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Lt. Gov. Mike Stack vowed to seek re-election amid an investigation into his treatment of staff and security. But there’s enough time for another Democrat to knock him off.

» BRAD BUMSTED + PAULA KNUDSEN

BLAINE»T.»SHAHAN»FOR»THE»CAUCUS Above and opposite: Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor Mike Stack called a news conference in his office in the state Capitol on April 12 to address the inspector general’s investigation into his treatment of staff and security.

n the heels of a disclosure by The Caucus of an inspector general’s investigation into his behavior, Lt. Gov. Mike Stack now enters the 2018 Democratic primary contest for lieutenant governor with official baggage. That Gov. Tom Wolf asked for the probe is extremely revealing in and of itself. Wolf’s move is “really unusual,” said Saladin Ambar, chairman of the political science department at Lehigh University, whereO he teaches and writes about U.S. governors. Stack now runs the risk of having an opponent endorsed and funded by Wolf, or someone who runs independently, political analysts say. But how this plays out for Wolf and Stack depends, in large part, on what the probe by Inspector General Bruce Beemer finds and whether a report is released to the taxpayers who paid for it.

Neither Wolf nor the now-apologetic year state senator, won the five-person Stack have promised to do so. Democratic primary in 2014 largely Readers should know the investiga- because he was the only candidate from Who is Mike Stack? tion is administrative and not criminal. Philadelphia, a city with the most Demo- The probe is more about who will serve cratic voters. Michael»J.»Stack»III,»53,»is»Pennsylvania’s»33rd»lieutenant»governor.»A»Democrat»from» as the next governor and lieutenant Pennsylvania voters choose the No. Philadelphia,»he»was»sworn»into»office»on»Jan.»20,»2014.»He»is»an»attorney»by»trade. governor. 1 and No. 2 executives separately in the It centers on allegations Stack and primary; the victors run as a team in the »»What He Does:»The»office»of»lieutenant» School»in»1992,»his»official»bio»states. his wife verbally abused state police as- general election. governor»was»created»by»the»Constitu- signed to their protection and mansion tion»of»1873,»and»its»functions»and»du- »»Military Career:»Stack»is»a»former» staff paid by taxpayers to serve them. MEA CULPA ties»have»changed»little»since»then.»The» captain»in»the»Pennsylvania»Army»Na- Making the report public is a win- function»of»the»lieutenant»governor»is» tional»Guard»and»a»graduate»of»the»U.S.» win for Wolf. It meets his standard for t an extraordinary press confer- to»preside»over»the»state»Senate.»When» Armed»Forces»Officers»Basic»Course.» heightened transparency and could ence in his Capitol office last presiding»over»the»Senate,»the»lieu- He»also»served»as»a»judge»advocate» give him the ammunition he needs to week, Stack apologized for things tenant»governor»signs»legislation»and» general»for»the»28th»Infantry»Division. A other»formal»measures»passed»by»the» pressure Stack to bow out — or at least he and his wife Tonya said in anger to demonstrate a clear reason for another troopers and public employees. chamber.»The»lieutenant»governor»also» »»Political Career:»Before»winning»the» candidate to emerge. He said he their behavior was the chairs»the»Board»of»Pardons»and»chairs» lieutenant»governor’s»race»in»2014,» “For Wolf, making this a public inves- caused by stress and being in the lime- the»Pennsylvania»Emergency»Manage- Stack»represented»northeast»Philadel- tigation raised the stakes,” said Thomas light. ment»Council. phia»in»the»state»Senate’s»5th»district.» Baldino, a political science professor at Stack denied being abusive. He»first»won»the»seat»in»2000. Wilkes University. Some of his apologies were condi- »»Salary:»$162,373 Had Wolf and Stack been allies, Wolf tional. Asked if he urged troopers to »»Personal Life:»He»is»married»to»Tonya» could have had staff look into the allega- speed or hit the sirens and flashing »»Education:»Stack»is»a»graduate»of» Stack.»A»2015»profile»of»her»stated»the» tions quietly and then demanded Stack lights in non-emergencies, Stack said, La»Salle»College»High»School»and»of» couple»have»a»7-year-old»cat»named» make changes. “If I ever gave that impression, because I La»Salle»University.»He»earned»a»law» George»Saunders,»named»for»the»film» Wolf, of course, never chose Stack was in a hurry or I said something — degree»from»Villanova»University»Law» noir»actor. as his running mate. Stack, a former 14- CONTINUED, page 8

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Stack moments: The story so far

I think the governor though, and encourage top Democrats to call for him to step aside. doesn’t want his That would be a last resort, though. “I think the governor doesn’t want fingerprints over his fingerprints over Stack’s ouster unless absolutely necessary,” Baldino said. Stack’s ouster The notion that a governor doesn’t embrace his running mate is not a novel unless“ absolutely one in Pennsylvania politics. It was clear former Democratic necessary. Gov. Ed Rendell, who served from COURTESY»OF»BONNIE»SQUIRES»|»PHILADELPHIA»PUBLIC»RECORD 2003 to 2011, wasn’t thrilled with THOMAS BALDINO Then-state Sen. Mike Stack and his wife Tonya are pictured on the Capitol steps having Catherine Baker Knoll as his POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR in January 2015 before his inauguration as lieutenant governor. AT WILKES UNIVERSITY running mate and then lieutenant governor. There were rumblings about Rendell CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 MONDAY, APRIL 10 his»wife,»Tonya,»“will»do»better.”»Stack» wanting to cut ties with Knoll when he ‘We gotta get there, hurry it up’ — and »»The»Caucus,»a»publication»of»LNP» denies»that»he»ordered»State»Police» was about to run for re-election in 2006. they drew a conclusion that that’s what Media»Group,»reports»via»LNP»and» security»detail»to»use»the»vehicle’s» But it was politically expedient for Ren- I wanted, I apologize for that, because LancasterOnline»that»the»state»Office» rooftop»flashing»lights»and»sirens»to» dell not to rock the boat given Knoll’s that would be wrong.” of»Inspector»General»is»investigating» clear»traffic»for»routine»trips.»“If»I»ever» strong following among senior-citizen Stack said he is running for re-elec- whether»Lt.»Gov.»Mike»Stack»and»his» gave»that»impression,»because»I»was» voters. tion and that he expects he and Wolf will wife,»Tonya,»verbally»abused»their» in»a»hurry»or»I»said»something»—»‘We» The results of the inspector general’s be a “unified team.” security»detail»and»state»employees» gotta»get»there,»hurry»it»up’»—»and» investigation “could have a huge im- Political analysts doubt that will hap- working»at»the»lieutenant»governor’s» they»drew»a»conclusion»that»that’s» plication in the general election” even pen. mansion.»The»report,»based»on»infor- what»I»wanted,»I»apologize»for»that,» though Wolf didn’t choose Stack, said “This is not exactly a team — with mation»from»multiple»sources»and»a» because»that»would»be»wrong,”»Stack» Kyle Kopko, an assistant dean and head Stack,” said Joseph DiSarro, chairman person»interviewed»by»investigators,» said.»He»also»denied»that»he»and»his» of the pre-law program at Elizabeth- of the political science department at also»stated»Gov.»Tom»Wolf»asked»for» wife»were»“abusive”»to»State»Police»» town College. Washington & Jefferson College. the»investigation,»which»is»being»led» or»staff. Voters typically vote for governor Put more bluntly, “It’s always been a by»Inspector»General»Bruce»Beemer. and not a lieutenant governor, Baldino shotgun wedding,” said Charlie Gerow, a said. But he agreed that having Stack on Republican consultant from Harrisburg. THURSDAY, APRIL 13 the ballot could give the Republicans “Wolf could be looking for someone TUESDAY, APRIL 11 »»Editorial»boards»in»parts»of»the»state» ammunition in the fall race. else to help him more than Stack,” said »»The»Caucus»reports»that»the»inspec- call»for»the»elimination»of»the»lieuten- The GOP is already making hay out DiSarro. tor»general’s»investigation»centers» ant»governor’s»position»and»for»the» of the Stack case. Republican Party on»reports»that»Lt.»Gov.»Mike»Stack» eventual»release»of»the»inspector» Chairman Val DiGiorgio, in a prepared WIGGLE ROOM and»his»wife»repeatedly»ordered»their» general’s»report»on»the»investigation.» statement last week, painted Democrats state»police»security»detail»to»use» Others»called»for»Stack»to»bow»out»of» with a broad brush. iSarro has little doubt that since the»vehicle’s»rooftop»flashing»lights» the»2018»campaign.»“The»allegations» DiGiorgio called it “disturbing to Wolf requested the inspector and»sirens»to»clear»traffic»for»rou- being»made»against»him»don’t»con- hear that Lt. Governor Stack lambasted general’s report he will tine»trips,»a»move»that»is»in»violation» stitute»the»crime»of»the»century,»but,» state employees who cook, clean and D of»state»policy.»When»the»troopers» if»true,»they»represent»an»unseemly» release it. tend the grounds at his taxpayer funded “You’d assume it will be released,” he declined,»Stack,»and»particularly»his» abuse»of»power»on»the»taxpayer’s» home. said. wife,»Tonya,»would»heap»verbal»abuse» dime,”»wrote»the»LNP»editorial»board» “Even more concerning,” DiGiorgio DiSarro questions why taxpayers on»them,»sources»told»The»Caucus.» in»Lancaster.»“...»The»citizens»of»the» stated, “are reports that he directed his pay for a No. 2 executive and why that The»investigation»was»also»looking»at» commonwealth»have»a»right»to»know» security detail to violate state police executive is driven around by state po- whether»the»couple»also»lambasted» how»their»elected»officials»are»using» policy. … Sadly, arrogance and corrup- lice, much less why he would ever need five»employees»who»cook,»clean»and» the»resources»granted»to»them»by» tion among Democrat public officials, a siren. tend»the»grounds»at»the»state-paid» their»office.”»Wrote»The»Patriot-News» especially those from Philadelphia, Wes Leckrone, a political science lieutenant»governor’s»mansion»in»Fort» editorial»board:»“In»politics,»optics» is becoming more and more common professor at Widener University, said Indiantown»Gap,»where»the»Stacks» matter.»If»the»other»state»agencies,» these days.” there would be enough time if Wolf live.»Gov.»Tom»Wolf»declined»to»com- such»as»the»Departments»of»Correc- DiSarro cautioned against hyperbole, releases the report for another Demo- ment. tion»and»Education,»are»being»asked» though. crat to enter the lieutenant governor’s to»make»the»hard»choices,»then»surely» “I don’t know that there’s a lot there race. Pennsylvania»can»get»along»without» (against Stack) beyond being obnoxious “It creates wiggle room for someone WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12 an»elected»office»known»as»‘Lieuten- and enjoying the trappings of office,” he else to get in,” Leckrone said. »»A»contrite»Stack»apologizes»to»his» ant»Governor.’”»Wrote»the»Pittsburgh» said. That may not stop Stack from run- state»police»detail»and»other»public» Post-Gazette:»“At»this»point,»we’ve» What actually is there is the key. ning again, though, Leckrone said. employees»for»having»“said»things» simply»seen»enough»of»Mike»Stack.»He» Stack said he was unaware the inves- “The problem is, unless there’s some- in»anger»or»stress»or»frustration.”»In» shouldn’t»even»think»about»running»for» tigation dealt with anything other than thing illegal going on, Stack has the right a»rare,»37-minute»news»conference» re-election»next»year.»The»job»should» his treatment of employees. But there’s to run again,” he said. from»his»Capitol»office,»Stack»ac- go»to»someone»willing»to»obey»the» been speculation it may involve more, Those who know Stack say he is not knowledges»“not»being»a»perfect»hu- speed»limit»and»handle»the»stress,» creating serious problems for Stack. the type to back down. The governor man»being”»and»vowed»that»he»and» however»much»of»it»there»may»be.” Still, Republicans in the general elec- could exert enormous pressure on him, tion could try to tar Wolf by asking:

8 T H E C A U C U S Tuesday, April 18, 2017

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The Powerful DO WE NEED A LIEUTENANT

Here’s a listing of five of the5 most powerful lieutenant governors GOVERNOR? in modern PA history. Why the state should change the way voters elect the No. 2 in command, but not abolish the office

» G. TERRY MADONNA + MICHAEL YOUNG Ernie Kline Served 1971-1979 RODNEY DANGERFIELD, THE LATE AMERICAN COMEDIAN BEST KNOWN FOR HIS ICONIC CATCHPHRASE How can Wolf protect Pennsylvania Considered the most “I don’t get no respect,” was never lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, but he would have been right at powerful lieutenant workers when he couldn’t protect state home. governor in modern government workers from his second in history; handled The lieutenant governor’s office doesn’t get much respect, either. command? labor relations for It’s the Rodney Dangerfield of state officialdom. “What is in that report could ignite a Gov. Milton Shapp This dubious distinction has been vividly on display in recent years when lawmakers attempted to elimi- whole different firestorm,” said Gerow. and served as a key nate the office without any public debate or even a committee hearing. adviser. Imagine a group of U.S. senators huddling together and then voting to eliminate the vice presidency of TIMING IS EVERYTHING the United States without public debate or discussion. That’s pretty much what happened in Pennsylvania’s Senate in 2014. f Wolf is trying to break ties with The semi-secret Senate maneuvering showed just how little Harrisburg politicians regard the office of Stack, or at least draw a sharper line lieutenant governor — and more to the point, how little they care or understand the office’s political, his- between them, then getting the in- torical and governmental role. I Some background: all but five states have an office of lieutenant governor. vestigation out now — well ahead of the primary season — makes sense, analysts Most give their lieutenant governors some mix of constitutional and statutory responsibility. said. William Scranton III In Pennsylvania, the lieutenant governor legally presides over the state Senate, chairs the Board of Par- The timing is better, for one thing. Served 1979 to 1987 dons and coordinates the activities of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. That Wolf initiated the investiga- Handled the energy In many administrations they receive additional responsibilities from the governor — often, significant tion, too, gets him out in front of any portfolio for Gov. Dick responsibilities. problems that could surface — such as Thornburgh during Probably the most powerful lieutenant governor in modern history was Ernie Kline in the 1970s. Kline handled a lawsuit against the state for allegedly a crucial economic labor relations in the Shapp administration and was a crucial adviser on many matters. transition. fostering a hostile work environment. In the 1980s, Lt. Gov. Bill Scranton served under Dick Thornburgh, and handled the energy portfolio at a cru- No one has filed one but such litigation cial time in the economic transition in the state. Mark Singel, lieutenant governor in the 1990s, actually took over is part of the banter. the governorship when Gov. Bob Casey was hospitalized for a double organ transplant. “I think this is a smart move on Lt. Gov. Mark Schweiker became governor in 2001 when Tom Ridge left the office to accept President Governor Wolf’s part,” said Christopher George W. Bush’s appointment as U.S. Homeland Security adviser. Borick, a political science professor Tom Corbett’s lieutenant governor, Jim Cawley, had a variety of special assignments, including heading at Muhlenberg College in Allentown. the Marcellus Shale Task Force and leading the charge for liquor privatization. “There is very little downside to call- In modern times, lieutenant governors have become politically prominent analogous to the increased ing for an investigation, and it certainly Mark Singel status accorded to modern vice presidents. indicates willingness to put partisanship Served 1987 to 1995 Since the mid-1960’s, five incumbent lieutenant governors have made serious runs for governor and a aside. Became acting sixth, Schweiker, could have chosen to do so. Of the five who ran, four were nominated for governor by “Stack does not offer Wolf much in governor in 1993 their respective parties. when Gov. Bob Casey But the governmental and political importance of the office is only one reason for keeping it. terms of political value,” Borick said, was hospitalized for “and therefore even if the investigation a double organ trans- The office also insures an orderly succession and continuity in the executive branch in the event an proves damaging to Stack there is likely plant; Casey returned elected governor dies, resigns, or is unable to serve. Cliché though it may be, the lieutenant governor is but to be little fallout for Wolf.” later that year. a heartbeat away from the governorship. Nick Kotik, a former Democratic Without a lieutenant governor, the replacement for an incapacitated governor would be the president state House member who never em- pro tempore of the Senate. braced Wolf’s taxation proposals, looked In the past, that often would have meant a replacement governor of the opposite party. There is hardly at it differently. a worse outcome in a democracy then voters electing a governor from one party, only to see him or her “It’s not going to help Wolf in the replaced with a governor from the other party. Philly area. It’s like you are ‘picking on Yet, this nightmare scenario is not only possible without a lieutenant governor, it is likely. one of their own,’ whether that is the To argue that the office of lieutenant governor is important is not to argue it is also perfect. In particular, case or not,” said Kotik, of Coraopolis, the office’s nominating process is deeply flawed. Mark Schweiker near Pittsburgh. Served 1995 to 2001 Under existing law, Republican and Democratic candidates for governor and lieutenant governor are “Usually these types of things are Became governor nominated separately, but must then run together in the general elections. episodes where the executive him or in 2001 when Gov. Much better would be a system that required gubernatorial nominees to name their own running mates herself is in trouble, rather than the sec- Tom Ridge accepted — much as presidential nominees now do. ond (in command),” Ambar, of Lehigh President George W. This would replace the present crazy system in which governor and lieutenant governor nominees are University, said. Bush’s appointment merged “shotgun wedding”-style into a party ticket only after primaries are over. as U.S. Homeland Alternately, we could simply require candidates for governor and lieutenant governor to run as a team in He explained that lieutenant gov- Security adviser. ernors often are low-profile positions. the primary, as they do now in general elections. “Almost by definition they are to be seen Either option is better than the electoral circus now used in which voters know little about the candi- and not heard from,” he said. dates for lieutenant governor, and nothing at all about what those candidates might do, if events thrust Ambar said the flap might not harm them into the governor’s chair. the governor’s re-election chances in It is time to recognize that Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governorship is now a vital office — one that has 2018. undergone a transformation from a job once considered marginal to a job analogous to the national vice “Gov. Wolf won’t be particularly presidency. damaged by this. He doesn’t have any So, yes, let’s change what is wrong with the way we select lieutenant governors — but polish it, not obligation to go to bat for the lieutenant Jim Cawley abolish it. governor,” Ambar said. Served 2011 to 2015 Pennsylvania needs a lieutenant governor. And if another lieutenant gover- Gov. Tom Corbett’s It also needs elected officials in Harrisburg who understand why. lieutenant governor; nor candidate emerges with attractive headed the Marcellus credentials, Kopko said, “Wolf may go Shale Task Force and This Politically Uncorrected column originally was published in 2014. Terry Madonna is a professor of ahead and throw him (Stack) under the led the charge for public affairs and director of the Franklin & Marshall College Poll at Franklin & Marshall College. Michael bus.” liquor privatization. Young is managing partner of Michael Young Strategic Research.

