Officer testies in dorm-murder trial

Our opinion

PASSOVER CELEBRATION
STILL RESONATES B10

Gives vivid account of events before death of Millersville student/B6

news@readingeagle.com

Berks

Saturday
APRIL 23, 2016

& BEYOND

SECTION

COUNTY, STATE AND REGION

Council members irate after guilty plea

Reed, Waltman say Michael Fleck was the
ringleader in City Hall pay-to-play scheme
By Dan Kelly
and Don Spatz
Reading Eagle

Two City Council members

were incredulous when political consultant Michael Fleck
and former council President
Francis G. Acosta tried to
force changes to the city Code
of Ethics in April 2015.
Acosta lobbied hard to have
council repeal the codes limits on political contributions,
just a few weeks before the
primary election.
Councilwoman Donna
Reed said council members

thought at the time, What

in the world are they thinking
putting this forward during an
election cycle?
Fleck, 40, pleaded guilty
Thursday to a federal criminal charge of conspiring to
commit extortion and bribery
offenses, and a charge of tax
evasion. He is free on $50,000
bail. Sentencing is slated for
July.
Acosta pleaded guilty to accepting an $1,800 bribe in the
form of a campaign contribution and is in federal prison.
Acostas attorney, former U.S. Attorney Robert

E. Goldman, said the bribe

was offered by former Mayor
Vaughn D. Spencer to water
down the city ethics code, so
Spencer could raise more
money in his unsuccessful
re-election campaign in the
Democratic primary last May.
Wally Scott won that contest
and was elected mayor in November.
Spencer has not been
charged. Attorneys for Spencer and Fleck could not be
reached for comment.
The FBI said the pay-toplay scheme was orchestrated
by Fleck and employees of his
political consulting firm in
Allentown.
Fleck Consulting, also
known as H Street Strategies,
managed several campaigns

for Spencer and Allentown

Mayor Ed Pawlowski, federal
prosecutors said. Pawlowski
has not been charged.
I really want to see these
guys brought to justice because they brought back the
reputation that Reading used
to have back in the mob days,
Reed said. Im pretty bitter
about this whole thing and
just want it to be over so this
city can move forward with
the important issues we need
to address.
Council President Jeffrey S.
Waltman Sr. said he also wondered what Spencer, Acosta
and Fleck were thinking
when they believed they could
ram the ethics code changes
through council.
Our city government

doesnt function that way,

Waltman said. Our government cut this off at the very
beginning.
Waltman and Reed said
they thought Fleck was the
ringleader of the scheme and
were not surprised by the
guilty plea.
He was the common denominator, Waltman said.
I think he was the bad apple,
not that the other people
dont have responsibility for
their actions.
But he (Fleck) ruined a lot of
lives and now I dont think its
worth talking about. We just
have to get the right people
around the table and get on
with the business of the city.
Contact Dan Kelly: 610-371-5040 or
dkelly@readingeagle.com.

SUICIDE-PREVENTION AWARENESS
Berks County
Coroner Dennis Hess takes
his turn in
the free dunk
tank.
Strike Out
the Stigma, a
campaign to
raise awareness of mental illness,
shares its
message with
fans attending
the Reading
Fightin Phils
game on Friday.

READING EAGLE: JEREMY DREY

Stigma strikes out at stadium

Suicide-prevention
event draws a crowd
to Fightin Phils game
By Becca Y. Gregg
Reading Eagle

Across Berks County last

year, 55 lives were lost to suicide.
And if you think that number is high, rewind another
year, back to 2014, when the
number was in the 80s.
Its a number thats disturbing, so we certainly want to
bring that number down,
said Lauren Heydt, program
manager for the Berks County
Mental Health/Developmental Disabilities department,
inside a crowded FirstEnergy
Stadium on Friday night.
2016 READING EAGLE COMPANY

