Comedy, Theater, Fundraisers, and More

Today will be a total wash out, with an inch of rain predicted. But an end to the lousy weather is coming soon, with lots of events in N-Town all week..

Saturday, May 7, 11 am-1 pm at 101 East Main St. Join Congressman Brennan Boyle and his staff as they celebrate the opening of their Norristown District Office. For more information, please contact Shae Ashe at 610-270-8081 or at Shae.Ashe@mail.house.gov

Saturday, 8 pm-10 pm, at Centre Theater (208 Dekalb), Starving Artist Prevention presents Doogie Horner~A Delicate Man. This is a comedy show headlined by Doogie Horner of America's Got Talent Fame. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. They can be purchased at doogie.brownpapertickets.com

Monday and Wednesday, 3-5:30 pm at the Carver Center, Youth Open Gym. Now through June 15.

Monday, 7 pm-9 pm at Montgomery County Human Services, 1430 Dekalb. Understanding Credit~Free class sponsored by Genesis Housing on understanding credit and credit scores. Obtain a Free Credit Report from Major Credit Bureaus with Scores. Learn How to Improve Your Credit Score. Register online at www.genesishousing.org

Tuesday from 6 to 8 pm, the Historical Society of Montgomery County (1654 Dekalb) will host their first Introductory Genealogy class and they'll continue each Tuesday through the month. $40 for the series for non-members, $10 for members. Register at this link or call 610-272-0297.

Tuesday, 7 pm, Planning Commission meeting. No agenda yet.

Thursday, 11 am-1 pm, CADCOM hosts the Grand Opening of Universal Copy & Print, 113 E Main. Welcome at 11 am, ribbon cutting ceremony at 11:15 am, reception from 11:30 am-1 pm. UCP will be able to provide for all your copy and printing needs no matter how small or large. UCP will also be available for passport photos, internet café, retail items and walk up copy and print services.

Thursday, 7:30 pm at Theatre Horizon, "Fully Committed" opens with a pay-what-you-can night. The play will run through June 5. Check out the full schedule at this link.

Next Saturday, May 14, 4:30pm to 7:30pm, Dragon Boat Club of Norristown is hosting a Spaghetti Dinner and Dragon Sundae Bar to benefit the youth team at Haws Avenue Methodist Church (Haws Ave and W Marshall). Tickets $15.00 at door / $13.00 online at this link. If you just want a sundae, the price is $5.

Volunteers are needed at the Carver Center next Saturday for their 2nd Clearance Day Workshop, and all summer for a variety of activities. If you're interested, call 610-272-7480 or email gwcarvercenter19401@gmail.com

Also next Saturday, 7 pm to 10 pm ~ Ghost Stories at Selma Mansion (1301 W Airy). Enjoy an informal tour of the mansion while listening to its ghost stories. This is NOT a haunted house. $5 Adults, $3, kids, seniors and veterans, pay at the door. Active military and N-town firefighters, FREE. All proceeds benefits the restoration of the mansion.

HARB Explained

For this topic, I need to say this up front: Share this with your Norristown friends. There's too much misinformation floating around.

Norristown's Historical Architectural Review Board (HARB) are the volunteers tasked with approving changes to the facades (the outsides) of all buildings within our Historic Districts. If you own a house in one of these districts and you want to, say, put on a new roof or replace windows or even hang a sign on your wall, you bring your plans before HARB. They'll go over them in detail. If anything in your plans isn't appropriate to the historic look of the facade, or would in some way damage the outside of the building, you'll be asked to make changes to your plan. You (or your contractor) can't get a construction permit until the HARB sends their approval to Council.

Lately everyone's up in arms about this. Homeowners don't want to go before the HARB because they've been told by their neighbors or people at their church, or even folks at Boro Hall, how awful the process is and that HARB will make you do stuff you can't afford, etc. These are nothing but rumors. I'm going to tell you why going before the HARB is a good idea, for property owners, the neighborhoods, and for our town.

First, let's look at our districts. The map at the top of this blog is the Central Norristown Historic District and the green one at the left is the West Norristown Historic District. You notice that each one is shown in 2 colors. Each district has a Zone A and Zone B. The buildings in the center of each district are considered our most architecturally valuable so the rules governing changes to their facades are a bit stricter. Zone B is sort of a transition zone. There are also rules for the facades there but they're a bit more lax. Some people think every property owner in Norristown has to go before the HARB before doing home improvement. No. Only those people owning buildings within these districts and only changes to the OUTSIDE of the buildings that can be seen from a street or alley. So you folks in the North End can quit telling your neighbors to worry about it.

