Part one of a three-part series: COURTHOUSE — In the past decade, the number of illegal immigrants has continued to rise in Montgomery County — particularly in Norristown, which has the highest number of Mexican nationals — and the newcomers continue to test the limits of medical services, public schools and law enforcement, according to local officials.

Despite criticism, many have positive things to say about immigrant-owned restaurants and retail stores that have sprung up to brighten Norristown’s urban landscape.

But with Pennsylvania and its counties facing budget deficits, many wonder how long government can continue to subsidize the burgeoning low-income population that is straining vital services. Currently, state legislators are considering a more restrictive law mirroring Arizona’s to stem the tide of the undocumented settling in the state.

In an award-winning Times Herald series on illegal immigration by Joseph Gidjunis in 2003, the number of immigrants then living in the Norristown area, the great majority natives of Mexico, was estimated at 12,000, by Miguel Dones of Conecciones. Current estimates range between 10,000 and 20,000, depending on the source.

Acción Comunal Latinoamericana de Montgomery County (ACLAMO), a social services agency operating in Norristown since 1976, estimates between 15,000 and 20,000 Latinos reside in Norristown and Bridgeport combined.

“We don’t know exactly how many there are,” said Juan Guerra, ACLAMO’s executive director.

While numbers are hard to pin down, he conceded that most Hispanics in the local area are violating U.S. immigration law.

“The majority are undocumented,” he said.

Using 2008 U.S. Census Bureau figures, Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), a Washington-based nonprofit public policy group that opposes illegal immigration, estimates the foreign-born population in Montgomery County to be about 68,625, or 8.8 percent of the total county population of at least 778,000. Census figures a year later bumped the total to 782,339.

In 2008, Census reported those of Hispanic or Latino origin in the county numbered around 25,817, or 3.3 percent of the total population. According to 2000 figures, there were only about 3,200 Hispanics living in Norristown, or about 10.5 percent of the town’s population at that time.

Though accurate counts remain elusive, most local officials believe the numbers of Latinos have continued to grow since the 2003 newspaper series.

Guerra said Norristown’s Gotwals Elementary School’s student body is currently about 60 percent Hispanic.

“There’s virtually a tsunami of schoolchildren coming into the (Norristown) school system,” he said.

The statewide influx of immigrants over the past few years is costing taxpayers millions, according to “The Costs of Illegal Immigration to Pennsylvanians,” a 2009 report published by FAIR.

According to FAIR, the illegal alien population in the state has nearly tripled since 2000, and currently foreign-born individuals cost state taxpayers about $728 million for education, medical care and incarceration.

So far, however, county officials have been unable or unwilling to estimate how much it costs taxpayers to subsidize illegal immigrants in Norristown and are reluctant to talk on the record about the issue.

In 2003, many local Hispanic residents went to the Regional Health Center on Main Street in Norristown for basic medical visits. But in an emergency, then and now, they depend on Montgomery Hospital Medical Center (MHMC) for treatment. Under federal law, hospitals must treat medical emergencies regardless of a person’s ability to pay.

The hospital has seen birthrates rise and fall in the past decade, and the majority of birth mothers are believed to be illegal immigrants, according to county officials. Since 2007, childbirths have increased each year and are expected to skyrocket in 2010.

In 2003, a total of 735 babies were delivered at the Norristown hospital; 636 in 2004; 655 in 2005; 624 in 2006; 632 in 2007; 691 in 2008; 823 in 2009; and deliveries this year are expected to reach at least 1,000, according to hospital projections. Hospital officials do not collect data on birth mothers’ legal status, so it is not known what portion of these births were to women here illegally.

And with the recent closing of nearby Mercy Suburban Hospital, a Montgomery County Health Department official predicted in May that births could climb as high as 1,500 by year’s end at MHMC.

For the past two years, expectant women inadequately covered or uninsured have outnumbered privately insured mothers.

This trend is driving uncompensated care steadily higher at hospitals across the Philadelphia region, according to Priscilla Koutsouradis, communications director for Delaware Valley Healthcare Council.

Charity care and bad debt account for the mounting financial losses, she said, and no single group — including Hispanics — is responsible for the increase in unpaid care. Even if illegal alien women were to blame, Koutsouradis said hospitals wouldn’t know, because the staff does not inquire about a patient’s immigration status.

The impact of Medical Assistance, Pennsylvania’s Medicaid insurance for low-income people, is a significant factor in the escalating medical costs.

“Medical Assistance underpayment is a huge one,” she said. “Now, Medical Assistance pays less than 80 cents (on the dollar) for inpatient and outpatient care.”

Because those reimbursements don’t cover the full cost of care, they add to a medical facility’s debt.