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America fi rst’ ■ President Donald Trump’s in- augural address is straight from his By Associated Press campaign script, delighting some WASHINGTON — Pledging emphat- Americans while dismaying others. ically to empower America’s “forgot- Page A3 SEPARATION SEASON — ten men and women,” Donald Trump As divorce fi lings accelerate was sworn in as the 45th president of into March, area counselors the United States on Friday, taking held political offi ce or high military and attorneys give their per- command of a riven nation facing an rank — promised to stir a “new na- spectives on why the phe- unpredictable era under his assertive tional pride” and protect America nomenon occurs and how to but untested leadership. from the “ravages” of countries he deal with it if it affects you. Under cloudy, threatening skies says have stolen U.S. jobs. at the West Front of the U.S. Capitol, “This American carnage stops right Trump painted a bleak picture of the Page C1 here,” Trump declared. He issued a America he now leads, declaring as he warning to the world: “From this day had throughout the election campaign forward, a new vision will govern our that it is beset by crime, poverty and Donald Trump, 70, is sworn in as the 45th president of the land. From this moment on, it’s going a lack of bold action. The billionaire United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Melania SPORTS to be America fi rst.” businessman and reality television Trump looks on Friday in Washington, D.C. star — the fi rst president who never See Trump, Page B1 ASSOCIATED PRESS TAKING PRECAUTIONS Summit school water unsafe FALLING SHORT — The Butler boys basketball team loses another close section game. Parents told Page D1 about lead By Tom Harrison DEATHS Eagle Staff Writer SUMMIT TWP — Lead in Genevieve M. Beckwith, Cran- the water at Summit Town- berry Township ship Elementary School Henrietta K. Gilcher, Murrysville Thomas L. Hobaugh, Butler exceeds state and federal Peter L. Hursh, Cranberry Town- safety standards. ship Butler School District of- Dr. A. Neil Kerns, Vero Beach, fi cials have known about it Fla. at least since September, Doris Jean Ritenour Lanzano, but the children and staff Smithsburg, Md. Jean Alice MacKinney, formerly have been allowed to drink of Butler the water, wash hands and William C. “Bill” Mathews Sr., make coffee and Kool- Valencia Aid with it anyway. They Beverly A. McClaine, Butler weren’t informed about the Eleanor L. Miller, Lithia, Fla., for- Gene Troyan, administrator for Butler Ambulance Ser- day. Crews are taking precautions against contact with merly of Butler risk until this weekend. Joy Fletcher Nicklas, Richland vice, demonstrates the protective gear emergency re- carfentanil, an extremely-potent opioid that can be ab- Young children, infants Township, formerly of Middlesex sponders wear when on a drug overdose call on Fri- sorbed through the skin or through inhalation. and pregnant women are Township JUSTIN GUIDO/BUTLER EAGLE especially vulnerable to Crystal A. Riding, Butler the health risks from ex- Oscar R. Sasse Sr., Butler posure to lead. The risks David Donald Turner, Slippery Rock include brain and kidney Delores Jayne Vasey, Parker damage and interference Helen Irene Widmaier, formerly Emergency responders with the production of red of Shaler blood cells. Scientists have See Pages B6, B7, B8 linked lead with lowered IQ in children. on alert for deadly drug The staff, children and INDEX their parents were not alerted until Friday of the Business ...... B4 By Joe Genco also poses a threat to fi rst respond- severity of the lead contam- Classifi ed ...... E5 ers, medical personnel, laboratory Eagle Staff Writer t would be our ination, according to docu- Crossword ...... E3 ‘I personnel and the general public ments obtained this past Police and emergency respond- Editorial ...... B2 sincere desire that who may come into contact with it, week by the Butler Eagle. ers in Butler County say they are according to the DEA alert. Community ...... C1 taking precautions against contact those affl icted with this According to the corre- addiction should real- Offi cers were advised to exer- spondence among school Horoscope ...... E4 with an extremely-potent opioid cise extreme caution around any that has recently claimed two lives ize that this truly is a offi cials, school board Lotto ...... A2 illicit drugs. Carfentanil can come members and staff mem- Movies ...... E4 in the region. poison they are putting in the form of a powder, blotter pa- Beaver County Coroner David bers at DEP’s regional of- Sudoku ...... E3 into their body.’ per, spray, tablets and patches. It Gabauer last week said that toxi- fi ce in Meadville, 10 water can be absorbed through the skin samples drawn from vari- TV ...... E3 cology results for a man who died Mark Peffer, or through inhalation. Exposure to ous faucets in Summit El- in mid-December revealed that he chief deputy with the Butler only 2 mg of powder — about the ementary in September had carfentanil in his system. It County Sheriff’s Offi ce size of a grain of sand — could be showed lead concentration Vol. 147, was the second case of a Beaver lethal, according to the DEA. levels ranging from 13 parts No. 278 County overdose victim having the Mark Peffer, chief deputy with per billion to 55 parts per drug in their system. U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency the Butler County Sheriff’s Offi ce, billion (ppb). Carfentanil is a synthetic opi- issued a safety alert notifying de- said the department fi rst heard The only safe level for oid 10,000 times more potent than partments that heroin laced with about carfentanil two years ago, lead is zero, according to morphine and 100 times more po- the drug was being found in illicit state and federal regula- tent than fentanyl. It is used as a drug markets around the country. but has been monitoring its spread more closely since it was reported tions, but according to stan- tranquilizer for elephants and The presence of the drug could dard testing procedures, if 8 15769 00100 3 other large mammals. not only create an increase in in Ohio last year. In September of last year, the overdose-related deaths, but it See Drug, Page B1 See Water, Page B1

BE-1278202 Water be mailed. I’m told the teachers and staff knew about the lead test results, how DEP or regulatory compliance. continued from above were to be informed on Thursday. But all much they knew and when they knew it, “Was that the DEP giving us a green this should have been done as soon as and how much they should have known. 10 percent of the samples measure 15 light?” Clark asked. “And if that’s the the test results were known.” ppb or greater, a school must notify the School board member Leland Clark case, was there additional testing done public of the specific test results; it also The district hired environmental said he grew concerned when he read a to get the green light? I didn’t see any must draw up an approved action plan to consultant Gannett Fleming Inc. to copy of a Sept. 28 letter that Summit evidence of it.” fix the problem and remove the lead oversee remediation, King said. The hiring Elementary Principal William Chwalik Clark filed a right-to-know request for from the water. should be formalized during Monday’s sent home with students. DEP correspondence with the district school board meeting. Of the 10 samples taken at Summit The two-sentence letter reads: “I and learned there never was an order to Elementary in September, nine In a news release faxed Friday to the would like to inform you that the water turn off the water or turn it back on again measured 18 ppb or greater for lead. Eagle, Superintendent Dale Lumley said system for our school’s water is — the regulations don’t work that way. he was informed Thursday about the corrected. We are able to allow students Attorney Thomas King, the district’s Instead, DEP provided the district with specifics of the testing. He called the to drink the water and that we will solicitor, said Friday that the test results an extensive detailed list of requirements, district’s response to the DEP “both continue to run periodic checks to ensure in September should have triggered the including a detailed plan and timeline to untimely and inadequate.” that it remains safe.” public notification and action plan make the school’s water system compliant. immediately. But neither happened. King The school’s water fountains were The letter’s date is the day after the That information was given to the said he doesn’t know why. He wasn’t turned off Thursday. Bottled water, hand school received the test results. It district on Sept. 27, the same day the notified by anyone in the district. He was sanitizers and wet wipes are being implies the water was shut down test results were provided. not copied on some of the e-mails provided for students and staff, Lumley temporarily and parents were notified, Copies of the DEP requirements were included for this report, he said. said. Well water is still hooked up to flush but not necessarily told why the water distributed to board members on Sept. toilets in the lavatories, Lumley said. was shut off. “A letter is going home to every parent 28 as an e-mail attachment from the today,” King said Friday. “Letters also will Some of the correspondence raises Chwalik’s letter didn’t mention lead or office of the superintendent. questions about which school officials any other contaminant. It didn’t mention $2,846 IN MONEY-SAVING COUPONS

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BENEFITSFRAUD TOTOXICXICCITYCITY SICK SCHOOLS Prescription probe at the DANGER: LEARN Shoreisnot finished yet AT YOUR OWNRISK Nineteen people have pleaded guiltyinfederal court. Thecounty prosecutorisready formore. By AmyS.Rosenberg STAFF WRITER LINWOOD, N.J. —Their houses are nice, if unremarkable, afew within walking dis- tance of the chatty Linwood bike path, not far from the now-vacant house that was the home of the late Dr.James Kauffman and his murdered wife, April. Their lives, too,seemed pleasant, also mostly unremarkable, dads in their late 30s and 40s, days spent coaching kids’ sports teams, working good jobs, kids on trikes, community activities. So far,the 19 people who pleaded guilty in federal court to their roles in a$28 million compound-pharmacy health benefits scheme have been pharmaceutical reps, two firefighters (onefrom Atlantic City,one from Margate), aPleasantville teacher of the year and baseball coach, aguidance counselor,a See SCHEME on A5

WORLD’S ZOMBIE CAPITAL

Dean Pagan, who atepaintchips thatfell on his desk at Watson Comly Elementary in NortheastPhiladelphia, washospitalized forseverelead poisoning. Said his mother,Cristine: “He wasjustconstantly upset. Iknewsomething wasgoing on.”

ManyPhiladelphia schools areincubators forillness, with Kevin Kriess runs the Living Dead Museum in environmental hazards thatendanger students and hinder learning. Evans City, Pa., the town where“Nightofthe Living Dead” wasfilmed. JOHN BEALE By BARBARALAKER, WENDYRUDERMAN, and DYLAN PURCELL Embracing the undead. PhotosbyJESSICAGRIFFIN FIRST OF THREE PARTS Alittle movie ay after day last September,toxic lead-paint chips fluttered from the ceiling of afirst-grade classroom and landed on the desk of 6-year-old Dean Pagan. about ‘ghouls’ put Dean didn’twant his desk to look messy.But he feared that if he got up to toss the paint slivers in the trash, he’d get in trouble. Pa. town on map So he put them in his mouth. And swallowed them. D By Jason Nark It wasn’tuntil Dean was hospital- STAFF WRITER ized last November for severe lead In the summer of 1968, Ella Mae Smith’s poisoning that the School District of skin went pale, and an unholy hunger sent Philadelphia grew alarmed enough to her shufflingthrough verdant fieldsin finallyfix the chippingand peeling MoreOnline: Philly.com/SickSchools-1 search of human flesh. paintinRoom 202 at Watson Comly yFind hazards in classrooms at 200-plus Smith, now 86, said it was “pretty easy” Elementary in Northeast Philadelphia. districtschools with the School Checkup to be dead that summer in Evans City,a It cametoo late. Deanlost his abili- Tool: Philly.com/SchoolCheckup blip of atown in Butler County,25miles ty to do simple math, such as adding yWatchvideos of afamily battling their north of Pittsburgh. She received acheck three plus three daughter’sschool-induced asthma, and for $25 for the work. Her late husband, Phil, We have in his head, cal- Cassidy Elementary students asking their was paid to be dead, too. culations that statesenatorfor help fixing their school. “Wewere ghouls back then,” Smith re- to figure called at her kitchen table last month. out howtoget once came easi- ySee photos revealing flaking lead paint, ly to him,his mold, mouse droppings and other hazards. “They didn’tsay zombies at all.” out of the mess parents said. yRead the entireToxic Cityseries: Today,the whole world’s got zombies, we“’rein. “When you ghouls, walkers, creeps, reanimated corps- Philly.com/ToxicCity Eileen Duffey, send your child es on the brain, and for the most part, this alongtime to school, you See ZOMBIE CAPITAL on A15 school nurse think he’sgoing gated the physical conditions at dis- taining lead —that put childrenatrisk. to be safe, and trict-runschools.Reportersexam- Even so, the district often takes you don’thave to worry,” his father, ined five years of internal mainte- months, even years, to complete re- WEATHER INDEX David, said. nance logs and building records, and pairs, the investigation found. BLocal News Every school day in Philadelphia, interviewed 120 teachers, nurses, To independentlydetermine poten- High 66, CCurrents children are exposed to astew of parents, students, and experts. tial health hazards facing students, DSports environmental hazards, both visible When the newspapersanalyzed the reporters enlisted staffers at some of Low54 EBusiness and invisible, that can rob them of a district records, they identifiedmore the district’smost rundown elemen- AccuWeather report, D12 FCars G healthy place to learn and thrive. Too than 9,000 environmental problems tary schools to conduct scientific Health Monday 72 | 48 HLive Life Love often, the district knows of the perils sinceSeptember2015. They reveal tests for toxins. Tuesday 72 | 51 JReal Estate but downplays them to parents. filthy schools and unsafe conditions— In all, staffersat19schools,follow- Wednesday 76 | 53 NTravel As part of its “Toxic City” series, mold, deteriorated asbestos, and acres ing testing guidelines, used surface Thursday 75 | 61 Lotteries, B2 the Inquirer and Daily News investi- of flaking and peeling paint likely con- See SICK SCHOOLS on A16 Friday 78 | 55 Jobs, B9-10

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TOTOXICXICCITYCITY SICK SCHOOLS

It wasscary.Theytook all my blood out. …The needles hurt. Thepills, Icouldn’t hardly swallowthem. They smelled bad. Ididn’t likethe shots. Dean“Pagan, 6, on the chelation therapyused to treatthe extremely high leveloflead in his blood

Cristine Pagan helps son Dean with reading homework at alibrary branch. He dreams of becoming ascienceormathteacher. JESSICA GRIFFIN /Staff Photographer UnsafePlaces forLearning

SICK SCHOOLS from A1 problems. Whetherinhaled in air- floor of aclassroom forautistic wipes to sample areas for lead Dangerous Lead Dust in Schools borne dust or ingested, the children at Olney Elementary dust, mold spores, and asbestos Of 14 elementary schools tested for lead by the newspapers, 10 had heavy metal is unsafe even in School tested at 5,900 micro- fibers. They also collected water unsafe levels of toxic residue from flaking paint on windowsills, shelves, minuscule amounts. grams per squarefoot —almost from drinking fountains. The or classroom floors. The EPA considers lead a hazard if there is more At least three-quarters of chil- 150 times thefederal hazard level. newspapers used anationallyac- than 40 micrograms of lead per square foot on floors, and more than dren in Philadelphia district And at HenryH.Houston Ele- creditedlab to analyze the sam- 250 micrograms per square foot on windowsills. schools are from low-income fami- mentary School in Mount Airy, ples. lies.Poor children tend to have one dust sample taken from a Adisturbing picture emerged. School Location Lead dust (MG/SF) poor nutrition, lacking calcium and second-floor hallway tested even Dangerously high levels of can- Olney 2nd floor classroom 9,800 iron, making it easier for lead to be higher,6,300micrograms per cer-causing asbestos fibers were absorbed in the body.Onceab- square foot. Houston 2nd floor stairwell 6,300 found on surfaces in classrooms, sorbed in bones, lead stays for life. “It’stotally unacceptable,” said gymnasiums, auditoriums, and Olney Autistic support room 5,900 In 2012, Philadelphia lawmak- Jerry Jordan, president of the busy hallways —residue from J. Hampton Moore 2nd floor hallway 1,400 ers made it illegal for landlords Philadelphia Federation of Teach- crumbling pipe insulation, dam- to renthomes withdamaged ers,which has nearly 12,000 aged floor tiles, and deteriorat- A.S. Jenks 1st floor classroom 1,100 lead paint to families with chil- union members. ing ceilings. A.S. Jenks 1st floor classroom 630 dren age 6oryounger. “The conditions of our old Tests revealed leaddust, at Cassidy 3rd floor classroom 520 Yetthat same law doesn’tapply buildings have been allowed to hazardous levels, on window- to the city’sschools, even though deteriorate,” he said. “It’ssome- sills,floors, and shelves in class- William Dick 3rd floor student space520 90 percent of them were built be- thing that in no other profession rooms, including one for chil- Cassidy 3rd floor classroom 490 fore the 1978 ban. Many of the dis- would anyone put up with …. Yet dren with autism. Houston 2nd floor hallway 470 trict’s130,000 children spend their we put children, who are there to School District officialstookis- school hours in buildings with dam- learn, and teachers, who are sue with the newspapers’ test- Nebinger Basement student space460 aged lead paint. there to teach, in buildings ing. They questioned the collec- Mitchell 1st floor classroom 450 No city,state, or federal laws where it’sjust, ‘We’ll get to it tion methods, and argued that require that district schools be when we get to it.’ ” Nebinger Basement hallway 210 air monitoring for asbestos — free of lead hazards. School District officials say not dust wipes —isfar more William Dick 1st floor hallway 200 Since the district does not rou- they are streamlining their accurate and the onlytesting Feltonville Int. Gymnasium area 120 tinely test classroom floors and record-tracking system to get a method required by law. surfaces for lead contamination, more up-to-date picture of prob- As for building conditions, dis- Southwark 3rd floor classroom 70 reporters had staffers at 14 ele- lems that need to be fixed. trictofficials said they are sad- A.S. Jenks 1st floor classroom 60 mentaryschools follow an EPA- “Wewant to be proactive in dled with too many old, deterio- A.S. Jenks Gymnasium area 40 approved protocol to collect sur- identifying,assessing, control- rating schools and too little mon- face dust for testing. The results ling, and preventing environmen- SOURCE: Samples independently obtained by Philadelphia Media Network; Analysis conducted by ey.Itwill take $3 billion over the International Asbestos Testing Laboratories were startling: tal health conditions in our next 10 years to build new Asample from asecond-grade schools,” said Francine Locke, schools, replace roofs and heat- Eileen Duffey,alongtime Lowerstandards forschools classroom floor at A.S. Jenks Ele- the district’senvironmental di- ing systems, and finish all urgent school nurse, said it would only mentary School in South Phila- rector.“So we go above and be- Philadelphia childrenare at repairs, they said. take “a reasonable amount of delphiatested at 1,100 micro- yond regulations when we col- School officials also cite their money” to prevent children like particularly high risk for lead poi- grams per square foot —almost lect data about dampness, mold, inability to fill vacancies in custo- Dean from getting sick. Families soning because more than 92 per- 28 times the federal hazard level paint, and plaster damage.” dial and maintenance staff and are required by law to send their centofthe city’shomes were for residential floors. hire enough trades people to children to school, she noted, so built before 1978, the year the Asample from asecond-floor ‘Theytook all my blood out’ maintain the buildings.(The dis- the district at aminimum should federal government outlawed hallwayatJ.Hampton Moore Ele- When Dean Pagan started first trict recently started aprogram provide ahealthy environment. residential use of lead paint to mentary School in Northeast Phil- grade at Comly Elementary last in which graduates of its voca- “Wehave to figure out how to protect people from “the unrea- adelphia tested at 1,400 micro- September,Room 202 was filled tional high schools will be hired get out of the mess we’re in,” she sonable risk of injury.” grams of lead persquare foot— with potentially hazardous deteri- as apprentice plumbers, electri- said. “And in no place is it more Young children are most sus- 35 times above the federalhazard orating paint, and the district cians, and HVAC technicians.) important to provide thatenviron- ceptible to the ravages of lead, a levelfor residential floors. In the knew it. The district spent $69 million ment than in the schools, where potent neurotoxin that can per- ceiling directly abovewas agap- Five months earlier,anenvi- in fiscal 2017oncleaning,mainte- we requirethem to spendthe manently damage achild’sbrain, ing hole, since fixed. ronmental inspector noted that nance, and renovations. greatest portion of their lives.” reduce IQ,, and cause behavioral One dust-wipe sample fromthe See SICK SCHOOLS on A17

Theceiling above Dean Pagan’sdesk in Room 202atComly Elementary beforethe flaking lead paintwas fixed by the Philadelphia School District. Thefirst grader wasdiagnosed with ADHD,which can be linked to lead poisoning.

