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CLEVELAND

TENNIS

HISTORY

Nation >> A10

Sports >> C1

Living >> B1

Companies
bail out
on GOP
convention

Williams
tops Kerber
to win at
Wimbledon

A reunion
300 years
in the
making
TODAYS WEATHER

High:82 Low: 60 >> PAGE C10

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LOST IN LIMBO
Part 1 of 2
MONTCO PRISON

Mentally ill
on
hold
THE BLOB RETURNS
without
treatment
JOHN STRICKLER - DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA

JOHN STRICKLER - DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA

A space alien watches over the

crowd at Blobfest.

George Muller leads the way

protecting Phoenixville from The
Blob.

JOHN STRICKLER - DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA

Jack and Maggie Rotoli were

attacked by The Blob while
attending the festival Saturday.

Norristown State Hospital

lacks rooms for defendants
deemed incompetent for trial
By Kaitlyn Foti
kfoti@21st-centurymedia.com
@kaitlynfoti on Twitter

JOHN STRICKLER - DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA

Captain OSI74 waves to the crowd while walking in the fire extinguisher parade as part of The Blobfest Saturday.

Colorful costumes: Thousands come out for parade

HOSPITAL PAGE 4

Never gets old: Enthusiasm surrounds annual event

By Virginia Lindak
Digital First Media

Phoenixville celebrated its 17th annual Blobfest as thousands

of people came to the Colonial Theatre to enjoy three
days of honoring the cult
classic film The Blob.
The weekend-long festival began Friday night
with the crowd favorite
Run Out event and the
Blob Ball, hosted by Lulus
Boutique and Gifterie. FesPHOENIXVILLE>>

tivities continued all day

Saturday at the street fair,
as dozens of unique vendors lined Bridge Street
selling quirky, monster
movie wares. A parade,
costume contest and side
show act also entertained
the crowds. Movie screenings and special guests
continue into Sunday.
Made in 1958 by director
Irvin Shorty Yeaworth,
The Blob starred film legend King of Cool actor Steve McQueen, as he

tries to save a town from

an ever g rowing creature
that threatens to ingest
all of humanity. Shot locally in Phoenixville, Chester Springs and Downingtown, The Blob continues
to thrill audiences, decades after it was first released.
For me, I like the idea
that Blobfest encourages
people to have fun and get
outside your box and become something differBLOBFEST PAGE 5

They can treat you, they can

drop the charges, they can
restore competency. Theyre
not doing any of those things;
theyre just throwing them in
jail.
JOHN STRICKLER - DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA

Actress Marta Kristen was part

of the cast of the television
series Lost in Space. Kristens
role was daughter Judy
Robinson. Behind her is Robot,
which was part of the show.
Kristen talked sci-fi and signed
autographs for people attending
Blobfest in Phoenixville Saturday.

THE MERCURY

Editor retiring after 41-year career

Digital First Media

Na nc y
March is retiring from The
Mercury after 41 years, 21
of them as editor.
She is also retiring as
senior editor, East region, for Digital First Media and as regional editor
for the Philadelphia cluster
which includes The (Delaware County) Daily Times,
Trentonian, (West Chester) Daily Local News, The
POTTSTOW N >>

(Norristown) Times Herald, The (Lansdale) Reporter, and five groups of

weekly newspapers.
I have had the great fortune to work with Nancy
for more than two decades,
and I h
ave marveled at her
leadership, passion and visiontoguide us through
this rapidlychanging and
very challenging business,
said Edward S. Condra, senior publisher for the PhilEDITOR PAGE 5

Part one of two parts

In April of 2015, Kymere Corbins parents put
their son in a car to get him the help they knew
he needed for his mental illness. More than a year
later, Corbin has not received that treatment in
a facility.
A gunshot on the Schuylkill Expressway, an
attempted murder charge and three competency
evaluations later, Corbin remains on a waitlist for
treatment at Norristown State Hospital.
Corbin, from South Philadelphia, has been on
the waitlist for about six months, since a Montgomery County judge decided in December that
he was mentally incompetent to stand trial and
ordered he be moved to the state hospitals forensic unit.
To me, hes clearly incompetent to proceed,
and he needs to get treated so that he can be com-

JOHN STRICKLER DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA

Nancy March has been editor of The Mercury 21 years.

David P. Gersch, co-counsel in ACLU lawsuit

POLICE SHOOTINGS

America is weeping:
Taking stock after
three days of tragedy
By Matt Sedensky and Sharon Cohen
The Associated Press

Can this really be America in 2016?

Three tumultuous days have brought echoes
of decades past and made clear a public that
elected a black president hasnt reconciled its
fractured history with race, that a country that
lived through unrest and assassinations in the
1960s and 1970s still bubbles with resentment
and rage, and that bloody images of violent tragedy arent going away.
America is weeping, said Rep. G.K. Butterfield, head of the Congressional Black Caucus, reflecting an entire nations mounting anger, tension and despair.
It started Tuesday, with a familiar scene: A
black man, on the ground, shot by police, with
the incident captured on cellphone video. That
killing, of a 37-year-old ex-convict named Alton
NEW YORK >>

TRAGEDY PAGE 6

POTTSTOWN

SOUND OFF

OPINION

ONLINE

Fit For Life, YMCA host

morning Tai Chi

Read what friends and

neighbors have to say

State budget needs a

push to finish line

Photo slideshows of
local events

Free class offered at the Pottstown YMCA teaches members movements from ancient
Chinese tradition. PAGE A3

Add to the conversation and

catch up on the latest topics
that friends and neighbors are
talking about. PAGE A2

Both sides were huddled

behind closed doors last week.
So far theyve been unable to
cut a deal. PAGE A8

View colorful and exciting

photos from area events weve
covered on our media center.

INDEX

Obituaries........B6

Opinion.............A8

Living................ B1

Crossword........B4

TV.....................B5

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

Volume 33, issue

13
Index................
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MEDIA.POTTSMERC.COM

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