Teacher Pay

Here's an article from the BCCT looking at the recent Souderton teacher's strike and teacher pay. The best part of the story are the reader comments.

Thank God that this would never happen here in Morr...

Oh. Sorry. My bad.

Teachers: Pay driving them away

By LOU SESSINGER
Staff Writer

The Souderton Area school board listened impassively as three teachers claimed the board’s rigid stance during the current labor dispute over salary is driving talented teachers to districts willing to pay more — and quality of education in Souderton is suffering.

Speaking during the public comment section of last Tuesday night’s school board meeting, speech therapist Allison Moran said the recent resignation of three of her colleagues, “due to the contract this board has presented,” has reduced the number of full-time district speech therapists to two.

One took a job in Upper Perkiomen and two were hired by Upper Dublin, she said, adding that those who went to Upper Dublin got more money.

“Quality teachers and speech therapists cannot be kept in this district without adequate compensation,” she said.

School district solicitor Jeffrey Sultanik said the board was aware of a trend in which school districts are competing for a limited number of speech therapists.

“The board would be prepared to address this issue by having a different compensation scale arranged for speech therapists,” he said. “Compensation should be determined to a certain extent by supply and demand, and this board is prepared right now to sit down and negotiate a separate compensation scale for speech therapists.

“But you’re shaking your head no because it runs contrary to your concept of unionism, which keeps everybody’s salary at the same level, not withstanding supply and demand,” he added.

Science teacher Christopher Luck said he had a master’s degree, was certified to teach both chemistry and physics, was in his ninth year with the school district and earned $53,600 a year, several thousand dollars less than he would be paid at neighboring North Penn or Pennridge.

He said he has seen many of his colleagues leave Souderton for higher pay elsewhere.

“Do you really want quality teachers to leave?” he asked.

Christine Jackson, a physics teacher with 16 years’ experience, said this year the board’s attitude toward teacher salaries “left us with no choice” but to go on strike or find employment elsewhere.

“We’re disheartened by your lack of respect to teachers and administrators … and your unwillingness to strengthen the district,” she said.

The teachers union went on strike for 15 days at the start of the school year in September.

The school district has offered a three-year contract with pay raises averaging 2.5 percent. The union wants a four-year pact with raises averaging 8.2 percent.

The labor impasse is now in a phase of nonbinding arbitration.

Reorg Recap

Any updates from last night's reorganization meeting? Is the new boss the same as the old boss?

Presbyterian Church Alternative Christmas Shopping this Sunday

Thanks to the emailer who sent in this information on a great Christmas shopping idea!

You can also do some extra good by bringing something for the food bank too.

On Sunday, Dec. 7th the Presbyterian Church in Morrisville is having an "Alternative Gift Market" from noon to 3:00. It will feature art from Trenton Soup Kitchen artists, Ten Thousand Villages Fair Trade items, handbags from Peru and others, and "gift certificates" for donations for the food pantry!

The "shop" will be in the basement area, "Fellowship Hall" at Morrisville Presbyterian Church on North Pennsylvania and West Trenton Avenues.

It's Raining

From the Inquirer. The state's rainy day fund appears poised to be tapped again.

Was there ever any word on the pay increase for our state legislators?

Pa. lawmakers consider tapping surplus funds
By Paul Nussbaum Posted on Mon, Dec. 1, 2008

Facing a growing budget deficit, Pennsylvania lawmakers must consider tapping the state's $750 million "rainy day fund," State Rep. Dwight Evans (D., Phila.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said yesterday.

"This is more than a rainy day; it's a hurricane," Evans said.

The legislature also should consider using its own $240 million surplus fund and the approximately $700 million in legislatively controlled grant money, familiarly known as "walking around money," he said.

Pennsylvania's budget shortfall may be about $2 billion by the end of the fiscal year on June 30, as tax revenues are lagging about 7 percent below projections so far. The state budget is $28.3 billion.

The financial woes of Pennsylvania and other states will take center stage in Philadelphia tomorrow, when President-elect Barack Obama and the nation's governors gather to discuss increased federal aid for states.

