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By Sandbagger
#331848
Aston honors Citizen of the Year
Published: Monday, July 05, 2010
By LORETTA RODGERS
Times Correspondent

ASTON — Surrounded by his wife, Cathy, children and extended family, longtime township resident Ron Jones, during last month’s board of commissioners meeting, was named Outstanding Citizen of the Year.

Third Ward Commissioner Joseph P. Possenti Jr. proudly read a proclamation honoring Jones for his outstanding service to the township and surrounding community.

“This gentleman has always given his time and service to our community and we are proud that he chose Aston Township to reside and raise his wonderful family,” said Possenti. “This is an honor for you Ron, and a well-deserved honor. We appreciate all you have done.”

For most of his adult life, Jones has volunteered his time and talents to assist his community. The father of eight and grandfather of six, Jones is a member of the township planning commission, Veteran’s Memorial Garden Foundation Committee, and is a firefighter with the Aston-Beechwood Fire Company, where he has served several terms as president, and is a member of the Fire Police.

A Vietnam veteran, Jones was awarded the Purple Heart, Army Commendation of Valor Medal and was activated in operation Desert Storm. He retired from the Army in 1996.

In addition to being proclaimed Aston Outstanding Citizen of the Year, Jones was honored in March by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and presented with a flag that flew over the State Capitol building.

“I was very overwhelmed,” said Jones. “It was probably one of the most emotional times in my entire life. I was so honored to be standing in front of such a distinguished group of people.”

In what State Rep. Stephen Barrar, R-160, of Upper Chichester, called “the fight of his life,” Jones has been battling liver cancer since September 2009.

Barrar said Jones exemplifies everything that is great about the communities in Pennsylvania.

“I want to thank Ron on behalf of all of the people of this Commonwealth for his service to our Commonwealth, his community and his country,” said Barrar.

Jones said he wished to express appreciation to the Aston Board of Commissioners and the State House of Representatives for the honors bestowed upon him.

“You know, the good Lord owes me nothing,” said Jones. “I have had a good run. I am married to a great woman, have eight wonderful children and six grandchildren whom I love dearly. I know that I am blessed. I am not going to give up fighting.”

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WELL DESERVED
User avatar
By Sandbagger
#331849
Lawmakers focus on making Pennsylvania School Employees’ Retirement System hike sustainable.
Published: Tuesday, July 06, 2010
By ALEX ROSE
arose@delcotimes.com


The Pennsylvania House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a bill early last month meant to make a looming pension crisis somewhat more bearable, at least in the short term.

But whether the fiscal gimmicks contained in the bill would actually do any good in the long run — or stand up in the state Senate — is still up for debate.

Without legislative action, Delaware County school districts are facing a total $98.5 million in pension funding payments by the 2013-14 school year, according to an analysis performed by the Delaware County Intermediate Unit.

And that figure only represents the district share even after the state pays for half of what is owed.

But House Bill 2497, which was sent to the Senate Finance Committee on the strength of a 192-6 vote, would “smooth” those payments out over 30 years while placing gradually increasing caps on employer contributions.

The standard analogy is that it’s like refinancing a mortgage. The idea is to reduce the shock to the system that would have forced districts to implement double-digit tax increases just to keep up with multimillion pension payments over the next five years, while reducing strain on a state already cutting services just to balance the budget.

There are two major pension systems administered by the state - the Public School Employees’ Retirement System, which mostly covers teachers, and the State Employees Retirement System.

There are about 547,000 active and retired members in PSERS, for which it paid $4.9 billion in benefits for fiscal year 2009. There are 220,097 SERS members with an average annual benefit payment of about $22,000.

Both systems are defined contribution plans funded by a combination of employer and employee contributions, but mostly through returns on investments in the stock market.

The employer contribution rate is tied to investment performances, so the better the market does, the less employers have to contribute. In 1986, the PSERS employer contribution rate was 20 percent. By 2001, it was 1 percent.

Following substantial investment returns in the 1990s, Gov. Tom Ridge signed Act 9 into law in 2001, which gave most legislators a 50 percent increase in pension benefits. School and state employees saw their benefits go up by 25 percent. Retirees also received a 25 percent cost-of-living allowance increase the following year.

But the market quickly turned and by early 2003, employer contributions would have had to skyrocket to keep up with the increased pension obligations.

