PHILLIPSBURG, N.J. — A scratch-off player in Warren County won a $1 million top prize last Wednesday, becoming the third and final jackpot winner in the New Jersey Lottery’s Power 20X game The winning $20 ticket was sold at Paul Mart located at 462 South Main Street in Phillipsburg It marked the conclusion of the Power 20X game’s trio of $1 million top prizes Two additional top prize wins were recorded in a separate instant ticket game called $250,000 Crossword a player purchased a winning ticket worth $250,000 at Webster Liquor & Deli A second $250,000 prize was claimed Thursday from a ticket sold at Stop & Shop #810 on Perrineville Road in Monroe Township The winning streak highlights a strong week for the state’s lottery system with three players in three different counties claiming top-tier instant prizes The Lottery did not disclose the identities of the winners and all players are advised to sign the back of their tickets immediately and consult official claim procedures the New Jersey Lottery has contributed nearly $33.7 billion to state-funded programs and services Under a 30-year funding agreement signed into law in 2017 profits from the Lottery support the public employee pension system This latest series of wins reflects both the popularity and geographic spread of scratch-off participation across New Jersey communities © 2008-2025 - Shore News Media & Marketing Ltd during a Friday evening filled with bizarre plays The Stateliners defeated Easton 9-6 in a memorable showdown at Coca-Cola Park in front of about 1,700 spectators We’re here to prove ourselves every game,” said Handwerk “Coach (Mike Ciavarella) works us hard in practice I wouldn’t want any other team to show up to a ballpark with.” Handwerk put the Stateliners ahead for good in the bottom of the third inning two runners in scoring position and the contest tied 1-1 don’t let them take me out of my game,” the senior said of his mentality “The coaches are working with me every day on contact through the middle Handwerk smashed an extra-base hit to the warning track in center field Easton botched the relay back into the infield and Handwerk charged home “He’s at his best when he’s hitting it up the middle He hit the ball probably about 390 (feet),” Ciavarella said of Handwerk Phillipsburg’s Brady Handwerk (6) connects for a three-run triple against Easton at Coca-Cola Park on Friday.Saed Hindash | For lehighvalleylive.com Phillipsburg (7-7) was in a position to take the lead because it defused an early Easton threat with a triple play in the top of the first inning The Red Rovers (10-8) opened the game with three straight hits Juniors Khamryn Singto and Cole Ordway both singled and their classmate followed with an RBI double for a 1-0 lead cleanup hitter Nolan Fuller sent a line drive that Phillipsburg shortstop Amman Bokhari caught while moving to his left Bokhari made a diving tag of second base to double off Crossman The shortstop then sprung to his feet and threw the ball home as Ordway broke to the plate Stateliners catcher Brent Ott applied the tag to complete the triple play “(Bokhari’s) been dealing with an arm issue all week He put a sling on and just gutted it out,” Ciavarella said “He made a hell of a play on that ball to not only catch it but make a tag at second and have the wherewithal to get up from a dive and make a perfect throw home while dealing with the arm issue but when it falls in your [favor] it’s pretty awesome.” The defensive gem tilted momentum squarely behind the Stateliners “It’s huge,” Easton coach Carm LaDuca said of the triple play “It’s probably a double play no matter what stand up and make a good throw to plate – and he did You have to give the other team credit for that.” Phillipsburg catcher Brent Ott forces out Easton’s Cole Ordway (2) at home to complete the triple play at Coca-Cola Park on Friday.Saed Hindash | For lehighvalleylive.com stole second base and scored on an RBI hit by Pasmore to tie the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the first Easton trimmed the deficit with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth which started with a blast to deep center field by junior Chase Shollenberger for a triple Red Rovers junior Max Martenis walked and his courtesy runner scored on a base knock to left field by senior Brogan Pagotto Phillipsburg answered with another crooked number in the bottom of the fourth scored on another delivery to left field by Pasmore Handwerk stepped into the box with the bases loaded The senior slapped a single past a diving third baseman to bring two more runs across and give P’burg an 8-3 advantage Stateliners junior Nick Yaccarino then walked to load the bases again That’s when another strange chapter was added to Friday’s story Bokhari hit a grounder that was fielded by the third baseman which got past the catcher and allowed two more P’burg runners to cross home plate Easton was upset about the apparent obstruction The umpires conferenced and ultimately ruled that Bokhari’s hit was foul a lineout/rundown combination ended the inning so nothing is ever going to go the way it’s scripted we were the team