JESSICA GRIFFIN /Staff Photographer PHILLY.COM |B SUNDAY, MAY 6, 2018 |THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER | A17

TOTOXICXICCITYCITY SICK SCHOOLS

Every dayIgo to school, Ifeel likeI’m in aprison or ajunkyard.…My school is always dirty everywhere. …Weneed moreand deservemore!!! Chelsea“Mungo,then 10,describing her school, Lewis C. Cassidy Academics Plus, in alettertoher statesenator

Chelsea Mungo,now 11, seatedonthe couch with her father in their home,recently said of her school: “It’s justgetting worseyear after year.” JESSICA GRIFFIN /Staff Photographer.

SICK SCHOOLS from A16 Then on Nov.9,Dean’steacher Kate Sylvester moved Dean’s painted over all the deteriorat- anew building ($30 million). the classroom’sceiling had 250 saw him put chips in his mouth classmates to another room. ing lead paint, including the dam- Most of the 12 schools are in the square feet of peeling paint, dis- and alerted aschool counselor. In aNov.15letter to parents, age in Room 104 —where Dean city’spoorest neighborhoods. trict records show —more than Dean’smom was waiting for she told them afirst-gradestudent attended kindergarten. Cassidy is one of the 19 elemen- in any other Comly classroom. her son at his bus stop when the had an elevated blood-lead level Why had Dean’sclassroom sat taryschoolswhere reporters In fact, by the district’s own counselor telephoned and alert- and “as aprecautionary measure, sevenmonths, including over gathered evidence on conditions maintenance and environmental ed her.Hetold her he wasn’t students have been relocated out the summer,withoutbeing for scientific testing. records over the last three years, sure if the paint contained lead, of the classroom the student was fixed?“That’sareallygood ques- With one exception, the dis- flaking and peeling paint needed to but just to be on the safe side, in while testing takes place and tion,” Locke replied. trict’sown records reveal asorry be repaired in at least 165 schools, she should get him tested, Pagan the source of lead is identified.” She explained that the district history that likely interfered 126 of them elementary schools. recalled him saying. “They made it sound like it prioritizes repair jobs, tackling with student learning: backed-up As those first school weeks They did, and when their pedia- was nothing,” Cristine Pagan those areas with the worst and sewage; leaking radiators; went by,Dean’steacher found trician saw the test results, he said. “Reading the letter,ifI most extensive damage. Dean’s mouse droppings alongchalk- him to be increasingly hard to called the Pagans right awayand didn’tknow the situation, I classroom wasn’t considered per- board ledges and inside plastic handle and talked to his parents said: “Go straight to the hospital.” would throw it away.” ilous because the damaged paint lunch storage bins in several about him. The level of lead in Dean’sblood The Philadelphia Department was on the ceiling, presumably classrooms; mold in bathrooms, Dean, who wears green- was 46 micrograms per deciliter of Public Health, which is alert- out of reach, Locke said. closets, and classrooms; 34 re- framed eyeglasses and dreams —nine times higher than the level ed to all cases of lead poisoning, “Unfortunately,wedidn’tget to ports of flaking paint; 29 reports of becoming ascience or math at which doctors worry about per- first inspected the Pagans’ apart- that particular school because it of damaged asbestos; 95 reports teacher,iseager to please and manentdamagetothe brain, ment to determine the source of was on aceiling and not on hand of asthma triggers such as mold, has always “been alittle hyper,” which could include intelligence the lead contamination. level to small children,” she said. mice droppingsand cockroach- his parents say. loss and learning disabilities. Inspectorsfound only trace Arthur Steinberg, head of the es; and the list goes on. He told them he tried to earn a However,all of the Cassidy “green,” not “red,” on his teach- drinking fountains tested under er’sbehavior chart. Green was Comly is one of the leastdangerous places. So what’sgoing the limit for lead contamination, for good kids, the ones who on in the rest of the schools? according to the records. stayed in their seats and didn’t Some students at Cassidy were talk out of turn. Arthur Steinberg, head of the Philadelphia Federation of TeachersHealth and WelfareFund so upset by their school’sshoddy But day after day,hewas conditions that three fourth- marked “red” and often came At St. Christopher’sHospital amounts of lead in two places, at Philadelphia Federation of Teach- grade classes wrote to their state home crying. His mom, Cristine, “for Children,Deanspent the next abaseboard in the attic and at a ers Health and Welfare Fund, representative last year pleading said she took TV time away from three daysgettingchelation ther- baseboard on the stairs leading said he found Dean’shorrific for help and funding. him; she didn’tknow what else apy,atreatmentused in cases of up to the apartment. “It wasn’t lead poisoning “frightening” be- They told of shivering in class- to do. severelead poisoning.Doctors places he’d go,” his father said. cause Comly is not high on the rooms without heat and wearing “He’d say,‘Itried. Itried. I gavehim Chemet, in pill form, They visited the school next. list of schools in desperate need winter coats to keep warm. They don’t knowwhat’swrong with which binds to metalsinthe They found damaged and flaking of paint repairs. wrote of regularly seeing rats and me,’ ”she said. “He was just con- bloodstream and helps the body lead paint all over Comly —on “Comlyisone of the least dan- mice in the lunchroom —even a stantly upset.” rid itselfofmuch of the lead. walls, floors, windowsills and gerousplaces,” Steinberg said. cockroach spilling out of amilk By October,his parents no- Doctors monitored him closely pipes in at least 16 areas, including “So what’sgoing on in the rest of carton. They said they’d had to ticed stark changes: Mood and gavehim IV fluids for dehy- Room 202, district records show.It the schools?” hang wet bookbags on the backs swings. Frequent stomachaches. dration. comprised almost 800 squarefeet. of chairs to dry out after apipe Inability to finish sentences. “It was scary,” Dean recalled. YetinaNov.21letter sent Theremedy?Anew school burst. They’ve seen kids and teach- Overwhelming sadness. “They took all my blood out. … home to parents, principal Perhaps the most toxic school ers dodge debris that fell from a “I knew something was going The needleshurt. The pills, I Sylvester wrote, “The classroom in the Philadelphia system is an water-saturated classroom ceiling. on,” his mother said. couldn’t hardly swallowthem. had some loose and flakingpaint” elementary school in Overbrook “Every day Igotoschool, Ifeel The Pagans tooktheir son to a They smelled bad. Ididn’tlike and also suggested thatthe called Lewis C. CassidyAcadem- like I’m in aprison or ajunk- psychiatrist and atherapist. He the shots.” source of the lead may have come ics Plus. yard,”student Chelsea Mungo, was diagnosedwithADHD, which He cried in the hospital bed, fromthe Pagans’home. She de- Built in 1924, the austere, boxy then 10, wrote in aletter to her can be linkedtolead poisoning. blaming himself. “He’d say,‘I’m clined arequest to comment. building is one of adozen Phila- state senator,Vincent Hughes The couple had no idea their so sorry,Dad. It’smyfault. I Locke, the district’senviron- delphiaschoolsthatare so dilapi- (D., Phila.). son had been eating paint chips at shouldn’thave eaten that,’ ”Dav- mental director,told reporters dated it would costalmost as Dayshin Oliver,then afourth school. “Threeorfour pieces a id Pagan said. “It was so sad.” two months ago thatdistrict much to fix it ($25 million) as it grader at the school, managed to day, or five,” Dean would later say. Meanwhile, Comly principal painters had cleaned up and would to raze it and replace with See SICK SCHOOLS on A18

Some Cassidy fourth-graders were so upset by their school’s conditionthattheywrote to their state senatorlastyearto Students aredismissed at Lewis C. Cassidy Academics Plus School in Overbrook, one of adozen Philadelphia schools plead forhelp and funding. This is ChelseaMungo’sletter. thatissodilapidateditwould cost almostasmuch to fix it as it would to raze and replaceit. JESSICA GRIFFIN /Staff Photographer “It’sjustgetting worseyearafter year”she said recently. A18 |THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER | SUNDAY, MAY 6, 2018 B|PHILLY.COM

TOTOXICXICCITYCITY SICK SCHOOLS

Canyou imagine all the kids thatdid drink from thatwater fountain?Whatabout the kids [with] systems thatcan’t overpowerthe lead? Dionne“Battis, whose daughter,Kymeisha, 10,routinely filled abottle from awater fountain at Cassidy thattestedhigh forlead

Dionne Battis (right) talks about conditions at Cassidy,whereher daughter, Kymeisha, drank from awater fountain beforeitwas tested and replaced. JESSICA GRIFFIN /Staff Photographer Hazards in theWater and Air

SICK SCHOOLS from A17 share aglass-half-full observa- Lead in the Drinking Water tion: “Our schoolyard, it’snot In summer 2016, the Philadelphia School District began testing that junky because we don’thave thousands of drinking fountains and other school water sources for the anything in it.” presence of lead. It shut off those for which the toxic metal exceeded Hughesvisited the school last 10 parts per billion (ppb), a level lower than the EPA “action level” of year and was alarmed by what he 15 ppb. The district has begun installing filtered “hydration stations” saw.“Your heart breaks,” he said. on each floor of district-run schools. These drinking fountains had the Chelsea, now 11, seated on the highest concentrations of lead. couch with her father in their Lead water home, recently said of her School Water outlet location score (ppb) school: “It’sjust getting worse Sayre High Pool Area - South Side 5,180 year after year.” Tilden Middle Across From Room 201 898 Teacher Valerie Williams worked at Cassidy from 1990 un- Widener Memorial Room 28 892 Awater fountain at til she retired last June. “It was a Hartranft Elementary Room 118 - kindergarten 779 Cassidy Elementary horror story,” she said. “Those Heston Elementary Room 200 759 School thattestedhigh children had no idea what ade- forlead. Afterlead Comly Elementary Room 216 733 cent school looked like.” testing results were It wasn’tuntil after the 2015 Meehan Middle Boy's Locker Room 642 shared with the School lead-contaminated water crisisin Philadelphia H.S. for Girls Cafeteria - Room G14 Side 597 District, the fountain was Flint,Mich. —and pressure from replaced by afiltered Robeson High Cafeteria - Left 471 Philadelphia parents and stu- “hydration station.” dents —that the district began to Strawberry Mansion Outside Room 419 - Bathrooms - Left 447 put filtered water fountains in Tilden Middle Outside Room 215 307 schools, Williams complained. The district’sown testing from Longstreth Elementary Room 106 - Storage 295 the 2016-17 school year showed Building 21/The U School Outside Girl's Room - left 286 that half of the elementaryschools Franklin High Cafeteria - Kitchen end of room 276 had at least one water outletthat measured for lead above 10 parts Comegys Elementary Across from Boy's Room - left 275 per billion (ppb), the district’s outlet group - furthest right threshold for replacing fountains. Lea Elementary Hallway, outside of Room 108 - 250 To its credit, the district used a used for Pre-K lower level than the EPA“action” SOURCE: The School District of Philadelphia, Safe Drinking Water Program guideline, which is 15 ppb. Water from some of the foun- and 9.6 ppb. “hydration station.” placed fountain. Her daughter that can’toverpower the lead?” tainshad leadatpoisonous levels. Areporter immediately shared Parent Dionne Battis said her takes medications that require Kenya Cannon, who works out- Akindergarten classroom at the results with the School Dis- daughter,Kymeisha, 10, afourth her to drink alot of water. side Cassidy as acrossing guard, North Philadelphia’sJohn F. Har- trict, which shut off the fountain grader at Cassidy,who has devel- “Can you imagine all the kids said the school made her son, tranftElementary School, for ex- by the next morning. Workmen opmental delays and autistic that did drink from that water Basir,11, sicker.Hehas asthma. ample, tested at 779 ppb.The dis- later ripped out the old fountain spectrumdisorder,often filled fountain?” Battis asked. “What It wasn’tuncommon for Cassi- trict shut off all drinking foun- and replaced it with afiltered her water bottle from the now-re- about the kids [with] systems dy staffers to run out to her cor- tainsover its 10 ppb limit. Some ner and tell her Basir once again water sources in kitchens and at couldn’tbreathe. bathroom sinks still have signs “I wouldjust drop my stop sign thatwarn, “Do not drink.” and everything” and run and get At Cassidy,in2016, 10 of its him, she said. She wouldplug in water taps were tested. The re- the portable nebulizer she kept sults ranged from 1.1 to 6.5 ppb, in her car and rescue him. records show. In aletter lastAugusttopar- Ventsinfestedwith bacteria ents of children at Cassidy,the Ashley Garner says she loves district wrote: “At your school, learning and makes A’sand B’s all of the water outlets passed in her fourth gradeclassatAn- thisstronger water safety thresh- drew Hamilton Elementary old and the waterissafe to School in West Philadelphia. drink.” (The EPAsays, however, But the district’sOffice of At- the only “safe” level of lead in tendance andTruancy has re- drinking water is zero.) peatedly contacted her mother, One of the drinking fountains wanting to know why her daugh- deemed “safe”toCassidy par- ter is missing so much school. So ents was adeep, oblong white far this year,9-year-old Ashley basinwith fourspigots in abase- has been absent 44 days —all ment hallway across from the caf- because of asthma. eteria and gym. Clusters of kids Of the nation’s25most popu- regularly linedupatthe fountain lous cities, Philadelphiaisthe during breakfast, lunchand gym. most challenging place to live if On Jan. 2, the day teachers re- you have the life-threatening res- turned fromwinter break, a piratory illness, according to one school employee took awater industrystudy.Asthma is the na- sample from that fountain for tion’sleading cause of student testing. The lab’sresultcame absenteeism and emergency back at an alarming 44.6 ppb — room visits. more than four times the dis- “Wehave to figure out ways to trict’slimit. makeschools more asthma- Since the water sat in the lead friendly,” said Tyra Bryant- pipes over the holiday,the news- Stephens, medical director of papers gathered four samples at the Community Asthma Preven- different times and days. Tw o AshleyGarner counts the number of pumps as she takes her asthma medicine.Ashleyhas been absent 44 tionProgram at Children’s Hospi- were low.Two came back at 10.1 school days this year —all because of asthma. She rarely has flare-ups during the summer,her mother said. See SICK SCHOOLS on A19 PHILLY.COM |B SUNDAY, MAY 6, 2018 |THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER | A19

TOTOXICXICCITYCITY SICK SCHOOLS

It’sexhausting. Icry.Igetupset.It’sthe worstthing in the world when there’ssomething wrong with your child —she’ssick —and there’snothing Ican do to fix it. “Denise Garner,whose 9-year-old daughter,Ashley, suffers from asthma, and whose attacks nearly alwaysoccur at her school

Denise Garner and her 9-year-old daughter, Ashley, at Children’sHospital of Philadelphia. Ashleysuffered asevereasthma flare-up. JESSICA GRIFFIN /Staff Photographer

