Pittsburgh-based Burns White has acquired 13-lawyer Center City defense litigation boutique Christie & Young.
The deal, which became effective Jan. 1, expands Burns White’s presence to almost 70 lawyers in the Philadelphia region, spread over offices in Philadelphia, Conshohocken, Cherry Hill and Wilmington. It also enhances its healthcare and professional liability defense litigation practices.
The firm has a 15-attorney Energy Law practice chaired by Matthew G. Brouse as well as an eight-member Environmental Compliance practice. Its chairman is T.H. Lyda.
Christie & Young Managing Partner Jim Young said the genesis of the deal was in early 2019, when both firms were representing co-defendants in cases in Scranton and developed a rapport. That led to merger talks, which gained traction through the course of the year.
“We simply saw this as a good opportunity to work with great lawyers and broaden the services we could offer our clients,” Young said.
Burns White CEO David White said the firm had been looking to open a Center City office for quite some time, as it often has cases there as a result of representing railroad companies in Federal Employer Liability Act matters. He hopes to expand this work now that the firm has a Philadelphia location.
David White at Burns White’s Pittsburgh headquarters. LEN TUCCI
The former Christie & Young lawyers will maintain their offices at 1880 John F. Kennedy Blvd. while Burns White will keep its existing locations at 100 Four Falls Corporate Center in Conshohocken, 457 Haddonfield Road in Cherry Hill and 1 Righter Parkway in Wilmington. Christie & Young closed satellite offices in New York and Boston the day before the merger was completed.
“We had an interest in those two markets, just not at this time,” White said.
Founded in 1987, Burns White now has more than 150 lawyers spread over seven offices in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Ohio and West Virginia. It is ranked No. 8 on the Pittsburgh Business Times list of the largest law firms in that city.
TD Bank and the Arbor Day Foundation Grants Available
TD Bank and the Arbor Day Foundation have teamed up to offer municipalities $20,000-$25,000 grants for local forestry projects. These TD Green Space Grants will offer North American municipalities support for creative programs and projects that use green infrastructure development, tree planting, forestry stewardship, and community green space expansion as a way to advance environmental and economic benefits toward a low-carbon economy.
The 2020 theme for the program is, “Beat the Heat: Using Green Infrastructure to Cool Down Urban Heat Islands.”
By Carol Hillestad, Brodhead Watershed Association Posted Dec 28, 2019 at 2:00 PM
My early aversion to winter dated from the time my tongue froze to an icy flying saucer at about age 7.
But people do grow up and learn not to sample the ice on metal objects. And I have also learned that winter is one of the best times to be outdoors in the Poconos. The afternoon sun lighting snowy evergreens, the shape of far ridges seen through leafless trees, and the snow-muffled quiet of a woodland are some of the rewards.
Pennsylvania protects its outdoor heritage with state parks, state forests, and game lands. What luck to have all of these nearby! Here are three ways to get outside, breathe deeply, refresh your spirit … and love being outdoors in winter.
Promised Land State Park
Whatever your skill level — or tolerance for winter weather — you’ll find an outdoor adventure at Promised Land State Park.
Head to Conservation Island with the self-guided trail map for an easy stroll on smooth, level paths. Take Little Falls Trail for a pleasant out-and-back walk with small waterfalls along the way. Walk or jog 6 miles around the lake on maintained roads. Borrow snowshoes — for free — and explore well-marked trails through wooded hills and valleys.
Promised Land covers 3,000 acres. Its 50 miles of trails include some that cross into Delaware State Forest and Bruce Lake Natural Area. Excellent maps are online and at the park office.
Delaware State Forest
Named for the river, not the state, Delaware State Forest is managed by professional foresters to create healthy forests, protect pure water and scenic beauty, provide recreation, and conserve plant and animal habitat, among other uses.
At 83,519 acres, it’s big enough to feel like wilderness. You’ll find waterfalls and wetlands, glacial lakes and bogs, beaver dams, coyote tracks, and countless native plants, birds, and wildlife. A detailed map is available in hard copy and online.
