The first sign of anti-trail sentiment in Montgomery County, which has spent millions on its 257-mile system of dirt and gravel paths, appeared at last month's budget hearings.
Christa Henderson, a retired West Norriton resident, told the county commissioners she thought spending millions more in trail expansion in 2017 was "overkill" at the same time the commissioners were proposing an 11-percent tax increase.
"Why isn't this something that's non-essential and something that can be taken out?" Henderson asked the commissioners.
Dissent over trails exploded Thursday night when residents in rural western Montgomery County angrily questioned the need for development of a seven-mile trail called Sunrise. The trail would connect a historic site called Sunrise Mill to the cross-county Perkiomen Trail.
A chorus of "Why do we need new trails?" bellowed from the crowd, as numerous residents expressed blunt rejection of a new trail through their community. Some nuanced arguments emerged, calling on the county to explain its broader goals for installing paths.
"Why is there a drive to run a trail along every waterway in this (county)?" Jim Rupert, asked county officials at the public hearing in Lower Frederick Township.
Rupert's property on Yerger Road is just outside the borough of Schwenksville and backs up to a small tributary called Swamp Creek. He said he thinks "there is a huge conflict between conservation and preservation" that county planners don't fully appreciate.
The National Park Service describes conservation as "the proper use of nature" while preservation is "the protection of nature from use."
Residents like Rupert said they are more interested in the idea of a preserved "greenway" than a bike-able and walkable trail.
"If I had looked at my house in 2002 and there was a trail running along the creek, I would have walked away," Rupert said.
County planner Michael Stokes said the Sunrise Trail proposal was in its earliest stages and a feasibility study for the trail would be completed by the summer. Two more public hearings, one in March and one in June, are scheduled.
Stokes, who worked on the design and development of the much longer Perkiomen Trail a decade ago, described the meeting as "quite heated" compared to public debate about the Perkiomen.
Still, he said, "we had a lot of the same discussion" during that trail's proposal.
He said the feasibility study would utilize residents' input when its findings are released later this year.
"A lot of these people clearly don't like trails," he said of the Lower Frederick crowd.
An amusement park in Wildwood, New Jersey is now missing part of its history.
Bill Morey, founder of Morey’s Pier, passed away on Wednesday, according to family and Morey’s Pier officials. He was 87 years old.
Bill grew up in Wildwood, opening Morey’s Pier in 1969 alongside his brother, Will, according to the Morey’s Pier website.
Morey’s Pier is an amusement park in Wildwood, entertaining families every summer at the crowded boardwalk.
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, January 21st at 11 a.m. at St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church.
At David Packer's sentencing in 2011 for sex with a foster daughter and indecent assault of an adopted daughter, since identified as Grace Packer, a judge said the young girls "will struggle with this for quite a while."
Lehigh County Judge Kelly Banach admonished Packer for taking the two underage girls into his home, "the place where these girls could seek safe haven and sort of determine their moral compass from you and you totally blew it."
"Hopefully, they will get the appropriate treatment," Banach said, according to court transcripts obtained by NBC10. "Hopefully, they are resilient enough that they will just move beyond this. But you had the potential to have caused them significant trauma."
At the time of the abuses, David Packer was married to Sara Packer, who is charged with Grace's rape and murder.
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The documents are proof that Grace Packer, described by friends and acquaintances as a sweet, friendly teenager, endured abuse from an early age.
Her troubled life came to an end in July when, authorities allege, her adoptive mother, Sara Packer, and Sara's boyfriend, Jacob Sullivan, carried out a "rape-murder fantasy" on the teenager.
The couple allegedly beat, raped and killed Grace Packer in their rented home in Quakertown and left her in the attic for months before eventually dumping the body in a wooded area of Luzerne County, according to authorities.
Sara Packer and Jacob Sullivan are being held without bail and scheduled to next appear in court Jan. 20.
According to the transcripts, Banach sentenced David Packer to 18 months to eight years in state prison for one count of statutory sexual assault of the foster daughter, who has never been identified, and one count of indecent assault of Grace Packer.
Identified in the transcripts as "Miss G.P.," Grace was 9 years old when her adoptive father forced her to touch his penis "numerous times," according to the documents.
In addition, David Packer admitted to having oral sex and intercourse with the foster daughter in 2007, when the girl was 15 and he was 31.
The court transcripts are dated June 21, 2011 and Oct. 10, 2011. At the June hearing, David Packer admitted to taking prescribed medication to treat depression and anxiety. He told Banach that 15 months earlier he had been hospitalized for mental illness.
"I take Lamictal, Effexor-XR and Klonopin," he testified.
