Category: SOUTH JERSEY

Voorhees Police Dept. Alert: Help Prevent Crime Participate in Safe Cam Program

VOORHEES TOWNSHIP NJ –Crime prevention is a cooperative effort between those we serve and our agency. In furtherance of the concept of community partnerships, the Voorhees Police Department is

requesting residents, businesses, and organizations that have security cameras in place on their property to complete a short registration form.

The registration does not give the Voorhees Police Department access to your camera system, but allows our agency to maintain a data base of active cameras in the event a crime occurs in the area. For example if a burglary occurs down the street from your property, we would know your camera may have captured an image of a vehicle or suspect that could connect us to the suspects involved in the burglary. A detective would phone you and ask to review the footage. Participating properties will receive a decal with the official Voorhees Police Safe Cam logo to display as an additional deterrent to crime.

Camera Registration

Address/Location

Voorhees Township Police Department

1180 White Horse Road

Voorhees Township, NJ 08043

Contact

Emergency: 9-1-1

Non-emergencies: 856-428-5400

DNREC Fish & Wildlife Police Blotter: Jan. 20-26

Reminder for the week: Deer, duck, and dove hunting seasons ending

DOVER (Jan. 31, 2020) – DNREC’s Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police conserve Delaware’s fish and wildlife resources, promote boating safety, and protect the public through outreach, education, and law enforcement. To help achieve public compliance with laws and regulations, officers from Jan. 20-26 made 1,177 public contacts and responded to 67 complaints regarding possible violations of laws and regulations or requests to assist the public.

Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police Actions

Officers issued a total of 54 citations for the following listed violations related to:

Wildlife Conservation:

Unlawful to provide a guided hunt on division lands, unlicensed hunting, hunting license forgery, hunting migratory waterfowl without required HIP number, hunting migratory waterfowl without required federal waterfowl stamp, hunting migratory waterfowl without required state waterfowl stamp, possession of unlawfully taken waterfowl, failure to check antlered deer within 24 hours, failure to purchase a hunter choice tag prior to killing an antlered deer, failure to tag antlered deer, possess/transport an unlawfully taken antlered deer, failure to tag antlerless deer, failure to check antlerless deer within 24 hours, unlawful to purchase, sell, attempt to sell antlerless deer or antlerless deer parts, hunting deer with a firearm during archery season, unlawful use of dog training area*, and trespass to hunt.

Boating & Boating Safety:

No boating safety certificate and no throwable preserver aboard as required for vessels 16 feet long or longer.

Public Safety:

Failure to display required hunter orange during a firearms deer season, possession, purchase, ownership, or control of a deadly weapon by a person prohibited, possession of heroin, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Other:

Impede a lawful hunt, trespassing after hours on a state wildlife area, operating an unregistered motor vehicle on a state wildlife area, fictitious motor vehicle tags, driving with a suspended or revoked license, loitering, and criminal impersonation.

*

Includes citation(s) issued at the C&D Canal Conservation Area.

DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife recognizes and thanks the majority of anglers, hunters, and boaters who comply with Delaware’s fishing, hunting, and boating laws and regulations. The public can report fish, wildlife, and boating violations to the Delaware Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police by calling 302-739-4580 or using the free smartphone DENRP Tip app downloaded from the Google Play Store or iTunes App Store. Wildlife violations can be reported anonymously to Operation Game Theft by calling 800-292-3030, going online to

http://de.gov/ogt

, or using the DENRP Tip app; Verizon customers can connect to Operation Game Theft directly by dialing #OGT.

Are you AWARE?

Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police remind hunters that deer, duck, and dove hunting seasons are coming to an end:

Duck season ends Friday, Jan. 31

Dove season ends Friday, Jan. 31

Deer Archery and Crossbow seasons end Sunday, Feb.2

Deer Muzzleloader season ends Sunday, Feb. 2 (archery equipment and crossbows can be used during muzzleloader season)

Although many hunting seasons are ending, Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police encourage the public to report game law violations as soon as possible. Some illegal activities that should be reported include:

The use of an artificial light to illuminate wildlife, also known as spotlighting, in any manner, including from a motor vehicle, for the purpose of hunting or observing

Target shooting on state wildlife areas (target shooting on private property is allowed seven days a week, within the parameters of local, county, and state ordinances)

Shots fired from or across a public road or right-of-way, or within 15 yards of a public roadway

Carrying a loaded weapon in a vehicle or vessel in association with hunting

For more information on hunting – including hunter education, licensing, hunting and trapping seasons, limits, regulations, wildlife area information, and more, with sections devoted to deer, small game, turkey, and migratory birds – click on

2019-2020 Delaware Hunting & Trapping Guide

. Wildlife area maps with area-specific regulations are available online at

Wildlife Area Maps

.

