BerksMont Times

Visit us today and tomorrow at the Expo

2008-11-01T15:04:00.003-04:00

Come out and join the Berks-Mont Newspapers staff today and tomorrow 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for the Redner's Family Expo. You'll have a chance to:
--Meet Tippy the Crayon (pictured above)
--Compete in the GameStop Guitar Hero tournament
--Get a photo of youself or a member of your family taken for a front page of one of our newspapers.
For directions to the event at the Greater Reading Expo Center see this page for further directions. See you there!

Hamburg tradition postponed

2008-10-24T18:42:00.003-04:00

For the first time in 15 years, the King Frost Parade has been called for bad weather--rain in this case expected all day Saturday.

The decisions by parade officials is disappointing. I was hoping to bring my 10-year-old son Noah along for the ride Saturday with the hopes of either riding on the float (our company's first ever) or marching in the parade.

Fortunately, the traditional Hamburg event has NOT been cancelled. Organizers say the eventg will be rescheduled for 7 p.m. Nov. 1 instead. Hamburg Area Item editor Joshua Sophy has more...

Photo credit: Berks-Mont File Photo

Rhoades dies after Friday crash

2008-10-18T18:03:00.001-04:00

A state senator representing much of northern Berks County as well as Schuylkill and portions of Carbon and Monroe since 1981 died today from injuries sustained in a Friday evening car crash.

Sen. James J. Rhoades, R-29, age 66, represented Albany, Windsor, Perry, Tilden and Heidelberg townships locally and was seeking re-election in a three way senatorial contest on Nov. 4.

State and local leaders reacted to his death Saturday by reflection on a legacy of leadership especially in education.

"Jim's passing is a tremendous loss for Pennsylvania. He was a great person and a tremendous fighter for school children in the commonwealth. No one cared more about advancing education in Pennsylvania than Jim. He will be missed,” said Gov. Ed Rendell in a statement issued Saturday.

For more on this breaking story read Hamburg Area Item editor Joshua Sophy’s report at www.berksmontnews.com and this week’s edition of The Hamburg Area Item from Berks-Mont Newspapers…

Man sought in Berks homicide

2008-09-30T13:32:00.003-04:00

By Shawn A. Hessinger
Managing Editor Berks-Mont Newspapers

A Lebanon County man is still on the loose after police allege he strangled a mother of six and the sister of a former girlfriend.

Police have obtained a warrant for the arrest of Julio Angel Lastra, 32, charging him with first, second, and third degree murder, burglary, aggravated assault and criminal tresspass in the death of Marisol Rivera, 45, 585 Frystown Rd., Bethel Township.

According to a police affidavit filed with District Justice Andrea Book, Straustown, PA, the victim was heard saying in Spanish “Who is this?” as she was taken from her bed and strangled by Lastra late Sept. 24 or early Sept 25.

Lastra had been in a longterm relationship with Rivera’s sister Mari Reyes since 2001, but had a Protection from Abuse Order filed against him Sept. 22 after Reyes claimed Lastra had tried to kill her on two occasions.

The affadavit states the crime was witnessed by Rivera’s daughter Gianna, 8, who was sleeping with her mother at the time.

Police say Lastra’s sister testified she drove him to a location very close to Rivera’s residence on Frystown Rd. late Sept. 23, but did not know at the time of the significance of the location.

Police say another witness, Sylma Perez, told police she received a phone call from a distraught Gianna Rivera at 1 p.m. Sept. 25, who told her about the attack.

Gianna Rivera later told police she had been asleep in her mother’s bed when she heard Rivera scream and awoke to see a man choking her mother and pulling her to the floor.

See you at the Oley Fair

2008-09-18T13:37:00.001-04:00

I’ll be manning the newspaper’s booth at this historic event in the Oley Valley today and tomorrow from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

For those who would like a bit more historical info on the six decade tradition, check this link.

Stop by the booth and say hello. Maybe we can take some photos to include in an upcoming edition of The Boyertown Area Times, The Oley Valley Sentinel or this blog.