I observed HARB for the first time a couple of years ago, not long after I started the Norristown Diary. I was at Municipal Hall for another meeting and when that let out, there was such a horrendous thunderstorm raging outside, I decided to sit in on the HARB meeting in Council Chambers until the rain and lightening slowed down. After twenty minutes, I decided that they knew what they were doing and could be trusted not to do anything that would harm Norristown. One reason I hardly every mention them on the Diary.

Last week, after hearing a lot of the rumors at the Council meeting on April 16, I decided to attend a HARB meeting again to see if anything changed. I went to the meeting on April 25.

Well-maintained historic house at 907 Dekalb

HARB doesn't conduct their meetings like Zoning or Planning. It's not the Board up at the big table while the applicant and audience have to stay across the great divide on the other side of the steps. With HARB, the applicants are invited up to sit at the table. Their materials are spread out and the conversation is less like a board hearing and more like a chat around a kitchen table. The applicants can share their needs and vision. The board members share their expertise. Imagine being able to pitch your home improvement project to the cast of This Old House. You can get expert suggestions on what materials will work best for the price, have someone vet your plan for potential fire hazards, etc.

At both meetings, I heard HARB members give suggestions that would actually save the property owner money on materials. Now, I can't promise they'll be able to do this for everyone, but the members of our HARB aren't as strict as members of similar boards in other towns in our area that have historic districts (try fixing up a historic house in Philly if you don't believe me). Our HARB members do their best to work within the budgets of our homeowners. But they also do their best to protect our Historic Districts buildings for us. Not only is that important for Norristown's economy, it saves EVERY Historic District property owner money in the long run. Here's how:

The left side of this historic twin is going to be restored.

One of the HARB members told me last week "No one wants to have to come before the HARB, but everyone wants their neighbors to." Why? Because well-kept historic buildings raise property values. If they're maintained in a way that retains their historic facade, they'll appreciate in value faster than a new house or an older home that's been covered in siding or stucco. If you Google "property value of historic districts," you'll see dozens of studies and articles from all over the country that show how the property value of houses in a historic district are more likely to rise faster than the values of regular neighborhoods, all the more so if the district is listed on the National Register. (Go to this National Board of Realtors link if you want to read one of the articles.)

When HARB asks a property owner to make changes to their plans, the end result will be that the building in question will more likely retain or appreciate in value better than if the property owner made their own decisions. When homeowners try to do work on their own to their historical facades, without a permit, it's not only illegal, it usually lowers the value of the house and sometimes the neighboring houses. Encouraging each other to sneak around HARB rules and take the cheapest and illegal way out only succeeds in turning Norristown into a place that will never attract new homeowners or businesses.

This is why we need to support HARB and promote pride in our historical architecture.

HARB meets the 4th Wednesday of each month at 7 pm at Municipal Hall if you'd like to observe what they do. The meetings tend to run long because they take their time and do it right. Just tell them you want to observe and they'll invite you to pull up a chair.

If you're thinking of making changes to the outside of a historic house in Norristown, the HARB procedure is explained at this link. But if you'd like to ask HARB questions BEFORE making plans, come to a meeting. You'll have to wait until their scheduled cases have been taken care of, but they'll be happy to talk to you.

The board has vacancies at the moment, if you think you'd like to volunteer. They'd really like to have a realtor on the board, if you know anyone who'd be interested. But also, it would be nice to have someone who lives in one of the Districts and has done restoration work to their own facades, and understands the homeowners' point of view. Recommended that you sit in on a meeting before volunteering, but anyone interested should send a letter of interest and resume to Council President Sonya Sanders at ssanders@norristown.org.

Short Memories

Old Borough Hall

In the last year, I've noticed what seems to be a growing trend in things not known or remembered about Norristown. I don't mean our lifelong residents. They're excellent sources of information, yet they're not often asked questions by the people who need the info, that is, our government. Last week's Council Meeting illustrated this trend, so let me correct some of the misinformation that was flying around that night.