NJ Pick-6 Rises to $2.4 Million for Feb. 3. Drawing

TRENTON (Jan. 31, 2020) – The Pick-6 drawing on January 30 produced seven winners of $2,957 for matching five out of six white balls drawn. The $2.4 million drawing will be held Monday, February 3, 2020.

The winning numbers for the Thursday, January 30, drawing were: 01, 06, 12, 19, 26 and 49. The XTRA Multiplier was: 05. By adding XTRA for an additional $1.00 per play, winners are able to multiply their non-jackpot prizes by the XTRA number drawn.

Acting Executive Director James Carey announced that there were 414,039 tickets purchased for the drawing and of those sold, thousands were prizewinners! For correctly matching four numbers, 467 ticketholders won $41 each and 81 others won $205 each with the addition of XTRA. Moreover, for correctly matching three numbers 7,969 ticketholders won $3.00 each and 1,297 others won $15 each with the addition of XTRA. 8,647 ticketholders each won $2.00 for correctly matching two numbers with the addition of XTRA on their purchase.

NJ Religious Leaders Guilty of Conspiracy To Evade Paying Millions in Taxes

NEWARK, N.J. – The leader and the main treasurer of the Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ were sentenced to federal prison today for their respective roles in a scheme in which both men caused the church to pay millions of dollars in personal expenses for the leader that the leader then omitted from his personal tax returns, U.S Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Jermaine Grant, 44, of Burlington Township, New Jersey, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and Lincoln Warrington, 49, of Bergen County, New Jersey, was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison. Both men previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge William J. Martini to Count One of the indictment against them, charging them with conspiring to defraud the United States. Judge Martini imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.

According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court:

Grant and Warrington used their leadership positions in the church to divert to Grant millions of dollars belonging to the church and its members for Grant’s personal use and benefit. The defendants used a variety of methods to carry out the scheme. For example, Grant and Warrington created a purported entertainment company that portrayed Grant as an industry mogul whose wealth was derived from his success in the industry, thereby concealing from church members that his lifestyle was supported entirely by the church and donations from its members. Grant and Warrington also used the church’s money to pay Grant’s other personal expenses, including payments for rental real estate properties, vacations, high-end luxury items, and private school tuition for Grant’s minor children. Grant, with Warrington’s assistance, then omitted these benefits from his individual income tax returns, resulting in the evasion of a substantial amount of tax due and owing to the United States. In total, Grant and Warrington concealed millions of dollars in income from the IRS, and failed to pay at least $250,000 in taxes.

The plea agreements in this matter include a requirement that the church will develop and present to the United States a plan designed to ensure the church’s compliance with applicable federal income tax laws going forward. Before the United States returns to the church certain cash and property seized during execution of the search warrants in this case, the compliance plan must address the disposition of that cash and property and ensure that they are returned for the benefit of the church rather than for the personal benefit of Jermaine Grant or any other individual.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Martini sentenced Grant and Warrington to three years of supervised release.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI’s Newark Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie, and IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge John R. Tafur, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencings.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret A. Mahoney, Senior Trial Counsel for the National Security Unit in Newark, and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig.

Defense counsel:

Grant: Gerald Lefcourt Esq., New York

Warrington: Richard Levitt Esq., New York

Philadelphia Union II Announce 2020 Home Opener

Union II to play first game of 2020 campaign at Talen Energy Stadium against Loudoun United FC on Saturday, March 7 at 7:30 p.m.

CHESTER, Pa. (Jan. 2020)

– Entering the 2020 season as the newly rebranded Philadelphia Union II, the club, in conjunction with USL Championship, today announced that Union II will host rival Loudoun United FC in the club’s 2020 home opener. The match is set for Saturday, March 7 at 7:30 p.m. The ESPN Linear Broadcast schedule, as well as the complete 2020 regular-season schedule, will be announced in the near future.

Entering their second season playing at Talen Energy Stadium, Union II went 1-0-1 against Loudoun last season. The Union earned a 5-2 victory at home against the expansion-side and DC United affiliate, including goals contributed by returning 2019 team assist-leader, Zach Zandi and rookie midfielder Issa Rayyan.

The club is also set to travel to Charleston Battery for the inaugural home match at Patriot Point on Saturday, March 28.