The first Strike Out the

Stigma event aimed to increase awareness and erase
the stigma of mental illness in
a fun, positive atmosphere.
Outside the stadium, Exeter
High School freshmen Victoria Hill and Sidney Godfrey
handed out baseball-themed
stress balls to those entering
the festivities, which kicked
off at 5 p.m. in advance of the
Fightin Phils 7 p.m. showdown against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.
I feel like mental health is
overlooked, and people dont
really completely understand
it, Godfrey, 15, said.
They dont really understand that its something
everyone deals with to some
degree or factor, added Hill,
also 15.
Among the activities Friday,
a dunk tank gave attendees

EDITOR HARRY J. DEITZ JR.: 610-371-5004

the chance to try their luck at

soaking four prominent Berks
Countians: County Commissioner Kevin S. Barnhardt;
Dr. Edward B. Michalik Jr.,
the administrator of Berks
County Mental Health\Developmental Disabilities department; Berks County Coroner
Dennis J. Hess; and Adrian
Grieve, executive director
of the American Red Cross
Berks Chapter.
Inside the stadium, an
informational table offered
resources on depression, suicide prevention, and a guide
for parents seeking mental
health solutions, among other
areas of concern.
Also in attendance Friday
night were members of the
suicide prevention task force,
formed about a year ago by
county mental health officials,
teachers, doctors and commu-

READING EAGLE: JEREMY DREY

Volunteer Victoria Hill, 15, hands out stress balls during the
Strike Out the Stigma event Friday night at FirstEnergy Stadium.

nity members, with a goal of

helping to educate the public
and ending the stigma.
We want people to learn
that it can happen to anyone, and were here to help,

MANAGING EDITOR DAVE MOWERY: 610-371-5011

Heydt said. We have tons of

resources. We want people
to take away that theres help,
and theres always hope.
In advance of the rst-time
[ See Suicide >>> B6 ]

TO REPORT NEWS: 610-371-5000

FAX: 610-371-5098

Steven Henshaw

Do educators rely
too much on police?

hen I was in junior

and senior high
school, it was rare
to see a police officer in the
building unless it was for an
educational program.
I dont remember a student
being taken away in handcuffs.
That doesnt mean nothing
unlawful went on. But school
administrators didnt seem
to involve police as much as
they do today.
The only authority you
needed to worry about at my
school was a bald-headed vice
principal who seemed to always be standing behind you
whenever you did something
stupid in the hallway.
In my day, a 10-day suspension seemed to be the standard punishment for more
serious offenses like having a
small amount of weed or coming to school drunk or high.
In other words, you got
a vacation for violating the
school code, not a record as
a juvenile delinquent.
My h ow t h i n g s h a v e
changed since the 1980s.
Ive written a number of stories this year alone about the
arrests of students for making
anonymous bomb threats at a
high school or middle school.
Now, making a bomb threat
as a hoax is reckless as well as
stupid, especially in an age
of homemade bombs being
set off in public buildings. A
criminal investigation is warranted.
But Ive also reported on
a number of arrests of students for fighting in school.
One that comes to mind were
two Reading High School
girls who were charged with
assaulting two teachers who
fell down while they and other
staff members tried to separate them from a ght.
Well before the Columbine
High School massacre in Colorado on April 20, 1999, schools
had begun to ratchet up law
enforcement in the name of
safe schools.
In December 1998, Readings was among six city police
departments in the state to
be awarded $99,000 by the
Pennsylvania Commission on
Crime and Delinquency for a
pilot program in which a police officer would be assigned
full time to one or more secondary schools.
Today, its common for
secondary schools in Berks
County and elsewhere to have
a cop known as the school resource officer.
In a Time magazine article
in October, critics of the SRO
program contended teachers
become overly dependent on
police officers for matters that
in the past would have been
adjudicated by teachers and
administrators.
Has the pendulum swung
too far toward criminalizing
student misconduct?
Contact Steven Henshaw: 610-3715028 or shenshaw@readingeagle.com.

B6

SATURDAY, APRIL 23, 2016

READING EAGLE, READING, PA.

