Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

HARRISBURG -- State Sen. John N. Wozniak on Tuesday praised the resumption of the 96-year-old Pitt-Penn State football rivalry. "While games have been scheduled for 2016 and 2017, I am hopeful the schools will continue to work toward permanently resuming the rivalry," Wozniak said. The Cambria County lawmaker has continually pressed the presidents and athletic directors of both schools to resume the game since they discontinued the rivalry in 2000. Wozniak hosted a meeting between representatives of the two schools last year at his local office in Johnstown. He said both school presidents pledged to him at that time that they would work cooperatively to resume the game. The Pitt Panthers will host Penn State at Heinz Field on Sept. 10, 2016. The Nittany Lions will host Pitt in State College on Sept. 16, 2017 Wozniak described the Pitt-Penn State game as "one of the greatest college football rivalries in the nation." He...

A Sinclairville man is dead following an ATV accident early this morning in the Town of Gerry. Sheriff’s deputies say a passerby on Nobles Road came upon the accident at just before 1 a.m. and called 911. Their investigation showed that 43-year-old Hanley Josephson failed to negotiate a curve, went off the road and hit a tree. Josephson was thrown from the ATV and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Senator Joe Scarnati (R-Jefferson) today voted for legislation that would set stricter regulations for abortion clinics in Pennsylvania. Senate Bill 732 was introduced following a grand jury investigation of an abortion clinic in Philadelphia which had gone uninspected for 17 years and was operating under unsanitary and criminal conditions. The bill was improved and strengthened by an amendment offered by Senator Bob Mensch last week which Senator Scarnati also supported. “The atrocities discovered at the Women’s Medical Society in West Philadelphia made it clear that we need to require annual unannounced inspections for each abortion facility, set higher health and safety standards and implement a system that responds quickly to complaints,” Scarnati said. “This legislation will mandate that these facilities meet the same standards which other healthcare facilities must meet.” The bill would require clinics that perform abortions after nine week...

If there is an NFL season this year, Bills fans will have an hour less tailgating time before the game, and they won’t be able to smoke inside the stadium. The Bills announced today that they will be opening the parking lot gates four hours before a game, instead of five hours as they had in the past. The gates will still close two hours after the game. The team also announced that Ralph Wilson Stadium will be a smoke-free facility effective later this month. There will no longer be designated smoking areas inside The Ralph and, because the Bills don’t allow fans to leave the stadium and come back later, smokers will not be allowed to come back in if they leave the stadium to smoke. For more on this story go to BuffaloBills.com .

One of the nation's fiercest football rivalries will be renewed as Penn State and the University of Pittsburgh have agreed to meet on the gridiron again. The first game will be September 10, 2016, in Pittsburgh. The next will be September 16, 2017, in Beaver Stadium. The teams have met 96 times over the years. Their first meeting was in 1893. The last was in 2000. For more on this story go to GoPSUSports.com .

Marsh’s Bar is back in business after the owner and the city came to an agreement about what repairs should be done to his building and when. The Board of Health met this afternoon, initially to hear Marsh’s appeal of the suspension of his license due to health code violations. But the city’s special counsel Greg Henry told the board he and Marsh’s lawyer Joe Marasco worked out an agreement that suits both sides. Henry says this is a good deal. “I think it protects the city and, certainly, requires a great deal of Marsh,” Henry said. “It gets rid of all sorts of issues about whether he has time to comply and, if an appeal is taken, on what grounds it can be taken, and so forth.” “It has deadlines in there for all the known things for which he has been cited,” Henry added. Marsh has until July 8 to comply, but will get his license back immediately because he complied with the items needed for that to happen.

MEADVILLE -- Boaters and anglers are being asked to take steps to prevent the further spread of zebra mussels after the Department of Environmental Protection discovered the nuisance species in Conneaut Lake, Crawford County. Regional DEP staff found three zebra mussels during June 10 sampling, two in the lake and one in the Conneaut Outlet immediately below the lake. “The small number suggests that the current population of zebra mussels is relatively small and may not yet be self-sustaining,” DEP Northwest Regional Director Kelly Burch said. “We need the public's help to keep the mussels from gaining a foothold in Conneaut Lake and to keep them from spreading to other area waterways.” Introduced to the Great Lakes through ballast water from a freighter from Europe, zebra mussels have caused environmental havoc and millions of dollars in property damage as they’ve been transported to other waterways. Adult zebra mussels are small, clam-like animals about the size of a fingernail, ...