Union II supporters can secure their seats in Talen Energy Stadium for the home opener as well as purchase season tickets, partial plans, group tickets and single season game when they go on sale Friday, Jan. 10 at PhiladelphiaUnion.com/2. Additionally, Philadelphia Union Season Ticket Members will receive general admission for all Union II matches with their plans, with the option of upgrading to reserved seating at a discounted rate.

Philadelphia Union II rebranded in late 2019 to further cultivate and streamline the player pathway from the academy to the first team. The club will play its home games at Talen Energy Stadium while also offering the chance to train alongside the first team at the Power Training Complex. 

For a full list of the 2020 USL Championship home openers

click here.

5 Resume Tips to Wow Recruiters in 2020

Gloucestercitynews.net (February 1, 2020)–Let’s say you found a job posting where you believe your skills will fit like a glove. You applied to it by sending a resume and not only did you not get the job, but you also didn’t even get called in for an interview.

What do you think might have gone wrong?

image unsplash.com

It is safe to assume at this point that the fault lies within your resume.

Without a perfect resume, a recruiter will never even know what they missed. Being the first point of contact, your resume needs to be flawless. It is through this piece of document that you are going to dazzle the recruiter and score a place in the shortlist.

These are the 5 resume tips that will wow any recruiter in 2020:

1.

Structure your resume in neat sections

Structuring your resume not only makes it look appealing, but it also breaks down the information in brief relevant sections. This helps the recruiter take in one piece of information at a time and thus makes it easy to read and comprehend.

The presentation of information on a resume is more important than the information itself. Wrongly presented, it will have no impact on the recruiter and thus has no relevance. So, be incredibly careful about what you put in your resume and how you display it.

The first thing you need to do is decide what sections will go on your resume.

Compose the following sections in the order given below to cover every information a recruiter needs to know about you:

Header

Personal Information

Profile Title

Summary

Key Skills

Professional Experience

Education

You can also add additional sections like ‘Certifications’ or ‘Additional information’ if you have data that can be filed under these. Add these sections only if they are relevant to the role you are applying for and you are positive that adding this information will favor your chances at a shortlist.

2. Make your resume easy to read

Most resumes that get tossed are due to their length or bulkiness.

These

statistics

by CareerBuilder show that 66% of employers said a resume should be one page long for new college graduates and 77% agreed that it should be at least two pages long for seasoned workers.

So, do yourself a favor and optimize the length of your resume. Discard all the fluff and only keep the essential information that a recruiter needs to know on your resume.

This eye-tracking

study

suggests that recruiters spend an average of 7 seconds on a single resume, that is not enough time for them to go through everything in detail. This means recruiters are only focusing on a few key points before making their decision about a candidate.

A cluttered resume might turn their interest off immediately as they won’t have any idea where to start looking for the required information.

To ensure that your resume gets read at least once, use one-liner bullet points instead of paragraphs to describe your past roles & responsibilities in the ‘Professional Experience’ section.

Further, categorize points under relevant subheadings and highlight the important information to draw the attention of recruiters towards it.

3.Write effective professional experience statements

However high your qualifications may be, they won’t score you a job if you haven’t presented them effectively on your resume.

Following are a few actions that you can take to make your resume more effective:

Bring the STAR method into action as it brings a cause-effect relationship in your statements. STAR stands for:

S stands for the ‘situation’ that demanded your contributions.

T stands for the ‘task’ you performed.

A stands for the ‘actions’ you took to perform the assigned task.

R stands for the ‘result’ in the form of an achievement figure.

An example of using this method can be seen in this one-liner point: “Delivered

10+ articles

weekly which increased the web site’s

traffic by 20%

”

Include as many achievement figures as you can while keeping them relevant: These numbers will help you back up your claims and make you look like a competent and useful asset. Performance figures prove that your contributions were helpful for the company.

For instance in the example, “Delivered

10+ articles

weekly which increased the web site’s

traffic by 20%

” the number of articles and the web site’s traffic is achievement figures.

Use

action verbs

to begin each one-liner point as it gives a tone of assertiveness to your resume. Words like ‘Managed’, ‘Spearheaded’ can give your resume a wow factor.

4.Keep your resume relevant to the job you are applying for

An irrelevant resume is not going to help you get any interviews. For instance, it makes no sense to mention your first job as a busboy or the many internships you did if you have been in the workforce for over 10 years.

Volunteering experience, internships, and similar information are required by inexperienced professionals or students, not someone who has already made their mark in the professional world.

