Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Special Board Meeting - January 4 (Wednesday)
Special Board Meeting
In compliance with Section 687 PA Public School Code of 1949, the Morrisville School District Board of School Directors will hold a Special Board Meeting at 7:30 pm on January 4, 2012 in the LGI Room of the Intermediate/Senior High School, 550 W. Palmer Street, Morrisville, PA. The purpose of the meeting is the 2012-13 Budget and such other lawful matters as may come before the Board.
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NOTICE
In compliance with Section 687 PA Public School Code of 1949, the Morrisville School District Board of School Directors will hold a Special Board Meeting at 7:30 pm on January 4, 2012 in the LGI Room of the Intermediate/Senior High School, 550 W. Palmer Street, Morrisville, PA. The purpose of the meeting is the 2012-13 Budget and such other lawful matters as may come before the Board.
Wanda Kartal
School Board Secretary
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Morrisville's Christmas Miracle
I usually find J.D. Mullane's columns annoying, but this one is a feel good story about Morrisville that's refreshingly free of his usual subject matter.
Morrisville's Christmas miracle
Miracle rescue
Dec. 25, 1958, dateline Morrisville. The wire services reported the miraculous rescue of Carol Scheese, who had fallen into the icy Delaware Canal on Christmas Eve.Posted: Thursday, December 22, 2011 6:00 am | Updated: 1:05 am, Thu Dec 22, 2011.
Carol Kenny should be dead. She knows this. She knows the date and place and manner of her ending: Dec. 24, 1958, in Morrisville, in the Delaware Canal, of drowning.
She said it’s a miracle she’s alive, and you wonder. The amazing events occurred in a span of about five minutes. A stranger’s premonition. A car into the water. The blasting horn. The teenage boy in the right place.
“It was miraculous,” said Kenny, 55, who lives in the Elderberry Pond section of Levittown.
In 1958, she was Carol Scheese. She was 2 years old and lived on Hillside Avenue. On that bitter cold Christmas Eve, she was playing outside, bundled in a pink snowsuit. She wandered from her minders, through a towpath gate, walked onto the frozen canal, and broke through into 5 feet of water. She was drowning.
Of this, she has no recollection, but newspaper stories, which she keeps, carry details.
“It’s a strange story,” Carol said, “but Mrs. Lambert was the strangest angle.”
That would be Hazel Lambert, a housewife. At the moment Carol dropped through the ice, Mrs. Lambert was a half block away when she was overcome with inexplicable dread. She told reporters in 1958 that she felt strangely compelled to drive to the canal, which is when she spotted “two tiny hands bobbing up and down.”
Attempting a rescue, Mrs. Lambert drove her car onto the ice, but it crashed through, trapping her inside. She leaned on the horn.
“The Taylors heard it,” Carol said.
The Taylors — Glenn, 15, and his father, George. They had stopped at George’s parents’ house on Hillside Avenue when the blaring horn drew their attention.
“My father was on the phone and he looked out the window and said, ‘Let’s get down to the canal, something’s wrong,’ “ Glenn Taylor recalled.
“We got there and the lady was in her car screaming that there was a baby in the water. I saw Carol’s pink suit. She was face down, and the real problem we saw was that if she slipped under the ice, she was gone,” he said.
Glenn retrieved a pole and, in a seated position, shimmied over the ice. He snagged Carol with the pole, lifting her head above the ice and water. Reaching, he pulled her to his lap, and shimmied back.
“I thought both of us were gonna go through the ice,” he said.
He and his father rushed Carol to Mercer County Hospital.
“I was in the back seat and I had the baby across my lap. Her breathing was so shallow. I picked her up by her feet and shook her and a lot of water came out of her,” Glenn said.
Doctors gave Carol a 50-50 survival chance, and credited Glenn’s lifesaving technique with keeping her alive. The next day, Carol recovered.
The wire services made it a national story. Even The New York Times sent a reporter.
“The phone rang every 15 minutes for a couple of days with reporters wanting to talk to us,” Glenn recalled.
Then the story was forgotten, but not by Carol Kenny and Glenn Taylor.
“My parents told me when I was about 8, and they never talked about it again,” she said.
Glenn said the events of Christmas Eve 1958 haunted him.
“It left a mark, deep inside. Things would trigger the memories,” he said. “I wondered, ‘What happened to her?’ ”
Carol wondered about him, too. Last October, she decided to find out.
