Horsham

Decision Industries Corp. will close its Horsham manufacturing plant by July and lay off about 175 beginning in April, the company said yesterday. The manufacture of Decision's line of computers and peripheral equipment, now in Horsham, will be moved to Momentum Manufacturing Corp. in Herkimer, N.Y., a more efficient plant, said Glenn Klein, head of corporate planning and business development for Decision Industries. He said the company planned no further reduction of staff in Horsham.

A baseball season without a home run by Brian Kuklick? It couldn't be. It wasn't. Horsham clinched the Lower Montco American Legion regular-season title Tuesday evening with a 1-0 win over host Fort Washington on Kuklick's first home run of the season. Kuklick, who slugged seven home runs during the high school season for Hatboro-Horsham, blasted a second-inning shot over the tennis-court fence in left field at Germantown Academy for the game's only run. Horsham is to host fourth-place Cedarbrook in the first round of the playoffs Sunday.

Horsham baseball coach Al Tasch said this year's Lower Montco League American Legion team isn't the best he has ever had. In fact, Tasch said he doubts his team is even the best in the league. But he doesn't deny that the Lions' 8-0 record looks pretty impressive. "It would be easy to say that we're the best team in the league, especially since we have gotten off to such a good start," the first-year head coach said. "But what those numbers actually tell is how weak the rest of the league is this year.

A 23-year-old Horsham volunteer firefighter accused of setting eight fires in the township between Dec. 21 and Feb. 20 has been ordered to stand trial in Montgomery County Court. District Justice Kenneth Nonnenman ordered the volunteer, Anthony McDonald, held for trial on eight counts each of arson, recklessly endangering another person, risking a catastrophe, criminal mischief and criminal trespass. Nonnenman issued the order after a preliminary hearing last Thursday. Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey McCredie, who helped Horsham police with the investigation, said McDonald's trial was expected to be held within the next two months.

Horsham American Legion baseball players John Tripetti, Bill Bradley and Mike Corbi, along with coach Al Tasch, had a dream start last year as the team stormed to an 11-0 record at the outset of the Lower Montco American Legion season. The same trio has been tortured by an 0-10 nightmare this season, and a bewildered Tasch can offer little consolation. "I told the team last year we were not as good as our 11-0 start," Tasch said. "And I told this team that we are not as bad as our 0-10 start.

Ground was broken Monday for construction of a Days Inn motel at 233 Easton Rd., Horsham. The facility, which will cost an estimated $8 million, will be a first- class motel, said John Lotz , president of the construction company chosen for the project. "I would like to call it a top-of-the-range Days Inn," said Lotz, of Lotz Designers, Engineers & Constructors Inc. "It will provide facilities not only for travelers, but also for local business people. " The facility will have 171 guest rooms and meeting rooms of various sizes.

Double Visions, a Horsham go-go bar that the township is seeking to cut in half, has won a reprieve in its fight to keep an addition that doubled the size of the bar. A Montgomery County Court judge has denied a township request to immediately raze the 560-foot addition at 1138 Easton Rd. but left open the township's option to refile the request. The one-page order from Judge Horace A. Davenport, which was received Monday by lawyers for the township and the bar, sends the issue back to the township Zoning Hearing Board, where the dispute began two years ago. A hearing on the addition is scheduled for Oct. 12 before the zoning board.

Lotz Designers, Engineers & Constructors Inc. has reached a milestone. On June 21, Lotz broke ground on its Canterbury II office building, the company's 50th building in Horsham. Canterbury II, at the corner of Dresher Road and Camelot Drive, is part of the Canterbury Corporate Center, a four-building venture sponsored by Lotz, the Nichols Co. and Copley Real Estate Advisors. Canterbury II is a three-story, 84,350-square-foot office building that is scheduled to open next spring.

The fourth annual Tylenol Kids Classic for Cystic Fibrosis Golf Tournament, scheduled for July 28 to 30, will have a new home this year. The 36-hole event had been played at White Manor Golf Club in Malvern, but is moving to Commonwealth National Country Club, a par-71, 7,045-yard course in Horsham. The Arnold Palmer-designed layout, which is already recognized as one of the best in the area, opened last summer. White Manor will host the Senior PGA Bell Atlantic Classic, which moved from Chester Valley Golf Club, on May 24 to 26. Logistics would make it difficult for the club to host two major events in the same season.

Two referendums before the voters of Horsham on Nov. 3 would amend the local charter to keep it in line with state regulations passed since home rule was adopted in the township 22 years ago. Meanwhile, a question on the ballot in Rockledge asks voters in the tiny borough to authorize a new municipal building to replace the converted garage shared with the five-member Police Department. Officials say they are seeking voter support because of an accompanying tax increase to offset construction and land-purchase costs, which are expected to total $500,000.

