Burlco man charged in shooting death of former employer

Here is the latest Local News from the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Burlco man charged in shooting death of former employer
A Burlington County man was charged Monday in the shooting death of his former employer, whose body was found Friday in his Tabernacle home, authorities said.

One in four college freshmen won’t return this fall. Here’s how schools are trying to bring them back.
After his freshman year of college in South Carolina, Ronald Torres cried the whole way back to Camden. “I was like, man, I can’t believe this is happening to me,” the 20-year-old said.

SEPTA urges rail riders to look into workweek alternatives
With structural failures found in one-third of its train fleet, SEPTA officials announced Monday that the Regional Rail lines would be running on a modified Saturday schedule during the workweek and urged Regional Rail riders to shop for other ways of getting around.

Camden prosecutor: Never issued Collingswood school directive
In the aftermath of an incident involving a third grader, a purported racist comment, and a brownie, the Camden County prosecutor said Monday that she never issued an order requiring district schools to report nearly every incident of student misbehavior.

She trained her first horse three decades ago, won the race,and is still a winner
When Kathleen DeMasi saddled her first horse in 1984 and entered it into a race, her life as a trainer was just beginning.

Threat of rain doesn’t dampen July 4th at the Shore
About 30,000 people showed up for a Tim McGraw concert Monday. And that would not be all that unusual, except that in this case the 30,000 were listening to him on a beach.

On Fourth of July in Bellmawr, an earnest band marches to save historic house
Like a Colonial-era militia, an assortment of people wearing a hodgepodge of uniforms marched through the heart of Bellmawr on July 4 carrying a “Save the Historic Hugg-Harrison House” banner.

More cases dropped after accusations against Camden cop
The Camden County Prosecutor’s Office has dismissed 21 more cases involving Camden County Police Officer Douglas Dickinson, who has been accused of misconduct. That brings to 39 the number of cases dropped since last month, when County Prosecutor Mary Eva Colalillo announced that her office had charged Dickinson with falsifying reports and simple assault.

Open or closed for Independence Day
I   Pennsylvania   New Jersey    Banks   Optional    Optional    Savings & loans   Optional   Optional    Federal agencies   Closed   Closed    Federal courts   Closed   Closed    State agencies    Closed   Closed    Local/state courts*    Closed    Closed    Liquor stores    Closed    Optional

Philly’s July 4 forecast: Rain, thunder at night
Flashes in the sky are expected for the Fourth of July, but fireworks might not be the source. As of Sunday night the National Weather Service was predicting an inch or two of rain and possibly thunderstorms Monday night beginning at 8 p.m. That’s about when the Philly Pops are scheduled to begin playing in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, said Randy Giancaterino, a spokesman with the Office of the City Representative. Fireworks are scheduled to begin about two hours later.

About This Series
Some Philadelphians spend summers lounging down the Shore, and others spend it sitting on their stoops. This series aims to tell the kinds of summer stories started or shared among neighbors. These are city stories that perpetuate long traditions, or cast a wary eye toward new trends. These are your stories, which are quintessentially, and unapologetically, Philly.

South Jersey braces for a one-inch sea monster
The good news about the venomous clinging jellyfish recently found in North Jersey is that they inhabit shallow inland waterways, not surf.

We could be celebrating independence on the wrong day
Some news as Philadelphia prepares for its raucous, red, white, and blue observance of Independence Day: You’re celebrating the wrong day, people!

Police investigating watercraft crash that killed father, son
New Jersey State Police on Sunday were investigating a crash of two personal watercraft that left a Maryland man and his 8-year-old son dead in Somers Point on Saturday afternoon.

Classketball
Ten-year-old Jaheim Martin loves shooting layups at Philadelphia Youth Basketball camp, but he also likes working out in a particular off-court space:

Open or closed for Independence Day
Pennsylvania   New Jersey    Banks   Optional    Optional    Savings & loans   Optional   Optional    Federal agencies   Closed   Closed    Federal courts   Closed   Closed    State agencies    Closed   Closed    Local/state courts*    Closed    Closed    Liquor stores    Closed    Optional

Funeral held for 4-year-old N. Philly girl
A 4-year-old girl who shot herself with a gun she found in her North Philadelphia home was remembered Saturday in a funeral and buried in Bucks County.

When is it OK for police to be called to a school?
The Collingswood school system has been thrust into a national debate on what role police should play in keeping students safe in school.

The renovated Haddonfield library will have books, too
“When they pulled up the rug,” Deborah Marchand says, “they found this.” We’re admiring a glorious terrazzo floor under the rotunda of the Haddonfield Public Library, where a $2.2 million, 15-month restoration, renovation, and repurposing project is nearly complete.