So Gov. Ed Rendell signed into law Act 40, which artificially suppressed those payments for 10 years with the hope the market would rebound enough to cover the increased costs.

And it appeared to be working -- for a while anyway. But the market tanked again in 2008. The value of PSERS investments fell 29.7 percent. State Employees Retirement System investments dropped 28.6 percent.

Public School Employees’ Retirement System employer contributions were again expected to catapult from the current 4.78 percent to 29.22 percent by 2012-13. That rate would hit a 33.6 percent peak in 2015, remain above 30 percent until 2020, and stay well above 20 percent until 2033.

State Employees Retirement System contributions were also expected to jump from 8 percent in 2012 to 26.66 percent in 2013 and stay above 20 percent until 2032.

“You can’t make these rate increases go away because the rate increases are a result of unfunded liabilities in both systems, and that unfunded liability is debt that has to be paid,” said SERS spokesman Robert Gentzel. “But under the current methodology, rates are going to jump very drastically. … By putting the collars on, you would limit those year-to-year increases. They would still go up, but they would go up in steps.”

As the bill stands now, the rate increases would go from 1 percent in 2010-11 to 3 percent in 2011-12. The cap would go to 3.5 percent in 2012-13 and 4.5 percent in 2013-14, where it would remain until the employer cost no longer hit that mark.

Gentzel said that by 2015, the costs to the state and school districts are projected to come in under that cap, after which contributions will be given a floor of the “normal cost” — the amount need to cover benefits paid to active members for that year.

According to an actuarial note from the Public Employee Retirement Commission accompanying the bill, PSERS employer contributions would spike at about 26 percent in 2024.

But that help, such as it is, would only work in the short-term. Over 30 years, the total cost to maintain PSERS would be about $21.5 billion.

For SERS, HB 2497 would cap the 2011 rate at 5 percent. This would also make the funding more manageable in the short term — with an increase to 20.5 percent in 2015 instead of 27.72 percent — but would ultimately cost $5.3 billion.

Funding ratios under HB 2497 would also suffer.

Public School Employees’ Retirement System funding ratio in 2009 was 79.2 percent, which would drop to a low point of 54.2 percent in 2013 under current law. All things remaining equal, the fund would be nearly fully funded by 2040.

Implementing HB 2497 would stave off that low point to 2019, at 51.6 percent, but it would only come back up to 87.7 percent fully funded by 2040.

For SERS, funding ratios in either scenario don’t go below 61 percent and are nearly fully funded by 2040 — though under current law the pension is 90 percent funded by 2032, a mark not hit under HB 2497 until 2039.

All of this, however, is based on a large number of assumptions, said Gentzel, including an 8 percent rate of investment return, payroll growth, inflation, mortality rates, retirement numbers, specific retirement benefits and so on.

“You’re trying to look into the future, so you pretty much have to rely on some assumptions,” he said. “The one thing I can tell you with absolute certainty is these are not going to be the actual numbers when we get (to 2040).”

The bill also changes both systems by raising the retirement age to 65, increasing the “vesting period” from five to 10 years and changing the multiplier for benefit calculations from 2.5 percent to 2 percent.

Public School Employees’ Retirement System members currently contribute 7.5 percent of their salaries to the system on average, while SERS members contribute 6.25 percent.

Public School Employees’ Retirement System members could still receive the 2.5 percent multiplier, but they would have to contribute 10.3 percent. State Employees Retirement System members would pay 9.3 percent.

Retirees would also no longer be able to withdraw their own contributions in a lump-sum payment upon retirement in exchange for reduced benefits.

Because changes to pensions legally cannot be made retroactively, this would only affect new employees. For SERS, that means anyone hired after Dec. 31, 2010 and June 30, 2011, for PSERS members.

Gentzel said SERS had done a lot of analysis with the issue and worked with multiple legislative committees in both chambers and both caucuses to help draft the bill.

Neither SERS, nor PSERS offer suggestions or opinions as to what the Legislature should do; they simply offer scenarios based on assumptions.

Gentzel warned that depriving pensions of funds to invest would likely result in continually lessening returns, even in a good market, but said there really was no alternative but rate collars to deal with the impending spike.

As to the long-term, Gentzel pointed to the “normal cost” calculations for employers, which would gradually decline as new members earning reduced benefits are added into the system. For SERS, the normal cost is currently 9.5 percent.

