ASH
Terrier Mix with collar and tags
Grey body and black head and ears
Call
856-905-8879
or
The police in Gloucester City or Brooklawn
Month: February 2020
The Father of the Boy Who Shot Himself Charged
Andrew Mack
MOUNT HOLLY, NJ (February 19, 2020)–Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina and Pemberton Township Police Chief David H. Jantas announced that the father of a 4-year-old boy who died earlier this month from an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound in the family’s Browns Mills home has been charged in connection with the death.
Andrew Mack, 31, was charged with Endangering the Welfare of a Child (Second Degree) and Storage of Firearms if Minors May Have Access (Disorderly Persons).
Mack is scheduled for a first appearance in Superior Court in Mount Holly tomorrow afternoon. The case will then be prepared for presentation to a Burlington County Grand Jury for possible indictment.
Emergency medical technicians and officers from the Pemberton Township Police Department were called to the family’s home on Maricopa Trail just after 7 p.m. on February 7 and discovered Lincoln Mack with a gunshot wound to his cheek. He was transported to Capital Health at Deborah – Emergency Services, where he was pronounced dead at approximately 8 p.m.
The investigation revealed that Andrew Mack was asleep in a bedroom with a loaded 9mm handgun next to him on the bed when Lincoln came into the room and took the firearm. Lincoln then went into another room where he had been playing with this younger sister and shot himself in the face.
“The death of Lincoln Mack was a tragedy, and it was made all the worse by the fact that it was entirely avoidable,” Prosecutor Coffina said. “Our deepest sympathies are with the Mack family and all of those who loved Lincoln, however, the defendant must be held accountable for not securing his firearm.”
Both of Lincoln’s parents were inside the home at the time of the shooting, as were two siblings.
The incident was investigated by detectives from the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office and the Pemberton Township Police Department. The lead investigators are BCPO Det. Erica Ridge and Pemberton Township Police Detective Tom Lucas.
All persons are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
79-Year-Old Man Pleads Guilty to Stealing Millions from Moorestown Employer
MOUNT HOLLY, NJ (February 19, 2020)–Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina announced that a 79-year-old Hainesport man pled guilty today in
Superior Court to stealing more than $2.5 million over a 14-year period from the Moorestown company where he was employed as an accounting manager.
Under an agreement with the Prosecutor’s Office, Charles Esposito pled guilty to Theft by Deception (Second Degree) and Failure to Pay State Income Taxes (Third Degree) in exchange for an aggregate seven-year sentence in New Jersey state prison. The Hon. Christopher J. Garrenger, J.S.C., scheduled sentencing for September 11.
Esposito has already repaid more than $190,000 of the stolen funds, but still must make restitution in the amount of $2,328,516.44. He must also file several years of amended state and federal income tax returns.
Officials at the company, Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope, began to investigate in April 2019 after concerns were raised about a hand-written check for $18,500 that had been signed by the defendant and contained another signature that appeared to have been forged.
The ensuing investigation revealed that Esposito was able to circumvent Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope’s accounting systems, namely the check issuance and invoice procedures, to divert more than $2.5 million for his personal gain. He is accused of conducting 243 fraudulent transactions between 2005 and April 2019.
Esposito is being prosecuted by Assistant Prosecutor Andrew R. McDonnell, supervisor of the BCPO Financial Crimes Unit. The investigation was conducted by the Moorestown Township Police Department and the BCPO Financial Crimes Unit, with assistance from the New Jersey Division of Taxation. The lead investigator was Moorestown Township Police Detective Donald Brauckmann.
Wolf\’s Plan to use Funds from Horse Racing for Scholarships Upsetting Horse Owners/Supporters
A horse and rider work during practice on the Penn National Race Course racetrack on a foggy morning Nov. 29, 2006, in Grantville, Pa. Carolyn Kaster / AP photo
By Steve Bittenbender |
The Center Square
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf is feeling some heat from horsemen and their supporters after proposing to divert a significant portion of a fund used to support the state’s racing industry toward a college scholarship program instead.
The governor visited West Chester University on Thursday to promote the Nellie Bly Scholarship Program, an initiative he introduced in his budget proposal last week. The $204 million proposal would provide scholarship funding for students attending any of the 14 state-run colleges, filling the gap between grant funding students receive and the actual cost of tuition.
The scholarship is named after Bly, a Pennsylvania native who could not afford the cost of tuition. She became a famous journalist whose work in the 19th century brought about changes to mental health treatment in the U.S.
Wolf said the goals of the program are to alleviate students from college loan debts and retain the state’s best and brightest workers. If a recipient leaves the state, they must repay the money.