In 2010, of the 1,000 anticipated births at Montgomery Hospital, about 400 are expected to have adequate coverage, according to hospital spokesperson Laura McFarland. Given that the Norristown medical center loses an average of $2,500 for each baby born, this could mean a $2.5 million loss this year. If deliveries spike to 1,500, the financial loss would climb to $3.75 million.

Once a woman here illegally gives birth, her child is considered a U.S. citizen and eligible for government benefits.

Over the past decade, uncompensated care at MHMC has risen from $3.7 million in 2001 to a projected $16.2 million this year, according to hospital data.

Mercy Suburban Hospital, which stopped providing obstetrics services Feb. 28, was the seventh Pennsylvania hospital to stop delivering babies in the past five years. A “combination of decreasing volume, ongoing cuts in reimbursement and increasing costs resulted in growing losses that are no longer sustainable,” according to a hospital statement. A health official hinted this week that the large number of low-income Latino women giving birth in recent years hastened the obstetrics program’s demise.

And the Obama administration’s recently-passed health care overhaul legislation is expected to make the fiscal crisis worse, Koutsouradis said.

“It will increase the number of people eligible for Medical Assistance,” she said, potentially adding 12 to 16 million or more new Medicaid enrollees in cash-strapped Pennsylvania.

As in 2003 when Gidjunis’ articles were published, employment is the incentive that still attracts many to the Norristown area from Mexico.

“If the economy continues to dip, then they go where there’s work,” Guerra said.

After a May meeting, county Commissioner Jim Matthews pointed out Mexicans are drawn to Norristown because the county, and Philadelphia County, offers free prenatal care for pregnant women regardless of their legal status.

“What angers me is that so many non-Americans, undocumented people, are coming here. And I’m confident that just as they know when they cross that border down there, they know there’s mushroom work in Chester (County), they know there’s landscaping work in Schuylkill County, they know there’s (work) up here in Montgomery County, it’s our No. 2 industry,” he said.

Minutes earlier, he, and fellow commissioners Joseph M. Hoeffel and Bruce L. Castor Jr. voted to authorize the county Health Department to tap state funding for the prenatal care. Afterward, Matthews was asked to defend his support given his misgivings about attracting illegal aliens here.

“I don’t want to vote for what could be crippling a program that could be avoiding millions of dollars in post-natal (specialty) care for an infant,” he said, which could result from complications during childbirth due to a lack of prenatal care.

When the series ran in 2003, supporters of amnesty for undocumented workers in the U.S. stated that Mexican workers were doing work Americans refused to do. But an anecdote Matthews related undercut that conventional wisdom and illustrated his ambivalence about approving the funds.

The commissioner regularly eats at Ray’s Diner on Germantown Pike. One day while there, he noticed the car wash next door was closed. He learned the business had been raided by authorities, and the employees there, all Mexicans here illegally, were forced out of jobs.

“Then I saw something I hadn’t seen in six or seven years – young black kids working at the car wash,” he said. “Never, ever was there an African-American kid working at that car wash. After the car wash shake-up, the owner hired local teenagers, as he should have done in the first place, Matthews said. “That’s the indignation I have.”

Currently, the federal government only arrests those in the country illegally if they’re suspected of commiting a felony. Often those convicted are deported only to return to the U.S.

And compared to 2003, the American public’s opposition to amnesty for illegal aliens appears to have intensified in recent years as have calls for the federal government to seal the border separating U.S. and Mexico.

Part two, Living in the shadows, will appear July 11.

The dogged debate between Pat’s and Geno’s in South Philly took a detour into the ‘burbs

when we asked, “Who has the best cheesesteak in the area?”

The age-old query went out via our website, Twitter, Facebook, e-mail and good old-fashioned, face-to-face, man on the street interrogation.

By far the latter venue provided the greatest response, with a dozen votes going to Pudge’s Steaks & Hoagies in Blue Bell.

“Pudge’s, no two ways about it,” said Joe from East Norriton. “Been going to Pudge’s for 20 years and I will try others occasionally but they’re still No. 1.”

“Pudge’s is the best, because the steak is chopped, as opposed to bigger pieces,” said Jake Wallace of North Wales, via Facebook. “I like the roll too, and the price is very reasonable.”

There’s no competition, noted Matt Grisafi.

“Pudge’s and Pudge’s II,” he e-mailed. “Honorable mention goes to Papa Guido’s in Norristown.”

Though many preferred cloaking their cheese steak preferences in anonymity,

they were largely an opinionated bunch nonetheless.

“The DeJohn’s Special at Franzone’s Pizzeria and Restaurant in Bridgeport,” one woman said.

“The sandwich has provolone cheese, mushrooms and a special red sauce, not the sauce they use on regular cheese steaks. They will toast the roll if you request it. It’s wonderful!”

