Authorities won’t give basic details about sex assault at South Heidelberg mental hospital

by Steve Reinbrecht

I want to know more about a sex assault reported last week at Wernersville State Hospital. That’s a serious crime, especially at an institution, run by the state Department of Human Services, that treats residents from the region with serious, persistent mental illness. 

But officials are mum.

People who live near the hospital in South Heidelberg deserve to know what is happening there. I want to know that residents are safe and being cared for properly and that state tax-funded programs are being managed carefully. Officials should want to prevent rumors by providing facts authoritatively to the public, so folk don’t rely on scurrilous Facebook posts and blogs like this one.

Details were scarce in the Reading Eagle story Sunday. A female victim said she was fondled for several minutes about 4:30 p.m. Thursday, the Eagle reported.

That the newspaper calls the victim a “female” suggests she is a child. If she were 18 or older, why not write “woman”? Of course, the Eagle does love cop-speak.

The state police are handling it, South Heidelberg Police Chief Barry Whitmoyer said. The state police will not release more information until the investigation is over, Trooper David Beohm, a state police spokesman, told me. That could be a week, two weeks, a month, six months or a year, he said.

Should residents be worried about a sex molester loose in the area, I asked. No, Beohm said, if that were the case, state police would have released a description. So they have a suspect?

They never release suspect information.

Hospital CEO Shirley Sowizral referred questions to the state Department of Human Services office. In response to my message, department Director of Communications Kait Gillis sent this in an e-mail Monday:

“The department takes all allegations seriously and we are cooperating with authorities on the investigation.”

She spoke to me Tuesday, saying that only the state police could release details.

I called the state police’s Office of Press and Public Information in Harrisburg. The woman who answered said troopers never release more facts until the investigation is over. When I asked why, she said it was the rules. Are the rules in writing? I asked. They are not public, she said. When I asked her name, she said “Diane.” When I asked her last name, she hung up.

So here we have Diane, Beohm, Gillis and Sowizral – three public-relations officials and the other a CEO, all paid with state tax dollars -- but none can give even basic facts about a sex crime in a state institution. In fact, they all seemed surprised that someone would ask these simple questions.

I’m not looking for the victim's or the fondler's names. I’d like to know at least whether the victim was a resident or staff member, and whether the attacker is a resident or staff member. Police should have nailed that down by now.

Wouldn’t these officials expect calls from reporters about an event such as this and have some answers ready? No, they know the media have become toothless, ceding power over information to the people in power. That lets people we're paying to provide us with information stonewall us with impunity.

PPL power line would destroy Sinking Spring golf course, owner says

by Steve Reinbrecht

Randy Robitzer said Monday that PPL Electric Utilities’ plans to build a 69,000-volt transmission line through Sinking Spring would destroy his golf course.

Village Greens Golf Course along Broad Street in Sinking Spring.

“It would virtually put me out of business.”

Robitzer owns and manages the 18-hole Village Greens Golf Course, which opened in 1969.

He “reluctantly” plans to meet with company officials this week.

PPL does not have easement rights for the proposed 1.3-mile line.

Borough officials are aghast at the power company’s plans, saying they would wreck their efforts to realign intersections, install new streets and build new shops and homes downtown.

PPL’s route would erase five holes along Broad Street, Robitzer said.

Besides possibly wrecking his business, the power line would squash his plans to sell the 32-acre parcel when he retires. The borough has approved plans for housing there.

The power line “will devalue my property and take away what I worked for my entire life.” “It’s really a hardship for us.”

He’d even lose his special “privately-owned private golf course club liquor license” if the course is shortened, he fears.

Map from PPL.

In a letter to Sinking Spring borough dated Sept. 9, Jessica Long, PPL regional affairs director, said the company has made a final decision on the route. Based in Allentown, the company has about 10 million customers and saw $7.7 billion in revenues last year.

The borough’s two representatives in Harrisburg – state Rep. Jim Cox and state Sen. David Argall – have opposed PPL’s plan.