SICK SCHOOLS from A18 the future holds for their son. tal of Philadelphia. Everymath problem he gets She is lead author of astudy wrong, every sentence he strug- from 2012 that found more than HowtomakePhila.schools healthier gles to finish, everytantrum, every 27 percent of Philadelphia school- fidget during amovie —isthat age children suffer from asthma or more than ayear,the in areas with lead paint, asbes- should routinely assess lead just Dean being anormal first —nearly twice the national rate. Philly Healthy Schools Ini- tos, and rodent infestations. paint in buildings and share grader? Or is it lead poisoning? School officials said they are F tiative has been working (The district recently pur- the information on the district’s “I see it as sortofatime bomb,” well aware of this problem and on ways to make Philadelphia chased 25 of these vacuums.) website for public review. Cristine Pagan said. “What kind are supporting aNational Insti- district schools safer and yLaunch and promote a311 yImmediatelyfill the numer- of aftermathwill there be? What tutes of Health asthma study and healthier for children.The coa- complaint system, much like ous openings in the district’s is downthe road?” outreach at 20 schools in West lition is made up of parents, the CityofPhiladelphia’s, maintenance department (53), “It’shorrible because he’savery and Southwest Philadelphia. Council members, teachers, about district school buildings. schoolbuilding engineering intelligent and bright boy,” David Community health workers there and environmental advocates. Staffers, parents, students, and openings(60), plus pest control Pagan said. “He already has hard- will make sure children have Among them are Jerry Rose- volunteers would be abletore- vacancies (2) and cleaners (6). ships with being alittle more hy- their medications at school and man, the Philadelphia Federa- portenvironmental problems Philly HealthySchools also said peractive. But if this takes away use them properly,and also flag tion of Teachers’ director of en- and upload photos. This trans- the district needstoadd dozens from his mental abilities, that conditions that trigger asthma — vironmental health and safety, parent system would allow peo- more of the cleaner positions. would be ahorrible thing.” mold, mouse droppings, and and DavidMasur, executive di- ple to track the progress and yUpdate all school buildings Cristine and David Pagan cockroaches. rector of the nonprofit PennEn- resolution of complaints. to meet current building codes didn’twant to send Dean back to This is little consolation to Ash- vironment. yRequire the district to certi- and requirements,including Comly.But they couldn’tafford ley and her family. Here are some of their ideas: fy all classrooms in elementary spending $420 million to $560 private school. And home school- Ashley saysher asthmaattacks yPut HEPA(high efficiency schools as “lead safe,”the million per year on major capi- ing was not an option because feellike someone is sitting on particulate air) vacuums in ev- same standard that landlords tal modernizations. Failing to they both have to work. David is her chest, choking her,and she ery school, preferablyoneach in Philadelphiahave to meet in do so, the Healthy Schools astore manager and Cristine a panics as she gasps for her next floor,atacostof$398 each, and ordertorent to households groupsaid, will lead to skyrock- customer-care representative. breath.She rarely has flare-ups havethe custodial and cleaning with children 6and younger. eting maintenance costs. They considered other Phila- during the summer, her mother staff use themdaily,especially School District inspectors —Wendy Ruderman delphia elementary schools but said. Until the lasttwo months, their pediatrician told them it her attackstypically tookplace would be agamble to move their at Hamilton Elementary.But her In September 2016, health in- scurrying around the school. ner worries her daughtermay not son from Comly. disease has worsenedand she is spectors found numerousasthma “I saw amouse yesterday in make it from the classroomtothe “He said, ‘Honestly,it’sthe saf- now getting attacksathome,too. triggers: fresh and old mice drop- the cafeteria,” she recently told a nurse’soffice two floors below. est place because they did all Hamilton Elementary,like pings, along with live and dead reporter.“It was near atable — “It’sscary,” she said. “My fear that work, all that painting.’ If he Cassidy,isalso one of the 12 Phil- cockroaches on glue traps, in the two tables away from me on the is that my child could die.” went to another school, we adelphiaschools so rundown food prep area of the cafeteria. floor.Itwas agraymouse. I wouldn’tknow if that school had and deteriorated that it would Ayear later,aninspector saw think it was dead. They swept it ‘Whatisdownthe road?’ lead either,” Cristine Pagan said. cost nearly as much to fix them mouse droppings along the floor into atrash can.” After Dean Pagan returned Dean, who turned 7inMarch, as to raze and replace them. The of the food prep and storage ar- Her older sister,Erin, now 15, homefromthe hospital, school is now back in Room 202. school is slated for amajor reno- eas. had asthma flare-ups only dur- staffers sent him aget-well-soon While that room hasbeenre- vation soon, including anew Although the most recent food ing the two years she attended card andafruit arrangement of paired, problems didn’tgoaway roof, School District officials say. inspection from January didn’t Hamilton, her mother said. strawberries, pineapples, and mel- at Comly.InMarch, district envi- Until then, teachers and chil- list rodent problems, Ashley says Hamilton now has anurse to ons cutintothe shape of flowers. ronmentalworkers, alongwith dren are in aschool that has a she sees cockroaches and mice giveAshleyher inhaler,but Gar- Dean’sparents wonder what Jerry Roseman, aconsultant for ventilation system lined with in- the teachers’ union, were called sulation infested with bacteria. It back to Comly.They found asag- is too expensive to strip it all out It’shorrible becausehe’savery intelligentand ging, water-soaked ceiling in a so the entire system must be re- bathroom inside an autism-sup- placed, records show.Adistrict brightboy.Healready has hardshipswith being port classroom. Scattered on the consultant labeled it a“potential alittle morehyperactive. But if this takes away from floor below: lead paint debris. liabilityproblem.” In recent It was caused by aleaking radi- years, staff found 48 conditions his mental abilities, thatwould be ahorrible thing. ator on the floor above, an issue that could trigger asthma, nearly “David Pagan, on the outlook forson Dean that Comly’sbuilding engineer all of them eventually addressed. had reported to the School Dis- Threetimesthis school year, trict in December 2016. doctorsfound Ashleyinsuch dis- Almost ayear before Dean was tress thatthey admitted her to poisoned. Children’sHospital of Philadel- phia, according to family medical [email protected] records reviewed by reporters. ^215-854-5933 "@barbaralaker That doesn’t include the 15 times [email protected] her mother,Denise Garner,took ^215-854-5924 "@wendyruderman her tothe emergency room. [email protected] Garner does everything possi- ^215-854-4915 "@dylancpurcell ble to minimize asthma triggers in her world. She regularly vacu- Toxic City has been supported by ums, mops, and dusts her three- grants from the Lenfest Institute for Journalism, the University of Southern bedroom rowhouse in Southwest California Center for Health Philadelphia. She doesn’tsmoke, Journalism and the Dennis A. Hunt nor do any visitors. And they Fund for Health Journalism. WURD have no pets. Radio contributed reporting. But Garner loses all control the minute Ashley walks out the door to go to Hamilton. TOTOXICXICCITYCITY “It’s exhausting. Icry.Iget upset,” Garner said. SICK SCHOOLS “It’sthe worst thing in the world when there’ssomething Coming Next Sunday wrong with your child —she’s sick —and there’snothing Ican Philadelphia public schools do to fix it.” arefilled with acres of As asingle mom, Garner runs damaged asbestosin adaily roadrace. She works sev- ceilings, floor tiles, and en days aweek at two jobs as a insulation. We examine day-care worker and ahome whether the districtisdoing health aide. enough to protect students Tw ice ayear,the city’sHealth from exposuretothe Department visits Ashley’s Heading home from Watson Comly Elementary are(from left) David Pagan holding Eliana, Johan, mother cancerous fibers. school cafeteria. Cristine,and Dean. Theschool is near their home. JESSICA GRIFFIN /Staff Photographer Beck is a member of the statewide Cephas said she first became aware affects the care black women receive. help women find their voice and their Maternal Mortality Review Committee, of the rising number of deaths among That bias can cause some women “who confidence and walk with them with which was created in 2018 under women who had recently given birth experience racism and oppression” to respect.” legislation introduced by Rep. Ryan at a roundtable with prominent female stay away from health care professionals. Black did, however, caution the Mackenzie, R-Lehigh. The goal is African-American Philadelphians she “So this contributes to a fear of the lawmakers present to ensure that to understand exactly how many organized for U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa. health care system and further impairs reimbursements for doula care allow Pennsylvania women die because of A young woman brought up rising adequate access to care,” she said. these professionals to earn a living wage. pregnancy — and why. maternal mortality and asked Cephas and Cephas said she was struck at the Minnesota is considering increasing its At the moment, the committee is Casey what they planned to do about it. hearing by the rising rates of substance rate. gathering information on maternal deaths “We had a blank stare,” she said. use disorder in women who have In addition to providing certification and from hospital systems across the state given birth. That opened up a “rabbit Cephas began doing her own digging Medicaid reimbursements for doulas, so it can begin a formal review. “We are hole” discussion on mental health and — seeing how other states are trying Cephas said another possible legislative also working towards securing additional depression. to address the issue — and pushed solution could include broadening the funding to help offset getting other to become vice chair of the House While Cephas said the maternal type of midwife that can be reimbursed people to help abstract the data,” Beck Democrats’ Women’s Health caucus. She mortality rate is “extremely alarming,” for her services. said in an email. helped host a town hall on the subject she added that “one of the good things in Cephas has met with colleagues But what Beck can say with certainty, in December with the Philadelphia Pennsylvania is we don’t have to reinvent including Mackenzie to discuss these and based on national data: “Black women Commission for Women. the wheel.” more ideas. have a 4 times higher rate of maternal “I kid you not,” she said, “it was Cephas pointed to states that have Beck, the doctor on the Maternal death than white women.” standing room only.” expanded Medicaid coverage for Mortality Review Committee, said it’s The why isn’t so simple. substance use disorder and mental Experts point to a number of factors to hard to say at the moment what exactly health to a year after a woman gives To raise awareness about this explain why the maternal mortality rate the state should do, since they don’t birth. Minnesota and Oregon have discrepancy and advocate for policies to is so much higher for black women in the have all the data yet. also expanded Medicaid to provide prevent future deaths, the Atlanta-based U.S. But in the interim, she said all hospital Black Mamas Matter Alliance declared reimbursement for doula care. At the April hearing, hosted at St. systems should “develop standard the week of April 11 to April 17 Black Doulas have been shown to reduce Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Dr. protocols for evaluating and treating Maternal Health Week. incidences of c-sections and negative Loren Robinson said for black women, hypertension and hemorrhage,” and birth experiences, according to the Mayo “The campaign and activities for “the social and built environments that institute implicit bias training. More Clinic. Black Maternal Health Week serve to reinforce discrimination and racism result people should also “fight for all women’s amplify the voices of Black mamas in an increase in … the wear and tear on Naima Black, a community-based rights to affordable contraception and and center the values and traditions the body because of constant stress.” doula in North Philadelphia and program abortion,” she said. of the reproductive and birth justice manager for the Maternity Care Coalition, “This leads to declines in health Another key piece is making sure movements,” a description on the testified in April that the kind of care over time at a different rate than those that women get the kind of care they alliance’s website reads. she provides is part of the solution to not subjected to discrimination and need. For low-risk pregnancies, that may reducing black maternal deaths. In Pennsylvania, Rep. Morgan Cephas, systematic racism,” Robinson, a state mean access to a midwife or doula. For D-Philadelphia, hosted a hearing in early Health department deputy secretary, said “Women call me every day hoping for women at a higher risk, that could mean April to discuss solutions to maternal in prepared testimony. an experience that will honor and respect being referred to “institutions that are mortality, with a focus on black women their autonomy in decision-making,” more comfortable dealing with potential Beck, of UPMC, agreed that there’s an and access to doulas — professionals who Black said, according to her prepared medical complications.” implicit bias in the healthcare system that provide guidance on pregnancy and birth. testimony. “Community-based doulas SNOW BLANKETS VALLEY, BUT WON’T LAST LONG, NEWS 2

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A GYMNAST’S JOURNEY STATE OF EMERGENCY: THE OPIOID CRISIS “I think just having the “We’ve used it as far back “The concern that I have should Narcan on hand is very ... as the early ’80s. From an Parkette now be that Narcan is a false sense of fortunate for people agency perspective, it’s a security that you can go out and who have a very drug that cost $4 to $5 party hardy and if something bad unfortunate addiction.” maybe 15 years ago, is now activist alleges happens, my friend has Narcan.” $50 or $60 a dose.” —Detective Adam Miller, —Chris Peischl, Upper Macungie Township —Don DeReamus, Centronia Ambulance Corps. sexual abuse Police Department Suburban EMS Advocate for young athletes says ex-coach molested her.

By Tim Darragh turning a blind Of The Morning Call eye to abuse are over.” Jessica Armstrong felt a mea- Six years sure of vindication as she stood ago, Arm- proudly with athletes and politi- strong, a for- cal supporters last month in mer Parkette, Washington, D.C., when Con- crafted her ‘RECOVER OR DIE’ gress passed a bill requiring own list of pro- amateur sports organizations to Armstrong posals for man- report allegations of sexual abuse datory report- to law enforcement within 24 ing and other steps to protect hours. vulnerable athletes from preda- “Every adult involved in ama- tors. teur and collegiate athletics must The effort was personal for now know that they have a her.Armstrong told The Morning responsibility to protect the Call she was sexually abused by a young athletes in their care,” Sen. coach while training in the late Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said at the ceremony. “The days of Please seeABUSE NEWS 6

ALLENTOWN CORRUPTION TRIAL Experts: Lies to FBI are easier to prove Conviction on even July 2, 2015, as other federal agents raided City Hall, one false statement Pawlowski repeatedly contra- charge could send dicted things the jury had heard him say on other secret record- Pawlowski to prison. ings played in court over the FAIRFAX MEDIA VIA GETTY IMAGES previous three weeks. By Emily Opilo Several of those utterances led and Peter Hall to criminal charges against By Laurie Mason across the Lehigh Valley. Of The Morning Call Pawlowski, afour-term mayor. Of Schroeder, First responders discuss their For a decade or more, all five the 54 counts levied against him, Pamela Lehman, of the first responders have been Prosecutors trying the case seven are charges he made false Binghui Huang fears, frustrations on the front fighting an unrelenting foe, and against Allentown Mayor Ed statements to the FBI. and Carol Thompson even as the deaths grow at an Pawlowski played one final piece While the lying charges may Of The Morning Call lines of the drug epidemic alarming rate, the five show no of evidence Wednesday: alengthy seem less serious than the more First in an occasional series signs of giving up the battle. recording of Pawlowski’s first complicated conspiracy and brib- But, they do want more tools interview with the FBI. Paramedic Chris Peischl help with their addiction. Most Whitehall Township. “But, we than just naloxone to fight an On the tape, secretly recorded Please seeTRIAL NEWS 11 knows some street addresses all of the time, they refuse to even continue to go, over and over epidemic they believe will con- too well. The ones he visits go to a hospital to be checked again.” tinue to kill for decades more. “over and over again,” each time out. His frustration mirrors that They want money for treat- to save someone from an opioid And there’s nothing para- of the four other first respond- ment, laws that would force overdose. medics can do. ers who also participated in a addicts into court-ordered Armed with life-saving nal- “They won’t admit that they roundtable convened recently treatment and education pro- oxone, Peischl and his crews have a problem,” said Peischl, by The Morning Call. The topic: grams to alert young people of revive the same people again director of operations for Cetro- an opioid epidemic that last year and again, and urge them to get nia Ambulance Corps in South claimed more than 300 lives Please seeOPIOIDS NEWS 4 Takeoff WRESTLING WITH LIFE’S CHALLENGES with us Liberty’s Mateo avoids takedowns connect to the world

By Tom Housenick with a screwdriver. ber 2015 New York Daily News Of The Morning Call “She just kept running story. The national average for around cars until someone crimes per square mile each Sebastian Mateo, two of his called the police,” Mateo, then11 year is 31.9. Brooklyn’s average is siblings and his mother were years old, recalled. 727. sharing the elevator in their “It’s crazy what could happen Mateo’s stepfather, Ricardo tenement apartment in Brook- from one minute to the next. Padilla, decided a few years later lyn with a woman they knew as Brooklyn was not a very good that it was best for the family’s Nonstop they headed to church. place,” he said. safety to move. Once outside, Mateo saw a Violence, drugs, bullying and Padilla, a construction 11 Destinations man he and his family knew gang recruitment were com- worker who spent time as a APRIL GAMIZ/THE MORNING CALL from working at the corner monplace in Mateo’s daily exist- child living in Lancaster, found a FLYLViA.com Liberty wrestler Sebastian bodega. ence in Brooklyn, which has the house in Bethlehem. Mateo once grappled with That man suddenly chased highest number of gangs in New avoiding gangs in Brooklyn. the woman from the elevator York City according to a Decem- Please seeMATEO NEWS 9 #flylocal

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OPIOIDS EDITOR’S NOTE The opioid epidemic affects every part of our society. From families to health care Continued from NEWS 1 providers to the first responders who rush to the scene of overdoses, it’s truly a the dangers of opioids, similar to community crisis. As part of a yearlong, anti-smoking campaigns. multimedia series on the opioid epidemic, During an hour-long discussion, the The Morning Call is hosting a series of first responders stressed they would roundtable discussions with community continue to give naloxone, an overdose members who are directly impacted. reversal drug frequently sold under the Our first session was with suburban first brand name Narcan, because it saves responders — Lehigh Township police Chief Scott Fogel; Jeffrey D. Yanochko, EMS lives. But they warned that its wide- liaison for St. Luke’s University Hospital; spread availability is spurring a false Don DeReamus, administrator of Suburban sense of security in the community. EMS; Adam Miller, Upper Macungie “Narcan doesn’t solve the problem,” Township Police Department detective; and Peischl said. “That’s just the Band-Aid Chris Peischl, director of operations for approach. That’s not going to fix this.” Cetronia Ambulance Corps — on Feb. 6. Asked when the Lehigh Valley would see some relief from the opioid crisis, the answers from all five sounded those probes. similarly grim. “I think one of the things that we “Not to be the negative Nelly, but the have seen in the law enforcement answer to your question is decades,” community with the uptick in the Peischl said. heroin overdoses is that we are not only HARRY FISHER/THE MORNING CALL reaching out to those folks with the Death moves Lehigh Township police Chief Scott Fogel (left), St. Luke's EMS liaison Jeffrey D. Ya nochko, Suburban EMS representative Don lifesaving efforts, but we’re actually DeReamus, Upper Macungie Township police detective Adam Miller and Cetronia Ambulance Director of Operations Christo- treating overdoses as criminal investi- to the suburbs pher Peischl participate in a roundtable discussion at The Morning Call office in Allentown on the opioid epidemic. gations,” Miller said. Heroin and prescription opioid ad- In Northampton County, prose- diction is not a new phenomenon, but cities and suburban areas, that the helplessly as the addicted person re- the person is on their way up with their cutors used the statute in October to the first responders at the roundtable public and media didn’t pay much fuses medical help and continues to high and they are driving a car. Is this send drug dealer Daniel J. Fisher Jr. to said they saw a change several years ago attention to heroin and opioidaddiction deteriorate. now going to become a crash? Is it now prison for three to six years. The in the type of person overdosing on the until young white people started dying The chief said he’d like to see a law going to become a DUI? What are the lawyers for the 30-year-old Forks drugs. almost daily. similar to one enforced against first- other things that are going to happen?” Township man argued Fisher was Peischl, who worked as an Allentown “Nobody came to us when I was in time drunken drivers, which allows he said. simply providing a fellow heroin addict paramedic for more than a decade Allentown and said, ‘How many over- suspects to avoid a criminal record, but Some drug addicts have already had with the means to stave off painful before joining Cetronia about 10 years doses did youcorrect?’ ”Peischl said. “It forces them to address their drinking some contact with law enforcement withdrawal, but a judge found Fisher ago, said he noticed more addicted didn’t make the news because they problem. and may have a probation or parole profited from the sickness of others. suburbanites around 2010. were happening frequently. Then it “It’s easy if you have a DUI,” Fogel officer monitoring them. It’s the ones “We would see people who were goes out to suburbia. People are seeing said. “You pull the driver’s license. You who have never been arrested that going into Allentown and [while] driv- it more. What once was an urban tell them they have to meet this certain concern police officers the most, Fogel Is Narcan a “Band-Aid”? ing out, overdose on the side of the problem now is my neighborhood criteria to get their license back. Now, said. In those cases where an overdose road,” Peischl said. problem.” what equivalent do we have for drug “Who oversees them if they are given victim heeds an officer’s plea to seek Don DeReamus, a longtime para- addiction? Currently I don’t know of adose of Narcan and they recover and treatment, first responders know medic and administrator at Suburban State law ties one.” go right back to their circle that they’re they’re sending the person on a difficult EMS in Northampton County, said he In both Lehigh and Northampton normally in? How do you fix that? I quest. saw an uptick in opioid-related deaths first responders’ hands counties, first-time offenders of drug- think that’s the next question and the There are few beds open in the in his community about a decade ago. In Lehigh Township, police Chief related crimes may be eligible for next step that needs to be figured out,” Lehigh Valley’s drug treatment facili- “Kids that went to school with my Scott Fogel’s officers too get called to accelerated rehabilitative disposition. he said. ties, and many people suffering from kidswere dying at an alarming rate.And the same addresses “over and over But many addicted persons may never That doesn’t stop police departments addiction don’t have medical insurance. it was related to heroin at that time,” again” for reports of opioid overdoses. see the inside of a courtroom. from investigating drug overdoses, said Gov. Tom Wolf issued a disaster decla- DeReamus said. Often they are unable to make an Especially in rural areas, police Adam Miller, a detective with the ration on the crisis last month, a move Now, DeReamus added, stronger arrest. That’s because Pennsylvania’s officers are often first on the scene of an Upper Macungie Township police. He that was supposed to cut some of the synthetic opioids, including fentanyl Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Immu- opioid overdose and are the ones who noted that a recently updated law red tape barriers to treatment, but first and carfentanyl are being abused. nity Law, enacted in 2014, prohibits revive addicts with naloxone. The includes a charge called drug delivery responders say they’re still hearing “And the overdoses are harder to police from charging both a person who officers often walk away from these resulting in death, which guarantees a about long waits to get into rehab turnaround and save lives now,”he said. has overdosed on drugs and the person situations worried about what the drug dealer at least five years behind centers. It’s not lost on first responders, who called 911to get help. person will do next, Fogel said. bars for selling a lethal dose. He said especially the ones who work in both So, his officers can only watch “With drug overdoses, oftentimes that gives detectives some teeth in Please seeOPIOIDS NEWS 5

