February 5, 2011 a.d. www.solehi.com $1.00

Twice As IceBy Judd Wilson

By Judd Wilson By John Dondero, Lower Milford Township Chief of Police

Spartan Football Players and Cheerleaders Win Awards

Crime Prevention Tips

DeSALES UNIVERSITY -- The Southern Lehigh Football Booster Club held its annual awards banquet Jan. 29 at DeSales University.

Club President Troy Silfies praised the club’s committee chairmen as “truly professional.” Several parents of graduating seniors will be stepping down from their positions, leading Silfies to invite newcomers to attend the booster club’s meetings, which are held at 7:30 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of each month in the high school teachers’ lounge. He thanked Nancy Derby for doing “a great job” putting on a magnificent banquet. Silfies also commended the freshman football team’s 5-4-1 record in its second year of existence, which he said was based on “hard work, discipline, leadership, and teamwork.” Southern Lehigh Middle School’s football program has achieved tremendous success as well, going 19-1 over the past two years.

Last year’s success was “no surprise to us,” said varsity head coach John Toman. He knew his senior class was going to do special things, and they did - including the first playoff win in school history. He said he would “never forget” that first playoff victory at Pottsville Nov. 12, 2010. There is “special quality and tremendous talent” coming up through Southern Lehigh’s ranks, Toman said. Since the program has improved in each of Toman’s five years at Southern Lehigh, there is “greater pressure see AWARDS pg 3

LOWER MILFORD -- When people think of protecting their homes, they often think of fancy, expensive security systems with lots of bells and whistles. That is certainly an option, but there are measures you can take that won’t break the bank, too. Depending on your home and neighborhood, you may not need the most expensive system.

Home security is about you and your habits. If you have a large family where someone is almost always home, you may be at less risk than someone who lives alone and is frequently away on business trips. The value of your home and your possessions is a factor, but thieves can be tempted by less valuable items if they believe they will be easy to fence. So irregular patterns such as parking a car in a different spot, or leaving a car outside the garage when away, are simple deterrents to thieves checking for a pattern. Unfortunately, they do their homework before committing a crime. To make it harder for them, so should we.

When you think of protecting your family and your belongings, you’ll also want to think of protecting things that are important to you but might not necessarily be located in your home, such as your car. Motion-sensing lights may deter thieves from breaking into your car when you are at home, but what about when you are at work? You should notify your local police department of vacations, business

see TIPS pg 2

SOUTHERN LEHIGH -- After an ice storm that left tens of thousands without power Wednesday, weather forecasters are calling for yet another blast of Arctic weather this weekend. A storm system making its way north from the Mid-South is expected to hit the Lehigh Valley in the early hours of the day.

According to WFMZ-69 meteorol-ogist Matt Broderick, sleet, freez-ing rain and one to three inches of snow are in the offing this Saturday. The Weather Channel is predicting light ice accumulations for the area.

PPL Electric Utilities crews had their hands full earlier in the week bringing power back to nearly 40,000 customers whose electricity had been cut off by Wednesday’s ice storm.

According to PPL, approximately 12,000 of those customers were in the Lehigh Valley. Southern Le-high schools and the public library closed for the day.

Thus far, the winter of 2011 has proven to be one of the colder in recent memories. The school board is considering how to make up for lost days without dragging the spring semester late into June. An announcement on the district website said that schools will be open Fri., Feb. 18, shortening the Presidents' Day weekend to three days. Students will also report to class on Fri., Mar. 11, which had been scheduled as a teach-ers' in-service day. If necessary, classes will also be held on Apr. 25 and Apr. 21, in that order, cutting Spring Break down from five to four or three days this year.

INSI

DE BRIEFS

Information on upcoming meetings.

pg. 2

TEAM COOPERSBURGUniting for greater health and wellness in

the community.

pg. 3

After an ice storm that walloped Southern Lehigh Wednesday, weather forecasters are predicting more for this Saturday. Photo by Judd Wilson.

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BRIEFSUpper Saucon Township Police report that in the early morning hours of Feb. 1, three homes and four cars were entered in the Valley Green subdivision. The suspects entered the unlocked vehicles and - using garage door openers - were able to gain access to the homes. One suspect was described as a white male approximately 5’ 10”, wearing a dark colored hoodie. He fled the home and was seen enter-ing an older model green vehicle, possibly a Honda. Homeowners are cautioned to keep their vehicles locked at all times and report any suspicious activity to the police by calling 911.

