From Saturday night into Sunday morning a dozen unlocked vehicles were broken into, police said.
Cash, GPS units and other items were reported stolen, police said.
Any residents observing any suspicious persons are asked to call police at (856) 829-6666.Outcome of the Township Meeting on the School Budget
The Township Committee adopted a resolution at their Monday meeting cutting $1.24 million from the school district’s defeated 2010-11 budget.
The school board’s proposed tax levy of $29,473,854 for general operating funds was turned down at the April 20 election with 1,983 votes cast against the budget and 1,297 in favor.
In their resolution, Township Committee certified a school tax levy of $28,233,584 and submitted specific line item reduction recommendations targeting administrative costs and employee benefits. The Township Committee declared that the Superintendent’s salary should be rolled back by $25,461, from the level of $204,000 proposed by the school board to the 2009-10 budgeted level of $178,539.
The township called for eliminating the post of Assistant Superintendent or alternatively eliminating supervisors of instruction. Further the township recommended the consolidation of two administrative secretarial positions into one.
Township Committee also proposed significant savings through a restructuring of the district’s health insurance plan and implementation of an employee contribution toward health insurance one year earlier than mandated under recently enacted legislation.
The minivan, carrying two adults and an infant, was traveling north on River Road, parallel to the tracks, when it turned into the path of the train at Main Street shortly before 11 a.m., NJ Transit spokesman Dan Stessel said.
The crossing gates were down, and red lights were flashing, Stessel said. A red light at the intersection and an illuminated no-right-turn symbol also were activated, he said.
The two-car train was slowing as it approached Riverton Station a block away, traveling an estimated 15 or 20 m.p.h.
The minivan's occupants were taken to Cooper University Hospital in Camden with injuries that were not life-threatening, Stessel said.
Nuran Zivali, 38, of Edgewater Park, was issued a summons for careless driving and failure to observe traffic signals, he said. Zivali was in serious condition late Thursday afternoon.
Traveling with him were a woman and a 4-month-old, also named Zivali, according to the spokesman.
About 12 passengers on the train, which connects Camden and Trenton, suffered minor injuries. River Line service was suspended between Riverton and Cinnaminson until about 1:30 p.m.
Here's a link to the story:
Driver hurt when minivan, River Line train collide
MOORESTOWN — Police are investigating an incident where a 13-year-old girl was forced into a vehicle by two men and then sexually assaulted.
According to investigators, the alleged incident occurred at around 1:30 a.m. on Georgian Drive. The girl, whose identity was not released, was riding her bicycle home when she was confronted by two men who grabbed her and carried her into their parked vehicle, where one of the men sexually assaulted her before letting her out of the vehicle.
Police did not describe the sexual assault but specified that the girl was no physically injured during the incident.
Lt. Howard Mann said township police and the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office are investigating the incident. No suspects had been arrested or charged as of Wednesday morning, he said.
Police said one of the assailants was described as a white male in his 20s, over 6-feet tall, with a muscular build, short brown hair, blue eyes and facial stubble. He wore dark jeans, a gray hooded sweatshirt and black sneakers.
The other man was described as a shorter white male with a thin build, wearing a red American Eagle zip up sweatshirt, baggy jeans and dark brown flip flops with thick straps.
Police asked anyone with information about the incident to call Moorestown police at 856-914-3037 or the police tip line at 856-914-3092.
BCT staff writer David Levinsky can be reached at (609) 871-8154 or at dlevinsky@phillyBurbs.com.
Here's a link to the story:
http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/burlington_county_times/bct_news_details/article/2465/2010/may/05/moorestown-girl-assaulted-early-sunday-morning.html
Borough Councilman Theodore Scott was walking through the park off Broad Street at 4:23 p.m. when he encountered eight to 10 teenagers skateboarding on benches and walls. Scott approached the teens to tell them to move to the borough’s skate park when the youths knocked him to the ground and punched and kicked him.
The teenagers — described as males between the ages of 17 and 20 — eventually ran away and left Scott on the ground in need of medical attention, police said. Scott was taken to an area hospital with a broken leg. His condition was not available.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Palmyra police at 856-829-0198.
From the Philadelphia Inquirer, April 10, 2010
CINNAMINSON - After nearly three hours of discussion that at times got heated, the school board adopted a 2010-11 budget that calls for a hefty tax hike and the elimination of 18 teachers and several aides.
"No one likes this budget," Superintendent Salvatore Illuzzi told more than 100 people gathered at the middle school Tuesday night for a public hearing.
The $42 million spending plan not only cuts staff at all four schools, but also increases the school tax rate 12.99 cents, from $1.425 to $1.555 per $100 of assessed property value.
If voters approve the $29.47 million tax levy at the April 20 school election, the owner of a home assessed at the township average of $294,500 would pay $4,580 in school taxes, an increase of $382 over last year.
Resident Bill Conley told Illuzzi and the board members that he's tapped out.
"Some people may say it's only $382, but I don't have any more to give," Conley said.
The budget will cut a combined nine teachers at the New Albany Elementary and Eleanor Rush Intermediate schools, three at the middle school, and six at the high school. Six support staff and five teaching aides also will be terminated.
The cuts were made because of a loss of $3.4 million in state aid and surplus funds that were required to be spent under state mandate over the last several months.
Throughout Tuesday's hearing, residents and teachers complained that the district is in this predicament because of the escalating salaries of the administrative staff.
"The salaries of the administration are out of control," one woman yelled out to a round of applause.
Illuzzi said the administrative raises, which average 4.73 percent annually over a three-year contract, were approved by the board in 2008 before the economy soured.
He said the raises were below the county average of 5.1 percent and were approved by the county superintendent of schools.
Illuzzi also noted that all of the contracts were publicized and that the school board held public hearings on them.
Discussions with the district's bargaining units to change insurance plans and offer buyouts to teachers near retirement age could result in fewer teaching positions being eliminated next year.
"It's that savings that will allow us to bring back some of the staff that's being let go," Illuzzi said Wednesday.
If the unions agree to the changes, he anticipated that more than a half-dozen teachers slated to be laid off would be spared. At least six teachers are expected to retire and Illuzzi was hopeful that even more will agree to early retirement.
Ultimately, the voters will decide what happens to the budget.
"If it's defeated and it goes to the Township Committee, it's a safe bet they'll chop the budget (more)," Illuzzi said