Last Monday, Obama asked Congress to ready a stimulus program for him to sign as soon as possible after he takes office Jan. 20. Estimates of the spending range from $500 billion to $700 billion over two years, and Democratic congressional leaders have said some of it could help cash-strapped states provide health care to the poor and pay for road and bridge projects.

Pennsylvania would like to get a commitment of $750 million to $1 billion from Washington, Evans said.

Gov. Rendell is to brief legislative leaders Dec. 9 on the grim state of Pennsylvania's finances.

Rendell already has ordered two spending reductions at state agencies, issued a hiring freeze, and banned state-employee travel and the purchase of new government vehicles.

As the leader of state House budget efforts, Evans said the state should borrow money to spend on road, bridge, and mass-transit projects. That would create needed jobs and shore up the state's crumbling infrastructure, he said.

He said he would reintroduce a bill to lease the Pennsylvania Turnpike to a private operator. A proposal to lease the turnpike to an American-Spanish consortium for $12 billion died in the legislature this year.

Targeted tax increases, but not a general tax increase, also may be considered, Evans said.

"Everything is going to be on the table," Evans said. "We're not going to try to protect anything. . . . I'm not going to say no to anything."

At the same time, the state needs to spend on such things as education and transportation as "investments for the future," Evans said. He said cutbacks for hospitals, nursing homes and the poor should be "the very, very last places we go." He said cuts there would simply transfer the burden to local governments and to overstretched private charities.

"At some point, this will pass, and we will be looking at the future. We need to make Pennsylvania a competitive place to live and work," Evans said.

The state's "rainy day fund" has been tapped before. In 2002, the legislature approved a $750 million withdrawal from the fund, and in 2003, it approved draining the remaining $250 million from the fund.

Contributions over the last five years have brought the fund balance back up to $750 million. A two-thirds majority of each legislative house is required to approve any withdrawal.

Stockham Update

From the BCCT.

Have you noticed the new windows and signs downtown? There are signs of life in the nearly century-old Stockham Building.

Meanwhile, in another part of town, the strip club lawsuit continues.

Stay tuned.

Strip club lawsuit continues, fitness center coming to Morrisville
Posted in News on Wednesday, November 26th, 2008 at 12:57 pm by Courier Times staff writer Danny Adler

A fitness center is coming soon to a site that’s the focus of a federal lawsuit over a New Jersey company’s constitutional right to put a strip club in Morrisville.

Signs posted at the four-story Stockham Building in the middle of downtown Morrisville boast that a Champion Fitness Center is coming soon as the building’s owner and a tenant are in the midst of suing the borough and its zoning hearing board.

Luke Lirot, an attorney from Florida representing Stockham Interests and 10 Enterprises in their suit against Morrisville, said the lawsuit is still moving forward.

“The bottom line is, we felt that the application was erroneously denied,” he said. In May, borough zoning officials unanimously denied variances to allow the strip club.

Reorganization Meeting Monday

We'll soon see if the Emperor is re-elected to a second term as president of the board.

It's a simple vote for the board members: If you support the secret meetings, the uncoordinated and haphazard spending of taxpayer money, the harassment and bullying, and the rest of the Emperor's agenda, then you will vote for him for a second term.

Prediction: 7-2 Hellmann for a second term.

Baaa...Baaa...Black Sheep.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Board Reorganization Meeting
The annual board reorganization meeting will be held in the LGI room located in the Middle Senior High School at 7:30 p.m.

Site: HS LGI
Time: 7:30PM

Plans, plans, and more plans

From the Inquirer.

Our neighbors to the south are building a new elementary school. It's been in the planning stages for ten tears, but it's been PLANNED! The Philly School District is much, much larger than Morrisville, but look at their planning staff.

Plans are for sissies anyway. We can do it on the say so of the Emperor and the board of selected toadies. That's all we need.

Groundbreaking set for new elementary school
Posted on Thu, Nov. 27, 2008

After years of delays, the Philadelphia School District will break ground on a new Frances E. Willard Elementary school next week.

