2 people were arrested during tree removal in Middletown business district

Two people, both part owners of the Middletown newspaper company Press And Journal Publications, were arrested during a demonstration during tree removal in the town's business district today.

According to The Press And Journal, Sukle was charged by Middletown police with disorderly conduct and defiant trespass. She had been chained to a tree. Graybill was charged with failure to disperse and inciting a riot.

Protesters this morning were holding signs saying 'Save Our Trees!' and distributing Middletown Borough Council members' contact information.

Borough secretary Chris Courogen, confronted by protesters downtown this morning, said the trees would be replaced in "less than a week" for a total cost of less than $800.

He said 5-foot-high Norway spruce, decorated for Christmas, will be put in temporarily. They won't be placed permanently in the ground.

A businessman, James Nardo, is donating the services to take down the trees, the secretary said. Nardo is a principal in the family-owned development company Abbco Real Properties Corp., which is developing the Westporte Centre, combining the vacant A.P. Green warehouse site on Ann Street with the former Middletown Plaza.

See original here:
2 people were arrested during tree removal in Middletown business district