Though the district has not mentioned it in public meetings since a confusing line in a budget discussion on March 18, rumors are continuing to float around Methacton School District regarding its bus drivers’ contracts. Currently, the drivers are sourced by the Teamsters Union Local 384, along with the district’s maintenance and custodial staffing.
Representing over 200 drivers and custodians, the Teamsters plan to meet on Thursday night to discuss an alleged offer on the table. Local bus drivers, who names have been removed to protect their employment, said that the offer is a drastic cut in current pay.
“The school district has offered us 19 percent pay cuts to keep our jobs,” said one source, a current driver for the district.
Along with the cuts in pay, the drivers will be forced to contribute more into the health care costs, as well. It is unknown if drivers’ pension plans would be impacted.
Another driver called the plan a “real kick in the teeth” after years of dedicated service to Methacton.
Drivers told LP TAP that if the janitors, custodial crews and groundskeepers, also members of the same union, join the drivers and accept the cut, that it would be an overall loss of 9 percent for drivers.
“I have a feeling they’re [the district] going for the First Student idea,” said one driver.
First Student is an international provider of transportation services. It currently employs 61,000 staffers working in 1,400 school districts in North America, according to the company’s website. It provides many of the area’s transportation services. The same service was called into question by many Methacton parents, as options began to be circulated, due to questionable safety ratings.
Others noted that administrative positions at the district’s main office were somehow seeing a 2 percent increase in the same time frames, adding to their frustrations, according to one driver.
A meeting is scheduled for Thursday night, though the meeting is closed to the press and public and is intended for union members only. The district has only stated that they are, in fact, now negotiating contracts with the union, but cannot release any details nor confirm the information or figures provided by the drivers.
“The district is currently engaged in contract negotiations with the Teamsters, the union that represents our drivers and custodial staff,” said Angela Linch, director of school and community information, via an email on April 10. “We are unable to comment on the details of any proposed agreement at this time.”
As previously reported by LP TAP on March 25, the district said they had not yet decided upon action when it came to transportation services in the district as of that time.
“This confusion [rumors of a contract negotiation] may have resulted from a misquote that appeared in a recent Times Herald article that summarized the March 18 School Board work session meeting,” said Linch, in an email on March 25 to LP TAP. “At this time [March 25], the Board and Administration have made no decision relative to the outsourcing of transportation services.”
Drivers said they thought that wasn’t so long ago, as they allege an offer came to their union on April 9.
“I think they don’t want us to contact the parents because they want it to be too late,” said one driver over the district’s lack of communication with the public.
Another said that because the same union also represents First Student drivers, there is a conflict of interest among Local 384 representatives.
A meeting is planned at the union hall to discuss such issues, according to Brenda Perry, a union steward.
“The meeting is for union members for now,” said Perry. “At that right time, we will be in touch with parents.”
Perry and other drivers expressed an interest to notify the public before any action is taken.
“We will have our meeting to discuss it,” said Perry of the pending contract changes. “I would say in a week or so we will know for sure.”
A Canadian man, taking part in an education conference in Philadelphia, was sexually assaulted, beaten and robbed after meeting another man on the popular gay dating and hookup app Grindr.
The 34-year-old victim, whose identity we are withholding, tells NBC10.com exclusively that he invited the suspect to his hotel room inside the Hilton Home 2 Suites at 12th and Arch Streets around 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday after talking with him over Grindr.
When the suspect arrived, the man says he was held up at gunpoint and sexually assaulted.
“The whole thing was just a giant blur. I was scared and I kept thinking if i just do what he says, then he'll just go away," the man said.
Following the assault, the victim said he was forced to buy four $500 Visa gift cards. He was then walked to five nearby ATMs and told to withdraw $200 from each cash machine.
"I was afraid to say anything. I was afraid of what was going to happen," the victim said.
The suspect and victim walked about 15 blocks – from 12th and Arch Streets to 20th and Walnut Streets – during the ordeal, the man said. Then inside a bar along the 2000 block of Walnut Street, the man was able to break free, run away and call police.
Surveillance cameras inside the bar captured the struggle between the men.
Philadelphia Police are asking for the public's help in identifying the suspect. The man is described as 20-years-old, standing 5 foot 11-inches tall with wavy hair and star tattoos on the back of his right hand. He was wearing a dark colored jacket, dark blue jeans and tan boots.
Police are asking anyone with information to call the tipline at 215.686.TIPS.
As for the victim, he says steering clear of dating and hookup apps, like Grindr, in the future.
“I will no longer be doing any type of app like that again. I'm just not,” he said.
A man was shot in South Philadelphia overnight and now police are looking for the person that pulled the trigger.
The victim was shot nine times in the leg on 22nd Street and Passyunk Avenue just before 1 a.m. Friday, according to authorities.
A bag of drugs and bullet casings were found near the victim, said police.
The injured man was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in critical condition.
So far no suspect or motive has been determined.
One person was rescued and another trapped in an accident on the Blue Route in Broomall, Delaware County Friday morning.
