THE INTELLIGENCER ♦ A3 ♦ MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013

Home fi eldsB1

Kristen Hochreiter, like a lot of col-lege kids, is home for the holidays. And while she’s looking forward to sleeping late, eating well and catching up with family and hometown friends, she’s also carving out time for a pet project.

Mass emails, phone calls, letter writing, touching base with potential donors.

You might recall I introduced you to Kristen, of Lower Makefi eld, in the fall. Then, just before the school year started, she recounted her adventures in Uganda. She’d traveled there for a study-abroad program to learn more about whether international aid actually gets through to real people and whether it helps at all once it gets there.

It does! It does!Certainly, money helps locally man-

aged efforts like the Gulu Women’s Eco-nomic Development and Globalization (GWED-G for short), with whom Kris-ten worked during her Africa stay. Kris-ten saw the work with her own eyes.

At the time, the organization was launching a fi ve-year program aimed at giving young Ugandans — men and women — a foundation for their futures. So many, because of war, were robbed of their childhoods, their homes, their par-ents and needed the help creating liveli-hoods, she said.

She’s made helping a priority on top of her grades and other extra-curricular activities at the University of Pittsburgh.

“It’s hard (to juggle it all), let me tell you that! But it’s worth it,” she told me.

She comes by her passion for help-ing naturally. Her father, Joe Hochreiter, is among the founders of the former American Red Cross Homeless Shelter, now being run by the Family Service Association of Bucks County. He’s also on the board of the Bucks County Youth Orchestra, which — among other proj-ects — supports a music program for Bristol Township’s Harry S. Truman High School.

He taught his daughter well.While it would have been so easy

to travel, study some and leave Africa behind her, Kristen’s stayed engaged in the work of easing people’s poverty and suffering. Not with simple charity, but with tools for helping them work. Tools purchased through fundraising here at home.

This school year, while keeping up with her studies in social work, global studies and confl ict resolution, Kristen partnered with the U.S.-based nonprofi t Global Grassroots, which took her on as a partner because of her studies in Uganda. She’s in frequent contact with the wife of a Ugandan parliament mem-ber, who was among the advisers for her study abroad stay.

Global Grassroots has helped her be certain the funds she raises are directed to GWED-G via a website called Global Giving. “A lot of Gs, I know,” she said with a chuckle.

Still, Kristen is in search of more G’s: Almost seven grand — $6,800 to be exact. The amount is the total of grant requests from the GWED-G project dedicated to helping 75 young people begin income-generating projects.

It’s the whole teach-a-man-to-fi sh philosophy, and Kristen, having lived among the people even for a little while, believes it’s the only way to heal Uganda.

Teaching people to engage in agricul-ture. Raise goats. Farm fi sh.

Why care? Uganda is halfway around the world.

Our world, Kristen reminds you.Want to know more about the effort?

Kristen suggests you go to the Global Giving link — http://www.globalgiv-ing.org/projects/human-rights-youth-empowerment-northern-uganda/ — where you can learn more about why your help is needed and then donate online.

Donations need not be large to be meaningful. So far, family and friends have raised about $400 of her goal.

A $40 donation covers the cost of a goat. Protective gear for fi sh farm-ing costs $10. For $16, you can provide chains for an oxen plow. And $80, a roll of fencing to protect a fi sh pond.

She chose to work through Global Grassroots and Global Giving because they are proven vehicles for legitimately administering funds. She’ll be provid-ing Global Grassroots with photos of the young people engaged in work. And providing them a fi nal report during the year.

Through the work, she’s hopeful she can make a difference.

Say what you want about kids today. Some are real global citizens, and mak-ing their home country proud.Kate Fratti 215-949-4179; email: kfratti@phillyburbs.com; Twitter: @frattik

By ANTHONY DIMATTIAand FREDA SAVANASTAFF WRITERS

February started off on an awe-

some note with the launch of a regional grassroots fundraising

campaign to benefi t the Bucks

County Emergency Homeless Shelter in Bristol Township.

When the effort ended weeks later, more than $260,000 was raised to renovate the shelter’s kitchen with new cush-ioned fl ooring to ease the stress for kitchen staff who spend hours on their feet. Many other much-needed improvements were also

made to improve the facil-ity, where approximately 80 people are served three meals a day, every day.