THE MORNING CALL SUNDAY,FEBRUARY 18,2018 NEWS 5

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“This is a “I don’t know that I’ve multi-generational issue. ever met someone who Usually when you think is a casual heroin user. about overdoses, you’re Once they get hooked, thinking about the it’s a big deal. ... If a younger person that’WELCOMEs TO A support system for that experimenting in their “I know that at least with our department, “These individuals who are overdosing person is there, then the late teensBOor earlyLD20s. NEWit seemsBEGINNINGto be the recurrence of the same do not, unfortunately, have insurance. chances of them I’ve seen overdoses people that overdose. When you start seeing And a lot of the rehabilitation places, turning themselves anywhere from 15 INup to HEALthat occurringTHCARE., it begs the question how do we these individuals cannot afford. So around go up 50 or 60 years old.” get them the actual help they need and not just unfortunately at that point, some have exponentially.” —Don DeReamuREADINGs, recoHEALver them THthe nightSYSTEMof the overdose and say, to make the choice — food or —Detective Adam Miller, Suburban EMS ‘Have a good night. I hope you’re better rehabilitation? They continue with Upper Macungie Township IS NOW TOWERtomorrow.’ WherHEALe do weTH.go from there?” the addiction at that point.” police —Chief Scott Fogel, Lehigh Township police —Jeffrey D. Yanochko, EMS liaison, As the new TOWER HEALTH, we’reunited by one common St. Luke’s University Hospital goal: Advancing Health and Transforming Lives.With the collective strength ofandsixa curleadingse, the firsthospitals,responders saidthousands. It dose ofmay appear to have revived a he said. “We’ve seen flakka, we’ve seen OPIOIDSnationally recognizedundouphysicians,btedly savespecialistss lives, but andmakesproviderspatient, within an hour they can suc- MORE ONLINE K2, we’ve seen spice. And the govern- some drug users feel invincible. cumb again to an overdose. ment always tries to catch up with these Continued from NEWacrossS 4 morethan 75 locations“It’s a false—ysenseouof securinowtyhavethat yoconvenientu “Our goal is to always try and get ■ See videos and photos from the Feb. new drugs, these synthetic drugs, and access to life-changingcan cargo e,outwhenand pandarty hawherrdy eyandouif needsomeoneit. to the hospital,” DeReamus 6 roundtable. they can’t. So it seems like a never And many of the people who need something bad happens, my friend has said. ■ A pocast features a -ending battle.” help the most can’Totgetherafford it.,we’reempoweringNarcan,” Peisyouchl said.to live your healthiestPelife.ischl also likened naloxone to a behind-the-scenes conversation with But even if all the drug dealers are “These individuals who are overdos- First responders across the Lehigh Band-Aid, but said some people talk reporters and editors involved in the locked up,the opioid crisis will continue ing do not, unfortunately, have insur- Valley administered naloxone more about it as if it’s a cure for opioid project discussing the impetus for the unless people who are addicted reach ance,” said JeffreyAdvancingD. Yanochko, EMSHealthan1,th000.Ttimesransformingin 2017, county officialsLives.addiction. That’s dangerous, he said. project and reflecting on the roundtable out for help, the first responders agreed. liaison for St. Luke’s University Hospi- said. The medication also is available in “People ... they overdose and some- and The Morning Call's history with Nearly 1 in 2 Lehigh Valley residents tal. “So unfortunately at that point, drug stores without a prescription body wakes them with Narcan and they reporting on the epidemic. has a direct connection to the epidemic, some have to make the choicViesit— foodToor werHealthRising.comunder a standing order signed in 2015 by do it again. And they do it again. And Themorningcall.com/news/heroin with 43 percent saying they "personally rehabilitation? They continue with the state Physician General Dr. Rachel that one time, nobody was there [with know" someone who has been addicted addiction at that point.” or call 484-628-HELPLevine. (4357). Narcan] and they die. And you want to to heroin or another opiate, accordingto The bigger hurdle, the first respond- Under Wolf’s disaster declaration, go back to the family and tell them, you educate young people. a2016 Morning Call/Muhlenberg Col- ers said, is convincing an addicted first responders at an opioid overdose know, ‘We told you,’ ” Peischl said. "The education is there but you don’t lege poll. DeReamus counts himself person that suffering through painful may leave behind some naloxone. Most really see it to the degree that we’veseen among that number, and said he’s withdrawal to get clean is worth it. in the Lehigh Valley do not, however, it in the past,” said Fogel, theToLehighwer HealthwatcheMedicald with disGrmaoupy as the crisis has Reading Hospital“Reco• Brandywinever or you’Hospitalre dead”• Chestnut Hill Hospital “Unfortunately, too many times it out of financial and medical concerns. Township chief, recalling theTo“Juswert SaHealthy movePartnersd from the cities to his rural takes that individual to get to that rock DeReamus, from SuJennersvilleburban EMS,HospitalExperts• Phoenixvillesay that the opioiHospitald epidemic• PottstownNo” messagesHospitalof the Reagan era. “All neighborhood. * bottom,” Yanochko said. “I’ve witnessed noted that a box of naloxone cost will likely get worse before deaths those different things we usedToto dower, yoHealth-UPMCu “I’ve seen soHealthmany teenPlanage kids that that firsthand, people who get to that between $4 to $5 a decade ago. Today, finally begin to decline around the just don’t seem to see the tenacity right I’ve known from my sons in high school rock bottom point and then they realize, that same box is $5*T0 owerto Health-UPMC$60, and Healthmid-Plan202coverage0s. Locoptionsally, firavailablest reinspoBerks,nderCarbon,s noLehigh,w.” Northampton, Schuylkill, Bucks, Chester,Lancasterthat arande notMontgomeryhere witCounties.h us anymore ‘I do need the help.’ And that’s whenyou Suburban can’t recoup that cost if the believe it’s going to take legislative DeReamus, who rides along to drug because they could not recover,” he said. are able to make a difference with these patient doesn’t have insurance or is intervention to open more treatment raids with Easton police as a tactical “It’s that serious. You either recover or people to show them that yes, we are covered by Medicare or Medicaid. centers, and increased focus on stop- EMS provider, said he believes police you’re dead.” there. We are your support staff. We are Also, he noted, long-lasting synthetic ping the flow of opioids onto the Lehigh aredoingthe best they can butthe drugs there to help you through all these opioids like fentanyl may require multi- Valley’s streets before the problem ebbs. keep coming. [email protected] problems.’” ple doses of naloxone spread out over a First responders also wonder why “The sad part with the law enforce- Twitter @LehighCourts Naloxone has been both a blessing longer time period. Even after an initial more isn’t being done by schools to ment is there’s always something else,” 610-820-6506

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Previews of this week’s games Car crashes SPORTS, PAGE C1 Early deadline into house Some regular features not Crews respond in South Middleton PAGE A4 available in today’s edition

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SEE RESultS WItH ~ We have a solution for Free Screening call 717-412-7226 www.PremierVeinPA.com Painful Legs? the swelling & pain! CALL now Camp Hill • York • Hanover Participating With Most Major Insurances I-81 SHOOTING Borough The lead up to murder hires new Strawser’s journey through the cracks manager PHYLLIS ZIMMERMAN of the criminal The Sentinel Mechanicsburg o cially has a justice system new borough manager. On Tuesday night, Mechanics- JOSHUA VAUGHN burg Borough Council approved The Sentinel an employment agreement with On the night Amy Lou Buck- Roger Ciecier- ingham was murdered outside her ski as borough home in Tunnelton, West Virginia, manager with an Sharon Pingley retreated into her e ective date of nearby home afraid. Sept. 6 in a 6-0 The metal on wood “ca chunk” vote. Council of the deadbolt lock provided little Vice President Timothy Davison comfort that April night in 2015. Jack Winchell Buckingham’s murderer, a man was absent. Ciecierski Pingley helped convict of stalking Ciecierski, two years earlier, was on the loose who has served as the borough’s only a few miles away, and she was codes enforcement/zoning of- worried she might be next in his fi cer since April 2014, was con- crosshairs. ditionally approved by borough “Fear,” Pingley said, recalling that council as manager on Sept. 6 night. “When we found out he killed with an annual salary of $65,000. that woman in Tunnelton, we didn’t The length of his contract “is at leave the house. We didn’t leave un- the will of borough council,” til we heard he’d been caught.” Ciecierski said. Buckingham’s murder came after “I think Roger will do a great a grim warning Pingley had delivered job,” council member John An- to prosecutors two years earlier. thony stated. “I said, ‘You know there will be “Thank you for the confi dence another (victim),’” she said. “I hope John Wayne Strawser Jr. Amy Lou Buckingham you guys have shown in me. I’ll my words ring in (the prosecutor’s) strive to do everything I can for ears forever more. I said there will miles, but in death they appear to This week The Sentinel takes the people of Mechanicsburg be another.” be connected by one man — John a closer look at accused I-81 Wayne Strawser Jr. shooter John Wayne Strawser Please see BOROUGH, Page A3 Murders Time and time again, Strawser Jr. and breakdowns within the Buckingham never knew 28-year- came to the attention of law en- criminal justice system: old Timothy Davison of Maine. His forcement, and time and time again, Today Monday murder along Interstate 81 near he walked away. With numerous Greencastle in January 2014 trig- victims and numerous arrests on his The lead up to murder The murder of Juried artists gered a long-fruitless multi-state record, Strawser bucked the system, Amy Lou Buckingham Weekend manhunt. serving less than two weeks in jail. Tuesday In life, Buckingham and Davi- The death of highlight son were separated by nearly 1,000 Please see STRAWSER, Page A3 Timothy Davison The conclusion TIMELINE OF EVENTS Harvest of A timeline of events surrounding John Wayne Strawser Jr.: July 2013 — Strawser charged April 2015 — Strawser shoots the Arts with stalking Elizabeth Butler and kills his former girlfriend and damaging her truck in Amy Lou Buckingham outside her TYLER MILES Maryland. home in Tunnelton, West Virginia. The Sentinel 2008–2012 — Multiple women come forward seeking court orders protecting them The Downtown Carlisle As- Dec. 30, 2013 — Against Butler’s objections Strawser from Strawser, alleging harassment, and September 2015 — Strawser sociation’s fl agship event is on is given a deal to halt prosecution in the case if he he is twice charged with theft. In August charged with Davison’s schedule to bring 20,000 people agrees to pay her $800 in restitution. The same day 2012 he is charged for stalking Treva Cline murder. Proceedings will not to the area Saturday for a juried another woman fi les for a protection order claiming and destroying her vehicle in West Virginia. begin until after his sentencing art show, European sports cars, Strawser stalked her since the month before. on Oct. 5 in West Virginia. a Kids Alley and a pop-up shop. The 36th Annual M&T Bank Harvest of the Arts runs Sat- urday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on West High Street from Hanover August 2016 2001–2004 — Strawser charged with a April 2013 — April 2014 — Strawser arrested and released by the — Strawser to College streets. cluster of o enses including malicious Strawser placed Garrett County, Maryland, Sheri ’s Department for convicted of “It’s the last outside arts fes- destruction of property, stalking and as- on probation for DWI, resisting arrest and reckless endangerment. At Buckingham’s tival of the summertime,” said sault. In this time frame he is convicted two years after the time of his arrest he was driving the same truck murder. Glenn White, executive director of felony motor vehicle theft, making it pleading guilty to police believe he was in the night of Davison’s murder. of the DCA. He also added that stalking Cline. illegal for him to possess fi rearms. Jan. 4, 2014 — this year may be the biggest fes- Timothy Davison tival they have hosted. shot and killed on Over 130 juried artists will Interstate 81 near Greencastle. Please see ARTISTS, Page A4

OBITUARIES, PAGE A2 CLASSIFIEDS D1-3 LOTTERY A3 United POLICE A4 COMICS B4-5 NATION A8-10 we SPORTS C1-12  Bushey, Esther  Longenecker, Donald FAMILY & FAITH B1-3 OPINION A5 stand  Dunkleberger, Virginia

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M 1 The SenTinel NEWS Friday, SepTember 23, 2016 | A3

agreement on Tuesday. cited concerns about “the that remained vacant after Other action approved applications for Borough “My position (about future of the borough and former Borough Manager Also on Tuesday, borough several upcoming events in From A1 Ciecierski’s hiring) hasn’t believe(s) there are better Patrick Dennis resigned in council accepted a proposal the borough, including: changed, but I realize that options before this coun- March. Assistant Borough from Herbert, Rowland & Tailgating in Memorial and to make sure that your our borough manager needs cil.” Manager Glenda Boyer Grubic Inc., engineers to Park from 5-7 p.m. on Sept. confidence in me is re- to be paid,” Miller said on Borough Council also served as acting borough prepare a Commonwealth 30 before Mechanicsburg warded,” Ciecierski said to Tuesday. appointed Ciecierski as manager in the interim. Financing Grant application Area Senior High School’s council. Miller said earlier this Mechanicsburg’s borough Police Chief Margaret My- for funding of the Edgewood homecoming football game; Although council mem- month that his initial secretary; borough trea- ers and several other offi- Drive sewer rehabilitation Halloween Parade, ber Kyle Miller voted against negative vote wasn’t “a surer upon posting of bond; cials commended Boyer for project in the borough. 7-9 p.m. on Oct. 11; Ciecierski’s conditional reflection on Mr. Ciecier- and borough right-to-know “all the hard work” she did HRG’s fee for preparing the Streets of Treats, approval on Sept. 6, he ski’s prior service to the officer. while working two adminis- application is $3,900, plus a 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Oct. 15; voted in favor of finalizing borough or a reflection on As borough manager, trative positions for several $100 application fee. CROP Walk, 1:30- Ciecierski’s employment his character.” Instead, he Ciercierski fills a position months. Finally, borough council 3:30 p.m., Oct. 23.