Tom Harari gave a thumbs-up, via e-mail, to Steve’s Prince of Steaks on St. Vincent in Northeast Philadelphia.

“But ‘wit’ or ‘witout’ is making a strong case,” he added.

Brian Kukulka of Bridgeport said that Angelo’s in the Sweetbriar Shopping Center, King of Prussia, was the A-1 hands-down winner:

“It’s good because they have the right mix of steak and cheese. Some places have too much of one and not enough of the other. And the rolls are always fresh and soft.”

Guiseppe’s Pizza & Family Restaurant in Hatfield garnered four votes.

Greco Roman Restaurant, Jeffersonville, has a fan in Lisa Seifert, though her 9-year-old son likes the sandwich at Talarico’s Sandwich Shop in Boyertown.

“We just moved out that way,” she explained.

DiMeo Pizza Kitchen in Conshohocken snagged a pair of votes — one of them from a self-described cheese steak connoisseur, a transplanted South Philly-ite now living in Blue Bell.

“Their Cheeze Wiz Steak is the closest I found to the real thing,” he said, giving runnerup status to Rocco’s Brick Oven Pizzeria in the Sandy Hill section of Norristown.

“Sometimes it’s overcooked and dry at Rocco’s, but when they nail it, I give them second place.”

Though famous for zeps, Eve’s in Norristown was not forgotten in the cheese steak department.

“They seem to use better quality meat and the sandwich has an authentic taste,” a fan said.

Ray’s Pizzeria and Steaks in Lansdale gets the juices flowing for two individuals who named it the best in Montgomery County.

Carnivores may obviously rule when it comes to cheese steak argumentation, but the “awesome” Philly Pepper Steak Sandwich at Govinda’s Gourmet Vegetarian in Philadelphia is a non-meat contender that could win over a few converts, a devotee noted.

Gary Puleo can be reached at 61-272-2500, ext. 205, or gpuleo@timesherald.com.

CONSHOHOCKEN – They’ve generated the most activity on The Times Herald website since March — dreaded traffic issues.

For weeks, feedback has poured in from readers and web surfers, eager to see a change in traffic patterns or road conditions in the area. With help from the new SeeClickFix Times Herald website feature, a consensus of the most egregious traffic headaches is now at hand.

The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission recently gave the intersection of Matsonford Road and Route 23 (Front Street) a grade of F, as part of an investigation looking into the possibility of a second Schuylkill River crossing.

“Even under good conditions, it is one of the worst traffic intersections in Montgomery County,” said West Conshohocken Borough Council President Marcene Rogovin.

In May, Conshohocken Borough administrators penned a letter to PennDOT seeking relief from the congestion that plagues the bridge crossing the Schuylkill linking Conshohocken and West Conshohocken.

Borough President Paul McConnell beseeched the commonwealth for modifications of the intersection, to allow for better traffic flow during rush hour.

McConnell, careful not to complain without providing a remedy, suggested a short-term solution of modifying the signal timings at MatsonFord Road and Route 23 to improve conditions, at least temporarily.

Rogovin agreed with McConnell that a second river crossing would greatly alleviate traffic problems at the busy intersection, but funding and geographic obstacles would no doubt hinder development.

“The bottom line of it was that there’s no place to put it,” said Rogovin.

“In terms of the actual terrain on the expressway, with the gigantic hills, there’s nowhere to do it. The geography itself makes it impossible.

“Is it needed? Yes. Is it likely to happen? No. Which community will raise their hand and say, we’ll take it?”

Leo Bagley, director of transportation planning for the Montgomery County Planning Commission, recently crafted a list of recommendations for PennDOT.

Among the list of recommendations, Badley said, short of doing a major change to the interchange itself, look at what kinds of things the borough can do incrementally – finite projects that will help move the traffic along.

“The county allowed West Conshohocken in the jumpstart program an additional lane on Matsonford Road going west. When you cross (Rt.) 23 and go onto Matsonford Road, if you’re going to make a left turn, either going to the Blue Route to Plymouth Meeting, or to access the expressway west, there’s now a separate turn lane and a through lane on the right side. For people going through to Upper Merion, they don’t have to wait again for the traffic turning left.”

“It will only get worse in a very short period of time,” said Rogovin. “(Route) 23 is going for a traffic change problem. If you think it’s bad now, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

Complaints heard from web surfers also pointed to other nightmarish traffic jams, such as Butler Pike and Germantown Avenue, where some motorists writhe through a five-minute wait, sometimes, between traffic signals.

Route 202 from Norristown, northeast to Blue Bell and through to North Wales, by some feedback accounts, is a standstill much of the time.

And the dreaded Schuylkill Expressway, where Route 76 meets the Blue Route (Route 476), is a calamity of congestion for the 9 to 5-ers of the day.