Google Inc.'s purchase of mobile-phone maker Motorola Mobility, completed Tuesday, makes the California-based search-and-software giant a major employer in suburban Philadelphia. At least for now. Horsham remains headquarters for the company's Motorola HomeTV systems arm, still headed by veteran engineer Dan Moloney. Beyond that, Google is not talking about its plans for the site, spokeswoman Niki Fenwick told me. Descended from the former General Instruments and its predecessor, the late Pennsylvania Gov. Milton Shapp's Jerrold Electronics, the business has built generations of set-top boxes and other equipment for cable TV purveyors led by Comcast Corp.

Hatboro-Horsham's Pete Moore says outfielder Casey Saverio is pretty much a human sponge. "He soaks everything up," the coach said. "His baseball instincts are phenomenal. " Saverio, a 5-foot-10, 180-pound senior, is the latest in his family to star on the diamond. His brothers, Sean and Brett, played at La Salle and Hatboro-Horsham, respectively. The boys' father, Lee, is an assistant for the Hatters. Previously, he was head coach at Cheltenham High, La Salle University, and St. Joseph's University.

Run-scoring hits off the bats of Chris Hens and Casey Saverio in the bottom of the seventh inning boosted Hatboro-Horsham to a key 4-3 win over visiting Pennridge in Suburban One League baseball on Monday. Down by 3-1 after six innings, Hatboro tied the game with Hens' two-run single and ended the Continental Conference matchup on Saverio's bases-loaded single with no outs, scoring Tyler Zingle. Also in the Suburban One, North Penn blanked visiting Central Bucks South, 5-0. Tyler Phifer knocked in three runs, including a two-out, two-run single in the fifth inning.

Montgomery County health officials said Wednesday that a bat has tested positive for rabies in Horsham Township. County spokesman Frank X. Custer said the dead bat was found in the 100 block of Crestview Road. It was killed by a dog, but had no known contact with humans. Because the dog was not up to date on its rabies shots, the animal will be quarantined for six months, Custer said. - Bonnie L. Cook

James Francis Doherty, 58, of Horsham, a chemist and church volunteer, died of lymphoma Saturday, Jan. 7, at Abington Memorial Hospital. Since 1981, Mr. Doherty worked for Penn Color Inc. in Hatfield, a manufacturer of colorants, inks and coatings. As a technical manager, he helped develop new products for customers and gave presentations throughout the United States and in Europe and China. Before joining Penn Color, he was a chemist with American Cyanamid Corp. Mr. Doherty grew up in Wilmington and, as a teenager, became an Eagle Scout.

Regina McGinley McAfee, 81, of Horsham, who poured her energy into family, friends, and the antiabortion cause, died Saturday, Oct. 15, of respiratory failure at Abington Memorial Hospital. Mrs. McAfee volunteered as an organizer and fund-raiser for the antiabortion movement for more than four decades, even as she guided her family through marriages, careers, and children. She was a master networker before the term came into style, her family wrote in biographical notes.

  After assisting on the tying goal in the first half, Michael Gaito scored the game-winner in the second half as Pennridge held off visiting Hatboro-Horsham, 2-1, in a Suburban One boys' soccer matchup. Gaito, a senior captain, received a feed from defender Justin Csaszar, beat a defender and went one-on-one with the goalkeeper for the winner with 20 minutes left. Steven Catlett earned the win with five saves. In other Suburban One action, Miguel Diaz recorded two assists as Central Bucks East knocked off Central Bucks West, 2-0. Sean Jenkins and Nick McGarry added goals and Jacob Nesteruk posted his eighth shutout.

Ben Winderman is in his fourth year as girls' soccer coach at Hatboro-Horsham. For much of that time, the Hatters have been chasing Pennridge and Central Bucks West in the Suburban One League's Continental Conference. That picture could be changing. The Hatters are in the midst of a four-game winning streak that includes big victories over the Rams, 2-1, and the Bucks, 1-0, putting Hatboro in first place in the conference. "The win over Pennridge couldn't have been scripted any better," Winderman said.

The race for the boys' soccer title in the Suburban One League Continental Conference got tighter on Wednesday as Central Bucks South and North Penn had perfect records spoiled. Hatboro-Horsham (4-2 overall, 3-2 division) stunned host Central Bucks South, 3-2, on Phil Torresani's header off a corner kick by Sean Canepa 5 minutes into overtime. South (6-1, 4-1), ranked No. 9 in Southeastern Pennsylvania by The Inquirer, had tied the game with 2 minutes to go in regulation on Stephen Pieri's goal.

Berkadia Commercial Mortgage L.L.C., a Horsham lender and servicer, said Friday it agreed to buy Tavernier Capital Partners L.L.C., a Florida commercial mortgage firm for an undisclosed amount. The deal, expected to close in 30 days, will add 20 employees and $2 billion in loan servicing business to Berkadia's operation, which was bought in 2009 by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and Leucadia National Corp. from the bankrupt Capmark Financial Group Inc. for $468 million. Tavernier was formed in 2007 when its founders left Capmark.