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After more than 450 consecutive days of Monday-through-Sunday online distribution, The Sanatoga Post is taking a break and has temporarily suspended publication between Dec. 19 (2009; Saturday) and Dec. 27 (Sunday), Managing Editor Joe Zlomek has announced.

Publication of The Limerick Post and The Pottstown Post editions also have been suspended for the period.

All three editions will resume publication Dec. 28 (2009; Monday) “as though nothing had happened,” Zlomek said.

During the nine-day period, no new stories or photos will be published on any of The Post websites; the Sanatoga edition’s daily headline e-mail will not be distributed to subscribers; and e-mail sent to The Post’s Yahoo mailbox will be allowed to collect virtual dust.

All three websites remain up and running, however, for reader access to previously published stories.

The Posts wish all readers a safe and joy-filled holiday, and look forward to seeing them again when publishing resumes!

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Published during the week just ended in The Sanatoga Post:

Saturday, Dec. 19
Holiday break; no stories published

Friday, Dec. 18

Thursday, Dec. 17

Wednesday, Dec. 16

Tuesday, Dec. 15

Monday, Dec. 14

Sunday, Dec. 13

Editor’s note: The Post will temporarily suspend publication beginning tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 19, 2009) for a nine-day winter holiday. Publication will resume Dec. 28. Thanks for your readership; see you after the break!

    20090724-SanatogaPostUnifiedHeader-Zlomek

  • Lower Pottsgrove Board Ends Its Year Tonight
    It’s what township commissioners call their “close-out meeting.” Time to say goodbye to departing politicians and hello to new ones; time to approve a budget without tax increases; and time for some municipal house-cleaning.
  • Stuff To Do This Weekend
    Sure, you’ll be busy with last-minute shopping … but not too busy to take a break! There’s an adult mixer Friday in Sunnybrook, and the Sammy Kaye Orchestra plays there Sunday. There are holiday activities in Pottstown, Limerick, and Chester Springs. And you can greet Gen. Washington and his troops Saturday night as they settle into Valley Forge for another winter.
  • Services Set For Pottstown Accident Victim
    Calling hours have been announced for Breanne Brothers, one of two victims of a Saturday auto accident in which Pottsgrove High School students also were injured.
  • Emergency Dispatches For Dec. 16, 2009
  • Candles Flicker In Students’ Memorial
    Students, parents, teachers, even folks who didn’t personally know them came out Tuesday night to pay homage to two young accident victims during a candlelight service at Pottstown High School.
  • On Saturday, Call It Santa-toga
    Santa Claus again joins the Sanatoga Fire Company this weekend on a ride through Lower Pottsgrove Township. But in a new and safer twist, the fire truck on which he’ll ride will make scheduled stops.
  • Emergency Dispatches For Dec. 15, 2009
  • Still Piling It Up At The Interchange
    An earthen mound on vacant land next to Turkey Hill on East High Street in Sanatoga continued to grow Tuesday morning.
  • Dealing With Grief In Accident Aftermath
    A candlelight vigil for Pottstown High School students killed in Saturday’s car accident will be held tonight at the  school. Two Pottsgrove High students and two others injured in the accident are still recuperating, and an investigation is continuing.
  • Credit Union Opens Inside Pottsgrove High
    No need to drive through. Pottsgrove High School students now can just walk up to do their financial business, inside the school itself, thanks to a partnership between it and a Lower Pottsgrove credit union.
  • Not Gifts For Themselves, But For Others
    Ringing Rocks Elementary School students are being asked to forego buying gifts to exchange in their classrooms, and instead donate that money as a group to two local charities.
  • Year 100 Ends, Year 101 Begins
    The Sanatoga Fire Company last night marked the end of one milestone, and the start of another.
  • 2 Killed, Others Injured In Route 100 Accident
    Two Pottstown High School girls were killed late Saturday night in a one-car accident, in which Pottsgrove High School students who were passengers also were reported as injured.
  • Pottsgrove Band Plays In Boyertown
    The community band offers a holiday concert on the First Day of Winter.
  • Emergency Dispatches For Dec. 13, 2009

Joe Zlomek, Managing Editor
Your comments are welcomed on any story. Got news for us? E-mail ‘The Post.’

SANATOGA PA – Buy low, sell high. It’s good advice for almost anyone seeking to make a profit, including the developer of property on East High Street near the Sanatoga interchange of U.S. Route 422, where a mound of earthen fill apparently still has room to grow.

About another 11 feet of room, according to Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township Manager Rodney Hawthorne.

Earthmoving work earlier this week in Sanatoga.

Developer Charles Tornetta, who owns vacant land near East High Street and Rupert Road, just west of the Turkey Hill convenience store, is piling fill there that ultimately is expected to be leveled across the property. Tornetta can buy the fill inexpensively now, when few other projects need it, so stockpiling it “makes sense,” Hawthorne said Thursday night (Dec. 17, 2009) in a interview following the township Board of Commissioners‘ meeting.