that we’re capable of being Fuller and Shollenberger registered sacrifice flies in the top of the fifth to slice the Stateliners’ advantage to 8-5 Yaccarino executed a run-scoring squeeze bunt to give P’burg more breathing room “We had really good at-bats; we played some small ball “We put everything together tonight against a very good team the Stateliners registered the first two outs of the seventh by irregular means Crossman followed with a groundball and P’burg tried to get the force at second Ordway was initially ruled safe on a bang-bang play but came off the bag and was tagged out After a walk to Fuller and an RBI single by Shollenberger Fuller was ruled out after being struck by a ball off the bat of Rowan Galiotto A conventional groundout to shortstop ended the contest and started the celebration for P’burg, which beat Easton for the first time since 2016 last season “You have to play all three phases of the game we weren’t clean enough in all the phases to win the game,” said LaDuca even though our kids fought their behinds off to get back in the baseball game A couple of things go our way here or there Phillipsburg players rush over to the student section to celebrate their win over Easton at Coca-Cola Park on Friday.Saed Hindash | For lehighvalleylive.com Yaccarino started on the mound for the ‘Liners tossing 6-plus innings while navigating through eight hits and four walks “We played very clean on defense,” Ciavarella said Wayne moved to the mound from third base to get the final three outs has pitched more innings this week (6.1) than the rest of his varsity career combined The ‘Liners are 2-0 since their Delaware River Rivalry matchup moved to Coca-Cola Park and transformed into a high school baseball atmosphere unlike any other in the Lehigh Valley It’s not just the record so far but the environment,” Ciavarella said about playing at the home of the IronPigs “Hats off to the coaching staff and administration over there (at Easton) because they do a lot of the groundwork for it The fans always come out and support us,” Handwerk said “We have the maniacs over here in the student section Easton will play its last Eastern Pennsylvania Conference regular-season game at Nazareth on Monday P’burg hosts Delaware Valley in a Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex contest on Saturday morning “We hope this pushes us and we win out,” Handwerk said Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com Kyle Craig may be reached at kcraig@lehighvalleylive.com Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, (updated 8/1/2024) and acknowledgement of our Privacy Policy, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (updated 1/1/2025) © 2025 Advance Local Media LLC. 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NJ – The Sparta Community Food Pantry has survived and thrived 1/13Easton track and field hosts Phillipsburg April 29, 2025.st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:#2a2a2a}By Brad Wilson | For lehighvalleylive.comSometimes it seems that when Easton and Phillipsburg match up on the athletic field The Red Rovers continued their recent dominance of the P‘burg girls with a decisive 116-34 triumph Tuesday in the annual rivalry dual meet in front of a big Senior Day crowd at Easton’s track There was never much doubt the result of the meet shot put; there was a tie in the 100) and had the kind of depth to pile up points quickly that’s what we’ll always bring to the Easton-P’burg meet and it was a great to see the kids and have that intensity like any other sport when jt’s Easton and P’burg,” Red Rover head coach Justin Patterson said and we’re looking pretty sharp going into the (EPC) championship next week.” Rover senior captain Maggie Scalzo was named the meet’s Outstanding Athlete on the girls side as she won the 100 high hurdles and 300 intermediate hurdles and led the Easton 400 and 1,600 meter relays to wins always-in-a-good-mood leadership style that raises confidence all around and creates a loose Easton was especially dominant in the distances winning all but one top-3 place in the 800 1,600 and 3,200 runs and winning the 3,200 relay as well Sophomore Vivian Clark’s effort in the 800-meter dash was typical of the Rovers’ dominance; she won in 2:21.48 “Today was all about the competition with P’burg,” Clark said “I think I competed well; I had a personal-best.” is a veteran of Rover cross country and track teams posted a top-20 regional time in winning the 1,600 in 5:19.95 “Lyla is going to be really good,” Clark said Knoble had to shake off Phillipsburg sophomore Adelyn Davis to win; Davis was second in 5:22.75 “I am trying to qualify for nationals (5:16),” said Knoble “I had a PR day today so I was pretty happy with how I ran today but the breeze made it cooler and my coach has been helping me I don’t have times in mind; I am just trying to run to the max of my abilities right now.” That max looks pretty darn high for Lyla Knoble at the moment Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust Please consider supporting lehighvalleylive.com with a subscription Brad Wilson may be reached at