“With less college debt, graduates can buy a car and a home, start a family and save for retirement,” Wolf said. “The program also strengthens our public university system and creates a talented labor force that Pennsylvania needs to thrive.”
The program would be funded from money currently going to the state’s Race Horse Development Trust Fund. That money is generated from slot machine gaming revenue.
According to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, the fund received $240.4 million in 2018, with $152.6 million going to purses for races at the state’s thoroughbred and harness tracks.
Horsemen have attacked the plan since Wolf first announced it, saying the move would devastate the racing industry. Not only would tracks be affected, but breeders and those who raise thoroughbred and standardbred horses in the state.
“Instead of the governor destroying an industry and family farms to create a program that holds our young people hostage by forcing them to stay in Pennsylvania, why doesn’t the governor focus on creating a state that makes students want to stay?” asked Heather Hunter,
according to the Daily
Local
in Chester County.
Hunter, who works at her family’s horse farm, has a son who attends West Chester, the newspaper said.
Some lawmakers have expressed concerns as well, including state Rep. Sue Helm, R-Susquehanna Township. Helm’s district includes the Penn National Race Course near Harrisburg.
“If this account is raided for the furtherment of the governor’s budget priorities, it would essentially bankrupt the industry,” Helm said in a statement earlier this week. “It would mean the end of horseracing in Pennsylvania.”
Still, Wolf’s plan has supporters, and that includes an organization that often criticizes the governor’s policies.
While the Commonwealth Foundation still had several concerns about Wolf’s budget overall, it said the plan to move the funding to support higher education costs was one of the few positives the group saw in the spending plan.
“This is a revenue stream that should be brought into the General Fund, allowing lawmakers to prioritize spending and protect working families from tax increases,” the foundation said in a statement.
republished by Gloucestercitynews.net with permission of
The Center Square
Wolf\’s Plan to use Funds from Horse Racing for Scholarships Upsetting Horse Owners/Supporters
A horse and rider work during practice on the Penn National Race Course racetrack on a foggy morning Nov. 29, 2006, in Grantville, Pa. Carolyn Kaster / AP photo
By Steve Bittenbender |
The Center Square
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf is feeling some heat from horsemen and their supporters after proposing to divert a significant portion of a fund used to support the state’s racing industry toward a college scholarship program instead.
The governor visited West Chester University on Thursday to promote the Nellie Bly Scholarship Program, an initiative he introduced in his budget proposal last week. The $204 million proposal would provide scholarship funding for students attending any of the 14 state-run colleges, filling the gap between grant funding students receive and the actual cost of tuition.
The scholarship is named after Bly, a Pennsylvania native who could not afford the cost of tuition. She became a famous journalist whose work in the 19th century brought about changes to mental health treatment in the U.S.
Wolf said the goals of the program are to alleviate students from college loan debts and retain the state’s best and brightest workers. If a recipient leaves the state, they must repay the money.
“With less college debt, graduates can buy a car and a home, start a family and save for retirement,” Wolf said. “The program also strengthens our public university system and creates a talented labor force that Pennsylvania needs to thrive.”
The program would be funded from money currently going to the state’s Race Horse Development Trust Fund. That money is generated from slot machine gaming revenue.
According to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, the fund received $240.4 million in 2018, with $152.6 million going to purses for races at the state’s thoroughbred and harness tracks.
Horsemen have attacked the plan since Wolf first announced it, saying the move would devastate the racing industry. Not only would tracks be affected, but breeders and those who raise thoroughbred and standardbred horses in the state.
“Instead of the governor destroying an industry and family farms to create a program that holds our young people hostage by forcing them to stay in Pennsylvania, why doesn’t the governor focus on creating a state that makes students want to stay?” asked Heather Hunter,
according to the Daily
Local
in Chester County.
Hunter, who works at her family’s horse farm, has a son who attends West Chester, the newspaper said.
Some lawmakers have expressed concerns as well, including state Rep. Sue Helm, R-Susquehanna Township. Helm’s district includes the Penn National Race Course near Harrisburg.
“If this account is raided for the furtherment of the governor’s budget priorities, it would essentially bankrupt the industry,” Helm said in a statement earlier this week. “It would mean the end of horseracing in Pennsylvania.”
Still, Wolf’s plan has supporters, and that includes an organization that often criticizes the governor’s policies.
While the Commonwealth Foundation still had several concerns about Wolf’s budget overall, it said the plan to move the funding to support higher education costs was one of the few positives the group saw in the spending plan.