These tips will help you keep your resume relevant:

If you have changed industries and your old job doesn’t fit anywhere near the new profile you are targeting, leave it off your resume.

People with more than 3 years of experience do not need to mention internships or volunteering experiences.

Use keywords as it helps you get past the Applicant Tracking System (ATS). Recruiters set the ATS to explicitly look for keywords in resumes before shortlisting them. You can find these keywords in the job description of your target job. Select the keywords that apply to you and customize your resume accordingly.4

Never forget to mention your contact details

4.Keep your resume relevant to the job you are applying for

Even if your resume got shortlisted, a recruiter will never be able to contact you to further your prospects if they do not have any means of contacting you.

So before you submit your resume, make sure that you have correctly input all the necessary contact details in your resume which include:

Contact Number

Email Address

Current Location

Conclusion

Looking back, these are the 5 resume tips to wow recruiters in 2020:

Structure your resume by filing information under relevant sections.

Enhance the readability of your resume by cutting out any clutter and highlighting important information.

Make your resume effective by using the STAR format, using action verbs, and including performance figures.

Increase the relevancy of your resume by only including relevant information and using keywords.

Provide the correct contact details to enable a prospective employer to easily touch base with you.

Author’s Bio:

Aditya Sharma

On a quest to help professionals across the world land their dream jobs, Aditya lives and breathes

Hiration where he’s a Co-Founder and the unofficial CPO (Chief Problem-solving Officer) of the AI-powered

online resume builder

and platform to help job-seekers find their way in the treacherous job market.

Giving Back to the Community

Over the years, as a result of this funding, programs at KIPP Cooper Norcross Academy, St. Anthony of the Padua in Camden, and the Brooklawn School District have served hundreds of children.

Giving back to the community is a family affair for Bernard and Shirlee Brown, their daughter Anne Koons, their son Jeff and his wife Tracy.

CAMDEN CITY NJ–The Cooper Learning Center recently received $50,000 from the Bernard and Shirlee Brown Foundation, the Anne Koons Brown Foundation and the Jeff and Tracy Brown Foundation. This generous donation will go a long way to help children with dyslexia and other learning difficulties learn to read and become happy, lifelong learners.

The Cooper Learning Center, with offices in Voorhees and Moorestown, has offered parents and children access to the most advanced, scientifically-proven methods for accurately assessing and treating children’s learning difficulties, combined with expert clinical support for the possible causes of learning disabilities.

“Learning to read is something that no one can take away from you,” said Koons, a successful real estate agent whose son benefited from the Cooper Learning Center 25 years ago. “We had such a positive experience and I have recommended countless people to Dr. Selznick. It’s a privilege to support this program.”

Richard Selznick, PhD, licensed psychologist, author of four books on learning issues, and the Director of the Cooper Learning Center, and his staff, ensure that children learn in a caring and supportive environment that diminishes insecurity and self-consciousness while fostering comfort and trust.

“Seeing a struggling learner grasp a concept that has been a challenge is extremely rewarding,” said Selznick. “We are grateful to the Koons and Brown families for supporting our efforts over the years to help children realize their full learning potential. They have been extremely gracious in their support of the children.”

Donations from Koons and her family have allowed the Cooper Learning Center to provide its reading services to children who would not otherwise have access to such a program. Over the years, as a result of this funding, programs at KIPP Cooper Norcross Academy, St. Anthony of the Padua in Camden, and the Brooklawn School District have served hundreds of children.

“All of my life, our parents have championed meaningful causes benefitting those in need,” said Jeff Brown, president and vice chairman of NFI. “We are proud to support a local resource where children, and their families, faced with learning challenges feel understood and are treated in a compassionate way.”

“

The more you read, the more you know, oh the places you will go

,” and thanks to Anne Koons and the Brown family, more children are overcoming their learning challenges to go so many wonderful places!

For more information about The Cooper Learning Center,

click here

.

Pictured Above:

Top (L-R): Jeff and Tracy Brown, Bernard Brown, Anne Koons and Shirlee Brown

Bottom: Participants of the Cooper Learning Center’s Summer Reading Institute with Dr. Selznick, Anne Koons and Cooper staff.

Fatimah Williams collected a career-high 43 points; Scarlet Knights Take Kean U. 84-75

UNION, N.J. (Feb. 1, 2020) – Senior guard

Fatimah Williams

collected a career-high 43 points for the fourth-highest single-game total in program history to power the Rutgers University-Camden women’s basketball team over Kean University, 84-75, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game here Saturday.

