Short Tab - Germantown Newspapers

Transcription

Short Tab - Germantown Newspapers
Northwest
Independent
Subscribe to the only news outlet without political oversight - See page 6
April 25, 2013 • Volume 4, Number 26
Germantown Newspapers • 6661 Germantown Ave.• Philadelphia, PA 19119 • 215-438-4000 • germantownnewspapers.com
The Faces of
Philadelphia Failures
Mismanaging
the Madness
See page 3
Gosnell Case
Raises
Questions
page 7
Like Us on Facebook.
Germantown Newspapers
Page 2
April 25, 2013
Germantown Newspapers
MORE
CHOICES
SMALLER
PORTIONS
FEWER
CALORIES
AMERICA’S BEVERAGE COMPANIES ARE DELIVERING. From sodas, juices and teas to waters
and sports drinks, we’re making it easier to choose what’s right for you. By introducing more
low- and no-calorie beverages, we’ve reduced the average calories per serving by 23% since 1998.
Our packaging now has clear calorie labels so you know exactly what you’re choosing. And in
schools, we’ve replaced full-calorie soft drinks with lower-calorie and smaller-portion options.
Learn more at DeliveringChoices.org
Germantown Newspapers
City Government: Mismanaging
the Madness
Philadelphia moves into free fall even faster as the
days go by and Mayor Michael Nutter is the face of
failure. We have reported on his defiant and arrogant
approach to governance before, but the pace accelerates with each passing day. Reminiscent of oneparty power mongers of the past, Nutter takes a Huey
Long approach as the “kingfish” who disregards all
manner of propriety, personal and fiscal responsibility to the people, underscored regularly with a “my
way or the highway” pattern. But he is losing ground
even among the true believers as the train wreck on
the horizon is becoming a clearer and clearer picture
even to the most calloused observer.
Most recent genuine outrage is how he defiantly
told the mainstream and city press they could not be
part of a prioritized financial summit named the
Philadelphia Investor Conference and held at the
Comcast Center with none other than David L.
Cohen presenting the welcoming comments. Formal objections to the secrecy were filed by
Bloomberg News and the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Deputy Mayor/Commerce Director Alan Greenberger, Finance Director Rob Dubow and others
were huckstering the city that has the lowest credit
rating in the nation of major cities, and hoping that
bond issuers would buy their story and promises that
fall way short of fiscal soundness in the opinion of
Page 3
April 25 2013
most who have reviewed it. City pension shortfalls
are currently at $5 billion or 52% below what is required to balance liability obligations; thanks to years
of non-payments and a state government who has
helped them kick that can down the road, despite
having standing oversight authority over the budget.
The major questions we should all ask Sam Katz of
the PICA Board is what will happen with this current
budget and all the shortfalls, and will he hold the
Mayor and Finance Director Rob Dubow’s feet to
the fire?
Arrogance abounds at the most recent hearing of
the PICA State oversight board where Mayor Nutter’s Finance Director Dubow tells them that the
records of the half a billion in past due real estate
taxes are in such disarray that it will take a new “Collection Czar” and $45 million in additional dollars
to straighten them out so they can then “begin to decide how to try and collect them”.
The major ploy at hand (and likely the reason for
secrecy) is that Mayor Nutter wants to sell off the
profitable Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) for some
quick cash, as it may be the only profitable asset the
city has. In their rush to get something cobbled together to hand out to the attendees they made a $40
million dollar mistake in calculating the cost of po-
Success.
Continued on page 5
GetasquaredealonhearingaidsfromalicensedhearͲ
ingaidspecialistinRoxboroughwhoknowsthatthe
worsthearingaidistheonethatisn’tbeingworn.
CapTelCapƟonedTelephone
1Ͳ4yrwarrantyandinsurance.
FreediagnosƟcsandfollowͲups.
45DayTrial–NOFEEforreturns.
FREEBATTERIESforoneyear.
Weekend,weeknighthours.
Closetohome;samedayapͲ
pointmentsareoŌenavailable.
INROXBOROUGHNEARANDORRA7517NewlandStreet,Phila.
215-482-2352
byappointment
Good news for people who want to lose.
A weight loss surgery program to help you discover a whole new – and healthier – you. If you’re
100 pounds or more overweight, we invite you to a free information session on life-changing
weight loss surgery. It’s helped many people live happier, healthier lives. It may help you, too.
Free Group and Personal Weight Loss Surgery Sessions
For dates and locations, visit ChestnutHillHealth.com/WeightLoss,
or call 215-836-5120. Reservations required.
Your weight loss surgery team includes board-certified, fellowship-trained surgeons Aley Tohamy, M.D., and Sean Yuan, M.D.
8200 Flourtown Ave., Suite 2, Wyndmoor, PA 19038 215-836-5120 • 13 Armand Hammer Blvd., Suite 310, Pottstown, PA 19464 610-327-7770
Members of the Medical Staff at Chestnut Hill Hospital and Pottstown Memorial Medical Center
Page 4
April 25, 2013
Germantown Newspapers
Pennsylvania’s Clueless Conservatives and the Issues Grassroots Are Missing
While grassroots and activist
conservatives obsess about the
Toomey-Manchin background
check amendment, and immigration amnesty, they have missed
major dynamics affecting Pennsylvania. Toomey-Manchin explicitly enhances the accuracy
and completeness of background
checks. Common sense conservatives support accurate and
complete background checks.
While distracted with the glitter of “gun control”, grassroots
conservatives miss that Tom
Corbett is being financed by
Obama Democrat David L.
Cohen, former Democratic Governor Ed Rendell’s alter ego, inextricably tied to billionaire
Comcast Obama Democrats. At
the recent conservative oriented
Pennsylvania Leadership Conference, I was surprised to learn
how few activists were aware of
Tom Corbett’s “bipartisanship”.
In fact, this cooperation of De-
mocrat Corbett and Republican
paid spokesperson for Pennsylvania hydraulic fracturing natural gas industry Ed Rendell
Comcast’s pernicious political
influence.
The Pennsylvania Leadership
Conference could have been
The Pennsylvania Leadership Conference could
have been called the “Incumbent Protection Conference” and talked of primaries as expensive enterprises draining resources from general election.
The significance of the Gosnell abortion clinic
as a failure of government regulation seems to have
been missed. We also learn that abortion clinics had
not been inspected for17 years starting during the
liberal Ridge and Perzel Republican majority years
in the 90s.
should be of concern to activists
and rank and file voters of both
parties. Oooops... I meant Republican Corbett and Democratic Rendell – hard to tell the
establishments apart. Leftist City
Paper’s Daniel Denvir has written an excellent summary of
P rom
F lo w e r s !
Will you stand out
at your prom?
We create designs featuring
the latest trends & colors!
Y our Local F
Yo
Fa
amiillly
yF
Flllo
orriiis
s t ffo
or 100 Y
Ye
earrs
s
7148 G
Germantown
ermantown A
Ave.
v e. • Mt.
Mt. Airy
Airy
(215) 247-0832 ww
www.rotheflorists.com
w.rothefloris ts .com
Sav e $10 on y our tto
otal Prom
flower ord er of $45 or more. Can
comb ine Cors ag e & Boutto
onnière
ord ers to
to g et this offffer.
We invite
invit e y
you
ou tto
ov
visit
isit o
our
ur NEW
NEW w
wedding
edding g
gallery
allery
to s
see
ee m
many
any s
samples
amples o
off o
our
ur C
Corsages,
orsages,
Bouquets
Bo
uquet s & Bo
Boutonnieres.
ut onnieres. V
Visit
isit tthe
he g
gallery
allery
at:: ww
at
www.rotheweddings.com
w.rrothewed d ing s .com
called the “Incumbent Protection
Conference” and talked of primaries as expensive enterprises
draining resources from general
election.
The significance of the Gosnell abortion clinic as a failure of
government regulation seems to
have been missed. We also learn
that abortion clinics had not been
inspected for17 years starting
during the liberal Ridge and
Perzel Republican majority
years in the 90s.
Then we have judicial retention. The blatant and outrageous
bipartisan conflict of interest that
has been brought to our attention
by Northampton District Attorney John Morganelli. Retention
is supported by establishment insiders of both parties. In November, there is a bipartisan
opportunity to REJECT RETENTION on bipartisan basis.
Both Chief Justice Republican
Ron Castile, tainted by his mishandling of the new Family
Courthouse and Democrat Max
Baer offer an opportunity to reject bipartisan establishment’s
top down dictates.
Sadly, it’s the Democrats who
have shown how to run a primary. The Kane Murphy primary, as intense as it was,
focused on the records and the
result was a smashing Democratic victory for Kathleen Kane,
Pennsylvania’s first Democratic
Attorney General.
Few conservatives seem to be
aware of Republican Speaker of
the House Sam Smith’s record.
Sam Smith is the only Republican to vote for every one of Ed
Rendell’s budgets. Sam Smith is
financed by unions while talking
the talk of limited government
and economic freedom.
The key issue of Voter ID is
stalled because of inept execu-
tion by both administration and
the Republican General Assembly. One cannot help but think
the Union Republicans have
subverted the Voter ID law by
incompetent roll-out to sabotage
this initiative favored by grassroots conservatives. Corbett’s incompetent, political hack and
Val DiGiorgio crony Carole
Aichele has failed to implement
Voter ID.
The Halvorson Primary challenge to uber porker Bill Shuster
is barely on anyone’s radar
screen. Yet as the American Majority’s Madison Project and
Madison Performance Index
show, Bill Shuster is far, far
more liberal than his district.
Below the radar, there is an in
place organization working for
the defeat of Bill Shuster in a
Republican Primary. The Establishment Republicans have already been smearing Art
Halvorson. Google Madison
Performance Index for more information.
Liberal Harrisburg PatriotNews has done a stellar journalistic report on Pat Deon of the
Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, SEPTA Board Chairman, and controls his own beer
distributorship cartel. Pat Deon
is connected closely to Union
Republican Financier BucksCo
Republican Gene DiGirolamo of
union PAC, GoodJobsPa.
Union Republicans and Beer
Cartelist Pat Deon oppose liquor
privatization. Pat Deon is inextricably intertwined with Republican establishment which has
been selling out the grassroots
and rank and file Republicans.
Wendell Young IV is paid
about $287,000 by the United
Food and Commercial Workers
Union. The Unions with government connivance take taxpayer
money from workers, money
workers never see, and finance
private Union Organizers who
then lobby for bigger and more
expensive government at taxpayer expense. Workers have
had their freedom of choice
taken from them by Unions and
Government.
Republican Senate Majority
Leader Dominic Pileggi's unwavering ally Republican Sen. Erickson Throws Cold Water On
Liquor Privatization in a talk before the Springfield Republicans
Bill
Lawrence
(tinyurl.
com/ce9uub5).
BucksCo Sen. McIlhinney’s
obstructionism is jeopardizing
Tom Corbett’s reelection. Sen.
McIlhinney is Chair of Law and
Justice Committee which is
holding HB 790 hostage.
Team Republican needs to
produce and Liquor Privatization
is cornerstone of Tom Corbett’s
primary campaign. Without a
win on privatizes, his chances of
losing a primary go up.
Sen. McIlhinney is financed
by BucksCo Beer Cartelist
Crony Capitalist Pat Deon and
the Union Republican Gene DiGirolamo Union financed network of BucksCo Union
Republicans like Bernie O’Neill
and Scott Petri.
Rob Ciervo will like be challenging Sen. McIlhinney in a
primary.
The grassroots needs to mobilize against Sen. McIlhinney.
This is a test of grassroots leadership. All of us. If the Crony
Capitalist and union Republican
entrenched incumbents win on
this key vote, grassroots will lose
and Tom Corbett loses grassroots support.