Several local legislators have not ignored the pleas of their constituents.

State Rep. Michael Gerber, D-148th Dist., having a district office right on Fayette Street, said he is keenly aware of the traffic problems confronting Conshohocken residents.

“To its credit, PennDOT responded quickly by coordinating with West Conshohocken to adjust traffic signal timing to move cars over the bridge more swiftly and is considering other measures it can take,” said Gerber.

“While we hope these efforts will improve the situation, there are factors outside of our control, such as the construction on 476 that will continue to cause traffic congestion in the borough.”

Another major headache for motorists is Germantown Pike connecting Plymouth Meeting and Collegeville. During rush hour, motorists are often bogged down at every light from Plymouth Meeting to Route 363.

Matt Grisafi of Havertown drew attention to the evening rush from East Norriton to Fairview Village and the locale’s “awful timing of traffic lights.”

“You’ll often sit through an entire green light without moving,” he wrote in an e-mail to The Times Herald.

“And of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Route 422. I won’t go anywhere near it during rush hour.”

Jenny DeHuff can be reached at jdehuff@timesherald.com or 610-272-2500 ext. 207.

Not long ago I read something one of our Founding Fathers said that really struck me. It left me thinking about changes — and humming the David Bowie song for days.

“When you’re finished changing, you’re finished.” –Benjamin Franklin

It’s happened a few too many times over the past four years. I’ll run into an old acquaintance or meet someone new. They ask what I do for a living. I tell them. They cock their heads to the side and look at me like I’m the lonely neighborhood Blockbuster barely hanging on in a town populated by Netflix subscribers.

Some days it seems everyone but my dentist, who once said inky fingers bring him comfort, have kissed newspapers goodbye — or they’re at least anticipating their extinction with a pre-written obituary. The cause of death, according to these people, will be the end of a painful battle with a fast-moving cancer — the Internet.

News flash to these people: Daily newspapers are not finished. We’re still very much alive, and we’re changing every day.

Here at The Times Herald, we’ve been posting more frequently to our website and using social media for some time now. Journal Register Company’s “digital first” initiative has encouraged us to take those efforts and run with them.

The Internet is not something we’re running away from. We welcome the ability to feed our readers’ appetites for news at a faster rate than ever; to offer video content that competes with television; and to directly communicate with larger networks of readers.

Benjamin Franklin had many careers, but I like to think of him as a Philadelphia newspaper man. And while his stimulating words about change can be applied to any era, any individual or any industry, for me they carry great weight in journalism today.

I happened to stumble upon that great Ben quote in Marie Claire magazine of all places. And just days after our new CEO, John Paton, asked us to embark on a journey of change — the Benjamin Franklin Project — in the interest of innovative journalism.

Marie Claire’s fashion director referenced the quote as the unofficial oath of talented U.S. designers, who confidently embrace style changes with “modern updates” and “subtle shifts.”

As journalists, we’re now doing the same.

I entered the field at a time when newsroom morale was considerably low where I worked. If attitudes were worse before 2006, then I’m glad I was still in Happy Valley. It’s true that for a long time some of us in the industry fought change when we needed to embrace it and use it to our benefit. But after a bit of rewiring, I think we are on our way to where we need to be in this digital age.

A few facts are in, and we post a web brief. Stories are up on our website well before they go to print. Reporters are armed with Flip Video camcorders. We interact with readers on our Facebook page and Tweet updates throughout the day. It’s all become part of our everyday newsroom culture, and these “modern updates” and “subtle shifts” are change in the right direction.

I’m a child of the Internet age. I grew up chatting on instant messenger, in college I joined this brand new site called Facebook and I’m an obsessive e-mail checker. It’s hard to remember my life before Google and Wikipedia. But as a journalist, storytelling is at the heart of what I do.

My job in journalism has introduced me to people who have faced change under the most tragic of circumstances. A few years ago I interviewed a 9/11 widow named Susan Retik and was brought to tears as she told me about all she endured. Susan co-founded a charity that raises money to help Afghan widows and their kids. Chic Kelly and his family welcomed me into their home, and he told me about the college hockey injury that left him a C-5 quadriplegic. Chic went on to become a high school teacher, and he raises funds to help others with spinal cord injuries. These are only two of the many people who inspire me day after day, long after I’ve written their stories.

Ben was right. Change is everywhere, and we cannot avoid it. But when I talk about change, I want to be clear that there are certain rules of journalism that should never be rewritten. Because when it comes down to it — technology aside — with stories like Susan’s and Chic’s to tell, I’d say the daily newspaper is far from finished.

Melissa Brooks is a staff writer with the The Times Herald. Contact her at mbrooks@timesherald.com.