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Monday, February 25, 2013

Local EMS, Mental Health Services Respond to Potential Sequestration

Should Congress not act by March 1, a series of automatic cuts will take effect that affect thousands of middle class jobs, and cut vital services for children, seniors, people with mental illness and our men and women in uniform

If the sequester goes through on March 1, it could mean massive cuts to emergency services, mental health services, school funding, senior citizen services and more. Locally, the various National Alliance on Mental Illness programs continue to advocate for change before March 1. If sequestration goes into effect, more than 373,000 mentally ill adults and children could go untreated. The result could be homelessness, increased crime and increased hospitalizations. Carol Caruso, executive director of NAMI Montgomery County, said mental health and substance abuse programs could be cut by about 5 percent. Tack that onto the 10 percent cut that occurred in the Pennsylvania budget. "There is more slicing away at services in that area that are …

Jim Roberts

5:10 pm on Monday, February 25, 2013

Amazing that a 2% cut in the federal budget will have such an impact. I guess the government is so efficient already, there really isn't any fat to trim after all, eh?   more ›

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Three Injured, One Rescued in Montgomeryville Crash

Two victims were transported to Lansdale Hospital and a third to Abington Memorial Hospital following the Wednesday morning crash at Horsham Road/Route 463 and Upper State Road in Montgomery Township

Three people were injured and one was rescued following a Wednesday morning three-vehicle crash at Horsham and Upper State roads. Police said the accident occurred at 8:18 a.m. A vehicle was turning left from Horsham Road/Route 463 westbound onto southbound Upper State Road, when it was impacted by two vehicles, according to Lt. Gerry Dougherty of Montgomery Township Police. One person was trapped in a vehicle, police said. Two victims were transported to Lansdale Hospital for treatment, and the third was transported to Abington Memorial Hospital, police said. Both had non-life-threatening injuries, according to 6abc.com reports. Montgomeryville Patch readers reported that a minivan had pinned another vehicle to a telephone pole at the …

Monday, June 25, 2012

A Nose for Finding the Lost

Volunteer Medical Service Corps of Lansdale's Canine Emergency Search and Rescue, or CESAR, recently assisted in the search and rescue of a missing Hatfield man

It helps having a nose to find the lost. That's just what the dogs in the one-year-old Volunteer Medical Service Corps of Lansdale Canine Emergency Search and Rescue are trained to do. On Saturday afternoon, it was canine Bo, a bloodhound mix, his handler Rich Roberts and flanker Andrew Bell, who were able to locate missing 85-year-old Leo Beaulac. Beaulac had wandered from Spring Meadow Assisted Living at Walnut Street and Cowpath Road in Hatfield Township Friday night. Beaulac was found Saturday afternoon in a small culvert in a heavily-wooded area about 200 yards off a long driveway of 1622 Walnut Street. He was found 11 minutes after CESAR was dispatched in the area. VMSC Battalion Chief Jonathan Detweiler said CESAR was dispatched …

Jonathan Detweiler

1:41 pm on Monday, June 25, 2012

Thanks for the great story Tony. We consider a great honor to serve this community and the needs of the people here.   more ›

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Home Invasion in Blue Bell

Report: Homeowner shot at two suspects

A house in the Belfry section of Whitpain Township was the scene of a home invasion in the early overnight hours of Saturday morning. Police were looking for two black males wearing dark clothing who broke into a home at about 1 a.m. on the 700 block of Danbury Drive. Breaking News Network, a service that monitors police radio reports, reported that the homeowner had fired a gun at the intruders and may have struck at least one of them. Police declined to confirm that the homeowner had shot at the intruders. "They were scared off by the homeowner," said Sergeant Joseph Fenerty of the Whitpain Township Police department, who said that the suspects had fled the scene. "We're checking hospitals now," Fenerty said. "They're considered …

Thursday, September 29, 2011

County's Public Safety Radio System in Critical Condition

Parts from the manufacturer are no longer available for an aging system as potentially 'catastrophic' component failures loom.

The county's emergency radio system is now in a state of emergency. With many of the county's chiefs of police crowding its Norristown meeting chamber, the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution Wednesday declaring that an "actual emergency exists" in the county's aging public safety telecommunications infrastructure. Commissioner Jim Matthews described the measure as a "Band-Aid" that gives the county "the ability to immediately respond to any shortcomings in the system." Those shortcomings are reportedly multiplying. Lower Gwynedd Chief of Police John Scholly called the increasing difficulty of obtaining replacement parts for the system a "major concern." "There are parts of the county radio system that are as old …

SB

1:05 pm on Sunday, October 2, 2011

Save money and fire Sean Petty who got us into this mess.   more ›

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