Every Saturday, the South Jersey Times cheers those who make our area a better place in which to live and jeers those whose actions merit derision.
Every Saturday, the South Jersey Times cheers those who make our area a better place in which to live and jeers those whose actions merit derision.
CHEERS: To remembering a beloved chief of police. Last Saturday a large crowd turned out to take part in and to support the Chief Edmund Spinelli Jr. Memorial Run. The 5K run/walk event wound its way through the village of Carneys Point. Among those taking part were officers who served with the chief, many colleagues from the law enforcement community and the late chief's family members. Spinelli died suddenly five years ago leaving the community in shock. While the run -- which organizers hope to make an annual event -- helped keep alive the late chief's memory, it also .raised funds for a scholarship in his memory.
JEERS: To the glacial pace of progress with cleaning up the Shieldalloy site in Newfield. Sure, it was good to see an agreement announced this week between the feds and the company on cleanup of contamination at the site, which made specialty metals for decades and left plenty of pollution in its wake. But why are we still waiting for action to remove radioactive slag from the property? That process remains under state control and we have heard no timeline for actually removing this hazardous material. Efforts to clean up the site have been going on since the 1970s. Let's pick up the pace and remove this health hazard.
CHEERS: To plans to expand Scotland Run Park. Gloucester County is in the process of acquiring an additional 21-acres that would bring the county's largest park to 1,020 acres. This is part of the county's ongoing efforts that have preserved more than 20,000 acres via open space and farmland preservation programs since the late 1980s. Thoughtful preservation that helps build greenways through our counties are important to our longterm health as a community.
JEERS: To the dangers our first responders face. Here we are talking about the people our police and EMTs are trying to help. A woman who allegedly was driving under the influence is charged with attacking Carneys Point Police officers and and EMT that arrived to help her. But the surprising thing is that this some woman is charged with attacking a cop in a neighboring town. Luckily in all cases, the first responders were not seriously injured, according to authorities. The fact that respect for those in authority is waning appears to be evident here.
CHEERS: To getting back on track. First off, we must clarify that this is a rather subdued "Cheer" for the Delaware River Port Authority as it mulls reopening the shuttered Franklin Square PATCO stop just shy of Old City. We've heard these talks for the past decade and, at this point, are rather skeptical if any train will ever come to pass and it appears that conversation at the bi-state authority's Wednesday meeting covered old ground. Still, if the DRPA can secure federal funding to help reopen the stop that closed in 1979, we say go for it. Walking from there to Philadelphia's historic attractions is much more convenient than the Locus Street stop at 9th and 10th streets. To DRPA and PATCO leadership, if you're going to do this, commit once and for all. A recent increase in ridership coupled with an era of progress in Philadelphia not seen in decades... what could go wrong?
JEERS: To the wall of silence. "Excuse me, but who are you?" asked the neighbor of two Lumberton brothers charged with murder as a reporter knocked on that door. The conversation soon escalated to this man threatening to call the police and telling us to not come back to his neighborhood. We then went to the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office to get the results of an autopsy on the body found buried in that Lumberton backyard. That one fell on deaf ears, too. The superintendent of the school district where these brothers apparently graduated from declined comment across the board. As journalists, our job is to obtain and share information. Sometimes that requires uncomfortable conversations or fully knowing that promise of someone "getting back to you" is another way of saying, "I can't hang this phone up fast enough." We don't ask for your adoration, just a little common courtesy as we attempt to get the correct facts to the public.
If you know of someone or something you would like to nominate for a cheer or a jeer, please send the information to sjletters@njadvancemedia.com