“Under this legislation, the employer normal cost for these new employees would be 4.8 percent, so the bill cuts employer normal cost in half,” he said. “Are there other benefit reductions you could do, other changes you could make? Yes, there are.”

But whatever your druthers might lean toward defined benefit or defined contribution plans, said Gentzel, “You still have to concede it’s a pretty substantive package.”

Of course, not everyone agrees it’s the right way to go.

The Pennsylvania State Education Association, representing more than 191,000 public school teachers and support professionals in the state, officially endorsed HB 2497 as a “balanced solution” to the pension crisis.

“It eliminates the pension spike that has been looming for 2012-2013, and PSEA and many of the other public employee unions actually got behind and endorsed some benefit changes that were included in the legislation that will substantially lower the cost of future benefits,” said Steven Nickol, assistant director of PSEA-Retired.

Nickol said the education association realizes it has a vested interest in trying to get around the rate spike because the less school districts have to work with, the more that could translate to program cuts and furloughs.

While the bill would make substantial cuts to member benefits going forward, saving about $25 billion over 30 years, the overall cost of deferring debt would come to $52 billion, which is where the nearly $27 billion price tag comes from.

Pennsylvania School Boards Association Assistant Executive Director Tim Allwein said that makes the proposal “a short-term plus and a long-term minus.”

“This bill is basically a payment deferral,” said Allwein. “It makes some headway for the short term, but for the long term the system is still unsustainable. …We think there’s more that needs to be done and the key in our view is there needs to be structural changes made.”

Allwein said he simply could not embrace a plan that is essentially the same model put in place in 2003, when that clearly has not worked out.

The school boards association offered its own “hybrid” plan in Senate Bill 1185, which never made it out of committee. Among other things, SB 1185 would have rolled the multiplier back to 1 and instituted a defined contribution pension system for new hires.

In defined benefit plans (the kind currently in place), the risk of low investment returns is squarely on the employer, which is obligated to make member pension payments regardless of asset performance.

Defined contribution plans are basically the same as 401(k) plans in the private sector. They maintain individual investment accounts for each member, meaning the risk of poor asset performance is significantly higher for the employee.

The changeover to a defined contribution plan was something state Rep. Steve Barrar, R-160, of Upper Chichester, said he wanted in the bill.

“I didn’t think the bill did enough to address the true seriousness of the pension crisis that we’re currently in,” said Barrar, one of the six House members to vote against the bill.

Barrar said House Republicans tried to include the kind of measures the school boards association was looking for, but their amendments were ruled out of order for lack of financial note attachments. His vote was in protest of that process.

“I felt our vote was more a symbolic vote, so we could go tell the taxpayers, ‘Hey look, we did something!’” he said. “But the something we did wasn’t good enough.”

The education association is squarely against implementing a DC plan moving forward. One needs only look to the market crash of 2008 to understand why.

But Nickol said doing so could also have the unintended consequence of actually accelerating the rate of payments employers would have to make to fund the already accrued debt.

“If you close off the plan and put all new hires into a new contribution plan, effectively your payroll starts to shrink,” he said. “If you didn’t have unfunded liabilities, you wouldn’t have the same problems with the change over. … It’s not the normal cost of retirement benefits that’s driving the rate spike, it’s the unfunded liabilities, the debt that’s been accumulating over the last 10 years, that will have to be paid off regardless of how you fund benefits.”

Education association Spokesman Wythe Keever was not available for this story, but previously said switching to a defined contribution plan could also result in increased administration costs because each member would have an individual fund, likely managed by an outside firm.

Education association President James P. Testerman additionally told the state Senate Finance Committee earlier this year that cutting retirement benefits for new employees would make it more difficult to recruit and retain new teachers going forward.

But intermediate unit legislative council Chairman Lawrence A. Feinberg, who has been studying the pension crisis, said he doesn’t buy that argument.

A pension is the last thing on the mind of a 25-year-old starting a career as an educator, said Feinberg, and research still needs to be done to determine just how much overhead or administration costs would actually increase with a switch to a defined contribution plan.

He agreed with Allwein’s assessment that the bill does little to address the underlying problems in the system, such as unsupportable Cadillac pension plans for public employees that the private sector has long since abandoned.

“I think they still need to look at talking about a sort of hybrid plan,” said Feinberg. “We’re still hoping that at some point there may be some other funding stream and we also are hoping the discussion as to the type of benefit plan is not put on the shelf.”