At the October sentencing, Banach said a court-ordered clinical assessment concluded David Packer "does suffer from a mental abnormality or personality disorder, specifically, I believe it was pedophilia and paraphilia."
"I believe that (the clinician) opined that there was a likelihood that he would re-offend," the judge said.
In addition to his jail sentence, David Packer was ordered to register as a sex offender for life under Megan's Law.
In an interview with NBC10.com last month, David Packer denied that Grace Packer was one of the two victims. He told a reporter earlier this week that he would not comment any more about his conviction.
On Tuesday, The Associated Press reported that Grace Packer was one of his victims.
At David Packer's plea hearing, the Lehigh County assistant district attorney who prosecuted David Packer said the victim, Miss G.P., told a detective of the indecent sexual touching involving her adoptive father.
Sara Packer, who until August of 2016 remained legally married to David Packer, was not mentioned in either court documents.
Authorities have not publicly discussed what she knew of David Packer's abuses at the time of their occurrences last decade.
However, Sara Packer was fired from her job as a case supervisor with the Northampton County Child, Youth and Family Office in April 2010, two months before David Packer was arrested and charged in the sex assault cases, according to a termination letter obtained by NBC10.com.
The exact reason for her termination was redacted by the county solicitor's office, but County Administrator Kevin Dolan wrote in the letter that Packer initially told him of what were deemed fireable offenses on Jan. 20, 2010.
"Based on the seriousness of these allegations of misconduct, you were suspended without pay effective January 20, 2010, pending the completion of the investigation," Dolan wrote.
The letter went on to note that the termination was based in part on documents Packer provided and that her "undisputed actions" violated the county's ethics and disciplinary employee codes.
The state Department of Human Services has opened an investigation into Sara Packer, who fostered 30 children since 1998 in addition to adopting Grace Packer and Grace's younger brother. The adoption took place in 2004 in Berks County.
The Packers, who are now divorced, received subsidies for fostering those children and for their custody of Grace and her brother. The brother is reportedly with extended family, but authorities have declined to be more specific about his care.
David Packer currently lives in Northampton Borough and works in Allentown, according to his Megan's Law entry. He is one of 1,928 offenders on the list of sexually violent predators.
During the two hearings in 2011, he said very little. He acknowledged the judge's instructions and answered her questions about the allegations and his ongoing treatment.
Banach said Packer had no one to blame but himself.
"It's all on you, you were the authority, you were the parental figure," the judge said. "You know, as Nancy Reagan says, just say no. There was no excuse for the behavior."
The owner of a New Jersey truck company was arrested at Newark Airport as he was about to board a flight to Aruba Thursday, accused of racking up more than $1 million in unpaid E-ZPass tolls and fees, authorities say.
Lester Morales, 34, of Little Ferry, owns EAB Transport LLC/Do It Right Trucking in Jersey City, and had about 100 trucks going through tolls more than 100 times a day with a delinquent E-ZPass account for 13 months, according to New Jersey State Police.
After the two-month investigation, troopers learned that Morales was about to fly to Aruba on Thursday, and they alerted Port Authority police, who arrested him at Newark Airport, police said.
Morales was charged with theft of services and remanded to Middlesex County Jail without bail. Attorney information for him was not immediately available.
A brand new bakery in Trenton is launching its grand opening on Saturday, but the grand opening – or even the bakery – wouldn’t be possible without crowdfunding.
Studio B received six thousand dollars in crowdfunding donations, which helped the bakery secure the lease and get supplies.
“The more we kept doing and building people said ‘hey look, we really have been waiting for you to come,’” Bert Dumas, chef and owner of Studio B, said.
The bakery isn’t just around to fill bellies, though. Local residents are hoping Studio B will have a positive influence on surrounding neighborhoods. The bakery already employs Trenton residents, and is planning to offer culinary internship programs for teenagers.
Studio B opens soon along the 400 block of South Broad Street.
A former Marine who disappeared Dec. 2 after a confrontation at a local bar in Camden County was found in a nearby lake, authorities said Saturday.
Lance James, 29, disappeared on Dec. 2 following an altercation at Hide-A-Way Tavern in Clementon. Family and friends searched with the help of state police the week before Christmas, but his body was not found in three nearby lakes and a wooded area.
The Camden County Prosecutor's Office announced that James's body was found Friday during a search of Bottom Lake. The prosecutor's office said the cause of death was not yet determined, but there were no signs of trauma.
The bar, Hide-A-Way, was less than a mile from James' apartment.
NBC10.com first reported on James' disappearance in the immediate days after he went missing. Since then, police had searched the woods on foot, deployed drones to survey from the air and used sonar and dredging equipment to check three lakes near Clementon Park.
None of the efforts proved fruitful until Friday.
