Last week’s news and features, all in one spot (Aug. 8 through Aug. 14): Monday Lower Merion Township police reported that more copper downspouts were being stripped from homes in Merion and Wynnewood, and that catalytic converters were being ripped from vehicles parked at SEPTA train stations. Later in the week, Patch editors spoke to area police departments and SEPTA officials about the trend of catalytic converters being brazenly stolen, often with battery-operated Sawzalls (Lower Merion Police have reported 11 catalytic converter thefts since April). “The large, low-hanging emissions …

Selections from last week’s news and features (Aug. 1 through Aug. 7): Monday The Barnes Foundation was back in the news, with the Friends of the Barnes and other petitioners arguing that despite appearances, the move to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway is not a fait accompli. Attorney Samuel Stretton told Montgomery County Orphans Court Judge Stanley Ott that former Pennsylvania Attorney General Mike Fisher misused his office, evidenced by clips from the 2010 documentary “The Art of the Steal,” and urged Ott to re-open proceedings to keep the art in Merion. Attorneys representing the Barnes …