Harrisburg – The Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, chaired by Sen. Mary Jo White (R-21), today approved amended legislation that would impose an impact fee on natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. As amended by the committee, Senate Bill 1100 would set the fee at a flat $40,000 in the first year of production, followed by $30,000 in year two and $20,000 in year three. A fee of $10,000 would be assessed from years four through 10. The bill is sponsored by Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R-25). White said the schedule reflects the decrease in community impacts as the well production decreases. Of the revenue collected, 60 percent would go to local and county governments with drilling activity, and 40 percent would go for environmental and safety initiatives. The amended bill also sets aside $1 million a year for training and equipment for emergency responders in Marcellus Shale drilling areas, and would allow drillers a credit of up to 30 percent of their fe...

The Orak Grotto’s annual Tag Days recently raised $1,500 that will support scholarships for CARE for Children’s upcoming day camp, as well as scholarships for specialty camps, all for children with developmental and physical disabilities. During the day camp, CARE kids will take part in inclusive activities such as open gym, crafts, adaptive swimming, gross motor sessions and field trips; as well as a day at Mystic Waters for putt-putt golf, crafts and outdoor play. The donation will also enable 10 children to attend camps, including Camp JJ and Woodlands Youth and Teen Sports Camp. Pictured from left to right are: Dr. Karl Frankovich, M.D., Chief of Staff Emeritus, from Shriners Hospital in Erie; Zethan Brougham; Terry Matthews, Orak Grotto Treasurer; Rodney Jones; Tina Martin, CARE for Children Executive Director; and Gene Carll, Shriners Transportation Volunteer. Brougham, a seventh grade student at Floyd Fretz Middle School, is the son of Steve and Ann Brougham of Bradford. Jone...

By Kimberly Marcott Weinberg Assistant Director of Communications and Marketing A University of Pittsburgh at Bradford nursing professor and student left today for a medical mission in Cameroon, West Africa. Tammy Haley, coordinator of the Bachelor of Science in nursing program at Pitt-Bradford, and Amy Silvis, a nontraditional nursing student from Bradford, will be making the trip with Christina Siewe, a nurse and native of Cameroon. Siewe and her sister, who is also a nurse, founded the Good Samaritan Clinic in their childhood home in Ekona, a town of about 23,000 in the interior of Cameroon. Siewe has lived in the United States for many years, and she and her husband, Dr. Youmasu Siewe, came to Bradford when Dr. Siewe became the director of the Center for Rural Health Practice at Pitt-Bradford. The couple joined First Presbyterian Church, which has taken on sponsorship of the clinic. Haley learned about the medical mission through church member and Pitt-Bradford employee Dr. Holly S...

St. Bonaventure University presented Jean MacLeay, ’86, and Oliver “Ollie” McGonigle, ’66, with William P. “Stax” McCarthy Alumnus of the Year honors during the annual Alumni Reunion Weekend, held June 10-12 on campus. The award is named in memory of former annual fund and alumni director William “Stax” McCarthy, ’72, and is presented to a St. Bonaventure graduate who offers continued service to the university and captures the spirit of St. Francis, St. Bonaventure and St. Clare. “I am grateful to both of our honorees for their support and loyalty,” said Joe Flanagan, ’74, director of Alumni Services at the university. “Their leadership has helped St. Bonaventure in immense ways in their alumni chapters and here at the university.” MacLeay, a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers, graduated in 1986 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. MacLeay’s parents are also Bona grads: Her father, Ron MacLeay, graduated in 1957 and her mother, Janet, was a member of the class of 1959. MacLeay and ...

The seventh of nine people who pleaded guilty to scamming the Seneca casinos and others across the country out of half a million dollars has been sentenced to 33 months in prison. 38-year-old Rungen Huang of Pembroke Pines, Florida, and his co-defendants stole the credit and debit card account numbers of hundreds of bank customers and used those numbers to produce hundreds of counterfeit cards. The group then used those counterfeit cards to withdraw cash from ATMs at the Seneca Niagara Casino, Seneca Allegany Casino, the Salamanca Bingo Hall, and other casinos throughout the U.S. The group was able to pocket $510,500 in other people’s money between July and December of 2009. On Dec. 12, 2009, Huang and several other suspects were arrested following the execution of search warrants at three hotel rooms rented by the group in Salamanca, and a van they were driving. Investigators recovered a large amount of counterfeit credit card-making equipment, including credit card embossers, a tippi...

Bradford City Police on Sunday were probably wondering why people can’t just get along. They were called to a fight on Bushnell Street, a dispute on West Washington Street and reports of harassment on Main, Davis and Chestnut streets. Officers also got reports of criminal mischief on Willard Avenue, noise on South Avenue and a public drunk at Kiwanis Court, according to the complaint report and request sheet.