If you’ve got some Oley Fair photos you would like to share with the community send them to us here. Info. on the fair and related events can be placed in the comment section of this blog and will be posted once approved.

See you there.

Find out more about buying/selling/trading your car

2008-09-12T17:56:00.004-04:00

Want to know whether you got a good deal on that new car purchase or how to avoid getting taken for a ride?

A local car dealer can help put you in the driver’s seat when it comes to wheeling and dealing for a new or used automobile.

Be sure to read the Cory’s Car Questions blog at www.berksmontnews.com.

You can read the free advice offered and even participate with your own questions.

Just post your question in any of the comment areas on the blog, and your question and Cory’s answer will be posted and included in an upcoming print addition in all of our Berks-Mont Newspapers.

Be sure to look for the print addition of Cory’s Car Questions in the classified section of one of our newspapers available at newsstands including: The Boyertown Area Times, The Southern Berks News, The Kutztown Area Patriot, The Hamburg Area Item, The Westside Weekly available at local newsstands.

The column also runs regularly in The Free Press (Quakertown) and The Saucon News and The Community Connection serving the Pottsgrove and Pottstown School Districts.

Boyertown fire claims life

2008-08-05T17:54:00.007-04:00

A local woman was confirmed dead Tuesday after an afternoon fire at the Boyertown Community Library that closed down a portion of East Philadelphia Avenue and evacuated staff.

Boyertown police Chief Barry Leatherman said he had established verbal contact with an elderly woman in the second floor apartment at 31 E. Philadelphia Ave. after arriving at the scene.

“I heard the lady hollering for help near the rear window and I told her to stay near the window where she could be rescued,” said Leatherman.

“But then at some point she became unresponsive,” he added.

Linda Famous, a member of the library board of directors, said there are a total of three apartments above the library which is actually two joined structures.

Famous said the fire occurred in the single apartment located above the children’s reading section of the library.

Two more apartments above an adjacent building, which is also part of the library complex, were apparently unaffected by the blaze.

Famous said one is vacant while the other is occupied by library director Ed Goyda.

“The library was closed at the time, so only our staff was in there thank god,” Famous said.

Goyda, who was in the library at the time, said the staff had just finished up with a morning children’s program which runs from 10 to 11:30 a.m. when they noticed smoke filling the children’s section of the library. (More)

Staff Photo: Harold Hoch

Public debate drove American House story

2008-07-17T00:25:00.005-04:00

An advertised swingers’ party scheduled for July 19 at the American House Hotel in Hamburg was canceled almost as soon as our report on the controversy surrounding it in The Hamburg Area Item had gone to press Monday.

A website for the Berks Area Lifestylers, the group who had scheduled the party, blamed the newspaper in part for their decision to call off the event:

This is for YOUR protection, and for the American House's protection. It seems that SOMEONE had informed the Borough Council, the local paper and the local news media of our party, and the council decided they wanted to have a State Trooper posted inside the bar to "monitor" our party. Also, with the media being made aware of the party, we are sure that hey would be posted OUTSIDE of the bar with cameras.

As we have ALWAYS felt that our guests' privacy is of the UTMOST importance, and that we do not want to have the owner/workers of the bar to have to undergo any undue stress, we felt that our only option was to cancel this party for the benefit of all ... We apologize to everyone for this."

In fact, the decision to print anything about the party in our paper was not an easy one.

In the end, our decision to intrude and report on an essentially private event was driven by Hamburg borough council president Tammy Wilkinson who made the party and her opposition to it an issue of public debate.

In a response to criticism from Wilkinson run in its entirety in our story, American House Hotel owner Christopher Madara explained:

The American House Hotel is happy to be in Hamburg. The people of this town have shown such support for the local business men and women, especially myself. The town has shown me that an entrepreneur like myself can conduct an honest business and not intrude on people's privacy.

