Crime In The Area

Here is a link to a recent police report about a shooting in the Cheltenham area.

It's really terrible when these kind of things happen, but at least I can help the community by letting them know about recent crimes in the area so that they will be better prepared in case something happens.

Township Manager Kraynik May Be Leaving

I received this email from the Cheltenham Chamber of Citizens Group:

Township Manager Kraynik Looks to be Leaving for Upper Merion Final Deal is Still in the Works This was posted on May 18, 2012

 Click here to read more

The LaMott Community Garden May Be In Trouble!

It looks as though our beloved La Mott Community Garden may be in trouble!

The La Mott Community Garden now has a website which is where I found out about this.

For those of you that don't know, the La Mott Community Garden - rather the land that it sits on - is owned by Temple University. That land and the rest of the Temple University's Tlyer School Of Art property is currently up for sale!

At the last community meeting back in June we were informed that there is currently no buyer for the property.

To find out more about what is happening with the La Mott Community Garden, you can visit their website below:

La Mott Community Garden Website

An Old Video Of Temple Students Moving In (Or Are They Moving Out)

Here is a short video that I took a very long time ago. I noticed that it was on my Youtube page but I had not posted it here.

Of course this was taken a very long time ago when there were still students attending Temple's Tyler School of Art. Of course if you have not heard Temple has now moved the students to their campus on Broad Street by Broad and Cecil B. Moore.

The school and the surrounding site are now up for sale - which includes the community garden as well.

Chelsea Chats

chelseachats@yahoo.com

Darlene Melton publishes a monthly newsletter with community info and events The newsletter is distributed via email. To be placed on the distribution list, contact Darlene at chelseachats@yahoo.comYou can also find this information on the LaMott Yahoo group by clicking on the"Database" link and then clicking on "Newsletters".

What's Going On Outside Our Doors?

Just in case you didn't know there is activity going on outside our doors. What is it? Well from what I gather the township will be installing new street lights in our area.

Orange flyers have been posted all around the area for at least a few days now informing the residents of this. And yesterday one of these orange flyers was even delivered to my front door.

From what I have been told so far, the old street lights are going to be taken down and new ones (that will be around 12 feet tall) will be installed at various street points around the area. (If you see a "pink" chalk marking of numbers then that marks the spot for one of the new street lights).

This is going to take some time because holes have to be dug and electrical equipment installed so the work will be continuing in our area for some time.

I will be posting more information as soon as I get it.

The Dominican Retreat House May Be In Trouble!

Located in Elkins Park the property formerly known as the Dominican Retreat House may be facing some financial difficulty.

The property was purchased by the Land Conservancy of Elkins Park Inc. but it may be facing foreclosure.

The former owners of the property, The Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine de Ricci, have taken legal action to foreclose on the property because multiple mortgage payments have not been made.

Both sides are hoping to come to some sort of agreement.

source
The Times Chronicle

LaMott Community Garden Update!

In a letter dated May 20th, 2010 a letter was sent to Ms. Ann Weaver Hart, President of Temple University regarding the LaMott Community Meeting held June 6, 2010.

"Dear President Hart:

On behalf of the residents of the community of LaMott, you or representatives of Temple University are cordially invited to attend a LaMott Community Meeting on Sunday, June 6, 2010, at 3p at the LaMott Community Center to discuss the possible sale of the temple Tyler School of Art property and the future of the LaMott Community Garden, which Temple University has allowed to exist on a portion of the school's property for many decades.

I, and the residents of LaMott, look forward to having you or a designated representative at the meeting to discuss the future of the Tyler School of Art property."

The above letter was sent by Harvey Portner who is the Commissioner of Ward 3 which is located in Cheltenham Township.

I personally attended this meeting! And Temple sent a representative to attend the meeting. They sent Charles Duncan who works in Government, Community & Public Affairs for Temple University.

At the time the property mentioned above was being considered for sale but the final details of the sale were not finalized.

at the present time and as far as I know the property has not been sold to any one as of yet.

Please stay tuned for more details! I will post them as soon as I can!

Latest Update

• Although Temple representatives were not present at the last community meeting they did send one of their lawyers to represent them.
  
  
• Re: property taxes - The garden plot / tract (which is 1.8 acres) is taxed $2100 per year and the plot / tract itself is valued at being worth $500,000.
  
  
• The next Temple Board of Trustees next scheduled meeting will be at the Ambler Campus on June 17th 2010.
  
  
• The Land Conservacy of Elkins Park which is a non-profit organization, is interested in buying the Temple Estate (which would include the garden plot / tract). 42 acres of the Dominican Republic are owned by the Land Conservacy of Elkins Park.
  
  
• The acting president of the LaMott Community Gardins is Diane Williams.