The new school will include a two-story, 96,000-square-foot building for 850 students. Planned is an industrial-looking exterior with a combination of steel and masonry structures. The new Willard will rise on a former cemetery site, which was most recently used by the city as a recreation center. Human remains buried at the site have been moved.

The Kensington school community has been waiting for a new building since 1998. In the current Willard building, the only student restrooms are in the basement. Also, the school has no cafeteria, so students must eat in their classrooms.

The groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday at the current school site, 2900 Emerald St. - Kristen A. Graham

Oops!

From the Inquirer.

Maybe we can learn from this mistake?

Camden school district must return $393,00 in federal funds
By Rita Giordano Inquirer Staff Writer Posted on Thu, Nov. 27, 2008

The Camden School District, which often complains to the state that it doesn't have enough money to serve its mostly poor student population, has to return nearly $400,000 in federal aid.

Why? Apparently someone didn't file the necessary request to allow the district to roll over the unused funds from 2004-05 to the following year.

The district routinely asks for federal permission to roll over unused funds from one year to the next, spokesman Bart Leff said. However, for the year in question, he said the request for rollover permission "either wasn't made or it was made late."

The $393,000 was part of nearly $21 million in Title I aid from the U.S. Department of Education for the 2004-05 school year, according to Leff. The unused money, which is granted to help low-income children, was identified through an audit.

A vote to return the aid was made at Tuesday night's board meeting.

In an interview yesterday, board president Sara Davis said she feels state officials "share some of the blame" for the district losing the money. She said the money would have been used to fund certain math and reading programs, but state officials wanted those programs discontinued.

She also acknowledged that given administrative changes and lack of continuity within the district in recent years, "things happened that shouldn't have happened."

Camden school officials have long said the largely poor district needs more aid than it receives. To balance this school year's budget, the district had to cut staff and programs.

The board also voted to make Jan. 20, the day of President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration, a school holiday. It gives students an extended holiday since they are already off Jan. 19 for Martin Luther King's Birthday and employees a paid day off.

Local Sales Tax for the Schools?

If you remember our friends in the financially-strapped and taken-over-by-the-state Greenland School District in Arkansas, the local city council is proposing a sales tax increase designated for the district only.

A member of the city council is the former president of the final voter elected school board and believes that "If we pass the sales tax, most of the money will be paid by people passing through town..."

That only works if you have a strong commercial base already existing in the town.

"If the school can't stand on its own, we go to Fayetteville and taxes go up forever," Groom said. "The 2 percent tax will last for only two years."

The bottom line, according to Groom: "Even if you don't care one iota about the school, you're better off passing a sales tax for two years and letting people from out of town pay for it."

It's an interesting crossroad. Is it legal in Pennsylvania? I doubt it. Is it worth a try? I doubt that too.

What I do know is that we better start throwing ideas out on the table pretty soon.

Greenland Aldermen Consider Sales Tax To Help Schools
Legislature Changed Law In 1993 To Allow Funding Method
Friday, November 28, 2008 7:50 PM CST in News

A tactic to boost school income using sales taxes that failed 17 years ago in Fayetteville may work in Greenland.

Bill Groom, a member of the Greenland City Council, proposed letting Greenland residents vote on extending a 1 percent sales tax to benefit the financially strapped school district.

Groom, the former president of the Greenland School Board before the State Department of Education dissolved the school board and took over the district, says a sales tax to finance sewer improvements will end next year.

Greenland voters could extend the tax and divert a portion of the money toward bringing school finances back into the black, Groom said.

"Bald Knob has done it," Groom said. "I've talked to them and they've been real helpful. They've sent us a sample ballot and we've talked to a tax attorney in Little Rock, recommended by our City Attorney Danny Wright, about the legal wording."

Bald Knob dedicated 95 percent of its sales tax to the school and 5 percent to the city, Groom said. Bald Knob residents approved the measure last year. It has not been constitutionally challenged.

The Fayetteville School District attempted a similar tactic in 1991, but Springdale attorney John Lisle sued the district.

Back then, Lisle said, the move was judged to be illegal.

"At that time, no sales tax law existed allowing you to use a sales tax for schools," Lisle said. "That made the Fayetteville tax unconstitutional."

