July 13, 2015 - ChaddsFordLive.com

Senate passes DNA bill aimed to cut crime

A bill strengthening and modernizing Pennsylvania’s use of DNA technology to fight violent crime was approved on Monday, July 13, by the state Senate.

“Pennsylvania’s DNA database was created more than two decades ago and since that time, tremendous progress has been made with DNA science,” Sen. Dominic Pileggi, R-9, said in a press release. “It’s time for Pennsylvania to catch up with the science. This bill will make our communities safer by getting violent criminals off the streets.”

Senate Bill 683, which was sponsored by Pileggi, will require individuals arrested for serious crimes to submit DNA samples, a process already used by more than half of the states and the federal government. In addition, the bill establishes privacy protections, an expungement process and new quality controls. It also authorizes a new type of DNA search to help identify suspects in unsolved crimes, the release said.

“This kind of law has been proven to solve violent crimes,” Pileggi said. “I hope Senate Bill 683 can be sent to the governor for his signature this year.”

Pillage cited the case of the killer known as the Kensington Strangler, who was arrested on felony drug charges in June 2010 – but no DNA sample was taken. “Later that year, three women were found raped and strangled to death. Numerous others were sexually assaulted but managed to escape their attacker,” Pileggi said. “Philadelphia police spent thousands of hours working to solve the case.”

Many months later, the man pleaded guilty to the felony drug charge and – because Pennsylvania’s current law does require post-conviction DNA samples – his DNA was collected. When it was processed, investigators found the match they were looking for. The man was convicted of the three murders and numerous other crimes and was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences.

Senate Bill 683 is supported by the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association, the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association, the Pennsylvania State Troopers Association, and the national organization DNA Saves, the release said.

Senate Bill 683 now moves to the House of Representatives for consideration.

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Feds: Infirm targeted in lottery scam

Local News

In announcing an indictment against six people, federal officials said a Jamaican lottery scam targeted the vulnerable: mostly elderly victims with diminished mental capacity.

Between January 2012 and March 2015, Maurice Simmonds, 34, Devon A. Grant, 55, Majid Morris, 34, Ashley Hicks-Williams, 29, Melissa Duncan, 29, and Warren Chevannes, 37, allegedly conspired to commit mail, bank and wire fraud in a scheme that netted more than $200,000, said a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Hicks-Williams, who lives in Harrisburg, is the only Pennsylvania resident; the others live in New York, court records said.

Simmonds, the alleged organizer, and some of the other members of the conspiracy were also charged with wire fraud and travel fraud as the result of specifically defrauding an elderly resident of Drexel Hill, the release said.

According to the indictment, Simmonds got a “lead list” from a corporate or federal government employee with the names of those “he believed would be susceptible to being scammed.” The victims were informed that they had won millions in the “Jamaican lottery” but that in order to claim their prize, they first needed to pay tens of thousands of dollars for certain “fees.”

The victims, who lived in Pennsylvania, New York and Tennessee, were repeatedly coerced to provide the conspirators with cash, checks, and property but never received any winnings from the purported lottery, the indictment said.

If convicted, each defendant faces a substantial prison term, possible fines, special assessments, and supervised release. Homeland Security Investigations, the Delaware County District Attorney’s Criminal Investigation Division Senior Exploitation Unit, and the Delaware County Office of Services for the Aging investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anita Eve will lead the prosecution, the release said.

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UHS grad propels rowing prowess to next level

Local News

justin 2015-07-13 at 1.17.57 PM — Justin Best, a 2015 UHS graduate and rowing champion, is shown with one of his coaches, Brooks Reinhard, during a qualifying event in Princeton.

If success is measured by having both oars in the water, a 2015 Unionville High graduate certainly defies conventional wisdom.

Justin Best has excelled as both a sculler and a “sweep rower,” which means that he controls only one oar. The proficiency of the 6-foot-4, 175-pound athlete in sweep rowing recently landed him a spot at the 2015 World Junior Rowing Championship, where he will represent the U.S. in Rio de Janeiro next month.

Best, 17, who will be attending Drexel University in the fall as a member of its crew team, will be competing against the top junior rowers from over 40 countries at the venue hosting the 2016 Olympics. He was selected through national tryouts spanning nine identification camps (where national team coaches identify potential contenders) from coast to coast that started in January and a selection camp in Pittsburgh this June. The top 16 sweep junior men’s rowers and two coxswains were picked to move onto the world championship.

“I am honored to represent the United States at World’s,” said Best.

Despite the exotic locale, it won’t be a foreign experience: Best represented the U.S. last year at the CanAmMex regatta in Nova Scotia, Canada. He was a member of Team USA, which won gold in the Men’s 8+ (eight rowers plus a coxswain).

His mother, Jeanne Best, said her son didn’t take up rowing until his freshman year in high school, when he became so excited about the sport that he persuaded his older brother, Garren, a sophomore at the time, to join the team. When schedules permit, the two still train together; Garren attends St. Joseph’s University, which recruited him for rowing.

Jeanne Best said she and her husband, Glenn, got their rowing education primarily from Justin since they had no family history with the sport. “Basically, he just keeps setting goals and working hard,” Jeanne Best said. “After his experience last year at CanAmMex, he came back and said, ‘I want to do that again.’”

Although her son sometimes controls both oars, Jeanne Best said when the rowers only use one, they highlight the sport’s teamwork. “You really have to work together to produce the kind of precision” needed to win, she said.

She said Nathan Smith, a 2013 Unionville graduate who rowed for Team USA at the 2012 championships in Bulgaria, served as a great role model. She recalled that Smith’s mother drove her son home one day, and told him: “You can do that, too,” a message that clearly resonated.