Rutgers-Camden improves to 11-9 overall and 4-9 in the NJAC. Kean, which entered the day one game behind the NJAC tri-leaders Rowan, Montclair State and The College of New Jersey, falls to 13-7 and 9-4. Although Kean leads the all-time series, 50-23, the Scarlet Raptors are 4-2 in their last six games against the Cougars.

Williams became only the second player in program history to notch a 40-point game, an accomplishment that the program’s all-time scoring leader, Terry Cole, did four times. Cole has the three top-scoring games above Williams, notching 53 points against Ramapo (Feb. 26, 1983), 45 against Rutgers-Newark (Jan. 26, 1983) and 44 against Jersey City (Jan. 23, 1980). She also had a 40-point game against Spring Garden on Feb. 13, 1980.

Williams passed her previous career high of 32 points, set against Cairn University on Nov. 16, 2019. The game marked the 11th time she has scored 20 or more points this season and raised her career total to 1,139, 11th on the program’s all-time list. She is 15 points behind 10th-place Maureen McGovern (1994-99).

Williams also passed the season 400-point plateau, raising her total to 407 and her scoring average to 20.4.

Williams scored 24 of her points in the first half, helping the Scarlet Raptors take a 45-35 lead at the break. Rutgers-Camden trailed, 22-21, after one quarter and 24-21 early in the second quarter before taking the lead for good, 25-24, on a layup by sophomore forward

Breanna Ettrick.

That basket was part of a 14-0 run for the Raptors, who led by as many as 26 points (70-44) in the second half. The closest Kean came after the break was seven points (82-75) with 30 seconds remaining in the game.

Williams shot 18-for-30 from the floor, including 2-for-4 from three-point range, and was 5-for-9 at the foul line. She added nine rebounds, one steal and a team-high four assists.

In addition to Williams, the Raptors received another outstanding game from freshman guard/forward

Jalissa Pitts,

who scored 19 points and almost notched her second double-double of the week, finishing with nine rebounds. Freshman center

Kayla Newton,

meanwhile, collected a double-double with 12 points and a game- and career-high 19 rebounds. Her previous rebounding high was 10, accomplished four times this season.

The double-double was the third of Newton’s rookie season.

Junior guard

Shane Holmes

added three assists, three steals, three points and three rebounds, while Ettrick had five rebounds to go along with her three points.

Rutgers-Camden held a 51-39 advantage off the boards and shot 34-for-64 (53.1 percent) from the floor, while winning the Cougars were 27-for-83 (32.5) from the floor.

Senior guard Payce Lange and sophomore guard Shannon McCoy scored 22 and 21 points, respectively, for Kean.

The Scarlet Raptors return to NJAC action Wednesday with an 8 p.m. home game against The College of New Jersey.

Isaac Destin’s 40-point Game Lifts Scarlet Raptor Men

UNION, N.J. (Feb. 1, 2020) – Senior forward

Isaac Destin

notched a career-high 40 points and added 12 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season to power the Rutgers University-Camden men’s basketball team over Kean University, 79-75, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game here Saturday afternoon.

With the victory, the Scarlet Raptors improve to 7-13 overall and 4-9 in the NJAC under first-year Head Coach

Stuart Pradia.

It is the most overall and conference wins for the program since going 14-12 overall and 8-10 in the NJAC during the 2014-15 season.

Kean falls to 5-15 overall and 2-11 in the NJAC with its second loss against Rutgers-Camden this season. The Cougars lost in Camden, 68-63, on Dec. 14. Kean still leads the all-time series, 59-27.

Rutgers-Camden led by as many as 12 points in the first half (16-4 and 19-7) and was ahead, 23-12, before Kean went on a 20-7 run to grab its first lead of the day, 32-30. A pair of foul shots apiece

by sophomore forward

Jake Petrik

and junior guard

Arian Azemi

put the Raptors back in front, 34-32, but Kean took the lead right before half on a three-point play by sophomore guard Jared Latane.

Sophomore guard Jailen Jamison paced Kean with eight first-half points, while senior forward

Isaac Destin

had 10 points and Petrik added eight on the opening half for Rutgers-Camden.

Kean opened the second half with a 12-6 run to grab seven-point leads of 45-38 and 47-40, but a 10-point Raptor run was fueled by six points from Destin, giving the Raptors a 50-47 lead. After the teams swapped leads for a stretch, the Scarlet Raptors build their lead to as many as eight points, 72-64, on a trey by Petrik with 2:58 remaining and a layup by Destin with 2:20 left.

