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POTTSGROVE SCHOOLS

Prayer
debate
RIVER RIDERS
roils in
district
Kayakers paddle from Amity
Township to Riverfront Park.

More than 100 paddled from

Gibraltar to Pottstown Tuesday.

Kayakers arrive at Riverfront Park

in Pottstown Tuesday afternoon.

Board member Patti Grimm calls on

board President Rabinowitz to resign
By Evan Brandt
ebrandt@21st-centurymedia.com
@PottstownNews on Twitter

Close to 100 people filled

the Pottsgrove High School auditorium Tuesday night to discuss the Constitution, the Bible, morals, the law and how it
Online:
all applies to allowing prayer
For
at this years graduation cerevideo
and a
mony.
At the center of the debate is Twitter recap
a very fine distinction between from Tuesday
allowing students the right to nights special
speak their minds, and the gov- Pottsgrove
ernment providing a platform School District
for the promotion of religion. meeting on
Because the district has for graduation
years specifically programmed prayer, visit
for an invocation and bene- POTTSMERC.COM
diction at the beginning and
end of its graduation ceremonies, it is in violation of the Establishment
clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution, District Solicitor Marc Davis told the
board.
However, in response to what board member
Bill Parker said was a general misunderstanding among the students and community, the
board cannot and does not intend to infringe
LOWER POTTSGROVE >>

JOHN STRICKLER DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA

After a lunch break lunch break at the Mouns Jones property in Amity Township, kayakers participating in this years
Schuylkill River Sojourn arrive at Riverfront Park in Pottstown Tuesday afternoon.

18th annual Schuylkill River Sojourn stops in the borough

By Eric Devlin
edevlin@21st-centurymedia.
com
@Eric_Devlin on Twitter

Like a
brightly colored swarm of
insects hovering above the
water, 114 kayakers paddled from Amity Township
to Riverfront Park in Pottstown Tuesday afternoon,
completing day four of
the 18th annual Schuylkill
POTTSTOWN >>

River Sojourn.
The pit stop was one of
many along 112-mile week
long excursion that began Saturday in Schuylkill
County and ends in Philadelphia.
Sojourn participants
camped out along the
banks of the river Tuesday
night listening to live music by De Tiera Caliente.
Then they watched night
two of Pottstowns first

ever film festival In-Focus. The paddlers kicked

off again Wednesday morning aiming toward Royersford and Mont Clare.
One of the goals of
the annual voyage is to
show that the river is a
lot cleaner than it used to
be, said Laura Catalano,
Schuylkill River National &
State Heritage Area communications director. The

The real reason

that we do it is
we want people
to see the whole
river and to
experience the
river.
Laura Catalano,
Schuylkill River National
& State Heritage Area
communications director

SOJOURN PAGE 4

BOYERTOWN

Graduating seniors march into the future

The Boyertown Area
High School Class of
2016 marches onto Bear
Memorial Stadium for the
start of commencement
exercises Tuesday
evening. A total of 506
seniors graduated. The
valedictorian is Olivia
J. Crocker and the
salutatorian is Jordan
T. Shustack. See A3 for
more photos.
JOHN STRICKLER
DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA

PRAYER PAGE 5

CHESTER COUNTY

Second black bear

sighting reported
By Marian Dennis and Eric Devlin
mdennis@21st-centurymedia.com;
edevlin@21st-centurymedia.com
@MarianDennis1 on Twitter;
@Eric_Devlin on Twitter
WEST WHITELAND >>A

black bear has been spotted in a second Chester County community in

as many days.
According to a Tuesday post by West Whiteland Police, officers received reports of a bear
Sunday behind a business in Oaklands Corporate Center, 120 Arrandale Blvd. Responding officers were able to capture video of the bear and
it is believed to still be in the Chester-Montgomery county area.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission is aware
of the bears presence and is working to track and
locate it, police said.
The sighting was reported only hours after
the Phoenixville Office of Emergency ManageBEAR PAGE 4

YANKEE CHEF

FIT FOR LIFE

ECONOMIC TRENDS

ONLINE

Dessert can be a
tropical treat

Join this weeks

Mercury Mile

Millennials staying
longer with parents

High school graduation

photos featured

This week, Jim Bailey offers

his recipe for the fruity, tarty
Crunchy Bahama Mama Banana dessert. PAGE B8

Walkers of todays Mercury

Mile will preview the Historical
Pottstown Walking Tour along
High Street. PAGE A3

For the first time on record,

living with parents is the most
common arrangement for
people ages 18 to 34. PAGE B3

We have your high school

graduation in a photo gallery.
Photos available for purchase
at media.pottsmerc.com

INDEX

Obituaries........D8

Opinion.............A6

Food.................. B1

Business..........B3

TV.....................B2

Sports................C1

Volume 85, issue##

218
Index................

Index................ ##

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