Lansdowne

WILMINGTON - His garden stroll with Adolf Hitler left Alfred Rosenberg invigorated. Rosenberg was already one of the most notorious and powerful Nazis, chief architect of ethnic cleansing policies and the man responsible for plundering billions of dollars of art from European Jews. At the meeting in April 1941, Hitler spoke of a larger role. "Your hour has come," he said, according to an account Rosenberg scrawled in his diary. For nearly 70 years, the infamous diary, an unprecedented insider's glimpse of the Third Reich, was lost or hidden.

The Democratic candidates for Borough Council in Lansdowne say the GOP establishment on the council has not pushed to improve the quality of the William Penn School District or to alleviate the heavy tax burden on borough residents. "The Republican mayor and the Republican council will not criticize the Republican school board members," Democrat Bill Smith, 25, said. The two board members who represent the borough are Republicans, as are all but one member of the Borough Council.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency has discovered radium and uranium in ground water at the site of a former radium-processing plant in Lansdowne that is being cleaned up under the Superfund program. The radioactive contamination was found in ground-water samples taken at the plant site in April, EPA spokeswoman Leanne Nurse said yesterday after releasing a statement on the findings. The contamination is not believed to pose an immediate threat to people who live near the site, Nurse said.

A 16-year-old Lansdowne girl was raped while walking to summer school classes at Upper Darby High School at 8:33 a.m. Friday, police said. The victim told police she was walking along a trail under the SEPTA trestle on Garrett Road when she was approached from behind. The assailant put his right hand over her mouth and threatened to kill her if she screamed, police said. The man led her down the trail and into a wooded area near Naylor's Run Park, police said. The man pulled her shirt over her head so she couldn't see, police said.

Officials late Saturday afternoon identified the victim of a Lansdowne fire as Margaret McClernan, 51. McClernan died of smoke and soot inhalation, according to findings released by the Delaware County Office of the Medical Examiner. The "accidental housefire" in which she died destroyed a portion of the three-story apartment building on South Wycombe Avenue in Lansdowne, where she lived. All other residents safely left the building and were sheltered at a Red Cross comfort center at the Twentieth Century Club.

Barely one week into the $6 million dismantling of Lansdowne's radioactive "hothouse," the contractors handling the project have already run into a snag. The Bucks County landfill that was to take the clean, non-radioactive pieces of the house - or so federal officials thought - appears to be backing away from the project out of a fear of negative publicity. "Even though (the debris) may be clean, we may not want the exposure," said Steve David of GROWS Inc., the Morrisville landfill.

Gar Schoener never intended to run the 100-meter dash in summer's Senior Games of Delaware County, much less win it. But then he had a metaphysical experience. "I'm down on the track, and I'm looking at the white lines. And they were kind of shimmering," Schoener said. The scene was straight out of the movie Field of Dreams, where a character looks at his cornfield and hears a voice telling him to build a baseball diamond, he said. "I got the same message: Why not?" The experience drove Schoener to win the event, spoiling rival-of-sorts Bill Burroughs' chance to grab an eighth medal at the games.

The Lansdowne Borough Council will discuss at an executive meeting tomorrow what, if any, action to take against animal control officer Blake Cash. Cash has come under fire by pet owners in Lansdowne who say he has an abusive manner and makes unwarranted trips onto private property. The residents have complained bitterly at borough meetings and recently asked the Borough Council to suspend Cash and conduct an investigation into his job performance. Councilman Robert Alpigini said council members would reveal the results of their discussion at the Aug. 15 public meeting.

A Delaware County woman is facing a fresh prison term after admitting Monday that she lied to a federal judge earlier this year to win a light sentence for embezzling $509,000 from a bank where she worked. Katherine Harrell, who bilked the money from United Bank in South Philadelphia, had been sentenced to only one day in prison after telling U.S. District Judge Anita Brody in February that she was the lone caretaker for her baby and a brother disabled after a car accident. The claim stunned FBI agents, who investigated, learned Harrell had made it all up and arrested her on new charges.

In the lives of motorists unlucky enough to be approaching a railroad crossing in Lansdowne at 6 p.m. on Aug. 28, it may well turn out to be an evening that will live in infamy. Because that night a 2,000-foot-long train will whistle through town. Actually, it will creep through town, taking between 30 minutes and one hour to pass. And it will return at 6 a.m. the next day. The train will carry track for a $38 million SEPTA project that will correct problems along the tracks from Lansdowne to Philadelphia, Borough Councilman Anthony P. Campuzano said.