The Clueless Conservatives
seem to be unaware of the Attorney General’s ongoing investigation of LeRoy Zimmerman
and the Hershey Trust Golf
Course Republican investor
bailout as ably written about by
Bob Fernandez of the Inquirer.
This is a story of financial child
abuse of the most disadvantaged
kids in Pennsylvania while despoiling an iconic Pennsylvania
philanthropist and businessman.
Primaries are the only thing incumbents fear and it is the only
mechanism to make them listen.
Performance Counts! Team
Republican needs to produce.
Now! Or the Governor gets a
Primary.
Bob Guzzardi
Grassroots activist
Free Home Improvement
and Energy Workshop
April 27, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Mt. Airy USA,
6703 G’town Ave., Suite 200
Learn about affordable home
improvement loans; low-cost doit-yourself home repairs; energy
efficiency improvements; how to
avoid contractor scams; energysaving ways to lower utility bills.
Light lunch will be provided.
This is a FREE event; however,
donations to Mt. Airy, USA will be
accepted and appreciated.
To register, call Wandel Phillips @
215-844-6021 x 200or go to
mausahomeenergysaveeventbrite.c
om.
Germantown Newspapers
Page 5
April 25 2013
City Government: Mismanaging the Madness
Continued from page 3
lice in one area of the presentation.
Despite having appointed no
less than 31 special “czars” and
their costly staffs to so all manner
of special work since 2008, the
budget cuts to essential services
and functioning departments like
the DA’s office have brought
nothing less than outrage from
Seth Williams as expounded at recent hearings.
A school system in one of its
many incarnations fails to educate
so badly that recent statistics
claim the graduation rate for city
schools has fallen further to 50%,
while they are $300 million short
of paying their bills in the current
budget. Instead of grappling with
this as a major priority, the mayor
allows a newly hired “axe man”
to do his dirty work and hope that
the backlash over closings and reassignments somehow fades
away over time. Years of neglect
and not one creative program despite top-heavy salaries for administrators brought us to this
crises and many saw it coming,
but leadership did almost nothing
to avert it.
City Council seems to have become energized at new levels as
special hearings are held to listen
to first-hand accounts of how city
cutbacks have impacted public
safety in many areas, not the least
of which are those directly connected to the criminal justice system such as probation and parole.
Five years of unsigned union contracts, many providing crucial city
services, are prioritized in a
Reuters financial review as the
most significant shortcoming in a
city with critical fiscal problems
in a very recent article.
Then there is the fiasco of the
complete revision of the real estate taxing program, Actual Value
Initiative, known as AVI, rammed
through as another of the Mayor’s
priorities despite informed recommendations it be done in segments over time. Instituted with
less than adequate notice, a dearth
of information as to its implementation and final cost multiplier, the
backlash and appeals will likely
cause a logjam beyond expectations. Citizens testify in hearings
around the city that the Mayor’s
administrations tell them: “we
would explain it to you, but you
are probably not able to comprehend it.” Taxpayers of this city
are outraged at the whole process
and are making their feelings
known at the regional and City
Council hearings on the budget.
Among the most frequently heard
comments are the long-standing
tax abatements for new reconstruction and the most special of
all deals; the Comcast exemption
on their Taj Mahal in Center City.
From the just plain ridiculous to
the sublime, we have the city filing a lawsuit to try and find out
how just-retired and long-term
Sherriff John Green seemed to
have “lost” many millions of dollars through service contracts he
made with private individuals and
Coupon Expires
5/23/13
Cannot Be Combined with
Any Other Offer or
Coupon
this stuff up, and many informed
types who have watched how
“certain people” were exempt
from paying real estate taxes for
years on end, feel Sherriff Green
has a permanent pass from any
real investigation. It is known as:
“The List.”
Jim Foster
Editor
CA RM A N ’ S S H OE R E P A I R
— OF CHESTNUT HILL —
Over 50 Years of Quality service • Family owned and operated store
Shoe Repair Makes Sense!
It’s an easy way to conserve in these
tough economic times.
Authorized retailer of Alden & Birkenstock
8111 Germantown Avenue • Philadelphia, PA
215-247-7706 • Hours: 9-6 Daily • Sat. 8-1
WWW.CARMANSSHOEREPAIR.COM
2013 PHILA
FLEA MARKETS
All You Can Eat Buffet
$5.00 Off
Total Check
for 4 or More
Adult
Dinners
close friends, rather than use city
departments in much of his collection process. So instead of
simply using a combination of our
standing oversight process and
law enforcement as past administrations would have done, this is
now to become a drawn out civil
suit to determine if we even have
the right to know. You can’t make
Cheltenham Plaza
8162 Ogontz Ave.
Wyncote
215-886-6696
Lunch Buffet
49
$6
10% Off
Dinner
Only
One Coupon per Person
Mon thru Sat
Coupon Expires 5/23/13
Mon - Sat: L 11:30 - 3:30
D 3:30 - 9:30 M-Thur
D 3:30 -10:30 Fri-Sat
Sun All Day - Dinner
Cannot Be Combined with
Any Other Offer or
Coupon
Sun, April 28th – 2nd & Lombard (HeadHouse Sq)
Sat, May 4th – 22nd & Fairmount (Prison)
Sat, May 11th – 4th & Washington – South Philly
Sat, May 18th – Main St. at Pensdale – Manayunk
Sat, June 1st – 3rd & Pine
Sat, June 8th – Passyunk At Morris St . – South Philly
Sat, June 15th – 10th & South
Sat, June 29th – Broad & Spruce
(Indoors – The Kimmel Center )
Fri Evening, July 5th – 2nd & Arch (1st Friday)
Fri Evening, Aug 2nd – 2nd & Arch (1st Friday)
Sat, Sept 7th – 22nd & Fairmount (Prison)
Sat, Sept 14th – 4th & Washington – South Philly
Sat, Sept 21st – Passyunk At Morris St .
– South Philly
Sat, Oct 5th – 10th & South
Sat, Oct 12th – 3rd & Pine
Sat, Oct 26th – Main St. at Pensdale – Manayunk
8 www.PhilaFleaMarkets.org
( 215 – 625 – FLEA (3532)
Page 6
April 25, 2013
In Our Opinion
Points to Ponder
Fattah Chief of Staff and
Germantown Newspapers
2014 Election Gets an Early Start
Congressman Chaka Fattah rarely takes any criticism seriously and
his office never even bothers to respond to comments of politicians
or journalists as he considers himself invincible and electable into
eternity. Designated as the “safest seat in the U.S. Congress”, the
Pennsylvania 2nd Congressional District seat that encompasses half
of Philadelphia and parts of adjacent Montgomery County must be
seen in a new light as Fattah’s Chief of Staff sends written barbs to
the Independently registered challenger in the last election who garnered a full 1.4% of the vote, and who publishes this Northwest
Philadelphia newspaper. I mentioned Congressman Fattah in a recent
editorial critiquing how public money is used in this city.
In the past, Fattah would have treated this situation like swatting a
fly and moved on without “dignifying those remarks with a response”
but dignify they did and left the door wide open to not only dignify,
but amplify. The remarks of Mr. Ron Goldwyn printed in this issue
not only speak for themselves, but clearly must be speaking for the
congressman and others who have been the recipients of his largess
through our tax dollars; something I pointed out in my recent editorial
entitled “Poverty Profiteering”.
Mr. Goldwyn does not refute the facts I outline, only my right to
characterize them as something of concern to the voters and taxpayers. He admits right out front that Philadelphia Commercial Development Corporation (PCDC) that Fattah funded was a fiscal,
economic and social failure, but fails to tell us how much money was
wasted or lost and who ran that entity so far into the ground that our
current Mayor had to close it down under the shadow of darkness
and never speak of it again. Well known office holders ran it, and
we may never know how many millions were squandered - - but
maybe now that it is corroborated by the congressman’s Chief of Staff
the feds may move it from the sacred burial ground where most investigations that touch elected Philadelphia Democrats are buried. I
suggest readers contact U.S. Attorney Zane Memeger for a pro-active
exhumation.
We are told that I lumped Weaver’s Way grant funding for a specialty grocery store in Chestnut Hill in with PCDC, but I did no such
thing. This was a special kind of insider funding where one of this
city’s most upscale communities is falsely characterized as being economically challenged (a “food dessert” mind you) so that they can
qualify for public funds. Glen Bergman, director of that non-profit
cooperative said they could not have done it without the money at
the grand opening. However, everyone else in upscale Chestnut Hill
has to use private funds for such development.
In similar manner I criticized the comments of our mayor as he announced recently he was using federal money (we can only assume
it was authorized by Fattah) through his Commerce Department to
fund “the blighted Mt. Airy corridor” through non-profit Mt. Airy
U.S.A. The Mt. Airy business corridor is far from blighted, and if
parts of it ever were, that was remedied long ago. I take serious exception to the use of these terms to qualify for money that kind of
morphs into some very insider-based developments, done in a dark
cave. I will repeat here that I contend that the political structure
worked very hard to actually create blight in Germantown so it could
channel hundreds of millions in federal dollars to Emanuel Freeman
and his Germantown Settlement; where most of it was spent under
the radar and outside of required compliance requirements; while
every city department also sent them additional funding they knew
they were not qualified to receive for at least 15-20 years. Maybe
some of the same is taking place today. Inquiring minds want to
know.
Continued on page 15
Subscribe to the Chronicle/Independent.
Guaranteed mail delivery of 26 issues – $40
Call Francine at 215-438-4000
WURD 900 AM radio has invited editor Jim Foster to join its
now-regularly scheduled 90 minute drive-time journalist discussion group as a regular rotating member. Moderator Nick
Taliaferro is live and taking questions from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
Germantown Newspapers
Opinions & Letters to the Editor …
Calling Foul on Foster’s Editorial
Editor:
As an active Northwest neighbor, former journalist and recently retired press secretary for
Congressman Fattah, I'm writing
to call foul on the Mr. Foster's
last editorial. His swipes at the
work of some of our neighborhood organizations, an academic
institution, and some elected officials are without fact or merit.
Yes, according to reporting in
local publications, PCDC has
demonstrated to be an entity that
failed its mission to the taxpayer
and the organization's supporters.
But lumping the record of PCDC
in with Weaver's Way Coop, and
Mt. Airy USA? NOT FAIR.
Weaver's Way and Mt. Airy
USA are well regarded organizations because they do great work:
developing our neighborhoods,
assisting families facing mortgage foreclosure, providing access to affordable fresh produce,
supporting our young people
through various school programs. You may not agree with
their approach to fighting blight
or food insecurity but that difference of opinion doesn't mean that
their reputations should be im-
pugned.
I assume that the line about the
University of Pennsylvania and
federal research awards is meant
to suggest that Penn doesn't deserve Mr. Fattah's advocacy. Mr.
Foster is entitled to his own opinion but not his own math. To say
that the school gets $1 million a
week is a cute attempt to manipulate the numbers, combine unrelated research initiatives with
completely different fiscal years
and stages of research. Penn is a
research institution working to
solve medical mysteries that
range from cancer to dementia.
Their work and its importance to
our country and the world justify
federal science dollars coming to
Philadelphia - especially to an institution that, according to a 2011
report by EConsult, contributes
$26 million to Philadelphia’s
economy EACH DAY.
I'll pass on pushing back on the
obvious caricature you've created
of my former boss. You are correct: Congressman Fattah is popular. That's due to his
unparalleled record of public
service and legislative achievements. Voters, our neighbors,
know this about his record which
is why he received such overwhelming support – 89 percent
of the votes. Give us all a little
credit.
