Sunday, April 14, 2013
This week's stories include a woman who is heading to prison after assaulting her husband for buying lousy Christmas presents, a missing cactus in Whitemarsh, and an assault with a lacrosse stick.
You're a Mean One, Mrs. Grinch: According to a report in the Lansdale Patch, a 51-year-old woman will spend up to 23 months in prison after she menaced her husband with a butcher knife on Christmas. The woman – whom the prosecutor referred to as "the Grinch on steroids" – was reportedly unhappy with the presents her husband had purchased. Specifically, she wanted jewels and a card, but she received an artsy tile and a Bonsai. Click here to read the full story. Boy Attacks Father with Lacrosse Stick: According to a report in the Pottstown Patch, a 16-year-old received a referral on charges of simple assault and harassment, stemming from an incident with his father. The report states that the son allegedly punched his father in the face, …
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Karen Pilat, 51, of Hatfield, got a maximum 23 months in county jail on a simple assault misdemeanor for menacing her husband with a butcher knife on Christmas because she didn't like her gifts.
Being a butcher-knife-wielding “Grinch” on Christmas has sent one Hatfield woman to jail. Karen Pilat, 51, got a maximum 23-month sentence for conviction on a misdemeanor simple assault for a Christmas 2011 attack on her husband, according to Mainline Media. Pilat menaced her husband with a butcher knife inside their 2400 block of Merel Drive home Christmas morning. Why? Because she didn’t like her gifts. She wanted jewels and a card. She got an artsy tile and a Bonsai. Assistant District Attorney Cara McMenamin said in the article that Pilat's anger at the wrong gifts "... turned her into essentially the ‘Grinch’ on steroids. She really was an abomination." According to the article, Pilat can serve the sentence over three consecutive …
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Take advantage of after-Christmas sales to save big for next year.
On Dec. 26, many retailers slashed the price of their Christmas goods, as well as many of the products they overstocked but didn't sell during the Christmas shopping rush. Their loss is your gain: You can save 50 to 75 percent, and in some cases even more, on gift wrap and decor for next Christmas, and consumer goods you can use now and all year long. Retailers slash prices on other goods this time of year, to encourage shoppers who received gift cards to get out and buy. So if you're not totally shopped out, here's a how-to guide on getting great post-Christmas deals: What to Buy Gift wrap - Wrapping paper, gift bags, tissue paper, gift tags, boxes, tape, ribbon, bows. Since it never goes bad, you can buy for next year and beyond. Also …
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Found in a British family's attic, recordings more than a century old carry the ghostly voices of a family celebrating Christmas.
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Tuesday, December 25, 2012
A box of wax cylinders discovered in a London attic held a special heirloom for one British family — and also what may be the oldest surviving recording of a family at Christmas. The recordings were made on an old phonograph by the family’s patriarch, Cromwell Wall. They were passed down to Wall’s grandson, David Brown, who didn’t know what was recorded on them and didn’t have the equipment to play them. Watch the video to learn what happened.
Monday, December 24, 2012
From lighting your mouth on fire to taking on the Puritans' Christmas ban, learn some holly jolly Christmas facts.
Whether your love of Christmas is rooted in religion or you’re more of the “be good for goodness sake” variety, the Christmas trappings are common to all of us who celebrate the season: the trees, the candy canes, the bird poop-inspired traditions. Just trust us. Here are five things you need to know about Christmas. 1. Americans buy 25-30 million Christmas trees annually, according to the National Christmas Tree Association (yes, such a group exists.) And at any one time, there are 350 million Christmas trees growing on tree farms in the U.S.—that’s almost 42 million more Christmas trees than people living in America. 2. What’s your favorite Christmas tradition? A Yule log? Cookie baking? Bor-ing. Snapdragon is where it’s at. Snapdragon …
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Jumpin' Jack's Inflatable Playland in Hatfield hosted a snowflake-making session Saturday for children to donate to schoolchildren of Sandy Hook in Newtown, CT
Children took a break from jumpin' around at Jumpin' Jack's in Hatfield on Saturday to settle down and decorate some paper snowflakes for their peers at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT. With stickers, markers and crayons, local little ones created their own snowflakes inside the inflatable playland and party center off Schwab Road. The inspiration for the creation of the donations came from Facebook, said fundraiser organizer and Jumpin' Jack's staff member Lindsey Finn. "I found it on Facebook. I'm also doing it with the Goddard School in Montgomeryville," said Finn, an assistant pre-kindergarten and kindergarten teacher at the school. "I thought we could set it up here to get more snowflakes." More than 20 snowflakes were made at …
The batter is so good, it's hard not to eat it all before you put it in the oven.
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Sunday, December 23, 2012
Fruitcakes have become a punchline: the gift nobody wants to receive, the holiday treat that nobody wants to actually eat. But fruitcakes used to be as central to Christmas cuisine as cranberries or stuffing are to Thanksgiving. There is such a thing as delicious fruitcake, and this video will show you how to make it. Hint: get ready to raid your liquor cabinet.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
The winner will net $100,000 for their local school district on Dec. 29
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Tuesday, December 18, 2012
We had tons of national entries in this year’s Deck the House contest and in our quest to find the most over-the-top holiday decorations in the country, we’ve seen everything from a life-size Santa to holiday lights so bright they could blind the neighbors. We loved showcasing everyone’s holiday spirit, but Deck the House isn’t over yet. We’re still looking for the one home so spectacularly decorated that it could be the national grand prize winner of our contest. We have chosen 25 finalists from all our entries across the country. From Dec. 18 to today at noon, readers can vote for their favorite, and that favorite could win $100,000 for his or her local school district. All you have to do is visit this page to browse a gallery of the …
Attendees are asked to bring candles and sing along with Christmas songs at Railroad Plaza at 6 p.m.
The tragedy in Newtown, CT has affected citizens in the North Penn area in some way, be it a family or friend connection or the ongoing debate and fervor over gun control. Lansdale residents in the West Ward have organized a candlelight vigil for Sunday night to honor the teachers and children killed in the school shooting. The vigil begins at 6 p.m. Dec. 23 at Railroad Plaza in Lansdale. West ward resident Ray Liberto said the neighborhood wants the "area to light up the sky and fill the town with song." The idea is for people to bring candles, light each one and sing Christmas songs while focusing on the emotions in the fallout from the Connecticut tragedy. "We will have a lot of candles, and people should bring candles themselves. …
Sunday, December 16, 2012
The lights are untangled and the wreaths are hung — Christmastime is here
Neighbors in Lansdale, Towamencin, Hatfield, North Wales and Montgomery have brightened up their houses for the Christmas season. Patch snapped pictures of some homes in all their decked-out glory this weekend. Upload your own photos of your house to the gallery.
Paula Goff
12:08 pm on Monday, April 15, 2013
Thanks for the clarification Keith. Though most of the family fights highlighted here seem more sad than "silly, surprising, shocking and stunning." more ›