Quakertown News

In a competitive sealed-bid process, three regional waste management services vied for the privilege of “taking out the trash” for the Borough of Trumbauersville for the next three years, starting in January 2010. Also, for the first time in the borough’s history, recyclable items will be collected curbside and diverted from the landfill.

A white powder found on anti-abortion literature inside a Planned Parenthood center caused a HazMat scare in Bucks County Wednesday night.

Nearly 20 fire companies responded his afternoon to a fire in a three-story house in Richland Township.

The Planned Parenthood office in Quakertown was shut down by haz-mat teams tonight after a woman brought in anti- abortion literature mixed with a suspicious white powder that one office worker touched, officials said.

Three people were struck - one fatally - by vehicles Monday afternoon in separate incidents in Upper Bucks and Eastern Montgomery counties.

Thursday evening at the district's public school board meeting, point by point, Quakertown Community School District Superintendent, Dr. Lisa Andrejko, refuted statements written by Richland Township Supervisor Rick Orloff in the latest edition of the Township Times - the township's quarterly newsletter.

Entitled "The QCSD Tipping Point," Orloff contends property taxes have increased by "over 70% in ten years ... with virtually no appreciable growth in the student population." Orloff also maintains that "mediocre" SAT scores among middle school and high school students are the norm.

Fearing that Orloff was spreading misinformation to area residents, Andrejko used her allotted time at the School Board meeting to set the record straight. "[The article] was obviously an opinion, disguised as fact," said Andrejko. Never mentioning Orloff by name, Andjreko proceeded to dissect Orloff's article countering his claims about property taxes and SAT scores, among other uncomplimentary remarks.

A 21-year-old Quakertown man was charged with assault Tuesday for allegedly breaking a woman's car window, sending a shard of glass into her neck.

The large, red wooden lobster -- a landmark at a busy Quakertown intersection on Route 309 for years -- is gone, but it will eventually have a home with the Quakertown Historical Society.

The gymnasium of Quakertown High School was a sea of neon green and orange. Nurses held up the colored forms to direct children to the appropriate table - green for injection, orange for mist.

A Quakertown man faces a felony assault charge after his attack on an 18-year-old woman resulted in her having emergency surgery to remove broken glass from her neck, police said Thursday.

A Lehigh County man will stand trial on a homicide charge for shooting and killing a Quakertown man.

The owners of two Subway restaurants at Lehigh Valley International Airport, who claimed they were being evicted because worried passengers confused them with Muslims, have settled their federal lawsuit against the airport authority.

As a youngster growing up with Pennsylvania Dutch-speaking parents, Oscar Crist had little use for the dialect.

An Upper Bucks County man has been charged with theft and burglary for allegedly stealing $10,000 from a desk in his grandfather's home, police said Tuesday.

An East Rockhill man accused of raping a minor several times a week for at least seven years will face prosecution in Bucks County Court.

There were no offers submitted by the Monday deadline for the purchase of the county's Quakertown annex on Route 309. County officials are trying to figure out what to do next, said acting chief operating officer Brian Hessenthaler.

The annex was home to various county departments and nonprofits before Bucks built a new government services center in Richland. The county budgeted $1 million in revenue from the sale this year.

"Hopefully we can offset that through savings in other areas in '09," he said.

Bucks County has asked its printing contractor to refund all or part of the $28,000 it paid for a newsletter informing residents about a flu-shot clinic that had already taken place by the time it arrived in many taxpayers' mailboxes.

Miley Cyrus brought her "Wonder Tour" to Philadelphia Wednesday night. And in the front row was daughter of Trumbauersville chiropractor Dr. Elizabeth Carpenter, Sabrina, who has a one in four chance of getting a record deal.

When Bucks County District Attorney Michelle Henry announced last year that she wouldn't be running for a full term, she said it was because she missed being in the courtroom.

Come January, Henry will start getting a lot more courtroom time as she moves from her office to the post of first assistant district attorney.

She's about the best darn lawyer in the county, and certainly the best prosecutor in the office.

I personally spoke with Representative Paul Clymer (R-145) last evening. The long and the short of it... Paul Clymer did not offer his endorsement to Quakertown School District Board incumbent Paul Stepanoff (R) in his bid for reelection.

However, Clymer did not specifically reject Stepanoff as a candidate, saying instead, "I support the Republican slate of candidates as listed on the official Republican sample ballot." Paul further elaborated that school board issues are very localized and that his focus on education is mainly at the state level regarding policy.

Clymer states that there is indeed a big difference between supporting a slate of candidates from a particular political party and a specific endorsement offered to an individual candidate.

State Senator Bob Mensch (R-24), it appears, was also incorrectly attributed on campaign literature as having endorsed Paul Stepanoff. He did not.