Millersville officer testies in dorm-murder trial

Says defendant gave
vivid details of events
before student death
By Holly Herman
Reading Eagle

When initially questioned

by police, Gregorio Orrostieta could not remember what
happened when his ex-girlfriend was killed while he was
visiting her in her Millersville
University dorm, authorities
said.
But four hours later, police
said Orrostieta provided vivid
details of what happened before Karlie A. Hall was found
motionless on her dorm oor.
He said they had an argument
before Hall died, a police of-

ficer testified in Lancaster

County Court on Friday.
Orrostieta is on trial on
first-degree murder and related charges in the Feb. 8,
2015, strangulation of Hall,
an 18-year-old Millersville
freshman.
Millersville University Police Deputy Chief Howard
Bauman told the jury Friday
that Orrostieta wanted to provide additional details after a
four-hour break in questioning at the Millersville Borough
police station on the day of
Halls death.
According to Baumans testimony:
Orrostieta said that he and
Hall had been arguing before
they got to her dorm room at
1:30 a.m.
He said he heated up soup
for Hall.

Gregorio
Orrostieta

Karlie A.
Hall

While the soup was cooking,

the couple had sexual relations.
He said he then spilled soup
on Hall. Karlie got really mad
and called him stupid, Bauman testied.
He started pushing her and
she began pushing back. Karlie fell against a chair and got
back up. She pushed him into
a wall.
Hall grabbed a pencil and
started hitting Orrostieta in

the forehead.
Orrostieta pushed Hall
again, and he gave her a backhand. That was the last detail
Orrostieta provided.
Everything got quiet, Bauman testified. He did not
remember anything after
that.
While the defendant was
being interviewed by police,
forensic investigators were
collecting evidence in Halls
dorm room.
When the investigators arrived, Hall was still hooked up
to an automatic external debrillator, or an AED machine,
that emergency personnel
used earlier in an attempt to
save her life.
Ramen noodles, water
bottles, bloody clothing, a
broken pencil, a purple paisley comforter and an empty

liquor bottle were found in

Halls room.
Detective Scott Eelman ,
coordinator of the Lancaster
County forensic unit, late
Friday afternoon showed a
jury colored photographs
on a large screen of the evidence collected in Halls dorm
room.
Orrostieta, clad in a gray
suit, held his head down during Eelmans two hours of
testimony.
A bottle of Oxycodone that
was prescribed to Hall on Jan.
25. 2015, was found.
Orrostietas lawyer, Peter C.
Bowers of Philadelphia, said
in his opening statement
Thursday that Halls death
was the result of damage to
her eye from a fall in her dorm
room on Jan. 25, two weeks
before she died.

Under cross-examination
Bowers questioned why all of
the photographs that Hall had
on her walls of his client were
not collected as evidence.
Eelman said the evidence
that is collected is only what
is expected to be used at
trial.
Prosecution witnesses will
continue testifying Monday in
the trial before Judge Donald
R. Totaro.
In first announcing the
murder charges in February 2015, Lancaster County
District Attorney Craig Stedman said Hall was beaten and
strangled and she was not
just hit one or two times. An
autopsy showed Hall died of
multiple traumatic injuries,
authorities said.
Contact Holly Herman: 610-371-5029
or hherman@readingeagle.com.

Man sentenced in rape of teen

Previously pleaded
guilty in November
R e a d i n g E ag l e

A Greenwich Township man

will spend four to 10 years in
state prison for raping a teen
girl he knew.
John R. Kline, 61, of the rst
block of West Daniel Road appeared before President Judge
Paul M. Yatron on April 7 to
be sentenced. He previously
pleaded guilty in November
to rape and endangering the
welfare of a child.
Kline was also sentenced
to ve years of probation, to
begin after his prison term.