Lisle said he'd just moved to Northwest Arkansas from Little Rock and his father had voted for the Fayetteville tax. That alerted Lisle to the problem.

"It took close to four years to get it all done including the appeals," Lisle said. "They'd estimated the tax would raise $130 million. We won. They lost. This is the first I've heard of it since."

However, the state Legislature intervened in 1993, passing a law that makes it legal for cities to share sales taxes with schools.

In part, the law stipulates that a school district does not have the authority to impose a sales tax itself. However, a city or county may designate on the ballot that a portion of a sales tax will be dedicated to a school district.

In that scenario, only voters inside Greenland would vote on the tax. The Greenland school district extends from Prairie Grove on the west to Elkins on the east and from Fayetteville to the north and past Winslow to the south.

Voters outside the Greenland would pay the tax only when purchasing items or services from businesses in Greenland.

Groom said, from his point of view as an alderman, the tax is justified -- even though the city would have to pay $3,500 for a special election.

"We have a 2 percent sales tax with 1 percent dedicated to sewer improvements," Groom said. "The sewer tax is about to end. The sewer allowed us to get the businesses along Interstate 540, which is most of the sales tax coming into the city. Without the 1 percent sales tax, those businesses couldn't have been established."

The school tax would last for two years, bringing in about $100,000 per year, Groom said.

"If we pass the sales tax, most of the money will be paid by people passing through town," Groom said. "There's not a lot of money that Greenland people spend themselves in Greenland. So, we're looking at an outside stream of money versus 8, 9 or 10 mills more than we're paying now if we're annexed into the Fayetteville school district. That would have a great effect on people's budgets."

Groom said he feels Greenland schools are at a crossroad.

"If the school can't stand on its own, we go to Fayetteville and taxes go up forever," Groom said. "The 2 percent tax will last for only two years."

The bottom line, according to Groom: "Even if you don't care one iota about the school, you're better off passing a sales tax for two years and letting people from out of town pay for it."

Winterfest: December 6

From the BCCT.

Make sure you come out and support our town.

Winterfest is coming to town

By DANNY ADLER

Now that the Thanksgiving turkey is done, Santa Claus is preparing to make his annual rounds through Morrisville during the borough’s Dec. 6 Winterfest celebration.

The jolly one’s day kicks off with a “Breakfast with Santa” event at Holy Trinity School and concludes with him hanging out at the Morrisville Rescue Squad headquarters.

Other festivities include a Winterfest parade through the borough’s streets, a live nativity scene and concert, caroling, tree lighting, a reading of the Christmas classic and more.

Here’s a full list sent from organizer Kim Kane of the Morrisville YMCA:

“Breakfast with Santa” from 8:30 to 11 a.m. at Holy Trinity School on Osborne Avenue gives families the chance to enjoy some morning grub with Santa. For tickets and pricing for the breakfast, call 215-295-9235.

From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Morrisville YMCA at 200 N. Pennsylvania Ave. hosts a craft fair and flea market, featuring crafts, jewelry, holiday gifts and food.

The Morrisville Senior Center Christmas Bazaar will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 31 E. Cleveland Ave.

The Winterfest parade runs from 10 to 11:30 a.m. and swirls through the borough, starting at Post Road and traveling down South Pennsylvania Avenue to Delaware Avenue. Then the procession turns onto Washington Avenue, Lafayette Street and Hillcrest Avenue before going back on Pennsylvania Avenue, where the parade ends at the YMCA.

The First Baptist Church of Morrisville, at 50 N. Pennsylvania Ave., will present a live nativity and offer refreshments from 4 to 7 p.m. A “Celebrate the Season” concert there is scheduled for 6 p.m.

From 5 to 6 p.m. at the Robert Morris Plaza at Bridge Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, there will be caroling, the reading of “The Night Before Christmas,” the annual tree lighting and a guest appearance by Santa Claus.

Local businesses on Bridge Street are slated to stay open during the Bridge Street block party from 5 to 8 p.m., featuring live entertainment and refreshments.

Also from 5 to 8 p.m., the Morrisville Rescue Squad, on North Washington Street, will host an open house with refreshments, entertainment and, yep, more Santa.