stole a woman’s truck by hit him and fled the scene. der said, “As to the Mary- 20 times a day,” said But- Why was a man with a Strawser jamming a pocket knife into “U either call me with n land conviction, if it was ler. “There was nothing I clear pattern of violence From A1 the ignition. The next 2 mins or I will call a felony, his possession of could do about it. I had to and a growing list of al- She didn’t know, because The cops and have then Set a firearm in West Virginia deal with it, because I lived leged victims and charges He was not stopped un- she said Strawser did not at The church waiting on u would be a misdemeanor on a main road.” allowed to remain until after he murdered Buck- appear to be that kind of 2 go 2 work,” Strawser said crime.” The ordeal with Strawser checked? ingham, and he now stands man. in one text that was entered A National Crime Infor- has changed the way But- “Very often domestic accused of killing Davison, Between 2000 and 2001, into evidence. mation Center background ler deals with relationships violence isn’t taken too who appears to have been Strawser was charged with “Fine I will call them say check clearly listing the with men, she said. seriously,” said Judy King, at the wrong place at the a cluster of offenses, in- u hit me and left The scene 2002 Maryland conviction “From now on I do not executive director of the wrong time that night on cluding felony motor ve- I have ur tag,” he said in was in the case files for the care, if I date anybody I’m Rape and Domestic Vio- I-81. hicle theft. In 2004, he was another that accompanied offense against Cline and going to look them up,” lence Information Cen- Two people are dead, one convicted of misdemeanor a photo of Cline’s license the murder of Buckingham. Butler said. “I’m going to ter. “Or, if someone stalks man is implicated in both second degree assault, plate. Less than three months look them up before I date someone who is a former killings, and the criminal which was followed by a To help sell the ruse, he after being sentenced in them.” intimate partner, people justice system tasked with nearly four-year absence even took parts of the car West Virginia, Strawser was A condition of Strawser’s don’t take that too seri- protecting people appears from the criminal justice with him that he planned to charged with nearly identi- probation in the Cline case ously. They don’t connect to have failed them all. system. use as evidence, including cal charges — stalking and was he could not to leave the dots, even if the law “If (the courts) would Beginning in 2008 there a side-view mirror. When malicious destruction of West Virginia unless he says ‘you must connect the have done what they should was an increase in the Cline didn’t respond he property — only a few miles received approval from dots,’ they don’t.” have done, instead of slap- frequency of cases filed turned to threatening sui- away in Garrett County, the probation department. Multiple attempts to ping him on the flippin’ against him. Three women cide, implying it would be Maryland. Prosecutors in Maryland contact Garrett County wrist, he’d have been in jail sought domestic violence Cline’s fault if he took his In this case, Butler filed were aware of his convic- State’s Attorney Lisa Thay- and those two people would and peace orders against own life. for a protection from abuse tion in West Virginia and er-Welch via phone and probably still be alive,” him, and he was charged “I so bably need 2 cry is order, telling authorities were aware that he was on email for explanation went said Elizabeth Butler, who twice with theft between so Unreal,” he wrote in a Strawser sexually assaulted probation, according to unanswered. Strawser was charged with March 2008 and when text sent shortly after mid- her and was told not to court records. The Preston County Pro- stalking in 2013. Cline met him in 2012. night. “Where r u @.” come back to her home, Strawser made the STET bation Department refused Court hearings in But- “Would u b the 1 2 come court records stated. deal with prosecutors the comment as to why Straw- ler’s case would coincide New relationship find me ? If I would shoot He became angry, show- same day a second woman ser’s probation was not within days of both deaths. “When I first met him he myself,” he wrote less than ing up a day later. in Garrett County came revoked given the charges, “The night ... he killed was really friendly,” Cline an hour later. “Plz my fam- As Butler was drawing forward seeking a peace or- citing that Strawser is cur- Ms. Buckingham, he was said. “He just seemed like ily couldn’t/dnt need that.” her evening bath, Straw- der against him for stalking rently awaiting sentencing only two miles from my a nice a person. He talked By morning Cline went to ser began pounding on the her since the previous for the Buckingham murder. home when he got loose about going places. He the police and filed for an door. She hid inside her month. There is, however, no from the cops,” she said. talked about going to the emergency protection or- bathroom until he left. For The second victim told doubt what Strawser’s sen- “My dad went through beach.” der, but not before Strawser hours afterwards, Strawser authorities Strawser had tence will be. West Virginia every roadblock, came to The two began hang- made contact a few more drove past her home, like a been stalking her after the law requires Strawser be my house and got me and ing out and went on a few times. shark circling its prey. two broke up. She said she sentenced to life in prison my daughter because I dates, but that friendly, “I made u happy and I was He called and sent text had ended the relationship without the possibility of wouldn’t take my vehicle nice person Cline met at the only 1 u was with sense messages. He went to the because Strawser had be- parole. out of the driveway. I was work quickly changed. May,” a text at 9:18 a.m. door and pounded on it come jealous and accused “We used to always say scared to death. ... I said “He got really jealous,” said. “Kinda hate 2 trust again around 1 a.m., ac- her of cheating on him on the violence escalates over ‘Oh my God. He’s headed she said. “I had just met women and u just showed cording to court records. multiple occasions. time and happens more to my house. I’m next.’ He him, you know. I only knew me again. Cant trust them. Around 2:30 a.m., Butler He showed up at her frequently over time, and was that close.” him two months and he was Thanks.” said she heard a loud bang work, sent her text mes- I think that is true,” King really jealous and got mad.” Cline became one of and the sound of Strawser’s sages and even interrupted said. “Unless there is some Strawser Strawser’s jealousy and more than 12,000 people to car driving away. He con- her while she was at the kind of intervention, unless Strawser grew up in Pres- anger came to a raging boil report a domestic violence tinued to circle for another movies with her friend, she the law or someone, kind ton County, West Virginia, one night in August 2012 incident to police in 2012, three hours, Butler told told police. of pulls them up short and a rural area near Pittsburgh when Cline was out with according to West Virginia police. Strawser again threat- lets them know that’s not that borders Pennsylvania Pingley’s son, the father State Police. “He tried to deny every- ened suicide “since he OK, it’s working for them. and Maryland. The area is of her child. The two had On April 15, 2013, Straw- thing, but I was sitting in knew it would worry me,” It’s pretty effective to get quintessential Appalachia. not been together for some ser was sentenced in Cline’s my house,” she said. “I saw she said. This time he sent his partner to do what he Roads bend and wind time, but Cline said they case to six months in prison him do this. ... He texted a photograph of the bullet wants, so why give it up?” around the hilly terrain, continued to co-parent after pleading guilty to me the same thing 13 times, he planned to use. Snyder said his office was rather than cutting through their child. misdemeanor stalking. ‘Are you going to let me in not informed of the Garrett it. Homes, at times, appear He began calling and tex- That sentence was sus- or do you want me gone?’ Unpunished County charges, Strawser’s out of place, as if they had ting. Strawser eventually pended and Strawser was Thirteen times he texted Both women stated probation was not revoked, been delicately set on top of showed up at her home, but placed on probation for me the same thing.” Strawser owned firearms. he was not criminally pun- the uneven landscape, not she wasn’t there. two years. It was not until the Butler — like several women ished for terrorizing either firmly secured to a foun- “(Cline) started seeing morning that she felt before her — told police he victim, and he again made dation. him less and less and was Firearms comfortable to go outside. carried at least one firearm it through the system “His grandparents lived a little bit less interested As part of his probation When she did, Butler was inside his vehicle. largely unscathed. right above us and his dad in him,” said Pingley, who and the protection from greeted by a similar sight is just a gentle soul,” Ping- lives next door. “He starts abuse obtained by Cline, Strawser had left for Cline. ley said. stalking around. He’s in the Strawser was ordered to Strawser had scratched She reflected on times area, always in the area. It not possess or own any up her truck and broken when Strawser and his sib- was getting really annoy- firearms. In West Virginia, out her tail lights, she told lings came to her home as ing.” like Pennsylvania, firearms police. children to get rhubarb to Pingley watched every may be transferred to a Butler only went on one take to their grandparent’s time Strawser drove by the family member or another date with Strawser. home nearby to make a pie. home, turning the outside person who does not live “He changed my whole Pingley’s husband served lights on to let him know with the person required outlook on Facebook and as Strawser’s Boy Scout she had seen him. to surrender their firearms. how I post things, because troop leader. After Pingley put her Answering questions I had made a comment and “They were just normal,” granddaughter and husband from police after Bucking- I was feeling down and he Pingley said. “Maybe it was to bed, her dog began bark- ham’s murder, Strawser asked if he could take me a little tougher growing up ing, alerting her that some- said he had handed over to lunch,” Butler said. “In in Terra Alta (West Vir- thing outside wasn’t right. numerous firearms to his three days he done dam- ginia). I don’t know. I just Strawser had tried to ring sister after Cline obtained aged my truck because I never would have thought, her door bell, but it didn’t the protection from abuse wouldn’t sleep with him.” no, I never would have work. in 2012, a process that typ- thought.” She went to the door, ically requires the person to Cases Buy-Sell-Trade As he transitioned into looked outside and yelled go to the sheriff’s office, un- Butler’s case didn’t lead adulthood something to Strawser, who was mak- dergo a background check to a conviction. It was only LicensedClass1&3dealer changed in the little boy ing his way to Cline’s home. and fill out a form saying after Strawser killed Buck- Pingley described as a “lit- “When he turned and he was handing over the ingham that prosecutors Free firearms transfer* tle ornery.” looked, it was the look. It guns. That form was blank pushed for the stalking By the time Treva Cline, could have been like that in Strawser’s case file. charge, Butler said. Lifetimediscountammo* the mother of Pingley’s girl from ‘The Exorcist,’” “He didn’t do any official On Dec. 30, 2013 — four granddaughter, met Straw- Pingley said. “I knew it transfer, it doesn’t work days before Strawser is ac- Specializing in personaldefenseforwomen ser in 2012, he was already wasn’t over, but I didn’t that way in West Virginia,” cused of killing Davison — well into a dark and violent know what he would go on Preston County Prosecut- Butler’s case was placed on Money-back layawaysupto6months pattern of behavior with to do.” ing Attorney Melvin Snyder an indefinite postponement his intimate partners. But She was right. said. “If you do it between known as STET. In return One-on-One handgun training Cline only knew him as her Strawser returned later family, you don’t have to do for halting prosecution in co-worker. that night and thrashed any paper work. I can walk the case, Strawser was to She didn’t know about Cline’s car, ramming his up and sell an individual in pay Butler $800 in restitu- *With firearm purchases. his multiple arrests for as- pickup truck into it. my family a gun for what- tion, which he has yet to do. sault and stalking. “He destroyed my car,” ever and there’s not paper- Strawser did more than She didn’t know about Cline said. “He hit it multi- work done on that at all.” $1,200 in damage to the the women who sought ple times with his truck. He So, despite at that time truck, Butler said. court orders protecting took the valve stems out of Strawser being a convicted “I wasn’t OK that it was them from him. the tires. He took my spark felon since 2002, which put on STET,” Butler said. She didn’t know one plug wires. The windshield made it a misdemeanor for “(Prosectutors) said I had woman told authorities was broken. He ripped out him to own or possess any to allow him time to come that Strawser threatened all the wires from under the firearms in the state of West up with the money.” to cut her unborn child steering wheel.” Virginia, Strawser faced no Butler said she wanted out of her, or that another In total, Strawser did charges. Strawser punished. accused Strawser of strik- more than $3,500 in dam- Snyder appeared un- She said he continued to ing her child and pouring age to the Honda Accord. aware of Strawser’s 2002 harass her even after she A Veteran-Owned Business bleach over her clothes felony conviction when filed charges, but she re- when she tried to break up Texts asked about it in June. ceived no relief from au- 876 North haNover Street CarliSle 717.448.8549 with him. Strawser texted Cline The Sentinel presented thorities. [email protected] m She didn’t know that telling her that he would case information about the “He was driving up and 1 during one fight Strawser call police and say she had conviction to which Sny- down past my house 15 to A1FRONT PAGE SAVE $6,058 SWORN IN Shrpen your scissors and clip these Amid protests, Brett Kavanaugh money-saving coupons. Inside. joins Supreme Court. A5.

OCTOBER 7, 2018 SUNDAY $2.00 NEWSSTAND How Barto got

HEALTH MATTERS his license back Prescription Now jailed on abuse charges, doctor for health? was praised by board for reputation Follow the BY JOCELYN BRUMBAUGH On July 30, Pennsylvania Attorney [email protected] General Josh Shapiro announced 69 additional charges against Barto, revealing directions When Pennsylvania officials restored that 29 alleged victims had made reports Dr. Johnnie “Jack” Barto’s medical license of abuse dating back to the early 1990s Pharmacists: Patients on May 23, 2000, their order said the alle- during incidents at Barto’s Richland gations against him could call his conduct Township office at Laurel Pediatrics, don’t heed instructions into question, but could not prove that Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center he inappropriately touched two young and the Laurel Pediatrics Office in Som- BY RANDY GRIFFITH patients. erset County. [email protected] Two decades later, Barto is in Cam- Collectively, the four cases feature bria County Prison, facing similar accu- charges including involuntary deviate The right medicine can sations of assaulting patients and fam- sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent relieve pain, prevent disease ily members – alleged incidents that assault, indecent assault, endangering the and even save lives. investigators say span welfare of children and But patients often risk com- decades and involve n A timeline of accusations corruption of minors. plications or loss of effective- more than 30 victims. in Barto case/A2 Barto’s medical license ness because they don’t follow Harrisburg attor- n Chip Minemyer: Senator in was suspended Jan. 22, instructions, or don’t tell phar- ney Walter Cohen rep- the eye of the storm over child and his bond was revoked macists and doctors about other resented Barto when the sexual abuse legislation/A6 in May. drugs they are taking. pediatrician faced charges His next court appear- “Our biggest problem is: Peo- from state prosecutors in 2000. Cohen ance is Oct. 24 for a pre-trial confer- ple don’t said he “was really shocked to see the lat- ence with Cambria County Judge Patrick take their est charges” against his former client. Kiniry and a tentative trial date is set for medicine,” “By what happened then, was some- Nov. 20. Barto is represented by attorney pharma- thing perpetuated that shouldn’t have David Weaver, of Johnstown. cist Irvin happened?” Cohen said. Barto first faced such allegations as early Meredith Barto, 70, formerly of the 200 block of as 1994, but early reports never resulted in said from Delta Drive, was initially charged in Jan- criminal charges or civil litigation. Martella’s uary in connection with allegations that The Tribune-Democrat first reported in Pharmacy he inappropriately touched a 12-year-old 1998 that Barto faced civil allegations that he – Parkhill. patient in December at Laurel Pediatrics inappropriately touched three girls – ages 3, “ T h e y in Richland Township. 4 and 13 – during office visits at Johnstown either don’t He was charged again in March based Pediatrics, 110 Main St., Johnstown, over a take it at on a report from a 29-year-old woman period of four years. all or they who said she was 14 when Barto touched An adjudication and order filed by the don’t take her inappropriately while she was sleeping Pennsylvania Board of Medicine recently it as pre- on a couch in his home in 2002. obtained by The Tribune-Democrat describes scribed.” n Health Matters Another set of charges was filed the dismissal of those allegations and the res- Skipping infographic/A8 April 9, alleging Barto inappropriately toration of Barto’s medical license. too many touched a young relative on numerous doses of cholesterol, blood pres- occasions, most recently in December. Please see BARTO, A2 sure or diabetes medicine may not make the patient feel sick, but it will affect the lab results for the next doctor’s visit, Mer- edith said. Patients’ parents sought “Then they don’t tell the doctor they are not taking them,” he said, “the doctor will change the dose based on not-good justice, answers in 1998 information.” Sometimes patients quit tak- BY JOCELYN BRUMBAUGH and lawyers would literally tear her story ing prescriptions because they [email protected] apart.” feel better. The mother of another alleged victim, But that can backfire, Steph- A guardian of an alleged victim of John- who has since moved from the area, told anie Thomas, doctor of phar- stown pediatrician Johnnie “Jack” The Tribune-Democrat in 1998 that her macy, said from Conemaugh Barto was upset when accusations against daughter was molested on her first visit Memorial Medical Center in Barto surfaced in 1998, because she had with Barto. Johnstown. filed a complaint with city police four years In October 1998, the woman said she “Especially with antibiotics, earlier on behalf of her daughter, The Tri- was “stunned” by Barto’s actions and they stop them without com- bune-Democrat’s archives show. “didn’t want to believe it was true,” and pleting the course,” Thomas TODD .BERKEY/THE TRIBUNE-DEMOCRAT “They literally talked us out of doing questioned why his medical license wasn’t said. anything,” the guardian said. “They said Dr . . Johnnie . “Jack” . Barto arrives at District Judge Susan Gindlesperger’s court in my daughter would have to take the stand Please see PARENTS, A2 Stonycreek Township for a hearing on April 20. Please see HEALTH, A2 POWER Moon mission:. Hope. amid. chaos. . OF PINK during .year’s .final .3 .months Alana Letizia. (center), who is battling BY RICK DANDES idential election, a controver- breast cancer, stands with her hus- CNHI NEWS sial Olympics in Mexico City band, Johnstown Tomahawks coach and a moonshot. Mike Letizia, on Saturday during a Editor’s Note: This is the The assassinations of Mar- fourth and final installment tin Luther King and Rob- ceremony honoring her. She is holding of a yearlong series of sto- ert Kennedy, riots and civil her son, Niko, 1, and daughter Myla, ries about 1968: A Year That disobedience in hundreds 5. Read how breast cancer survivor Changed America. events in the fall and winter of U.S. cities and campus- Antoinette Taranto is helping others remain, 50 years later, iconic es unrest, activism, protests deal with the disease/Page D5. As the 1968 calendar shift- moments in our nation’s his- Please see 1968, A7 THOMAS .SLUSSER/THE TRIBUNE-DEMOCRAT ed into its final months, three tory: An incredibly close pres-