bwilson@lehighvalleylive.com 1/13Easton track and field hosts Phillipsburg April 29, 2025.st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:#2a2a2a}By Brad Wilson | For lehighvalleylive.comThe winds of change blew through Easton’s track Tuesday afternoon occasionally gusty Tuesday at the Rovers’ track facility Phillipsburg’s boys turned the tables on the hosts and took the annual rivalry dual track meet 83-67 in front of a solid Senior Day crowd that saw some top-level times and competition It was the Stateliner boys’ first win over Easton since 2019 Nobody had a better day time- and competition-wise than Stateliner senior sprinter Elvin Decius He was named the Outstanding Athlete on the boys side of the meet with four first places He won the 100 (in a personal-best 11.00 seconds and 400 and ran on the winning 1,600 relay that assured P’burg of the dual win in the final track event of the day I was aiming for 10.7-10.8 in the 100; in the 200 Decius knows what a great day would look like We bet Elvin Decius won’t have to wait long If you’re looking for an example of classic P’burg toughness prevailing where Stateliner junior Devin Anderson and Rover senior Xavier Richardson staged a match race the kind of compelling competition that can make track such a thrilling sport Anderson found just a little extra late to pull away late and win in 2:05.83 to Richardson’s 2:07.47 I felt like that the competition just makes me me; there’s no competition like racing,” Anderson said “The last 300 meters is where you have dig deep at Coach (Bill) Hurst always pushes us in practice and we run a lot of 300 repeats Today was just another day of me digging deep and getting done what we have to have done.” That motto could have applied to P’burg sophomore hurdler Mateo Barrow The Stateliners boys have enjoyed success in the hurdles over Easton in recent seasons and that continued Tuesday Barrow combined with junior Adeniola Akinjomo to go 1-2 in both hurdles and Akinjomo the intermediates; Jackson Cross gave P’burg a sweep of the 300s with a third-place finish – an interesting result given that the Stateliners rarely run the 300s; New Jersey runs the 400 hurdles “In Pennsylvania it’s just so much shorter; that last 100; the 300 hurdles is just like practice for the 400 hurdles,” said Barrow who made it clear he didn’t care for intermediate hurdles at any distance I wanted to go sub-15 this season but now we’re just shooting for low-15s when I getting to the hurdles it’s like stutter-step In the 110s I don’t have to think about it Barrow also did the team a favor by stepping into his first 400 relay at the varsity level due to injury and helping P’burg win the race; the lightning-fast handoffs in the 400 can be very tricky for newcomers but all was smooth for the Stateliners winning in 45.47 “At school today coach (Brett Hyland) told me I had to be a man he was throwing me in the 4x1,” Barrow said “Just today before the race I was practicing handoffs.” Phillipsburg won every event on the track but two and Rover junior Evan Guydish was why; he won the 3,200 meter run in 10:33.79 and anchored the winning 3,200 relay home in 9:07.89 The 3,200 run is at the end of the meet and it was interesting to watch Guydish getting ready to run it for a long time; the intensity on his face cranked up and up as the race got closer and I don’t get to run the 3,200 too often,” Guydish so it was nice to get back into the longer distances races You’re kind of in your own zone and you can focus and get a good rhythm there you have a lot more motivation because you’re doing it for the whole team; the camaraderie.” Easton’s boys throwers kept the dual close; they scored 24 of the 27 points available but I think we have a very bright future,” Easton head coach Justin Patterson said Critchley says charges against Frank McVey ‘reeked of a political persecution’ It’s been nearly four years since prosecutors uprooted Frank McVey’s life indicting him for allegedly threatening the mayor of Phillipsburg in a blackmail scheme He lost his standing in his community as a decorated former State Police captain and cost him his seat as a Phillipsburg councilman Exonerated last Friday when Superior Court Judge Reema Sethi Kareer dismissed the indictment McVey must now work to regenerate his reputation after being accused of threatening Mayor Todd Tersigni The state’s allegations “reeked of a political persecution,” said McVey’s attorneys “The politically motivated prosecution of innocent individuals not only devastates the lives of those directly targeted but also erodes public trust in legal institutions and threatens the principles of justice and equality.” “This is a case study of what happens when cavalier overly aggressive prosecutors bring baseless charges against innocent individuals,” Critchley and Suárez stated Because Warren County Prosecutor James Pfeiffer had once represented Tersigni in a private legal matter a Superior Court Judge has disqualified the entire prosecutor’s office from participating in the case against McVey the first assistant prosecutor and a former top lawyer at the embattled Office of Public