Darby Township

A proposal to build 58 homes on a parcel of land along Burton Avenue was turned down Wednesday by the Darby Township commissioners. The proposal, by developer Charles Rappa, was rejected because it was incomplete, said Township Solicitor Michael Pearce. Rappa "has not provided us with answers to a significant number of questions" raised by the township and county Planning Commissions, Pearce said. He said Rappa had not addressed such matters as storm-water management, a sewer system, road widening and engineering problems.

The way some Darby Township residents see it, the Bonsall tract would be an ideal site for modern, middle-income housing. But if the Delaware County Redevelopment Authority has its way, the 36-acre tract in the township's southern end would become a light-industrial complex. Authority officials say that an industrial park would create jobs, generate tax revenues and generally provide a shot in the arm for the area. Residents, however, say homes are a higher priority for an area for which the people feel a strong attachment.

IN SEPTEMBER 2005, Darby Township Solicitor Michael Pierce presented a proposed tax-collection contract to the township manager for the manager's "review and approval. " The township's three Republican commissioners voted unanimously the following month to approve that deal, under which a small company, EM Services Inc., would be paid a commission to collect current and delinquent taxes and fees from residents and businesses. It's a convenient arrangement for Pierce, the president-elect of the Delaware County Bar Association who is considering running for district judge in Aston Township.

When Tiffany Ellison spends hours shoveling out a parking spot in front of her Darby Township house, she wants to be able to save it, not only because of the sweat she put in, but also because she's afraid of having to walk by drug dealers and users if she's forced to park far away. "I barely feel safe from my front door to my car right up front," she said. But after a unanimous vote last night, Ellison and other Darby Township residents face a $300 to $1,000 fine for what has become a tradition in the Philadelphia region - saving shoveled-out parking spaces with items that have about as much sentimental value as a cold.

A Delaware County volunteer fire company has been suspended after the township had concerns about how it was administered and whether it had sufficient funds to continue. Fire Company No. 4 in Darby Township, at Hook and Green Hill Roads, was shuttered Sunday. Fire services will be covered by other volunteer companies in the area, township officials said. The township has three fire companies, including No. 4. "We are trying to work with them," Township Solicitor Michael Pierce said.

Miguel Osborne is greeted by what he calls the "three words" each time he comes home from a hard day's work. Since February, the spray-painted slur has marked his Darby Township garage and screen door, along with an anti-Christ symbol and the letters, "KKK. " Last week, somebody added a new insult. Osborne, 29, a professional actor and dancer who is black, shares a home on Tremont Drive with his elderly aunt, who owns the house, and his cousin, Dr. Arthur Williams. The neighborhood is mostly white.

A 22-year-old township man was arrested early yesterday on charges of possessing 70 bags of crack cocaine, including 11 found in his mouth, police said. George Earland of the 1000 block of Burnside Road is charged with possession with intent to deliver and is being held in Delaware County Prison with bail set at $50,000, police said. His preliminary hearing is set for 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in Glenolden District Court before District Justice Peter P. Tozer. Darby Township police said they received a call about 12:10 a.m. yesterday that a man was carrying a gun outside the Sharon Bar in the 800 block of Sharon Avenue.

The southern half of Darby Township is 98 percent black and 98 percent Democratic. The northern half is 98 percent white and equally Republican. The township's odd geography accentuates those divisions. The two sections are separated by four other Delaware County boroughs - a physical division that is the result of nearly 200 years of slicing new boroughs and townships out of colonial Darby Township. They are also separated by a sense of alienation, distrust and hostility that is a constant, thumping pulse beneath life in Darby Township.

The Board of Commissioners approved a $1.5 million bond issue Monday night to finance construction of a new municipal building in the first block of Bartram Avenue. The complex, which will include a new district court, will replace the municipal building at 1063 Cedarwood Rd. No construction timetable has been set. In addition to the new building, the bond proceeds will also be used to retire existing debt of $324,000 and for capital improvements such as buying new police and fire vehicles, said Township Manager John B. Ryan Jr. The vote was 3-2. Commissioners Lawrence F. Patterson, James J. Sandone and John F. Hennesy voted to approve the bond issue.

Delaware County law enforcement officers and local police made an early morning sweep through Darby Township yesterday, arresting 16 suspected drug dealers. About 40 officers - most of them dressed in the black tactical gear worn by SWAT teams - burst into 10 homes between 6 and 6:30 a.m. No drugs were found in the homes, said Chief Robert Thompson of Darby Township, but some suspects were found to be carrying small amounts of drugs. The sweep ended a six-month investigation by Darby Township police, the Delaware County District Attorney's Office and the county Criminal Investigation Division.