The campaign, Buck Up Bucks County!, was spon-sored by The Intelligencer, The Bucks County Courier Times and Comcast, in conjunction with the Fam-ily Service Association of Bucks County.

Today, the kitchen is complete and the home-less shelter has an extra 150

square feet in its cooking area, commercial-grade materials, larger sinks, a dishwasher, proper shelv-ing for storage, an ice maker, a mixer, a food prep area and a walk-in refrigerator.

Workers also installed a new furnace and air-conditioning system for the kitchen.

Food service supervisor

By MARGARET GIBBONSSTAFF WRITER

Montgomery County’s poll workers are in line next year for a pay hike.

The county commissioners voted unanimously to boost the election sti-pends these workers receive for staffi ng the polls on election days.

The compensation for majority and minority inspectors as well as for machine operators will go from $90 to $110. The stipend for the judges of elec-tion increases from $100 to $120 while the extra $20 they receive for retrieving and delivering supplies to their polling locations remains at $20 an election.

This is the fi rst fee increase the poll workers have received in more than a decade, according to Commissioner Les-lie Richards, county election board chair.

The poll workers often work 14-hour-plus days during the general and primary elections. In addition, they have to attend mandatory training classes on their own time to stay on top of any election law changes, Richards said.

Her mission is to help

Kate

Fra

tti

Commentary

By MARGARET GIBBONSSTAFF WRITER

Stocking $tuffers?No, according to Montgom-

ery County Commissioners Chairman Josh Shapiro, “well deserved” salary increases.

Shapiro spoke about pay hikes approved last week by the county’s salary board, made up of the three county commis-sioners and Controller Stewart

J. Greenleaf Jr.Among those to receive

pay raises in excess of the 1.5 percent increases awarded to the vast majority of county employees are four members of the commissioners’ own staff.

“Frankly, given the amount of money they saved, given the professional way they have helped run this county, taxpay-ers are getting quite a good bargain for the amount of work these talented individuals put in,” said Shapiro.

The four set to begin earn-ing yearly higher salaries on Jan. 6 because of “increased

responsibilities” include: Chief Clerk/Chief Operating Offi -cer Lauren Lambrugo, from $140,778 to $150,778; Chief Financial Offi cer Uri Monson, from $135,000 to $143,217; solicitor Raymond McGarry, from $135,000 to $143,217; and Benjamin Jaye, assistant to the chief operating offi cer, from $47,500 to $54,638.

Detailing some of the “increased responsibilities,” Shapiro said Lambrugo often was tasked to head various departments, such as the county election board, while the commissioners went

through the process of fi lling those vacancies.

“With all due respect to her predecessors, no one came close to holding a candle to (Lambrugo’s) job performance and the vast amount of respon-sibilities she has in compari-son to her predecessors,” said Shapiro.

Like the other three who came in 2012 when the new administration took offi ce, Lambrugo received a salary at the low end of the pay scale, according to Shapiro. Even

A greener new year for some

Poll workers getting raises

February was good and bad

See PAY, Page A4

cben

Feboff

s

See 2013, Page A4

By FREDA R. SAVANASTAFF WRITER

For a teenager, getting preg-nant can be overwhelming. Not only are there the challenges of staying in school and having a healthy baby, there’s the long-term future to consider.

The Doylestown-based nonprofi t Child, Home & Com-munity has been helping young parents navigate the complex issues surrounding teen preg-nancy for more than 30 years. From free childbirth classes to parent support groups to life skills programs, CHC offers a wide range of assistance and education to hundreds of youth

in Bucks and Montgomery counties every year.

“If we invest in young people today,” said the agency’s director, Beth Styer, “we’ll have a better tomorrow.”

Speaking realistically, Styer said, CHC’s approach has long been, “the babies are coming, let’s make it the best experience we can.”

Between July 2012 and June 2013, the organization has worked with 700 young parents, according to Becky Van Dine, CHC’s outreach director.

Beyond educating young mothers on prenatal health and preparing them for childbirth, the agency focuses on the teens’ future. A big part of the pro-gram focuses on helping young parents develop independence and goals, Styer said.

“We want to celebrate the baby, but then, we ask, how are you going to support it,” Styer added.

CHC also stresses, “Let’s not have that second baby (right away),” said the director. The repeat pregnancy rate (having another child within two years) is about 2 percent in the agen-cy’s coverage area.

