Andy
This was on AOL NEWS this morning. It has pix of the properties that were torched. Just makes me sooooooooooooo mad! I hope they find the people responsible soon!!!
http://news.aol.com/article/coatesville-arson/317210
http://news.aol.com/article/coatesville-arson/317210
Yeah, I saw that too. It's so sureal around here right now, kind of like a combat zone. It's hard to ride down any of these streets without seeing at least one house boarded up. You know it's bad when you're the lead story on CNN.
They had a meeting this afternoon that I just came home from to sign up for town watch teams. It turned into complete chaos and they wound up having a half dozen cops, the chief of police, city council members and the city council chairman. Residents are scared and extremely frustrated. What was supposed to be a meeting to have people sign up for town watch quickly became a question and answer ***** session between residents and one particular council member. I felt so bad for him because I know it's not his fault. It was insane!!! Get this. They had CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and who knows what other affiliates there. And it wasn't just one reporter for each network. The outside of city hall was unbelieveable. The trucks and vans for all these networks took up blocks and blocks of space.
Oh yeah, I also made my way onto TV. I had started asking a question and the minute I started to speak, I had a microphone in my face from every one of the networks I said were there. I felt like a spokesman at a press conference. It was on the local noon news. Not the way I wanted to get my two minutes of fame, but I had a concern that needed addressed.
Tonight is when all hell will break loose. It's the regularly scheduled monthly city council meeting at city hall and it's open to the public. It's scheduled for 7:30 but I will be there by 6:30 to get a good seat. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say there may be some heated exchanges tonight. There are a lot of questions and concerns this town has right now and rightfully so. One valuable lesson I have learned in all of this - I WILL NEVER RUN FOR CITY COUNCIL!!! Talk about a thankless job. My take on it all is as follows: The city had 15 arsons in 2008 and there were three people arrested and put away. The city thought it was over and then there were a couple in early January and then one weekend there were like six more. It just got out of control so fast that the local authorities just weren't prepared for it. They have since gotten help from county, state and federal officials and the city was declared a state of emergency yesterday. There is actually talk about possibly bringing in the national guard. I think the only mistake the city council made was waiting too long to seek outside help.
Wow, this is out of control. As I type this I just heard two fire sirens going off. It's a freaking war zone around here. My 8 year old son that lives with his mom called me at 10:00 last night crying his eyes out because he said he was scared. He is totally safe where he lives because its not in Coatesville, but he's terrified. Because I live in the general area of these fires I will not allow him or my daughter to sleep over, which really hurts because my children are my life. I at least get to see my son during the week once in a while and I can have him for the day on the weekend. But my daughter lives an hour and a half away, making it next to impossible to see her during the week and really hard to have her just for the day on the weekend. This has definitely affected me and my family. Honest to God, if I had the money to do so, I'd move closer to my son and get my own place. Unfortunately, being on unemployment, that's a dream at this point.
They had a meeting this afternoon that I just came home from to sign up for town watch teams. It turned into complete chaos and they wound up having a half dozen cops, the chief of police, city council members and the city council chairman. Residents are scared and extremely frustrated. What was supposed to be a meeting to have people sign up for town watch quickly became a question and answer ***** session between residents and one particular council member. I felt so bad for him because I know it's not his fault. It was insane!!! Get this. They had CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and who knows what other affiliates there. And it wasn't just one reporter for each network. The outside of city hall was unbelieveable. The trucks and vans for all these networks took up blocks and blocks of space.
Oh yeah, I also made my way onto TV. I had started asking a question and the minute I started to speak, I had a microphone in my face from every one of the networks I said were there. I felt like a spokesman at a press conference. It was on the local noon news. Not the way I wanted to get my two minutes of fame, but I had a concern that needed addressed.
Tonight is when all hell will break loose. It's the regularly scheduled monthly city council meeting at city hall and it's open to the public. It's scheduled for 7:30 but I will be there by 6:30 to get a good seat. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say there may be some heated exchanges tonight. There are a lot of questions and concerns this town has right now and rightfully so. One valuable lesson I have learned in all of this - I WILL NEVER RUN FOR CITY COUNCIL!!! Talk about a thankless job. My take on it all is as follows: The city had 15 arsons in 2008 and there were three people arrested and put away. The city thought it was over and then there were a couple in early January and then one weekend there were like six more. It just got out of control so fast that the local authorities just weren't prepared for it. They have since gotten help from county, state and federal officials and the city was declared a state of emergency yesterday. There is actually talk about possibly bringing in the national guard. I think the only mistake the city council made was waiting too long to seek outside help.
Wow, this is out of control. As I type this I just heard two fire sirens going off. It's a freaking war zone around here. My 8 year old son that lives with his mom called me at 10:00 last night crying his eyes out because he said he was scared. He is totally safe where he lives because its not in Coatesville, but he's terrified. Because I live in the general area of these fires I will not allow him or my daughter to sleep over, which really hurts because my children are my life. I at least get to see my son during the week once in a while and I can have him for the day on the weekend. But my daughter lives an hour and a half away, making it next to impossible to see her during the week and really hard to have her just for the day on the weekend. This has definitely affected me and my family. Honest to God, if I had the money to do so, I'd move closer to my son and get my own place. Unfortunately, being on unemployment, that's a dream at this point.
"No matter how hard life may get, no matter how many curveballs you are thrown, keep in mind, if you want to succeed - QUITTING IS NOT AN OPTION"!!!
Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww your poor son. It breaks my heart that kids have to stress over this. I cant even IMAGINE!!!!!! Mike told me it was on CNN and FOX NEWS! That is just AWFUL but maybe the extra coverage will help find who is doing this. Im glad your children are safe as well as you and your Mom. I pray nobody else dies or loses a home. This is just madness. ;o( Did you get the link to you on TV? Im sure you were nervous but someone has to speak out. Im sure most people will be HUSH HUSH due to any retaliation if it is gang related. Ugh!
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