Way to go, Fitz!

From John Mullane's column in the BCCT.

Mike Fitzpatrick has always been a class act and his service to Bucks County is well documented. If ever there was someone who deserved a break, this is the guy.

A second chance

By JOHN MULLANE
Bucks County Courier Times

Mike Fitzpatrick was told he had colon cancer in June. It was stage three cancer, which means it had spread to his lymph nodes.

The former Bucks County congressman found himself facing his own mortality.

“You want to know how is it to be told you have cancer?” he asked, exiting a hospital elevator earlier this week on his way to a morning session of chemotherapy.

He is 45 and has a wife and six children.

“I ignored the symptoms from about, let's see, January,” he said, entering the treatment suite. He removed his suit coat and draped it over a chair.

Last May, he said, at his wife's insistence, he went for exams and tests. In early June, he was told about the cancer.

“The first hour was, well, basically disbelief. Then there was another hour of self-pity. After that it was like, OK, I have six kids. What do I have to do to beat this?”

Fitzpatrick settled into the chair. He unbuttoned his shirt. Blood was drawn. A thin plastic tube curled from an IV bag filled with clear liquid and was anchored to a port in his chest.

The two-hour chemo drip began. He is a veteran of this procedure, and he chatted amiably through it.

Because of his relative youth, his doctors recommended an aggressive treatment program of radiation and chemo to shrink the colon tumor. Afterward, whatever was left would be cut out — a major surgery that would leave him down and out for five to six weeks.

But in mid October, he got good news. His doctor, examining his CT scans, said the tumor appeared to have vanished.

“Melted away,” Fitzpatrick said.

The surgery was canceled.

“I left that doctor's office and I felt free,” he said.

Could the cancer return? Yes.

“I'm not counting on it, though,” he said.

A nurse checked the IV bag.

“The steroid they give me will keep me awake all night. That's OK. I'll be in court tomorrow. I can do paperwork overnight,” he said.

Since losing his congressional seat in 2006, Fitzpatrick has returned home to Levittown and is practicing law. He is legal counsel to the Morrisville School District. He drafts wills as a sideline.

His oldest child is in college. His youngest is 8. He told the older ones about the cancer, but the little ones he only gave bare details.

“Dad's got to take some medicine to get better, is what I told them. No need to burden them,” he said.

Ultimately, cancer is a lonely battle, he said. There is fear. There are nights when he is up alone worrying, questioning.

“You think about whether you have succeeded in fulfilling your talents, your dreams, and you refocus on what is really important,” he said.

“You know — there was this calming effect on me, too. I haven't set an alarm clock since June 3. Until then, my life was measured in six-minute intervals, for [attorney] billing purposes. As a public servant, I was always thinking how many events can I cram into one day? I realized I wasn't spending enough time with my kids.

“I told my wife, I'm not setting my alarm for 5:30 anymore. Let the birds wake me. For me, it took a crisis to make me realize what I should have been doing all along. I feel like, you know, I've been given a second chance.”

The treatment was complete. The chemo tube was removed.

“You want to get coffee?” he asked.

Downstairs, he took a seat in the hospital cafeteria next to large windows, which overlook an outdoor courtyard called the Healing Garden.

He talked about the cigars he can no longer smoke, and the doctors who saved his life.

He reminisced about his days as a county commissioner.

He talked about taking more time to help one of his sons with reading, and how he insists on driving his children to school each morning. It's not a hassle in his day, but a highlight.

He talked about Thanksgiving with family and how this Christmas will be, for him, “one like no other.”

He sipped his coffee and looked into the courtyard, filled with late morning sunshine.

“Looks like a good day,” he said.

Happy Thanksgiving

Proclamation of Thanksgiving
by the President of the United States of America

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years, with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.

A. Lincoln

Morrisville Tomorrow

Here's a comment from long time poster Peter answering the question of who or what is Morrisville Tomorrow.

It's nice to see someone on the scene in the community with some progressive ideas. OK, what I meant was any ideas at all. The school board is mired is doing too much haphazardly and ineffectively with too little and the borough council is just not doing much at all.