Coopersburg Borough Council will meet at 7 p.m. on Feb. 8 at Borough Hall.

Lower Milford Township Plan-ning Commission has cancelled its Feb. 7 meeting. The Recreation & Open Space Board will meet at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 10. at the Town-ship Municipal Building. Upper Saucon Township Board of Supervisors will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 7 at the Township Municipal Building. The Planning Commission will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 8.

Word Search # 4 -- Winter Woes

Word Search #3 Key-- Winter Activities

Snow and ice have forced schools such as Hopewell Elementary to cancel classes repeatedly this winter. Photo and word search by Melissa Wilson.

Blizzard CancellationCautionColdDelayFoodFreezing rainGasGrocery storeHassleIce

Inside Power outageRescheduleShovelSleetSlipSlowSnowflakeStormStrandedWater

H Q E Z Z G N I L G G U N SC O W O O D C H O P P I N GR B T G H H A F K N I T D NA B F C F R I E N D S C F IE N I F H S S K I Z N I I LS N A M W O N S E K O C R RD H R D H G C N T I W E E UR O O E B R R O E A F S S CO P I V A F O W L S O K I JW H S F E D C P A A T A D SH K T J S L H L B L T T E LE S A H L I E O B A K E X EY L I M A F T W F H O T B DP U Z Z L E S E I V O M T E

TIPS from pg 1 trips, etc. so they can perform a domestic security check of your property while you’re away. In the event of a burglary, an inventory of belongings with serial numbers and photos of valuable possessions can be quite helpful to law enforcement investigators.

To keep your family safe, you should also include an accident prevention and fire safety plan. These types of dangers can put you and your family at risk as well as threatening to destroy your person-

al belongings. A family action plan should be discussed in the case of a fire or catastrophic event, including a meeting place on your property where all family members can be accounted for once emergency services arrive.

Dwellings with a second floor should be equipped with a por-table escape ladder in case egress is blocked by fire or some other ob-stacle. Forethought and preventive measures go a long way in this area. If you do have a home security sys-tem you are required by ordinance

to notify your local police of its installation.

Finally, if you see any suspicious activities, let the police know, and communicate with your neighbors. They might have useful informa-tion such as a vehicle description with a registration tag.

Most of these suggestions are just plain common sense -- locking your home, shed, garage or car -- yet are overlooked in many instanc-es. Remember, crime prevention begins with you.

Accusations Fly at Supervisors MeetingBy Judd Wilson

LOWER MILFORD -- While most of Thursday night's board of super-visors meeting here went smoothly, a belligerent outburst by frustrated couple John and Kim Stagg laid se-rious allegations at the township's doorstep.

Chief among the Staggs' accusa-tions was that zoning and planning administrator Richard Kinsey lied to them regarding an issue present-ly before the zoning hearing board.

Stagg also alleged engineers from Cowan Associates and local builder Ken Schoch lied. Visibly upset, John Stagg threatened, "someone's

going to pay for this." During his 15-minute tirade, Stagg repeat-edly claimed that he had extensive documentation of his innocence. "I do things right and by the book," Stagg said. At the same time, he assured the board that he was "go-ing to make sure people pay." He presented no evidence to the board.

As his case belongs to the zoning hearing board, supervisors could only assure him they would look into the issue. Chairwoman Donna Wright asked him to "go through the zoning process." With the rest of the supervisors, she told him that they "appreciate your frustra-tion." Kinsey was not present at the meeting, and had no opportunity to defend himself.

With family present, John Stagg threatens retaliation Thursday night. Photo by Judd Wilson.

Z A G R O C E R Y S T O R EZ W C A U T I O N E M B N KI F B N H G F O O D R D H AT H C I B O S H I A E E S LS T R A N D E D T G S L A FS T O R M K A D A I C A F WL J V G M E R T L S H Y V OI M A N D A U G L F E C I NP W W I Z O W T E G D G A SF K S Z R A O K C E U X T HD N I E T S L S N H L E D OI L W E E L S S A H E L L VB O R R I Z S P C L O W E EP U V F G V B O S C B C M L

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By Judd Wilson

AWARDS from pg 1to keep the program moving in the right direction,” Toman said. Holding up the 2010 seniors as an example, Toman challenged his underclassmen to consider how they want to be remembered, and to motivate themselves in the weight room and practice field with that goal in mind.

