HBA Newswatch
April 15, 2008
HELP ARRIVES FOR RIPARIAN BUFFERS
VOLUNTEERS JOIN EFFORT TO PROTECT CHESTER COUNTY WATERSHEDS
By ANNE PICKERING, Staff Writer
WEST MARLBOROUGH — For those who believe nature would heal itself if only man would butt out, here’s a newsflash: It’s way too late for that, at least as far as riparian forests along streams and rivers are concerned.
A hundred years ago, if farming suddenly stopped and the land was allowed to go fallow, a riparian forest would come back, explained Bernard W. Sweeney, president and director of Stroud Water Research Center. But that doesn’t happen anymore.
“We had a site where farming had stopped in the 1960s,” Sweeney recalled. “Forty years later, when we removed all the invasive species, we found there was nothing left (of native species, such as black oak or pin oak) except two trees.
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NEWTOWN, BPG AT ODDS ON PROPOSAL
Borough cancels public forum and rejects settlement proposal, putting status of the town center on hold.
By Kenn Stark, Times Correspondent
NEWTOWN — Township supervisors confirmed the rumors Monday night, officially announcing that a planned May 7 public forum to discuss an Ellis Preserve town center development has been indefinitely postponed.
Supervisors made the unanimous decision to reject a Berwind Properties Group settlement proposal last Monday at an executive session. A settlement would have put an end to pending litigation and allowed the town center plan to move forward.
Supervisor Chairman Joseph Catania alone made the decision to cancel the public meeting, citing the lack of board support for the settlement.
“The end result of what you have done is that the public doesn’t have the slightest idea of what’s been going on, what the discussions are, and what the plan is that we’ve presented,” BPG attorney Marc Kaplin said of the canceled forum. “It looks like you trying to avoid the issue.”
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WASHINGTON TAKES ON THE MORTGAGE MESS
By GREG IP
What started as a slump in home building and rising delinquencies on dodgy mortgages has evolved into a financial crisis and a likely recession. U.S. authorities are scrambling to respond.
Last week, the administration said the Federal Housing Administration may guarantee mortgages for up to 100,000 homeowners, many of whose homes are now worth less than they owe on their mortgages.
In addition, the Senate passed a package of measures including a tax credit for buyers of foreclosed properties, funds to state and local governments to buy and rehabilitate foreclosed homes, and tax breaks for home builders. The bill's prospects in the House and the White House are uncertain.
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