The fill pile, which was started in March and reached a height of 23-1/2 feet Thursday, can actually grow to as high as 35 feet under permits Tornetta holds from the township and the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Hawthorne said. More fill likely will be added, the manager acknowledged.

Cleanliness of the fill is being monitored by four different parties, Hawthorne added: the township’s engineering firm, Bursich Associates; the DEP, and two testing laboratories employed by Tornetta. The developer, in a recent conversation with Hawthorne that was requested earlier this month by commissioners, has offered to send the township copies of his labs’ test results.

Those results should arrive within two weeks, Hawthorne said.

Area residents, particularly those in the Woodgate community north of East High Street and west of Rupert Road, have voiced concerns about the potential for contamination of their drinking water wells from unknown elements contained in the fill. The most recent tests by Bursich showed the fill to be clean, engineer Chad Camburn told commissioners.

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GOODBYES FOR KLOTZ AND DOYLE – In an evening of handshakes, hugs, good feelings and genuine praise, the Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township Board of Commissioners said farewell Thursday (Dec. 17, 2009) to departing board members Stephen Klotz, above at right, and Anthony Doyle, below at left, whose seats are being vacated for new commissioners elected during November. The tributes were at times funny and emotional, and the cameraderie shared by board members over a period of four years was on display to an audience of about 15 people. Awards of service, and knitted blankets depicting historic scenes from the township, were presented to both commissioners. Offering the outgoing gifts to Klotz was board Vice President Jonathan Spadt, above at left, and to Doyle was President Bruce Foltz, below at right.

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NORRISTOWN PA – Montgomery County (PA) emergency dispatchers directed police units, firefighters and emergency medical responders within the past 24 hours to a variety of incidents. A selective list of their activity appears below.

The entries are taken from publicly available feeds supplied by the county Department of Public Safety. Feed content has been edited by The Post for relevance to readers in Lower Pottsgrove and Limerick PA townships, the borough of Pottstown, and surrounding municipalities. It consequently is incomplete and is not intended to be comprehensive.

In most cases, the entries can be read as:

  1. Type of service (EMS = emergency medical services, Traffic = police, Fire = firefighters);
  2. Type of incident (vehicle accident, etc.)
  3. Location of incident (usually by closest intersection or landmark, and the name of the municipality)
  4. Date and time of the incident (YYYY-MM-DD) @ (“at”) (HH:MM:SS) in military time format.

Dec. 17, 2009

EMS: Respiratory Emergency
Carmen Dr; Collegeville; 2009-12-17 @ 23:37:04;

EMS: Unknown Medical Emergency
Brooke Rd & Bahr Rd; Lower Pottsgrove; 2009-12-17 @ 23:18:52;

EMS: Hemorrhaging
Pebble Beach Dr & Augusta Ave; Limerick; 2009-12-17 @ 23:10:46;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident Rescue
Rt422 & Mingo Rd Underpass; Upper Providence; 2009-12-17 @ 23:05:13;

Fire: Vehicle Accident
Rt422 & Mingo Rd Underpass; Upper Providence; 2009-12-17 @ 23:03:01;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident Injuries
Rt422 & S Trappe Rd Underpass; Upper Providence; 2009-12-17 @ 22:16:03;

EMS: Cardiac Emergency
Old Schuylkill Rd & E Schuylkill Rd; Chester County; 2009-12-17 @ 20:32:12;

EMS: Unknown Medical Emergency
Logan St & Mineral St; Pottstown; 2009-12-17 @ 19:24:09;

Fire: Unknown Type Fire
Boxwood Ct & Mimosa Ln; Upper Pottsgrove; 2009-12-17 @ 19:23:25;

EMS: Fever
Big Rd & Colonial Rd; Upper Frederick; 2009-12-17 @ 18:08:24;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident
Montgomery Ave & E 5th St; Douglass; 2009-12-17 @ 17:38:39;

Fire: Fire Alarm
Scenic View Dr & Creekwood Dr; Skippack; 2009-12-17 @ 17:35:25;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident Injuries
High St & Sunnybrook Rd; Lower Pottsgrove; 2009-12-17 @ 16:50:55;

EMS: Abdominal Pains
Veterans Dr & Brown Dr; Chester County; 2009-12-17 @ 16:34:57;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident Fire Police
Rt422 Byp & S Hanover St Underpass; Chester County; 2009-12-17 @ 15:59:47;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident Unknown Injuries
High St & Moser Rd; Pottstown; 2009-12-17 @ 15:15:12;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident Stand-By
S Trappe Rd & Bechtel Rd; Upper Providence; 2009-12-17 @ 14:59:08;