“This is a revenue stream that should be brought into the General Fund, allowing lawmakers to prioritize spending and protect working families from tax increases,” the foundation said in a statement.
republished by Gloucestercitynews.net with permission of
The Center Square
Dorothy E. Griffin, member of Bellmawr VFW Post 9563 Ladies Auxiliary
Dorothy E. Griffin (nee Herrmann), on February 13, 2020, of Bellmawr, formerly of Philadelphia. Age 88.
Beloved wife of 70 years to Jack. Devoted mother of Jim Griffin (Lesa), Diane Griffin and Stacy Griffin. Loving grandmother of Jason Griffin (Carly) and Andrew Pearce and great grandmother of Brady and Dylan. Dear sister of the late Jack Herrmann. Also survived by nieces and nephews.
Mrs. Griffin was a member of Bellmawr VFW Post 9563 Ladies Auxiliary.
There will be a viewing from 7 to 9pm Friday eve and 9 to 10am Saturday morning at GARDNER FUNERAL HOME, RUNNEMEDE. Funeral Service 10am Saturday at the funeral home. Interment Oakland Cemetery, Philadelphia.
Family requests in lieu of flowers, donations be made in Mrs. Griffin’s memory to Good Shepherd Penn Partners, C/O Development Office, 1800 Lombard St., Philadelphia, PA 19146.
Why You Should Vacation to Luxury Safari Lodges in KZN
Gloucestercitynews.net (February 18, 2020)–South Africa is home to some of the most vibrant wildlife, immersive landscapes, and interesting people in the world. Zulu means “heaven” to the local people, who have named themselves the “people of heaven.” This is why the
luxury safari lodges in KZN
have become some of the most sought-after business and vacation retreats in the world.
For romance or recreation, these luxury safari lodges offer the unique opportunity to commune with the landscape of KZN in style. Their many guided tours, luxury accommodations, environmental conservation efforts, and community outreach programs guarantee any of its select guests the vacation of a lifetime.
Here are just a few of the luxury safari lodges available in KZN.
Thanda Safari
In the welcome video on its website, Thanda Safari describes itself as a “love story” between its royal guests and the wild but beautiful Zulu environment. It stands as a shining example of South Africa’s luxury lodges, where pleasure meets preservation.
Offering an array of accommodations, the Thanda Private Game Reserve is known worldwide for its luxury and hospitality. Its decadent common areas and main suites are safe for children and its private meeting areas provide secluded space for business meetings. Its self-sustaining tented camps provide exclusive access to nature unmatched by other reserves.
There’s a reason its suites were voted the World’s Leading Luxury Lodge at the 2011
World Travel Awards
.
Experienced environmental advisors and trackers conduct safari tours on the Thanda Game Reserve in order to educate its guests and give them the experience of a lifetime. Its educational programs seek to preserve the future while reconnecting with the past.
Partnering with many government organizations in a concerted effort to save the endangered rhino population, Thanda Safari embodies preservation, even as it offers its guests unmatched luxury accommodations.
Thula Thula
People visit the Thula Thula Private Game Reserve for a more personal touch. It is family-owned and operated and represents the oldest private game reserve in KZN, a treasured sanctuary for many of the endangered big game populations in South Africa, including leopard, rhino, and elephant.
Thula Thula is the former home of the famed conservationist Lawrence Anthony, whose book “The Elephant Whisperer” continues to inspire conservation efforts around the world. Thula Thula represents his integrity, his connection with nature, and his work.
Famed for its colonial decorative style and fine dining, the luxury suites are perfect for family vacations and honeymoons alike. For a more rugged experience, their tented camp situates you right in the bush with viewing decks, outdoor facilities, and authentic South African cooking.
Experienced guides will lead you on game drives and local outreach where you will be given the opportunity to experience the local people hands-on. There are luxury spa accommodations as well as cooking classes. Thula Thula is a feast of variety for those that want a connected, diverse experience in KZN.
Rhino Ridge
The Rhino Ridge Safari Lodge prides itself on connecting its guests with a true experience of the wilderness of South Africa. Its bush trails are to be experienced for those wanting a guided tour of nature’s great wonders, including one of the highest concentrations of white rhino in the world.
Though it is self-proclaimed “The Home of the Rhino,” Rhino Ridge also boasts
bird watching
that encompasses half of the entire region’s diverse species (over 400, according to its website). Its expert trackers guide guests on walks through the bush and gorges of the reserve, offering a connective experience with nature unlike any other.