Integrity and Accountability who turned down a plea deal that would have included an expungement spent years trying to pry discovery from the state which the State was legally obligated to provide but purposely and strategically withheld Tober found the case against McVey “politically charged” and said the state’s prosecution “clearly demonstrative impropriety.” the justice system serves as an impartial arbiter ensuring that laws are applied fairly and without bias,” Critchley and Suárez stated when legal mechanisms are manipulated for political gain undermining the very foundations of democratic governance.” The charges against McVey forced him to drop his 2023 bid for mayor “Defending against politically motivated criminal charges and the challenges to have the charges dismissed can be unbearable,” said Critchley and Suárez The Boys and Girls Track teams from Russell High School competed Friday in chilly conditions at the Phillipsburg Invitational well behind Beloit which ran away with the team title with a staggering 191 points  The RHS Boys placed sixth with 34 points while Norton won its second meet in four days with 126 points edging out second place Smith Center by four points Highlights for the Lady Broncos included Aubrey Birney scoring victories in the Triple Jump and the High Jump and placing second in the Long Jump the 4x800-Meter Relay team consisting of Annika Nichols Averie Counts and Kinsey Zorn placed second Counts placed fifth in the 1,600-Meter Run Zorn placed first in the 400-Meter Dash and 800-Meter Run while Maddie Weiger placed fifth in the 800-Meter Run and Ney placed 4th in the 300-Meter Hurdles Boys highlights included Tegan Kuntzsch placing second in the High Jump Walker Middleton placed second in the 100-Meter Dash and third in the 200-meter Dash the 4-100-Meter Relay team consisting of Middleton Ryan Barrera and Kolten Jones took fifth place and Zorn placed fourth in the 800-Meter Run The Russell Track teams will next be in action on Friday May 2 when they take part in the Beloit Invitational .st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:#2a2a2a}By Glenn Epps | For lehighvalleylive.comA public hearing to review the findings of a water infrastructure study conducted on behalf of Phillipsburg next week is canceled The public hearing will be adjourned to a later date until further notice Council President Peter Marino said the town is waiting to learn more on a contractual question it posed to the agency Phoenix Advisors, an independent financial advisor, had identified roughly $14 million worth of urgent sewer repairs that need to be made to Phillipsburg’s underground utility system Phoenix Advisors determined these four conditions: that the town is in significant noncompliance with the Water Infrastructure Protection Act; deficiencies exist in the provision of potable water water pressure or water distribution; there is a demonstrated deficiency in infrastructural improvements; and the owner demonstrates a financial incapacity to adequately perform needed improvements and maintenance; respectively Some repairs need to be addressed within the next year and have placed the town in a precarious financial and environmental position The Water Infrastructure Protection Act authorizes Phillipsburg to enter into a long-term lease contract or sell its sewer assets to a capable private or public entity without a referendum if at least one of five emergent conditions specified by the act is met Glenn Epps can be reached at gepps@lehighvalleylive.com or at glenn_epps_ on Instagram 1/292025 NJSIAA District 1 wrestling tournament finals.st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:#2a2a2a}By Corky Blake | For lehighvalleylive.comGavin Hawk said he didn’t give much thought to joining an exclusive club of Phillipsburg High School wrestlers who’ve won four NJSIAA individual district championships “It’s all about what happens at states and getting there,” said Hawk a senior who became the program’s career wins leader last month “It’s getting to the next step (regionals).” wrestling for the final time Saturday on the home mats at Tom Fisher Court during the District 1 tournament weighed on his psyche this week “I’ve been thinking about this a lot,” Hawk said “and about all the love and support we get when we wrestle here.” 1 at 157 pounds by lehighvalleylive and a state runner-up last year consider extending his match against third-seeded Joe Connolly of Jefferson Township to savor a few extra minutes before the Phillipsburg fans and his teammates Coach Tim Longacre even tossed the idea to Hawk earlier in the day ‘you don’t want to hang around a little bit longer (on the mat)?’” Longacre said I’m going to get it over as quick as possible.’” The Princeton-bound Stateliner pounced on Connolly for the takedown and flattened him for the fall and his fourth district title in just 43 seconds “You can’t do that because anything can happen the longer you’re out there; you don’t want to take any additional risks,” Hawk said Hawk said this after witnessing senior teammate Luke Geleta reluctantly receive an injury default victory over Lakeland