February 12, 2021 By Capt. David Smith
In 1923 the Nashville Bridge Company, Nashville, Tenn., launched a vessel that was a “first.” It was the sternwheel towboat Harvey, built for T.L. Herbert & Son. The boat was 93 by 26.8 feet with a hull depth of 4.3 feet. It had a steel hull with a cabin built entirely of wood.
The Harvey’s immediate claim to fame was the means of power. According to Capt. Fred Way in the 1951 edition of the
Inland River Record, the boat had the first installation of fully diesel engines on the inland rivers. These were Worthington engines developing a total of 240 hp. They were connected to twin sternwheels turned by gears.
Alejandro A. Alvarez / Philadelphia Inquirer
In December 2017, Gov. Tom Wolf signed legislation to increase oversight for drug and alcohol recovery houses a measure that lawmakers said was needed to fight the opioid epidemic and protect vulnerable people from being exploited.
The action by lawmakers came after years of complaints from local government leaders and some recovery advocates, who said profit-driven owners packed people into homes, provided few rules and little support, and put residents at greater risk of relapsing.
But more than three years later, recovery homes believed to number in the thousands continue to operate without state oversight, Spotlight PA has found. The state’s Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs missed a June 2020 deadline to, for the first time, create a certification or licensing process for them.
WHYY
By
Ed Mahon, Spotlight PAJanuary 25, 2021
Fred Way, executive director of the Pennsylvania Alliance of Recovery Residences. (Alejandro A. Alvarez/Philadelphia Inquirer)
This story originally appeared on Spotlight PA.
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters.
In December 2017, Gov. Tom Wolf signed legislation to increase oversight for drug and alcohol recovery houses a measure that lawmakers said was needed to fight the opioid epidemic and protect vulnerable people from being exploited.
The action by lawmakers came after years of complaints from local government leaders and some recovery advocates, who said profit-driven owners packed people into homes, provided few rules and little support, and put residents at greater risk of relapsing.
Department officials said earlier this month they were completing an internal review of draft regulations and planned to send them to the attorney general’s office by the end of January, but couldn’t commit to a timeline for when licensing and oversight will begin.
“I’m saddened by that because the longer it takes to set that up, the more individuals could pass away in these unstructured recovery homes,” said Amber Longhitano, a former council member in Bristol Township, Bucks County, who pushed state lawmakers to create oversight for recovery homes.
Beyond the delay, there’s a more fundamental problem with the oversight effort: It’s voluntary, though there are incentives.
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — In December 2017, Gov. Tom Wolf signed legislation to increase oversight for drug and alcohol recovery houses — a