No one from their offices returned calls Friday or Monday.

PPL doesn’t have easements for Sinking Spring power line

by Steve Reinbrecht

PPL Electric Utilities does not have the easements it needs to run a 69-kilowatt power line through the middle of Sinking Spring, a move that borough leaders say would scramble their plans for redevelopment. An easement is an agreement with an owner to use land for a certain purpose, such as a utility line or access.

The company is still in talks with landowners – including a farmer, the owner of the Village Greens Golf Course, and the borough -- about getting easement rights, PPL spokesman Joe Nixon said Friday.

In a letter to Sinking Spring borough dated Sept. 9, Jessica Long, PPL regional affairs director, said the company has made a final decision on the route. Based in Allentown, the company has about 10 million customers and saw $7.7 billion in revenues last year.

If negotiations fail and the company decides to use eminent domain to force a sale of the easement, it would have to apply to the state Public Utility Commission. 

Similar cases have had different outcomes this year.

In April, a Northumberland County judge’s ruling allowed PPL to pursue eminent domain for a 12-mile, 69-kilovolt power line near Meiserville.

The judge denied preliminary objections filed by landowners, according to the Daily Item of Danville.

In 2013, another judge had ruled in favor of landowners contesting the project. The Public Utility Commission overruled that and moved to allow PPL to exercise eminent domain to force the property sales. Commonwealth Court upheld that decision in 2014.

On the other hand, PPL canceled plans to build a transmission line in Cumberland County, the Central Penn Business Journal reported in March.

Just like the plan in Sinking Spring, that plan, calling for a 69-kilovolt line, generated controversy among landowners and neighbors, the Journal said.

The company said the move reflected "a new perspective" on the power system's needs, according to the Journal.  In a letter, PPL wrote that it had cancelled that project "as the result of continued evaluation of current and future electric grid needs in the Cumberland County region.”

Plans are tentative for when work would start on the Sinking Spring line, Nixon said. They call for four months of construction, starting at the end of 2017, Nixon said.

Sinking Spring officials say it will ruin their downtown renovation plans, which already has attracted millions of dollars. The line would have a 100-foot-wide [50 feet on each side]. The electric company has vowed it will not interfere with the borough’s plans to relocate streets, Nixon said. It is still talking with borough officials about exactly where to place poles, he said.

PennDOT, the state, Berks County and Sinking Spring have together spent more than $5.3 million over 8.5 years on the project. The borough's plans call for 450,000 square feet of commercial, office, retail and food operations, about 100 housing units and $60 million in private investment.

Home owners along the proposed line have said in meetings that they are worried about the line’s effect on their property values.

PPL hosted a public meeting about the plan Thursday night.

“It was a great turnout,” Nixon said, adding that 165 people had signed in.

The borough’s two representatives in Harrisburg – state Rep. Jim Cox and state Sen. David Argall – have opposed PPL’s plan.

In a June 29 letter, the lawmakers wrote:

“Locating a high voltage power line in the center of an existing community makes no sense to us … . We must insist that PPL reject this proposed plan.

“Our ongoing efforts to revitalize the downtown of this growing community will be endangered if this proposed transmission line is built. We are prepared to seek a legislative solution to this problem, if it becomes necessary.”

On Friday, a woman who answered the phone in Cox’s office referred questions to Argall’s office. A woman in the senator’s office said a representative had been at the meeting, but she didn’t call me back.

I wanted to ask the lawmakers if this is a done-deal or if they have a way to sway the utility without costing the borough extensive legal bills.

Ugly invader is smothering trees throughout Southwestern Berks County

by Steve Reinbrecht

An invasive vine called porcelain berry is taking over big parts of Southwestern Berks County, smothering big trees and spreading along roads, streams and power lines.

Porcelain berry along the Little Cacoosing Creek in Lower Heidelberg.

Birds and other animals eat the seeds and spread them everywhere. Sprigs show up constantly in my yard. I’ve seen it thick on Gaul Road, Green Valley and Penn Avenue.

