May 9, 2012

Stolen car; thefts; DUIs

• Pennsylvania State Police from Troop K, Media barracks are investigating a possible vehicle theft in which the stolen vehicle might have been used in a hit and run accident. According to a police report, a 1992 Chevrolet Suburban registered to a 29-year-old Chadds Ford man was found on Watkin Avenue in Concord Township at 10 a.m. on May 26. The vehicle showed fresh damage on the passenger side — black paint transfer. When contacted, the owner reportedly said the Suburban was stolen sometime overnight. Anyone with information or who might have been the victim of a hit and run accident should call Tpr. Jonathan Pipes at 484-840-1000.

• Police are investigating the theft of 10 solar lanterns, two plastic light-up fairies and one spotlight from the lawn of a Featherbed Lane property.

• State police charged Tristam Alan MacDonnell with DUI after an early morning traffic stop at Oakland and Brinton Bridge Road in Chadds Ford Township. The stop was made at 3:18 a.m. on May 5.

• Police said Michelle Stephanie Ryan, 44, of Garnet Valley was stopped for multiple traffic violations on Route 202 at Marshall Road and found to be driving under the influence of alcohol. The traffic stop was made 1:08 a.m. on May 4.

• Timothy Slachta, of Glen Mills, was charged with DUI following a traffic stop at Spring Valley and Brinton Lake roads in Concord Township, according to a police report. The report said Slachta was stopped for traffic violations and showed signs of impairment when stopped at 1:40 a.m. on May 5.

• A Pennsbury Township resident was the victim of theft by deception on May 2, state police reported. According to police, the resident of a home on Ingleton Circle received a phone call saying her son-in-law was in jail and needed bail money.

• A granite vanity top was stolen from a home under construction in Pocopson Township, police said. The property is in the 100 block of Scaleby Lane. Police said the theft happened sometime between 4:45 p.m. on May 1 and 7:30 a.m. on May 2.

• Birmingham Township Police Chief Tom Nelling told supervisors there that his department responded to 1,321 incidents during the month of April. Among those were six criminal arrests with three cases still open.

• Birmingham Township supervisors have set 6:45 p.m., Monday, June 4, as the date for a conditional use hearing for P.J. Whelihan’s. The restaurant is located in the Shoppes at Dilworthtown Plaza and owners want to have outdoor seating. That out door seating area will affect the number of parking spaces, so Whelihan’s will have a hearing before the Zoning Hearing Board on Tuesday, June 5.

• Supervisors will hold a hearing at 7 p.m. on May 21 for a Comcast Cable Franchise Ordinance. Supervisors’ Chairman John Conklin said Birmingham has joined with 13 other townships to get more money from the cable service provider.

• Supervisors appointed accountant Tim Umbreit to perform Birmingham’s 2012 audit at a fee of $3,350.

• Birmingham Township’s 2012 Road Program was awarded to Dan Malloy Paving of Downingtown. Malloy’s bid of $113,000 was the lowest of three bids received.

New book from DMNH; free Friday at BRM; hearing on Pocopson Home

• Concord Township supervisors are scheduled, on June 26, to render a decision on a conditional use hearing for Terrain at Styers. Owners want township approval to get a liquor license for Terrain Café, the restaurant at the plant nursery. Opposing the application is the landlord who said the lease specifies the business is to be limited to a retail plant nursery only.

• The Delaware Museum of Natural History proudly announces the publication and launch of a children’s book, titled “Dude: The Museum Cat,” based on the life of the museum’s unofficial mascot. An adorable orange tabby cat rescued as a stray and now making his home in the lower levels of the Museum, Dude’s tale is one of courage, discovery, and adventure. The book, written by former Delaware News Journal reporter Bill Hayden and illustrated by artist Alan Peoples, is the culmination of efforts by the Museum to tell their story at a child’s level. It will retail for $4.99 with 100 percent of proceeds supporting the museum’s exhibits and programming.