The statement was made, with disdain, that Norristown has the largest set of historic districts in the whole state. I thought that sounded pretty impressive myself, and wondered why we weren't using the fact as a promotional tool. But then I fact-checked it and found it's NOT TRUE. Norristown's combined historic districts cover 4650 acres and approximately 3500 buildings. Philadelphia has 15 historic districts, with 22,000 properties. I think Philly might be the largest in the state, but I haven't gone through all the entries to be sure. But even if you eliminate Philly, there are several other towns in southeastern PA alone that have historic areas covering more acreage or more buildings, or both, than Norristown. West Chester, for instance ~ another county seat ~ has a total 5730 acres and 3560 buildings, 12 structures and 2 objects.

N-town's Historic Districts

But why was it said with disdain? Because the suggestion was made (by a director, not by a Council member) to eliminate one of the districts. Another borough employee said he didn't understand why the districts were so large ~ why didn't Norristown start small and let them grow? As if back in the 1980s council decided we needed historic districts, so they planted seeds that grew into Victorian houses. I guess they accidentally spilled the whole seed envelope on Main Street. You can't grow a historic district. By the time you're ready to expand, the buildings are gone.

If Norristown alone had established its historic districts, sure, they could eliminate one. But they didn't. The districts are federally mandated, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. If you go to the National Register listing for historic districts, you'll find that a whole slew of districts were added to the register in 1970 or later, all over the country. The reason is that in the 1970s, historic architecture across America became endangered species. A lot of it was destroyed for development. The Federal government created these districts to save the fine works of architecture that we had left and created tax incentives for people to restore them. (Unfortunately, the second Reagan Administration removed the tax incentives.)

The front of the Norris Theater, now in Florida.

Any lifelong N-town resident over 40 years of age will tell you about the Norris and our other theaters, old Borough Hall, both Ys and other landmarks, and they'll say what a shame they couldn't be saved. Back in the 1980s, they asked that districts be formed here too, to preserve the character of our town and protect our remaining historic buildings. In 1984, the Central and West Historic Districts were approved by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, then by the Feds, and listed on the National Register.

So no, we can't get rid of our historic districts. But let's look at the good they've accomplished.

The area along Marshall on either side of Markley was once littered with blighted industrial buildings ~ the Cigar Factory and the Olde Mill were vacant and blackened. The Scheidt Brewery looked like a war zone. The building at Markley and Marshall across from the Getty station was a mess. These structures were restored. The brewery restoration was so miraculous in how it transformed the site that it was written up in a national journal. Without preservation, we'd still have blight there today, or acres of vacant lots. And not just there, but throughout our historic districts.

West Chester, PA

Let's skip down the road a moment and look at West Chester. They designated the majority of their district when they revitalized their downtown. It covers their ENTIRE downtown, something Norristown was too short-sighted to do. West Chester has turned their economy around and a lot of that has to do with historic preservation. Don't believe me? Where is Norristown's most thriving shopping district at the moment? Our downtown is filled with vacant lots and stores. Look over on West Marshall, though, where the buildings are protected within the West Historic District. The facades have character and that attracts businesses.

West Chester's historic design guidelines begins with "Visitors and residents alike sense that West Chester Historic District is a unique place." Look up information on Norristown's Historic Area Review Board (HARB), assuming you can find it on the website (it's well hidden). All it says is, if you own a Historic Area building, you have to go before the board if you want to make changes to the facade. Nothing about us being a unique place. We need to change our attitude.

Norristown is LUCKY to have 2 National Historic Districts. We ought to be bragging about them. We ought to have signs on our main routes ~ Main, Swede, Dekalb, Airy, and Marshall ~ that say "Now entering Central Historic District ~ National Register of Historic Places," and the same for our West Historic District. Signs don't cost much and would go a long way toward instilling pride in these areas, both for our residents and our visitors. Why don't we want to impress the world by showing off what we have?

Yet, in order to use these Historic Areas to our economic advantage, we need to fully support our HARB board in their work, and HARB is probably the most misunderstood and maligned entity in Norristown. In a few days, I'll post another Diary entry, explaining what they do, how they do it, and how their work is quietly improving our town one building at a time. 

Events For The Coming Week

Check out this week's events that are for or about kids ~ the new YOUTH Dragon Boat Team, a Young Moms' Summit, a New Child Care Center, a fundraiser for the Music Program at Hancock Elementary, etc. Lots of folks helping to improve the quality of life for our kids.

Saturday, April 30, 8:30 am-3 pm at 329 E. Main, Norristown. Growing Into Your Future (Young Moms Summit). Topics include financial aid, resume writing, and credit development. Give-a-ways and door prizes. Free Registration. Presented by Motivating Young Moms. Featured Guest Speaker: Janice Coleman.