By ANNE HOLLIDAY WESB/WBRR News Director One of the people accused of killing an 18-year-old Eldred boy says he shot him because he was a snitch and he was arrogant. That’s according to the affidavit of probable cause filed in District Judge Annette Easton’s office for 19-year-old Jonothan Prather of Coudersport. He and 25-year-old Avery Buckingham are both charged with first-degree murder in connection to the death of Samuel Miller. A 15-year-old girl is also facing charges. According to the court papers, Prather told Buckingham “he needed to kill Miller because he is a snitch.” Buckingham told police Prather had been talkng about killing Miller for about three weeks. At around 8:30 p.m. on June 4 Prather, Buckingham, Miller, the 15-year-old and her sister went to the Foster Brook Wal-Mart to buy a spotlight. They then went to Coudersport, dropped off the 15-year-old’s sister, and then went to a pull-off on Prouty Road near a bridge. At about 3 a.m. on June 5 Prather shot Miller multi...

An Emporium woman is facing charges for an alleged incident Sunday in the borough. Police say the arrest of 50-year-old Patricia Brown came after an investigation into a report of domestic violence at the home of 49-year-old Phillip Brown. Patricia Brown was charged with burglary, assault, criminal trespass and harassment, and was sent to jail on $25,000 bail.

A Salamanca man caught in the act of burglarizing a home has been sentenced to 2 ½ to 5 years in prison. 28-year-old Terry Nichols Jr. was sentenced as a repeat felony offender Monday in Cattaraugus County Court. On January 14 he broke into a Salamanca home and stole $29 in change. The resident came home while Nichols was still at the house.

An Olean man who tried to rob a taxi driver in September has been sentenced to 1 1/3 to 4 years in state prison. 22-year-old Joshua Stebbins got into an Alle-Catt Cab in Olean on September 23 and told the driver he wanted to go to Hinsdale. When the driver, 59-year-old Vernon Outman, stopped the cab in the Crosby's parking lot, Stebbins punched him several times in the face and head. During the assault, the taxi accelerated through the parking lot and hit a canopy beam covering the gas pumps. Stebbins then tried unsuccessfully to rob Outman of his money. Outman was treated at Olean General Hospital for cuts to his face and head, and had to have stitches on his upper lip. Stebbins was also sentenced today to 1 to 3 years in prison for stealing more than $1,000 worth of property in Olean on April 26, 2010. The prison terms will be served consecutively.

A Clarendon couple is dead following a one-vehicle crash Saturday night just east of Sheffield. Police say 42-year-old Dwayne Wilson and 41-year-old Heidi Wilson were both pronounced dead the scene by Warren County Coroner Jeremiah Borden. Police say the crash happened at about 9:20 p.m. Saturday on a road off Route 6 when the Wilson’s pickup truck went out of control, traveled off the road and hit a fence, a porch pillar and a tree.

Arvid R. Nelson Jr., 83, of 42 Stone Avenue passed away Sunday (June 12, 2011) in his home, surrounded by his family. He was born October 14, 1927, in East Braintree, Mass., a son of Arvid and Jessie Angus Nelson. On August, 28, 1954, he married Eugenia M. Piper, who survives. He graduated from Whitman High School in Whitman, Mass, in 1945, and enlisted in the US Army. He served in Japan with the occupation forces following World War II. Upon his return to the States, he enrolled in Upsala College, East Orange, NJ, graduating n 1951 with a bachelor of science degree in business. He completed his studies at the Royal Globe Insurance Co., New York City, in 1952. Mr. Nelson lived for many years in Titusville and Erie, and worked in the insurance industry. He moved to Bradford in 1976, where he established the Nelson and McMaster Insurance Co. Prior to his retirement, he was a vice president with Burns and Burns Insurance. He was very active in the community, serving two terms as mayor of ...

Two men are being charged with criminal homicide in connection to the death of an Eldred man found dead in a Potter County creek on Saturday, and a 15-year-old is also being held in connection to the murder. An autopsy performed on 18-year-old Samuel Miller determined that the cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds, and his death has been ruled a homicide. Police will be charging 19-year-old Jonathan Prather of Coudersport and 25-year-old Avery Buckingham of Austin with criminal homicide and related offenses. The 15-year-old is in a juvenile facility pending further court proceedings. Miller’s body was found by a fisherman in Prouty Run Creek. Potter County Coroner Kevin Dusenbury says the body had been in the creek for about a week.