Finally, a comment on our
shared profession. Mr. Foster's
piece is an editorial, and while
editorials do not require reporting
of fact, they most certainly cannot be written from another reality. Mr. Foster is a political
opponent of Mr. Fattah's. In fact,
much of what was written in Mr.
Foster's editorial are the exact assertions and campaign rhetoric
Mr. Foster asserted in last fall's
election -- when his message attracted 1.4 percent of the vote.
Not once is this possible bias
mentioned.
As editor and publisher Mr.
Foster can certainly make the
rules at his publication. All these
folks and organizations can
speak for themselves. As for my
Northwest neighbors: with regard to the Germantown/Mt.
Airy Papers, let the reader beware.
Ron Goldwyn
Germantown
Connecting with Social Media
Social Media
Editor:
Who’s getting connected with
social media? That's the question
more boomers and seniors are
asking each other. More and
more, we are realizing that
boomers and seniors are starting
to catch-up to the social media
train, by doubling in the amount
of users from 25% in 2010 to
51% in 2011 — the fastest
growth rate of any generation.
According Shirin Mostaghim,
author of Reaching Older Demographics with Social Media,
“Usage among those over the age
of 65 grew 100 percent since
2009, while usage of Twitter has
more than doubled among those
50 and older since 2009.” Furthermore, “Young adults continue to be the heaviest users of
social media, but their growth
pales in comparison with recent
gains made by older users,” explains Mary Madden, Senior Research Specialist for The Pew
Research Center’s survey report
on Pew Research Social & Demographic Trends.
Social networking allows you to
link with friends, family, and colleagues all over the country – and
even the world - by creating,
sharing, and exchanging information and ideas in virtual com-
munities and networks. It's an increasingly popular way for family members and friends to stay
connected. You can discover
news on your favorite celebrities
or brands, and follow up about
special offers and deals offered
by companies and brands you
like.
AARP recently commissioned a
survey of the 50+ population, to
gather information the 50+ use of
social media and found that approximately one-quarter of all
those 50+ use social media websites (27%) with Facebook being
by far the most popular (23%).
More and more, older adults are
progressively signing onto social
media sites to keep in contact
with friends and family, find people from their past, gather information, and partake in online
discussions.
The future of social media, very
much, includes seniors! So, don’t
miss the boat, because Baby
Boomers and older citizens are
the up-and-coming users of the
social-media era.
Candice Grevious
Philadelphia
AARP Volunteer
Germantown Newspapers
6661 Germantown Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19119
215-438-4000 • fax: 215-754-4245
www.germantownnewspapers.com
Jim Foster, [email protected] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Publisher
Scott Alloway, [email protected] . .Associate Editor, Production
Tracie Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Staff Reporter, Social Media Editor
Victoria Brownworth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Contributor
Pamela Bracey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Contributor
Daniel Mandel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Contributor
Bob Guzzardi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Contributor
Jane Winters, [email protected] . . . . . . . . .Arts and Culture Editor
Sales Staff
Paula Moore, [email protected] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sales Representative
Phyllis Sunberg, [email protected] . . . . . . . .Sales Representative
Francine Ferrell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Administrator
The Northwest Independent is owned and operated by Germantown Newspapers, Inc., and
has offices at 6661 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19119. The Northwest Independent, has a press run of 17,500 copies and is circulated door-to-door throughout Mt. Airy and
Chestnut Hill. The Germantown Chronicle is owned and operated by Germantown Newspapers, Inc., and has offices at 6661 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19119. The Germantown Chronicle has a press run of 18,500 copies and is circulated door-to-door
throughout Germantown. The publisher reserves the right to refuse any advertising. All content ©2010 Germantown Newspapers, Inc. All rights reserved.
Germantown Newspapers
Page 7
April 25 2013
Public Affairs & Governance
Gosnell Case Raises Questions
by Victoria A.
Brownworth
The trial of Dr.
Kermit Gosnell
began March 18.
It took a few weeks of increasingly
gruesome testimony for anti-choice
activists to notice. Once they did,
they asserted that no one had been
reporting on the case of the illegal
abortion provider in University
City who was initially charged with
the murders of a Bhutanese refugee
and mother of four, Karnmayar
Mongar, 41 and seven babies born
alive during botched abortion procedures.
Several national pro-choice
groups, Planned Parenthood, ProChoice America and National
Abortion Federation have all denounced Gosnell and his illegal,
unregulated and unmonitored practice at the Women’s Medical Center
at 38th and Lancaster just blocks
from the Hospital of the University
of Pennsylvania where some of his
patients ended up after surgeries.
Gosnell is facing the death
penalty.
The prosecution wrapped its case
on April 19. On April 23, the day
the defense case was to begin,
Judge Jeffrey Minehart dropped
three of the infant death charges citing lack of evidence. Minehart also
acquitted Gosnell of five counts of
abuse of a corpse. He gave no reason for his decision, which was vigorously
protested
by
the
prosecution.
The case of Kermit Gosnell is
one of the more gruesome cases I
have covered. I first wrote about
Gosnell and his filthy, blood-andurine splattered clinic three years
ago and have written about it continually since.
The meme that the case has been
ignored is wrong, but it definitely
hasn’t gotten the emphasis it deserves. As someone who has been
writing about Gosnell for several
years, here and elsewhere, I believe
the case hasn’t gotten national attention because of the identity of
the victims: poor women and
teenagers, immigrant women like
Mongar who spoke no English, and
almost all women of color.
Both sides of the abortion rights
argument lay claim to Gosnell, but
Gosnell isn’t really a story about
abortion–it’s a story about a city
and state that failed poor women
and their health care needs for close
to 20 years by letting Gosnell practice without oversight, despite repeated complaints, serious injuries
to patients, rampant infections and
a clinic which was, once Gosnell
was arrested, filled with fetuses–in
a freezer, in jars–as well as instruments that were rusted, out-dated,
unsterile. Witnesses even asserted
that a cat roamed freely through the
operating areas.
The dangers presented by Gosnell and his staff–which included a
high school student from University City but not one licensed obstetrician or gynecologist (Gosnell
himself is neither)–were criminal
long before Gosnell’s arrest in January 2011.
Pennsylvania’s Abortion Control
Act stipulates that abortions after
24 weeks are illegal. But Roe v.
Wade already stipulates that abortions in the second trimester be
done in a medical center that is
equipped to handle the dangers inherent in abortions after 12 weeks.
Testimony at trial asserted that
Gosnell would lie to women about
the length of their gestation, even
altering ultrasounds to indicate that
the woman was not as far along in
her pregnancy as she actually was.
He charged between $1,500 and
$3,000 a procedure–in cash. The
grand jury report stated that Gosnell was bringing in $15,000 a day
most days at the clinic.
I’d describe what happened at
Gosnell’s clinic, but it’s too graphic
for this paper. What Gosnell did
was monstrous: Women left his
clinic with perforated uteruses and
bowels, with STDs contracted from
unsterile equipment, with drug reactions and overdoses (the high
school student was given a chart by
Gosnell on how much anesthetic to
administer). And sometimes, with
the harrowing experience of having
the fetus born alive and then killed
by Gosnell who cut the spinal cord.
He called this "snipping" but one
former staffer called it "a literal beheading."
These grisly descriptions would
churn the stomach of anyone with
a modicum of empathy. They also
bolster the anti-abortion rhetoric of
anti-choice activists.
But Gosnell is not representative
of abortion providers. Rather he’s a
throwback to an era of back-alley
abortions. The Gosnell case is representative of illegal abortion and a
State Health Department that ignored report after report that Gosnell was not operating within any
reasonable medical or legal parameters in his clinic. Gosnell’s clinic
should have been closed by the
state well before anyone died. But
it wasn’t.
The grand jury report could not
have been more succinct: A pattern
of ignoring regulation of abortion
providers was in place for close to
17 years, throughout the Ridge and
Rendell Administrations. Arguments were made that both governors–the Republican and the
Democrat–were pro-choice and
thus ignored the statutes on abortion providers.
Whether or not this is true–and
there is limited support for this argument–what is true is that the
clinic was not monitored. When it
was inspected, Gosnell and his staff
simply said they would fix what-
in this case. It also says that reproductive rights belong to the wealthy
and that for poor women, choice is
most often what is foisted upon
them."
Restrictions on funds to Planned Parenthood, the
addition of proscriptions against abortion state-by-state
and the forced closing of many abortion clinics nationwide make it more and more difficult for women to
access the safe and legal abortions laid out by Roe 40
years ago.
ever was non-compliant. Why was
that allowed? Restaurants in the
city were maintained better than
this clinic where women’s lives
were at perpetual risk and the risk
of viable babies being born was
heightened because Gosnell was
operating outside the legal guidelines.
Kermit Gosnell began his career
as a savior: he fought to help the
drug-addicted in Mantua and
opened a rehab clinic there. He was
lauded for his community activism.
When he opened the Women’s
Medical Center in 1972, abortion
was illegal in Pennsylvania and
poor women had little recourse–
New York, where it was legal, was
an expensive train ride away.
When did Gosnell changed from
being a doctor devoted to helping
the poor to an avaricious monster
who charged women between
$1,500 and $3,000 in cash for latestage abortions that were illegal and
dangerous? His clinic operated
without oversight for nearly two
decades, making the state and city
at the very least ethical co-conspirators in the damage done there.
Five weeks of lurid, grotesque
testimony has yet to explain why
Gosnell changed from a physician
caring for indigent and desperate
women into a sociopathic monster
who preyed on those same women
for money. Testimony has described cries of these newborns as
well as screams of women patients.
When I first reported on Gosnell
several years ago, the picture was
sickening: Urine and blood everywhere. Fecal matter on chairs and
gurneys. Unsterilized equipment.
Fetuses stored in a freezer with
medications. Severed feet from fetuses kept in specimen jars. Equipment was old, torn, rusted, filthy.
Women sprawled on chairs waiting
to expel their fetuses, often having
to stay for at least 24 hours without
food, water or IV fluids–dangerously unsafe.
In January 2011 I wrote here,
"The Gosnell case should be national news. That it is not underscores the lack of concern for the
lives of poor women and women of
color and their children, the victims
There are myriad tragedies related to the Gosnell case, but none
of them needed to happen.
Philadelphia District Attorney Seth
Williams, himself the son of an
unwed mother who gave him up for
adoption, was raised by his adoptive parents not far from Gosnell’s
clinic. At the time of Gosnell’s arrest Williams said his only regret
was that he could just charge Gosnell with the eight counts of murder
for which he had actual bodies.
Williams has called the Gosnell
case "crimes against black, brown
and yellow women." That more
women didn’t die is surprising,
given what went on at Gosnell’s
clinic.
The Gosnell case prompted revision of the standards–or lack of
same–for abortion clinics in
Philadelphia and elsewhere in the
state, something both abortion
rights activists and anti-choice activists agreed on.
Pundits on both sides of the abortion debate agree that Gosnell was
a monster. But Gosnell’s victims,
which included the woman who
died, women who nearly died
(many women were taken to the
hospital after complications from
these illegal procedures) and babies
born alive and killed, have largely
become ideological props in this
ghastly story.
They are so much more. They
may be yesterday’s victims, but
they represent victims-to-be as
well. Their identities as indigent,
young and of color put them at risk
for both unwanted pregnancies and
illegal abortions. Lack of access to
safe and effective birth control like
the pill, IUDs or Plan B makes
pregnancy more likely. Lack of access to legal abortion clinics for
poor women makes late-term abortions more probable. If a woman
can’t access a clinic or come up
with the funds after she discovers
she is pregnant, she can crest over
12 weeks into 20.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, teens and women between
20 and 24 comprise two-thirds of
all women seeking abortions. In addition, six out of ten women obtaining abortions already have one of
more children, like Mongar.