One place to start is off Snow Hill Road in Price Township. Follow Angler’s Road to the large parking area where it intersects with 16 Mile Run Road. Walk downhill through the gate — you’ll cross a beautiful unnamed tributary of Bushkill Creek. Continue uphill and curve around up the rocky heights, then retrace your steps. Dancing Ridge Trail loop also starts here.
State Game Lands
Pennsylvania Game Commission’s mission is to manage Pennsylvania’s wild resources — birds, mammals, and their habitats — for current and future generations and to champion Pennsylvania’s hunting and trapping heritage.
Trails abound in game lands. But keep in mind that this land is paid for largely by fees from hunting licenses, and something is just about always in season. Check the commission’s website for details. Late archery and flintlock deer seasons, for instance, run through Jan. 20 in our area. And always wear fluorescent orange while out in game lands.
A decade of ice, ocean and atmospheric studies found systems nearing dangerous tipping points. As the evidence mounted, countries worldwide began to see the risk.
BY BOB BERWYN, INSIDECLIMATE NEWS
DEC 28, 2019
The 2010s may go down in environmental history as the decade when the fingerprints of climate change became evident in extreme weather events, from heat waves to destructive storms, and climate tipping points once thought to be far off were found to be much closer.
It was the decade when governments worldwide woke up to the risk and signed the Paris climate agreement, yet still failed to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions at the pace and scale needed. And when climate scientists, seeing the evidence before them, cast away their reluctance to publicly advocate for action.
The sum of the decade’s climate science research, compiled in a series of reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), suggests global warming is pushing many planetary systems toward a breakdown.
New studies showed polar ice caps melting and sea level rising much faster than just 10 years ago. Ocean researchers showed how marine heat waves kill corals and force fish to move northward, affecting food supplies for millions of people in developing countries. They tracked changes to crucial ocean currents and concluded that hurricanes will intensify faster in a warming world.
Together, the research showed how important it will be to cap the global temperature rise as far below 2 degrees Celsius—the Paris Agreement goal—as possible.
Feedback Loops on the Greenland Ice Sheet
At the start of the decade, it was unclear how fast the Greenland and West Antarctic Ice Sheets would melt. As recently as the 1990s, melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet was balanced by the buildup of new snow and ice, offering some hope that sea-level rise would be slow, allowing coastal communities time to adapt.
By the end of 2019, a study published in the scientific journal Nature showed the Greenland Ice Sheet was melting seven times faster than it had been in the 1990s. That’s on pace with the IPCC’s worst-case climate scenario, with Greenland alone contributing 2 to 5 inches of sea level rise by 2100. Another study, looking at evidence in fossilized shells, showed temperatures are very near a threshold that will melt most of the ice sheet.
Scientists discovered feedback loops and new ways earth’s systems interact to melt the ice. Global warming is expanding ice slabs beneath Greenland’s snowy areas, hastening runoff and sea level rise. In Antarctica, they showed how global warming is shiftingwinds and pushing warmer water under floating ice shelves—both of which could contribute to rapid disintegration of ice shelves with a subsequent surge of sea level rise.
“The rate and magnitude of Greenland Ice Sheet mass loss, and of ice loss globally, has been dramatic,” said Twila Moon, a climate researcher with the National Snow and Ice Data Center.
How Sea Ice Loss Influences the Atmosphere
Many studies in the second half of the decade showed how important it is to keep the global temperature rise as far below 2 degrees Celsius as possible to avoid triggering tipping points that would have cascading consequences. Arctic sea ice is one of the big concerns.
Even now, in its diminished state, the summer Arctic sea ice is a 1.6 million square-mile shield that reflects incoming solar radiation back to space. The more it melts, the more darker-colored ocean can absorb heat, speeding up the planet’s overall warming.
At 2 degrees Celsius warming, Arctic Ocean sea ice will probably melt completely, said National Snow and Ice Data Center climate researcher Walt Meier. “Some ice probably will persist if warming is limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius,” Meier said. He noted that research has suggested the ice could recover fairly quickly—if greenhouse gas concentrations are reduced enough to drop the temperature.