Even though its natural experiences and rhino conservation are at the forefront of the mission of the Rhino Ridge Safari Lodge, its luxury accommodations are no less significant. Contemporary architecture that situates you within viewing distance of the gorgeous watering hole and game herds of the Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park is sure to provide you with the luxury accommodations you seek, no matter if you’re on safari with your family or on honeymoon with your spouse.
The Takeaway
Few places in the world can boast as diverse a combination of decadent accommodations and community outreach as KZN. Its luxury lodges have something for every vacation, from world-renowned restaurants and spas to suites fit for royalty.
Its educational and community outreach programs connect guests to the surrounding Zulu people. Its guided safari tours put you within reach of some of the most breathtaking wildlife and natural vistas in the entire world.
Luxury safari lodges in KZN have something for everyone. They may represent the awe-inspiring vacation experience that you never knew you needed.
Making The Knights of Columbus More Appealing
Written by Peter G. Sánchez/
The Camden Diocese
BRIDGETON, NJ–Don Olbrich is nothing if not persistent.
Wherever he goes, he carries with him Form 100s, which are membership documents for the Knights of Columbus. Which is not surprising, as he is Grand Knight of his council, Liberty Council 1910 out of Bridgeton’s Parish of the Holy Cross.
“I took a Form 100 to my doctor’s office,” he says, but it wasn’t blank.
“I had already filled out his name and phone number, all I needed was his address,” he continues.
And then there was the time he tried to get his son, D.J., to join the council.
“He kept telling me no, so I told some of my brother Knights that if they could get him to sign up, I’d give them $100. It worked,” he says, laughing.
Olbrich’s methods have no doubt rubbed off on his brother Knights. From July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019, his council gained 40 new members, 800% of their recruitment goal. The effort made Liberty Council 1910 second in the country in recruitment for any Knight’s council.
Today, the 101-year-old council is 113 men strong, in ages ranging from 19 years old to the mid-80s, Olbrich says.
“We set monthly membership goals,” he says in explaining how the council achieved the milestone.
His doggedness and determination speak to his love of the church where he has been a Knight for 10 years.
“It’s all about helping the parish,” he says.
The Liberty Council Knights are a constant presence around the Holy Cross community, be it cooking for the annual fall parish festival, organizing a donation drive of baby wipes and diapers for single mothers and their children, or repainting lines in the church parking lot.
Olbrich was thankful for the leadership and guidance of Holy Cross pastor, Father Matthew Weber, who has shown “tremendous support” for the council.
“The Knights have been a wonderful blessing,” says Father Weber, himself a Fourth Degree Knight.
In addition to “stepping up” to help the parish in whatever needs to be done, such as helping out with maintenance issues or being extra hands at parish events, the Knights of Columbus are “leading men to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ, and with each other,” he says.
As well, he is pleased that the council reflects the diverse nature of his Bridgeton parish — a bilingual community with a faithful and collaborative mix of Anglo-Saxon and Hispanic members.
“The Knights have been a beautiful bridge” between these communities, he says,
“I’m glad this council has blossomed. These men are pillars of charity, fraternity, unity, and patriotism,” Father Weber said, echoing the Knights of Columbus’ mission.
Following the call from Supreme Director Carl Anderson to make the Knights more appealing, the Bridgeton Knights will hold a public initiation ceremony after the 4:30 p.m. Mass at Saint Mary Church, Rosenhayn on Saturday, Feb. 22, with a spaghetti dinner afterward. All are welcome.
DNREC-sponsored ‘Butterflies and Clean Water’ presentations March 2 and 30
LAUREL DELAWARE (Feb. 2020) – The DNREC Division of Watershed Stewardship’s Reclaim Our River Program – Nanticoke Series, in partnership with the Delaware Nature Society’s Abbott’s Mill Nature Center, and the Nanticoke Watershed Alliance, will host two free presentations in March on saving the monarch butterfly, gardening for butterflies, and the importance of clean water.
The presentations will address the monarch butterfly population’s decline of more than 90 percent worldwide over the past 20 years. This is a critical environmental loss, since flowering plants depend on pollinators, including butterflies, to reproduce. Pollinators enable flowering plants to purify water and prevent erosion, through roots that hold the soil in place, and provide foliage that buffers the impact of rain.
On March 2, butterfly enthusiast Mike McFarlin of Milton will speak about his efforts to help repopulate Delaware\’s monarch butterfly population, by raising hundreds of them each summer. In addition, he will explain how attendees can volunteer as stewards, and adopt an area of land that supports pollinator habitat.