Yes, being a [insert public office holder title] is hard and demanding. But whirling feverishly and accomplishing nothing is just like a Canadian police chase.

Let's hear some real discussion that can improve Morrisville instead of what's really happening: Zero discussion and outright evasion.

Face it people: We got exactly what we voted for.

Maybe we can do better?

So, who/what is Morrisville Tomorrow?

Well, like the ad says, we are a non-partisan group that is interested in getting more people informed about the goings on of our town. We recognize that we are all busy and that people may be more inclined to get involved if someone helped them stay informed. None of us can attend every meeting, but we can as a group.

The sentiment of the billboard is sincere. We just want to show our appreciation for the efforts of those that are working hard to make our schools great, and recognize the improvements that are being made.

We encourage a progressive can-do attitude and support attempts to improve our town through business development. We love the rich history of the town but realize that history alone will not sustain us. And not only do we need to attract businesses to our town, we need to attract the right types of businesses.

What Morrisville Tomorrow is not: we are NOT a charitable organization. We have NOT incorporated, nor do we plan to. We are NOT about reliving the past and we are NOT about a new school building.

Want to know more? Contact Morrisville Tomorrow at:

Morrisville Tomorrow
P.O. Box 1222
Morrisville, PA 19067
morrisvilletomorrow@googlegroups.com

Where's Chicken Little When You Need Him?

From Forbes Magazine.

Pa. teacher, government pension funds post losses
By MARK SCOLFORO , 11.25.08, 05:00 PM EST

Pennsylvania's massive state government and teacher pension funds reported double-digit declines Tuesday, losses that reflect returns through September but not the market's continued fall since then.

And officials with both systems warned that year-end totals could be even worse.

From July 1 through Sept. 30, the two funds fell by more than $12 billion, or nearly half the size of the current state budget.

The State Employees' Retirement System said its investments fell about 14.4 percent from January through September, while the larger Public School Employees' Retirement System's investments dropped 16.7 percent for the one-year period ending Sept. 30.

The government workers' pension fund shed $4.3 billion dollars from July 1 though Sept. 30, ending the period with a value of $29.3 billion. The teacher fund, the nation's 14th largest public defined-benefit pension fund, lost $8 billion over the same three-month period to a value of $54.7 billion.

The stock market has experienced steep declines in October and November, and the two pension funds warned that their year-end accounting may end up looking worse.

In a statement, the state employees' pension fund said its investment performance in 2008 closely mirrored that of other large public pension funds in a prominent national comparison service.

Over the past decade, the State Employees' Retirement System has produced 8 percent a year on its investments, compared with a median of 5.6 percent for the large pension funds measured by the Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service.

For 2007, the system earned 17.2 percent, a $5 billion windfall that was among the best in the nation. By comparison, the S&P 500 grew by 5.49 percent in 2007.

The investment returns are bad news for state government retirees who have been pressuring the Legislature for a cost-of-living increase. Such increases are not automatic.

But state tax revenues for the current year are running hundreds of millions of dollars below expectations, and the decline in pension fund investments raises the likelihood taxpayers will have to pump in billions more to balance the retirement funds even without a cost of living adjustment.

Bridge Renovation Trifecta in Play

The BCCT tells us this morning that the Calhoun Street Bridge is next on the list of DRJTBC structures to be rehabilitated.

Structures need to be maintained (note to school board) and plans need to be made (also a note to the school board) but it's not going to be easy traffic-wise with both the Superhighway and Calhoun bridges undergoing some sort of work.

Calhoun Street Bridge slated for rehabilitation
The 124-year-old span is the oldest of the commission’s 20 Delaware River bridges.
By GEORGE MATTAR

The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission awarded a contract Monday to start the rehabilitation process for the 124-year-old Calhoun Street Bridge, which carries about 18,500 vehicles daily.

At its regular monthly meeting, the board approved a contract not to exceed $666,000 for TransSystems Corp. of Langhorne to begin engineering studies on the bridge. The engineering contract is for preliminary, final and post design services.

The rehabilitation includes replacement of the floors, repairs of the iron truss, painting, improvements to the bridge rail and sidewalk safety features and roadway repairs.