He will receive credit for

655 days previously spent in
prison and will be required
to register with state police
as a sex offender for the rest
of his life.
Authorities said Kline repeatedly raped and sexually
assaulted the girl at his home
and at least once in his car
between Oct. 1, 2013 and his
arrest in June 2014 when the
girl was 15 and 16 years old.
The investigation began
when the victim reported
the abuse to a caseworker.
The girl told authorities
Kline told her not to tell
anyone about what he did to
her because he would get in
trouble.

Suicide-prevention event
hits close to home for some

READING EAGLE: TIM LEEDY

Gov. Mifflin High School students release brook trout ngerlings into the Wyomissing Creek in Mohnton on Friday and study the
life in the stream. From left, Danielle Kline, 17, a junior; Jessica Sinclair, 16, a sophomore; and Angela Zakharov, 17, a junior, examine
aquatic life from the stream.

Students reel in conservation lesson

In state program, two biology classes release
trout they raised into the Wyomissing Creek
R e a d i n g E ag l e

High school students

wound along the trail beside
the Wyomissing Creek, carefully holding plastic cups full
of water.
Upon closer inspection,
something small and dark was
darting in the water: brook
trout.
As part of the Pennsylvania Trout in the Classroom
program, two biology classes
at Gov. Mifflin High School
released trout into the creek
Friday, which was Earth
Day. The program, funded
by Trout Unlimited and the
Pennsylvania Fish and Game
Commission, focuses on cold
water conservation.
Teacher Christopher Killingers students receive trout
eggs in November and raise
the fish until the release
date.
The best thing about this
is the kids take ownership of
the trout when theyre raising them in the classroom,
Killinger said.

The students are responsible for testing the water levels of the tank, making sure
the temperature is correct
and feeding the trout, which
can make it hard to say goodbye.
Weve had them in our
classroom since November
and got to see them grow,
said junior Alanna Bachtlin.
Now were letting them go.
The program has grown
since its beginnings three
years ago when Killinger
first applied for the grant.
For starters, more fish are
making it to the release date.
More than 100 sh survived
this year, said senior Vaughn
Golden, compared to a mere
20 the rst year.
Killinger said the class allows students to understand
cold water conservation
ecosystem dynamics in an
interactive, hands-on way. In
addition to releasing the trout,
students take water samples
and examine the levels of the
stream.
Just experiencing the

[ From B1 >>> ]
event, more than 3,000 general admission tickets were
given out to the game.
The stories that came out
of that werent just thanks for
the free tickets, Heydt said.
They were, This touched my
mom. It was, My brother or
my sister died of suicide. So
the stories that sprouted out
from that were so touching
and amazing that it really
encouraged us to want to do
something big.

Outside of the stadium at

the dunk tank, Berks County Assistant Chief Deputy
Coroner Jonn Hollenbach
waited to see his boss, Hess,
get soaked.
Anything that can prevent
suicide is worthwhile, Hollenbach said. And if the task
force helps just one person,
thats one more person that
got help that maybe wouldnt
have another way.
Contact Becca Y. Gregg: 610-371-5032
or bgregg@readingeagle.com.

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READING EAGLE: TIM LEEDY

Gov. Mifflin High School students release brook trout ngerlings into the Wyomissing Creek in Mohnton on Friday and study
the life in the stream. Alanna Bachtlin, 17, a junior, is looking for
aquatic life.

whole ecosystem and how

everything works together
and getting to immerse yourself in it is exciting, Bachtlin
said.
It was so cool to be able to
apply everything I learned
in school to real life, added
senior Kelly Moyer.
Moyer said the class taught
her a lot about the local ecosystem. Before taking the

class, she didnt even realize

brook trout were the native
species of Pennsylvania.
In fact, Moyer liked the
class so much, she came back.
She took Killingers class two
years ago, but was eager to return to see the yearly trout
release.
I love the trout, Moyer
said. I love seeing them go
free.

