Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

"The Boss" passed this quiz on to me: Select a Candidate 2008 All you do is answer 11 questions to find out which candidates are most aligned with your views and opinions. After you take the quiz, feel free to post your results -- and your thoughts on your results -- right here. I won't tell you (yet) with whom I'm most aligned, but I will tell you I had never even considered voting for that person.

One good thing about not having this blog on the same server as our main Web site is that when WESB.com is down, we can still post here. So bookmark this site! Here's the news: Former Student Arrested at Bradford High A former Bradford Area High School student has been arrested following a fight with a student this morning at the school. Jammie Timblin is accused of trespassing in the school and arguing with the 17-year-old student about a girl. The 17-year-old injured Timblin during the fight. Assistant Principal Dave Ray broke up the fight and took Timblin to his office, where the school nurse treated him for his injuries. Bradford City Police Officer Dave Feely, who is the school resource officer, found that Timblin had a pocketknife. Timblin is charged with criminal trespass, disorderly conduct and possession of a weapon on school property. Anti-Assessment Group Files Lawsuit A group who says Portville's 2007 property assessment was wrong and unfair has filed a lawsuit to...

Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-9) was interviewed recently by the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association (PNA) about Senate Bill 1, his legislation to strengthen Pennsylvania's Open Records Law. Sen. Pileggi has said that SB 1 is his top legislative priority this fall, calling a stronger Open Records Law "the cornerstone of reform." Since introducing the bill, he has announced his support for changing the presumption in the current law so that all government records are presumed to be open unless they fall under a specific exception established in law. The PNA interview with Sen. Pileggi covers a variety of topics, including why Open Records is a priority, whether there is enough momentum to get a bill signed into law, how exceptions will be determined, and many more. In total, the interview runs about 22 minutes long. More information about Senate Bill 1 and other state issues is available at Senator Pileggi's web site .

State Children's Health Insurance Program Dear Editor: I am writing in response to your coverage of the President's veto of important children's health legislation. It is unacceptable that 9 million children in our country do not have health coverage. Covering kids is a smart investment - it saves money and helps kids do better in school. I applaud Congress for their vote last week to cover 3.8 million uninsured children, however I am extremely disappointed in the president's decision to veto the bill. This bill would enable millions of American children who would otherwise be uninsured to get the coverage they need for a healthy start in life. The State Children's Health Insurance Program is a bipartisan plan to renew and strengthen children's health coverage, and I am discouraged that the president is not making the health of our nation's children a principal concern. The State Children's Health Insurance Program has been a real bipartisan...

This message is from Dawn McGriff, whose son is a soldier serving in Afghanistan: "My one wish for this Holiday season is to see that every soldier in the Legion Troop receives an air mattress and pillow in time for Christmas. With your help and support, we can make this wish come true. " To see how to help Dawn, and Operation Legion, visit their web site . The living quarters of the 1st Battalion (Airborne) 503rd Infantry This is how they get water Operation Legion

Since Monday, I've been trying to figure out exactly what I wanted to write about the Department of Environmental Protection. For people who don't know, they're holding up at least two major projects here in McKean County. The two that got me thinking even more about this on Monday are the Foster Township sewer line extension and the Lafferty Hollow Industrial Park. During Monday's Foster Township Supervisors meeting, the board said different branches of the DEP are at odds with each other. For instance, once branch says the township must extend the sewer lines. Another branch won't give them approval on where to put the lines. I'm not surprised that a government agency is being that ridiculous, but before I wrote anything, I wanted to find out if other municipalities in the state are having similar problems. I got my answer while talking to Joe Scarnati Wednesday night. He said, "One thing about DEP is that they're equally abusive everywhere around the...

Peterson: No Senate Recess Without Passing Veterans Funding Bill Today, Congressman John E. Peterson, R-Pleasantville, issued the following statement after signing a letter to Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, urging him to make a veterans funding bill a top priority so Congress can send the President a bill before October 12, 2007. “The Democrats’ string of broken promises to the American people, and our veterans, continues. There’s a time for politics and there’s a time for accomplishing the people’s work. But when it comes to funding our veterans, politics must be checked at the door. Unfortunately, Washington Democrats, led by Harry Reid, are trying to ‘leverage’ this critical veterans funding bill against the President for political gain. They have even called Republican efforts to pass the bill ‘cute diversions.’ No obligation, as a Congress, should be second to funding our veterans. “Every American can be proud of the sacrifices our service members have made on beha...

No new taxes. What is about that phrase that Governor Ed Rendell doesn't understand? He wants to impose a "modest charge" on electric bills to start an Energy Independence Fund – an $850 million pot of money that would be used as incentives for businesses and consumers to use alternative energy sources. First, what's the difference between a "tax" and a "charge?" No difference. And with rate caps coming off in a couple of years, do we really need another tax – Sorry – "charge" – added to our electric bills? I know that when the caps came off in the Pittsburgh area and in Maryland the result wasn't nearly as catastrophic as people had predicted, but are we willing to take that chance again? Second, I'm all for alternative energy but let's be realistic here. How many people in the northern part of the state are going to be able to benefit from solar energy? I'm sure Mike Cejka would tell you we have many more cloudy days tha...