Thieves take joy out of holiday decorations

Douglas M. Bovitt/Courier-Post

By GEORGE MAST
Courier-Post Staff

For 61 years, Art Mercurio has meticulously hung lights around his Collingswood rowhome and lined his front yard with decades-old ornaments.

But after vandals cut cords to lights and a snowman figurine and displaced a trio of choristers on three different nights in the past two weeks, the 88-year-old said he has had enough.

"You look in the mirror and say, "What in the hell did I do wrong to deserve this,' " said Mercurio, who plans to sell or give away his lights and collectibles after the season.

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58-year-old man stabbed to death

By GEORGE MAST
Courier-Post Staff

A 58-year-old borough man was fatally stabbed during a dispute at a high-rise apartment complex here, authorities said.

Christopher Wall was killed about 6:30 p.m. Thursday in a neighbor's apartment at the Heights of Collingswood, according to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office.

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Collingswood man fatally stabbed during dispute with neighbor

A 58-year-old Collingswood man was stabbed to death Thursday evening during a dispute with a neighbor, authorities said.

Christopher Wall, of the Parkview at Collingswood Apartments in the 500 block of N. Newton Lake Drive, was stabbed once about 6:30 p.m. in a neighbor's apartment, according to a statement by the Camden County Prosecutor's Office.

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Report issues in your neighborhood

As you may have noticed at the top of Collingswood InJersey's site, there is a tab that says "Fixer Upper." If you click on it, you'll see a map of Collingswood.

This tool, known as SeeClickFix, allows residents to report problems like potholes, broken street lamps or vandalism.

Since today is a tad rainy, I thought I'd use this photo as an example:

The above photo is currently on Collingswood's map.

Keep reading after the jump to learn more, and watch an instructional video about SeeClickFix...

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Man charged in string of bank robberies

via Man charged in string of bank robberies | CourierPostOnline.com | Courier-Post.

By GEORGE MAST
Courier-Post Staff

A Sicklerville man arrested for robbing a Collingswood bank last week has now been charged with robbing seven other area banks in the past two years, authorities announced Wednesday.

In a two-year span dating to Sept. 8, 2007, Stephen Epps, 34, of the first block of LaMont Court in Sicklerville, allegedly robbed eight different banks in seven Camden and Gloucester County municipalities, according to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office.

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Collingswood bank robbed

For the second time this week, an armed man wearing a fake beard robbed a local bank Friday.

The gunman struck the 1st Colonial Bank on Haddon Avenue around 3:15 p.m., said the Camden County Prosecutor's Office. A man with a fake beard on Tuesday robbed The Bank on Haddonfield-Berlin Road in Voorhees.

"Whether it was the same guy, we're working to determine," said Jason Laughlin, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office. "He does seem to match the description of the previous bank robber."

The robber who struck the Voorhees bank was described as 30 to 35 years old, about 5 feet 9 inches tall, with a stocky build.

via Bank is robbed in Collingswood | Courierpostonline.com.

700 in S.J. warned or ticketed in crosswalk stings | CourierPostOnline.com

Avi Steinhardt/Courier-Post

via 700 in S.J. warned or ticketed in crosswalk stings | CourierPostOnline.com | Courier-Post.

700 in S.J. warned or ticketed in crosswalk stings

By GEORGE MAST
Courier-Post Staff

Undercover crackdowns on motorists who blow through crosswalks are in full swing in area municipalities.

More than 700 drivers have been warned or ticketed in Collingswood, Pennsauken and Cherry Hill in recent weeks.

The operations, which are part of a statewide safety campaign, put plainclothes police officers in crosswalks. Motorists who fail to yield, as required by state law, face fines or lectures.

"Some of the stuff is just inexcusable," said Collingswood Police Capt. Richard Sarlo, noting that some drivers were talking on cell phones as they drove through crosswalks.

Collingswood police ticketed 78 drivers and warned about 30 more in two stings on Haddon Avenue last month, he said. Two more operations are planned before the campaign ends Sept. 13.

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Police as pedestrian decoys

Avi Steinhardt/Courier-Post

Collingswood is among several South Jersey communities that now have police officers acting as pedestrian decoys to enforce traffic laws.

For more information on the program, read the Courier-Post article or click here to view a photo gallery of the undercover cops in action.

Community Garden Meeting

Title: Community Garden Meeting

Location: Library

Link out: Click here

Description: Community Gardens meeting. Master Gardener John Wiberg of the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Camden County will give a talk on vegetable gardening which will be followed by a question/answer session. Also get an update on the development existing open spaces into community gardens.

The Community Garden club is a new venture in Collingswood that will focus on the development of borough open space into community gardens.

