New Burlington County Gang

So there really hasn't been much to blog about recently, until I saw the cover of the Burlington County Times this morning.

Burlington County officials believe that a new gang, called MOE, or "Muslims Over Everything" is responsible for the dramatic increase in bank robberies and other criminal activity in the county. They say that this gang is as dangerous as the bloods and crips. What's scary is that the MOE's origins are right here in Burlington County, unlike the bloods and crips, whose origins can be traced to Los Angeles.

Eight members of MOE were recently arrested during a county-wide sweep. Among them were an 18 year old Willingboro resident, and 18 year old Trenton resident, two Beverly residents in their early 20's and a 33 year old from Mt. Holly. They were charged with drug distribution and possession of a .40 caliber handgun.

The Inquirer states that including this week's sweep, the arrests have yielded an M-1 carbine assault rifle, seven semiautomatic handguns, and more than $55,000 worth of cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin and marijuana.

Members of this and other gangs are believe to have been responsible for the armed robbery of a Beneficial Bank branch, for the August double shooting at the Marriot in Mt. Laurel, and for a shooting at a strip mall in Willingboro.

This stuff is hitting too close to home, in my opinion. It sounds like the authorities (local and federal) are on top of the situation, so hopefully they'll be able to keep it under control. The fact that some of the arrests are coming out of Beverly worries me, because these are the kids that are coming to our high school.

Some More Palmyra History

Here's some sports related history, in honor of the Phillies first trip to the World Series in 15 years.
Lena Blackburne was a Major League Baseball Player during the early part of the 20th century, who later went on to be a coach for the Philadelphia Athletics. In 1938, while he was a coach, an umpire made a comment to him about the awful condition of the baseballs. When Blackburne returned to his home (on Cinnaminson Avenue in Palmyra!), he went searching along the tributaries of the Delaware River in search of mud or clay that he could rub on the baseballs to remove the sheen.

To this day, 70 years later, each team in baseball purchases a can of "Blackburne's Mud" at the start of the season. The location of the mud is a highly guarded secret, but it comes from somewhere in our area.

Homeless

I left for work this morning on the 6:30 RiverLine. I was extremely disappointed to see a homeless person sleeping on one of the benches. I called the non-emergency police number to notify them. I have a lot of confidence in our Police department, so I'm sure they'll address is appropriately.

This is not the type of environment I want to raise my children in. If they don't already have one, Palmyra should adopt a no-tolerance policy on vagrants and panhandlers. In 5 years, I've only seen two others, begging outside Wawa. Take care of it before it becomes a bigger issue.

A Little Bit of Palmyra History

Did you know that the only survivor of the Titanic that was from New Jersey lived in Palmyra, both before and after the accident? His name was Augustus Weikman and he was the first class barber. He lived on Leconey, and is buried in Morgan Cemetery in Cinnaminson.
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