The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources describes the environmental threat:

“This vine grows quickly, forming thick mats that cover native vegetation. It can also climb into the trees and shade out young shrubs and seedlings.”

The federal Forest Service says:

“In the US Forest Service's Eastern Region, porcelainberry [sic] is classified as a Category 1 invasive species. Plants in this category are nonnative, highly invasive plants which invade natural habitats and replace native species.

“Porcelainberry invades wildlands and can climb over and shade out native vegetation. The extra weight of this vine may make supporting vegetation more susceptible to wind and ice damage. Heavy infestations of porcelainberry may kill native vegetation, suppress the establishment of tree seedlings, and alter successional courses in invaded plant communities.”

Map from Sept. 2015
at Invasive.org.

Ampelopsis glandulosa was introduced as a decorative vine in the 1870s and escaped and took over. It covers miles of trees on the Schuylkill Expressway on the way to Philadelphia.

“Porcelain berry resembles our native grapes. The easiest way to tell them apart is to look at the pith (interior) of the vine. Porcelain berry’s pith is white, wild grape’s is brown. Grape bark peels or shreds, while porcelain berry bark does not.”

“Lystra” wrote this in September 2015 on a gardening website:

“I just moved back to Reading Pa after being gone for 16 yrs. I loved to go to the river and to the parks here. I have found this plant which I have never seen before and had to look it up. This plant has literally taken over whole areas by the river and over many areas in City Park I am finding this plant choking a lot of alleyways like a wall. I am scared about the native plants here being choked out.”

Porcelain berry swamps a sycamore
on Wagner Road, Lower Heidelberg.

Sinking Spring will never look the same

by Steve Reinbrecht

[More photos.]

Crews continued demolishing Sinking Spring landmarks on Wednesday, including Leshers Servicenter and the former borough hall and library.

The plan is to straighten the intersection at Columbia, Cacoosing and Penn avenues into rigorous right angles.

When roadwork will start is a good question, borough manager Mike Hart said Wednesday. The borough is still waiting for the final PennDOT permit, he said. He hopes work on the new intersection will start in the spring.

Assaults, DUI top crime reports in August in Southwestern Berks County

by Steve Reinbrecht

Police reported 46 crimes in Southwestern Berks in August, including four murders, in which a man shot his wife, three children and himself in Sinking Spring.

Tied at the top of the list of summertime crimes were seven assaults and seven driving-under-the-influence busts. Next were six thefts, five reports of fraud, and four disorderly conduct reports.

Sinking Spring had the most trouble, though it has only about 20 percent of the population of the four municipalities I cover in this blog – Sinking Spring, Lower Heidelberg, South Heidelberg and Wernersville. [You can see, and sort, my data on the "police" page.]

On Aug. 22, a man living at the state corrections half-way house near Wernersville robbed the M&T Bank at 4830 Penn Ave., near Redner’s, about 2 p.m.

A week later, a man tried to rob somebody with a knife about 10 p.m. Aug. 29 at the Dream Garden Chinese restaurant, 3564 Penn Ave., near the former Food Lion grocery store. 

Police arrested a homeless man in Reading in the crime, Sinking Spring Chief Lee Schweyer said.

Sinking Spring police went to the 100 block of Woodrow Avenue seven times in August, for assaults, a theft, drunkenness, disorderly conduct and DUI.

Schweyer said police are called to the Railroad House, a restaurant and bar at 152 Woodrow Ave., but “not a lot.”

Any place that serves alcohol, especially with a young crowd like the Railroad House attracts, can have problems when people drink too much, Schweyer said.

Along with the horror of the deaths of the family, Sinking Spring sustained its first fatal fire in more than 25 years when Maira Bazan, 24, died after she jumped from a third-story window of the burning building in which she lived at 3996 Penn Ave. early on Aug. 22.

You can search for information about local crimes at the state police Uniform Crime Reporting website. Over years of reporting, people have told me the statistics can’t be trusted because police chiefs adjust the numbers to make crime look better or worse than it really is.