Allwein said his organization would “absolutely” be petitioning the Senate to retool the bill with that in mind.

Erik Arneson, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-9, of Chester, said he expects the Senate will take the bill up by the fall.

“The Senate Finance Committee has started looking at all those options as well as some other potential ways to reduce costs,” he said. “Once we have the benefit of that full analysis then the Senate will be in a position to take action on that bill.”

State Sen. Ted Erickson, R-26, of Newtown, said his proposal to allow small games of chance in taverns at a 30 percent tax rate could be part of that analysis.

That tax could generate between $100 million and $200 million annually, he said, which could be funneled into the pension system.

Erickson said there is also a proposal to have the pension systems buy whole life insurance policies for their members, which could then be entered on the books as assets for their total value over time, not the value at point of purchase.

It’s essentially like buying a commemorative plate from the Franklin Mint that is “guaranteed to increase in value,” then claiming in 2010 that it should be viewed as an asset under its 2040 worth.

Gary Tuma, press secretary for Gov. Ed Rendell, said if HB 2497 were to leave the Senate looking more or less the same as it did leaving the House, the governor would likely sign it.

Tuma would not say, however, whether a defined contribution or hybrid plan being added to the bill would be a deal breaker for Rendell, who is in the final year of his term-limited role as governor.

“That’s more of a philosophical discussion,” said Tuma, though he added Rendell does think that discussion should take place.
User avatar
By Sandbagger
#331850
Former Aston district judge enters guilty plea
Published: Wednesday, July 21, 2010


MEDIA COURTHOUSE — Former Aston Magisterial District Judge David Murphy Wednesday pleaded guilty plea to charges of forging signatures on nominating petitions involving his election last year.

Murphy was sentenced to four years of probation and 200 hours of community service.

Murphy, who had resigned his postion as district judge earlier this year, entered his plea before visiting Judge John J. Rufe of Bucks County. Rufe, who is a senior jurist, was specially assigned to handle the matter, because of Murphy's many dealings with cases that went through the courthouse.

Murphy, 57, of Aston, was charged in March along with Deborah J. West, 53, of the first block Vernon Lane, Rose Valley, on charges they were involved in forging 64 signatures on Murphy’s nominating petitions seeking re-election last year.

West, who was described as a friend, was allowed to enter a special probation program for first offenders.

Murphy was rejected for acceptance to ARD, according to a spokesman for the Delaware County District Attorney’s office.

West received a one-year term of probation and is to complete 96 hours of community service

Murphy stepped down from his $80,927 a year post as a district judge in the wake of the charges filed against him in March.

Murphy was charged with falsely placing signatures on the legal election documents to run for the seat he had held for close to two decades.

Murphy facied charges including multiple felony counts of forgery and identity theft.
By Mountain Dew Guy
#331851
Aston commissioners update open fire rules
By LORETTA RODGERS, Times Correspondent

ASTON --- Commissioners voted unanimously to adopt a change to an existing ordinance providing regulations for open fires, recreational fires, fires in pits, kettles and chimineas.

The change will become effective July 31.

Per the ordinance, recreational fires are only permitted between the hours of 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. The fire code official or fire police are authorized to require any fire be discontinued for failure to follow the following regulations or if the fire is deemed hazardous:

n Windy conditions; atmospheric conditions causing failure or smoke to rise away from the public; smoke traveling to areas of the community causing untoward affects; and sparks emanating from the device.

n Recreational fires must be in a non-combustible container. Manufacturer’s recommendations for installation and operation must be followed at all times, and use of a fire screen is required to prevent hot sparks from flying in the air.

n Recreational fires may not be located within 25 feet of a structure or combustible material and the fires are prohibited on decks made of a combustible material.

n Recreational fires are prohibited for use on decks of multi-family type residences such as an apartment building or duplex.

Fires must be constantly attended to until the fire is extinguished. The person tending the fire must have a garden hose connected to a water supply or other fire extinguishing equipment readily available for use.

n During a period of the year deemed by fire officials to be dry, it is unlawful to establish recreational fires.

n All fire pits must be placed to allow 3 feet of free space all the way around.

n The use of flammable or combustible liquids is prohibited.

n Portable fire pits may not be located underneath overhead branches, porches, roofs, awnings, or any similar device.

