Surfing the Internet today (Sunday, January 23)I found the following information on the Cherry Hill Fire Department’s blog about an incident involving Gloucester City Firefighters on January 15 at the Holt Cargo complex. Photos were included with the report. 

 Hazmat 13 Operates At Gloucester City Building Collapse

Inside photo of collapse building at Holt Cargo Complex

photo Fire Chief Williams at the scene

Members of Hazmat 13 conducted air monitoring while research on the product was conducted. Once the product was identified and confirmed, private contractors isolated the source from a remote storage vessel. The building was ventilated and air monitoring was continued until meter readings were within permissible range. Hazmat 13 operated for approximately 3 hours at the scene.

 The introduction to the Cherry Hill Fire Department’s web site reads,

It would behoove the Gloucester City Fire Department to take a lesson from Cherry Hill and other fire departments in the area, such as Bellmawr, that post daily/weekly reports on their websites for the public to keep them up-to-date on what their fire department is doing in their communities.

The Gloucester City Police Department is another good example. The GCPD has no problem providing a weekly crime report to be posted on ClearysNoteBook (CNB) and published in the Gloucester City News. They also provide breaking news articles when needed.

Why should Gloucesterites have to read about their fire department’s response to a call on the Cherry Hill Fire Department’s website?

 We heard a lot from the Gloucester City firemen prior to the layoffs. In fact one City fireman was even allowed to answer questions during the time he was on duty from people who posted comments on CNB. The individual provided some useful information during that discussion. But that was weeks ago.

 Communication is so easy today because of the Internet. Keeping the people informed on the daily activities of the City Fire Department should have been one of the main lessons learned from the layoffs of the eight firemen. It was obvious during that turmoil that some residents were not aware of the number of calls the fire department responded to. The year is just starting. Let’s hope that the GCFD has plans in the works to better communicate with the public in 2011.

Doyle will report the results of his inquiries by March 31 to the court.

Bob Ingle, a columnist for the Courier Post, alleged on Sunday that the money is being wasted and \”the kids in those 31 districts are not showing a lot of improvement for the money spent.\”

Ingle continued, \”Like so many other empty-headed government solutions, it is based on throwing money at a problem instead of finding root causes and working on correcting them.\”

According to a teacher he quotes, the problem is with the parents and the home environment – where education is not emphasized.

Yet, here in Gloucester City, many parents do indeed care about the education their children are receiving.

In fact, in the recent High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA) tests, 11^th graders at Gloucester City High School improved 8.6 percent in Language Arts and 6.3 percent in Math.

Obviously, this improvement comes from the students studying, the teachers teaching, and the parents caring.

As for the 30 other Abbotts in New Jersey, I cannot say if the court-ordered funding is working.

But, it is working here.

I would ask Mr. Ingle, and the teacher he quoted, to visit the Gloucester City School District and see the difference the state funds have made over the past 25 years.

Hard working parents in this humble town know that education can be the difference between a life of poverty and a successful career.

As this is just for mechanicals (Heating, Air), there is no site plan to indicate how the stores will be positioned in the lot.

Two things grabbed my attention. As noted previously, Bottom Dollar Stores have walk-in produce refrigeration units to keep the produce fresh. A nice feature for a discount grocer.

Second, there is an area indicated for \”Future Beer Cases\”. An interesting idea, but it makes

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\”This is an incredible close to a very difficult process for our Fire Department and the City of Trenton. I am grateful for Congressman Smith and his staff who tirelessly presented Trenton’s need as a priority to Washington officials.

In addition, Acting Director Carmichael, Chief Gribbin and all staff were an instrumental part of the application process. This award would be impossible without Chief Gribbin’s dedication and determination to see it through,\” stated Mayor Mack.

The SAFER grant is instrumental in not only moving forward, but