One staff member’s respon-sibility is to educate teen fathers on their role; other employees offer career guidance and preg-nancy prevention classes.

While not every case goes well, Styer said, “we have a lot of success stories.” There are young mothers who not only complete high school, but go on to college and successful careers.

Teens, she said, “are very resilient and resourceful. They have a can-do attitude.”Freda Savana:215-345-3061; email:fsavana@calkins.com;Twitter:@fredasavana

Independence, goals for teen parentsCONTRIBUTED

Guinevere Worthington and Marco Susanibar of Warminster attend CHC’s monthly parent support group at Doylestown Hospital. The group gives young moms, dads and their babies a chance to gather and share parenting experiences.

There will be a story each day until Jan. 1 about one of the 10 organizations selected as this year’s Do-Gooders. We hope you will be inspired by their work in service to others and that you’ll want to help. One way to do that is by coming to our website between Jan. 5 and Jan. 15 to

vote for the organization that you think is most deserving of the newspaper’s dona-tion of $5,000 in public service advertising in 2014.Voting will take place at www.theintell.com/dogooder and www.buckscountycourier-times.com/dogooder.

H E L P U S P I C K A D O E R O F G O O D D E E D S F O R 2 0 1 3

See POLL, Page A4

Pay hikes OK’d last week by Montco commissioners go to members of their staff.

A4 MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013THE INTELLIGENCER

LOCAL

with the pay hike approved Thursday, she will be where her predecessor was in 2008, said Shapiro.

The pay increases for all four keep them within the low- to mid-levels of the sal-ary scales, Shapiro added.

As for the “increased responsibilities” of the other three, Shapiro said Monson has overseen operations in both the information tech-nologies and purchasing departments and worked closely with the county com-munity college and its bud-get, McGarry’s restructuring of his offi ce has him oversee-ing more staff while he cut back on the more costly use of outside counsel, and Jaye is often tasked by the com-missioners for various special projects.

Two others receiving pay bumps not the result of pro-motions were county Chief Detective Edmund Justice

and Deputy Chief Detective Sam Gallen. Justice’s sal-ary will go from $120,168 to $129,000 while Gallen’s salary will be hiked from $114,728 to $119,500.

These two salaries, citing “increased responsibilities, were put in for by District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman, an independently elected row offi cer.

The pair’s increased responsibilities, said Fer-man, include: developing, organizing and administer-ing education and training programs for county law enforcement agencies on a variety of legal and inves-tigative topics; developing, implementing and provid-ing oversight on community outreach programs, includ-ing education programs for schools, community groups and public service agencies; working with the district attorney’s offi ce to identify and implement best scientifi c based investigative practices to ensure investigative and conviction integrity includ-ing the current pilot pro-gram of recording murder

confessions; and, budget management by identifying and implementing strategies for budget reduction.

Ironically, Ferman’s own name was on the salary board list. Her salary, which is governed by state law, will increase from $172,271 to $172,791 next year.

In other salary board mat-ters, the commissioners and controller signed off on 1.5 percent pay hikes next year for all non-union county employees.

They also approved a merit bonus program for employees. Department heads can put in for the bonuses, as high as 1.5 per-cent of an employee’s salary, if those employees perform duties with exceptional qual-ity or dedication in 2014.

The program includes a form department heads must fi ll out to justify the bonus. That form lists six different reasons as to why an employee might merit a bonus. Those reasons range from work effort greatly exceeding expectations to work that is exceptionally

creative and/or innovative work that results in substan-tial cost savings or prevents serious physical injury or property damage.

Again, non-union employ-ees are not eligible for these bonuses since their union or collective bargaining units negotiate wages and benefi ts with the county on their own, said Shapiro.

Of the county’s approxi-mate 3,535 full-time and part-time employees, some 670 are in unions or collec-tive bargaining units. This includes the 233 correctional offi cers who voted this week to unionize.Margaret Gibbons: 610-279-6153; mgibbons@calkins.com; Twitter, @peggibbons

PayContinued from Page A3

Patty Pizzo said each day since the kitchen reopened is like Christmas morning for everyone who prepares and serves the food.