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medical board decision, Erika BARTO The first patient to make an accusation Brosig, clinical director for Vic- against Barto had an office visit at Johnstown tim Services Inc., said when Barto Years of allegations Continued from A1 was first accused, victims who Pediatrics on Main Street in February 1994, came forward were less likely to The order provides a history when she was 4 years old. be believed and supported. against pediatrician of accusations against the doctor Victims and families who did while highlighting his “positive rep- unobserved,” state officials wrote, “(Barto) would instinctively find the courage to report were A look at the timeline of events involving accusations of utation in the community as a phy- often met with reasons not to fol- sexual abuse against Dr. Dr. Johnnie “Jack” Barto: referring to the medicine clos- support (patient) with a scoop- sician and community member.” et at Johnstown Pediatrics that ing motion and resettle her facing low through with charges or dis- The document says: “(Barto) belief altogether, she said. A 4-year-old patient accuses Barto was “open and visible to staff and forward,” the order says. February 1994: and his wife have a history of passers by.” “The incidental contact which “Thankfully, much has changed of touching her private area in an office medical closet community service, participa- in our society since the initial after her mother stepped out of the room. The patient’s The officials also wrote: “More- resulted from the scooping tion as a school board member over, a four-year-old child may motion is what (patient’s) moth- reports about Dr. Barto’s conduct mother files a report with the local county children and and officer, participation in youth came to light in 1998,” she said. youth services and police. remember events five years later er would see and perceive as related activities, church pro- in such a way as to confuse the improper touching. Of course the “So much work has been done 1998: After a complaint is filed with the Bureau of grams, chaperoning school trips in the last 20 years to help pro- Professional and Occupational Affairs regarding the 1994 undisputed legitimate touching fact that (patient) was semi-naked and hosting exchange students.” of the examination with perceived on (Barto’s) lap added to mother’s fessionals and the community allegations, the group questions the patient’s perception at large develop a better under- of the incident based on her age at the time of the alleged inappropriate touching.” perception of events.” ‘Legitimate touching’ State officials said that “while it is standing of the dynamics of offense and the passage of time between the event and ‘Mother’s perception’ trauma, and we’ve reached a when the complaint was filed with the state. not per se unprofessional conduct The first patient to make an for pediatricians to hold children point where victims coming for- 1998: Barto faces civil allegations that he inappropri- accusation against Barto had an A second patient saw Barto in ward can have a different expe- ately touched three girls – ages 3, 4 and 13 – during office on their laps, in this day it behooves office visit at Johnstown Pediat- 1998 when she was 3 years old physicians to exercise caution in rience.” visits at Johnstown Pediatrics over a period of four years. rics on Main Street in February and sat nearly naked on his lap as Unfortunately, Brosig said, soci- October 1998: The Bureau of Professional and Occu- their interaction with patients. 1994, when she was 4 years old. he reviewed her medical records “Innocent though it may have ety has a long way to go in terms pational Affairs rejects a complaint filed by another parent The order says the patient with her mother, the document of victim support, even as state alleging an incident in January of that year, reiterating been, (Barto’s) conduct lacked accompanied Barto to the office’s says. some propriety and led fair- and national news headlines tell Barto’s standing within his community by saying “the alle- medical closet while her moth- The child’s mother eventu- of abuse at the hands of priests, gations against (Barto) are incongruous to his reputation.” ly enough to the charges against er left the exam room to consult ally told county children and him,” the order says. coaches, physicians, actors and May 23, 2000: Pennsylvania officials restore Bar- with a sister – a period of time the youth services and police that her politicians. to’s medical license. “The facts reasonably can be patient’s mother described as “two daughter “gave a sudden jerk,” interpreted in a manner which “Despite the current conversa- May 25, 2000: Barto tells The Tribune-Democrat seconds.” which is when she “observed what tions capturing the nation’s atten- that he and his wife, Linda, are facing legal bills surpassing could call (Barto’s) conduct into On the way home from the she perceived as (Barto’s) hand on question. However, the prepon- tion, the research tells us that the $100,000, and that his faith in God helped him get through appointment, the patient told her (patient’s) genital area.” the legal issues. derance of the evidence does not prevalence of false reporting of mother that Barto had touched The order says the second sexual assault is actually only 2 to October 2002: Barto allegedly touches a 14-year- necessarily lead to the conclusion her private area. The mother then patient’s mother ended the dis- that (Barto) improperly touched 10 percent, which is similar to all old girl when she falls asleep on a couch at his residence filed a report with the local coun- cussion, dressed her daughter and during a family outing. (the patient). The innocent inter- other crimes,” Brosig said. ty children and youth services and left Johnstown Pediatrics. pretation described above is as “Research also tells us that Dec. 21, 2017: Barto allegedly touches a 12-year-old police, according to the medical She eventually filed a complaint patient inappro- easily reached.” more than half of sexual assaults board’s order. with the Bureau of Professional The order was signed by are never reported at all.” priately at Laurel In 1998, the patient’s parents and Occupational Affairs. Pediatrics then-Commissioner Dorothy The aftermath for some vic- filed a complaint with the Bureau After reiterating Barto’s stand- Childress of the Bureau of Profes- tims who come forward and Jan. 18, of Professional and Occupational ing within his community, state report their abuse can be more 2018: Barto sional and Occupational Affairs, Affairs. officials at the time said “the alle- as well as Dr. Charles D. Hum- traumatizing than the abuse is arraigned In response to the allegation, gations against (Barto) are incon- via video from mer, then-chairman of the state’s itself, Brosig said, especially if state officials wrote that they must gruous to his reputation.” Board of Medicine. they encounter disbelief, ridicule Cambria County question the patient’s perception “In reviewing the record it is Prison by District Childress and Vivian Lowen- or judgment. of the events based on her age at appropriate to consider (Barto’s) stein, a nurse practitioner, were “Hopefully, as a community, we Judge Susan the time of the alleged offense and reputation,” the document says. Gindlesperger on the only two dissenting votes in can take this as a lesson for all of the passage of time between the In regards to the second the 7-2 decision by the state medi- us that offenders don’t always look two charges of event and when the complaint patient’s allegations, state officials indecent assault cal board to return Barto’s license. like the bad guys – in fact, they was filed with the state. determined she must have shift- rarely do,” she said. and one charge “Additionally, the design of ed and begun to lose her balance, ‘Dynamics of trauma’ each of corrup- “Most offenders are family the office raises the question of which caused the “sudden jerk” members and other trusted indi- tion of minors her mother reported. After reading the 2000 state and endangering the welfare of a child in the Dec. 21, 2017, whether such conduct could occur viduals.” incident. Jan. 22, 2018: Authorities say they have received ‘Bizarre’ end to the case bune-Democrat printed an exclusive inter- about 35 calls in support of the alleged victim and from PARENTS view with Barto, who said the dismissal of the those providing details of similar incidents in years past. Harrisburg attorney Walter Cohen, Barto’s allegations against him was a relief and that Jan. 23, 2018: The Bureau of Professional and Continued from A1 attorney in 2000, described a “bizarre” situa- he was not bitter. Occupational Affairs temporarily suspends Barto from prac- tion he said ultimately pushed those early alle- “It’s like a big weight off of you,” he ticing medicine. immediately revoked. gations against Barto straight to the Pennsyl- said. “When all this was happening, it was April 9, 2018: The state attorney general’s office “It’s disgusting,” she said then. “He’s still vania Board of Medicine – to decide whether never far from your thoughts, even during the files four felony charges against Barto – one count each practicing. He did this in January. How many or not the pediatrician should be allowed to good times.” of indecent assault of a person less than 13 years of age, more has he done since then?” resume practicing medicine. Barto and his wife, Linda, told The Tri- unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of minors and Now 20 years later, Barto faces new crimi- Following both 1990s reports to the state’s bune-Democrat they were facing legal bills endangering the welfare of children – after a family mem- nal charges in four separate filings – accused Bureau of Professional and Occupation- surpassing $100,000, that the initial reports ber said Barto touched her inappropriately on a number of of sexually assaulting more than 30 individual Affairs, Cohen said he spent days in court of the allegations rocked their family and occasions, most recently in December, as she was seated als over several decades. hearings during which Barto and witnesses caused sleepless nights. on his lap with other individuals in the room. At the time of the original allega- were questioned about the allegations. “It took its toll,” Jack Barto said. “It started March 22, 2018: Barto is jailed after a 29-year-old tions against Barto, Johnstown police con- The weekend following those proceedings, to affect my health. I lost 12 pounds. I don’t woman told Richland Township police and investigators with ducted their own investigations separate from Cohen said Barto visited his daughter, who was weigh all that much to begin with.” the attorney general’s office that Barto touched her when that of the Cambria County District Attorney’s a student at Penn State University at the time, Along with support from his family, Barto she fell asleep on a couch at his residence during a family Office, according to a law-enforcement source and they attended a Barry Manilow concert. said he never lost his faith and trusted that he outing in October 2002. familiar with the case who asked not to be When Barto and his daughter located their would someday be vindicated. May 1, 2018: Barto’s bond is revoked after Senior identified. seats, Barto realized the prosecuting attorney “I relied a great deal on my faith in God,” he Deputy Attorney General Simquita Bridges tells Judge David That source recalled that a single vic- and judge presiding over his case were seated said. “I knew this was more than one man can Tulowitzki that no conditions would ensure the safety of the tim brought allegations to the Cambria Coun- behind them. After he informed his daughter deal with on his own, and I’m just putting this community in light of the allegations made against Barto. ty District Attorney’s Office, which were even- of this, she reportedly took photographs of the in his hands.” July 30, 2018: Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh tually turned over to the state Bureau of Pro- two together. Barto also told The Tribune-Democrat he Shapiro holds a press conference detailing allegations of fessional & Occupational Affairs. “His reaction to me was, ‘there is a God,’ ” hadn’t thought about pursuing civil action for abuse made by 29 alleged victims in cases that date back “There was not enough there for a crim- Cohen recalled. the loss of his medical license. several decades. Sixty-nine newly filed charges involved inal case,” the source said, noting that the The following Monday, Cohen said he made “If I’d have wanted to spend my life in a incidents that allegedly occurred in 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, child was limited to “nonverbal” communi- a motion for the judge to recuse himself and courtroom, I’d have gone into law,” he said 1996, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2012, according to cation. the prosecuting attorney to be removed from in the 2000 article. “All I told my attorney court documents. The source was not surprised by the lat- Barto’s case, sending the matter to the medical is that I should not have had to come up Sept. 25, 2018: Barto formally enters a plea of not est charges against Barto, citing familiarity board for review, leading to an order granting with all these assets to pay you to defend guilty and waives his formal arraignment for the charges with other cases against physicians and well- the pediatrician his license back. me when I didn’t do anything wrong. It’s filed in July. known figures in the community. “After that, I’ve had no contact with him,” cost me so much, but I didn’t do anything Oct. 24, 2018: Barto has a pre-trial conference “With them being professionals, they can do Cohen said. wrong.” scheduled with Cambria County Judge Patrick Kiniry. no wrong,” the source said. Nov. 20, 2018: Tentative trial date for Barto’s first In regard to Barto specifically, the source ‘Didn’t do anything wrong’ Jocelyn Brumbaugh is a reporter for The set of charges. said the multitude of criminal charges now Tribune-Democrat. Follow her on Twitter — The Tribune-Democrat filed against him “was just a matter of time.” In the May 25, 2000 edition, The Tri- @JBrumbaughTD.

and time to take the pills, and responsible,” George said at cate medication,” Thomas said. HEALTH can include over-the-counter the center headquarters in the She also suggests having the medications and supplements Crown American Building. druggist synchronize prescrip- Continued from A1 along with prescriptions. “They should work with their tions so all renewals are due on “Some people, it’s just too doctor, work with their phar- the same day. That way, if one “By stopping it when they feel complicated to keep track of macist and set up a regimen for prescription runs out before better, they are running the risk their medicine,” Meredith said, themselves at home.” another, patients, their families of the infection coming back,” adding that pre-packaged daily The experts say one of the and the pharmacist will know she said. medication systems can help most important steps is read- there is a problem with compli- Thomas echoed Meredith’ s family members know if their ing the labels and instructions ance. warnings about poor adherence elderly relatives are taking their that come with medicines. Side George said her past experi- when it comes to cholester - medicine. effects and interactions with ence as a nurse at Conemaugh ol, blood pressure and diabetes “When they check up on that other drugs and even foods are Memorial Medical Center medicine. person, they can see if the pack- included in the package labels. showed her the importance of “High cholesterol doesn’t et is not being opened,” he said. Patients should alert doctors patients knowing what they are make you feel bad – until you and pharmacists if they have had taking. have that stroke,” she said. ‘Set up a regimen’ an allergic reaction to a medi- There are often at least two cine, but they should describe names for the same medi- ‘Need that medicine’ The pre-packaged systems can the reaction, Thomas said. cine – a generic name and the JOHN RUCOSKY/THE TRIBUNE-DEMOCRAT help anyone with multiple pre- “A lot of people may list it as brand name. Sometimes there Pharmacists can calculate Pharmacist Irvin Meredith works at Martella’s Pharmacy – Parkhill on Tuesday. scriptions, Michelle George said an allergy, but it’s really a side may even be another brand or patients’ risk for life-threaten- at the 1889 Jefferson for Popu- effect,” she said. alternative medicine. ing events, such as heart attack some patients,” she said. “They Thomas said. lation Health in Johnstown. But When patients are in the hos- and stroke, Thomas said. That realize they need that medi- Martella’s Medi-Pac system patients must take an active role Safety tips pital, they should double-check shows patients the chance of cine.” packages pills in daily, easy-to- in their pharmaceutical health what pills the nurse gives them dying if they don’t take their Most pharmacies provide open, tear-off packets contain- care, she said. One way to reduce mix-ups is – especially if it’s something prescriptions. help with remembering to stay ing the daily dosage. The pack- George is community projects to have all prescriptions filled at they take every day at home, “It’s kind of eye-opening for on schedule with medicine, ages are labeled with the day manager at the center, whose the same pharmacy. George said. mission is to improve the health “When people use multi - “If you are in the hospital and of the community at large. ple pharmacies, we could miss the nurse gives you your medi- www.tribdem.com “People really need to be those interactions and dupli- cine, you should question if the © The contents in this publication may not be reproduced, broadcast, or republished, electronically or in any other drugs look different,” she said. form, without the written permission of the publisher. Legal and/or research fees $150 per hour, two hours minimum. Finally, get rid of the old The publisher reserves the right to revise or reject, in whole or in part, any copy submitted for publication. medicine. Johnstown Office: 425 Locust St., P.O. Box 340, Johnstown, PA 15907-0340 (814) 532-5199 Not only do some drugs lose their effectiveness over time, Robin L. Quillon Publisher [email protected] EZ Paymonthly 3 mo.6 mo.yearly but disposing of narcotics can 7-Day Week Total Access $18.99 $19.99 $59.37 $117.54 $227.88 Chip Minemyer Editor [email protected] also reduce drug abuse. Weekend Total Access $17.99 $18.99 $56.40 $111.66 $215.88 “Don’t hang on to old pre- Mary Anne Rizzo Advertising Dir. [email protected] Digital Only Access $16.99 $17.99 $53.43 $105.78 $203.88 scriptions,” Thomas said. “Half Mail Rates of all opioid abuse starts by get- Nathan Kohan Regional Director of 814-532-5010 [email protected] Cambria County EZ Paymonthly 3 mo.6 mo.yearly ting drugs from a medicine cab- Audience Development 7-Day Total Access N/A $24.99 $74.22 $146.94 $284.89 inet or someone giving them Lou Gjurich Controller [email protected] Weekend Total Access N/A $21.25 $63.75 $127.50 $255.00 their old prescription.” Joan Hunter HR Manager [email protected] The next National Drug Take- For other mail rates, please call Back Day is Oct. 27. Ob ituaries [email protected] Circulation at Sites accepting old pre- Weddings, Engagements, Etc. 814-532-5050 [email protected] 1-866-307-0905 or 532-5000. scriptions can be found at Sports 814-532-5080 [email protected] If you don’t receive your paper, please call before takebackday.dea.gov. Cambria Courthouse Bureau [email protected] 10 a.m. seven days a week. The Tribune-Democrat is published daily (USPS-640-240). Periodical postage paid in Johnstown, PA. Randy Griffith covers health Postmaster: Send address change to The Tribune-Democrat, P.O. Box 340, 425 Locust St., Johnstown, PA 15907-0340 care for The Tribune-Democrat. Follow him on Twitter @pho- Vol. 164 – No. 305 Newsstand Price $1.00 $2.00 Sunday togriffer57.

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TUESDAY May 21, 2019 2 sections 16 pages Sharon, Pennsylvania

sharonherald.com SPORTS: Lakeview in D-10 semis for 3rd time in 4 years | B-1 Volume 156, Number 37 Dangerous storm spawns tornadoes as it sweeps Southern Plains | A-5 75 cents New South Py chief vows transparency Smith says rebuilt police department will ‘stand out’ By ERIC POOLE Herald Assistant Editor | News SOUTH PYMATUNING TOWNSHIP – In his first official words to residents, new police Chief Paul Smith set a light tone. “I just came here for the coffee,” he said to kick off the “meet-and-greet” event Mon- day at South Pymatuning Township fire hall. If Smith was joking around, he and the CORY BYKNISH | Herald township supervisors who hired him May From left, Jill Stanek, a member of St. Joseph’s Parish in Sharon; Joe Ranelli, of Sharpsville, who is a campus minister at 8 took the gathering seriously. The “meet Kennedy Catholic High School and as youth minister at the Church of Notre Dame in Hermitage; and Father Jason Glover, and greet” was a key element in the town- president of Kennedy Catholic Family of Schools in Hermitage. They were among local Catholics who shared their views. ship’s effort to restore credibility and trust after the supervisors disbanded the existing police department on Feb. 13. “We thought it would be nice to have it open to the public,” Supervisor Bill Klumph said about the need to have residents meet Smith. For his part, Smith promised that he The next step would build a “standout” police department that would stand out. That will include uniform design, where he said South Pymatuning will buck the trend of police Area Catholics share thoughts on the abuse scandal officers wearing military-style garb, such vs. faith and where the church should be going as cargo pants. See CHIEF, page A-6 By MELISSA KLARIC of victims who say their her children differently. Herald Staff Writer lives have been turned up- Stanek and others associat- side down because of the ed with the Catholic Church A faith that is shaken, church’s inaction, Catholics in the Shenango Valley and but not lost. Deep disap- are struggling to deal with Lawrence County came to- pointment, but hope for the the news and the future. gether to talk about those future. An overwhelming Jill Stanek’s parents questions – what to think Going wireless feeling that there is a lesson taught her to respect and about the scandals, what to to be learned and a stronger to revere the clergy and the believe about their faith and church if it is taken to heart. church. Now, the Sharon church and what to do next. Amateur radio operators to help In the wake of the Oc- mother of five is teaching But in the end, the crimes tober grand jury report that put a stain on that with election communications chronicling hundreds of Watch video of church will not erase the cases of sexual abuse by faith that built it and those By TOM VICTORIA priests around Pennsylva- the interview at Herald Staff Writer nia, as well as testimonies sharonherald.com See NEXT, page A-2 FRENCH CREEK TOWNSHIP – Mercer County Voter Registration and Election Bureau is trying to make waves — radio waves, that is — in the hopes of making to- Victims seeking compensation may face day’s election run a little more smoothly. The county plans to em- ploy amateur radio oper- inconsistent rules, opportunities across dioceses ators to keep communications open by transmitting By DAVID SUTOR Office of Attorney General released to “provide some measure of justice, to and from the polling Johnstown Tribune-Democrat a grand jury report that provided de- closure and validation for the terri- site at Milledgeville Com- tails about how at least 300 priests al- ble acts that victims endured.” munity Christian Church Politics, religion, law and finances legedly abused thousands of children Harrisburg Bishop Ronald Gainer It’s Election on Sandy Lake Road and were all linked in the process that across six of the commonwealth’s called his diocese’s fund an acknowl- the election bureau in the led to the creation of compensation dioceses. edgment that “terrible abuses did Day Mercer County Court- funds for victims of clergy sexual In response, the Philadelphia occur.” Pa. polls open house. abuse in seven of Pennsylvania’s Ro- Archdiocese and dioceses in Pitts- But some victims advocates have 7 a.m. to Jeff Greenburg, election man Catholic dioceses. burgh, Erie, Scranton, Allentown, pointed out that the dioceses only bureau director, said radio For years, when priests, parishes Harrisburg and Greensburg opened started the funds after the coverups 8 p.m. transmissions will serve and dioceses faced allegations of their own individual compensation were publicly exposed and when leg- as the main communica- abuse, the matters were often han- funds with the goal of providing fi- islators began considering changing tion to and from the closed dled in secret – with victims being nancial assistance to victims. Erie the state’s statute of limitations to church, which does not have a land-line required to accept non-disclosure Bishop Lawrence Persico, when an- include a two-year window during telephone. agreements as part of settlements. nouncing his diocese’s program ear- But then, in 2018, the Pennsylvania lier this year, said he wants the fund See VICTIMS, page A-3 See WIRELESS, page A-6 Toddler thrown from car seat as car strikes pole By DAVID L. DYE pole, said Edward Stabile, Sharon Herald Staff Writer police chief. “The car was apparently driv- SHARON – A young child was ing the speed limit and otherwise injured Monday in a one-vehicle ac- seemed normal,” Stabile said. cident in Sharon. The driver, an adult woman, was Mercer County 911 dispatched taken to Sharon Regional Medical Sharon fire and police at 11:54 a.m. Center. However, the accident’s im- to North Sharpsville Avenue and pact dislodged and ejected a toddler, Meek Street after a vehicle ran into estimated to be 2 or 3 years old, in a a utility pole. child safety seat. CORY BYKNISH | Herald A witness told police the vehicle Though the child was thrown First responders assist with cleanup at the scene of a one-vehicle crash that happened just seemed to be driving about 25 mph before noon Monday at North Sharpsville Avenue and Meek Street in Sharon. when it “suddenly” veered into the See TODDLER, page A-2