Regional’s Ryan Langenmayr in the 144 final a four-time Passaic County Tournament champion and Bloomsburg University recruit squared off in the most anticipated match of the tournament The top-seeded Langenmayr came into the final with a 29-3 record and emerged from an early scramble with a takedown whose only loss this season was to unbeaten Nazareth state champion and Rutgers recruit Tahir “Tig” Parkins in the semifinals of the Bethlehem Holiday Tournament escaped to set the score at 3-1 entering the second period Geleta deferred his choice to the third period As Langenmayr began trying to roll away from Geleta’s ride he screamed in agony as the pop of his right ankle or lower leg area could be heard by everyone at matside couldn’t continue and had to be helped off the mat Geleta received his third district gold medal Not one of his district matches in four years went the distance Geleta was pinned in the 132-pound final as a freshman He won eight of his other bouts by fall and unfortunately Saturday’s championship by injury default If Hawk’s decision to get on and off the mat as quickly as possible still was being questioned an even scarier event occurred two matches after his final and it happened to his senior teammate Derek Stone in the 175-pound final was inadvertently poked in the eye by Aidan Dugan of Westwood while building an 8-3 lead against the top seed The wrestlers then locked up with upper body moves with each trying to throw the other at the same time They both became airborne with Stone landing head-first with all the wrestlers’ weight and force following and the gym became instantly quiet as the Stateliner lied on his back but was able to move his arms Stone was kept motionless until he was taken by emergency squad to the hospital as a precautionary move He said his neck hurt so we sent him as a precaution.” Phillipsburg as expected dominated the tournament with 258 points to runner-up River Dell’s 141.5 The Stateliners advanced (top three) 12 of their 14 entrants and crowned six champions in addition to Hawk and Geleta Longacre was voted District 1 Coach of the Year Freshman Zack Swingle took the first step toward becoming Phillipsburg’s next four-time district champion by dominating Jefferson’s Jacob Campbell 14-2 in the 106-pound final He countered Campbell’s first takedown attempt and parlayed it into a seven-point play and Zack probably had the best tournament of all of them,” Longacre said Swingle said it helps having the most recent four-time district champion in the wrestling room every day “He (Hawk) is the best role model you can have to look up to,” Swingle said Phillipsburg continued its winning ways in the next bout as sophomore Anthony Pettinelli used a third-place finish in last year’s tournament at 106 to fuel Saturday’s gold He defeated Frank Figel of Jefferson 13-4 but not before a few anxious seconds in the first period when he was reversed and put on his back by the second seed Pettinelli responded by escaping and tallying a takedown He rode Figel throughout the second period and added an escape takedown and two-point nearfall for the final margin I lost in the (district) semifinals by one point and that kept motivating me,” said Pettinelli who did advance to regionals with his third-place finish Massimo Gonzalez made it three Phillipsburg champions in the first four bouts when he The top-seeded junior needed just 81 seconds to pin Jefferson’s Christopher Frank in the 126 final Gonzalez lost 4-1 in last year’s 113-pound championship match Gonzalez then explained why he was wearing a Kentucky Wildcats sweatshirt which would blend in at a basketball game but kind of stands out at a wrestling tournament Kentucky is one of college basketball’s bluebloods but does not sponsor a men’s or women’s wrestling program “It’s actually my sister’s,” Gonzalez said nonchalantly “I didn’t have a sweatshirt so I wore hers.” He might want to bring it along to New Milford Owen Garriques (132) and Gavin Geleta (150) posted impressive technical falls for the Stateliners in their championship matches with Geleta becoming a two-time champ Junior teammate Ben Ellis pinned top-seeded Leo Danziger of Emerson/Park Ridge in the 285 semifinals The fourth seed then received a golden forfeit when his opponent Dante Downey of Westwood watched the finals on crutches Also advancing to regionals via their third-place finishers for the Stateliners were seniors Anthony Ashford (138) and Jesus Alfaro (190) and junior Kevin Buonocore (215) Alfaro kept his wrestling career alive by erasing a 7-4 deficit with a reversal and four-point nearfall in the final 30 seconds Corky Blake can be reached at sports@lehighvalleylive.com  PHILLIPSBURG - Alexie Moreira didn’t miss when it counted The Phillipsburg junior kicker booted a 46-year field goal - possibly a school record - as the Stateliners stunned Northern Highlands Group 4 sectional title at Maloney Stadium on Friday night The Highlanders appeared to have the game in hand when they converted a two-point conversion from Jack O’Callaghan to Shane Hanlon with 24 seconds left to take an 11-10 lead but the Stateliners had just