A Delaware County man has filed a civil lawsuit against two Darby Township police officers, one of whom allegedly beat him, causing head injuries that required a 10-day hospital stay. "This is an egregious assault and battery," said Joseph Oxman, lawyer for Samuel Mirra of Nicole Lane in Darby Township. The officers, Daniel Fynes and Detective John Lundell, could not be reached for comment. Township Solicitor Michael Pierce had no comment. The township is also named in the suit.

Samuel C. Alexander, 91, of Darby Township, a retired building inspector and ship's carpenter who was active in his community and church, died Sunday, Feb. 24, at an assisted living facility in Southfield, Mich. He had been in Michigan since 2011 to be close to a daughter and a son who live there. Mr. Alexander was a building inspector for 27 years in Darby Township. He inspected residential and commercial buildings, churches, and other structures, retiring in 1992. For part of that time, Mr. Alexander, a Navy veteran, also worked as a shipwright (ship's carpenter)

ASIXTH-GRADER at a Darby Township school has been in a medically induced coma for more than two weeks after another student allegedly thumped him. Family members of Bailey O'Neill, 11, said two students were bullying the boy when one of them punched Bailey in the face, breaking his nose. Bailey was checked out by doctors at DuPont Hospital in Delaware and released, but a few days later, he started having violent seizures. "The doctors say it is a result of a blow to the head," the boy's grandmother, Joy Fecanin, told the Delaware County Times . The superintendent of the Southeast Delco School District said the district was cooperating with Darby Township police, who are investigating.

JOSEPH R. Santoliquito liked nothing better than to don his Eagles sweatshirt, grab a beer and chill out watching a game. Joe deserved some downtime after he retired. Raising three children after his wife died in 1977, he worked three jobs to keep the family going, walking to each one from his home in Darby Township, and was lucky if he got four hours' sleep. Did he lament his plight? Hardly. That wasn't Joe Santoliquito's style. He did what he had to do and accepted his situation like the man he was. Joseph Santoliquito, a 20-year employee of the old Jerrold Electronics Co. and former office administrator for Darby Township, an Army veteran and a quiet man who took a little prodding to become the life of the party, died Sunday.

A Delaware County volunteer fire company has been suspended after the township had concerns about how it was administered and whether it had sufficient funds to continue. Fire Company No. 4 in Darby Township, at Hook and Green Hill Roads, was shuttered Sunday. Fire services will be covered by other volunteer companies in the area, township officials said. The township has three fire companies, including No. 4. "We are trying to work with them," Township Solicitor Michael Pierce said.

Former Darby Twp. cop is charged in rapes *  Palmer Street near 3rd, Chester Kevin Walker, a former Darby Township police officer and now a Chester constable, is accused of sexually assaulting and harassing several women - one of whom was pregnant - while he was on duty as a cop, according to court documents. Walker, 43, of Chester, was arrested yesterday on numerous charges including rape, sexual assault and stalking, according to the Delaware County District Attorney's Office.

A marijuana deal devolved into mayhem Monday afternoon in a residential neighborhood of Darby Township, police said, leaving an 18-year-old close to death and landing a 16-year-old in custody. "The neighbors gave us great information," said Darby Township Police Chief Len McDevitt. Witnesses told police they had seen three young men negotiating over drugs in the Briarcliff section about 3 p.m. A shot was fired, and one of the three, a teenager, fled to a home about four blocks away.

More than 50 people were watching a pickup basketball game in Darby Township on Sunday when an argument over money sparked a shooting that left two men injured and prompted police and township officials to respond with a summer curfew. Now, police said, the challenge is to get anyone to talk about what they saw when a gunman fired into the crowd. "We are getting zero cooperation from the witnesses," said Len McDevitt Jr., Darby Township police chief. Just after 5 p.m. Sunday, about 10 shots from a .40-caliber handgun were fired into a gathering at Conway Park, near Hook and Greenhill Roads.

A 64-year-old woman was killed today when her minivan went out of control and flipped at least twice on the Route 1 Media Bypass in Upper Providence Township. Township Police Det. Sgt. Michael Langdale said it was not raining at the time, but the roadway was wet. The driver, who lived in Darby Township, was southbound in the left lane of the highway about 7 a.m. when she veered across the right lane before the Ridley Creek Bridge and hit an embankment, flipping at least twice before coming to a halt, Langdale said.