Construction is expected to being late next year and be completed in late 2010, said commission spokesman Joe Donnelly. The study will determine the cost of the project.

“The Calhoun Street Bridge is the oldest bridge in our jurisdiction,” said Frank G. McCartney, the commission’s executive director. “At 124 years old, the bridge is constructed of wrought iron, posing unique challenges for commission personnel and our consultants to overcome in rehabilitating the structure.”

Donnelly said McCartney was referring to the iron structure, as few, if any bridges are constructed of iron today. Even back in the 1800s, Donnelly said many bridges were built with steel.

The bridge is 1,274 feet long. A timber plank pedestrian sidewalk is supported by the upriver truss on steel cantilever brackets, Donnelly said. The bridge has a three ton limit and a 15 mph speed limit.

In 1985, stiff opposition from Morrisville residents prevented the commission from replacing the span with a new bridge. Likewise, a plan by the commission to convert the Calhoun Street bridge into a pedestrian route in return for a four-lane bridge being built next to it was turned back in 1992.

Thanksgiving Day Pigskin Preview

Don't forget some pigskin with your turkey on Thursday. The Bulldogs will host Bristol at Robert Morris Field at 10:30 A.M.

THANKSGIVING DAY RIVALRY
Cookson spreading out success

The Morrisville sophomore has thrown for 1,161 yards in the Bulldogs’ spread offense. He said his team needs to be more consistent to defeat archrival Bristol Thursday.
By TOM WARING

Matt Cookson loves quarterbacking in the spread offense.

The Morrisville sophomore rarely lines up under center, almost always taking the ball from the shotgun. The Bulldogs have a single back and up to four wide receivers.

“The defense has to stay on their heels,” Cookson said. “We can run or pass.”

Cookson, a 6-foot-1, 175-pounder who played mostly special teams as a freshman, has had a pretty good season. The 10th-grader has thrown for 1,161 yards and seven touchdowns.

The Bulldogs, though, have mostly struggled. Cookson blames the team’s 2-8 record (0-3 in the Bicentennial Athletic League) on inconsistency.

“Football is four quarters, not just one or two,” he said.

Morrisville has a final chance to prove it can play four solid quarters of football Thursday against archrival Bristol. The teams will meet for the 80th time at 10:30 a.m. at Robert Morris Field.

A backup quarterback a year ago, Cookson will be playing in the most highly anticipated game of his young career. The Thanksgiving game brings out plenty of partisans on both sides.

“We should get a pretty big crowd, and we hope to please them,” he said.

Morrisville coach Jim Gober likes his quarterback’s athleticism, size and willingness to learn the spread offense that was implanted in the offseason.

“He has a nice mix of running ability and throwing ability, smarts and toughness,” the coach said.

Cookson plays some outside linebacker and safety, but Gober will limit his snaps on defense to keep him fresh and healthy for when the Bulldogs have the ball.

The 16-year-old quarterback knows his team is the underdog. Bristol owns a 41-35-3 advantage in the series, including eight wins in a row. The Warriors have earned shutouts the last three games.

Still, Morrisville is coming off a victory over St. George’s Tech (Del.). That game was played on Nov. 1, and Cookson acknowledges that the team hasn’t experienced much hard hitting in practice since then. Coaches have introduced new plays and made practice fun in the last three-plus weeks of game inactivity.

The quarterback is confident that running back Kyle Schnee, a speedy senior, will have a big game in his career finale. He added that the offensive line has improved during the season. Based on watching film of Bristol’s game against Academy of the New Church, he expects the Warriors to blitz a lot.

The Bulldogs can’t wait to get back on the football field.

“We’re all hyped up,” Cookson said. “It’s been cold, but we’re all pumped and excited for Bristol. It’s our rival.”

Flashers and Heaters and Furniture Oh My!

From the BCCT.

Board approves new expenditures for new school
Posted in News on Monday, November 24th, 2008 at 3:16 pm by Joan Hellyer

The Bristol school board agreed Thursday night to let administrators buy $531,628.57 worth of furniture and equipment for the district’s soon to be completed pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade school.