EMS: Unconscious Subject
From Montco Dispatcherhigh St & Wilson Rd; Pottstown; 2009-12-17 @ 14:42:30;

EMS: Back Pains/Injury
Bunker Way & Putter Ln; Limerick; 2009-12-17 @ 14:23:51;

EMS: Cardiac Emergency
Arcola Rd & Springhouse Dr; Upper Providence; 2009-12-17 @ 13:42:38;

EMS: Subject In Pain
High St & Brown St; Lower Pottsgrove; 2009-12-17 @ 13:39:55;

EMS: Cardiac Emergency
Linfield Trappe Rd & Weaver Ln; Limerick; 2009-12-17 @ 13:14:49;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident Fire Police
Bridge Rd & Skippack Pike; Skippack; 2009-12-17 @ 12:54:41;

Fire: Vehicle Accident
Bridge Rd; Skippack; 2009-12-17 @ 12:54:25;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident
Ridge Pike & Kline Rd; Upper Providence; 2009-12-17 @ 12:24:59;

EMS: Fall Victim
3rd Ave & E Main St; Collegeville; 2009-12-17 @ 11:12:07;

EMS: Cardiac Emergency
Hoffecker Rd & E Hoffecker Rd; Chester County; 2009-12-17 @ 09:07:51;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident
Rt422 EB & Ramp Rt422 EB To Egypt Rd; Upper Providence; 2009-12-17 @ 09:01:22.

EMS: Diabetic Emergency
Macoby St & E 5th St; Pennsburg; 2009-12-17 @ 08:43:33.

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Thursday's story at the website of WPVI-TV.

POTTSTOWN PA -The 18-year-old Pottsgrove High School male who was driving a sports utility vehicle involved in a Route 100 accident Saturday (Dec. 12, 2009), which resulted in the deaths of two Pottstown High School students, was said to be an uninsured motorist, Philadelphia television station WPVI Channel 6 reported today (Thursday, Dec. 17) at mid-day.

“The spokesman for the Pottstown School District tells Action News that the driver in a deadly crash that killed two students did not have insurance,” a WPVI story updated at 12:49 p.m. today claimed. Although the story did not cite the spokesman by name, all comments made on behalf of the school district so far have come from John Armato, its director of community relations.

Because “the driver did not have insurance, the families will have to pay funeral expenses out-of-pocket,” WPVI added. “To help them, memorial funds have been established,” it said. Donations were being sought for the funds, set up separately in the names of victims Breanne Brothers and Andrea Antonio-Harris at the Harleysville National Bank branch at 1500 E. High St., Pottstown PA, just west of Sanatoga village.

The television station, which relies heavily on social media to promote its upcoming stories, simultaneously issued a Twitter.com Tweet on the development.

The office of Montgomery County (PA) District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said Monday (Dec. 14) it was continuing to investigate the one-car accident in which the two girls, the driver, and three other passengers – one of them also a Pottsgrove student – were traveling. A statement, approved by Vetri and released on the DA’s website, makes no reference to the driver’s alleged lack of insurance.

Neither the driver or the other injured passengers have been identified by Vetri’s office by name, only by the schools they attended.

Allentown PA television station WFMZ confirmed the establishment of the separate funds in a story it posted today at 12:52 p.m. It did not mention the driver.

Screen shot from the website of WPVI-TV

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The township municipal building.

SANATOGA PA – The local government calendar year officially ends – for its politicians, at least – following tonight’s (Thursday, Dec. 17, 2009) meeting of the Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Board of Commissioners. It begins at 7 p.m. in the township municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA.

It’s an evening of fond farewells: two commissioners, Stephen Klotz and Anthony Doyle, will vacate their chairs at the board table. It’s an evening of howdy-dos, too: incoming commissioners Michael McGroarty and James Kaiser will be ready to step up and fill those pre-warmed seats once they are sworn into office.

It’s a night of big money: the township’s 2010 tentative and relatively uncontroversial budget of $5.439 million is likely to be approved, as well as its accompanying property tax rates and other taxes.

None of the rates are scheduled to change from last year’s levels, thanks to what is expected to be an infusion of several hundred thousands of dollars from the township savings account, its fund balance. Commissioners note, however, that due to cost-cutting and other savings the fund balance with which Lower Pottsgrove ends next year should contain as much or more free cash than the current year.

It could be a night of explanation: township officials may publicly respond on their contacts with developer Charles Tornetta regarding property he owns on the north side of East High Street, just west of the Turkey Hill convenience store. Earthen fill has been piling up there during recent months, and commissioners directed Manager Rodney Hawthorne to talk with Tornetta about his plans for it.

And if will be a night of legislative heavy-lifting: the board is expected to approve the adoption of new township building codes.

