general welfare for all and secure the blessings of liberty for each.
These twin constitutional pillars have given us a practical pathway to govern, unlocking the talents of rugged individuals while ensuring shared prosperity for the common good. They have prodded us to strike that pragmatic balance to make government work for the people. And when we have succeeded in that, our nation has achieved great things as one.
Today, as we face an increasingly competitive global economy, we must do no less.
My views on leadership were formed, for the most part, during my 31-year career in the United States Navy, where I eventually reached the rank of a three-star Admiral. I saw how American leadership is most effective when it embraces and empowers the dual tenets of our unique national character: rugged individualism in pursuit of the common mission.
To ensure individual achievement, we provided every sailor career-long training and education, enabling each of them to contribute fully to our general overall military readiness. At the same time, we retained our sailors’ commitment because each had the opportunity to achieve individually the skills he or she valued as their personal contribution.
We, in other words, created ladders of opportunity, and our people were brave enough to climb them on their own. No doubt about it, I could not have successfully commanded the 15,000-sailor USS George Washington Aircraft Carrier Battle Group if the military did not prepare and empower our people to serve a collective purpose.
It is an approach that brings unity to a mission, not divisiveness.
The success of our nation should be no different. Americans want a government that gives them the opportunity to apply their innate abilities, intellect, ambition, and persistence for their individual achievement, while ensuring a shared investment from our collective resources so that we all might benefit.
They want leaders who will lead the country based on facts and analysis, plot a course of action, and be held accountable for the results. Americans just want an effective government to do its job well.
And so –
Knowing that 28 million small businesses create 70 percent of all new jobs – shouldn’t we work together to ease their access to loans, lessen burdensome regulations, and keep corporate power in check?
Knowing that 66,000 of our bridges are structurally deficient, and that less than 10 percent of American households have access to high-speed optical fiber lines – shouldn’t Congress stop bickering and start funding a world-class infrastructure and broadband system so we can thrive among all nations?
Knowing that the $1.2 trillion in student loans account for more debt than auto loans and credit cards – shouldn’t we act now to address both sides of the college affordability equation by broadening access to federal aid (a program President Eisenhower started) while holding colleges accountable for skyrocketing costs?
Knowing that American workers and small businesses face stiff competition in the global marketplace – shouldn’t we work together to strengthen institutions, such as the Export-Import Bank, to help them excel around the world?
These are not abstract, philosophical questions; these are real, immediate challenges that people across our state confront every day. So this month, as I cross Pennsylvania on foot, I want to earn your trust and show that I have what it takes to help us confront these issues.
Joe Sestak is a former Navy admiral and U.S. congressman (PA-07). He is presently running for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania.
Gov. Tom Wolf's administration plans to transfer more than a million adult Medicaid enrollees into a single benefits package in the coming months.
The Department of Human Services said Monday that it hopes to finish the process by Sept. 30 as it dismantles changes Wolf's predecessor sought to make to health care coverage for more adults in Pennsylvania.
It says the new benefits package will be similar to the one enrollees had last year. It plans to publish a description March 21.
Wolf has been taking steps to address complaints about Medicaid amid an expansion of the program under the 2010 federal health care law.
Advocates for the poor say changes to the application process made it confusing while some enrollees had trouble getting coverage for dialysis, mental health counseling or addiction treatment.
