Day: March 19, 2015

Springfield Cyber School?

Springfield Cyber School? Springfield Town Hall 3-19-15
Some of those in attendance who exhorted the Springfield School District to keep their taxes low.

About 130 attended tonight’s (March 19)  final town hall concerning the fate of Springfield High School. The event was held in the high school auditorium.

Four proposals are on the table: maintain the existing school on Leamy Avenue for an estimated cost of $100.39 million; build a new one behind Saint Francis Church on Saxer Avenue for $131 million; renovate the existing school for $133.8 million; and build a school on Leamy Avenue alongside the existing one for $136.4 million.

The crowd seemed overwhelming in favor of the least expensive route. We counted 19 audience comments that either supported the “maintenance plan” or were an exhortation not to raise taxes — including one fellow who suggested a cyber school. Well, that would be less than $136.4 million.

Four persons spoke in favor of a new school  and five asked generally neutral questions.

The number and passion were on the side of the low taxes.

“If one person was forced out of home, how could you sleep at night,” one man told the school district’s representatives — school directors Chris DeSantis and Bruce Lord, and Donald Mooney, the district’s  Director of Operations.

Another said that 30 percent of Springfield is over the age of 60. Another expressed skepticism of the district’s figures claiming that recent renovations of Haverford and Marple Newtown high schools were less than two-thirds that of what is being estimated for maintenance of  SHS.

More than one person expressed fear of being forced from his or her home because of taxes.

Bruce Lord presented a timeline of what comes next to start the meeting. He said the board and facilities will meet; the committee will present the Town Hall findings to the board, and then the board will begin project implementation. which means the board begins discussions with the township, which must approve all construction, then get a building designed then submit bids for construction. He said the process will take years, not months.

Mooney squelched a few rumors flying around the community. He said the district is not going to acquire the Saint Francis property and that there will be no teacher layoffs to help fund the school.

Springfield Cyber School?

 

Tornado Tom Predicts 1 Inch for 3-20

Tornado Tom Padula is predicting tomorrow’s (March 20) storm should run between 5 and 10 a.m. and will  bring us between zero through 3 inches of the white stuff. Tornado Tom Predicts 1 Inch for 3-20

Tom is a 9th grader at Unionville High School.

Here is his report:

Turkey Takes Obamacare Credit

Matthew Smith has sent us a link to this article in which jihadist Turkish President  Recep Tayyip Erdoğan takes credit for Obamacare.  Turkey Takes Obamacare Credit

He said advised Barack Obama to undertake healthcare reforms in the United States following a request by American tourists but Obama “could only solve the issue partly” due to “a negative reflex.”

We can believe it. Jihadist aren’t known for their love of America.

Obama did call Erdoğan to congratulate him upon his re-election. He does that sort of thing for his friends.

Turkey Takes Obamacare Credit. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says it was his idea

Penn State Invites Terrorist Ayers

Bill Ayers Penn State Invites Terrorist Ayers
Obama ally and mentor Bill Ayers showing his love for America. On Sept. 11, 2001. Really.

An unrepentant  terrorist is scheduled to be a paid panelist  tomorrow, March 20, at at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center at the Penn State Dickinson School of Law.

The terrorist is Bill Ayers who bombed the New York City Police Department headquarters in 1970, the United States Capitol in 1971 and the Pentagon in 1972. .

State Sen. Pro Tempore Joseph Scarnati (R-25) has written a letter objecting to Ayers appearance.

“The decision to allow Mr. Ayers to address your students and faculty in light of his violent past is difficult for me to reconcile,” Scarnati said.

It doesn’t matter Joe. It looks like Ayers is going to appear anyway.

Osama Bin Laden was unavailable.

We will note that bin Laden appears to have treated his women better.

Penn State Invites Terrorist Ayers

 

Joan Mills Receiving Vision Of Hope Award

The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape will present its 2015 Vision of Hope Award to Joan Mills of A Child’s Place at Mercy in Pittsburgh, PA, March 28 at the Vision of Hope Gala & Auction at the Hershey Lodge in Hershey. Joan Mills Receiving Vision Of Hope Award

The Vision of Hope Award is presented annually to recognize those who show a commitment to protecting children through violence prevention and intervention and ensures the safety of children through increasing awareness, strengthening policies or creating campaigns that promote healthy families and communities.

“Joan’s heart and soul is dedicated to improving the lives of children who have been impacted by child sexual abuse” PCAR CEO Delilah Rumburg said. “She’s gracefully led A Child’s Place at Mercy where thousands of children have received help, worked to change state laws and established community partnerships to help prevent sexual abuse.”

For nearly three decades Ms. Mills has worked to establish child-centered and trauma-informed interventions and treatment services at A Child’s Place at Mercy while promoting collaboration between organizations such as children advocacy centers and rape crisis centers.

“I am honored and humbled to receive this award, especially after seeing all the past recipients,” Ms. Mills said. “The Vision of Hope Award to me represents recognition of the thousands of victims’ cases I have been involved with over the past several decades; I see their eyes still. I accept this award for them—all of them. Being part of the systemic changes in the response to evaluating and investigating child abuse cases that have taken place in our Commonwealth over 27 years has been quite dramatic and awe inspiring.”

One example is the use of filmed forensic interviews of child victims. Mills argued that this would reduce the trauma for a child during trial while providing evidence to the jury in the child’s own words. While this doesn’t preclude the child from testifying during the trial, the child’s exposure to trauma and court room tactics may be limited by the opportunity to rely on a high quality forensic interview.

In a child sexual abuse case last July in Westmoreland County assistant district attorney cited the use of the forensic interview as the difference in the jury returning a guilty verdict.

Joan Mills Receiving Vision Of Hope Award

Nick Searcy Named Gosnell Director

Actor Nick Searcy has been tapped to direct the crowdfunded film Gosnell which will will concern Philadelphia abortionist and mass murderer Kermit Gosnell, according to the production team of Ann McElhinney, Magdalena Segieda and  Phelim McAleer. Nick Searcy Named Gosnell Director

Searcy has appeared in numerous television shows and movies going back to 1985, most notably as Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Art Mullen from the FX television series Justified and as the villain Frank Bennett from the 1991 film Fried Green Tomatoes. Searcy has also had significant roles in blockbusters The Fugitive, Cast Away, The Runaway Jury and Moneyball.

His sole directing effort was the 1997 film Paradise Falls.

Gosnell will be screenwritten by two-time Edgar Award winner Andrew Klaven.

Nick Searcy Named Gosnell Director

OTT Supplanting Texting

eMarketer.com notes that 7.47 trillion text  messages were sent worldwide last year via short message service or SMS. This is up from 761 billion in 2004 but down from 7.7 trillion in 2012. OTT Supplanting Texting

What is supplanting them is over-the-top or OTT mobile messaging services which are done using services provided by companies like Facebook and Google rather than cell phone companies.

Last year, about 10 trillion OTT messages were sent. eMarkter estimates that by 2018 there will be 67 trillion of these messages sent and that traditional text messages will fall to 6.3 trillion.

OTT Supplanting Texting