I have booked several parties at my hotel. They range from Christmas parties, wedding receptions, wedding rehearsal dinners, class reunions, baby showers, bridal showers and occasionally a private party. For each affair my staff will accommodate each guest to the best of our abilities. We will not violate anyone's privacy, because that is against the law and as such we will not tolerate any guests that choose to break any laws of the local, state or federal governments. The public, whatever their personal preferences may be, are welcome at our establishment as long as they can follow these rules.

Whether a private party at a local hotel or the business practices of any other local entrepreneur should be regularly scrutinized and perhaps even attacked by local elected officials is something for voters to decide.

It is the job of newspapers to see they have the knowledge with which to make those decisions.

Join our community!

2008-07-10T08:25:00.009-04:00

I received an e-mail yesterday from Stephanie Bill of the Boyertown Optimisits cheerleading program.

The group’s website defines its mission:

The Optimist Club of Boyertown is a youth service-based
organization serving the Boyertown community for over 50 years. Chartered by Optimist International in 1954, the Boyertown Optimists’ main purpose is to provide an outlet for the youth of the community to participate in organized athletic and community-development programs.

Stephanie e-mailed to ask how the club, which, in addition to cheerleading, includes programs for basketball, football, boys’ and girls’ lacrosse and softball, could have its website listed in one what we like to think of as the hottest little corner of the Internet: the Community Contacts section at www.berksmontnews.com.

Actually, getting listed is pretty easy. If your community organization has a webpage just send me the url or link. I’ll take care of the rest.

By getting a link on the site, your organization can:
• Let others in the community and outside know more about your group and its activities
• Drive more traffic in the form of visitors to your website
• Create connections with other local organizations also listed on the site
• Put your organization before the readers of all nine of our Berks-Mont Newspapers who visit our site every week for local news and other content

If you have a group or organization active within the coverage area of The Boyertown Area Times, The Community Connection, The Southern Berks News,Westside Weekly, LaVoz, The Hamburg Area Times, The Kutztown Area Patriot,The (Quakertown) Free Press or The Saucon News please consider contacting us today.

Above, another type of community gathers to celebrate the annual Boyertown Sidewalk Expo.

Be our eyes and ears in Oley

2008-07-03T17:21:00.003-04:00

Berks-Mont Newspapers is on a mission—a mission to find community columnists.

Our local quarterly newspaper, The Oley Valley Sentinel, has already been mailed out to local residents with a preview of this year’s Oley Fire Company Peach and Ice Cream Festival August 9 (See photo from the 2007 festival above.)

And we’re hoping to recruit a new stable of local community writers to be a part of our next issue.

Berks-Mont Newspapers is looking for five committed columnists from the sentinel’s coverage area to create quarterly columns, about 800 words each, for the communities of Oley, Pike, Ruscombmanor and Alsace Townships and the Oley Valley School District.

Ideal candidates will be residents of each community and well connected with local residents. We’ll look to you to provide important community news and events and to be ambassadors for our newspaper.

Other opportunities for freelancing may also arise. If interested submit your name, contact information, resume, and writing or photography samples to shessinger (at) berksmontnews (dot) com.

Nosey Newsies clobber cancer

2008-06-27T00:42:00.002-04:00

Take some time out to donate to a worthwhile cause.

Berks-Mont Newspapers’ own Nosey Newsies led by Antoinette Colon, editor for The Community Connection, will participate in the first annual Boyertown American Cancer Society Relay for Life beginning today at 7 p.m. and there’s still time to get involved.

To show your support drop by the Boyertown High School Memorial Stadium or to donate visit the event website and select the Donate to Participant or Donate to a Team options.

Fill in the name of the person or team you would like to donate to and follow the directions on the site.

Or contact Antoinette directly with your interest. Go Newsies!

Hot news now available at BerksMontNews.com

2008-06-21T00:29:00.002-04:00

Last week’s heat wave was so unbearable it even figured heavily in Hamburg Area Item editor Joshua Sophy’s blog.

