Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

I'm thankful for our loyal listeners and advertisers.

I told you I'd have more (I guess I'm just a very happy and thankful person): The American Cancer society; the Bradford and Kane Relay for Life teams; Dorie Meabon; Skye, Rhonda & Chico for believing in something and working so hard to make sure it comes to fruition (and I know it will!); Dawn & Debi; Charlie Company; knowing that if I want or need to, I can hop a flight from Bradford to Cleveland to see my family; my LiveLine and Weekend Wrap guests (especially that guy who's gonna officially be Lt. Governor on Wednesday); publicists who send me two copies of a book -- one for me and one to give away; the incredibly generous people in this community; Linda Devlin; Bradford Special Police; all the area VFDs; Terri Cannon; everyone at Dom & Rich's offices; snowplow drivers who do the very best they can on my street (I wouldn't want to have to plow it!); YouTube; Sasha & Malia; Crocs; the best classic rock in the Twin Tiers; people who read this blog; ...

... that I'm on vacation 'til Monday so don't expect many posts here in the next few days. I also wanted to mention a few people I didn't mention in my "I'm Thankful For ..." post from Sunday. (scroll down). So, I'm also thankful for Lisa, Anita, Mike & everyone ( yes, everyone ) at the PD, Boo & everyone at the FD, all the local businesses who are trying to make a go of it in these tough economic times, Ted Hardy (& Robin, too -- and the rest of the BASD), all the employees at Chapel Ridge, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the ELF Fund, Father Gallina, Chip, Linda Newman & everyone at the library, the Tuna Valley Trails Association, the Bonnies, Trent Edwards, Jabari Greer, Jim & Jill Kelly, Jane Orie, Cathy Young, City Clerk John Peterson, and my next-door-neighbor & my cousin Mike for shoveling my sidewalk. Hey, it's only Wednesday. I could think of more by tomorrow.

By ANNE HOLLIDAY WESB/WBRR News Director Anyone who's been paying attention to the state of the nation's – and the commonwealth's – economy probably saw something like this coming. City of Bradford taxpayers are looking at a 4.43 mill tax increase. Mayor Tom Riel said, "Nobody missed the boat. Municipalities and governments all across the state are in trouble. All municipal governments are in the same boat." Riel said the increase for a person who has a $40,000 home would be $160. He said that next year timber revenues will be about half of what they were four years ago. Health care costs have doubled in the last five or six years, and they're looking at a 23 to 24 percent increase next year. Riel also explained that because people aren't working, wage taxes are down. Mercantile taxes are down and, because contractors aren't building as much, permit fees are down, he said. "As the general public knows," he said, "when they go to the groc...

Prosecutors questioned (a former aide of Senator Vince Fumo) about e-mails from Fumo in which the senator asked him about using the farm to graze alpacas and whether he could collect as much as $4,200 yearly in farm subsidies by not raising crops. For the full story, go to philly.com

Betty James, who named the toy her husband invented -- the Slinky -- and rebuilt the toy company he abandoned, making the springy plaything a pervasive part of American culture, has died. She was 90. For more on this story go to the Los Angeles Times .

“A.J.” Laganosky, a senior at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, will break new ground next week when he becomes the campus’s first interdisciplinary arts major to present a solo multimedia exhibition in the KOA Art Gallery in Blaisdell Hall. Laganosky’s exhibition, “Battle of the Brutes,” will integrate the worlds of baseball and music through music and original compositions performed by Laganosky, computer graphics, multimedia and traditional art forms. The exhibit will open with a live music performance at noon Monday, Dec. 1, in the gallery, followed by a reception at 12:20 p.m. in the KOA Speer Electronics Lobby that is free and open to the public. The exhibit will run through Dec. 5 and is part of the Pitt-Bradford Spectrum Series. “Working on this exhibit has been a great learning experience for me,” Laganosky said. “Getting to work with Kong Ho, associate professor of art, and Dr. Lee Spear, associate professor of music, has been a gre...

From the Game Commission: HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania Game Commission officials today announced that hunters started the 2008 black bear season by taking a preliminary harvest of slightly more than 1,700 black bears in 50 counties. Game Commission employees processed 1,725 bears at the agency's check stations on the opening day of the three-day statewide bear season. The 2008 first-day preliminary harvest compares with 1,005 in 2007; 1,461 in 2006; 2,026 in 2005; 1,573 in 2004; 1,454 in 2003;1,348 2002; 1,812 in 2001; and 1,691 in 2000. “The first day harvest is the third highest opening day harvest recorded for Pennsylvania,” said Mark Ternent, Game Commission bear biologist. “Weather cooperated, there was some snow on the ground and hunters appear to have had a fine day afield for the opener. Our season is off to a good start.” The top 10 bears processed at check stations on Monday all had estimated live weights that exceeded 580 pounds. Ray E. Barrick, of McAlisterville, harvested...

