In the future, Shenandoah properties with trash on porches, high grass or other ordinance violations may receive a citation similar to a parking or speeding ticket.

Borough Manager Joseph L. Palubinsky spoke at Monday's borough council meeting on the possibility of implementing a "clean sweep" program. He learned of a similar program in Allentown called SWEEP (Solid Waste Education and Enforcement Program) during a recent blight summit held by state Sen. David G. Argall, R-29.

"There were a number of good things that we heard and were recommended," Palubinsky said.

He said the program would authorize any borough employee to issue tickets for various ordinance violations such as littering, high grass, nuisances, trash on porches and similar ordinance violations.

"I think the general sentiment among the members of council and the mayor is that ... we want to proceed with this," he said.

Councilman Robert Kulpowicz said the ticket would be like a parking ticket and list various offenses.

"There will be fines and penalties. We don't know what the costs will be at this time," he said. "People have been getting away with things for too long and it's time to put a stop to it."

Tickets would be paid at borough hall. Those that aren't paid or are challenged would go before Magisterial District Judge Anthony Kilker.

Mayor Michael Whitecavage suggested that borough officials meet with Kilker about the plan.

Palubinsky said the borough first needs to check all its ordinances "and see what we can adapt" to the new program. "If some ordinances need to be amended, we'll have to do that, or pass new ordinances."

Palubinsky said warnings can be issued in some cases.

"I really think we can use this to the borough's advantage," he said.

No action was taken by council on the matter. The ordinances will be reviewed by Palubinsky and council for future establishing of the program.

Other business

Council approved a resolution that allows an inter-municipal alcoholic beverage license transfer from Pine Grove to Shenandoah. Isabel Nunez, 2 S. Jardin St., applied for the transfer through the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. A public hearing on the request was held Oct. 17.

usalis@republicanherald.com

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Poorly kept Shenandoah properties could face citations

SHENANDOAH - In the future, borough properties with trash on porches, high grass or other ordinance violations may receive a citation similar to a parking or speeding ticket.

During Monday's meeting of Shenandoah Borough Council, Borough manager Joseph L. Palubinsky spoke on the possibility of implementing a "Clean Sweep" program in the borough, similar to the City of Allentown's Solid Waste Education and Enforcement Program. Palubinsky became aware of Allentown's program during a recent blight summit held by state Sen. David Argall, R-29.

"There were a number of good things that we heard and were recommended," Palubinsky said with one recommendation being SWEEP.

"Basically, this is a program whereby employees within the borough would be authorized to issue tickets for various ordinance violations, such as littering, high grass, nuisance problems, trash on porches and similar ordinance violations," Palubinsky said. "I think the general sentiment among the members of the council and the mayor is that the fact we want to proceed with this or try to implement this and see what we can do about some of these problem areas."

Councilman Robert Kulpowicz explained, "It's basically going to be like a parking ticket with various offenses on it. There will be fines and penalties. We don't know what the costs will be at this time. People have been getting away with things for too long and it's time to put a stop to it."

"This is a proactive response rather than reactive," council President Leo Pietkiewicz said.

Tickets/citations in this program could be issued by any borough employee so designated and would not be restricted to the code enforcement officer. Tickets would be paid at borough hall, or if not paid or challenged, the matter would go to Magisterial District Judge Anthony J. Kilker.

Mayor Michael Whitecavage suggested that borough officials meet with Kilker about the plan.

"What we need to do first of all is to check our ordinances that we have in place and see what we can adapt," Palubinsky replied. "If some ordinances need to be amended, we'll have to do that, or pass new ordinances."

Palubinsky said warnings can be issued in some cases.

"I really think we can use this to the borough's advantage," Palubinsky said.

No action was taken by the council on the matter. Ordinances will be reviewed by Palubinsky and the council for future establishing of the program.

In other business, the borough council approved a resolution that allows an inter-municipal alcoholic beverage license transfer from Pine Grove to Shenandoah. Isabel Nunez, 2 S. Jardin St., applied for the transfer through the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. A public hearing was held on Oct. 17 to receive positive or negative input on the proposed transfer.