James spent five years as an active duty Marine, completing one-year tours in Iraq and Afghanistan as a Field Radio Technician. He suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and battles severe depression, his sister Jessica Hassan said.
"He has a big heart but he wears it on his sleeve. He will make you laugh and he is by far one of the most loyal people you will meet. When you befriend him you have a friend for life," Hassan said in December.
The all-out campaign to get Joel Embiid voted to his first NBA All-Star game this year gained a high profile supporter Friday night.
Eagles Quarterback Carson Wentz, who along with Embiid is one of the bright young stars of the Philadelphia sports scene, posed with a shirt promoting a vote for Embiid’s All-Star appearance.
Embiid’s quest for an All-Star game appearance gained some fame—notoriety? – when he tweeted President-Elect Donald Trump last week.
Embiid, 22, is playing in his first NBA season after missing his first two years because of injuries. The seven-footer is averaging 19.6 points per game, 7.6 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in just over 25 minutes a game.
Boxes of beloved classics like Thin Mints, Caramel DeLites and Lemonades made their way to Cardinal O’Hara High School for distribution this weekend before the cookie selling season begins Jan. 19.
This year’s cookie season is going to be extra sweet as the Girl Scouts of America celebrate 100 years of cookie selling.
To honor the centennial, the Girl Scouts introduced S’mores flavor cookies to the line-up.
The Cookie Program provides scouts with an opportunity to learn financial literacy and practice important leadership skills while earning proceeds for their troop.
"This is my daughter's first experience with Girl Scouts," said Ida Ramoundos, who packed up her car full of cookies this morning. "She wanted to do something with her time that helped others and I think this is a great way to do it."
For more information on where to get your hands on the irresistible treats, visit the Girl Scouts website.
Remember when the Philadelphia Eagles' long snapper Jon Dorenos became a national star last summer?
The football player-turned-famous magician took the star turn on "America's Got Talent." So who's the next Dorenos?
The NBC reality show returns to Philadelphia this weekend as auditions for Season 12 kick off. Hundreds of hopefuls are gathering at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Center City on Saturday and Sunday.
NCB10.com reporters Brian X. McCrone and Anastasia Weckerly interviewed some of the hopefuls this morning as they waited for their big shot.
Other cities are Chicago, Austin, Texas, Cleveland, Ohio, Jacksonville, Florida, Las Vegas, New York City, Charleston, South Carolina, Memphis, Tennessee and Los Angeles.
For more information about your chance at fame, go to www.AGTauditions.com.
A man is recovering after a driver followed him on the highway and then shot him during a road rage incident in West Philadelphia Saturday morning.
Police say an unidentified man in a black Toyota Camry followed the 25-year-old victim from the expressway to the 1700 block of N. 53rd Street around 10 a.m. The suspect then took out a gun and opened fire. A bullet went through the driver’s door of the victim's Kia sedan and then struck him in the left hip. The suspect then drove away.
The victim was taken to Penn-Presbyterian Medical Center where he is currently in stable condition.
The suspect is described as a 30-year-old black male with a dark complexion and beard driving a black Toyota Camry with dark tinted windows.
Friends and family are mourning a father of two who was gunned down while waiting to be picked up for work Friday night in the Tacony section of Philadelphia.
Khayyan Fruster, 28, was outside his home on the 6600 block of Hegerman Street Friday around 8:15 p.m. Fruster worked at A Bob’s Towing and was waiting for his coworker, a 48-year-old man, to pick him up.
NBC10 obtained surveillance video showing an unidentified gunman walking toward Fruster as he entered his coworker's tow truck. The gunman opened fire and then fled the scene.
Fruster was struck in the head and his coworker was shot several times. The coworker managed to make it up to the front steps of Fruster's home. His moans alerted Fruster's family members who were inside. Neighbors, including Harvey King, ran outside and called 911.
"First thought was to try to help this guy," King said. "But he was already gone."
Police took Fruster to Hahnemann Hospital where he died from his injury at 10:26 p.m. Fruster’s coworker was taken to Aria-Torresdale Hospital where he is currently in critical condition.
Fruster had two children, ages 8 and 11. He worked at A Bob’s Towing for more than four years and was preparing to buy his own home prior to his death, according to his friends.
"I'm becoming a future officer of the Philadelphia Police Department," said Khayyan's best friend Job Henri. "That's one thing Khayyan wanted to do with himself. He wanted to protect and serve."
No arrests have been made in the shooting. Police continue to investigate.
"Khayyan had no enemies," said Frankie Brown, a family friend. "He goes to work. He comes home."
Brown had a message for the gunman.
"I don't know how you sleep or how you're going to be able to sleep," he said. "You took away something special. Something precious from all of us."