• Brandywine River Museum will offer free admission on Friday, May 18, as part of the Association of Art Museum Directors’ International Art Museum Day. In addition to free admission, the Museum will offer gallery tours at 11 a.m.

• The Chester County Board of Commissioners has scheduled the second in a series of public meetings to review and discuss the findings of a strategic plan on the County’s Pocopson Home. The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 14, at the Downingtown High School East Auditorium, 50 Devon Drive in Exton. With state and federal reimbursements projected to decline, and operating and capital costs continuing to grow, the Board commissioned a strategic plan on Pocopson Home, to evaluate and analyze the role of Pocopson Home.

Press Release

 

Legislation to modernize the 51-year-old law governing Pennsylvania’s public libraries was unanimously approved by the Senate, said the bill’s prime sponsor, Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi.

 

“Strong local public libraries have been a part of Pennsylvania’s culture from its earliest days,” Pileggi said in a press release. “That remains true. Libraries continue to play a vital role in our communities, and it is past time to update our state’s Library Code. The legislators who wrote this law in 1961 could not have envisioned our digital environment where the Internet is a daily research tool and books are read on Kindles, Nooks, and iPads.”

At the time it was enacted, Pennsylvania’s Library Code was a model for other states. However, it is now considered antiquated. Senate Bill 1225 will:

• Update requirements related to staffing, collections, facilities and accessibility;
• Provide more flexibility in how the state enforces standards when libraries have difficulty meeting certain local funding levels;
• Require a complete review of all regulations governing libraries;
• Establish continuing education requirements for librarians; and
• Include more librarians on the Advisory Council on Library Development.

SB1225 now moves to the House for consideration.

 

By Jeanne-Marie Curtis

 

Dear Jeanne-Marie,

My fiancé and I agree about getting a house first and then waiting a few years to have a baby.  But we disagree about daycare.  If we use my income for our mortgage, then I will have no option to stay home with my baby.

Signed,

Disagreeing

 

Dear Disagreeing,

You are a smart couple to talk about this.

If you present the information below to your fiancé and he dismisses your feelings or concerns, this man is not in love with you. End it now.

Signed,

Jeanne-Marie

 

In My Experience

The one thing I would like you and your fiancé to think about is this; how is an infant daycare center any different from an orphanage?  Because we do not see or have orphanages in America, we don’t realize (no matter how they are advertised) that infant daycare is EXACTLY like an orphanage.

A ratio of adults (usually minimum-wage high school grads) per baby, whose job is to keep the babies fed, changed and napping.  There is no true maternal love or bonding.  You only have the first two years for a child to bond properly with a person and that person is the model of how the child will perceive love and attachment for THE REST OF THEIR LIVES.

Do the math; if a baby is in daycare while you work, that is at least 9 hours, plus at least a one hour commute to and from daycare. Babies sleep 12 hours at night. Add it up; 22 hours a day.  When are you the parent? When are you loving and bonding and creating the all-important attachment necessary for healthy development?

Children in orphanages who are not adopted before age two often have what is called Attachment Disorder.  We have many biological children in America with the same disorder but we try to label it as something else or medicate it away. It is not reversible.

Also, just as important; how will you know what is happening to your child until he or she is able to verbalize their day, their feelings, and their fears? If abuse occurs, physical, emotional, or sexual, that is another lifelong debilitating scar.

Really think about why you are having a child, what your responsibilities are, and what are you willing to give up to raise and protect the greatest gift of life.

We forget to ask the most important question.

Who will do the parenting?

Signed,

Jeanne-Marie

 

(Please click Rating above or comment below. If you would like to read past columns, click About the Author under my picture.)

 

*Jeanne-Marie Curtis came from Philadelphia to Chadds Ford Township in

1990. She has her BBA in HR Management/Employment Law. She is the author of “Junctions by Jeanne-Marie (Every Woman’s Journey and Journal)” a gift book available at ChaddsFordLive.com Products/Books. (Click products.)

*To submit a question: email Jeanne-Marie at junctionsbyjm@aol.com