Any reporting is subject to bias. By making the information public, people can check what they know with the official version.

The Wilson School District superintendent wants to meet you

by Steve Reinbrecht

In May, I wrote a blog titled “New Wilson schools chief should answer to the public.”

Well, Curt Baker is doing just that [not that my nano-publication had anything to do with it.]

Hired in May, the new Wilson School District superintendent has been hosting a series of small meetings with residents. I went to one, in his office, on Wednesday morning, with three other visitors.

The next “Coffee with Curt” is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 10.

Rise in the ranks

Ten years ago, Wilson was ranked in the top 20 percent of the state’s 500 or so school districts, Baker said. The latest scores on standard tests put Wilson in the top 6 percent of districts, he said. [Schooldigger.com, an unofficial watchdog website, ranks Wilson at 36 out of the state’s 500 or so districts, or better than 93.8 percent of other districts.]

Baker called the rise “remarkable progress” that encompasses all the students. “Teaching is happening in all our classrooms.”

In response to a visitor’s question, Baker said the higher ranking is not because Wilson has narrowed its teaching to material on the state assessment tests.

New tests measure more than students’ mastery of content and now demand critical thinking, he said.

“I don’t know if you can teach to that.”

He approves of the Common Core, the federal program that details what students should know in English and math at the end of each grade, kindergarten through 12th. It establishes standards across the states and is designed to make sure students are ready for higher education or work.

Baker says it emphasizes critical-thinking skills. Content can be argued over, but everyone agrees that students need to be able to speak well, write well and to “think across platforms” to succeed at work, Baker said.

Another reason for Wilson’s rise in the rankings is that it has increased the number of advanced-placement AP classes, said district spokeswoman Kristin Kramer, also at the meeting.

Baker said a goal is to have “a good solid lesson every day in every classroom.”

Administrators will find out if that's not happening because many people observe classrooms, formally and informally, including principals and other teachers.

He has been spending a full day once a week in a school building, so he believes he's learning what is going on.

Finances

Many taxpayers don’t understand that the school district’s revenues are flat because they are based on property assessments, which don’t change, Baker said. Without new business or industry, property-tax revenues don’t rise. But expenses always do, driven by labor contracts and inflation.

Wilson has the third-lowest school property tax among Berks’ 18 districts, after Boyertown and Reading, the lowest. This year, an owner with a Wilson property assessed at $200,000 would pay the district $4,990.

Teacher morale

Baker said he’s heard few complaints from teachers, though he acknowledges he’s still on his honeymoon.

Wilson has a strong teaching force, in part because it’s an attractive place to work, he said.

Supporting teachers is a priority, he said.

“We would be failing if we weren’t supporting teachers,” he said.

Should every student go to college?

Baker said one question that troubles him is whether college is right for all students.

For one thing, employers locally and across the country need workers with technical skills that can be learned in two-year programs, such as machining, mechatronics and industrial maintenance.

The trouble is that, for decades, sending their children to college has been every parent’s dream.

A visitor at the meeting said that some people in the district perceive the technical and vocational programs are “a dumping ground.”

“Technical education is frowned upon in this district,” he said.

Baker said he struggles with that problem, and that the community needs to discuss it. Parents need to understand all the higher-educational and employment options in the world today, Baker said.

The problem needs “a lot of work at the guidance level,” he said, and students should be exposed to all sorts of jobs.

Baker said that pushing for vocational and technical education sometimes spurs fears of tracking – assigning students to classes according to their overall achievement.

School safety

The district and Spring Township split the cost of a full-time police officer at the high school. But the district doesn’t use him as a security cop, Baker said. He doesn’t run to every disturbance on campus, most of which are settled in 30 seconds and handled by school staff, Baker said. 

The officer is there to build relationships with students and share his knowledge of the community to help security at the school, Baker said.

Most security problems result from custody issues, he said.

Wilson serves almost 6,000 students and has about 1,100 employees, 520 of them teachers.