Montgomery County

Montgomery County stands to lose nearly $25 million in a Norristown redevelopment project gone sour, Commissioners Chairman Josh Shapiro said Tuesday. Under the previous administration, the county invested significant public grants and loan guarantees to redevelop the Logan Square shopping center. One office building was constructed, but it remains only half-occupied. The retail portion of the site is underutilized and run-down. "It's hard to see how it was ever viable. It's certainly not viable now," Shapiro said at a news conference.

Several Pennsylvania counties hope that the third time's the charm when it comes to abolishing elected jury commissions. Less than a month after the state Supreme Court struck down a law allowing county commissioners to get rid of elected jury overseers, the governor signed a replacement law, Senate Bill 808. Proponents of S.B. 808 say it's no longer necessary to elect jury commissioners from opposing parties because computers can create random jury...

NEWARK, Del. - New Castle County police have arrested a man wanted in Montgomery County for violating probation, authorities said Wednesday. Rasul Jones, 27, was being held Wednesday in Delaware, awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania. Police received information that Jones was living with a relative in Newark. About 9:25 a.m. Tuesday, officers went to the home and arrested him, authorities said. - AP

Police in Montgomery County are investigating the death of a young woman whose body was found early Wednesday in New Hanover Township. The body was found at 10:22 a.m. in a field along Little Road, police said. It lay in a remote section of hedgerow adjacent to a cornfield. The discovery was made by a local farmer. Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman and New Hanover Township Police Chief Kevin McKeon began a joint investigation, according to a statement issued at late afternoon.

A ninth grader at Pennfield Middle School in Montgomery County's North Penn School District has been diagnosed with whooping cough, an official said Monday. The student came to school Monday morning, mentioned he had whooping cough last week, and was sent home, said Christine Liberaski, the district's manager of school and community engagement. The district sees a handful of cases each year, she said. In a letter to parents posted on North Penn's website, officials warned: "Your child may have been exposed.

This story has been updated. About 1,600 Peco customers in the communities of Willow Grove, Abington, and Huntingdon Valley are at least temporarily without power due to an outage that began about 10:40 p.m. Wednesday, said Peco spokesman Ben Armstrong. The problem is at a pole at Moreland and Easton Roads, Armstrong said. Peco hoped to have power restored to most, if not all, customers by midnight or shortly thereafter.    - Michael Matza

Montgomery County health officials alerted unvaccinated people Thursday that they might have been exposed to measles at three public locations visited by a resident who is suspected to be recovering from the infection. The latest case - a 34-year-old woman who recently traveled to Nigeria, where there is an outbreak - is believed to be unrelated to recent cases in Berks County that led to an announcement earlier in the week about possible exposures there and in Bucks, Delaware and Lehigh Counties.

Michelle Obama pushed supporters in eastern Pennsylvania to lobby just one neighbor, relative, or friend for their votes Thursday, amid concern over waning enthusiasm in the Democratic coalition that propelled her husband into office. "That one new voter you registered in your precinct, that one voter you get to the polls, that could be the one that makes the difference in this election," she told a fired-up crowd of 3,000 grassroots organizers and spectators at the University of the Sciences in West Philadelphia.

A 25-year-old man was shot multiple times inside a Cheltenham Township home early Christmas Day, and died less than an hour later. Officers found the victim about 2 a.m. inside a home on the 1400 block of Beech Avenue in the Melrose Park section. He was transported to Einstein Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 2:26 a.m. Police said the victim, whose name has not been released, was a visitor at the home. The suspect in the shooting is still at large, and is described by police as a black male, armed with a semi-automatic handgun and wearing an Adidas sweatshirt.

Voters across Pennsylvania have only one statewide contest on Tuesday's primary ballot - the Democratic primary for a seat on Superior Court. That race is between Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jack McVay and Municipal Court Judge Joseph C. Waters Jr. of Philadelphia. Republican Vic Stabile of Dauphin County is unopposed. The state bar association has rated all three "recommended. " Locally, voters in Philadelphia and Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties will nominate Democrats and Republicans for seats on Common Pleas, Municipal, and District Court, as well as numerous suburban municipal and school posts.