Burglaries - Beware!

Recent Burglaries in our Neighborhoods

Last night a house in the Homes of Elkins Park development was broken into when noone was home. After ransacking the house, "they" rang the doorbell of the house next to it to see if it was also empty, but fled when the occupants accidently set off their alarm.

In another case, a "light skinned" man wearing a backpack rang a neighbor's doorbell during the day. When the door opened, he fled.

There have been other break-ins throughout the area. In one, "they" broke in the front door, setting off an alarm, grabbed some jewelry, and were out by time the police arrived 6 minutes later.

IF YOU SEE SOMETHING SUSPICIOUS, CALL 911.

Don't worry about being mistaken. Better Safe Than Sorry.

This is Cheltenham! The police will respond! They want you to call.

Form the police website:

Cheltenham Township Police need your help with investigating a series of Burglaries taking place throughout the Township. Residents are encouraged to be extra vigilant and to lock their vehicles when parked overnight. Please report suspicious activity to Cheltenham Police Radio Via 9-1-1 or at 215-885-1600, ext. 1. Residents are encouraged to immediately report suspicious persons or activities to Police.

Residents are encouraged to come forward with information, as always your information will be kept confidential, also all tips can be anonymous. No one knows your neighborhood better than you. Help out your neighbors and report suspicious activity to the police, 24-hours a day, via 9-1-1.

Anonymous Tips Line -
The Cheltenham Police Department has an “Anonymous Tip Line” in place so that residents can anonymously report suspicions on drug and criminal activities There are two anonymous methods available for reporting these activities to Police. You can leave a voice message by contacting (215) 885-1600 ext. 777, or you can log onto the Cheltenham Township Web Page at www.cheltenhamtownship.org anonymous tip link is at the top of the page.

The Cheltenham Police Department needs the public’s help in identifying problems, so we can help to improve the quality of life in our community.

source
Chelsea Chats

Telephone Service Not Working Since Tuesday!

Just in case you're wondering about this and decided to look online for more information our telephone service was out since Tuesday (2 days ago). As of arond 6:45 pm today it is back on - at least I have telephone service now.

This started Tuesday afternoon although I can't be sure of exactly when but I do know that I tried to get online about 8pm Tuesday night and couldn't do it. Later I came to find out from Verizon that there was a problem with one of the telephone cables.

Now I don't know if its a case of EVERYBODY's telephone service being off but I do know that my next door neighbor's telephone service was affected too. Plus he joked about the fact that he was using all of his cellphone minutes to find out what was going on.

From what I have been able to find out there was a telephone / network cable that required some work but according to a represenative from Verizon, she said that "they" (whoever "they" are?) don't tell them specifically what the proble is they just tell them that there is a problem.

So I get a call from Verizon saying that it may be until 9pm FRIDAY that the telephone service will be restored and the next thing I know - another half hour later the phone rings!

So if my telephone service is restored hopefully that means that the rest of the area that was affected has also had their phone service restored.

Cheltenham Community Station

Cheltenham does have its own community station on Comcast Cable's channel 42. It is a listing of news, bulletins and current events in and around the area of Cheltenham and LaMott. You can also access this information online by going to:

Cheltenham Community News

You can also find out how to have your community announcement added to the community bulletin board. It seems to be an easy process. You can also view more Cheltenham and LaMott related information by going to my LaMott Pages.

There isn't any similar kind of station for community news if you have Dish TV or satellite TV.

May 15th - Primary Election Day!

Yes I went to vote today. For those of you who in the area that don't know where our local polling place is it is the LaMott Community Center which also houses our local library.

I went during the later part of the afternoon and as always the volunteers that were there were helpful as usual. They are there to answer any questions that you may have.

As far as the number of people that were voting it wasn't a large amount but at the time that I was there the voting booths were busy and there were a number of cars parked all around.

I do know that there was a question being put before the voters in our area about the area imposing another tax on income - supposedly to reduce the amount of money that residents pay in property taxes. The cost of the property taxes in this area has always been a very sore subject for the residents here because the taxes are so high! And what makes it worse is that we the residents get 2 separate tax bills in the mail! I don't even think you can pay them in installments - the property taxes have to be paid in full - both times!

Robbery Attempt At The PathMark in the Cedarbrook Mall

I heard about this on my way home from shopping. A man tried to rob an armoured car guard with pepper spray. He sprayed it in the gurard's face and the guard turned around and shot the robber multiple times. The robber managed to get away but he collapsed a short time later and that was when he was found by the police. He is currently in the hospital.

Now this happened today around 1 pm and I didn't hear it on the news until about 4pm. I heard it on KYW News Radio. So by the time the local TV news comes on there should be more information about it.