Berks coroner announces reelection campaign
John Fielding has announced he will seek a second term in office.
The Mount Penn Republican has served as Berks County's coroner since 2021. He is the first candidate to officially announce a run for the office in 2025.
'I'm grateful for the opportunity voters gave me four years ago to smooth over some of the bumps in the office and return it to responsible management,' he said. 'And I would appreciate the consideration for another four years.'
The coroner investigates deaths independent of the police. The office also rules on the cause and manner of sudden, unexplained or unnatural deaths, as well as natural deaths that occur outside the presence of medical officials.
Fielding said that during his first term he has focused on the importance of the administration of the office.
He pointed out that while the coroner makes the final determination on the cause and manner of deaths independent of the police, the person in that position must rely on others such as deputy coroners and forensic pathologists to gather all the evidence.
John Fielding
Once that process is complete, he said, the coroner can come to an educated conclusion.
'I like the detective nature of what I do,' he said. 'We have to do a fair amount of investigation on some death cases. We have to figure out who these people are, the cause of their death and the manner of their death and that requires detective work.'
In addition to an emphasis on administrative competence, Fielding said he has also worked on improving interpersonal relationships among those who work in the office.
'I really let my team here do what they do without constantly looking over their shoulder,' he said. 'I give them the freedom to do what works for them while making sure we have the information that we need according to law. So we have come up with policies that reflect that kind of approach.'
Fielding said that if elected to a second term he would continue to operate the office in much the same way.
He said he would also continue to focus on identifying unknown remains and laying unclaimed remains to rest, some of which were sitting on shelves in storage rooms of the coroner's office for decades.
'We have made some progress over the last several years, but there are still about 100 remains that are still here,' he said.
One of those cases even received national attention. The case involved the remains of a man whose frozen body was found in 1977 in a cave along the Appalachian Trail in northern Berks.
Attempts were made to identify him through fingerprints at the time. The body went unclaimed, and the remains were eventually buried in the county-owned legacy cemetery known as Potter's Field.
In 2019, under then-Coroner Dennis Hess, the coroner's office had the body exhumed from Potter's Field so DNA could be extracted from the bones.
A recent breakthrough, however, led to the unraveling of the nearly half-century mystery in a matter of an hour. Last August, Fielding led a press conference to announce 'Pinnacle Man's' identity: Nicolas P. Grubb, 27, of Fort Washington, Montgomery County.
Fielding said his office would like to deliver more good news like that. To make that happen he has been listing information about remains they have identified on the office's website and has someone working on a part-time basis researching relatives.
The county coroner serves a four-year term and currently receives an annual salary of $101,694.
The primary is May 20.
Meet the candidate
Candidate: John Fielding, 71, Mount Penn.
Position sought: Berks County coroner.
Background: Fielding has served as coroner since 2021. Prior to winning election, he was a private practice attorney. He had also served as a member of Mount Penn Borough Council and Antietam School Board.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Manhattan borough-president candidates duke it out over public safety, bail reform
The city's only borough-president primary race considered competitive by political observers is heating up over the issue of public safety and the state's controversial bail law changes. State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal and city Councilman Keith Powers are the leading candidates in the Democratic Manhattan showdown. Powers recently slammed Hoylman-Sigal for his support of the bail law changes in Albany and said that the state legislators have been too slow to make changes. 3 City Councilman Keith Powers is running for Manhattan Borough President. Paul Martinka 'When polling shows that 80% of New Yorkers are concerned about public safety and Brad dismisses those concerns out of hand, it shows he's out of touch with New Yorkers in Manhattan,' Powers said. Powers said his own public safety plan would increase the number of cops in Manhattan precincts, helping to keep dangerous people off the streets, and ease the discovery process, or how prosecutors must share information with defense lawyers. 'It's been crystal-clear in the past few years that we have a mental-health crisis and there have been some elected officials who have been out of touch with New Yorkers and they failed to meet the moment,' Powers told The Post. Hoylman-Sigal shot back at Powers' jabs by saying housing, quality-of-life, public-safety and education issues are his top concerns. 'I don't know what my opponent has done in terms of public safety and specifically passing any legislation' Hoylman-Sigal said. 3 State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal campaigning for Manhattan BP on May 31, 2025. Kyle Stevens/Shutterstock He pointed to legislation he has backed cracking down on serial shoplifting and increasing the number of hate-crime offenses. Hoylman-Sigal also defended his initial support for the state's bail-reform laws, saying they were based on concern over due process. He said supported subsequent changes to the laws, discovery reform and involuntary-commitment mental-health standards. 'Look, I'm a proud Liberal Democrat, and I will always stand by the Constitution and the right to a free and fair trial and a hearing before a judge,' said Hoylman-Sigal, explaining his initial support for the bail reform laws. 3 Powers slammed Hoylman-Sigal for supporting bail reform laws in Albany. Kyle Stevens/Shutterstock Powers has strong union support in the race, backed by heavyweights such as 32BJ SEIU, the Hotel Trades Council and the United Federation of Teachers. Hoylman-Sigal has the endorsements of three former Manhattan borough presidents and a slew of other pols. The Manhattan beep's race also includes political newbie Dr. Calvin Smith. Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso is meanwhile fending off challenger and previous candidate Khari Edwards, while fellow Bronx beep incumbent Vanessa Gibson is being challenged by city Councilman Rafael Salamanca. Queens Borough President Donovan Richards isn't facing a primary challenge, but three other Republican candidates are competing to challenge him in November. On Staten Island, incumbent Vito Fossella doesn't have a primary challenger but will square off against Democratic challenger Michael Colombo in the general. The primary election is June 24.