Cheerleading head coach Colleen Haig thanked parents “for all their

time and support” during a long cheerleading season, stretching from camp at Pine Forest through national competitions in February. She was “so impressed with how the squad improves each year,” adding that the seniors “will be truly missed.”

The following athletes received awards at the banquet:Most Spirited - Adessa FlackLeadership - Gabrielle Wilson

Best Jump - Shana TrexlerMost Improved - Megan SpadtScholar Athlete - David GivlerOutstanding Lineman - Daniel OrtweinMost Improved (Offense) - Nick Kirsch Most Improved (Defense) - Alex Kocse & Zachary NewhardMost Valuable Player (Offense) - Jeff SmillieMost Valuable Player (Defense) - Ray Durkin

Most Valuable Player (Special Teams) - D.J. WilliamsCoach’s Award - David Givler & Matt GotzonSpartan Warrior Award - Dylan PhillipsSpecial Award - Tanner BuchasBob Lynn Award - Luke GotzonBooster Club $500 Scholarship - David Givler & Melinda BereanSpirit of Spartan Award - Stew & Pat Butler, Chick-Fil-A Quaker-town

Running for Health, Community, and Fun

Above: On Memorial Day weekend last year, 500 runners took part in the 4th Annual Coopersburg 5K, Kids' Fun Run, and Health and Wellness Expo. Below: Over 100 volunteers like these made the event a success, with $11,000 going to charity. Photos courtesy of Jennifer Wescoe-Schaninger.

COOPERSBURG -- An avid runner of many years, local resident Jennifer Wescoe-Schaninger was talking to Frame Your Image owner Cari Poole one day when she asked if the borough had any running events. When Poole told her there were none, Wescoe was -- as one would expect -- off to the races.

In 2005 she had organized the Wescoe Walk to raise money in honor of her late father, Ron. Proceeds went to support research and treatment for patients suffering with the condition her father had battled, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. When Wescoe began the Coopersburg 5K in 2007, she chose to continue fighting human misery by donating proceeds to the Make-a-Wish Foundation. She also set aside donations to benefit the Coopersburg Business Revitalization Program, which has done so much for the borough.

Meanwhile, Coopersburg Family Chiropractic practitioner Trish Colasurdo had organized a local festival called Kids' Day America to promote health and wellness for kids. In 2008, Colasurdo and Wescoe teamed up to create a spectacular event for Coopersburg on Memorial Day weekend. In addition to a scenic 5K run through the borough, the pair have held an annual health and fitness expo at

the Coopersburg Village Center, and a kids’ fun run sponsored by the Liberty Bell Elementary School P.T.A., for four years now. Runners and cheering sections win awards.

In 2007, 207 runners participated in the 5K. That number has increased every year, surpassing the 500 mark last year. Wescoe and Colasurdo have gotten to know

and love the people who come. “You develop these friendships,” Wescoe said, with everyone from first-time runners to experienced ultra-marathoners. Bands, cheerleaders, youth sports teams, friends, and family lining the route create quite a happy spectacle as they cheer on their runners, she said. Stephens Funeral Home provides a welcoming hospitality tent where runners can relax and refuel after crossing the finish line. The expo is held next to the finish line, and includes a blood drive, staff from St. Luke’s Hospital in Bethlehem, alternative medical practitioners, a farmer’s market, and a raffle to benefit charity. Last year the whole event raised over $11,000 for the Make-a-Wish Foundation and Coopersburg Business Revitalization Program.

To register or learn more, visit www.coopersburg.org or contact Wescoe from 9 a.m.- 3 p.m., Mon.- Fri. at 484-553-6340 or jwschaninger@hotmail.com.

Contact InformationPublisher - Judd WilsonPhone - (484) 632-6108 Email - solehitribune@gmail.comMail - P.O. Box 4, Limeport, PA 18060

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