A copy of the agenda for tonight’s meeting was not available today as of 5:35 a.m. It likely will be accessible later today for download from the township’s website.

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NORRISTOWN PA – Montgomery County (PA) emergency dispatchers directed police units, firefighters and emergency medical responders within the past 24 hours to a variety of incidents. A selective list of their activity appears below.

The entries are taken from publicly available feeds supplied by the county Department of Public Safety. Feed content has been edited by The Post for relevance to readers in Lower Pottsgrove and Limerick PA townships, the borough of Pottstown, and surrounding municipalities. It consequently is incomplete and is not intended to be comprehensive.

In most cases, the entries can be read as:

  1. Type of service (EMS = emergency medical services, Traffic = police, Fire = firefighters);
  2. Type of incident (vehicle accident, etc.)
  3. Location of incident (usually by closest intersection or landmark, and the name of the municipality)
  4. Date and time of the incident (YYYY-MM-DD) @ (“at”) (HH:MM:SS) in military time format.

Dec. 16, 2009

Traffic: Disabled Vehicle
Layfield Rd & Hoffmansville Rd; New Hanover; 2009-12-16 @ 18:24:45;

Traffic: Disabled Vehicle
S Collegeville Rd & Perkiomen Blvd; Upper Providence; 2009-12-16 @ 17:33:53;

EMS: Abdominal Pains
High St & N Park Rd; Lower Pottsgrove; 2009-12-16 @ 17:33:39;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident
S Grosstown Rd & Old Reading Pike; West Pottsgrove; 2009-12-16 @ 17:24:14;

Fire: Vehicle Accident
S Lewis Rd; Upper Providence; 2009-12-16 @ 17:23:29;

EMS: Vehicle Accident
S Lewis Rd; Upper Providence; 2009-12-16 @ 17:17:45;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident Stand-By
S Lewis Rd & Bechtel Rd; Upper Providence; 2009-12-16 @ 17:14:26;

Fire: Electrical Fire Outside
Yeager Rd & Willowbrooke Ln; Upper Providence; 2009-12-16 @ 17:06:07;

EMS: Assault Victim
Blaker Dr & Hamilton Rd; East Greenville; 2009-12-16 @ 17:00:35;

EMS: Unconscious Subject
Voit Dr & Skippack Pike; Skippack; 2009-12-16 @ 16:27:32;

EMS: Fall Victim
Walden Ct & Lakeside Dr; Limerick; 2009-12-16 @ 16:04:31;

EMS: Unresponsive Subject
Elio Cir & Harvard Dr; Trappe; 2009-12-16 @ 15:46:11;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident Unknown Injuries
S Grosstown Rd & W High St; West Pottsgrove; 2009-12-16 @ 15:32:59;

EMS: Fall Victim
Skippack Pike & Mensch Rd; Skippack; 2009-12-16 @ 14:32:09;

EMS: Vehicle Accident
W Philadelphia Ave; Berks County; Station Ems; 2009-12-16 @ 14:30:11;

EMS: General Weakness
Merion Dr & Woodcrest Cir; Limerick; 2009-12-16 @ 13:25:05;

Traffic: Disabled Vehicle Blocking
Swamp Pike & Sanatoga Rd; New Hanover; 2009-12-16 @ 13:06:26;

EMS: Nausea/vomiting
Paper Mill Rd & West Branch Rd; Douglass; 2009-12-16 @ 12:24:04;

Fire: Building Fire
High St & N Park Rd; Lower Pottsgrove; 2009-12-16 @ 12:17:07;

EMS: Altered Mental Status
Red Oak Ct & Dogwood Ln; Skippack; 2009-12-16 @ 09:50:17;

EMS: Seizures
9th St & Johnson St; Pottstown; 2009-12-16 @ 09:49:28;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident
Rt422 & S Township Line Rd Overpass; Limerick; 2009-12-16 @ 08:00:10;

EMS: Nausea/Vomiting
Charlotte St & Nightingale St; Pottstown; 2009-12-16 @ 07:55:53;

EMS: Dizziness
High St & N Park Rd; Lower Pottsgrove; 2009-12-16 @ 07:54:38;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident
Skippack Pike & Bridge Rd; Skippack; 2009-12-16 @ 06:59:37;

EMS: Unknown Medical Emergency
York St & High St; Pottstown; 2009-12-16 @ 04:47:26;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident
Swamp Pike & Rosenberry Rd; New Hanover; 2009-12-16 @ 01:48:55;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident
Spring Mount Rd & N Gravel Pike; Lower Frederick; 2009-12-16 @ 01:40:05;

Traffic: Vehicle Accident
Ramp Rt422 WB To Evergreen Rd & Evergreen Rd; Limerick; 2009-12-16 @ 00:28:10.

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