Josh wrote:

It was a scorcher outside Saturday and Sunday, and Monday only promises to be the hottest day of the year, yet. I cruised Hamburg today looking for some heat imagery to relay to readers in the most artistic sense, but found not much happening. The streets were pretty much empty, and since I don't know where the pool is, just yet, or if there is even a public pool (Should I be admitting that?), so there wasn't much in the art department from that angle.

Interestingly, since the heat and the violent storms that followed shortly after and took out power in some areas occurred just about on top of our production cycle, little if anything about the weather made it into our papers.

Such are the fortunes of the weekly newspaper cycle. By this week it was all old news.

But thanks to our growing web presence, and increasing cooperation with our local daily paper, The Mercury, that is beginning to change.

This week The Boyertown Area Times broke an important story on line, days ahead of our ability to break it in our print edition as concerned parents and students successfully stopped “the block” at The Boyertown Area School District, a controversial plan to introduce block scheduling at the high school, perhaps as early as next year.

Breaking news on line has given us an ability previously beyond the reach of weeklies to tell important stories as they happen while still keeping our community focus as “local news for local people.”

Blackbirds sing at Boyertown expo

2008-06-18T19:07:00.002-04:00

Richard Barnes, Media, and Michael A. Salsburg, Phoenixville, are two tenths of a group specializing in jazz, pop, swing and blues standards from the 20’s and 30’s.

The 2 to 10 piece Blackbird Society Orchestra takes its name from the Broadway show “Blackbirds of 1928” which introduced the song “I can’t give you anything but love”, but Barnes and Salsburg appeared in the here and now on East Philadelphia Avenue Tuesday.

The occasion was Boyertown’s 43rd annual Sidewalk Expo sponsored by the Berks-Mont Business Association attracting more than 5,000 to the borough’s downtown, according to organizers.

“It’s pretty comparable if not a little bit better,” said association vice president Matthew Robb of the turnout, adding that the expo had attracted more vendors—over 100—than in previous years.

The purpose of the expo, which featured booths sponsored by local businesses, food and street entertainment, is to promote local business in the community, Robb said.

Barnes and Salsburg found many interested in their performance including a few who stopped to sing old pop tunes from by gone eras that they could still recall.

Salsburg says he was first drawn to the style by jazz icon Joe Venuto while Barnes recalls playing in a variety of rock bands until seeing a performance by singer Leon Redbone that changed the course of his musical career.

“It’s just happy music,” said Barnes. “There’s no anger. It’s toe tapping. Everyone likes it everywhere we go."

Quakertown clothes are missing

2008-05-23T16:01:00.003-04:00

Check out this story about a Quakertown dry cleaner that vanished from the community without a trace...and with many of its clients clothes. Enjoy!

Photo Credit: Kevin Rosseel, MorgueFile

10-year-old’s Berks County adventure

2008-05-16T22:13:00.004-04:00

Two weeks ago my 10-year-old Noah and I traversed Berks County to explore some of the attractions the region has to offer.

I was surprised to learn that tourism remains the county’s second largest industry employing 9,500 earning combined direct wages of $242,000,000 a year.

The Greater Reading Convention & Visitors Bureau says Berks makes more than $624 million annually from the more than 9.5 million visitors that flock to the county each year.

The earnings translate to more than $60 million in state and local taxes. Amazing.

Noah and I did our share to fill the county coffers with trips to Crystal Cave, estimated to have been formed 100 million years ago. (See the photo above.)

The famed “upside down ice cream cone” has three flavors: vanilla (calcite), chocolate (calcite with rust) and mint chocolate chip (calcite with microplants).

And below Noah “apes” fear of one of the vintage animals on the miniature course at Sittler’s Golf Center near Kutztown, another stop during our outing.

To read the full details of our adventure, pick up a copy of the May 2008 Tourist Guide from Berks-Mont Newspapers in our Berks County publications this week including The Boyertown Area Times, The Southern Berks News, Westside Weekly, LaVoz, The Hamburg Area Item, The Kutztown Area Patriot and The Community Connection.