He was a Pennsbury kid, and on a hunch, she figured he had graduated in 1961. She was right. Coincidentally, the Class of ’61 was having its 50th reunion in Washington Crossing that month. A classmate agreed to pass her phone number and email address to Glenn.
“I was floored when I got it,” he said. “I called Carol. We talked for an hour. All I wanted to know was did she have a good life?”
She did. Three children, two boys and a girl. She and her husband own a lawn service.
Taylor has been married 43 years, and has children. He is retired and living in Greensboro, N.C.
They have not seen each other since that Christmas Eve. They are working on a date to meet in the new year.
“I guess you could say the planets aligned correctly that day,” Glenn said. “Everything fell into place. If one thing didn’t happen as it did, it would have been a very sad Christmas.”
Carol is grateful for the 53 Christmases she’s had because he was there.
“On the phone, I thanked him for saving my life,” she said. “When I see him, I will give him a big hug.”
She said it’s a miracle she’s alive, and you wonder. The amazing events occurred in a span of about five minutes. A stranger’s premonition. A car into the water. The blasting horn. The teenage boy in the right place.
“It was miraculous,” said Kenny, 55, who lives in the Elderberry Pond section of Levittown.
In 1958, she was Carol Scheese. She was 2 years old and lived on Hillside Avenue. On that bitter cold Christmas Eve, she was playing outside, bundled in a pink snowsuit. She wandered from her minders, through a towpath gate, walked onto the frozen canal, and broke through into 5 feet of water. She was drowning.
Of this, she has no recollection, but newspaper stories, which she keeps, carry details.
“It’s a strange story,” Carol said, “but Mrs. Lambert was the strangest angle.”
That would be Hazel Lambert, a housewife. At the moment Carol dropped through the ice, Mrs. Lambert was a half block away when she was overcome with inexplicable dread. She told reporters in 1958 that she felt strangely compelled to drive to the canal, which is when she spotted “two tiny hands bobbing up and down.”
Attempting a rescue, Mrs. Lambert drove her car onto the ice, but it crashed through, trapping her inside. She leaned on the horn.
“The Taylors heard it,” Carol said.
The Taylors — Glenn, 15, and his father, George. They had stopped at George’s parents’ house on Hillside Avenue when the blaring horn drew their attention.
“My father was on the phone and he looked out the window and said, ‘Let’s get down to the canal, something’s wrong,’ “ Glenn Taylor recalled.
“We got there and the lady was in her car screaming that there was a baby in the water. I saw Carol’s pink suit. She was face down, and the real problem we saw was that if she slipped under the ice, she was gone,” he said.
Glenn retrieved a pole and, in a seated position, shimmied over the ice. He snagged Carol with the pole, lifting her head above the ice and water. Reaching, he pulled her to his lap, and shimmied back.
“I thought both of us were gonna go through the ice,” he said.
He and his father rushed Carol to Mercer County Hospital.
“I was in the back seat and I had the baby across my lap. Her breathing was so shallow. I picked her up by her feet and shook her and a lot of water came out of her,” Glenn said.
Doctors gave Carol a 50-50 survival chance, and credited Glenn’s lifesaving technique with keeping her alive. The next day, Carol recovered.
The wire services made it a national story. Even The New York Times sent a reporter.
“The phone rang every 15 minutes for a couple of days with reporters wanting to talk to us,” Glenn recalled.
Then the story was forgotten, but not by Carol Kenny and Glenn Taylor.
“My parents told me when I was about 8, and they never talked about it again,” she said.
Glenn said the events of Christmas Eve 1958 haunted him.
“It left a mark, deep inside. Things would trigger the memories,” he said. “I wondered, ‘What happened to her?’ ”
Carol wondered about him, too. Last October, she decided to find out.
He was a Pennsbury kid, and on a hunch, she figured he had graduated in 1961. She was right. Coincidentally, the Class of ’61 was having its 50th reunion in Washington Crossing that month. A classmate agreed to pass her phone number and email address to Glenn.
“I was floored when I got it,” he said. “I called Carol. We talked for an hour. All I wanted to know was did she have a good life?”
She did. Three children, two boys and a girl. She and her husband own a lawn service.
Taylor has been married 43 years, and has children. He is retired and living in Greensboro, N.C.