The ordinance also includes general safety instructions. Copies may be obtained at the township office during regular business hours.
By Mountain Dew Guy
#331852
Spencer: Penn-Delco joins Mickey Mouse Club
Published: Friday, August 13, 2010

We have all gotten a few laughs out of the Donald Duck lawsuit recently filed by an Upper Darby woman who claims she was grabbed by Mr. Duck in Florida two years ago. Not nearly as funny is the Mickey Mouse lawsuit filed last Thursday by the Penn-Delco School District against the Aston Valley Baseball League.

It comes a year after the school district decided to unilaterally cancel the 50-year lease with the league and take control of Jim Buggy Field a field that was built and maintained by the league and kids who played in it.

That decision — which has yet to be adequately explained by district officials — prompted the AVBL to file suit against the district in Delaware County Common Pleas Court last year.

According to the lease, the league is entitled to recover the cost of its improvements to the property.

Frank Catania, attorney for the AVBL, says that’s the last thing league volunteers wanted. What they wanted was their lease to be reactivated and respected.

The school board, for its own mysterious reasons, wanted control of the field and decided to play legal hardball with the AVBL to get it.

After failing in court to have the group’s lawsuit thrown out, Penn-Delco has now countersued the league and its volunteers. And it’s asking for money.

The district is now claiming the AVBL “breached its obligations” under its lease.

Among Penn-Delco’s claims against Aston Valley is that its volunteers installed stairways “without railings, electrical outlets without ground fault circuit interrupters,” and a fence “in a portion of a parking lot” without the district’s authorization or knowledge.

The accusations strike Catania as completely disingenuous, especially given the fact the district used the field frequently and never once complained about the work league volunteers had done or the hundreds of thousands of dollars in improvements they made to the property.

Said Catania, “Because the Aston Valley Baseball League didn’t finish the concession stand they were in the midst of working on when the school district took the field from them ... (the district wants money).”

He sounds genuinely disgusted.

“I can’t believe they could take a good faith dispute over a lease and turn it into a claim for money against the Little League,” Catania said.

After all, what does the AVBL have but money its volunteers raise to run the league for the kids and the sweat equity they put into building the field.

The school district, on the other hand, has tens of millions of dollars, thanks to its ability to tax homeowners and businesses.

Catania called the claims in the district’s taxpayer-funded countersuit “petty, vindictive and born of arrogance.”

Penn-Delco Solicitor Michael Levin laughed uproariously after he heard what Catania had said.

“Tell Frank, I love him,” said Levin.

But Levin confirmed what his clients want.

“We’re asking for money (due to) breaches of the agreement and violations of the district’s rights.”

There have been efforts to resolve the matter by the league and the district, but they have come to naught. Even third parties have tried, but, according to Catania, they were stiff-armed by the school board.

“A township commissioner attempted to step in to help,” said Catania. “And he was told to mind his own business.”

Yes, better to counter-sue a volunteer organization that has done nothing but good for the community for years.

Every summer for the past eight years, the AVBL has run a Memorial Day weekend scholarship tournament named for Tommy Marren, a young man from Aston who died of Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndrome at the age of 21. In that time some $14,000 has been raised to help further the education of a Sun Valley graduate.

This year, there was no Tommy Marren Tournament, partly because the AVBL couldn’t get permission from the district to bring grills to the field to cook the hot dogs and hamburgers it sells to raise the money.

Slowly but surely, the Penn-Delco School Board has managed to disempower and demoralize what had been a vibrant and very worthwhile community organization. And for what?

The lease gave Penn-Delco the best of all possible worlds: an excellent field for its own high school baseball team to play on, built by volunteers at no cost to the district. The district also got preferred access to the field whenever it was needed with no responsibility to maintain it.

Does a deal get any better than that?

Not really.

But this school board, under the “leadership” of Anthony Ruggieri, has decided to go to court and waste thousands of taxpayer dollars to defend the indefensible.

And by indefensible, I don’t mean, legally. I mean, politically and civically.

Only a Mickey Mouse school board with Goofy as president would pursue such a course.

No wonder Mike Levin is laughing.

