The Neshaminy Coalition for Youth (NCY) has secured a $10,000 grant from Today, Inc., to run a campaign educating parents of elementary school students to help them avoid negative behaviors.

NCY is a coalition of community members - including Middletown Township, the Neshaminy School District, local businesses, and several advocacy and prevention groups - that aims to improve the outcomes of local youth with evidence-based programs. They identify the risks currently faced as well as the positive influences that help protect young people from anti-social or harmful behaviors.

A contractor for the Township is in the process of removing 155 ash trees that have been infested with Emerald Ash Borers (EAB). These invasive insects target ash trees, boring into their trunks and depriving them of nutrients, slowly killing the trees. Since 2015, the Township has worked on its EAB management plan, which has included treating some trees in an effort to save them and removing trees that are largely dead and pose safety risks. Since 2016, contractors have removed approximately 200 trees, while Township staff have removed another 100. In late 2017, the Board of Supervisors awarded a contract to McIlvaine Tree Service to remove the next round of trees, mostly in the Levittown neighborhoods of Cobalt Ridge, Juniper Hill, and Snowball Gate.

This round of tree removal is essential to protect the safety of residents and minimize the spread of the Emerald Ash Borer. In removing these trees, McIlvaine first cuts down most of the trunk before returning to cut the stumps down to four inches off the ground. They will return in late February or early March, as the weather permits, to rake the soil and reseed the grass.