"At that public hearing, there was no evidence that (the transfer) would adversely effect the health, welfare and morals of the borough," O'Pake said. "There was a lot of speculation at that time, but nothing concrete was found and there was no evidence presented in that regard."

The vote was 5-0 with two abstentions, council Vice President Brian Conroy and Kulpowicz.

The council approved the following event requests:

- The Polish American Fire Company No. 4 to hold its annual block party from July 6 to 8, which includes closing North West Street from Center to Lloyd streets. There will be no parking from 3 to 10 p.m. July 6 along the 100 and 200 blocks of West Center Street, the unit block of South West Street, and the unit and 100 blocks of South Chestnut Street to park the emergency vehicles participating in the annual truck parade.

- Downtown Shenandoah Inc. to hold the fifth annual Kielbasi Festival from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 19, on the first and 100 blocks of North Main Street.

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Shenandoah considering the 'SWEEP' program

15-11-2010 09:41 Just think no more bugs, add a screen porch today!!!!!!!!!!!

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Mid Atlantic Deck and Fence,Low Maintenance Deck and Porch Maryland, MD - Video

04-03-2011 22:41 Visit my Photoblog: http://www.soaringframes.com With his signature writing style, Jamey brings across the calmness of the afternoon many of us have known on our own porches during summers long gone. A good tune with great imagery.

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Jamey Johnson - Front Porch Swing Afternoon - Video

By Alli Knothe, Globe Correspondent

A 13-year-old boy and five firefighters were sent to the hospital this morning after being injured during a three-larm fire that destoryed a triple-decker home at 28 Harvard Ave., leaving nine people homeless, Boston fire officials said.

The fire was ignited by a cigarette on the second floor porch of the Harvard Avenue home at about 5:45 a.m. and spread to the third floor, said Steve MacDonald, a department spokesman.

“There was a lot of fire, “ MacDonald said, standing across the street from the burned out home, located near the intersection of Washington Street.. “It was blowing out the sides. It’s a total loss.”

The smoky blaze caused estimated $500,000 in damages, MacDonald said. The roof was destroyed, windows blown out and two porches collapsed onto the sidewalk out front of the house. A van parked on the street was also destroyed, after being engulfed in flames, MacDonald said.

MacDonald said that when the porches of the building collapsed, destroying a white van parked outside the house, located near the intersection of Washington Street.

About 80 Boston firefighters battled the fire for about 2 and a half hours before it was brought under control, MacDonald said.

The boy suffered burns on his head and was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, said MacDonald. Five firefighters also suffered non life-threatening injuries, and were sent to several local hospitals. He said three of the firefighters were treated for chest pains, one had a wrist injury, and another had facial cuts.

“Nothing is life-threatening,” MacDonald said of the injuries to the boy and firefighters.

The Red Cross was providing assistance to the nine people, including five adults and four children, he said.

Boston property records list the owner of the house as Irma Gomez. Attempts to reach her yesterday were unsuccessful.

The Red Cross was providing assistance to the nine people, including five adults and four children, he said.

Boston property records assessed the value of the home at $284,700.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Kathy McCabe of the Globe Staff contributed to this story.

Alli Knothe can be reached at aknothe@globe.com.

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Dorchester fire injures five firefighters and 13-year-old boy.

wwltv.com

Posted on February 18, 2012 at 10:25 PM

Updated today at 10:25 PM

Monica Hernandez / Eyewitness News

NEW ORLEANS - Heavy wind and rain pounded into tents set up along the Endymion route Saturday afternoon, pushing the parade back over an hour. But die-hard revelers continued to stake out their spot and make the most of it. Some made a make shift "Slip 'n' Slide" out of a blue tarp. Other played soccer on the neutral ground or danced beneath porches.

 Some huddled together beneath lowered tents.

"We got family, we got shelter, we got food, we [are] good," said Lynn Cochran, of Gonzales.

And then came the parade that thousands braved the weather for. With 2,500 members and massive floats, revelers said they didn't mind the spotty showers as as the parade began. 

"I got my survival kit and my poncho and my drink. I'm good, I'm good, this is wonderful. I've got beads, this is my first one, my very first Mardi Gras catch, so I'm very excited about that," said Angela Martinez, from Houston, pointing to her first set of beads.