He certainly can afford to.
User avatar
By Sandbagger
#331855
I think it would be interesting to know how much Mr. Levin's firm has received for defending issues of the State Audit.
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By Sandbagger
#331856
County recognizes its first responders
Published: Sunday, September 12, 2010
By KATHLEEN E. CAREY
kcarey@delcotimes.com


UPPER PROVIDENCE — Heroes seem to be ingrained in the American culture, from the roots of folklore to the realized ones who emerged during the events of Sept. 11, nine years ago.

Yet, as Delaware County paused Saturday during its Law Enforcement & Fire/EMS Sept. 11 Memorial Ceremony at Rose Tree Park, those in attendance were also reminded of the heroes who sacrificed decades earlier fighting a horrific industrial fire along the Delaware River and of those who rushed to the scene, just days ago, as a propane tank explosion shot 100-foot flames into the air and rained shrapnel on the community.

“Today is about heroes,” John J. Whelan, chairman of Delaware County Council, said during the ceremony. “A hero is someone who is selfless, someone who rushes in to help without thinking of their own situation. We can never forget the 3,000 people who were killed on Sept. 11.”

And he commended the 400 emergency responders who assisted at the Scully Welding Supply Corp. explosion Sept. 1, which caused an evacuation of the nearby area.

“I’m proud to live in a community, a county that has so many heroes,” Whelan said.

During the ceremony, four wreaths were laid in honor of Sept. 11 and of the paid and volunteer police, firefighters and emergency medical personnel who serve the county.

Chester Police Officer Luis Rodriguez and Upper Darby Police Officer Raymond Blohm carried the wreath for police officers. Both were injured in the line of duty this year.

“How wonderful it is for me to shake their hands as they’re healing from their wounds, but their spirit wasn’t shaken,” Delaware County District Attorney G. Michael Green said.

Green recalled greeting Rodriguez in the line of the funeral for his father, George P. Green III, hours before the officer would be shot June 29.

Green said Rodriguez was responding to a Chester robbery on Rose Street when “a hellacious gunfight took place within the hour of that call.”

Officer Blohm was shot four times May 19 after stopping a driver for allegedly drinking alcohol and smoking pot at 12:42 a.m. at Copley Road and Ludlow Street in Upper Darby.

William Richard of the Toxic Fire of 1978 Memorial Committee spoke of the fatal fire at the old Eastern Rubber Reclaiming Co. on Flower Street, where 3 million gallons of toxic waste had been dumped.

More than 200 firefighters responded and at least 50, including Richard, have suffered from cancer and blood disorders as a result. Many died.

“If only then we knew what we know now,” Richard said. “They would not just fight the fire on Feb. 2, 1978. They would fight this battle for the rest of their lives.”

In the audience, Shirley and Harvey Cook of the Wallingford section of Nether Providence arrived early and watched the Holmes and Springfield fire companies raise the flag between the fire trucks’ ladders.

Nine years ago, Shirley Cook was on her way to volunteer as president of the Rose Tree Auxiliary at Riddle Memorial Hospital when the image on TV of the first Twin Tower burning caught her attention. She went to the phone to call a neighbor.

“Just when I walked back to my room, the second plane hit,” she said.

For her, Sept. 11 evokes memories of that day and of growing up in Waldorf, Md., where people would climb towers to be plane spotters during World War II, and of her son, John, who was injured as a La Plata, Md., firefighter years ago as the second story of a burning restaurant fell on top of him.

Sitting in her red, white and blue shirt Saturday, she paused to reveal what the day evoked in her.

“Even today, I just have the chills,” Cook said. “It was a heart-rendering time for us. It always will be for us. It just brings tears to your eyes.”
User avatar
By Sandbagger
#331857
Cop Shop: Bakery saved by quick actions of trio
Published: Thursday, September 16, 2010
By Rose Quinn and Cindy Scharr, Of the Times Staff


Ed Beebe, training officer at the county’s Emergency Management Center, and his first assistant, Mike Minton, were driving past Kyj’s Bakery in Brookhaven last week when they saw smoke coming from behind the bakery.

They drove into the parking lot and saw a woman coming out of the back door. “I think I have a problem,” the employee told the two men. She was right. The building was on fire.

Beebe and Minton called fire board and firefighters were dispatched without delay. At the same time, a second employee came outside, phone in hand and calling 911.

Because of the quick response, firefighters limited the damage to the bakery, whose cakes, cookies and pierogies we all love.

A sign on the bakery Tuesday night said it expects to reopen soon.

Sweet move, guys and gals!
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