There’s a new sheriff in town

2008-05-15T07:26:00.002-04:00

Joshua Sophy has taken over as editor of The Hamburg Area Item and is now also blogging at Item Meister, the paper’s new weblog.

Josh hails from the city of Pottsville in Schuylkill County and is the former editor and publisher of the Pottsville Free Press (not to be confused with our own Free Press), a virtually one man operation Josh ran with the help of friends and published successfully if irregularly for about 18 months with a total of 36 editions.

Before that he worked for the same coal region daily where I spent about 10 (feels like 20) years.

I hope Hamburg residents will welcome him to their community. I know he comes to the job with great enthusiasm. I also hope all the readers of our on line products will give Josh’s blog a regular read.

Photo Credit: Cheryl Rankin, MorgueFile

Former Boyertown teacher convicted

2008-05-08T20:53:00.002-04:00

A former Boyertown teacher was convicted Thursday in Berks County court for possession of child pornography.

Peter J. Lamana, 41, of Bethlehem, was convicted on charges stemming from a pornographic video of children found on his computer at Boyertown Area High School in Nov. 2004.

Boyertown Area Times editor Matthew Reichl has details...(More)

Haddadmania

2008-05-07T23:48:00.004-04:00

You could feel it in the air.

The support for Charles A. Haddad, president of Building a Better Boyertown and all around community leader was palpable…even if the 54th annual Citizen of the Year ceremony honoring Haddad and four other outstanding community leaders was excruciatingly long.

My wife Heather and I picked up a couple of Malibu Bay Breezes at the bar on our way through the crowded banquet hall of the Friendship Hook & Ladder Company No. 1 to the cheap seats in the adjacent apparatus room Saturday.

Then we picked up a couple more as the evening dragged on (four hours if you count dinner, three hours if you don’t.).

The food was great---chicken, beef and stuffing. Haddad was honored along with Kathleen Little, a fifth grade teacher at Saint Francis Academy, Bally, David Viola of the Colebrookdale District Police, Glenn Trate, first assistant chief of the fire company, and Katie Moatz, a Boyertown Area High School senior.

You can read the story I filed for our paper, which co-sponsored the event with the Boyertown Jaycees, here.

Charles regaled the audience with stories about panty hose fitters and the poetic Pennsylvania German dialect.

I think it’s important to honor community service no matter how much time it takes…as long as the Malibu rum holds out.

Local plant emptied for bomb threat

2008-05-07T14:43:00.003-04:00

Employees of CEI Manufacturing at 447 Old Swede Road, Amity Township, were evacuated for two hours this morning after threatening notes were found inside packages shipped from the U.K. at about 7:15 a.m. A search of the building turned up nothing and employees returned to work. For additional developments be sure to check next week's edition of The Southern Berks News...

Students visit Berks-Mont

2008-05-06T22:03:00.007-04:00

Boyertown Area High School senior Katie Wallace and junior Kimberly “Kimi” Yudt are shown how to run a newspaper by Southern Berks News Editor Heather Tassmer.

While in the Berks-Mont Newspaper offices recently, the pair were shown how a newspaper is put together, went on a sales drive with a sales rep and helped report a vehicle crash on E. Philadelphia Avenue.

From their essays, both Wallace and Yudt are interested in film production.

“In class, we have learned the history of television, filming, directing, sound, news casting and editing,” wrote Wallace, who will attend DeSales University in the fall, where she plans to major in Television/Film.

Yudt wrote her passion for film and broadcasting, stemming from being a TV anchor at Boyertown Junior High East.

“I spend a lot of study halls and sometimes lunch in the television studio, editing various videos for BASH-TV and occasionally for PC-TV,” she wrote. “I understand that my dreams are big, but with enough passion and knowledge, I know it is possible to achieve my goals.”