Women whose income is below the
federal poverty level account for
nearly half of all women obtaining
abortions. African-American teens
are four times more likely to have
an abortion than their white
peers.These statistics underscore
the importance of access to safe
clinics for the very demographic
Gosnell was serving.
Gosnell should make us all concerned, whatever our views on
abortion, because Gosnell is not the
only person doing this in America.
We have to know that. Philadelphia
is the poorest of the top-ten largest
cities in the U.S., but it is not the
only place with poor women seeking abortions. Everywhere there are
teenagers (who comprise the
largest demographic of women
seeking second trimester abortions)
and poor women, there will be a
need for safe, legal abortions.
Restrictions on funds to Planned
Parenthood, the addition of proscriptions against abortion state-bystate and the forced closing of
many abortion clinics nationwide
make it more and more difficult for
women to access the safe and legal
abortions laid out by Roe 40 years
ago.
Women with access to money
will always be able to have a safe
and legal abortion within the first
trimester. They will also be able to
have a late-stage abortion if necessary in a hospital or surgi-center
where complications are rare.
(Only one percent of abortions performed in the U.S, occur after 20
weeks.) But for poor women, the
situation is dire.
In the last month, abortions have
been radically restricted in four
states. Abortion clinics have been
closed. Mississippi–the state with
the highest rate of teen pregnancy
and infant mortality in the nation–
may close its one remaining abortion clinic.
As a result of the Gosnell case,
Pennsylvania passed a law requiring abortion clinics to be ambulatory surgical centers. Five abortion
clinics were closed immediately
after the law took effect in June
2012, but two more abortion clinics
have been closed due to unsafe
conditions in recent weeks.
Gosnell’s clinic has been called a
"house of horrors" in local media as
well as nationally. Trial testimony
details the horrors women endured
there and the ghastly reality of babies born alive and then killed. Testimony by women who suffered at
Gosnell’s hands as well as former
staff members and a woman whose
baby was born alive and then killed
has been graphic and gut-wrenching.
There was no conspiracy of silence about Gosnell. There is, howContinued on page 18
Page 8
April 25, 2013
Germantown Newspapers
Learning & Fun Things to Do ...
St. Hubert to Host a Recycling Event
St. Hubert Catholic High
School to Host a FREE Anything with a Plug™ Recycling
Event on May 11, 2013 for All
Area Residents From 9:00
a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
It’s Spring! Time to de-clutter your home of obsolete and
unwanted electronics. St. Hubert Catholic High School is
proud to sponsor a recycling
collection event on May 11,
2013 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00
p.m. on their premises at 7320
Enroll your child today!
Space is limited in Pre-K through 8th grade. Scholarships available!
Open Houses: Wednesday, May 1st 9:30-11am
and Saturday, May 4th 1:30-3:30pm
Torresdale
Avenue
in
Philadelphia. Fill up your car
and our trained staff will unload it while you stay in the
comfort of your vehicle!
This special e-waste recycling collection event is intended for items that are
typically purchased during the
year like toys, computers, laptops, televisions, cell phones,
mobile devices and much
more. “Anything with a
Plug™” will be accepted and
OPEN HOUSE
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
3:30 pm to 6 pm
Holy Cross
Catholic School
DePaul Catholic Summer Annex for K-8th grade students
One-on-One Wilson Reading Tutoring— $10/hr
Small Group Reading and Writing — $20/hr
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and ursdays from June 24 - July 26th
Space is limited. Register today!
Go to www.lcbiddle.com to register.
144 East Mt. Airy Avenue
Philadelphia PA 19119
215-242-0414
OPEN YOUR MIND!
ENTER A WORLD OF LEARNING
If you are over 50, love to learn, enjoy stimulating discussions with others who
are intellectually curious, as well as have fun, then look into the
Academics + Arts + Athletics
It’s rare to find a school that cultivates intellectual, artistic and
athletic depth equally well. The combination of the three A’s —
academics, arts, athletics — and the decision-making values of a
Quaker education creates an experience uniquely Penn Charter.
This interplay leads to strong, creative and resilient young people
ready to embrace, and even create, new opportunities.
FYUtXXXQFOODIBSUFSDPN
TOURS
Contact us for a tour of our
44-acre campus in East Falls.
OPEN HOUSE
A Friends School for Girls & Boys,
Pre-K to Grade 12
TUESDAY
April 30, 2013* | 8:30 a.m.
*grades pre-K through 8 only
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
at Temple University
Center City, Philadelphia
OPEN HOUSE
Thursday, May 16
One-hour information sessions
10:00 AM and 11:30 AM
We offer over 50 daytime courses during our summer semester covering an array
of topics such as computers, art, history, entertainment, science, philosophy,
religion, languages, and so much more. Classes are taught in a no-pressure
learning environment by people who are passionate about their subjects.
Cost is extremely affordable. Scholarships are available upon request.
For more information:
215.204.1505 or www.temple.edu/olli
1515 Market Street, 5th Floor
Just above the Suburban Train Station Stop
recycled…except large appliances, smoke detectors, and
rear-projection TVs.
All materials collected will
be recycled in an environmentally friendly manner and for
your security, ALL media data
that are collected are destroyed. This FREE service is
provided by St. Hubert
Catholic High School and all
material collected will be
processed by eForce Compliance, the first dual certified
electronic recycler in the
Delaware Valley. eForce provides a full staff of professional e-waste experts to
handle and transport all material collected, and in the
process creates sustainable
green jobs.
For more information about
eForce Compliance and the
types of materials we accept
and recycle, visit our web site
at www.eforcecompliance.co
m or give us a call at
215.964.6665.
Germantown Republican
Club to Celebrate VE Day
The Germantown Republican Club will celebrate V-E
Day, May 8, with dinner at
Chestnut 7 restaurant, 8201
Germantown Avenue, from 7
to 9 p.m.
The speaker will be Verne
Rider, former veterans liaison
to Senator Arlen Specter and
Congressman Michael Fitzpatrick. He will discuss World
War II and the men and
women who served overseas
and on the home front.
Sixty-eight years ago on
May 8, the Nazis surrendered
and World War II ended in Europe. President Harry Truman
proclaimed, "The flags of
freedom fly all over Europe."
Rider retired as a senior
master sergeant after 31 years
and five months in the regular
air force and air force reserve. He was on active duty
from 1965 to 1969. He did a
tour of duty in Thailand with
a fighter squadron where he
took care of survival equipment for pilots. After transferring to the reserves he was
loadmaster for C141 cargo
planes. He served in Desert
Storm in 1991 and 1992, and
operations in Grenada in 1983
and Panama in 1989.
For information contact germantownrepublicanclub@gm
ail.com
Germantown Newspapers
s Start Here.
C onfident Learner
Folk Factory Coffee
House presents a
concert by Magpie
On Sunday, May 5, the Folk
Factory Coffeehouse presents a
concert by Magpie, with SheWho opening. Doors open at
7:00, and the show will start at
7:30pm. Admission is by requested donation of $11 to $35
(sliding scale), half price for no
or low wage, with children under
12 admitted free. Childcare is
available with advance registration; and should be requested by
April 29 if possible by calling
(215) 848-6246. The concert is
wheelchair accessible (but the
bathrooms are not yet). The Folk
Factory coffeehouse is located at
the Unitarian Universalist
Church of the Restoration in
Mount Airy, at 6900 Stenton Avenue (the corner of Stenton Avenue and Gorgas Lane). For
advance tickets, directions, or
further information, visit HYPERLINK http://www.folkfactory.org www.folkfactory.org or
call (215) 848-6246.
Terry Leonino and Greg
Artzner, also known as Magpie,
have been performing together
for forty years.
Opening for Magpie will be
SheWho, a feminist a cappella
group that has ranged between 8
and 10 voices, founded in 2000
by Karen Escovitz (aka Otter).
The women of SheWho come
from many different backgrounds, professions, and spiritualities, and we celebrate diversity
through their intentional vocal
community.
The Folk Factory, based at the
Unitarian Universalist Church of
the Restoration in Mount Airy, is
a forum for people interested in
music of all kinds and progressive social change. Regular concerts are normally around the
second weekend of most months,
and an Open Stage/Open Circle
is held normally on the fourth
Thursday of most months. To
volunteer or for more information, visit www.folkfactory.org
or call -215-848-6246.
Free Noontime Concerts
in Center City
The University of the Arts and
music/media retailing giant
F.Y.E. have joined forces to present the University of the Arts'
graduate jazz ensembles in a
unique series of noontime concerts, free and open to the public.
"Room 610" plays on Friday,
April 26, 2013. "D' Ontace and
the Wolverines" will perform on
Wednesday, May 1, and "The
Mashed Potatoes" play on Friday, May 3. All programs take
place at 100 South Broad Street,
and run from noon to 1 p.m. Information: 215-717-6321.
Page 9
April 25 2013
Weekday Open House
Thursday, May 9th • 9-11 a.m.
Registration preferred
2025 Harts Lane, Conshohocken, PA 19428
(610) 828-1231
www.miquon.org
WHAT WILL YOUR KIDS
DISCOVER THIS SUMMER?
Summer Camp 2013
Instructional and
Recreational Swimming
G Inground Pool
G Pony Rides
G Sports, Music, Arts & Crafts
G Animal Shows
G Cookouts
G Educational Programs
G
11 FU N,
LY
KL
W EE K
TH EM ES !
2 Centers
Meadowlane Summer Camp
Ages 18 mos.-8 yrs.
616 Meetinghouse Rd., Jenkintown, PA
215-887-1222
www.meadowlanemontessori.com
PLUS: Discovery
PLUS:
Discovery Camp at
at Valley
Valley
Forge
F
orge National
National Historical
Historical Park!
Park!
Wyndmoor Summer Camp
Ages 18 mos.-14 yrs.
1400 E. Willow Grove Ave., Wyndmoor, PA
215-233-0141
www.wyndmoormontessori.org
www.fi.edu/discoverycamp
Grades Pre-K – 8 | 215.448.1200
Page 10
April 25, 2013
Germantown Newspapers
Awbury's Arbor Day: Celebrating Community, Nature, and History
Awbury’s Arbor Day Celebration seeks to celebrate the
intersection of trees, green
spaces, and communities - a
21st-century urban spin on a
141 year old tradition.
Tree-planting will occur at
Awbury’s Agricultural Village, where Awbury EducaDirector
Heather
tion
Zimmerman will be working
with the Philadelphia Or-
chard Project, Weavers Way
Community Programs, and
numerous volunteers to install fruit trees in a new Edible Forest Garden. The
Edible Forest, and Awbury's
new teaching kitchen, will
serve as a dynamic teaching
tool for learners of all ages.
A “Garden Fair”, spearheaded by Awbury neighbor
Germantown
MyPlace
(MPG), will take place at the
Francis Cope House. The
"Garden Fair" is a free day of
fun, family-friendly activities
with a focus on gardens,
growing,
and
green
MPG
provides
things.
the only permanent housing
for men with special needs in
the city of Philadelphia.
Through hosting the fair, Awbury and MPG staff, volun-
teers and board members
hope to raise awareness and
community support for both
organizations.
Yes, there will be treeplanting at Awbury’s Arbor
Day, but it’s more about the
forest than the trees. We are
growing and nurturing the
connections,
community
partnerships, and shared stories that make Awbury Ar-
boretum and the Germantown community a vital and
vibrant landscape in Northwest Philadelphia.
Saturday April 27th
10:00am - 2:00pm
Garden Fair: The Francis
Cope House, 1 Awbury
Road, Philadelphia, PA
19138
Tree Planting: Awbury's
Agricultural Village
Philadelphia &
PA Regional
Candidates Night
‡
This is a great opportunity
for you to come out and talk
with Philadelphia residents
about important issues concerning our region, as well
as, answer questions from the
audience. This is a chance for
voters to learn more about
you, and a chance for you to
express why you are running
for office.