The facility is under construction next to the district’s Warren Snyder-John Girotti Elementary School off Buckley Street.

The board also entered into an agreement with Gilmore & Associates to design and construct two 15 MPH school zone flashers for the project. Plus, board members approved temporary heaters at the school for construction workers.

The school is expected to be completed in 2009.

Shakespeare Already?

"Pearls Before Swine" today, presented in honor of all those English teachers, past and present, who bring us Shakespeare and other "olde litterature" and the parents who get to relive those moments.

Gambling Money Comes Back to Towns

From the BCCT.

Authority awards $2.6 million in casino grants
Lower Southampton will get nearly $800,000. Bristol Township will receive $634,000. This year’s grants are a million more than last year.
By JAMES MCGINNIS

The Bucks County Redevelopment Authority on Monday awarded more than $2.6 million in casino impact grants while setting the stage for even more towns to apply for gambling money.

Bristol, which doesn’t directly border Bensalem or Philadelphia Park Casino, will nonetheless get $350,000 to pay for renovations to its police and fire departments next year.

The gaming act states that grants should go “to the municipalities which are contiguous to the municipality and which are located within the county in which the licensed facility is located.”

Still, Redevelopment Authority Director Bob White said the borough is eligible to receive funds as long as the application is submitted by the county.

“We checked with our solicitor on this and the county can apply for anyone that they want,” White said.

That might come as a shock to officials in Penndel who said the Redevelopment Authority told them they weren’t eligible.

There also was confusion at the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board Monday about whether Bristol is eligible. Representatives said they need time to review the law on impact grants before any comment.

Meanwhile, White encouraged applications from Penndel and Langhorne, calling those towns the “doughnut holes” of Lower Bucks. “These towns are surrounded by Middletown and Bristol Township and they can apply,” he argued. “They can clearly argue that they’re affected” by the casino.

Being close to Bensalem certainly had the desired effect for Lower Southampton — the big winner among grant applicants this year. Lower Southampton can expect nearly $800,000 in revenues from the slot machines.

One grant of $192,000 will help pay for upgrades to the intersection of Street Road and Central Avenue while another for $185,000 will pay for equipment that clears intersections during emergency response calls.

Lower Southampton and Feasterville fire companies will receive a combined $240,000 for new generators. Tri-Hampton Rescue Squad will get $72,782 for global positioning communications equipment, and the fire marshal is slated to receive $40,000 for three hybrid vehicles.

There are no hybrids on Bristol Township’s list. Instead, the township is going to buy guns.

A $20,000 grant for Mayor Sam Fenton’s proposed firearms buyback program is just one of $634,000 in grants for the township.

The community is slated to receive $120,000 to fight flooding and another $140,000 to make the township building handicap accessible.

A combined $166,050 will go to renovating the Croydon and Edgely firehouses. Third District Fire Company will get $100,000 for new air packs. Another $88,000 is set aside for emergency generators and traffic signals.

With just one grant this year, Middletown will receive $478,977 to help pay for upgrades to the intersection of Route 213 and Business Route 1.

Nearby, Hulmeville will receive $300,000 for a new borough hall. The borough plans to renovate an old borough-owned school on Main Street into the new borough hall and police headquarters.

Bensalem is slated to receive $275,000 next year, with $150,000 to help clean up graffiti and another $125,000 to pay for extra shifts of ambulance crews. (As a casino host community, Bensalem also receives $10 million a year.)

The authority’s board of directors said it received 42 applications seeking a total of $7.2 million for Lower Bucks County. Last year $2.5 million was awarded in grants.

“It’s not easy choosing these grants,” he said. “We had a lot of really good requests this year. And none of this is going to a study. These are things that will start right away.”

Student Achievement Billboard

Thanks to the anonymous photographer who provided the picture of the student achievement billboard. The remarkable thing is that it was done without the active support of our elected school board. When it says congratulations to the "superintendent, principals, teachers, staff, and parents" who made it possible, it was not an unintentional error.

In honor of the achievement, this billboard will occupy a place of honor at the top of this blog. Keep up the good work!