Warminster

Warminster brought out the bands for Memorial Day. High school bands, string bands and a fife and drum corps were among the attractions for spectators.

If you're looking for intrigue, try Ludlum or le Carre. Don't bother with the state Department of Community Affairs' (DCA) report on Warminster's governmnent. It has all the drama of a macro-economics textbook. The report - which some had hoped would spark a grand jury investigation - is full of recommendations and suggestions on how the township should be run. It was released this week and presented to the Board of Supervisors at Wednesday night's meeting. Warminster asked the state agency for the study after the township went broke last year.

Paul Bailey took a notebook everywhere he went during the hectic year of 1960 when he crisscrossed North America. A notebook and 250 years of history. Bailey, a retired electronics technician who designed components for laser equipment, traveled to Panama, Puerto Rico and Bermuda for his employer, the U.S. Naval Air Development Center. During his spare time, he was on a mission for which he had been volunteered. "My wife was attending a meeting of the Women's Club of Warminster in 1960," said Bailey, now 72. "Somebody realized the township's 250th anniversary was coming up and asked for a volunteer to write the township's history.

There's nothing like a good cause and a backyard fair to bring out the best in children. Such a fair - developed by 9-year-old Mimsy Winston and 12 friends - on June 18 raised almost $500 in cash and donations from merchants for abused and neglected children at the Stenton Shelter in Mount Airy. Among the 13 children who manned booths and helped out at the fair in the Winstons' back yard were these eight: (front, from left) Jessica Adamski, 9, Bruce Smith, 6, and Mimsy, all of Warminster; (middle, from left)

Robert J. Walsh, 70, formerly of Warminster, a retired union official, died April 22 at his home in Longwood, Fla. Mr. Walsh was born and educated in Flemington, N.J., and served with an antitank unit of the Army's 78th Infantry Division during World War II, including during the Battle of the Bulge. He was a member of the International Union of Operating Engineers for more than 50 years. He was the business manager for Local 542 in Norristown for 18 years, then regional director in Florida and Alabama before his 1990 retirement.

Kevin Stricker loved playing basketball and defeating bad guys in Nintendo games. But there was one bad guy he couldn't overcome. On Tuesday, the 11-year-old Warminster youth lost his war against leukemia when he died of pneumonia at an Iowa hospital. "He had a lot of courage, when it came down to the hard facts," said Sam Clover, Sam's uncle. "He accepted it and knew what was going to happen. " Kevin was recovering at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinic in Iowa City after undergoing a bone-marrow transplant in February.

Three residents of an apartment complex on North York Road have been charged with prostitution and related offenses, the result of a three-month undercover investigation, police said yesterday. The investigation centered on what police described as an illegal "massage" parlor at the apartment shared by the trio at the Log College Apartments, 885 N. York Rd. Joanne Seehousen, 30, and Gerardo Picardi, 44, were charged with promoting prostitution. Seehousen and Stephanie Van Blarcom, 39, were charged with prostitution, police said.

It looks as if Warminster has Fort Washington's number. In a Lower Montco American Legion game that had 18 walks in just 5 1/2 innings (because of darkness), the Warriors got timely hitting and dropped the visiting Golden Generals, 5-4, Tuesday night at Munro Park. It was the second time this season that Warminster had beaten Fort Washington by that score. It was an ugly game that only Warriors coach Frank Fisher could love. Generals coach Lou Lombardo was so disenchanted with his team that he made everyone, including the scorekeepers, do 50 pushups after the game, and would not comment.

A Warminster man has been arrested and another man is being sought in connection with a fire that engulfed two cars at a gas station Tuesday night. Police said the two men punctured the gas tanks of two cars at the Street Road and Hardman Lane station to siphon fuel. The fire started after one of the men used a cigarette lighter instead of a flashlight, police said. Jonathan Rich, 23, of Ross Street, Warminster, was arrested Friday night and was arraigned before District Justice Catherine Marks of Penndel on charges of theft by unlawful taking, criminal conspiracy, receiving stolen property and criminal mischief.

An audit of Warminster's books will be called for "probably within the next two weeks," according to Board of Supervisors Chairman Christopher Staub. Also, Staub said he expected the board to elect Supervisor John P. Cataldo Sr. to the treasurer's post at the board's meeting Tuesday. He will succeed Supervisor William Davis, who resigned as treasurer last month. "Next week I will take the treasurer's job," Cataldo said. Cataldo, a retired licensed accountant, said he would consider taking the job only if there were an audit - "not because I think there are any problems, but because that's what the code calls for, and that's what we should do. " Staub said he had spoken to officials from the state Department of Community Affairs, who told him that an audit was needed because Davis had resigned.