This forum will be held as
follows:
DATE: Wednesday,
May 15, 2013
TIME: 5 p.m.
PLACE:
Joseph E. Coleman NW
Regional Library
68 W. Chelten Avenue
(at Greene Street)
Philadelphia, PA 19144
Please RSVP your interest
to participate in this forum by
contacting Rev. Chester H.
Williams - CBNC President
& Founder, before Friday,
May 3, 2013. You may email
him
at
[email protected]
m or call him at (215) 8498021.
This forum is sponsored by
the following Northwest
Philadelphia
Community
Groups:
Chew & Belfield Neighbors Club, Inc. (CBNC), Awbury Neighbors Association
& Awbury Arboretum
Telephone: (215) 849-8021
Email: jesus4620032004
@yahoo.com
chewandbelfield.webs.com
The CBNC is a 501(c)(3)
and Registered Community
Organization (RCO) Group
Chew and Belfield Neighbors Club, Inc. 501(c )(3).
Germantown Newspapers
Page 11
April 25 2013
Arts & Culture in Northwest Philadelphia
MAAG is having an Artists'
Garage Sale, and I need you to
make our event a success! This
sale is on Saturday, May 11 at the
Mt. Airy Art Garage from 10 am
to 3 pm. Right around the corner!
All proceeds will support
MAAG (with additional art supplies donated to C.W. Henry
School).
Wouldn’t you just love to do
some spring cleaning, make
space, and get rid of:
• Art supplies or materials you
just won’t be working with anymore—brushes, tubes of paint,
beads, scissors, etc. Cloth,
leather, and other craft items are
welcome as well.
• Original artwork or reproductions just “collecting dust”—
your own or other artists' work.
Framed or unframed.
• Artists' tools—screwdrivers,
hammers, pliers, etc.
• Catalogues, art books, magazines, art instruction books, etc.
• Empty frames
• Paper/sketchpads and construction paper, mat board, scraps.
It's simple! All I’d like you to do
is drop it off at MAAG, we’ll
give you a tax-write-off and do
the rest!
So, please, on Friday, May 10th,
from noon to 7 pm, drop off all
your wonderful supplies. You
didn't want/need them anyway.
MAAG would love 'em, and we
all will benefit from 'em!
Hope to see you and your "stuff"
on May 10!Want more info? Call
215.242.5074.
The Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition will conduct a Financial Advancement Network
(FAN) Club course in Germantown, covering topics such as
budgeting, credit, financial decision making, and savings strategies. Classes will be held on
Monday nights from 6-8 p.m, beginning on Monday April 22nd,
at Germantown Hope Community Church, 5029 Wayne Avenue. Participants who attend all
6 sessions will receive a Citibank
gift card. To sign up or for more
information, please call Matthew
Grewe at (215) 500-9835.
Contacting Your Guardian
Angel Workshop at St. Paul’s
Church in Chestnut Hill
Local angel channeler and wellknown angel communicator
Amy Bortner Gialuco is offering
a workshop, Contacting Your
Guardian Angel on Sunday, May
5th from 2:00 PM to 4:30 PM
at St. Pauls’s Episcopal Church(
Parish Hall) , 22 E. Chestnut Hill
Avenue . The cost is $35 for individuals. To register call Workshop Facilitator Amy Bortner
Gialuco 215-242-0185 and leave
a message.
The workshop will include background on the history of angels,
the angelic hierarchy and the role
angels play in today’s world.
Techniques will also be taught so
that workshop attendees can
learn how to contact their
guardian angel.
Bortner-Gialuco is a known authority in the field and has con-
ducted innumerable workshops
over the years and has been immersed in the study of the angel
realm since 1987. Her journey
began when she was personally
contacted by the Angel Ascordia
through automatic writing.
For further information call:
Amy Bortner Gialuco, Workshop
Facilitator at 215-242-0185 or
STUDY GUITAR WITH THE BEST!
DAVID JOEL GUITAR STUDIO
All Styles. All Levels.
Former Berklee Faculty Member
Masters Degree with
27 years experience.
215-831-8640
www.myphillyguitarlessons.com
³<HDUVRI9HWHULQDU\&DUH´
Live Music
Thursday Nights • Brian Kors 6:30-10pm
Friday Nights: Reverend Chris 6:30-10pm
8636 Germantown Ave. • 215-247-9948
PENNSYLVANIA VETERINARY SPECIALTY AND EMERGENCY ASSOCIATES
610-828-3054
EMERGENCY / CRITICAL CARE
WHEN TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!
24 Hours / 7 Days a Week
State of the Art Emergency and Critical Care Department
Veterinarian and Certified Veterinary Technicians on Staff around the Clock
Overnight Treatment and Monitoring
Emergency Surgery
Oxygen Therapy
In House Diagnostics including: Bloodwork, Ultrasound, Radiographs, CT Scan
Small Companion Animal Services
Veterinarian on the Premises 24/7
Pennsylvania Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Associates
Hickory Veterinary Hospital
2303 Hickory Road
Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462
www.hickoryvet.com
610-828-3054
Page 12
April 25, 2013
Germantown Newspapers
Children’s ArtStory Camp (art and history)
In these one-week collaborations at the end of the summer,
campers will receive art instruc-
tion at Mindy Flexer’s studio in
the morning and do hands-on
history activities at Grum-
blethorpe Historic House in the
afternoon, with a picnic lunch in
between. Common themes will
inspire artistic creation and intellectual exploration both in
the art studio and at Grum-
Intercultural Communication
CERTIFIED DOCUMENT TRANSLATION
INS Documents, Patents, Contracts, Academic Transcripts, etc
Spanish, German, French, Indonesian,
Portuguese, Russian, Haitian Creole ...
All Languages
24 Hour Fax 215-438-1958
Interpretation
Arbitrations, Workers Comp Hearings, Conventions, Business Meetings, etc.
SI Wireless Systems and Booths • Audience Response Service
Text Translation & Interpreting Services • 215-520-0031
Mailing Address: PO Box 12349, Philadelphia, PA 19119
[email protected]
blethorpe. Camp is run on a
one-room schoolhouse model
and includes baking, cooking,
textile instruction and food
preservation along with art/craft
instruction relating to colonial
times. Campers may sign up for
a whole day or for just half a
day, either morning or afternoon. Sessions run from Aug.
19 – 23 (age 6 through high
school) and Aug. 26 – 30 (age 8
– high school).
one-week sessions, weeks of
August 19 & 26, Mon. Fri, 8:30
to 4:00, $325 for full day or
$175 for half a day
Fiber Artist/
Public Art at
Maplewood Mall
On Saturday, April 27 from 2
- 6pm, Fiber artist Melissa
Maddonni Haims will lead a
knit/crochet/fiber out where
we'll deck out Maplewood
Mall. Bring needles, materials,
ready made, beautiful misfit
pieces, and it will be spectacular. Public art in Germantown.
More info on the website imperfectgallery.com. Look under
events.
A Family Tradition of Excellence
Since 1937
AL JEFFERSON
215-849-4343
BRICK &
stoNe
PoINtING
Alfred Jefferson is the number one contractor for the tri-state area. If you need
complete construction services for your home or business, then he is your go-to guy!
Jefferson is the owner of Al Jefferson Brick & Stone Pointing, a family trade since
1937. His late father, Al Jefferson, Sr., initially taught him the business and the art of
brick and stone pointing and also wood graining, which is a unique technique of
transforming any door (wood or metal) into a beautiful work of art with the appearance of a wood-grained effect that is all done by hand. You have to see it to believe
it!
Neighbors in Mt. Airy thank him for giving their neighborhood a beautiful face lift
and great curb appeal! If you ride through the streets of Mt. Airy, Germantown or
West Oak Lane, you are sure to see his famous brick and stone pointing. His signs
are seen all over Mt. Airy, Germantown, West Oak Lane and South Philadelphia.
For more information, call 215-849-4343 and get a free estimate. You will be so glad
you made the call.
• Steps
• Patios
• Ext. & Int. Painting
• Concrete Walks
Also Custom Door Graining
• Rough Cast Cellar Walls
• Glass Block Windows
Germantown Newspapers
Page 13
April 25 2013
Ned Wolf Park Plant Sale
When: Saturday, May 11th from 10 am to 1 pm
Heavy rain date: Sunday, May 12th
Where: McCallum & W. Ellet Streets, West Mt.
Airy, 19119
What: Perennials for sun/shade, shrubs, trees,
annuals & houseplants
Who: Friends of Ned Wolf Park
Why: Funds raised support maintenance and improvements at NWP
The Friends of Ned Wolf Park will host their annual Plant Sale - Saturday, May 11, from 10 a.m.
to 1 p.m. The heavy rain date is May 12. Yes, this
is indeed a great opportunity to buy garden plants
at excellent prices. Simultaneously, you can support this Mt. Airy community park with its handsome gardens located at the corner of W. Ellet and
McCallum Streets. Cherished among local garden
lovers as a garden community builder, this annual
sale brings neighbors together to share their knowledge and insights along with the plants that thrive
locally. Novices are surely welcomed.
Thanks to the efforts of many of your neighbors
in Mt. Airy and a few in Chestnut Hill, the Friends
of Ned Wolf Park are gathering a great collection
of plants for your shady and sunny garden beds.
There will be perennials, shrubs, annuals, & some
houseplants – many versatile classics along with
some rare and special plants that may not be familiar. Also available for sale will be some of the unusual plants which grow handsomely in Ned Wolf
Park.
Proceeds from the sale will support ongoing garden maintenance and raise funds for the Terrace
Wall Project. Phase I, Stair replacement, was completed in April. Phase II will replace old creosoted
landscape ties with local stone to form a seating
height retaining wall to support additional activities
in the park.
Whether or not you’ve participated or even visited the park in the past, attending the Ned Wolf
Park Plant Sale is sure to excite and inspire you to
make your own garden more beautiful than ever
this year.
For info, visit nedwolfpark.blogspot.com.
To donate plants or your time for the Plant Sale,
contact Eric at [email protected].
Rent
Prom &
Wedding Special
$30 to $95
Groom FREE
with
Party of Five
Buy
Black Tux
$185
Wing Collar
Shirts
$35
Bow Ties
$8
Designers
April is
National Poetry Month.
A 15% Discount will be honored for the
month of April.
Page 14
April 25, 2013
Business Services Directory
Handyman Services & Remodeling
Bathroom Specialist – plumbing, tile and designing
Carpentry Electrical Plumbing Tile Masonry
Help in solving problems in your home
“Fair – Honest – Trusted” Over 25 years of experience
Call Garry at 267-225-0050
Insured for your protection License # PA099113
Low or no down deposits for most projects
ELECTRICIAN
SMALL AD
SMALL PRICES
WE Do IT ALL!
215-925-0606
Senior Citizen DiSCountS
MARIo BRoS.