“The updated equipment has been a godsend as far as being able to produce meals effi ciently,” Pizzo said. “The other ovens didn’t cook properly. We have a larger cooking space; we have a walk-in refrigerator. It’s been huge for us.”

Trip turns to tragedyWhat started as a bus trip

to Harvard University with a few dozen other high school students in February ended with a crash that changed Matthew Cruz’s life.

Cruz, then a Neshaminy High School sophomore, was left paralyzed from the chest down after the bus slammed into a bridge too low to clear. At least 24 people were hurt in the crash of the Calvary Charter Co. bus, chartered by Destined for a Dream, a Bristol nonprofi t foundation.

Last week, Neshaminy’s student newspaper, The Playwickian, named Cruz Person of the Year after returning to school in Sep-tember. He recently began coaching the high school level team in Our Lady

of Grace’s Catholic Youth Organization league.

In April, Massachusetts State Police fi led criminal and civil charges against bus driver Samuel Jackson, 66. A year ago in February, the Cruz family sued the bus driver and bus company. Both cases are pending.

Killed in the crossfi re On Feb. 19, 89-year-old

Marie Zienkewicz was killed in the crossfi re between Warminster police and Andrew Cairns, 50, after he barricaded himself inside his apartment and fi red toward police at the Jeffer-son on Creek Apartments in Warminster.

Authorities from Bucks and Montgomery counties converged on the Street Road apartment complex after Cairns’ girlfriend, Deborah Silva, called police to report he had threatened suicide and twice fi red a gun inside the apartment.

During the standoff, Zienkewicz was killed by one of four bullets fi red by Warminster police Offi cer Sean Harold. Zienkewicz was attempting to pull Silva to safety into her apartment next door when Harold mis-took her for Cairns.

“I saw a hand reach out of the door and perceived that to be a threat,” Harold testi-fi ed during a preliminary hearing for the alleged gun-man in May. “It looked like

someone was almost point-ing and aiming a handgun.”

An investigation by the Bucks County District Attorney’s Offi ce concluded Harold’s actions were justi-fi ed. And in March, Cairns was charged with fi rst-degree murder under the legal doc-trine of transferred intent. That means Cairns was deemed responsible for Zien-kewicz’s death because of the 19 shots he fi red at police, District Attorney David Heckler said.

Cairns’ trial is set for Jan. 27, but his attorneys are considering requesting it be delayed. He is charged with criminal homicide, assault of a law enforcement offi cer, reckless endangerment and related offenses. If convicted of fi rst-degree murder, he could be sentenced to life in prison.

Walk home ends in drowning

The search for missing Sarah Majoras, a 39-year-old Lambertville woman, ended Feb. 1 when offi cials identifi ed her body after it was pulled from the Dela-ware & Raritan Canal in

Lambertville. The night before Majo-

ras was reported missing by her boyfriend, Adam Baker, on Jan. 26, she left the New Hope bar where she worked and walked across the New Hope-Lambertville Bridge toward her home on Union Street. A surveillance video shows her walking into Lambertville. That was the last image of Majoras alive, police said. Her body was found submerged in the icy water on Jan 30.

“I don’t think Sarah ever saw herself bringing together a community,” volunteer Joe Ujj said during a candlelight vigil days after Majoras’ body was found. “Some-thing magical arrived during that search; I could see it in everyone’s eyes and feel it in their hugs (and) this is a way we can pay her back for what she gave to all of us.”

Bucks County offi cial axedGeorge Fox, a Bucks

County protection from abuse coordinator, was fi red from his $43,000 per year job for allegedly creating and serving fake subpoenas to gain access to surveillance

videos at Farm and Home Oil on Levittown Parkway in Tullytown Sept. 14.

The former Tullytown councilman was trying to fi nd out if signs for a Tully-town-based website he sup-ports were being removed from the parkway greenbelt.

Detectives from The Bucks County District Attorney’s Offi ce began investigating after the busi-ness owners contacted police to ask about the legality of the subpoena.

DA Heckler said Fox admitted to creating a sec-ond subpoena for his girl-friend, who needed it to get a police report. The DA said he mulled criminal charges against Fox but could not fi nd a specifi c law that addressed the former offi -cial’s actions.

Fox said in February he was unaware that there had to be a case in Bucks County to get a subpoena.