The second presentation, on March 30, will be led by Alice Mohrman of the Delaware Nature Society’s Abbott’s Mill Nature Center and focus on gardening for butterflies. She will also provide tips on how to landscape yards with attractive native plants that support wildlife habitat, and help reduce waterway pollution.
A limited number of free milkweed seeds will be available to participants, along with information on activities that support clean water. Attendees also will learn about the 2020 Reclaim Our River–Nanticoke Series, which offers numerous opportunities to learn techniques for keeping local waterways clean. Participants are encouraged to arrive early.
Both presentations will begin at 6 p.m. at the Laurel Library, located at 101 East 4th Street, Laurel, DE 19956.
For more information about the presentations, contact Alice Mohrman at 302-422-0847, or
alice@delawarenaturesociety.org
. For more information on the Reclaim Our River Program, contact Philip Miller at 302-608-5468, or
Philip.miller@delaware.gov
Lessons Learned by Cape Town’s Day Zero
(Gloucestercitynews.net)(February 18, 2020)–“Day Zero” is the now infamous term used to describe an emergency plan put forth by the leadership of the city of Cape Town, South Africa during the worst recorded drought in over a century. In mid-2017, several factors contributed to Cape Town’s water supply reaching dangerously low levels.
Day Zero, if it was ever implemented, would have meant barring the water supply from public use so that it could be rationed daily. Until the city’s dams naturally replenished, Day Zero could have destroyed Cape Town’s buzzing tourist industry and its inhabitants’ way of life.
Water queues and widespread shortages were a reality that many businesses and civilians in Cape Town were very close to facing.
Knowing the causes of
Cape Town’s Day Zero
and why it never happened can teach us about the resilience and resourcefulness of the leadership and people of Cape Town. Additionally, observing their conservation efforts can help us progress in our own.
What caused Day Zero?
By 2017, Cape Town had experienced a population growth rate of almost 50%, according to its
census data
. However, the water storage capacity for the city had only increased by 15% over that same amount of time.
The widening gap between how much water was being pulled from the reserves and how much was being replenished created a situation where Cape Town’s supply was vulnerable to environmental disasters. New dams could not be built fast enough to offset the rising water usage in the city and the dearth of rainfall.
This disaster came subtly, in the form of record low rainfall in 2015, coupled with increased water usage by the people of the city owing to the population. As the reserves continued to drop, by mid-2017 Day Zero became the name of the plan that the city would have had to initiate if the water levels in the main storage dams reached below 13.5%.
Preventing Day Zero
The worst water crisis in modern history would have entailed daily water queues and rations, strict conservation of all public utilities, and reconstruction of the major waterways. No city has ever undertaken the depth of control that Day Zero would have required of Cape Town’s civilian and tourist population.
Thankfully, Cape Town reversely proved its resilience in the face of disaster by pushing Day Zero back continuously until it was postponed indefinitely in early 2018.
Thanks to water usage education initiatives distributed by the Cape Town city departments, the population got immediately on board with the effort to conserve the dangerously low water stores. The diligence and conscientiousness of the people lowered water usage by 50% by rationing showers, limiting water-based hygiene, and eliminating water usage for recreation.
Today, according to the
Cape Town website
, the city’s dams are holding at 70.3% of their reserve capacity. This makes Day Zero well out of the realm of possibility for the time being.
Effects of the Water Crisis
The businesses, tourists, industry professionals, leadership, and population of Cape Town rallied together to save their water supply. Today, the result is a much more environmentally cognizant city infrastructure. Their waterways have been refined for efficiency and their drainage and water recreation facilities have been modernized.
Not every city could reform its habits so quickly. The Cape Water Strategy is the latest progressive initiative designed to restructure the city’s water usage systems and dam storage capacity to prepare for another future disaster.
With populations growing all over the world, the conservation efforts of Cape Town are a model for any city leadership or population on how to manage a crisis and avoid disaster.
The Takeaway
The possibility of Day Zero happening in Cape Town was a result of stressed resources in a region already environmentally unstable due to population growth, a naturally dry climate, and erratic rainfall patterns. A few issues like a dry spell and a population boom culminated in what could have been the worst water disaster in any developed city in the modern world.
Instead, Cape Town rallied itself around conservation and survived the water shortage. Their concerted efforts to save themselves and their infrastructure are lessons that any city can learn from.
Now, a booming tourist destination and investment opportunity, the productive and resilient city of Cape Town is back to its former glory and then some. Before canceling a visit because of this near disaster, understand what preventing it means for the future of the city: progressively better infrastructure, cognizant people, and productive leadership.
The handling of the water crisis is proof of them all.