Also Saturday, 9 am-3 pm at Norristown High School, Montgomery County Household Hazardous Waste Collection. Enter from North Whitehall Road to 1900 Eagle Drive. Box up old household chemicals. This event will be held rain or shine.

Also Saturday, 9 am-2 pm at 1246 W Main, Prestige Play and Learn Open House. New Child Care Center Open House.

Also Saturday, 10 am-2 pm at Logan Square Center, 1846 Markley, in front of Matt Bradford's office, AARP Pennsylvania Shred Event. Free shredding of sensitive documents. This event is free and open to the public, no registration is required.

Sunday from 10 am to 1 pm at Coffee Talk, 507 W Marshall. Open Mic. $5 donation.

Sunday's the 1st of the month, which means FREE admission to the Elmwood Park Zoo for Norristown residents who present valid photo ID between 2 and 5 pm.

New Youth Team

Sunday at 3:45 pm in Riverfront Park (1 Haws Avenue) ~ Dragon Boat Team practice. All interested adults and youth welcome. New Youth Team will race for the first time on June 4th. Still looking for more members of Youth Team. This is a great sport for kids. Safety equipment provided. Email info@dragonboatclub.org for more information or just come out to the park during practice.

Tuesday, 7:30 pm, Council Meeting at Municipal Hall. No agenda yet.

Wednesday, 7 pm to 8:30 pm at the Human Services Center, 1430 DeKalb, 1st Floor. The Montgomery County Advisory Council of The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC) will hold a Community Meeting. Meet the members of your Advisory Council to the PHRC. Find out what the PHRC can do for you if you have experienced discrimination in education, employment, housing and public accommodations.

Next Saturday, May 7 from 9 am to noon, New Horizons team is coordinating a Town-wide Clean Up Day. Rain or Shine.  Help us help you beautify your community. Volunteer to join our group or organize your own group. Supplies, food & drink will be provided to all volunteers, for more details, please email kdelorenzo@norristown.org by April 18th. Call Kristi DiLorenzo for information at 610-270-0470.

Remember that the Pairings Photography Exhibit at the Historical Society runs now through August 31. Mondays, Thursdays from 10 am to 5 pm. Tuesdays, Wednesdays - 1 pm-8 pm. Call for Saturday exhibit dates and times. Free and open to the public. Call for info 6102720297 or email barryr@hsmcpa.org

Every Tuesday evening in May beginning May 10 from 6 to 8 pm, the Historical Society of Montgomery County (1654 Dekalb) will host Introductory Genealogy classes. $40 for the series for non-members, $10 for members. Register at this link or call 610-272-0297.

Hancock Elementary's music teacher is running a fundraiser to start a ukulele program for her kids. Music ed has been proven to help kids with all their studies and improve test scores. Ukuleles are great for small kids, and you know most of our parents in N-town can't afford instruments or lessons. This is a great project. For more info and to donate, go to this link.

Last Minute Voter Info

This is my last election info blog until the fall. Tomorrow's primary is for Democrats and Republicans only. No independents. However, Montgomery County FINALLY put up their sample ballots. By checking out mine, I just found out that there is a special GENERAL election on the ballot in District 3 for council (I thought it was a primary). Not sure how that works. You'd think independents would be able to vote for their councilperson. More about that election below, but first a few FYI questions that come up at all of our voting places.

Polls in Norristown will be open from 7 am to 8 pm.

You won't need ID unless you're a first time voter or voting for the first time in a new polling place. Not sure? Bring ID anyway. The inspectors at your polling place will have a memo written in their books if they need to ask you for ID. Otherwise, if you've voted in the same place forever like me, you don't need an ID.

Where is your designated polling place? Here's a map of N-town's districts and their polling places. If you're too near a border to be sure, go to this link and type in your address to find out. You can ONLY vote at the polling place for your address.

It's illegal to campaign inside the polls or within 10 feet of the door. For that reason, please don't wear campaign buttons or apparel inside. You may be asked to remove or cover them if you do. You also may not use electronic devices inside the polls. Before you walk inside, tell whoever you're texting or talking to on the phone that you'll call them back.

If someone is campaigning within 10 feet of the door, or otherwise blocks your way or tries to discourage you from voting, report them to the Judge of Elections inside.

To see a sample ballot, go to this link, choose "Norristown" from the list, then choose your district (if not sure, go to the link above to find your polling place).