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I-LEAD to le complaint in court

Our opinion

TEACHER-QUALITY BILL
DESERVED WOLFS VETO B8

Alleges various violations by Reading School District/B3

news@readingeagle.com

Berks

Wednesday
MAY 25, 2016

& BEYOND

SECTION

COUNTY, STATE AND REGION

New chiefs
city roots
run deep

Cassidy Veese,
15, a freshman at Fleetwood High
School, performs in Between Apt. 2B
and the End
Zone, put on
by the theater ensemble at Yocum
Institute for
Arts Education in Wyomissing. The
play, which
touches on
suicide prevention, was
performed
at the Miller
Center for the
Arts on Tuesday night.

Andres Dominguez Jr. is a local

product who made it in world
By Steven Henshaw
Reading Eagle

Readings new police chief, city native Andres Dominguez Jr., may have spent half his
life far from his hometown as far as Romania but he has strong family ties to the city
and is remembered fondly by residents and
ex-colleagues.
Dominguez, 55, a Reading High School and
Alvernia University graduate, grew up on the
south side of the city but has lived most of the
past three decades in the Washington, D.C.,
area as a member of the U.S. Secret Service.
Andres has always been someone very respected in the community,
said Michael Toledo, executive director of the Daniel
Torres Hispanic Center, Fifth
and Washington streets.
Toledo, who grew up in the
citys northeast section, said
he knows Dominguez and his
family well.
As a young person, he was
Andres
Dominguez Jr. someone in the community
we looked up to, someone who
kind of made it, he said.
City Council members Monday put up a
virtual welcome home sign for Dominguez
as they unanimously approved Mayor Wally
Scotts pick for the vacant chief position and
gave him a standing ovation.
Scott said Dominguez told him that he will
officially retire from the Secret Service on
Friday and start work Tuesday. Capt. Jeffrey
Parr will serve as acting chief until Tuesday.
Council on Monday adopted an ordinance
setting Dominguezs salary at $105,000.
Dominguez, who becomes Readings rst
Latino police chief, replaces William M. Heim,
who retired in February and now heads security for East Penn Manufacturing Co. Inc.,
near Lyons.
Heim was known to have a good working
relationship with Latino leaders, so the new
chiefs ethnicity isnt paramount, although
it cant hurt being bilingual in a city with a
population that is more than 50 percent Latino, Toledo said.
I think more importantly is having a police
chief who is someone who is qualied, someone who is from the community, knows the
community and has extensive background in
law enforcement, Toledo said. The fact that
he is bilingual by culture, I think is an added
bonus given the demographics we have here
in greater Reading.
According to his resume, Dominguez developed a new task force to enhance the Secret
Services investigative abilities; opened an
agency office in Bucharest, Romania, in 2001;
and developed a cybercrime unit in the Bucharest police department.
Dominguez wasnt available Tuesday, but he
previously told reporters that one of his priorities will be to increase the training of officers.
Dominguez and his wife, Maria, also a Reading native, have been married for 33 years and
have ve children.
He went through the Reading Police Academy and Pennsylvania State Police Academy
and spent two years as a patrol aide for the city
police followed by seven years as a trooper.
Hes well known to members of Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams office, who
have worked with him over the years.
Adams said Dominguez brings a broad base
of law enforcement to the job.
Hopefully its a start of a great relationship, he said.
Contact Steven Henshaw: 610-371-5028 or shenshaw@
readingeagle.com.
2016 READING EAGLE COMPANY

READING EAGLE: NATALIE KOLB

The people behind the pain

Play at Miller Center
thoughtfully tackles
tragedy of youth suicide
By Karen Shuey
Reading Eagle