San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Friends say Minnesota shooting suspect was deeply religious and conservative
NEW YORK (AP) — The man accused of assassinating the top Democrat in the Minnesota House held deeply religious and politically conservative views, telling a congregation in Africa two years ago that the U.S. was in a 'bad place' where most churches didn't oppose abortion. Vance Luther Boelter, 57, was at the center of a massive multistate manhunt on Sunday, a day after authorities say he impersonated a police officer and gunned down former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home outside Minneapolis. Democratic Gov. Tim Walz described the shooting as 'a politically motivated assassination.' Sen. John Hoffman, also a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette, were shot earlier by the same gunman at their home nearby but survived. Friends and former colleagues interviewed by The Associated Press described Boelter as a devout Christian who attended an evangelical church and went to campaign rallies for President Donald Trump. Records show Boelter registered to vote as a Republican while living in Oklahoma in 2004 before moving to Minnesota where voters don't list party affiliation. Near the scene at Hortman's home, authorities say they found an SUV made to look like those used by law enforcement. Inside they found fliers for a local anti-Trump 'No Kings' rally scheduled for Saturday and a notebook with names of other lawmakers. The list also included the names of abortion rights advocates and health care officials, according to two law enforcement officials who could not discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity. Both Hortman and Hoffman were defenders of abortion rights at the state legislature. Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said at a briefing on Sunday that Boelter is not believed to have made any public threats before the attacks. Evans asked the public not to speculate on a motivation for the attacks. 'We often want easy answers for complex problems,' he told reporters. 'Those answers will come as we complete the full picture of our investigation.' Friends told the AP that they knew Boelter was religious and conservative, but that he didn't talk about politics often and didn't seem extreme. "He was right-leaning politically but never fanatical, from what I saw, just strong beliefs,' said Paul Schroeder, who has known Boelter for years. A glimpse of suspect's beliefs on abortion during a trip to Africa Boelter, who worked as a security contractor, gave a glimpse of his beliefs on abortion during a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2023. While there, Boelter served as an evangelical pastor, telling people he had first found Jesus as a teenager. 'The churches are so messed up, they don't know abortion is wrong in many churches,' he said, according to an online recording of one sermon from February 2023. Still, in three lengthy sermons reviewed by the AP, he only mentioned abortion once, focusing more on his love of God and what he saw as the moral decay in his native country. He appears to have hidden his more strident beliefs from his friends back home. 'He never talked to me about abortion,' Schroeder said. 'It seemed to be just that he was a conservative Republican who naturally followed Trump.' A married father with five children, Boelter and his wife own a sprawling 3,800-square-foot house on a large rural lot about an hour from downtown Minneapolis that the couple bought in 2023 for more than a half-million dollars. Seeking to reinvent himself He worked for decades in managerial roles for food and beverage manufacturers before seeking to reinvent himself in middle age, according to resumes and a video he posted online. After getting an undergraduate degree in international relations in his 20s, Boelter went back to school and earned a master's degree and then a doctorate in leadership studies in 2016 from Cardinal Stritch University, a private Catholic college in Wisconsin that has since shut down. While living in Wisconsin, records show Boelter and his wife Jenny founded a nonprofit corporation called Revoformation Ministries, listing themselves as the president and secretary. After moving to Minnesota about a decade ago, Boelter volunteered for a position on a state workforce development board, first appointed by then-Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, in 2016, and later by Democratic Gov. Tim Walz. He served through 2023. In that position, he may have crossed paths with one of his alleged victims. Hoffman served on the same board, though authorities said it was not immediately clear how much the two men may have interacted. Launching a security firm Records show Boelter and his wife started a security firm in 2018. A website for Praetorian Guard Security Services lists Boelter's wife as the president and CEO while he is listed as the director of security patrols. The company's homepage says it provides armed security for property and events and features a photo of an SUV painted in a two-tone black and silver pattern similar to a police vehicle, with a light bar across the roof and 'Praetorian' painted across the doors. Another photo shows a man in black tactical gear with a military-style helmet and a ballistic vest with the company's name across the front. In an online resume, Boelter also billed himself as a security contractor who worked oversees in the Middle East and Africa. On his trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, he told Chris Fuller, a friend, that he had founded several companies focused on farming and fishing on the Congo River, as well as in transportation and tractor sales. 