The sample ballot shows 2 questions on the ballot. I heard a few days ago that at least the first question and perhaps both have been postponed until the general election when independents can vote, too. Just in case, the 1st has to do with extending the retirement age for magistrates. The 2nd asks if you want to eliminate Philadelphia Traffic Court (on our ballots because it's a state court).

And lastly, for those of you in the 3rd District, there's supposed a general election for councilperson between Valerie Scott Cooper and Frank Caperilla. I thought it was a primary to select the candidates and the general election would be in the fall, but apparently not.

Valerie Cooper is the incumbent, appointed to replace Linda Christian. So far I have no problem with her. She meets with her constituents regularly (which a lot of our council people don't do) and seems interested in trying new ideas to solve issues, rather than just doing whatever the rest of council or Crandall Jones prefers. If anything, I wish she and other council members would ask more questions before a vote, or summarize the issue, if only to educate the residents present at each meeting.

I looked all over the internet for info on Frank Caperilla. All I could find is that he's a retired police officer and he may be working for the Social Security Admin. Nothing else, not even a photo. He held a fundraiser last week. Not sure what for because I haven't so much as received a phone call from him or seen a campaign mailer. I saw one lawn sign down on Harding Blvd. That's it. Maybe he thinks it's a primary, too. Or he doesn't really want the job.

So, now that you're armed with all this info, get out and vote. And remember, be nice to those workers inside the polls. They'll all put in a long, exhausting day, but they're there to make sure everyone who wants to gets a chance to participate in our democracy.

Ghosts, Games, Earth Day, Exhibits, Etc.

 If you can't find something to do on Saturday in Norristown, check to make sure you're breathing.

Now through midnight Sunday, ACPPA is running their annual online auction fundraiser. They've got some pretty interesting items up. Check them out and bid at https://auction.acppa.net/

Tonight, Friday, April 22, 6-9 pm at First Presbyterian Church (Airy and Dekalb). Spring Game Night. Game night for 6-14 year-olds. $10 to register.

Also tonight starting at 7 pm (doors open at 6:30), Family Bingo Night at Stewart Middle School Cafeteria. $15 per family includes bingo book of 12 games and one raffle ticket. Refreshments available for purchase.

Saturday, 11 am-5 pm at Selma Mansion, 1301 W Airy, the Norristown Preservation Society presents SELMA MANSION: Most Haunted. Special guest Jason Love, famous Scottish paranormalist and demonologist will lead investigations, talks, and discuss haunted objects. $10 at the door. Come for a hour or 2 or all day. All proceeds go toward the restoration of Selma Mansion. For information, call 610-597-3619. I'll be there at the ticket table. Stop by and say hello.

Saturday, 10 am-4 pm, Elmwood Park Zoo. Party for the Planet. Celebrate Earth Day at EPZ's annual event. Live entertainment and an Earth Expo with participating vendors showcasing their eco-friendly products and services. Free with zoo admission.

Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm, the Historical Society (1654 Dekalb) will open a new exhibit entitled "Pairings: Photographs from the Collections of the Historical Society of Montgomery County." This will be pairs of photos that work in tandem to tell stories about the county. The exhibit is free and open to the public. The Society is open Mondays and Thursdays from 10 am to 5 pm, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 1 pm to 8 pm, and on most Saturdays from 10 am to 2 pm. For information, call 610-272-0297.

Saturday, 11 am to 2 pm at Norristown Public Library (Powell and Swede). Learn about Social Security history, benefits, and how to make the best decisions for you.

Also Saturday, 1-5 pm at Riverfront Park (1 Haws Ave) -- Earth Day in Norristown. Join The Norristown Project for their annual Earth Day cleanup and beautification project in Norristown. This year's project is in partnership with SlyFox SRT Spreekend, Schuylkill River Heritage Area, ShirtCitizen, PennDOT and Keep PA Beautiful. Volunteers are needed to clean the park, river bank and bike trail. To RSVP, email NorristownProject@montcooic.org.

Sunday from 9 am - 2 pm at the Norristown Farm Park. 5K Run for S.A.A.M (Sexual Assault Awareness Month). Registration starts at 8:25 am. $25 per adult, children to 17, $15, groups of more than 5, $20 per person. Rain or shine.

Tuesday is ELECTION DAY. Polling places are open from 7 am-8 pm. This election is for registered Democrats and Republicans only. No independents. To find where to vote and the answers to other questions, go to this link. And thank the people who work inside the polls. They'll put in a 14 or 15-hour day on Tuesday, and, at least the folks I work with, do their best to make sure everyone gets a chance to vote who wants to, no matter who you are.