The accident was on the northbound side of the road near exit 13 at Villanova/St. Davids. One person was trapped inside their vehicle, according to officials on the scene. Emergency crews were able to free that person who has been transported to a local hospital.
One lane and the shoulder were closed for almost two hours. Be prepared for delays.
No word on the extent of injuries sustained in the early morning accident.
Check back for more information on this developing story.
An eastern Pennsylvania jury has convicted a defendant of first-degree murder in a shooting death at a public housing complex in Bethlehem last summer.
The (Easton) Express-Times reports that 18-year-old Lucas Cabassa of Bethlehem hung his head as the Northampton County jury verdict was read Thursday.
Defense attorney Steve Mills argued unsuccessfully that his client fired in self-defense in a June confrontation in the Lynfield public housing complex, killing 25-year-old Joseph Rodriguez.
Cabassa, who was 17 at the time of the shooting, will be sentenced next month. The U.S. Supreme Court has barred automatic life sentences for juveniles convicted of murder.
The victim's father, Joe Rodriguez, said Cabassa could have walked away from the fight at any time. He said the verdict will bring closure to the family.
A 22-year-old Boston College student from New Jersey was struck by two taxis and killed as she and her stepsister tried to cross an Upper East Side street late Thursday, authorities and her family say.
Kelly Gordon, of Brielle, N.J., was on York Avenue at East 84th Street when she was hit by a taxi heading south on the avenue around 11:30 p.m., according to the NYPD.
After the first impact, she was hit again by another taxi heading north in the opposite lane.
A witness who had just left his apartment in the area said he believed the women had just gotten out of a cab when one of them was run down.
"She came out of the cab and the cab hit her and another one hit her," said Joel Okpala.
Gordon's devastated family told NBC 4 New York that she was in Manhattan to interview for jobs, and had been out to dinner earlier in the evening celebrating interviews that went well. Gordon was the oldest of five siblings.
"She was so great and had so much going for her," said a childhood friend, Jillian Bucklew.
Barb Jones, vice president for student affairs at Boston College, said in a letter to students Friday that Gordon was studying marketing and finance in the college's Carroll School of Management. She had been set to graduate this year.
Gordon was unconscious when crews arrived and was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital with severe head trauma, police say. She was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Both taxi drivers were at the scene when officers arrived, police say. No one has been arrested, and the investigation is ongoing.
--Jen Maxfield contributed to this story
The manhunt continues for a man police say jumped from a hotel window in Montgomery County to escape arrest Friday afternoon.
Horsham Township Police went to the Days Inn at 245 Easton Road to serve an arrest warrant to 29-year-old Gary C. Long around 1:15 p.m., when the man jumped from a third story window and took off.
"I saw a guy come out through the woods," said witness Shane Heiser. "Ten minutes later cops came and asked questions."
Once inside the suspect's hotel room, authorities discovered drug equipment prompting a hazmat situation.
Investigators determined Long was manufacturing methamphetamine in his hotel room, forcing officials to evacuate the Days Inn.
"Housekeeping can around, knocked and asked us to walk to Otto's," said hotel guest Brianna Dovidio.
Local authorities contacted the Pennsylvania State Police Clandestine lab unit, which responded to the scene to process evidence and clean the room.
Guests were permitted to return to the hotel at approximately three hours later.
K-9 were brought in to help search for Long, as well as officers from two other local police departments, but the suspect has not yet been located.
Long has three outstanding warrants out for his arrest -- all from jurisdictions outside of Horsham, according to authorities.
Charges for the manufacture of methapthetamine are pending as authorities continue their investigation.
The 30-year-old suspect is six-foot tall with hazel eyes. He was shirtless when he took off, police said.
Anyone with information on Long's whereabouts is urged to call police.
A Yuba City teen could be deported to Mexico following her conviction on felony marijuana distribution charges. She sold pot brownies to pay for a prom dress, according to reports.
Saira Munoz, now 19, was a senior at River Valley High School when, short of cash to pay for a dress, she "hired a friend to sell her marijuana-laced brownies," according to the Los Angeles Times.
She was arrested after a student became "sick off of one of the brownies."
Munoz served nine days in jail for the felony conviction and was sentenced to four years' probation, the newspaper reported.
Munoz could now face deportation in violation of a temporary visa granted her in 2000.
Brick Township Police say a woman was sexually assualted while running the Sawmill Bike Trail in Brick, N.J. on Thursday morning.
The assault took place on April 10 at approximately 10:30 a.m.
According to police, the female victim parked her car and entered the trail from the Burnt Tavern parking area. Shortly after entering the trail, she noticed that a male was chasing her.
The male allegedly reached out to grab the woman's clothing, but the woman evaded the suspect's grasp by pushing his hand and running away.
The woman lost sight of the suspect at the end of the trail, got back into her car and left the area. She later filed a report of the incident with Brick Township Police, who were dispatched to the trail area but found no relative evidence.
The suspect is described as a male with a medium build, between 5-foot-7 and 5-foot-9 in height, and between 20 and 30 years old.
Anyone with information about the incident are asked to contact the Brick Police at (732) 262-1100.