Service is resuming on SEPTA's Warminster Regional Rail line after a morning long shutdown due to switch problems. Passengers may experience delays of up to 30 minutes while full operations are restored, SEPTA said. The switch problems also are causing delays of up to 20 minutes on the Lansdale/Doylestown Line. The problems had caused delays of up to 45 minutes earlier. Delays of about 10 minutes - down from a half hour - also are reported on SEPTA's West Trenton Line because of equipment problems.

Donald Lyle Barstow, 85, of Warminster, a retired manufacturer's representative formerly of Lansdale, died of heart failure Friday, Jan. 20, at Abington Memorial Hospital. Mr. Barstow was born in Germantown and graduated from William Penn Charter School in 1944. During World War II, he attended Trinity College and Yale University while in the V-12 Navy College Training Program. After earning a bachelor's degree from Yale in 1947, he became vice president of Boardwalk Arcade Shops in Atlantic City and Ocean City, N.J. He then was a manufacturer's representative for several companies, including Rockport Shoes, where he won several sales awards.

Donald Lyle Barstow, 85, of Warminster, a retired manufacturer's representative,  died of heart failure Friday, Jan. 20, at Abington Memorial Hospital.  Mr. Barstow was born in Germantown and graduated from William Penn Charter School in 1944. During World War II, he attended Trinity College and Yale University while in the V-12 Navy College Training Program. After earning a bachelor's degree from Yale in 1947, he became vice president of Boardwalk Arcade Shops in Atlantic City and Ocean City, N.J. He then was a manufacturer's representative for several companies, including Rockport Shoes, where he won several sales awards.

As the Montgomery County coroner released the names of two young men killed in separate train incidents on SEPTA's Warminster Line this week, transit officials termed the deaths "a tragic coincidence. " Coroner Walter I. Hofman identified Steven Gregory, 22, of Churchville, Bucks County, as the man who died of multiple injuries at 6:50 a.m. Wednesday near Hatboro. Hofman said Gregory's death was a suicide. About 2:30 p.m. Monday, 24-year-old Scott Stevens of Willow Grove was walking north on the tracks and listening to music through ear buds when a train came around a curve and approached him from behind, Hofman said.

The Bancorp Inc., Wilmington, said its board of directors authorized the repurchase of up to 750,000 shares of the company's common stock, or about 2.5 percent of the total outstanding. The shares are trading at about $7.05, making the repurchase currently worth about $5.3 million. The company operates The Bancorp Bank, which has assets of $2.5 billion and offices in Philadelphia, Exton, Warminster and several southern and midwestern cities, in addition to Wilmington.    -Paul Schweizer  

For three weeks, the group of 23 teenagers learned the basics of firefighting, but the big day at camp was the last one. They rode on the truck to fight a mock fire - in the back of the station, with only imaginary flames. But the chance to sit atop a truck and swing a deluge gun that blasts 1,000 gallons of water a minute was real. "It's one thing to read about it and study it," said Krystal Gomez, 17, of Newtown. "It's another to get your hands on it. " Gomez and her fellow campers at the Hartsville Fire Company in Warminster took turns last Wednesday filling the roles that come with firefighting.

A 30-year-old man died Sunday after he was found with numerous stab wounds at the Bucks Landing Apartments on Street Road in Warminster, police said. Bucks County police received a 911 call from an apartment in the complex at 2:15 a.m. reporting the stabbing. The man died at Abington Memorial Hospital, police said. His name was withheld pending notification of family. Warminster police were being assisted in their investigation by neighboring police departments, the Bucks County Detective Bureau, and the Warminster Fire Department.

William J. Dunn Jr., 83, of Warminster, a Spanish teacher at Central High School for 32 years, died of a heart attack Friday, June 24, at Chester County Hospital. Mr. Dunn taught Spanish and English for three years in Philadelphia junior high schools before moving to Central in 1956, where he taught Spanish, including advanced placement courses. For four years, he headed the foreign language department. He also taught at Benjamin Franklin and Northeast Adult Evening High Schools, and taught Spanish and English in high school summer programs.

Hello there In spring 2007, Sarah found her love life lacking. She figured she'd give the virtual world a try and signed up for eHarmony. "I was on it for about a year, off and on," Sarah said. "I went on a lot of first dates. " Then in April 2008, the dating site sent her Chris' profile as a potential match. "Chris is a nurse. I liked that right away," said Sarah, whose mother, Karen, is a nurse, too. "Nurses are nice, compassionate, and sympathetic. " Nurse Chris was in class at the Frank J. Tornetta School of Anesthesia in Norristown when his phone told him someone from eHarmony had sent him a message.