INDEX DEATHS Classified ...... B-5 Life ...... A-7 Opinion ...... A-4 Sharon L. FERRY, 59, of Hermitage. Russell T. ROOT, 78, of Sharon. Comics/horoscopes ..A-8 Obituaries ...... A-5 Sports ...... B-1 Robert M. McHUGH, 62, of Sandy Lake. A2

Herald broadsheet • 2016-0302jz Ins6 cmyk

A-2 Tuesday, May 21, 2019 THE HERALD | Sharon, Pa. sharonherald.com

He says accountability and over- The answer might be in the his- sight are also questions brought tory of the church itself, said Chris WEATHER Next into the light by the sex abuse Papa, a New Wilmington attorney Area Catholics reflect on what scandal. who worships at Tridentine Latin the church’s next step should be “There needs to be some real Mass Church in Youngstown. scrutiny and oversight of the hier- He thinks about Francis of As- FROM PAGE A-1 archy,” McCaffrey said. “I think sisi, he said, who saw a corrupt who serve it with honor, they said. the biggest crisis in the church — church, but who remained faithful For Stanek, who worships at and I have said this for years — is and reformed it. St. Joseph Catholic Church and the crisis of leadership.” Luther, on the other hand, saw is a preschool and Sunday school Transparency is one of the first the same corruption, and left. teacher, reading the grand jury re- steps. And perhaps, Ranelli said, “But if people look at it from an port was especially hard. outside perspective. Some of that historical perspective, I think we “It’s so sad,” she said. “It’s a might come from the legal system have to stay in and fight, demand breach of trust. Those (priests and itself. accountability from these bishops, lay people) had free will, and they “Great violations have occurred demand accountability from the made disgusting choices. And with where one priest was guilty in one hierarchy,” Papa said. innocent kids. It makes it so much area then moved and assigned else- And, he added, guidance on how worse. They took something so where,” he said. “Many of the hier- to move forward can be found in pure and made it tainted.” archy would claim, ‘Well, the law Scripture. Stanek said she is teaching her was this or the law was that.’ But “Go back to the saints, read the children new lessons — about all something at this level, you needed people who went through chal- types of authority. a law. You’ve got a sick individual lenging times like Athanasius of “We’ve been very open with my here. How do you put them back Catherine of Siena or Padre Pia, kids,” she said. “I tell them if some- into the field?” a famous local saint who was per- thing seems wrong, it’s probably Arrogance needs to be attacked secuted by his own church,” Papa wrong and to let me know. I took it and attitudes changed, he added. said. “That’s just over and over across the board to include coach- “Sometimes our deception even again in church history — corrupt es and teachers.” deceives ourselves in a variety of hierarchy pulled back by saints.” She is angry, she said, not at the ways, but God sees and hears ev- Now, many eyes are on the Cath- church, but at those who defiled it, erything. Any priest, any bishop olic Church, he said. by committing the acts and then and cardinal that has covered up “If you compare this, the stats covering for the abusers. anything, God knows.” tend to bear out that the church “I’m happy that things came out McCaffrey said he is dealing itself, the levels of priest-to-abuser, and continue to come out,” Stanek with the consequences of the sex is not any greater than it is for any said. “The more information that abuse scandal, too, in an age when other sort of profession,” he said. comes out the better.” innocence once assumed is now “It is sort of a failing of the human Ann Antognoli, a member of St. questioned. condition. I don’t think it’s endem- Vitus Church in New Castle, said “It only takes one person to ac- ic to the church.” the blame should be assigned to cuse you of something, and you’re But what matters, he said, is that the correct sinners. done, you’re over with. To me, people expect more from those as- “Often, Catholics blame the sociated with the church. block of marble because the sculp- “We hold ourselves to be better tor butchered it,” she said. “There “Often, Catholics blame the than that,” Papa said. “And the is a difference between those per- level of hypocrisy that the church petrators who used and abused the block of marble because the is facilitating is what screams out victims and the church and the sculptor butchered it. There for news coverage and scrutiny.” theology of the church that Christ Ranelli agrees. This is a time, he instituted.” is a difference between said, for light. And those sinners include those He said the synod in mid-Febru- who knew of the abuse and did not those perpetrators who used ary, when the church leadership take proper steps to eliminate it, addressed policies and procedures, said Joe Ranelli, of Sharpsville, and abused the victims and raised more questions than it an- who works as campus minister at swered. Kennedy Catholic High School and the church and the theology “No one truly felt it was at the as youth minister at the Church of of the church that Christ level it should have been,” he said. Notre Dame in Hermitage. He also “There were still shadows and how worships at Notre Dame. instituted.” do we allow shadows to occur in The hierarchy of the church, something like this? Any time we are dealing with any corporate long shadowed, shuttered and Ann Antognoli insulated, was impenetrable, “a structure, we’re looking at the sealed box of authority.” dark room where no one sees any “There is a real danger to that that’s a risky business, because light because they’re afraid to let because the hierarchy, in some no bishop is going to support us,” any light come in. In this area, case, believe that they are above he said. “It only takes somebody we’ve got to allow as much light as reproach,” Ranelli said. “That au- to make up something, and you’re possible.” thority starts to corrupt, and they done. And since you have been Glover said openness, communi- are in a position to keep people accused, you’re considered guilty, cation and shining those lights on silent. They are in a position to and you are never reinstated. previously dark places should be cover up.” Even if it’s proven to be wrong, part of the agenda. But he knows that while there and I have known cases where it “A person or an institution can has been some accountability, has been proven to be wrong, the never force people to trust them,” there is more that probably should, person never got their good name he said. “We just have to be sure but probably won’t, happen be- back because the media doesn’t that we don’t give them a reason cause those in the church leader- report that. That’s not just. You not to trust us.” ship who are charged with moving have no recourse. Where is the due Outreach in the community, forward are imperfect themselves. process?” listening to parishioners will help, “This is a cleansing moment,” Antognoli said good clergy and but so, too, will continuing to do Ranelli said. “There are individ- faithful Catholics need to demon- what has always been the tenet of uals that should come forward strate genuine empathy and con- the church and its clergy. and automatically resign because cern for the victims while defend- “We do what we have done since of past practices. But at the same ing some good priests who have the beginning,” Glover said. “We time, we’re dealing with humanity been accused unjustly. preach the gospel. We give wit- who are not giving up the lifestyle “The low bar that determines ness to Jesus Christ, His love and or authority. So, they, too, are guilt, ‘It could have happened,’ compassion. We do it just like the plagued with the same sins we are therefore the church makes finan- apostles do it. I think that the only plagued with.” cial reparation in order to escape way to attract people is to present But Ranelli emphasizes that the false impression of not caring a happy, holy and healthy gospel there are many priests, lay people enough needs revision,” she said. message.” and church authorities who prac- “Otherwise, the church will be cre- So, moving forward, it is that tice their faith honorably and who ating more innocent victims.” light, faith and an understanding live with the taint of those who Father Jason Glover, president of a bigger picture, a greater pur- haven’t. of Kennedy Catholic Family of pose that will chart the course for “It’s not as widespread as the Schools in Hermitage and in res- the future of the Catholic faith, the media’s making it,” he said. “It’s idence at St. Joseph Church in respondents said. God-awful, absolutely, but we’ve Sharon, understands the doubt and “Hopefully, justice is done,” said got some solid, holy, very rooted the potential crisis of faith many Genevieve Jackson, who worships priests serving the people of God.” Catholics face. at St. Camillus Church in Neshan- Stanek agrees. The church re- “I am encouraged by the bishop’s nock Township. “My focus, what mains important to her. transparency and encouraged by they have done was terrible, but “It didn’t cause me to feel differ- the reparation fund that the dio- my focus when I go to church is ent about our local priests. I guess cese has established,” Glover said. my faith. That is not going to break that’s the advantage of growing up “But when you are talking about me.” here and knowing the priests and rendering justice in such a horri- Faith will be Ranelli’s center, too. nuns.” ble situation, I don’t know that you “We can’t focus on the sin be- The Rev. Joseph McCaffrey is can make up for the damage that cause when we do that we neglect pastor at seven Catholic parishes has been done, but we do every- to see the glory of God,” he said. in Lawrence County. Under a con- thing that we can.” “We need to examine how deep our solidation plan by the Catholic Di- He has received calls from many faith is. If our faith is in humanity, ocese of Pittsburgh, he was asked of his parishioners. we’re going to walk away. But it is to oversee the merger of the New “People who know their priests bigger than that. Castle area’s seven existing parish- personally are actually very sup- “There has always been the tries. When the merger is completed, portive,” Glover said. “People I umph of the church. Nothing you McCaffrey will be pastor of a single haven’t heard from in years have or I can do at the human level is parish. reached out with their support.” going to force those doors to close. He has questions, too, about that Moving forward, he said, will be God is still in control.” church hierarchy. about faith. Stanek said the scandal actually “As a parish priest, I have been “I think, it’s just a matter of re- points to the need for more faith. very transparent in terms of the commitment on my part,” Glover “It shows that there’s still a true finances of the parish with the said. “Recommitting to the church, evil in the world,” she said. “The people and the diocese staff, but recommitting to the priesthood, human condition is so flawed.” I don’t see that happening on the recommitting to our universal call She will remain in church, even episcopal level — the realm of the to holiness. I think it is necessary though the priest sex abuse scan- bishops,” he said. “And even (the not just for us priests, but for the dal has made her look at the lead- bishops) — who are they account- church in general, the people in ership a different way. able to? Who can scrutinize what’s general, to sit back and re-examine “This is where I go to find God,” going on in their leadership?” and make that commitment.” she said.

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Good Morning Serving Crawford County for 135 yearS Tamarack refilling begins Thank you for subscribing, By Tyler Dague “We are just thrilled to be bringing West Mead Township MEADVILLE TRIBUNE resident Frank Byham Larry Courson this lake back,” said Tim Shaeffer, the WEST MEAD TOWNSHIP — Wa- commission’s executive director. turns a valve to allow of Meadville water to flow into ter was the order of the day at Tama- “Us too,” a few in the group shouted. Tamarack Lake as rack Lake. The moment was a long time com- Scrap metal drop state Sen. Michele As the clouds began to roll in, a flattens lots of tires ing. The lake is formed by two em- Brooks looks on group of local residents, media crews bankment dams, and leakage was first during a ceremony on Page A2 and government officials joined repre- discovered in November 2011. After Thursday morning. sentatives from the Pennsylvania Fish engineers discovered voids in both and Boat Commission to finally turn the valve and begin refilling the lake. See TAMARACK, Page a6 SHANNON ROAE/Meadville Tribune

Saegertown Meadville Strawberry schedules Fruitful Festival Trick or turns Treat Night U.S. blanks Sweden 52 this week in toughest test weekend SPORTSTODAY, Inside FESTIVAL before By Tyler Dague The festival returns from 11:30 and ice cream. Admission is free, MEADVILLE TRIBUNE a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at St. and the event serves as the church’s Halloween SAEGERTOWN — There’s Bernadette’s Center, 222 Renner largest fundraiser of the year. By Mike Crowley MEADVILLE TRIBUNE nothing quite like kicking off Lane. It offers homemade pastries, The event also has a pick-a-prize summer with a bite of a sweet, “heavenly” sausage, pepper and auction with several baskets from The air conditioning was deep red strawberry. And for 52 onion sandwiches, hamburgers, hot which to choose — four 8-foot blasting and the sun was shin- years, the congregation at St. Ber- dogs, sloppy joes (each served with tables lined with auction items — ing, but 9-year-olds dream- nadette’s Church in Saegertown a side of chips and a pickle) and, and a money raffle, chosen at the ing of Captain Marvel or has used that moment of bliss to of course, strawberries with cake Spider-Man costumes and See FESTIVAL, Page a2 inspire its Strawberry Festival. jonesing for some Smarties, Tootsie Rolls and candy corn were not the only ones looking ahead to Halloween on Wednesday. Mural of Philly Meadville City Council also was considering what teenager unveiled City Manager Andy Walker Page A2 jokingly refers to each year as “the most important decision you make” — when to hold Trick or Treat Night, a tradition that is somewhat loosely associated with Hal- loween in Crawford County. It’s never too early to begin planning for the collection of free candy. In fact, Walker told council, city officials have already received a call on the Andrus helps issue from a resident and have Rangers top Indians met with the organizers of the SPORTSTODAY, Inside annual Meadville Halloween Parade, often described as the largest nighttime parade in the commonwealth. Not only was the decision the most pressure-packed di- lemma council was likely to face, Walker joked, but also “Whatever decision you make

Metro Creative Graphics See HALLOWEEN, Page a6 Navy SEAL on trial for murder Page A5 Pennsylvania Trump: Iran made ‘big mistake’ Weather Today: Partly cloudy, 66 poised to ban This evening: Mostly clear, 64 by taking down U.S. drone Tomorrow: Mostly sunny, 69 female genital WASHINGTON (AP) — Pres- Deaths ident Donald Trump declared Thursday that “Iran made a very big • Donna Jean Barnhart, mutilation 72, Meadville mistake” by shooting down a U.S. • Sylvia Pearl Kelly, 95, By John Finnerty surveillance drone over the Strait of Centerville CNHI NEWS SERVICE Hormuz but suggested it was a fool- • Charles L. Spencer, 82, ish error rather than an intentional Adamsville HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Details, Page A6 is on track to become the 34th state escalation of the tensions that have to ban female genital mutilation, a led to rising fears of open military Index cultural practice used by some ethnic conflict. County & State ...... A2 groups that the Centers for Disease Asked about a U.S. response, the Weather ...... A2 Control has described as a violation of president said pointedly, “You’ll Crawford East ...... A3 women’s human rights. soon find out.” Opinion ...... A4 There are believed to be 20,000 The downing of the huge, un- NationMeadville ...... Daily A5 Business...... A6 girls in Pennsylvania at risk for being manned aircraft, which Iran por- Deaths...... A6 subjected to female genital mutilation, trayed as a deliberate defense of Our Towns ...... A7 according to the CDC. its territory rather than a mistake, Sports ...... B1 Legislation on the way to Gov. Tom was a stark reminder of the risk of Comics...... B4 Legals ...... B5 Wolf would ban the practice. Thurs- military conflict between U.S. and Classifieds...... B5 day, J.J. Abbott, a spokesman for the Associated Press Iranian forces as the Trump admin- In this 2018 photo released by the U.S. Air Force, members of the 7th istration combines a “maximum See MUTILATION, Page a6 Reconnaissance Squadron prepare to launch an RQ-4 Global Hawk at Naval Air Station Sigonella, Italy. See IRAN, Page a5

Tamarack It was estimated that fish could be the Tamarack Lake project for it to move federal agencies to transfer the entire continued from above added to the lake this fall or next year forward. Due to the project following facility back to commission responsibility. dams and seepage areas around the depending on the lake’s stability, and state standards rather than federal The original construction of Tamarack Lake outlet conduit at the lake’s northern end, Shaeffer said fishing would be limited to standards, it may impact future in the 1960s included the involvement of water was drained from the lake in 2012. catch-and-release until the fisheries return rehabilitation efforts on another dam an antecedent of the Natural Resources to healthy levels. downstream, the Rainbow Lake Dam. Conservation Service, an agency with the Since then, Dam A on the northern side U.S. Department of Agriculture. Back and of the lake has been moved 140 feet and “We’ll put little minnows, the base of West Mead Township Supervisor John forth on differences between federal completely reconstructed and two-thirds of the food chain,” Shaeffer said. “We’ll put Shartle, township Secretary Jill Dunlap safety standards and state standards Dam B on the southern side was rebuilt. in bluegills. To help control them, we’ll put and Melissa Fuller, a representative from delayed the project for years until the Meanwhile, fisheries staff worked to rid in largemouth bass to interact with the the Friends of Tamarack Lake, a grassroots NRCS renounced its ties. the lake of invasive common carp, a bluegills. We’ll put in muskies. It’s your effort involved in cleanup efforts and species from Europe and Asia that has a fishing license dollars at work to raise lobbying state and local governments for “It means a lot for me to be here,” said negative effect on water quality and fish those fish to bring the lake back.” the lake’s restoration, were also Sam Breene, senior field representative habitat. State Sen. Michele Brooks, whose recognized. for Kelly’s office. “I started in Congressman Kelly’s office in January Paul Urbanik, director of engineering for district includes all of Crawford County, “It’s very exciting, almost surreal,” Fuller 2011. It was about right that time this the Fish and Boat Commission, said the also attended the ceremony. Shaeffer told the Tribune. “We’re still going to keep whole process got started. Our role was longest part of the process was design praised Brooks’ willingness to collaborate up with cleanup and try to get together mainly keeping the federal agency’s and permitting, as work on the dams and champion the project. some boat stations to help with cleaning noses out of it, but that’s not always easy lasted a little more than a year. The latest “Truly this project shows what can be the boats. We’ll still be around.” to do. This couldn’t have happened figures put the project at $12.2 million, achieved when everyone unites toward After a bystander asked if the dams without every level of government according to a release from Commission the same goal and works together,” would be open to the public, Urbanik said working hard to get this community Communications Director Mike Parker. Brooks said. to hold off on getting close as Dam B was treasure back where it belongs.” Major funding came from a PA H20 Flood Brooks singled out the City of Meadville still wrapping up construction, and the As it began to sprinkle, folks gathered Control grant. for thanks, and Shaeffer reminded those commission was still monitoring the lake on the narrow bridge atop Dam A to the Water will be introduced at a controlled assembled that the lake serves as a flood and filling holes. On an encouraging note, control tower where Brooks, Fuller, rate, and Urbanik estimated about six control structure for Meadville. he mentioned the land around the lake as months until the lake reaches full pool at open to the public, but Shaeffer said to Fuller’s young daughter Rose and others “Without (the city) coming to the table its maximum depth, which was cited at 13 contact law enforcement if any damaging turned the valve, leaving the gate at the at the last minute, everything could have feet. Urbanik again confirmed that while activity was observed. bottom of the dam open just slightly for been dead in the water,” Brooks said. outflow. And for a change this wet month, the refill takes place, parking lots, boat Shaeffer also thanked Congressman Meadville City Council had to approve people were thankful for rain. launch ramps and docks will be restored. Mike Kelly’s office for negotiating with