They have not seen each other since that Christmas Eve. They are working on a date to meet in the new year.
“I guess you could say the planets aligned correctly that day,” Glenn said. “Everything fell into place. If one thing didn’t happen as it did, it would have been a very sad Christmas.”
Carol is grateful for the 53 Christmases she’s had because he was there.
“On the phone, I thanked him for saving my life,” she said. “When I see him, I will give him a big hug.”
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Corbett to Freeze Spending, Projects Shortfall
Corbett to freeze spending, projects shortfall
Corbett to freeze spending, projects shortfall
Posted: Tuesday, December 20, 2011 12:24 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Corbett's top budget adviser on Tuesday warned that Pennsylvania's tax collections will continue to suffer from economic weakness and said he is developing a plan to freeze some state spending to ease a shortfall that he expects will reach at least $500 million by the end of the fiscal year in six months.
Budget Secretary Charles Zogby would not give details about the kind or amount of spending that could be frozen, but said he expects Corbett, a Republican, to act by the end of December on a set of options given to him by Zogby.
He also warned of another painful budget for the 2012-13 fiscal year beginning July 1 in which Corbett would balance spending without raising taxes. But the state will have to find a way to pay for a projected $1 billion in growing health care, pension and debt costs, Zogby said.
"We want to make very clear that these are very difficult times, with very difficult choices in front of us," Zogby told reporters in a traditional mid-year budget briefing in the Capitol.
Zogby said while many thought the current budget was difficult to balance, he said that "in many respects, 2012-13 is going to be an even more difficult challenge."
The current $27.2 billion budget for the 2011-12 fiscal year made deep cuts to education aid, held the line on human services costs despite rising demand for services, and did not raise taxes to cope with a drop in state revenues and the loss of federal stimulus money. It cut spending by 3 percent, lowered business taxes and carried $1 billion over into the new fiscal year.
Other than saying that tax increases are not under consideration, Zogby would not reveal what the Corbett administration will propose in the governor's February budget plan for the 2012-13 fiscal year.
Through Nov. 30, collections for the state's main bank account, called the general fund, totaled $9.4 billion, which was $345.3 million, or 3.6 percent, below estimate, according to the state Department of Revenue.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Morrisville School Board Keeps Solicitor On For Another Year
Morrisville school board keeps solicitor on for another year
Posted: Friday, December 16, 2011 12:00 am | Updated: 6:27 am, Fri Dec 16, 2011.
School director John Buckman said Thomas Profy IV has been working on litigation that is unfinished and keeping him on will allow him to finish those cases, such as the district’s withholding of payments to Bucks County Technical High School.
The Morrisville School District unanimously reappointed Thomas Profy IV as solicitor despite financial reservations raised at a board reorganization meeting earlier this month.
Some members are still on the search for a better deal.
Board President John DeWilde said he’s been satisfied with Profy’s work during the past year.
“I’ve never felt that he has done anything on the edge or unsatisfactory,” he said. “I look forward to another year with him.”
The board unanimously voted at Wednesday’s meeting to have Profy of Begley, Carlin and Mandio, based in Middletown, as its legal counsel at $130 per hour, his same rate from the past year.
At the Dec. 5 reorganization meeting, the school directors didn’t appoint a solicitor, but agreed to retain Profy at least until Wednesday.
All five new board members — Wanda Kartal, Damon Miller, Dave Stoneburner, Ted Parker and Alina Marone — want to seek bids from other firms that may charge less.
“I think we’re only doing due diligence by looking at other firms,” board member Damon Miller said.
School director Wanda Kartal said a request for a proposal for a solicitor is being drafted.
“Profy will stay on throughout the year and until we receive other bids and proposals from different firms,” she said. “Even though we voted (Wednesday) to put the bid out, we will approve the paperwork to put that in motion at January’s meeting.”
School director John Buckman agreed with DeWilde’s approval of the solicitor’s work. He said Profy has been working on litigation that is unfinished and keeping him on will allow him to finish those cases, such as the district’s withholding of payments to Bucks County Technical High School.
Morrisville officials believe the tech schoolis overcharging. The district was charged about $740,000 for the 2010-11 school years.
“I’m not opposed to looking at other firms, but when you need a good attorney to present cases, your only consideration shouldn’t be price,” he said.
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