"We rode our bikes, we got soaked, threw our stuff in the drier, and now we're here," said Sarah Hubley, of Mid-City.

Mid-City neighbors said they're relieved the area's only parade rolled despite the rain. Last year, wet weather pushed the event back to Sunday, when it rolled Uptown behind Bacchus.

"Endymion's the best parade of the season and that's why I'm out here in the freezing weather," said Tricia Schiro, of Metairie.

And so, thousands lined the Mid-City cheering, catching throws, and enjoying the spirit of carnival.

"The state of Louisiana has a lot to offer, happy Mardi Gras, nothing but fun," said Walter Falls, of New Orleans.

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Parade goers say watching Endymion was worth getting drenched

Some musicians attend conservatories, perform in elaborate concert halls and cathedrals, and pride themselves on polished renditions of great masterworks, played note-for-note from the composers’ score.

Some pick out tunes by ear as they gather in parks and on back porches. They sing about their own lives and loves and pass their homespun musical traditions down through their families.

Classically trained musicians sound wonderful. Folk and bluegrass artists are finger-picking good. Yet the two musical camps are known to hold each other in dubious regard, and too rarely find common ground in the field both love.

“I started out with that same snobby perspective,” said Mary Danzig, a classically trained violinist who became a fiddler.

This week, Danzig is enjoying a rare chance to merge the two musical traditions she loves. Along with her husband, Peter Danzig, and other area bluegrass artists, she will be featured in Salt Lake Choral Artists’ performances of Carol Barnett’s “The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass.”

Mary Danzig’s exposure to folk music started after she married Peter Danzig, a classical violist and folk-music aficionado who also plays many traditional instruments. Her epiphany happened when she heard top-notch bluegrass groups perform at a Snowbird festival about five years ago. “All of a sudden I understood what this music was about,” she said. “It really just awoke this passion in me.”

Bluegrass music is blossoming among talented people who lacked formal training, but loved singing to their children, picking out tunes with neighbors and learning to play instruments as well as they could on their own, Danzig said.

“There is something incredible about taking a tradition passed down from one person to another, and putting everything I have into it, just as I would if it was a classical piece,” she said. “I don’t just suddenly become sloppy when I play bluegrass. I honor the tradition of people who may not have had as many opportunities, by making their music be everything they were trying to create.”

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SLCA music director Brady Allred said it wasn’t easy to find musicians to play the fiddle, mandolin, guitar, banjo and bass parts for the unusual Mass performance. “I had to find the right combination of classical musicians that could read standard notation, but also play chord symbols and improvise,” Allred said.

The bluegrass players who assume the role filled by orchestra or organ in a typical Mass must read a written score, follow a conductor and count their way through frequent meter changes — “stuff bluegrass players don’t do in normal playing,” Allred said. And they must pluck and bow in the lively language of bluegrass, with all its jangling verve.

The Danzigs and guitarist Rich Dixon, banjoist Nathan Keller and bassist Jim Thompson are musical bilinguals who are up to the challenge.

“[‘Bluegrass Mass’] keeps you off-balance in a really fun and unexpected way,” Mary Danzig said. “Some aspects of it sound very much like traditional Appalachian roots music. Then it changes meter and goes on to some incredible choral sections from classical tradition. It keeps weaving in and out of these two worlds.”

Danzig and her husband perform and record together as a folk duo called Otter Creek, drawing upon their deep backgrounds in classical music to burnish their folk music performances. Mary was the 2011 winner of the Utah State Fiddle Championship; Peter won the Utah State Mandolin Championship and took second place in the National Mandolin Championship.

Having been trained in note-reading from a young age, the most intimidating aspect of Mary Danzig’s folk-music transformation was learning to improvise music on the spot. She now believes that classical music training programs err in not teaching improvisation. “Bach, Mozart and Beethoven all knew how to improvise,” she said. “That’s part of what a classical musician was supposed to be able to do.”

Learning to create music spontaneously has done more than make Danzig an award-winning fiddler.