'It has been a very fun and rewarding experience and I only wished I had done something like this 10 years ago,' he wrote in a message shared with the AP. But once he returned home in 2023, there were signs that Boelter was struggling financially. That August, he began working for a transport service for a funeral home, mostly picking up bodies of those who had died in assisted living facilities — a job he described as he needed to do to pay bills. Tim Koch, the owner of Metro First Call, said Boelter 'voluntarily left' that position about four months ago. 'This is devastating news for all involved,' Koch said, declining to elaborate on the reasons for Boelter's departure, citing the ongoing law enforcement investigation. Boelter had also started spending some nights away from his family, renting a room in a modest house in northern Minneapolis shared by friends. Heavily armed police executed a search warrant on the home Saturday. 'I'm going to be gone for awhile' In the hours before Saturday's shootings, Boelter texted two roommates to tell them he loved them and that 'I'm going to be gone for a while,' according to Schroeder, who was forwarded the text and read it to the AP. 'May be dead shortly, so I just want to let you know I love you guys both and I wish it hadn't gone this way,' Boelter wrote. 'I don't want to say anything more and implicate you in any way because you guys don't know anything about this. But I love you guys and I'm sorry for the trouble this has caused.'
Axios
2 hours ago
- Axios
Minnesota shootings spotlight growing safety risks facing lawmakers
The targeted shootings of two Minnesota state lawmakers this weekend underscore a grim trend: An increasingly volatile political climate has left state and local officials more exposed than ever to threats and harassment. The big picture: The assassination of longtime House Democratic Leader Melissa Hortman, and attempted slaying of DFL state Sen. John Hoffman, have drawn a national, bipartisan outpouring of grief and condemnation. But most of the abuse elected state officials endure still flies under the radar, even though signs are mounting that the problem has grown worse, particularly since 2020, experts say. By the numbers: Nationally, 43% of state lawmakers reported facing threats during their most recent term in office and the preceding campaign, according to a 2024 survey published by the Brennan Center for Justice. Nearly half of women lawmakers said the abuse lessened their desire to seek reelection or higher office. Two in five women lawmakers of color said they'd experienced hostility that was sexual in nature. The intrigue: Republican lawmakers were more likely than Democrats to report that abuse had gotten more frequent since they took office. Many GOP reps experienced greater pressure from within their own party to take hardline stances, Gowri Ramachandran, the Brennan Center's director of elections and security, told Axios. Friction point: It's a "massive concern" among lawmakers that such risks and toxicity could discourage people from seeking political office, Ramachandran said. Lawmakers told Ramachandran they welcome "vigorous dissent," but fear discourse had degraded so far that both their supporters and critics might "feel like they have to fear for their lives in order to participate." Zoom out: In the nation's capital, the Minnesota shootings have prompted many rank-and-file members of Congress — many of whom don't have personal security details — to demand stepped-up protection, Axios' Andrew Solender reported. Threats against members, their families and staff more than doubled between 2017 and 2020, according to U.S. Capitol Police, and the numbers have grown since. Threat level: The public nature of the job heightens the risk. Until recently, some Minnesota lawmakers' home addresses were listed on their easily-searchable legislative bio pages. Though they now appear to have been removed, their addresses can still be found in other public filings. What they're saying: Ramachandran told Axios that other states offer potential solutions. Delaware and California have address confidentiality programs that "balance" the need for transparency under campaign finance laws with the need to ensure lawmakers' security. Ramachandran urged states to train lawmakers on making their offices more secure without making constituents feel unwelcome or like they're "on lockdown." What we're watching: Whether security policies change at the State Capitol, where visitors currently do not need to pass through metal detectors. Some lawmakers publicly asked for more exploration of weapon detection systems in January 2024. GOP State Sen. Jim Abeler told the Star Tribune after this weekend's shooting that "the times of [an] extremely open Capitol is probably done." The fine print: Bryan Pierick, assistant sergeant at arms for the Minnesota Senate, declined to comment Sunday on any current or planned changes to security protocols, citing an active investigation. Officials with the Minnesota State Patrol, which handles Capitol security, stressed to lawmakers in 2024 that it was ready with "plans, equipment and training" should an armed attack ever take place on campus.