enough time for Moreira Magic “Unbelievable effort,” Phillipsburg coach Frank Duffy said We knew they’d come here and give our best effort It didn’t look really good there when we gave up the two-point conversion The Stateliners (10-1) will play the winner of Saturday's North 1 Group 4 sectional final between Morris Knolls and Ramapo in the Group 4 semifinals next week Phillipsburg also plays Easton (Pa.) on Thanksgiving Should the Stateliners advance to the state finals the game will be played at Rutgers on Wednesday 1 in the North Jersey Public Top 20 rankings Northern Highlands finished 6-5 after losing star quarterback Zach Johnson for the season “My kids played their absolute hardest,” Northern Highlands coach Dave Cord said We battled through a lot of adversity this season and more adversity tonight losing two more of our starters They made a couple plays at the end and hit a great field goal.” The 24-second drillThe Stateliners wisely fell on the ball after Northern Highlands kicked off with 24 seconds left Phillipsburg quarterback Jett Genovese threw a pass to Matthew Scerbo Jr then scrambled for 13 yards to the Highlanders 48 on the next play Genovese rolled left again and got out of bounds with four seconds left at the Highlanders 29-yard line “We practice two-minute and our guys had situation awareness,” Duffy said Duffy said his team practices late-game situations “You don’t practice 24 seconds,” Duffy said with a smile who kicked a field goal in last week's Phillipsburg win over Chatham in the sectional semifinals Phillipsburg lined up for a 43-yard field goal early in the second quarter and hooked it left but Northern Highlands was whistled for offsides Moreira then tried a 38-yard field goal and hooked it left again but Northern Highlands was whistled for running into the kicker Moreira then nailed the 33-yarder to put the Stateliners ahead 3-0 The unsung hero of the game-winning kick was the Stateliners' holder The kick fluttered and barely crossed the crossbar Duffy said he believed the 46-yarder tied a school record He never had a moment to offer Moreira any words of encouragement before the kick as things were happening so fast Ohio (WKEF) -- There is a concern in the community about leaders in the Village of Phillipsburg mismanaging money With a sign reading "We love our children Please drive carefully," when you enter the park area people are wondering why money has not been spent to keep the park up and why allegedly people have been hired for new village positions "A lot of these people work for a living and they pay taxes and they're tired of coming home to a playground our kids can't play at I've got a three year old that can't go back there 'cause he's gonna get hurt," Joshua Simpson a former Phillipsburg firefighter and paramedic said Some community members in the Village of Phillipsburg are not happy with multiple leadership decisions Dayton 24/7 now received an email detailing complaints from one person and our Reporter Jenilee Borek spoke with another on-camera this week and it is not hard to see the equipment is old some could be dangerous and things have not been kept up Even the baseball fields are full of mud instead of grass the ones that go to the municipal building "We're tired of seeing the roads in disarray We have to drive down a road to drop our water bills off that almost always coats our vehicles in road dust and mud Things aren't being kept properly and we're upset about it," said Simpson Borek made public records requests to the village earlier in the week she had received an email saying the village received her requests but she had not received any documents Borek was able to confirm with the Montgomery County Auditor's Office that in 2025 the village should be receiving $22,171 dollars for parks and $22,171 for streets from levies passed in previous years Village of Phillipsburg Mayor Shawna Newsom declined a formal interview but sent Borek a response to some of her questions Mayor Newsom said "No funds have been appropriated for improvements at this time," but the email said the Village Park Board can make recommendations to the Village Council Simpson was also concerned about the funding of five new hires Mayor Newsom said three of those five are not new positions but instead The Office Administrator is a part-time position without benefits but the Village Administrator is a full-time position paying $70,000 a year Mayor Newsom said no additional money is being taken from the general fund for these positions except for part of the administrator's salary She also said the village council voted on and approved the positions but Borek was not sent the meeting minutes to confirm that Simpson made it clear how he felt about the hirings "If the village administrator position is $70,000 or more I think that money could be used other places as well before going to employee salaries," said Simpson You can read Mayor Newsom's full email below Dayton 24/7 Now will continue to update this story as more information becomes available If you would like Borek to look into something for 'Waste Watch,' you can email news@dayton247.com