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Volume 117, No. 38 - December 15, 2016

Residents Canvassing East Greenville for Police Support

THIS WEEK
Holiday
Coloring
Contest

Page 28

SPORTS

75 cents

By Bradley Schlegel
Staff Writer

Lon Brinckman II believes a majority

of East Greenvilles residents and business
owners favor keeping the Upper Perk Police
District. Brinckman hopes to ultimately
determine that figure.
If a majority of people agree to get rid
of the department, then I would accept that,
he said.

Last weekend, Brinckman and three

fellow residents began canvassing the borough. On Saturday, Dec. 10, they covered
every residence east of Main Street. He said
they knocked on approximately 200 doors
and left between 60 and 80 door hangers.
According to Brinckman, they collected more than 120 signatures in support of
maintaining the police department, which
has covered East Greenville and Pennsburg

boroughs since 1973. He also said more than

90 percent of residents who answered their
doors expressed support for the department.
I figured it would be a majority,
Brinckman said. But I was not expecting
an overwhelming majority.
Brinckman and the other residents will
continue their survey on Saturday, Dec 17.
The Washington Street resident said he
Canvassing, continued on page 8

Douglass Supervisor Pleads Guilty

By Bradley Schlegel

Upper Perk boys' basketball post home-opener win.

Story on page 23

FEATURES

Pennsburg resident creating meticulously decorated

gingerbread houses.
Story on page 29

INSIDE
Business News................40
Church Directory..............42
Classifieds..................44-48
Comics .......................36-39
Community Calendar.......41
Dining & Entertainment..12,13
Letters to the Editor..........26
Obituaries....................22-24
Police Reports................4,5
Senior Menu....................36
SPCA Pets.......................32
What is it, Where.............32

Staff Writer

Frederick Ziegler, the embattled Douglass Township supervisor, pleaded guilty Wednesday in the Montgomery County
Common Pleas Court to one
count of unsworn falsification
to authorities, a second-degree
misdemeanor.
The ple a, w hich ended
Zieglers non-jury criminal trial,
includes his immediate resignation from the townships board
of supervisors and to not seek
public office again, according to

Jeffrey A. Johnson, the acting

deputy press secretary for the
Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General.
Judge Gary Silow also imposed a sentence of one-year of
probation, according to Johnson.
The trial against Ziegler, who
had been facing charges of theft
by unlawful taking, receiving
stolen property, intimidation
and retaliation against witnesses,
forgery, unsworn falsification to
authorities, tampering with public
records, obstruction of adminis
Ziegler, continued on page 11

Having Turkey for the Holidays?

By Larry Roeder
Editor

Nearly everyone has heard

a story or two about the in-laws
who came to visit for the holidays
and forgot when to go home.
Maybe some of them are
considered turkeys but what do
you do when the real thing comes
to visit and, through no choice of
yours, decides to stay. How about
six of them.
Perhaps they were successful
escapees from a possible Thanksgiving Day fate.
Its an issue that Allen Gowan

and Barbara Harney are dealing

with right now at their home, just
off Bowers Mill Road in Upper
Hanover Township.
On a recent visit to the farmstead, Gowan told this writer that
the turkeys showed up about 10
days ago and have been there
since. They seem to live peacefully
among the sheep, goats, chickens,
cats and dog who call the Gowan
and Harney homestead, their
own.
They are beautiful birds.
Gowan believes that two of them
Turkeys, continued on page 2

Bob Esposito / Town and Country

Shop With a Cop - Upper Perk Police officer Harry Fisher

helps Austyn Hillegas with his holiday shopping during
the Officers Association Shop With a Cop held Sunday at
Walmart in East Greenville. Additional photo on page 14.

TOWN

December 15, 2016

Ziegler,

continued from page 1

trative law and conflict
of interest from September
2012 to the end of 2014, commenced earlier this month
following several delays.
On Dec. 6, the second
day of the trial in Norristown,
Zieglerfelt a severe pain going
down left arm and shortness
of breath, according to his attorneyVincent DiFabio.
Ziegler, 63, was taken
f rom t he cour t ro om and
transported to a nearby hospital, according to Johnson
prosecuting the case.
DiFabio said his client
was released the following
day. The attorney declined to
comment further on Zieglers
health.
The defendant took the
stand on Tuesday, when the
trial resumed, according to
Johnson. Zieglers entered his
plea the following day.

According to law enforcement officials,Ziegler who

was initially arrested in September of 2014 stole plywood, a chainsaw, a propane
tank and illegally utilized a
municipal gas card for his personal vehicle between August
2012 and November 2013.
In January 2015, authorities rearrested Ziegler on refiled charges of the unlawful
use of a Montgomery County
Court subpoena and attempted intimidation of township
Manager Pete Hiryak, a witness in the initial case against
him. Ziegler is a former police
chief in Douglass Township,
who also workedas an investigator for the Montgomery
Countys Extradition Unit.\
Less than a month after
the September 2, 2014 arrest, Ziegler, accompanied
by former supervisorsChairman JohnStasik, Jr.,demanded an impromptu meeting
with Hiryak at the township

Bob Esposito / Town and Country

Visit With Santa - Santa came out Saturday morn-

ing for his annual visit with children at Brode & Brooks
Realtors. Sisters Fiona and Olivia Swift share their Christmas wishes with Santa as did several other children who
stopped by.

AND

COUNTRY

building, according to court

papers.
In the meeting, Ziegler
announced he was conducting his own investigation, and
that the supervisor began to
question the manager about
his personal and professional
life, authorities claim. With
two out of three supervisors
present,Hiryakfelt compelled
to answer the questions, the
document states.
On Oct. 1, Ziegler again
returned to the township
building at 1320 East Philadelphia Ave. and demanded

11

another meeting withHiryak.

The super visor wanted to
discuss allegations of Ziegler
stealing shotguns from the
Douglass Township Police
Department and buying a
rifle atPachellaArms without
paying for it, according to the
affidavit.
It st ate s t h at Z i e g l e r

showedHiryaka copy of the

forged subpoena and receipts
from the gun dealer, along
with a copy of the report he
obtained from the Boyertown
police.
Hiryaktold authorizes he
felt uncomfortable, cautious,
and on guard speaking to
Ziegler on Oct. 1.