Katie is having trouble explaining the thoughts of loneliness and despair that have taken
root.
Jacob is trying to overcome the
pressures of living up to the expectations of his parents.
Phil is secretly struggling with

his attraction to members of the

same sex.
Its too much. They feel like
there is no hope. They decide to
take their own lives.
A crowd at the Miller Center
for the Arts at Reading Area
Community College was treated
to a powerful play Tuesday night
performed by a group of Berks
County students dealing honestly
and thoughtfully with the tragedy
of youth suicide. The students are
members of the theater ensemble
at the Yocum Institute for Arts
Education in Wyomissing.
The production, endorsed by
the Berks County Suicide Pre-

vention Task Force, uses the insights and stories of young people
to explore and open a dialogue
concerning the pressures, perspectives and precursors to suicide the second-leading cause
of death among those 15 to 34.
According to data gathered by
the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, 17 percent of high
school students seriously considered attempting suicide during a
recent 12-month period. And 8 percent have attempted suicide one or
more times in the past 12 months.
Suicide is not a spontaneous
action. Its a long and painful
struggle, one character said.

We need compassion and treatment for those who attempt suicide, another character added.
Then all five actors shouted
in unison: We need to end the
silence!
It was a message well received
by the audience, many of whom
had shared their experiences with
depression and suicide during a
town hall forum meant to generate discussion on an important
and deadly issue that too few
speak about openly.
We have to put our hearts
and minds together as a community to really bring out of the
[ See Play tackles >>> B3 ]

Theyll talk more turkey in Amity Twp.

Ongoing conditional-use hearing over proposed,
controversial poultry farm continues at St. Pauls
By Samantha Tighe
Reading Eagle

Testimony about a proposed

turkey facility in Amity Township
will continue Thursday when the
ongoing conditional-use hearing
before the supervisors resumes.
Barry Shirey of Winfield,
Union County, wants to build
two 63-foot-by-700-foot turkey
houses at 6359 Boyertown Pike,
which is also Route 562.
The property is on the Exeter
Township line. Oley Township
is also nearby. Crowds have attended the series of hearings.
Earlier, experts testied about
the project on Shireys behalf.
Shirey also testied.
On Thursday, Mark H. Koch,
attorney for project foe Mark A.
Deal of Weavertown Road, is expected to call expert witnesses on
behalf of neighbors opposing the

EDITOR HARRY J. DEITZ JR.: 610-371-5004

operation.
Although turkey farming is
allowed on the 75-acre Amity property, which is zoned for
residential/agricultural use, the
size of the proposed buildings is
considered intensive agriculture
and requires the approval of the
supervisors.
Shirey, during his testimony at
a hearing, estimated that in some
instances there could temporarily be about 32,000 turkeys kept
on the site.
As some turkeys are shipped
out, he said, others would be
brought in.
There will be about seven
weeks of overlap, Shirey said.
Shireys experts included Dr.
Gregory P. Martin, a Penn State
University poultry expert, and
Jeffrey Warmkessel, a geologist
and environmental consultant.
Both addressed environmental

MANAGING EDITOR DAVE MOWERY: 610-371-5011

and health concerns neighbors

raised about a poultry operation
of that size.
Martin testied that trees and
shrubbery surrounding the farm
would act as a natural ltration
system, cutting down most of the
odor.
By 300 feet, theres barely anything noticeable at all, he said.
Warmkessel testied that the
property had enough water for
the project and the risk of surface or groundwater pollution is
minimal.
Its an insignicant threat, he
said.
Another issue addressed by
Shirey and Martin was the composting of dead turkeys.
Shirey testied that the dead
turkeys would be kept in a concrete, sheltered composter,
which would be cleaned every
six months.
Martin testied that he did not
think Shireys turkey composter
would create a signicantly bad
odor.
Shireys turkeys would be sup-

TO REPORT NEWS: 610-371-5000

FAX: 610-371-5098

plied by Plainville Farms of Adams

County. The company would drop
off each new ock and deliver feed
weekly, he said.
The food contains no antibiotics,
hormones or any other unnatural
chemicals, he said.
For some neighbors, Martins testimony did little to quell
fears.
By Martins own admission, he
had not been on the property or
viewed drawings of Shireys building plans.
That lack of firsthand experience concerned John Weir of
Meetinghouse Road.
I think their expert witness was
biased, Weir said after Martin
testied. He made it seem like
they were growing daffodils out
there.
The hearing is scheduled to
resume at 6 p.m. Thursday in St.
Pauls United Church of Christ at
1312 Old Swede Road, across the
street from the township building.
Contact Samantha Tighe: 610-371-5084 or
stighe@readingeagle.com.