LiCenSeD & inSureD #G00848
Free Furnace with purchase of
Central Air Conditioner
Emergency
Service
Available
Ask about our
other services:
Heating, Electrical
&
Plumbing
Special
Offer
*XDUDQWHHV$OO:RUN
/LFHQVHG$WWRUQH\*HQHUDO5HJLVWHUHGDQG,QVXUHG
BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB
+RW:DWHU+HDWHU²%RLOHUV²)XUQDFHV
0,1,63/,76<67(06
2LOWR*DVFRQYHUVLRQ²3*:5HEDWH
7D[&UHGLWV$YDLODEOH²3*:3(&25HEDWHV
)LQDQFLQJ$YDLODEOH²6HQLRU&LWL]HQV'LVFRXQW
BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB
&200(5&,$/522)7236
'HOLYHUHGYLD&UDLQ
Central Air Conditioning Systems
Starting at $3250.00
FREE ESTIMATES
ORTIZ HVAC
215-970-4586
Germantown Newspapers
Election of New Members of the Germantown
Special Services District Board of Directors
by Pamela Bracey
On Wednesday, April 17th, a
meeting was held at State Representative Stephen Kinsey's (201st Legislative District) office to elect new
members of the GSSD Board of Directors. There were approximately
twenty persons present with representatives from the Commerce Department, Councilwoman Cindy
Bass' office, State Representative
Rosita C. Youngblood's office, business and property owners from the
GSSD area and interested community persons. State Law and the ByLaws require this election.
Steve Kuzmicki was designated
as pro-tem Chair and Delphyne
Dukes was designated as pro-tem
Secretary. Also, present were
Stephen Vaughn and Larry Simmons to vote on the Resolutions.
Steve Kuzmicki introduced Councilwoman Bass who later chaired the
meeting. What is the GSSD Board
you may ask? The Special Services
District (GSSD) is a locally directed
municipal authority, which has been
established to supplement services
already provided by the City of
Philadelphia. The goal of the GSSD
is to create a clean, inviting, safe and
well-managed district in the Central
Germantown area, so the area can
successfully compete as an environment in which to work, visit and
shop. The specific focus of the
GSSD will be upon services and activities that improve the cleanliness
and physical condition of the district
and improve public safety. The
GSSD will work cooperatively with
other community partners to revitalize the Germantown and Chelten
business corridor. The boundaries of
the Germantown Special Services
District under the draft plan would
focus on commercial properties
fronting on Germantown Avenue
between Coulter and High streets,
Chelten between Baynton and Morris, along with Maplewood Mall,
Market Square and sections of
Greene Street and Wayne, Pulaski
and Maplewood avenues.
Councilwoman Bass thanked the
old Board members for their hard
work and said she will try to find
places for them to work. The Steering Committee will consist of Business and Property owners. The
emphasis for selection to the Board
was an attempt to get individuals to
represent Germantown's diversity
along with property owners with the
skills and qualifications needed for
the tasks ahead. The Councilwoman
emphasized this will be a working
Board which has lots of hard work
ahead.
There was a period of Public comment when Allison Weiss, coordinator of the Wayne Ave Merchants
Association (WAM) and member of
SoLo Germantown Civic Association (Southwest Central Lower Germantown) asked if it was
appropriate to say she would like to
see the boundaries extended from
Germantown Ave/ Wayne Junction
to Johnson St. She was informed
this was time for Public Comment
and not appropriate. A gentleman
said Vernon Park is our only open
space in the Central Business District. He said Center-in-the Park has
shown an interest in Vernon House
(now vacant) but CIP is not sure it
will address their needs.
Councilwoman Bass informed
those present that a GSSD New
Member Board Bill along with the
Budget would have to be introduced
into City Council for approval for a
period of five years. There will be a
Public Meeting here in Germantown
later this year. The Bill would be expected to be passed by City Council
in late September 2013.
The Germantown Special Services District proposes to fund services by an assessment on taxable
properties within the District. Individual assessments will be derived
my multiplying the total estimated
costs of the project by a ratio of the
current year assessed value of the individual property to the total current
year assessed value of all taxable
properties with the boundaries subject to the GSSD assessment. District assessments will be calculated
annually using the most recent certified values as provided by the
Philadelphia Office of Property Assessments (OPA) without reduction
for any tax abatement on account of
improvements granted by the City of
Philadelphia, homestead exemptions
or exemptions for Keystone Opportunity Zones or the like. When this
formula is applied, the resulting
GSSD assessment in Year One
equals 12% of 2013 Real Estate
taxes for properties not subject to
Real Estate Tax abatements.
Properties that are exempt from
the payment of Real Estate taxes
will not be assessed, but the GSSD
will encourage tax-exempt property
owners that receive and benefit from
GSSD services to provide in-kind or
financial contributions to the GSSD.
An initial draft budget proposal
anticipated billing $178,176 in assessments, and expenses including
$78,913 for cleaning and maintenance, $50,000 for salary and benefits to a yet-to-be-hired district
manager, and nearly $3,000 for
communications and marketing.
The Board of Directors consisting
of property owners, business owners
and residents of Central Germantown governs the District. The
Board will select the officers and
staff of the Germantown Special
Services District.
The Germantown Special Services District will have a part time
District Manager who will report to
the chairperson of the Board of Directors. The District Manager will be
responsible for overseeing the programs outlined in the proposed plan,
and for ongoing communication
with merchants and property owners
regarding GSSD services and activities. In addition, the District Manager will be responsible for the
collection of assessments, the payment of bills and the maintenance of
office records and other duties as determined by the Board of Directors.
There were five Resolutions that
had to be approved by the Board.
Resolution Number One was to
change the corporate address of the
GSSD to 35 W. Chelten Avenue,
Philadelphia, PA 19144. Resolution
Number Two was to designate Steve
Kuzmicki as Pro-Tem Chair and
Delphyne Dukes as Pro-Tem Secretary. Steve Kuzmicki informed the
group that in 2005 he was on the
GSSD Board but he has not been involved since. Today he was here at
the request of City officials and
Councilwoman Bass. Resolution
number three is the acceptance of
board resignations from Marilyn
Tadlock, Tracy Beers, David Alexzcyk, Brenda Stovall, Robert Emberger, Leroi Simmons, Donna Reed
Miller and Anita Hamilton. Resolution number four is the nominating
of new board members and when
Continued on page 15
Welcome to Germantown City Hall Project
Welcome to gtowncity hall.net,
the future Internet home of Germantown City Hall, a joint project
of Jacob Wick,Information Department, and the Think Tank that
has yet to be named. This website
will launch the week of May 20,
2013. In the meantime, please visit
our festival page, where you can
watch a video about the project
and help us gather materials,
funds, and volunteers.
Germantown City Hall will see
the temporary opening of the neglected Germantown Town Hall
building, in the Philadelphia
neighborhood of Germantown, as
an actual space for civic engagement and debate, with a
meeting/performance space, reading room/lending library, and office/copy center. These spaces will
be available, free of charge, to all
residents of Germantown.
To get involved, or find out
more,
please
contact
[email protected] or call us
at
575-446-3676.Germantown
City Hall will be open from 11am
- 7pm, Thursday - Sunday, from
May 23rd to June 30th.
Germantown City Hall was
commissioned by Hidden City
Philadelphia for the 2013 Hidden
City Festival with the generous
support of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
http://www.gtowncityhall.net/gt
ownsplash.html
Germantown Newspapers
Business Services
Directory
Local chef, food writer, and longtime organic gardener Anna Herman of Mt. Airy, spoke at Valley Green
Inn on April 17. This presentation was
part of Friends of the Wissahickon's
(FOW) popular lecture series Valley
Talks, sponsored by Valley Green
Bank. Herman discussed the principles of organic gardening and other
sustainable gardening practices and
answer questions. Shown here are
Jay Goldstein, Chief Executive Officer
of Valley Green Bank, Anna Herman,
and FOW Executive Director Maura
McCarthy. For more on FOW's upcoming events this spring, visit
ww.fow.org.
Roofing
30 Years in the
Business
Fattah Chief of Staff and Germantown Newspapers
Continued from page 6
On the subject of Emanuel
Freeman, close friend of Chaka
Fattah (He announced federal
programs from his offices), former Councilwoman Donna Reed
Miller and a host of elected and
appointed officials, he is now
hiding in Delaware as his bankruptcy proceedings based on falsified documents wind their way
through the Federal Bankruptcy
Court in Center City.
Ron Goldwyn takes me to task
(see page 6) for my analysis of the
funding that Chaka Fattah takes
credit for sending to the University
of Pennsylvania, but never really
outlines my so-called misstatements of fact. I stand by my statement that Penn received funding
from September of 2011 through
August 2012 of more than $54
million, which is the equivalent of
more than $1 million a week that
Fattah took credit for.
GSSD Election
of Board
Continued from page 14
their term end: Barbara Hogue, Cornelia Swinson, Dr. Francine Fulton
term ending January 1, 2014; Greg
Piel, Ingrid Shepard, John
Churchville term ending January 1,
2015; Jong Lee, Joseph Corrigan,
Joseph Martin term ending January
1, 2016; Joseph Waldo, Linda
Samuel, Matt Canno term ending
January 1, 2017 and Mjenzi Taylor,
Rob Wheeler, Rosita Youngblood
term ending January 1, 2018. Resolutions number five dissolving the
current board. The existing board of
GSSD will resign effective upon the
appointment of any person as a new
member of the board of GSSD.
Votes were taken as the resolutions were read but Delphyne Dukes
said a second vote on the Resolutions should be taken because
Roberts Rule of Order were not followed regarding voting. A second
vote was taken on each Resolution.
As there was no other business on
the agenda a call for Adjournment
was made and seconded.
Changes can and will occur in our
neighborhoods when we work together and be involved in the
process. Do you want change? Get
involved.
Page 15
April 25 2013
These statistics are from Fattah’s own press reports and are in
addition to many millions to
Drexel, Temple and others on a
regular basis. Using federal
money for qualified research is
notable, but where are the priorities when Penn is one of the most
wealthy universities in the nation,
has the highest paid Dean in Amy
Guttmann, and raises more private money than any other while
the communities that surround it
on all sides are by federal designation those with the largest level
of deep poverty in the nation.
Where are Congressman Fattah’s
values when virtually no economic seed money has restarted
the crumbling industrial base in
North, West and Southwest Philly
while he smiles and takes credit
for hundreds and hundreds of
millions to the elite? I guess he is
just too busy with his hectic golf
schedule on the Washington
courses and the cocktail parties at
Penn to notice the economic and
social failure in the rest of his district; a district where crime and
recidivism statics are among the
highest in the nation, and high
school graduation rates are at
50%.
Mr. Goldwyn closes admonishing folks to refrain from reading my newspapers. Believe me,
this is not the first attempt by a
politically connected individual
to restrict the ability of our paper
to reach the readers. We will
continue to print and distribute to
the Northwest, print our online
versions, and welcome any comment to what we print. In addition, I am now a frequent guest
on WURD talk Radio, 900 AM
covering these same subjects.
Maybe the next step will be to
have their FCC license revoked.
Nothing like a one-party government with a Pravda-like approach to public information.
Jim Foster, Editor
Germantown Newspapers
Independent Candidate for
U.S. Congress
Pa-2 in 2012
As Low as
$495.00
All Types
Flat Roof
Shingles
ELECTRICIAN
SMALL AD
SMALL PRICES
WE Do IT ALL!
215-925-0606
Senior Citizen
DiSCountS
MARIo BRoS.
LiCenSeD & inSureD #G00848
ELECTRICIAN
LOWEST PRICES IN THE CITY
• 100 A Horsepower
$75 & up
• Exhaust Fans
$25 & up
• Outlets
215-475-0413
Immediate
Service
BERNIE
The Small Job
Specialist
• Painting
• Cement
• Electric
• Roofing
• Plastering
• Wallpaper
Reasonable Prices
(215) 748-6497
Lic. #G-68410
$8 & up
• Washer & Dryer Lines $12 & up
• Air Cond. Lines
$6 & up
Prices for Repairs Only
MILT
(License #001804)
IMMEDIATE SERVICE
FHA & VA CERTIFIED
215-475-0413
Owner Visits Every Job
Page 16
April 25, 2013
Business Services
Directory
Philadelphia Gas Heating
& Air Conditioning
Heater
Sale
$1195
Air Conditioning
SALES
heater
checkup
$80.00
Starting at
$1695
Call Now 215.456.1300
FAST EMERGENCY SERVICE
6
(
1
,
25
3
2/
,
&
(
)
,
5
(
'
,
6
&
28
1
7
6
$
$
1
'
,
1
6
8
5
(
'
3
AFFORDABLE ELECTRIC
“WE DO IT ALL”
RESIDENTIAL • COMMERCIAL
FAST EMERGENCY SERVICE
• Breakers
• Lighting
• Fuse Repair • Ceiling Fans
• Dryer Lines
We
Finance All
Credit!