One intriguing question has been how the loss of Arctic sea ice will affect weather patterns in North America, Europe and Asia.
Melting that much of Earth’s icebox could alter wind patterns that shunt weather systems around the Northern Hemisphere, scientists reasoned early in the decade. A study in 2012 suggested a mechanism: Sea ice melt alters the jet stream by reducing the temperature contrast between the Arctic and the mid-latitudes. As the jet stream weakens, it enables areas of rainy weather or hot, dry conditions to linger longer over a given area, leading to extreme rainfall or heat waves and drought.
As the decade ended, studies seemed to support that early conclusion. Research published by Michael Mann, Stefan Rahmstorf and others showed how heat waves, floods and wildfires are linked with a jet stream pattern that, in turn, is related to an over-heated Arctic. In a climate warmed by greenhouse gases, the jet stream is more likely to set up in a pattern that causes extremes to linger longer over Europe and North America.
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Ocean County’s Island Beach State Park will accept Christmas trees free of lights and ornaments on Saturday, Jan. 4 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the A-23 parking lot.
Christmas trees help build dunes by capturing sand that is pushed by northeasterly winds during coastal storms, according to coastal ecologist Dominick Solazzo.
“Windblown sand becomes obstructed by the fencing and deposited as its velocity slows. The combination of dune fencing and natural vegetation adds the strength of resistance to the dune-like rebar to concrete,” Solazzo said in a 2014 WHYY interview. “As easily as a healthy and well-managed dune grabs the sand, it also easily resists any erosional pressure put on it by the same force that helps it grow.”
He said a special relationship forms over time, resulting in a greener and taller dune grass as the trees provide nitrogen and other nutrients to feed the grass and also store moisture during the summer months.
For more information about the Island Beach State Park Christmas tree collection, contact Island Beach Nature Programs at 732-793-1315.
Philly students are on winter break. Because of the 2019 holiday schedule, where both Christmas and New Year’s fall on Wednesday, the city’s public schools are dismissed for almost an entire two weeks.
That gives kids a nice break to celebrate the holidays, but also puts a crunch on those who depend on school for breakfast and lunch — so one city agency is working to bridge the gap.
Overall, nearly 20% of Philly’s population experiences food insecurity, per the most recent count. That’s 300,000 people who couldn’t consistently afford food — meaning the number of hungry Philadelphians exceeded the entire population of Pittsburgh. That group includes nearly 75,000 children who don’t get enough to eat, according to the latest Feeding America “Map the Meal Gap” study.
The Department of Parks and Recreation tapped into funds provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide free meals for students on three days over this long recess.
This is the first time Parks & Rec has provided food for kids during winter break. But, per spokesperson Maita Soukup, it’s a “natural extension” of the rest of the department’s programming. In the last two years, Parks & Rec has served more than 10,000 meals during spring break and other school holidays.
Served at rec centers all over the city, here’s what’s on the menu:
Monday, Dec. 23: Turkey, ham and cheese sandwiches with diced peaches
Friday, Dec. 27: Sliced chicken on whole wheat with apple slices
Monday, Dec. 30: Beef, salami and cheese sandwiches with diced peaches
The food will be dished out on a first come, first serve basis. Time of day for the meals varies; you can call your local rec center to find out when it’ll be available on each date. Soukup said Parks & Rec expects to serve 2,000 total kids during the holiday recess.
To be clear, this free food is just for people under 18 — and it’s only for eating on site, not for taking home.
Department officials hope to continue this program in future years.
“The city has been exploring new ways to prevent food insecurity when school is closed for a few years now,” Soukup told Billy Penn. “We are going to closely review how meal service goes this winter to prepare for next year’s winter break.”
Adults facing hunger can visit one of the free meal sites run by the Office of Homeless Services.
Billy Penn is one of more than 20 news organizations producing Broke in Philly, a collaborative reporting project on economic mobility. Read more at brokeinphilly.org or follow at @brokeinphilly.