Photo and Article Credit: Matthew Reichl, editorThe Boyertown Area Times

McCain coverage in The Saucon News

2008-05-02T22:55:00.006-04:00

Here’s a photo from our own Dave P. Anderson of the GOP presidential hopeful’s recent visit to Lehigh Valley Hospital Wednesday.

Be sure to pick up your copy of The Saucon News serving the Saucon Valley and Southern Lehigh School Districts for full coverage of the visit this week centering on the issue of health care. For further discussion on the 2008 presidential race use the comment section below...(More)

Breaking news at BerksMontNews.com

2008-05-01T07:04:00.005-04:00

Centre Township man dies during police standoff

By Josh Sophy, Item Editor

A Centre Township man died following a four-hour standoff Wednesday morning when State Police armed with a felony arrest warrant arrived at his home.

Reading's Troop L Commanding Officer Capt. Steven M. Johnson says the unidentified man barricaded himself into the basement of his home in the 500 block of Plum Road around 6 a.m.

According to Johnson, police and SWAT teams surrounded the property, set several hundred feet off Plum Road. Shortly after arriving, police made contact with an unidentified, adult woman living at the property and escorted her to the State Police Reading barracks for questioning...
(More)

Berks-Mont editors attend PNA seminar

2008-04-21T23:54:00.004-04:00

On April 10, editorial staff of the Berks-Mont Newspapers attended an all day seminar called “Community Weeklies: Great by Design” sponsored by the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.

Above Mariela Jurado, a reporter for LaVoz, our Spanish language publication, Courtney McEachern, editor of Westside Weekly in West Reading and Heather Tassmer, editor of The Southern Berks News talk between sessions.

The presentations included morning speakers on design, writing and keeping newspapers interesting and relevant for readers.

Afternoon breakout sessions included:
• Doing more with less about the challenges of creating a weekly newspaper
• Great photographs keep readers a critique and training session on better photojournalism
• Developing a strong editorial voice a session designed to improve the distinctive voice of news and editorial writing
• News design hands-on workshop looking at how to design great news pages

Above Matthew Reichl, editor of The Boyertown Area Times attends a session on open records led by Kim de Bourbon of the Pennsylvania Freedom of Information Coalition.

Clinton in Q-Town

2008-04-18T07:57:00.003-04:00

The phone rang Tuesday in the West Reading office of LaVoz and Westside Weekly.

It was Patti Paul controller here at Berks-Mont Newspapers coming to the rescue again.

"How often does Bill Clinton come to Quakertown?" Patti told me by way of explanation.

She had called Journal Register Company, the corporation that owns our little newspaper chain, and asked to roll back deadline for The Free Press, our Quakertown weekly, to give editor David P. Anderson chance to cover the former President's visit to Quakertown Community High School in support of his wife U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, (R-NY) and her bid for the Democratic nomination for President.

The decision meant pushing deadline back to 5:45 p.m. and a half hour drive to our Boyertown office where Boyertown Area Times editor Matthew Reichl and I awaited Dave's copy and photos (like the one above) fitting them together with earlier interviews on the visit to create a finished page.

It's another example of how small weeklies are still capable of excellent journalism often as excellent as what is being created by the dailies.

The key?

The willingness to always reach to do better.

The willingness and commitment of both the editorial and business sides to create a better news product for readers than we had the week before.

Sure it would have been easier to sit back; to say, no that will make us late; to say, hey, we're a weekly, we can wait to get that until next week.

But it's better to say we're planning to do all we can, to be the best no matter what our limitations.

Exeter police have digital "eyes and ears"

2008-02-18T16:29:00.007-05:00

Get stopped by police in Exeter Township in Berks County and you may just find yourself on "candid camera."

The ICOP digital video system is "the eyes and ears" of this local police force when they are out on patrol.

Climb into the front seat of the police cruiser with Heather Tassmer editor of The Southern Berks News for an up close look at the latest in law enforcement technology.

Hurry. This may be your last day to get your copy of the Feb. 14 edition before the new copies hit the stands.