“It has helped me be a better classical musician,” she said. “I have to pay attention to what the chords are and what the other instruments are doing. With the music in front of you, you can get away without doing that, but that doesn’t make for the best music.”

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Plucking and bowing for a Mass in the language of bluegrass

POSTED: 5:51 pm CST February 16, 2012
UPDATED: 6:21 pm CST February 16, 2012

NEW ORLEANS -- Police are searching for thieves who appear to be targeting merchandise delivered to the front porches of several Uptown homes.At least three such cases have been reported in the past few weeks."A victim comes home and discovers that the package was delivered," New Orleans police Sgt. Warren Keller explained. "They confirm it with UPS, that it was delivered, but the package wasn't received."More than $1,500 in goods have been taken, including a motorized scooter and clothing.Nell Panida was alarmed to hear of the thefts."That is scary -- right there, that is kind of scary," she said.Panida has worked at an Uptown home for 14 years and said she has never heard of crooks targeting deliveries."They usually leave (mail and packages) underneath the rug or they leave it behind the tree right here so that no one can see it," she said.Keller warned there may be other victims who are not yet aware that their packages were taken."I spoke to a UPS facility manager," he said. "He explained to me that they track it as well, and he had a few more incidents, but we haven't had documentation or no one's reported it to us."That's why Keller is urging neighbors to contact the NOPD if they suspect items have been taken from their property.The U.S. Postal Service told WDSU that its carriers will not leave delivered packages on a doorstep once an area has been identified as a target by thieves.

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Thieves Targeting Package Deliveries In New Orleans Neighborhood

wwltv.com

Posted on February 16, 2012 at 6:17 PM

Updated today at 6:22 PM

NEW ORLEANS – The NOPD is warning the public,especially those Uptown, about reports of delivered packages beingstolen from people’s front porches.

A home security camera caught one suspect in the act.

Sergeant Warren Keller of the Second District said people have come home to see that a package had been delivered but isn’t around and then they call and confirm that it was delivered but isn’t there.

Authorities said a man stole a motorized chair valued at $1,500 off a front porch on Palmer Avenue.

Police say there have been three reports of separate incidents over the past two months.

“We’re encouraging our officers to be on the lookout for that,” said Keller. “If you see a package left out there, go knock on the door and advise them they have a package on the front porch.”

The local post office said it is also looking into the matter that they say is more common at Christmas. A spokesperson said they are telling their employees to be cautious of their surroundings.

“If you’re in an area that’s not safe, even though the package is still saying ‘leave for customer,’ take it back, leave a notice and have the customer come in and pick up the package,” said Sharon Varnado of the Post Office.

The post office advises its customers to get signature confirmation or insurance on all packages. The NOPD says it is looking into the possibility that someone may be following delivery trucks as they drop off the packages.

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NOPD says delivered packages being stolen off porches

A lot of drinking and heavy thinking can happen on a hot day on a veranda. Two good shows running on Dallas stages right now — The Night of the Iguana at Contemporary Theatre of Dallas and Pluck the Day at Second Thought Theatre — take place on big porches, where characters stand, sit, sweat, loll, fight, eat, dream and, in one play, die. Welcome to the threshold of heaven and hell.

George Wada

Ashley Wood and Cindee Mayfield sweat out their demons in Contemporary Theatre's The Night of the Iguana.

Details

The Night of the Iguana continues through March 4 at Contemporary Theatre of Dallas. Call 214-828-0094. Pluck the Day continues through February 26 at Bryant Hall (next to Kalita Humphreys Theater). Call 866-811-4111.

All who come near the veranda at the Costa Verde hotel in Tennessee Williams' Night of the Iguana are at the end of their ropes, including the giant lizard tied up under the floorboards. Hotel owner Maxine, middle-aged, newly widowed and sexually supercharged, is going mad with worry about money when she's not playing grab-ass with the beautiful Mexican boys who work for her. Defrocked Episcopalian minister T. Lawrence Shannon, who calls himself "a man of God ... on vacation," is reduced to leading Texas Baptist teachers on economy tours. Damp with fever, damned to perdition for bedding a tourist's teenage daughter, he's at the hotel to hide out. Whenever Shannon feels a breakdown brewing, he heads for Maxine's, where her liquor and loose loins help bring him back from the brink. Two other characters, Nonno, the world's oldest poet, and Hannah, his gentle grifter of a granddaughter, appear at the hotel pleading for temporary salvation from the desperate situation they're in.

