Media in Two Minutes - Lights, Camera, Action!

Media in Two Minutes

Wow, spring has sprung! Maybe not quite the weather yet, but there is a lot going on and even more about to begin.  I'll do the best I can to make it short this week.

Before we begin, I want to let the community know that I contacted the Media Police on Friday about a very serious matter that was brought to my attention.  I'm still waiting to get further clarification, but I'll let you know what comes of it.  The gist of it is, if this community isn't getting timely information on serious crimes that could impact their safety, then there's a problem.

In addition to that, two weeks ago on March 7th, we had a widely reported news

Why is the mayor and borough council NOT addressing
drug operations at Media's Raven Motel?

story on a drug bust that went awry at the Raven Motel here in Media.  At this week's borough council meeting Mayor McMahon failed to mention anything about this and why such an operation was conducted here.  Furthermore, neither Council President Hall nor the rest of council made any attempt to address this.  They were literally busy playing a game and guessing how many fair trade towns there were.

Mayor McMahon's report on restaurant week apparently seems more important than explaining drug activities in the borough.  You get what you voted for.

Tedman

ATM SPOTLIGHT: I'd like to recognize Dana Mancini and the Media Rotary for their tireless efforts to make this town better any way they can.  Coming up on Wednesday, March 26th they will be hosting a fundraising event at Picasso's on State Street to help raise money for the Media Food Bank.

Folks, I know everyone is busy, but I want to share a reason why you should consider this event.  Last Thursday, I swung by the Media Food Bank for their weekly food distribution to families.  What I saw was a line of people out the door, down the parking lot and all the way down Baker Street out to Lemon Street.  I've never seen it that long and if you need motivation to attend Wednesday, please consider what people are trying to do to help this matter.

Sink Hole at Barrall Field

There is nothing more exciting than being a kid and waiting in anticipation for opening day to play your favorite sport - It's the best.  That's the first thing I thought of when people started contacting me over the sink hole at Barrall field and when it's expected to be fixed.  I looked into it and here's what I know:  This is not a RTMSD issue and is being dealt with by Media Borough.  Apparently, there have been assurances that this will be fixed by softball season.

It's not so much the actual repair of the issue, but the heavy equipment needed that will subsequently impact the field.  Grooming the field after the equipment is gone will take the bulk of the time for this operation.  

Kudos to State Rep. Tom Killion on Grants Towards RTMSD
Nice job by Tom getting around $800,000 in grant funding to have RTMSD school buses converted to CNG(Compressed Natural Gas).  The improvements in pollution are impressive, let alone the potential cost savings.

Light's, Camera, Action!
A lot of fun for those who caught the big TV production setup that was brought into Media for the filming of television pilot: "How to Get Away with Murder" staring Viola Davis.  

Viola Davis

At about 8am a convoy of trucks converged on the Media Courthouse to begin setting up.  I caught up with one actress and the group she was with to let them know there were plenty of places to shop and eat on State Street.  She went on to explain that they never know if they'll be on set for three hours or twelve, but looked forward to checking out what they could.  Even despite telling them they didn't need to pay the parking meters on Saturday, nor would their cars be towed; I still wasn't offered a part in the show. (listen, I know I wasn't going to get the love scene, but c'mon)

No business, like show business

This pilot has been filming in different parts of the area and at a few universities.  As I had mentioned a few months back, there is a growing interest and organized advocacy towards shows and movies like this being produced and filmed in this area.  I think we'll see some more news and locations selected, maybe even Media, in the future.

John's Grille - What's Next!
I really enjoyed writing the piece this week on John's Grille and I think a lot of people liked it to.  There's been quite a lot of interest in what happens to the building/business, but from what I heard Friday there's one group looking into this that could really do some great things with the place, by maybe not doing too much to it at all.  

There will be a lot of pivots before a buyer is selected, but I expected something will be announced in the next few weeks.

Another Restaurant for Media

Site of proposed diner. (N. Orange St)

I plan on writing more about this next week, but in the meantime, a man and woman from Media have teamed up to launch this venture. I believe they have a background in catering, but don't have much more information than that.  I imagine this will take months to open and not weeks.

Media's Solar Parking Meter Disaster
The idea behind solar powered devices is that you have to have them in the sun to work.  If you ever played with glass radiometer spheres in 4th grade, the concept is easy to grasp.  Unfortunately, Media Borough Council is about to learn the hard way how this works with taxpayers picking up the expense.  More on that this week.