In May, the Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensa-tion Board ruled to allow Fox to receive unemploy-ment benefi ts because Fox never was informed of the county policy prohibiting his use of civil subpoenas unrelated to a case.

Vote scales back justice center

Bucks County commis-sioners Charley Martin and Diane Marseglia voted on Feb. 6 to scale back by $300,000 the new $84

million justice center due to replace the decades-old county courthouse in late 2014 through eliminating two courtrooms and 10 con-ference rooms from the com-plex’s fi fth fl oor.

Commissioner Robert Loughery voted against the proposal, arguing it “doesn’t make good business sense” and citing reports that it would cost more to complete the work in future years with a different construction team.

Bucks County’s Gen-eral Services Director Jerry Anderson and President Judge Susan Devlin Scott recommended against the move involving the eight-story building that’s going up in the heart of Doylestown.

Martin and Marseglia argued the proposed num-ber of courtrooms exceeds the number of sitting judges in Bucks County, even after the project is scaled back. But many other parts of the fl oor still would need to be constructed, Loughery countered.

The vote to scale back construction came after four years of internal debate. The original plans contained an option to leave parts of the fi fth fl oor unfi nished. Anthony DiMattia: 215-949-4205; email: adimattia@calkins.com; Twitter: @dailydimattia

Freda Savana:215-345-3061; email:fsavana@calkins.com; Twitter:@fredasavana

2013Continued from Page A3

County election offi cials, even with help from the two major political parties, in recent years have found it increasingly diffi cult to staff the county’s 425 polls, often having to scramble at the last minute to bring poll workers on board.

“Pay can be a huge incen-tive,” said Richards.

The new stipends are more in line with those in neighboring counties, accord-ing to county Chief Operating Offi cer Uri Z. Monson.

Bucks County poll inspec-tors are paid $115, with the judge of election receiving $145, Monson said. In Ches-ter County, the inspectors get $124 and the judges of elec-tions get $170. Philadelphia County pays its inspectors

$115 an election and its judges of election $120, Mon-son said.

The increase will cost the county an additional $108,000 a year, said Monson.

The county this year paid

out a combined $486,758 for poll workers staffi ng the polls for the general and pri-mary elections, according to Monson.Margaret Gibbons: 610-279-6153; mgibbons@calkins.com; Twitter, @peggibbons

PollContinued from Page A3

Editor’s NoteThe Intelligencer and Bucks County Courier Times dug into our archives to bring you a look back at the local news in 2013. Each day until Jan. 3, we will highlight some of the big stories from each month that appeared in our papers.

twitter.com/TheIntellNews | facebook.com/TheIntell

140 Veteran Lane, Doylestown, PA215-345-6679 sunnybeverages.com

HOLIDAY HOURS:Fri & Sat 9-9; Sun 10-7; Mon 9-9; Tues 9-6

Stella Artois Bottles & Cans ................$29.99 + tax

Belgian Sampler ..................................$29.99 + tax

Goose Island all styles .........................$29.99 + tax

Hoegaarden and Leff e .........................$32.99 + tax

HOLIDAY SPECIALS

NEW PRIVATE ROOMS in 2014

See us on our new web site!

www.pinerun.org/the-garden/

Hold On to the Good Old Days.Memory care at The GardenRemembering comforts and joys happens each day in very individual ways at The Garden. Everyone benefits when the familiar is honored and thoughtfully supported.

When Alzheimer’s and related dementia is the diagnosis, the unique portrait approach found only at Pine Run works towards making each day a good day for residents and their families.

For more information call Mary Beth Baringer at 215.340.5233Doing the right thing for the future, Pine Run Community is owned and operated by Doylestown Hospital. Good to know!

The Garden 777 Ferry Road, Doylestown, PA 18901(across from the Shrine of Czestochowa)

215.340.5233

Uniquely Doylestown. Definitely Pine Run.

Soar Over Soar Over Bucks County, Bucks County,

Philadelphia or Philadelphia or the Jersey Shore.

THE PERFECT GIFTTHE PERFECT GIFTAn Open Cockpit Biplane Ride!An Open Cockpit Biplane Ride!

800.247.2371800.247.2371BiplaneRidesOverPhiladelphia.com

•Gift certifi cates Available•Gift certifi cates Available• One or Two Passengers• One or Two Passengers

• Rides from $249• Rides from $249