With every living creature in Iguana in desperate straits, the atmosphere stays highly charged, like lightning crackling ahead of a tropical tempest. The temptation in many productions is to go right to the level of hysteria of that lesser Williams work with similar themes about sex, loneliness and beachside death, Suddenly Last Summer. But at Contemporary, director René Moreno, an expert at challenging actors to be better than they've ever been and at bringing fresh angles to old plays, focuses instead on the humor and humanity in Williams' words and characters. (Moreno's also cut out the pro-Nazi German travelers, who only trespass on this play's central plot.)

Now The Night of the Iguana comes alive as sharp dark comedy, with people darting in and out of the tiny hotel rooms on Rodney Dobbs' sprawling, realistic scenery like confused lovers in a French farce. The play still downshifts, when it has to, into hushed tones, but for once the dialogue's poetic wanderings come back to something comprehensible. This is Tennessee Williams as he should be performed, with highs and lows, with laughter and tears. It's the best production Contemporary has done this season. Maybe one of the best this company has ever done.

Moreno and his lavishly talented cast take Williams' collection of runaway oddballs and make us care about why they're screwed up. We want Maxine, played with earthy hip thrusts by the fearless Cindee Mayfield, to find love again. We want the Reverend Shannon, portrayed by the handsomely disheveled Ashley Wood, to sober up and stop lusting after jailbait. Hannah, the "Nantucket spinster" who talks Shannon through a panic attack, is an angel in silk kimono wings as played by the ivory-pale Elizabeth Van Winkle. But she's no saintly virgin. Here her near-seduction by bad-boy Shannon is a languorous scene that builds to a heat wave of sexual chemistry. We want them to kiss and when they do, shazam.

Giving remarkable performances in smaller roles are Lorna Woodford as a bossy Baptist determined to get Shannon fired for lousing up their tour, and Jessica Renee Russell as Charlotte, the besotted teenage girl hot on Shannon's heels. Both actresses command attention without gross exaggerations.

In the role of the frail 97-year-old poet called Nonno, Terry Vandivort, a Theatre Three veteran, gives the production its most deeply touching and graceful moments, imbuing his character with an otherworldly gaze and crackly voice. Speaking the lines of "the last and loveliest poem" he's been trying to finish for ages, old Nonno brings the play to its dreamlike end. The final scene is exquisitely staged and acted, making a gorgeous picture lit beautifully by lighting designer Russell K. Dyer. After a stormy night, only the poet and the captured iguana escape the ropes that held them down. The others, though profoundly changed, aren't so lucky.

Dallas playwright and actor Steven Walters isn't yet the new Tennessee Williams, but his fast and funny play Pluck the Day is good enough to make him at least the new James McLure. Or maybe Tracy Letts lite.

Like an all-male version of McLure's comedy Laundry & Bourbon, or some of the lighter scenes in Letts' Bug or Killer Joe, Walters' 90-minute Pluck the Day mines big laughs out of good ol' boys sucking down beers and getting into obtuse, twangy conversations. In this play they do it on the back porch of a rundown house in South Texas. Second Thought Theatre's new home base, the black box Bryant Hall next to Kalita Humphreys Theater, renders that porch in squalid splendor on designer Matthew Gray's set, complete with lumpy couch and ice chest. (Gray also directed.)

It's a hot, dull Sunday and friends Duck (Clay Yocum in his best role in years) and Bill (Chris LaBove, a slim Keanu type) begin to wonder why Fred (Mike Schraeder) hasn't come home after an all-night bender. Is he on a peyote kick again? Fred's fiancée, April (Jenny Ledel), drops by to check on him. A furtive exchange between her and Bill leads Duck to believe there's something going on there, even though Bill is gay ... or says he is.

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Night of the Iguana and Pluck the Day Delve Deep Into Life on the Porch.