Wednesday, 5:30 pm, Hancock Fire Co, 820 W Airy. Public COMPSTAT meeting. Hear all that is going on in Norristown and the action steps the Police Department is taking to stay one step ahead.

Wednesday at 7 pm at Municipal Hall, Zoning Board Hearing (a day later than usual because of the election). The agenda can be found at this link.

Also Wednesday at 7 pm in Municipal Hall, the Historical Area Review Board (HARB) meeting. Since it was very obvious at the Council meeting that many of our borough employees, including our manager and new Codes manager and most of Council, have no idea what HARB does or how they do it, I list this here for anyone who'd like to sit in and educate themselves. I think I'll go too.

Thursday, 5 pm, at the Historical Society of Montgomery County (1654 Dekalb) Historian Milt Diggins will present "Stealing Freedom along the Mason-Dixon Line" about Thomas McCreary, the Notorious Slave Catcher from Maryland. McCreary lived in Cecil County, Maryland, the mid-point between Philadelphia, a refuge for freedom seekers, and Baltimore, a major slave market. Free and open to the public.

Next Saturday, April 30, 9 am-3 pm at Norristown High School, Montgomery County Household Hazardous Waste Collection. Enter from North Whitehall Road to 1900 Eagle Drive. Box up old household chemicals. This event will be held rain or shine.

Also next Saturday, 10 am-2 pm at Logan Square Center, 1846 Markley. AARP Pennsylvania Shred Event. Free shredding of sensitive documents. These events are free and open to the public, no registration is required.

ELECTION: Candidates for US Senate

Remember, the primary is next Tuesday, April 26th. Usually our primaries are in May and a lot of people I've talked to think it's still at least a couple weeks away. Please spread the word.

I can't stress enough how important this year's elections are, not simply because we're electing the president, but more importantly, because you'll be choosing nearly every person who'll represent you both in the US Congress and the PA State Legislature. If you're tired of Congress not doing ANYTHING, use your vote to change the personnel.

Candidates for most of these offices are running unopposed in each party, so I'll cover those in October before the general election. For US Senate, though, there are 4 contenders on the Democratic ticket.

Pat Toomey, the incumbent senator, is running unopposed on the Republican side. Frankly I wish the GOP had found someone to run against him. You can check out his voting record at this link. It's dismal ~ he voted against a law restricting access to explosives to people on the terrorist watch list. He's co-sponsored anti-immigrant legislation and he's pretty much in the fracking industry's pocket, despite contaminated drinking water found around fracking sites in southwestern and north central PA. If I were a Republican, I'd use my write-in vote for that office.

On the Democratic side, the choices are John Fetterman, Katie McGinty, Joe Sestak and Joseph J. Vodvarka.

John Fetterman is in his 3rd term as mayor of Braddock, PA (about 10 mi outside Pittsburgh, population 2150). Before that he was a community organizer and GED teacher (actually, I kind of like this guy, but I'd love to see him as a state or US rep first). His website is https://johnfetterman.com

Katie McGinty ~ Until last July, she served 6 months as Chief of Staff under Governor Tom Wolf. She was the PA Secretary of Environmental Protection from 2003-2008 and Chairperson of the Council of Environmental Quality in the Clinton White House from 1995-98. In between these posts, she worked for several clean energy businesses and also ran unsuccessfully in the primary for Governor of PA, finishing 4th behind McCord, Schwartz and Tom Wolf. She lives in Wayne and her website is http://katiemcginty.com/

Joe Sestak served in the US House of Representatives from 2007-2011 in PA's 7th District (a ridiculously gerrymandered patchwork of communities from Reading to the PA/DE border). He ran against Toomey before in 2010. Before running for public office, he was special assistant to the Vice Chief of Naval Operations, and before that a 3-star admiral. He retired from the Navy when his daughter was diagnosed with brain cancer.  His website is http://joesestak.com/ and you can view his Congressional voting record at this link. 

Joseph Vodvarka is the owner of a small business called Ace Wire Spring & Form located right outside of Pittsburgh. He's never served in public office. The "principles" listed on his website in lieu of policy stances sound very Tea Partyish. http://www.joevodvarka.com/

I'm endorsing Sestak. He's the only one with legislative experience and he did a good job for his constituents when he was in Congress before.