READING EAGLE, READING, PA.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2016

B3

I-LEAD to seek relief

for alleged violations
Will le complaint
against Reading
School District
By Michelle N. Lynch
Reading Eagle correspondent

The Reading I-LEAD Charter School Board has voted

to le a complaint in federal
court against the Reading
School District, seeking relief
for alleged violations of the
U.S. Constitution, Pennsylvania Constitution and Pennsylvania Sunshine Law.
At a meeting Tuesday, the
board authorized attorney
James Cunilio of Bryn Mawr
to le the complaint on behalf
of the school and the parents
of the students attending the
school.
This dance with the Reading School Board has been
going on for months now, ILEAD CEO Angel Figueroa
said.
On Oct. 30, 2013, the Reading School Board voted to renew I-LEADs charter for a
ve-year term beginning July
1, 2014, and ending June 30,
2019. I-LEAD requested an
amendment to that charter
on Sept. 21, 2015.
We w e r e l o o k i n g t o
strengthen academics and student performance, Figueroa
said.
Two days later, the Reading School Board adopted a
resolution seeking to revoke
the schools charter, he said.
As a result of negotiations,
attorneys for both parties
agreed to hold a series of public hearings in January and
February.
As part of the public hear-

ing process, the school district and I-LEADs attorneys

entered into an agreement
whereby the charter amendment and charter revocation
requests would be acted upon at separate school board
meetings, Figueroa said.
On May 18, the Reading
School Board voted to grant
part of I-LEADs charter
amendment request and deny
part of the request.
There was no prior public
notification, Figueroa said.
It was unfair to the students
and their parents.
In other business, Figueroa
announced the charter
schools fifth annual commencement ceremony will
take place on June 6 at the
DoubleTree by Hilton hotel.
This is our largest graduating class so far, and there
is a lot of excitement in the
community, he said.
At least 105 students will
graduate, but the number
could increase if some students complete outstanding requirements before the
months end, Figueroa said.
The board also approved
the 2016-17 school calendar
for 188 learning days, one
more than this years calendar.
The state requires 180 days.
And the board approved a
request from ReDesign Reading to use storefront display
space in the school for the
Penn Street Market during
the summer.
This is a good community
partnership opportunity for
the school, Figueroa said.
This is the second year for
the market, he said. Last year
the school permitted the market to use its plaza.
Contact Michelle N. Lynch: 610-3715000 or news@readingeagle.com.

WORLD
electronics
WORLD electronics,
3000 Kutztown Rd., Temple,
has sponsored newspapers
for the Grade 5 class at Sacred
Heart School for the 20152016 school year. Thank you!

READING EAGLE: NATALIE KOLB

Nate Houck, left, an eighth-grader at Wilson West Middle School, and Hunter-Willow Jones, 15, a sophomore at Kutztown High
School, perform in the play about youth suicide at the Miller Center on Tuesday night.

Play tackles tragedy of youth suicide

[ From B1 >>> ]
shadows something that can
be so painful, Edward B.
Michalik Jr. told the crowd.
We need to make sure we use
what we learn from people
who have been through this
to prevent more deaths.
The administrator of the
Berks County Mental Health/
Developmental Disabilities
Program said the task force
is a new effort developed as a
way to eliminate the stigma of
mental illness and put an end
to suicide. In 2015, 55 people
in Berks County took their
own lives.
Michalik stressed to the audience that knowing the statistics is not enough. He said
he wants the community to
get to know the people behind
those statistics. Thats why he
invited some people on stage

to share their stories.