Start Time: 18:30

Date: 2009-07-14

Middle Chamber Books Podcast Interviews Collingswood Author Jen A. Miller

The Middle Chamber Books Podcast is a regular series of interviews with book authors and other creative professionals. We are on the web at www.middlechamberbooks.com

In this episode of the Middle Chamber Books Podcast, we speak with Collingswood resident Jen Miller, a freelance writer and author of The Jersey Shore; Atlantic City to Cape May: Great Destinations: A Complete Guide: Including the Wildwoods (Great Destinations).

Jen also blogs Jersey Shore events and activities at Down the Shore with Jen.

Download

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

here (41.1 mb stereo MP3 file, 00:29:55 length).

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Motorists beware: S.J. police look to crack down on speeders

Going out and about in South Jersey? Drive carefully, as police plan to crack down on speeders this month.

"Eighteen municipal departments in the tri-county area are participating in the annual Obey the Signs or Pay the Fines initiative (PDF link)."

via Courier-Post (read the full article).

Watch out for more police patrols in the following areas:

• Cherry Hill police will use the grant to pay for 20 additional police details in July along problem areas like Chapel Avenue, Springdale Road and parts of Route 70.
• Deptford police will focus on Route 47, Lt. David Raso said.
• Medford Police Chief Anthony Canale said his department plans to crack down on speeders along Route 70.

Police investigate series of thefts from vehicles in Collingswood, area towns

Collingswood resident Tony Giglio was halfway across the bridge into Philadelphia Friday morning when he reached up to retrieve his E-ZPass from his visor and found nothing. He had noticed his Chevy pickup had a "rummaged-through" look when he got up to drive to work from his home at 306 Harvard Ave., but even though the glove compartment was wide open, his checkbook sat there untouched; his tools were still there.

The 200 and 300 blocks of Harvard Avenue in Collingswood. At least three theft from vehicle crimes reportedly occurred here.

About 18 to 20 thefts from vehicles have been reported in Collingswood, Audubon, Oaklyn, Haddon Township and neighboring towns over the past 10 days, according to Collingswood Police Chief Thomas Garrity. At least three thefts were reported Friday on Harvard Avenue.

The items: loose change, iPods, cell phones, GPS units, digital cameras, video cameras, E-ZPasses, were reportedly stolen from unlocked vehicles.

"Catching a [theft from vehicle] suspect is hit or miss," said Garrity. "There's no breaking glass, there's no car alarm, the door just opens. No sound to alert anyone."

Sometimes it doesn't take a noise to notify residents that something might be wrong.

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Missing anything? More than 10,000 stolen goods recovered by police

UPDATED (4:52 p.m.): Read the full story here.

Stolen coat. Image provided by Cherry Hill Police Department

More than 10,000 stolen items have been recovered following an investigation by the Cherry Hill Police Department, according to media reports.

The probe began after two people were arrested in February in connection with a burglary. It was discovered the pair rented a storage space in Atlantic County to store what they allegedly stole, according to reports.

The department has photographed all the items and posted them on its Web site in hopes of returning the items to their rightful owners.

Click here to see the items.

You say: Smooth out ‘wrinkles’ in shared services

A Courier-Post opinion piece

Share-services pacts shouldn't allow one party to pull out with only a few months' notice.

We're glad to see that, at least for the time being, Collingswood and Woodlynne have been able to reach a compromise that will keep Woodlynne from having to scramble and perhaps enter into an unfavorable deal with another community.

Multiple communities sharing one police department to save money is still a relatively new concept in New Jersey and there are wrinkles to be ironed out. The near-breakdown of the police deal between Collingswood and Woodlynne illustrates one of those wrinkles, something that needs to be fixed.

Related: Collingswood, Woodlynne make amends

In April, Collingswood announced it wanted out of its contract with Woodlynne. Collingswood officers have patroled Woodlynne since 2006. Collingswood said its officers were being forced to respond to too many calls in Woodlynne and, because of a budget crisis, Collingswood would have to lay off officers.

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T-storm wakes up, terrorizes community

I didn't mind the morning thunderstorm so much. Even though it woke me up early, I was plenty content to sit out on the front porch and watch the downpour/lightning flashes and listen to the thunder.

I'm sure it wasn't nearly as pleasant for everyone. Take these Westmont residents, for example:

Photo/Curt Hudson for the Courier-Post

Nothing says good morning like waking up to find a giant tree crushing your petunias. Here's the calamity from another angle:

Photo/Curt Hudson for the Courier-Post

But that's Westmont. What happened in Collingswood? According to Twitter, the Pop Shop offered power and hot coffee to storm-stricken Haddon Ave. fans and the Tortilla Press power outage made food prep a little difficult (thanks @chefmarksmith).

What did you see? Comment your stories below or post your own storm photos to Flickr and tag them "collingswood" to share them with the Collingswood community.