• 100 Amp
• Outlets
• Doorbell Repairs • Switches
CALL: 215-927-1100
B.B.B. • AArP • Senior • CHurCH • CitY & union DiSCountS
We BeAt ALL eStiMAteS BY 10% • CALL uS noW!
LiCenSeD & inSureD PA#0A068325 • PHiLA MASter eLeCtriCiAn LiC. #17027
Check Us out online at
WWW.AFFoRDABLELECTRIC.CoM
Financing Available • Free Estimates • Fully Insured
Roofing Sale
All Types of Roofing
Siding • Windows
Emergency Repairs
Ask About Our
15 Year Guarantee
Family Owned and Operated
for Over 46 Years
215.332.6600
Free Estimates
Senior
Discount
With Coupon
New Roof
Up to 400 Sq. Ft.
as low as
$490
Hot Coats
as low as
$57
Fully Insured
JOsePh’s AffOrdAble
PlumbiNG & heAtiNG
• 24 Hour Service / 7 Days a Week
• City Violations Corrected
• Hot Water heaters Replaced
• Drain Cleaning Specialist
• New Gas & Oil Heaters Installed
• Certifications
Registered 3rd Generation #3922
Office: 215-673-7700
cell: 267-984-3088
Germantown Newspapers
Veterans’ Views with Daniel Mandel
The Doolittle Raid
Today marks the 71st anniversary of The Doolittle Raid, possibly the most daring operation in
all of U.S. military history.
Desperate to counter-attack
Japan and send shock waves
through that country, the U.S.
launched 16 B-25 Mitchell
bombers from the deck of the carrier Hornet in the Pacific Ocean
on the morning of April 18, 1942.
The raid, carried out by 80 airman
led by America’s already famous
pioneer aviator, LieutenantColonel James H. Doolittle
(1896-1993) flying16 specially
modified B-25 Mitchell bombers,
did much to dissipate the darkness and foreboding overhanging
the Pacific war. And it was carried out by crew flying planes
they knew lacked the fuel to return and who would thus have to
land and seek safety in war-torn
China.
In the four and half months
since the surprise attack upon
U.S. naval and air installations at
Pearl Harbor by the Imperial
Japanese Navy’s Vice-Admiral
Chuichi Nagumo’s aircraft carriers, Japan had enjoyed one success after another: the seizure of
Guam; the surrender of Hong
Kong and later Singapore; the destruction from the air of the
British battleship Prince of Wales
and the battle-cruiser Repulse; the
further destruction of the British
aircraft carrier Hermes and the
cruisers Dorsetshire and Cornwall off Ceylon; the invasion of a
brace of Pacific islands, including
the Philippines and New Guinea,
the bombing of Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory and so
on. Imperial Japan had appeared
unstoppable. The Doolittle Raid
permitted a different inference.
In a day, the notion that Japan
was invulnerable to attack because of its sudden, far-flung conquests and the long arm of its
navy was dissolved. The U.S.
Navy had demonstrated that it
could penetrate to within range of
metropolitan Japan and launch a
squadron of medium bombers
upon the imperial capital itself.
The American public were
heartened. With the war in the Pacific still raging, MGM produced
a faithful, patriotic but non-sensationalized cinematic account of
the exploit, based on Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo by the pilot of
the seventh B-25 launched, Lieutenant Ted W. Lawson, with
Spencer Tracy playing Doolittle
and Van Johnson playing Lawson.
The raid itself was unusual in
concept: launching medium
bombers off an aircraft carrier
never designed to carry them was
considered a technical impossi-
bility: carriers could only accommodate smaller fighters, divebombers and torpedo bombers of
no use to the task envisaged.
Modifications in aircraft design,
weight and method of take off
had to be effected before the operation was pronounced feasible.
The B-25s were to have been
launched about 480 miles west of
Japan to carry out the raid before
flying on to friendly territory in
China but, on the appointed date,
the Hornet was sighted by a
Japanese patrol boat still 650
miles out, necessitating an early
launch of the bombers. Though
none of the pilots, including
Doolittle, had ever flown a B-25
off a carrier, all sixteen launched
safely. All but one found their targets, all but one evaded hits from
anti-aircraft fire and all but one
flew on as planned to China. The
sole exception was the B-25 piloted by Captain Edward J. York
which, low on fuel, headed for
ostensibly friendly Soviet territory, where he and his crew were
interned for over a year before escaping.
Operating at such extreme
range, none of the planes were
able to reach friendly airfields
and all crews were forced to parachute. Doolittle himself came
down in a rice paddy, preserving
an already injured ankle from further injury. Lawson fared less
well, crash-landing at Nantien
and lacerating his left leg, which
later required amputation. Others
fared even less well: eight crew
members from the sixth and sixteen planes were captured by
Japanese forces. Three were executed by firing squad and the remaining five imprisoned, one of
them, Robert J. Meder, dying in
captivity. Today, one of the four
survivors, Robert E. Hite, is
among the four living veterans of
the Raid to celebrate its 71st anniversary today, as is Doolittle’s
own co-pilot, Colonel Richard E.
Cole.
Derided by Japanese propaganda as the ‘Do-nothing Raid’ –
the bombers carried only 2000
pounds of bombs each and, as
was to be expected, inflicted only
limited damage on selected targets – Doolittle Raid actually had
far-reaching
consequences.
Though he publicly uttered his
thoughts more than once on the
Raid, Doolittle was to write in
depth about it in his memoirs
only very late in life, so I felt a
certain frisson when, still in high
school, I wrote to him and received a reply which included
this assessment of the importance
of the raid:
The morale effect of the first
raid on Tokyo was much
greater than the destruction
caused. It gave the American
public the first good news
they had received and therefore had an important
morale effect for us. It caused
the Japanese to question
their war lords who a assured the people that the
homeland would never be attacked, so it had a bad
morale effect on the Japanese.
Indeed, Japan withdrew its carrier force from the Indian Ocean
to protect the home islands and
the commander of the Japanese
Imperial Navy, Admiral Isoroku
Yamamoto, felt impelled to take
the fateful decision to attempt the
elimination of America’s carrier
forces (providentially preserved
from destruction by their absence
on the day from Pearl Harbor) by
seizing the strategic atoll at Midway and luring them into combat.
A mere six weeks later, four of
Nagumo’s carriers (and, no less
important, their irreplaceable pilots and technicians) were ablaze
off Midway and the Imperial
Japanese Navy never recovered.
The Doolittle Raid rightly entered the annals and became a byword for American initiative and
daring. In his farewell address to
the nation in January 1989, President Ronald Reagan recalled it
with these words: “We've got to
teach history based not on what’s
in fashion but what’s important:
Why the pilgrims came here, who
Jimmy Doolittle was, and what
those 30 seconds over Tokyo
meant.” It meant courage and a
sense of patriotic duty of the
highest order in a dark hour,
something not lost by any means
today in the U.S. armed forces
but, sadly, less celebrated in the
popular imagination.
Today’s public celebration, part
of a commemorative week held at
Fort Walton Beach, Florida, not
far from Eglin Field where the
Doolittle Raiders trained in secrecy for the mission, will not be
repeated. The four surviving
Raiders have decided that there
are too few of them for the public
reunions to continue.
Thus, the original plan – that
the last two Raiders alive reunite
and open the bottle of 1896 Hennessy Very Special Cognac, a gift
from Doolittle, that has been
awaiting them these past many
years – has been shelved. Instead,
today's four intend to reunite privately later this year and take that
last drink together in the presence
of the 76 upturned goblets, each
engraved with the name of a deceased Raider. This, if we are
lucky, is how heroes leave us.
Daniel Mandel
Germantown Newspapers
Page 17
April 25 2013
State Crossword: Says Who?
ACROSS
1. The final frontier?
6. It’s between generations
9. Seconds, as in food
13. Man-made stone pile
14. A try
15. Locomotive hair
16. Assistants
17. Big Island necklace
18. Twig of a willow tree
19. *”Oh, the places you’ll go!”
21. *”A house divided against itself
cannot stand.”
23. Pod dweller
24. Continental currency
25. Male child
28. Bohemian, e.g.
30. Knapsack for a soldier
35. Extraterrestrials’ rides
37. Show horse type
39. “Downton Abbey,” e.g.
40. Capital of Latvia
41. Interior designer’s focus
43. Newton, e.g.
44. *”Life was a funny thing that happened to me on the way to the
grave.”
46. Sign of a saint
47. U2 guitarist
48. TV variety show classic
50. Shining armor
52. Morse code signal
69. Colorado skiing destination
70. American chant
71. Viking, in the kitchen
72. Regard
73. Even, to a poet
74. Klondike river
53. A car usually has one to spare
55. Type of dance
57. Don’t dwell on it
61. *”And yet it moves”
65. Muse of love poetry
66. Bubble source?
68. Eye opener
25. *”You rang?”
26. FlambÈ
27. Motherless calf in a herd
29. Equal to side squared for a
square
31. T on some tests
32. Wedding _____, pl.
A Call to Support Police and Fire Dept. Members
People in the Northwest
Community would like to thank
our Philadelphia Police Officers
for their dedication and great
outstanding service and the job
performed in keeping us safe in
our community.
We don’t have to wait until
something happens. Let’s do
something on this day to show
our appreciation.
There will be a Town Hall
Meeting and Chat on May 21
from 6 to 8 p.m. at 43 W.
Haines Street (the 14th Police
District).
All are invited and welcome
at this event.
In addition, the community
would like to thank our
Philadelphia Fire fighters from
Engine 9, Ladder 21 and Medical unit 10 for their dedication
and great outstanding service to
our community. Agai, we need
not wait for something to happen. Let’s do it this way and
show our appreciation.
People are invited to gather at
Germantown and Carpenter
Lane in front of the Fire House
on May 25 (Saturday) at 10 a.m.
to show their support for the fire
fighters.
Ms. Scott
Philadelphia
Germantown Restoration
Announces Election Results
G’Town
Restoration
CDC/NAC congratulates the
following people on winning
election to the G’Town Restoration CDC/NAC Neighborhood
Advisory Subcommittee; Aine
Doley, Kimberly Brown, Robert
Perry, Gary Miller, Andre
Alexander, Mitchell Corinaldi,
Andrew Lofton, Dimonique
Robinson and Markeith Jordan.
The G’Town Restoration
CDC/NAC Neighborhood Advisory Sub-committee (NAS)
sits in an advisory capacity to
the G-Town Restoration CDC
Board of Directors on all program activities relating to the
implementation of the G’Town
NAC Program and OHCD contract.
The NAS shares responsibility for guiding the community
toward continuous improvement. There is no funding allocated to the NAS. Service on
the NAS is voluntary.
During the next few months
the NAS will select a chair or
co-chair, determine whether to
establish by-laws and identifying committees. Bylaws are not
required, as the NAS is a subcommittee under the jurisdiction of the G’Town Restoration
CDC/NAC Board of Directors.
Operating Procedures for the
NAS will be developed and
adopted by the G’Town
Restoration Board of Directors,
with input from NAS members.
The NAS members will also
receive training in the following; structure purpose and role,
community and parent involvement, needs assessments and
planning, local demographic
data development, and communicating the NAC program to
community shareholders.
