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Press And Journal
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 2014
VOLUME 124 - NO. 26
26 PAGES
75 CENTS
In Steelton, an old church’s walls come tumbling down
By Noelle Barrett
Press And Journal Staff
On a warm Saturday night, Dy’Mond SimmonsSettles was jumping on a trampoline with friends in the backyard of her Steelton home when she heard something unusual. “It was like a big bang or boom, a thunder-like sound,” she said. “It kind of sounded like an earthquake, but we didn’t feel anything.” And then she heard cracking. Simmons-Settles looked across the street, just in time to see part of the Grace United Evangelical Church collapse. “It was very ungraceful,” she said. “It just started to fall backwards, and debris started to fall.” A crowd of people poured into the street of the 200
MIDDLETOWN AREA SCHOOLS
New budget increases taxes by 1.56 percent By Dan Miller
Press And Journal Staff
You might pay $34 for a case of beer, to get your oil changed, or to fill up your tank if your car is good on gas. It’s also the real estate tax increase you will pay in the Middletown Area School District in 2014-15, if you own a home in the district with an assessed value of $100,000. The Middletown Area School Board unanimously approved a $40.6 million budget for 2014-15 on Monday, June 23 that calls for a 1.56 percent increase in the property tax. The district has raised taxes in seven of the last eight years, the lone exception being 2009-10. However, the 1.56 percent increase for the coming year is the smallest hike since before the 2007-08 school year. Board member Michael Richards was among those who praised David Franklin, assistant superintendent for finance and operations, and other district administrators for their role in keeping the increase low. “I just think it’s an excellent job, with the tax base that Please See BUDGET, Page A2
Historical Society seeks borough OK for events at Swatara Ferry House By Dan Miller
Press And Journal Staff
The Middletown Area Historical Society will go before the Middletown Zoning Hearing Board on Tuesday, July 1, to seek approval to hold various types of events at the Swatara Ferry House Landing at South Union and Ann streets. The society is asking the zoning board for permission to hold activities that are not allowed by right in the borough’s conservation district, but that require permission as a “special exception” under the borough’s zoning ordinance, according to an application the society filed with the borough. The hand-written application signed by Nancy A. Avolese, a member of the society’s board of trustees, requests the zoning board give the society “blanket approval evermore” for such uses allowed by special exception described in the zoning ordinance as “circuses, carnivals, and similar activities.’’ The application seeks the same type of approval for “other similar uses and activies’’ allowed by special exception. The ordinance does not elaborate on what
block of Lincoln around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 21—some of them neighbors who heard the collapse, others who came by to see it for themselves. “Everybody was gasping,” Simmons-Settles said. “It was just a big commotion.” Fire and emergency crews arrived on scene to assess the situation. No one was injured, but part of the church collapsed onto a neighboring home. Residents living in the neighboring home have been relocated by the Red Cross, according to Steelton Mayor Tom Acri. Investigators have not determined an official cause for the collapse, but the age of the building may have been a factor, Acri said. The church, built in 1889, has been vacant and inactive for a few years, but the borough codes office has been working with members of the congregation in
the last few years, Acri said. “The roof itself needed to be replaced because it was leaking,” Acri said. “We at the borough couldn’t tell anything structurally that there was a problem.” Now the biggest concern is safety. All power to the church and neighboring buildings was turned off, and the block was closed. Fire police have been on-site around the clock to make sure no one enters the building. “We’re all concerned about the children. Children are curious. They might try to look around, or go in,” Acri said. “It just takes one.” Before the church collapsed, children used to gather in front of it to hang out, Simmons-Settles said. “When it collapsed, there was a girl in front of the Please See CHURCH, Page A2
Press And Journal Photo by Noelle Barrett
Part of the Grace United Evangelical Church in Steelton collapsed on Saturday, June 21.
PRINCESS OF THE FIRE HALL
One day, Cheyenne Zeiders’ heart stopped. Now Middletown firefighters and a local diner are raising money for her family. Press And Journal Staff
H
Please See PRINCESS, Page A2
Submitted Photo
Three-year-old Cheyenne Zeiders was a welcome visitor to the Middletown Volunteer Fire Company, where her father served as a firefighter, before her death in May.
HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP To donate, make checks payable to the Middletown Volunteer Fire Company, and write “Cheyenne Zeiders Memorial Fund” on the memo line. Checks can be mailed to the fire company at 10 Adelia Street, Middletown, or dropped off at Kuppy’s Diner. An account is also set up at Members First Federal Credit Union in Middletown to accept donations. Any money remaining after costs are covered will be donated to the Epilepsy Foundation.
Please See SOCIETY, Page A2
A walk in a new park soon could get you downtown By Dan Miller
Press And Journal Staff
It can be daunting for a Penn State Harrisburg student traveling on foot or by bicycle to get from campus to downtown Middletown. First, you have to cross one of the busiest streets in town – West Main Street, also known as Route 230. Once you get to the other side, there’s no direct path leading you to the downtown business district. Middletown Borough hopes to fix that, with considerable help from a state grant that could pay most of the cost for a project intended to make it easier for Penn State Harrisburg students – and any other non-motorist – to get downtown. The estimated $2.7 million project would feature separate bicycle and walking paths that would start near the new Amtrak train station that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will build along West Main Street. The paths would head south, running parallel along the train tracks, and eventually tie into an extended Emaus Street, which would funnel the students and others toward the downtown business district. The project layout, which also shows trees, green space Please See WALK, Page A2
Contact Us
NEWS Nissley sentencing continued until August The sentencing for a former Lower Dauphin School Board member convicted of sexually assaulting a teenage girl has been continued. Rodney Nissley, 49, of Hummelstown, was scheduled to appear for sentencing in Dauphin County Court on Monday, June 23, but the hearing was continued until 9 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 28 before Judge Andrew H. Dowling. A jury found Nissley guilty of 10 of 13 charges against him in March, including four counts of aggravated indecent assault, three counts of indecent assault, corruption of minors, unlawful contact with a minor and indecent exposure. Nissley will spend at least 10 to 20 years in state prison based on mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines. Nissley was confined to Dauphin County Prison at the close of his trial on March 21, but was released on March 24 after posting $100,000 bail.
By Noelle Barrett
er smile was contagious, her personality bubbly. Cheyenne Zeiders, who was lovingly known as “Peanut,” was a princess and the boss of Middletown Volunteer Fire Company. “She had everybody wrapped around her finger within minutes of meeting her,” said her mother, Amanda Rimert. “She was just very loving.” Cheyenne loved coloring, cheerleading and spending time with her father, Elvis, at the fire hall. The 3-year-old spent many mornings in the first booth at Kuppy’s and loved the way the owners’ daughter, Rachel Kupp, made her Minnie Mouse pancakes. “She would bounce around the firehouse like a Super Ball,” recalled firefighter Rich Seachrist. “She would keep everyone happy and she was a joy to be around.” In an instant, Cheyenne made an impact on the people she met – and in an instant, she was gone. She was playing in her bedroom, and told her mother that she wasn’t feeling well. “I thought it was a normal seizure’’ Rimert said. Cheyenne had been diagnosed with epilepsy, and had experienced seizures before. Then her mother heard a thud. Cheyenne was rushed to the hospital. This time it was different. Cheyenne’s heart had stopped. She died on Tuesday, May 6 at Penn State Milton Hershey Medical Center. If she had survived, it was likely she would have suffered brain damage, doctors told Rimert. “Don’t you stop,” she told doctors. “I’m going to love her no matter what.” Then something happened. “She put up such a fight – she came back after 90 minutes without a heartbeat,” Rimert said. Cheyenne held on for five more days before she died. Doctors told Rimert that Cheyenne may have had Long QT Syndrome, which can cause sudden
Quick
Historical Society names two to board The Middletown Area Historical Society has appointed Jenny Miller and Leslie Givler to its board of trustees effective immediately. They replace Bonnie Stazewski and Ed Sunbery, who resigned. Both Miller and Givler are active members of the society.
School taxes frozen in Highspire, Steelton Residents in the SteeltonHighspire School District won’t see a tax increase next year after the Steelton-Highspire School Board approved a budget for the 2014-15 school year by an 8-0 vote on Monday, June 23. The $18.5 million budget will keep the real estate tax at 25.477 mills, meaning a property owner with a home assessed at $100,000 will pay $2,547.
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This drawing by Dewberry, a consultant for Middletown Borough, shows the linear park, including bicycle and walking paths, proposed from West Main Street to downtown Middletown.
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This is Jane Hemperly-Hardy’s hometown newspaper.