Wanda Spring spoke about
how hard it was to learn her
son James had put a gun in his
mouth and pulled the trigger.
She knew he was struggling
with some feelings of depression, but she said she had no
idea it had gotten that bad.
A lot of people dont want
to be labeled the crazy person in the family, she said.
I think he was afraid to talk
about it and I dont want anyone else to feel that way.
Spring said she is stepping
up to be a leader in the community on the issue because
she thinks thats what James
would have wanted.
Tracy Mell feels exactly the
same way.
Mell lost both her father,
Brian Schwartz, and brother
Michael Schwartz to suicide

Suicide has a profound impact on

those who have lost someone. And its
something we have to talk about.
Gary Hawkins, executive director of the
Greater Reading Mental Health Alliance

within the last 12 months.

Half of my family is now
gone. I would do anything to
be able to go back and talk to
them, she said. We hope
by bringing this out into the
open it helps send a signal so
that other families dont have
to go through the pain were
living through every day.
No family is immune to
suicide, her mother, Cheryl
Schwartz, added.
Gary Hawkins, who lost his
cousin to suicide in 1972, said
the experience changed him

forever. And after a few years

of using drugs and alcohol to
mask the pain he found a better way to keep the memory of
his best friend alive.
Hawkins helps others as
the executive director of
the Greater Reading Mental
Health Alliance.
Suicide has a profound impact on those who have lost
someone, he said. And its
something we have to talk
about.
Contact Karen Shuey: 610-371-5081 or
kshuey@readingeagle.com.

AREA DIGEST

3 taken to hospitals after cars crash, catch re

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Three people were taken

to hospitals after two cars
collided and caught on fire
Tuesday morning in Pike
Township, emergency officials said.
Crews from the Earl Township and Oley re companies
and Eastern Berks Fire Department responded after
the 6:50 a.m. crash on Koch
Road near Weller Road was
upgraded to a vehicle re, ofcials said.
Crews put out the ames
that destroyed both vehicles.
Ambulances from Bally,
Boyertown and Gilbertsville
COURTESY OF PAUL BARTLETT, EASTERN BERKS FIRE DEPARTMENT
transported the patients.
State police investigated Fireghters at the scene of a crash Tuesday morning in Pike Township. The vehicles involved in the
but had not provided any de- crash on Koch Road caught re.
tails as of late Tuesday.
lowed by three years of pro- robbery and conspiracy and scene of the crash about 4 p.m.
bation. He will receive credit was sentenced to 18 months in Frailey Township, troopREADING
for
33 days previously spent to three years in state prison ers said.
Defendant admits
followed by ve years of proin prison.
According to troopers from
to role in robbery
Authorities said Balthaser bation.
the Jonestown station:
A southbound rig driven
A Hamburg man admitted and Jose E. Vega Jr., 28, of the
by Edythe P. Bumgardner of
in court that he and another 400 block of South Fourth SCHUYLKILL COUNTY
Keystone Heights, Fla., apman robbed a man they met Street, set up a meeting with Massachusetts man
proached a construction zone,
up with to buy a car part in the victim, Tyler Dietrich,
at State and Second streets dead after accident
slowed, then stopped in trafApril 2015.
State police Tuesday iden- c as the road went down to
Noah A. Balthaser, 23, of at about 11:40 p.m. April 13,
tified a Massachusetts man one lane.
the 200 block of South Fourth 2015.
Instead of discussing the as the person killed Monday
Lapriore was traveling beStreet pleaded guilty May 17
before Senior Judge Peter W. car part, police said one of when his motorcycle collided hind the tractor-trailer and
Schmehl to robbery and con- the men pointed a handgun with the back of a tractor- slammed into the rear of the
at the victim while the other trailer on Interstate 81 in vehicle.
spiracy.
Bumgardner was wearSchmehl sentenced Bal- ransacked the car and took Schuylkill County.
Natale L. Lapriore, 73, of ing a seat belt and wasnt
thaser to 33 days to 23 months his wallet.
Vega pleaded guilty Oct. 7 to Fall River was dead at the injured.
in Berks County Prison fol-