Again, congratulations to our
neighbors, and we look forward
to working with them as we
move forward.
DOWN
1. A large number or amount
2. Batman and Robin, e.g.
3. Gives a hand
4. Do like ivy
5. Comes next
6. “Buffalo ____, won’t you come out
tonight...”
7. To go gray?
8. WWI French soldier
9. Catchall abbr.
10. Assortment
11. Cambodian money
12. “____ your keep”
15. Cone shape
20. Tossed starter
22. Rub the wrong way
24. One moved from a dangerous
place
33. Spanish friend
34. *”Be nice to nerds. Chances are
you’ll end up working for one.”
36. Around a window
38. *”I wanted to win, even in practice.”
42. Indian restaurant yogurt staple
45. *”America loves a winner and will
not tolerate a loser.”
49. Head cover
51. Pay or earnings
54. Scoundrel
56. Pilaff, to some
57. Old paint hazard
58. Gaelic
59. VHS, e.g.
60. A distinct part
61. F.B.I. operative
62. Long and thin
63. “Cogito ___ sum”
64. A sign
67. Consume
Answer on page 15
5th ANNUAL FLEA MARKET
&
FUND RAISER
SPONSORED
BY
THE
SPONSORED B
YT
HE
JEWELS OF ISLAM
TO B
TO
BENEFIT
ENEFIT PROGRAM
PROGRAM
SATURDAY,
S
ATURDAY, MAY
MAY 4
4,, 2
2013
013
8:00AM
5:00PM
8
:0 0 A M – 5
:0 0 P M
MASJIDULLAH,
M
ASJIDULLAH, INC.
IN C .
7700
7
700 O
OGONTZ
G O N TZ A
AVENUE
V EN U E
P
H IL A D E L P H IA , P
A. 1
9150
PHILADELPHIA,
PA.
19150
VENDOR SPACE
SPACE $
2 0 .0 0
VENDOR
$20.00
SPACE A
ND T
ABLE $ 25.00
2 5 .0 0
SPACE
AND
TABLE
PAYM ENT D
UE B
YA
P R IL 3
0, 2013 NO
NO R
EFUNDS
PAYMENT
DUE
BY
APRIL
30,
REFUNDS
N
OF
OOD W
IL L B
E SOLD
SOLD B
YV
ENDORS
NO
FOOD
WILL
BE
BY
VENDORS
F
OOD A
ND B
EVERAGES W
IL L B
ES
OLD B
Y
FOOD
AND
BEVERAGES
WILL
BE
SOLD
BY
M
ASJIDULLAH, INC.
IN C .
MASJIDULLAH,
FOOD
FO O D S
SALES
A LES W
WILL
ILL BEGIN
B E G IN A
AT
T1
12:00NOON
2 :0 0 N O O N
RAIN DATE
DATE MAY
MAY 5,
5, 2013
RAIN
FOR M
ORE INFORMATION
IN F O R M A T IO N C
ONTACT
FOR
MORE
CONTACT
SISTER LATIFAH
L A T IF A H E
LAHI ((215)
215) 276-8538
276-8538
SISTER
ELAHI
Page 18
April 25, 2013
Gosnell Case Raises Questions
Continued from page 7
ever, a conspiracy of silence about his many victims.
Abortion may be legal in the U.S., but it is increasingly
unavailable to young women and poor women. For
these women, their only recourse is glorified backalley abortionists like Gosnell whose avarice allows
them to prey on the most vulnerable, with no concern
for women’s lives. Roe v. Wade was written in such a
way as to protect both the woman under all circumstances and a viable baby under extreme circumstances. Clinics like Gosnell’s ignore the law and put
lives at risk.
Women should not have to risk their lives or their
future ability to have children because the national political debate over abortion has influenced local law
enforcement. Gosnell’s clinic should have been regulated and inspected. Because it wasn’t–regardless of
the reason–at least five human beings are dead and
likely more. In addition, hundreds of women have been
injured and traumatized.
States have a responsibility to all women to both uphold the law and see that those performing abortions
are following the letter of that law–which includes running a safe and clean clinic replete with the basic tools
to save a life, if necessary.
What happened to women at Gosnell’s clinic was a
crime. What Gosnell is alleged to have done makes
him not a doctor performing abortions, but a serial
murderer using his medical license as a weapon to reap
financial gain. But if restrictions on access to contraception, Plan B and first-trimester abortions continues,
more scenarios like the Gosnell clinic can be expected.
And women will remain at risk and likely die.
Follow me on Twitter @VABVOX
Germantown Newspapers
Classified Advertising
Go Green
Real Estate
William Kitsch HVAC
700 W. Walnut Lane
Large 1br, 1bth,
w/w carpets, updated windows
laundry on site, close to park, off street
parking
$750/mth+g/e
M.E. INC
www.elfantre.com
215-844-1200
Straight Forward Solutions
for Energy Efficiency
Call Bill
215-673-2800 (c)
Real Estate
Furnished Rooms
Clean & quiet, no drugs
private entrance
Call 267-988-5890
Rooms Available for Rent
Utilities included, $400 Monthly
(shared kitchen )
Available Now!!!!
215-520-7752
One Bedroom Apartment
Basement Level
Full Bathroom, Walk-in Closet
Nice Backyard
$575/month
Call: 267-226-0918
Nice Town Area
Rooms for Rent
$350-$400 / Monthly
Access to Kitchen, Recently Renovated ! 215-390-0104
Help Wanted
Mt Airy Day
Saturday May 4
11 am to 5 pm
(Raindate: Sunday, May 5)
6400 Block Germantown Ave
(at Cliveden of the Nationatl Trust) Presented by East and West Mt Airy Neighbors
Entertainment Food Childrens Games Pony Rides Zoo on Wheels Vendors Face Painting Moon Bounce
Special thanks to our Sponsors
Cliveden of the National Trust
Philadelphia Federal Credit Union
Electrical Wizardry
Chestnut Hill Hospital
Mt Airy Animal Hospital
The Miquon School
Valley Green Bank
Metro PCS
Edward Jones Investments
Bowman Properties
Weavers Way Co-op
There is still time to volunteer and service hours are available
for students that still need them.
Information: [email protected] • call 215.287.7056
Visit our website – mtairyday.org
Reliance Home Care, located in Ardmore Pa. is seeking experienced
C.N.A.’s to join our team. We are
seeking individuals who are looking
for hourly positions as well as live-in
positions, which are highly desired.
Individuals who are drivers with their
own vehicles are also highly desired.
Must have clean criminal background. Please call Heather Jennings
for information on positions available
at 610-896-6030
Auction
Ming Self Storage will be holding a public
auction to satisfy an owner’s lien by competitive bidding on April 26 2013 @11 am
on the following units:
A115 Annette Jordan
A057 Shana Simon
B2072 Kelly Reeves
B2117 Nakisha Clark
A082 Clifton Echols
A031 Michele Kumarroy
A047 William Tanner
A076 Edgar Shaw
Payments must be made in cash.
We reserve the right to refuse any and
all bids.
4663 Stenton Avenue Philadelphia, PA
19144 215-848-0719 Office.
Want to Buy
I BUY HOUSES; I PAY CASH
Any Condition
Private, Professional,
Personal Services.
Call Brennan Properties
215-990-4137
One Bedroom Apartment
Basement Level
Full Bathroom, Walk-in Closet
Nice Backyard
$575/month
Call: 267-226-0918
262 E Cliveden
Open 1br, 1bth,
w/w carpets, very sunny
laundry on site, off street parking
gas included!
$675.00/mth+elec
M.E. INC
www.elfantre.com
215-844-1200
Garden Style
Apartment Complex
in Mt. Airy. Nice 1 & 2 Bedrooms
Utilities included except for electric.
Leave message for
Court Rentals.
215-842-2500
Antiques
OLD FURNITURE & ANTIQUES
(Also: paintings, crafts, coins, gold,
oriental rugs, dolls, pottery,
clocks & jewelry)
We Buy The Unusual!
Call Tyler’s at
215-920-7310 (cell) or
215-844-9272 (store)
Help Wanted
Stylist Wanted W/ book 65/35 split
(5833 Rising Sun Ave)
We are currently looking for stylist /w
books. We are looking for experienced,
motivated professionals who understand
the concept of teamwork.
If interested, please contact
Nikki at 215-941-2260
for more information.
Best time to Contact Wednesday afternoon - Sunday evening.
Texts are okay, too.
Hair Stylist & Barber needed,
must be licensed!
Call for Interview.
Germantown location.
215 -778-9219
Self Improvement
Lose inches, results in 45 minutes.
Do it yourself with Body Wrap.
Tighten... Tone and Firm ...
Reduce Cellulite.
Purchase kit or become a distributor.
All natural product.
Contact Cindy
215-906-8040
http://inchbyinchwraps.myitworks.com
[email protected]
CHAMPAGNE'S RESTAURANT
Needs Experienced Cooks Only.
Apply in person after 4:00 p.m.
21 E. Chelten Avenue
215-849-7366
Germantown Newspapers
Germantown Newspapers
Mission Statement
Germantown Newspapers, Inc. is proud to be
part of - and to partner
with - the diverse residents
and neighborhoods of
Northwest Philadelphia.
A free and independent
press is vital to the wellbeing of these communities; we will report the
news
of
Northwest
Philadelphia accurately,
fairly, and comprehensively, and serve as a
voice for all residents of
the area. We are beholden
to no special interest and
have no partisan agenda.
All viewpoints will be
welcome in our newspapers, both printed and online. Northwest residents
are invited to send announcements,
letters,
news to [email protected].
April 25 2013
Page 19
Things are tight and beauty costs.....
e National Caucus and Center on Black Aging, Inc.
but the results are magical...
NCBA /SCSEP IS LOOKING FOR SECURITY GUARDS
Exclusive’s 1st and Every Time!
touch-up ..............................$45.00
full weave (sew in) ...$100.00 & up
cap weave.............................$65.00
shampoo&curl.....................$23.00
shampoo wrap &curl..........$28.00
shampoo mold &curl..........$40.00
shampoo cut&curl ..............$45.00
Exclusive Hair Designers
7050 N.Broad St.
Philadelphia Pa.19126
Walk-ins are welcome!
With this ad only!
215-549-4957
Saturday, May 11 • 11 a.m.
Chestnut Grill, 8229Germantown Avenue
Call 800-433-5466 to register
Complimentary lunch provided
Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP)
Requirements
• Age Requirement 55 and older
• High School Diploma or Equivalent
• Previous Security Guard Experience A Plus
• Reliable and Dependable candidates with
strong work ethic and great customer service
skills
• Must pass Background and Drug Test
Call us today (215-765-4030)
Gloria Hailey, Program Coordinator
NCBA/SCSEP
1415 N. Broad Street, Suite 221 • Philadelphia, PA
19122
215.765.4030 Office • 215.765.4250 FAX
Celebrating 40 Years of Service- 1970-2010
e National Caucus and Center on Black Aged, Inc.
Improving the quality of life for elderly
African Americans and low income minorities
Page 20
April 25, 2013
Germantown Newspapers
Got Damage?
WE GET YOU PAID!
IF YOU HAVE ANY OF THESE TYPES OF DAMAGES:
• Roof Leaks
• Plumbing Leaks
• Water Damage
• Smoke Damage
• Toilet Leak
• Fire
Call Today for FREE Home Inspection
No Recovery – No Fee
19 Y
ears
in
Bus
ines
s
1-800-933-4459 • 215-233-3211 • www.gotso.net
T.S.O. ADJUSTMENT SERVICE
Public Adjusters
We are a member of the Better Business Bureau with an A + rating.