Josh Shapiro, chairman of the Montgomery County commissioners and a rising Democratic star, will bypass 2014 races for governor and Congress already congested with ambitious pols and instead launch his own political action committee to try to influence campaigns and issues around the state. Keystone Reform, the name of the PAC Shapiro plans to announce Monday, will raise money to fund what he called "pragmatic, results-oriented" Democrats who believe in fiscally efficient and accountable government.

Montgomery County stands to lose nearly $25 million in a Norristown redevelopment project gone sour, Commissioners Chairman Josh Shapiro said Tuesday. Under the previous administration, the county invested significant public grants and loan guarantees to redevelop the Logan Square shopping center. One office building was constructed, but it remains only half-occupied. The retail portion of the site is underutilized and run-down. "It's hard to see how it was ever viable. It's certainly not viable now," Shapiro said at a news conference.

Former Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak said Tuesday that he planned to run for the Senate in 2016, setting the table for an eventual rematch with Republican Sen. Pat Toomey. The decision helps shape the Democratic race for the nomination to challenge Gov. Corbett in 2014, removing from the field a potential contender with high name recognition and a statewide network of supporters. Party insiders say Sestak, the Democratic Senate nominee in 2010, had considered running for governor.

Several Pennsylvania counties hope that the third time's the charm when it comes to abolishing elected jury commissions. Less than a month after the state Supreme Court struck down a law allowing county commissioners to get rid of elected jury overseers, the governor signed a replacement law, Senate Bill 808. Proponents of S.B. 808 say it's no longer necessary to elect jury commissioners from opposing parties because computers can create random jury...

Montgomery County Commissioner Bruce L. Castor Jr. declined Tuesday to challenge Gov. Corbett in the 2014 Republican primary, citing the difficulty of such a "massive undertaking" given his other obligations. His decision came after months of seeking to translate grumbling about the governor's performance from some GOP activists into support for an insurgent candidacy. It removes one potential headache for Corbett, whose anemic approval ratings in recent polls have Democrats lining up to run against him. "Simply put, my duties as Montgomery County commissioner, a lawyer with Elliott Greenleaf, and the responsibilities to my family make a massive undertaking such as running for governor impossible for me this election cycle," Castor said in a statement posted Tuesday afternoon to his Facebook page.

Market endures by any name The original Ninth Street farmers market was called Philadelphia Farmers Market, and I believe a sign post is still there that says that. It was probably erected in the 1880s, and probably full of German farmers. Sometime around 1950, another sign post was erected that said Italian Market, and it's still there, of course ("Has the Italian Market outgrown its name?" April 24). By The Inquirer's logic, if the Germantown section of the city should remain so-named, despite the ethnic changes through the years, and Chinatown treated similarly, we should not change the name of the market to something Asian, or Latino, but keep only one sign - which says Philadelphia Farmers Market.

Montgomery County has pulled a lever out of the big machine that keeps the investment industry profitable even when clients lose money. The county pension system has fired the private investment-pickers who had been struggling to keep the county's pension dollars ahead of its long-term obligations. Instead, most of the $460 million is going to Vanguard Group , the Malvern mutual fund giant, at a fraction of the cost. The county fund isn't huge. But two of the men behind the switch, Democratic County Commissioner Joshua Shapiro and Republican Commissioner Bruce L. Castor Jr. , are ambitious - they'd each like to be governor - and they're prescribing the same medicine for the state's giant pension funds.

FORMER City Controller Jonathan Saidel on Tuesday dropped his bid to replace U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz, citing the interest in the race from Marjorie Margolies, who once held the seat. Saidel, in a statement, made clear that Democrats are starting to line up behind Margolies, including former President Bill Clinton, a fundraising powerhouse. Margolies' son is married to Clinton's daughter. "Over the past few days, I have had conversations with Marjorie Margolies and national Democratic leaders," Saidel said.