In a phone interview from Florida, where he is training with the team, Justin Best credited Smith with pushing him. “He set the bar where it was, and I just kept pushing,” he said, adding that Smith was one of the first people to congratulate him when he made the national team and that the two keep in touch.

Describing his current four-hour-plus daily training regimen as intense, Best said he and his teammates need to nap for a couple of hours in between the morning and afternoon sessions to recover, but the results have been gratifying.

“The team camaraderie is absolutely great,” he said, adding that the coaches have commented on how remarkably well the group has gelled.

Best said he’s optimistic about the team’s chances when it races on Aug. 7-9. “So far, we’re putting up numbers that are competitive” with the perennial powerhouse teams from Germany, Italy, and Great Britain, he said. “I’m feeling pretty confident.”

He said he’s also looking forward to participating on Drexel’s team, where he plans to continue to get faster and stronger, and he has some advice for up-and-coming rowers: “Miles make champions.

“What I mean by that is you have to log lots of miles. It might be long and grueling, but you’re going to keep getting better, technically and physically,” he said. “It’s not going to happen without doing that.”

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Pedro Lopez Rojas of Landenberg

Obituaries

Pedro Lopez Rojas, 80, of Landenberg, died at his residence on Friday, July 10. He was the husband of June Milam.

Born in Cayey, Puerto Rico, he was the son of the late Vincente Lopez and Luisa Rojas.

Pedro was a truck driver at Gourmet Delight for 35 years, retiring in 2013.

He enjoyed dancing, being with people, especially his family and friends.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by seven children; Carmen Colon and her husband Fernando of West Grove, Pedro Lopez Jr. and his wife Stephanie “Cookie” of Avondale, Bryan Milam and Eddie Milam of Maryland, Terry Velasquez and her husband Isabelino of Kennett Square, Donna Milam of Kennett Square, and Dannette Rentas Nottingham; one brother, Cruz Lopez Rojas of Puerto Rico; one sister, Francisca Lopez Rojas of Puerto Rico, and a host of grandchildren and great grandchildren.

You are invited to visit with his family from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, July 15, at the Kuzo & Grieco Funeral Home, 250 West State Street in Kennett Square, and again from 10 to 11 a.m. Thursday, July 16, at the Christ Church at the Grove (Formerly the New London Presbyterian Church), 1986 Newark Road (Route 896), New London Township, PA 19352. His Funeral service will follow at 11. Burial will be held privately.

In lieu of flowers, a contribution in Pedro’s memory, may be made to Willow Tree Hospice, 616 E. Cypress Street, Kennett Square, PA 19348

Online condolences may be made by visiting www.griecocares.com

Arrangements by the Kuzo & Grieco Funeral Home in Kennett Square.

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Public invited to free, jazzy reunion at WCU

Arts & Entertainment

“If you don’t have improvisation, you don’t have jazz,” says Jim Sullivan ’65. “Jazz is a living organism.”

Sullivan should know: The former professor and head of the West Chester University School of Music is among the many WCU graduates who return to campus each summer to play jazz and big band music in harmony – after only a day and a half of practice together.

For the 30th consecutive year, the Criterions’ alumni will take the stage in Emilie K. Asplundh Concert Hall on Thursday, July 16, at 7:30 p.m. The concert and the daytime rehearsals on both Wednesday and Thursday are free and open to the public.

Sullivan, who plays keyboard, says improv “shows off how tight the ensemble is and what the soloists can do when they’re inspired. … It’s different every time.”

He credits trombonist Lee Southall ’64 not only for establishing the reunion and concert but also for the concert’s continued appeal to audiences. Southall organizes the arrangements (“charts”) and has directed the band nearly every year, only recently sharing the baton with several other capable alumni.

“We all return to play the music that we love and that unites us no matter our age or occupation or what we have experienced in life,” Southall says.

“It’s not like a reunion for a sports team,” adds Sullivan. “Musicians of all ages can play together, and that won’t happen at a sports reunion!”

Marc Jacoby, director of the WCU Summer Jazz Camp, confirms that the musicians’ ages are moot when they’re playing together. This year, he’s welcomed camp “participants ranging in age from 12 to 70. Their shared jazz language bridges any age gap. It’s great to see young and old musicians communicating on that level.”

The Criterions’ reunion coincides intentionally with the camp, a week-long residential program that runs from July 12 through July 17 this year. Students in the camp’s honors track have the opportunity to open for the Crites, and several former Criterions teach workshops at the camp, along with WCU School of Music faculty.

Southall lists “the faithful” reunion stalwarts: Al Moretti ’73 M’82, Bob Carl ’71, Bob Fanelli ’60 M’62, Jim Zoller ’69, Mike Byrne ’77, Roger Morgan ’77, and Phil Forlano ’69. All are local and, except Moretti, play in “The Last Big Band,” a popular jazz group in the Reading area, with Southall as the musical director and Zoller as emcee. Zoller and Morgan co-founded the band. This year, Lou Mauro ’68 will make the trip from Florida to join the reunion.

The Criterions’ student band has been active on campus since the 1920s, when it was established as a dance band, making it the longest running university jazz band in the country.

In 1965, Sullivan was student leader after Southall graduated, and he led the group to the trophy at the Villanova Jazz Festival and to participation in the Notre Dame Jazz Festival.

Sullivan says even at the first rehearsal each year, at 9 a.m. on the Wednesday before the concert, “The guys could just have a concert right then and there and people would enjoy it. They’re all that good.”

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