Although the Cougars closed within 75-72 with 38 seconds remaining, Destin hit four foul shots down the stretch to clinch the victory and end his career-high performance with 40 points. His previous high was 33 against Rosemont College on Nov. 10, 2019. With his 40 points, he became only the 12th Scarlet Raptor to reach the 40-point plateau. The program record is 46 by Dan Rucker against Southeastern on Feb. 4, 1978. Destin is the first Raptor to hit 40 since Dane Nicholson also reached that total on Jan. 6, 2005 against Arcadia.

The 40 points hiked Destin’s career total to 1,190, allowing him to move past Pete Vearling (1,151 from 1964-68) and into eighth place on the program’s all-time list. Seventh place belongs to Ray Pace (1975-77) with 1,201 points.

For the game, Destin went 14-for-23 from the floor and 12-for-14 from the foul line. He added 12 rebounds for his double-double and also collected three assists, two steals and two blocked shots. His points, rebounds and blocks were all game-high totals.

Azemi added 12 points, six rebounds and game-high totals of 10 assists and seven steals. The 10 assists tied his Raptor career high set in the same game against Rosemont where Destin had his previous high point total.

Petrik finished with 11 points for the Scarlet Raptors.

Jamison and Latane led Kean with 28 and 21 points, respectively. Jamison added seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals to lead the Cougars.

Rutgers-Camden shot 26-for-52 (50 percent) from the floor and 21-for-30 (70.0) from the foul line to overcome a 20-19 deficit in turnovers. The Raptors held a 32-31 edge off the boards.

Kean went 29-for-61 (47.5) from the floor and 11-for-16 (68.8) from the foul line.

Rutgers-Camden returns to NJAC action Wednesday when it hosts The College of New Jersey at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Parks in Pennsylvania Face $500M Deficit

By Dave Fidlin |

The Center Square

HARRISBURG PA–Rising costs and stagnant income is leaving Pennsylvania’s 121 parks with a projected deficit of about $500 million to address ongoing maintenance needs, a state official revealed recently.

Paul Zeph, head planner of the Pennsylvania Bureau of State Parks, went before members of the House Tourism Committee on Jan. 15 and discussed the

Parks for All

plan, which was recently refreshed after last going under the microscope in 1992.

In his testimony to the House panel, Zeph touched on a number of issues related to state parks, but the one piece of insight that garnered the most attention was the anticipated shortfall. When Parks for All was last updated, Zeph pointed out budgetary deficits at the time hovered around $100 million.

“We’re scratching our heads on how to go forward,” Zeph said. “We may have to shut down some facilities, we may have to make some parks a little more remote. We’re not sure, but we are identifying that we have a need.”

In 2017, the Bureau of State Parks conducted a survey, which yielded about 14,000 responses, and Zeph said he thought the feedback could serve as an important guide in how to proceed.

Pennsylvania residents have long enjoyed visiting state parks for free – the thinking, Zeph said, being the cost is covered through taxes – and there was minimal support for imposing an admission cost at this point.

Another middle-of-the-road scenario, calling for scaling down amenities at some of the state’s lesser used parks and giving them more of a rustic designation could also be on the table.

“There was some mild support for that,” Zeph said.

Several committee members weighed in on the issue. State Rep. Dan Moul, R-Gettysburg, questioned if at least one of the state’s larger parks could have a ramped up, amenity-rich emphasis on tourism that would extend beyond the park system’s current traditional base of day-trippers.

“We do have some state parks that have big enough lakes,” Moul said. “There’s a way we could bring more people into the commonwealth and have them spend money.”

But Zeph said such a scenario could lead to unforeseen circumstances. Other states, he said, have encountered financial losses in the long run for similar proposals.

“The bigger you get, the more the commonwealth winds up paying for these kinds of facilities,” Zeph said.

State Rep. Mark Longietti, D-Hermitage, said he was concerned with the rising deficit of parks maintenance. With inflation taken into account, Longietti said he is concerned the figure will only rise in the years ahead.

“It’s frustrating. It’s a conundrum,” Zeph said in response, pointing out there are no easy answers to the questions.

As for the survey itself, Zeph said there was one aspect of the responses that jumped out at him as the results were tabulated.

“I was surprised by the uniformity of responses,” he said. “By and large, people seem pretty happy with the system.”

Further discussion of the deficit and other aspects of the Parks for All plan is anticipated as 2020 gets underway.

“We need to mine a little deeper on some of these questions,” Zeph said. “We do have more work to do. This isn’t the end. But this has given us a good starting point.”

published here with permission of The Center Square