Dorothy E. "Dot" Saylor, 94, of Aldan, an events planner and athlete who as a teen taught the future Princess Grace of Monaco to swim at the Y, died Thursday, June 6, at home of natural causes. The former Dorothy Stickel was born and raised in the Swampoodle neighborhood of Philadelphia. Mrs. Saylor worked as a summer lifeguard at Philadelphia city pools during her teen years. At the Kelly Pool in East Falls, she taught future City Councilman Jack Kelly and his sister Grace the basics of swimming.

WILMINGTON - His garden stroll with Adolf Hitler left Alfred Rosenberg invigorated. Rosenberg was already one of the most notorious and powerful Nazis, chief architect of ethnic cleansing policies and the man responsible for plundering billions of dollars of art from European Jews. At the meeting in April 1941, Hitler spoke of a larger role. "Your hour has come," he said, according to an account Rosenberg scrawled in his diary. For nearly 70 years, the infamous diary, an unprecedented insider's glimpse of the Third Reich, was lost or hidden.

After admitting that she embezzled $509,000 from a South Philadelphia bank, Katherine Harrell got a huge break last year. Swayed by accounts of her cooperation with the FBI and Harrell's claim that her son and bedridden brother would be institutionalized without her being free to care for them, a judge sentenced the Lansdowne woman to just a day in prison. Problem is, Harrell was lying. Her brother was never in a car crash, as she had claimed. Her parents were ready to care for her boy. On Thursday, Harrell's fate swung to the other end of the punishment spectrum.

A 51-year-old woman died in an apartment fire Saturday morning in Lansdowne. Margaret McClernan died of smoke and soot inhalation, according to the Delaware County medical examiner. The fire, described as accidental by the medical examiner, destroyed a portion of the three-story apartment building on South Wycombe Avenue. The blaze started about 5 a.m. on the third floor of the Keystone Apartments, where McClernan lived. All other residents were safely evacuated and were sheltered at a Red Cross "comfort center" at the Twentieth Century Club.

Officials late Saturday afternoon identified the victim of a Lansdowne fire as Margaret McClernan, 51. McClernan died of smoke and soot inhalation, according to findings released by the Delaware County Office of the Medical Examiner. The "accidental housefire" in which she died destroyed a portion of the three-story apartment building on South Wycombe Avenue in Lansdowne, where she lived. All other residents safely left the building and were sheltered at a Red Cross comfort center at the Twentieth Century Club.

One in a continuing series spotlighting the real estate market in this region's communities. Matt Schultz leads a visitor to open space in front of the Lansdowne Theater's orchestra pit. "Say something," he urges. The utterance made in reply echoes off the ornate ceilings and walls of the theater - built in 1927, before talkies, and shuttered 60 years later. "Acoustics," says Schultz, executive director of the Historic Lansdowne Theater Corp., a nonprofit that bought the movie house in 2007 and is raising $8 million - $2.5 million to $3 million more is needed - for restoration.

SINCE THE RELEASE of "Silver Linings Playbook," people have been asking which movie theater Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence are standing in front of in a scene on Halloween night. It's the Lansdowne Theater (31 N. Lansdowne) where the stars, both Oscar-nominated for their performances, stood after their meal at the Llanerch Diner (95 E. Township Line). The historic theater, which opened in 1927, was purchased by the Historic Lansdowne Theater Corp., a nonprofit, in 2006.

Delaware County officials are trying to determine the identity of a man found dead this morning near a park bench in Lansdowne Borough. "There is nothing to indicate any foul play," said Police Chief Daniel Kotan. The African-American man, between the ages of 45 to 55, was found at 7:30 a.m. collapsed beside a park bench directly across from the Lansdowne theater, Kortan said. While he was appropriately dressed for the weather -- knit hat, winter coat and gloves -- he carried no identification, just a set of keys, Kortan said.

A Delaware County woman is facing a fresh prison term after admitting Monday that she lied to a federal judge this year to win a light sentence for embezzling $509,000 from a bank where she worked. Katherine Harrell, who bilked the money from United Bank in South Philadelphia, had been sentenced to only one day in prison after telling U.S. District Judge Anita Brody in February that she was the lone caretaker for her baby and a brother disabled after a car accident. The claim stunned FBI agents, who investigated, learned Harrell had made it all up, and arrested her on new charges.