Families flock to Jersey Shore for July 4th festivities
OCEAN CITY, N.J. – Watching over her son, nieces, and nephews as they dug holes in the sand and built drip castles Saturday, Kelly Smith, 37, reminisced about being that age herself.

SEPTA: ‘Significant structural defect’ sidelines 120 railcars
SEPTA said Saturday that it had removed 120 Silverliner V passenger cars – nearly a third of its passenger railcar fleet – from service due to a “significant structural defect,” and that the cars would remain sidelined until repairs are made.

Christie school plan: ‘No one does that right now,’ expert says
Pitching his plan to revamp New Jersey’s school funding system to residents last week in Monmouth County, Gov. Christie dismissed assessments of his proposal as “radical.”

S. Jersey man charged as head of Philly-based drug ring
Eighteen people in four states have been charged in a multimillion-dollar drug and money-laundering operation based in Philadelphia, Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane announced Friday.

Prosecutor to meet with Collingswood school officials on police reporting policy
After weeks of parent outcry, Camden County Prosecutor Mary Eva Colalillo said Friday that she would meet next week with Collingswood Mayor James Maley, Police Chief Kevin Carey, School Superintendent Scott Oswald, and School Board President David Routzahn to discuss when police must be notified of incidents of student misbehavior in school.

SEPTA cop, seen in video roughing up man, keeps job
A SEPTA transit police officer caught on a bystander’s video throwing a man to the ground June 4 has been investigated and disciplined, but will remain on the force, SEPTA Transit Police Chief Thomas Nestel III said Friday.

No reduced bail for hoops player in alleged shooting, robbery attempt
Saying he was “concerned for the safety of the community,” a Philadelphia judge on Friday refused to reduce the $900,000 bail for Rysheed Jordan, the aspiring basketball star charged with shooting and wounding a man in a May 27 North Philadelphia robbery.

SRC takes step to close World Communications Charter
The School Reform Commission on Friday voted to begin the process of shutting down one of the oldest charter schools in the city, and gave its blessing for another charter to add high school grades.

Cosby lawyers to judge: Make Constand give back the secret settlement money
Lawyers for Andrea Constand urged a federal judge on Friday to throw out Bill Cosby’s bid to make her return the money he paid her a decade ago to settle sexual assault claims.

Pa. Senate approves controversial change in sex-abuse law
HARRISBURG – In a victory for the Catholic Church and a rebuke to the state House, the Senate voted Thursday to change the state’s child sex-abuse laws, but only after removing a contentious provision that would have let victims from as far back as the 1970s sue their attackers and private institutions.

Pa. lawmakers OK spending plan, but not how to pay for it
HARRISBURG – With hours to spare before the start of the new fiscal year, the Republican-controlled legislature gave its final sign-off to a $31.5 billion spending plan that Gov. Wolf said he could support.

Pa. GOP appears open to a later last call for Dems’ convention
HARRISBURG – Sometimes, Democrats and Republicans in Harrisburg even fight over the best way to party. A bill to grant some Philadelphia-area hotels, restaurants, bars, and other venues a four-day reprieve from Pennsylvania’s strict liquor laws during the Democratic National Convention hit a political, albeit temporary, road bump this week.

Oasis strip club manager convicted in single-punch death of patron
Almost nine years after James Koons was left unconscious and bleeding in the parking lot of the Oasis Gentlemen’s Club in Southwest Philadelphia, a jury found club manager John Pettit guilty Thursday of third-degree murder in Koons’ death after a punch to the head.

Atlantic City asks state to allow residents to decide on reducing council size
ATLANTIC CITY – In a tense meeting, the Atlantic City Council voted by 5-4 Thursday night to ask the state to allow city voters to consider reducing the council’s size by two at-large members, leaving six ward members and one at-large.

40-year-old theft vexes FBI: $1M Rockwell gone from Cherry Hill
The weary farmboy who once graced the cover of the Saturday Evening Post might sleep forever, but not the FBI.

Teen held in carjacking of woman, 82, from supermarket lot
A 15-year-old boy has been arrested in the carjacking of an 82-year-old woman in a Burlington County supermarket parking lot this month, New Jersey state police said Thursday.

Student charged in Robbinsville superintendent’s fatal hit-and-run
More than two months after a Central New Jersey school superintendent allegedly was killed by a student’s car when he was out for a run with his dog, authorities on Thursday charged the female driver in the educator’s death.