You may have heard about this on The Radio Factor: Parents in this quiet university town (Claremont, CA) are sharply divided over what these construction-paper symbols represent: A simple child's depiction of the traditional (if not wholly accurate) tale of two factions setting aside their differences to give thanks over a shared meal? Or a cartoonish stereotype that would never be allowed of other racial, ethnic or religious groups? "It's demeaning," Michelle Raheja (whose mother is a Seneca), the mother of a kindergartner at Condit Elementary School, wrote to her daughter's teacher. "I'm sure you can appreciate the inappropriateness of asking children to dress up like slaves (and kind slave masters), or Jews (and friendly Nazis), or members of any other racial minority group who has struggled in our nation's history." For the full story, go to the Los Angeles Times .

Thanks to Kimberly Weinberg for passing this on to me. Warning: You must have a sense of humor to read it. St. Bonaventure Changes Slogan to Just %#@&in’ Come Here! Kind of reminds me of something Dan Barry might have written back in the day.

Daryll Clark and Aaron Maybin were two of a school-record 10 Nittany Lions to earn first-team conference honors, and Joe Paterno earned his third Big Ten Coach of the Year award. For the full story, go to the Centre Daily Times .

From Darlene: We called Monday as we headed south via 219 to report gas prices in Johnsonburg at 1.99 and thought that was great. The prices held as we continued on to DuBois but the best part is is on our way back home we stopped at SHEETZ in Ridgway and they had dropped another 2 cents to $1.97!!! Every place but Bradford seems to ring very true - as we came the rest of the way home to Duke Center via Smethport and there the Kwik Fill was at 2.09 - and Tuesday is nickel off day there so will be at least 2.04 on Tuesday. Still love your show and all you do for the station and community!!! Thanks Darlene! Gas this morning in Bradford -- $2.24

Two Cattaraugus County fire departments are receiving federal Homeland Security Department grants through the Assistance to Firefighters Grants program. The Kill Buck Fire District will receive $99,935 in Operations and Safety money, while the Salamanca Fire Department will receive $9,993. Senator Hillary Clinton announced the grants, saying that they will "help provide the training, equipment, and other resources vital to ensuring they will be fully prepared for the hazardous jobs they perform.''

An Olean man accused of selling crack cocaine has pleaded not guilty. 20-year-old Ronald Billingsley is charged with selling crack on September 25, 2007y, in Olean. Also, on October 22, 2007, he was allegedly found with 11 packets of crack cocaine weighing more than 1/8 of an ounce. Both case have been adjourned for motions. Billingsley was sentenced Thursday in McKean County Court for selling cocaine to a confidential informant of the McKean County Drug Task Force on three separate occasions.

An Olean teenager has pleaded guilty to making graffiti between September 6 and September 9 in the city. 18-year-old Robert McCormick spray-painted "O-Town Soldiers" and "OTS" on a number of buildings, including the Knights of Columbus Hall, the B'nai Israel Synagogue and the Beef 'n' Barrel Restaurant. McCormick will be sentenced January 26.

A man who left the scene of an accident that killed a Salamanca teenager has been sentenced to five years' probation after the girls' mother asked the court for leniency. 54-year-old Frederick Freeman of Gowanda was charged with leaving the scene of a personal injury accident. On June 13 of last year in the town of New Albion, he attempted to pass another vehicle and ended up causing an accident that killed 16-year-old Ellie Pierce.

Two California men who sold a device to help people cheat on drug tests have pleaded guilty in federal court in Pittsburgh. 65-year-old George Wills of San Padro and 62-year-old Robert Dennis Catalano of Huntington Beach sold a product called the Whizzinator to men, and a product called Number 1 to both men and women. They also sold synthetic urine to be used in the products to be passed off as a customer's real urine during a drug test. The devices were sold from October 2005 through May 2008. Wills and Catalano are scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 20. They face up to eight years in prison, a fine of $500,000, or both.

From the DEP: The Department of Environmental Protection has approved the first phase of the application process by Rustick LLC to expand its municipal waste landfill in Sergeant Township, McKean County, and to construct a rail line and a related municipal waste transfer station. The decision allows the landfill expansion permit application and the permit application for a rail line and waste transfer station to accommodate the proposed rail intake to proceed to the technical review phase, which will examine the design details of the projects. In approving the first phase environmental assessment portion of the applications, commonly called the benefits/harms review, DEP concluded that the benefits of the projects outweigh the known and potential harms. The landfill expansion permit application requests a 336-acre expansion with 204 acres being used as new disposal area, which would add approximately 19.5 million tons of capacity. Rustick submitted the expansion permit application on O...

From the USFS: Warren, Pa. – Snowmobile trails on the Allegheny National Forest will open on Saturday, December 20, 2008. Trail conditions permitting, the snowmobile trail system will remain open through April 1. According to Deputy District Ranger Jodie Vanselow, “If conditions are favorable, we will consider opening the trails after December 13 (hunting season). Opening prior to this date will not occur due to the potential safety issues and conflicts with hunters.” Trail conditions are updated as they change on the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) website at http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/snowmobile/allegheny.aspx . The snowmobile toll free Pennsylvania DCNR hotline (1-877-766-6253) updates trail conditions Tuesdays and Thursdays. In addition, information on grooming activities may also be found on the Allegheny National Forest website at http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/allegheny/recreation/snowmobile trails/ . We would like to remind rid...

From AG Tom Corbett: Attorney General Tom Corbett today urged consumers to use extra caution during the holiday season to avoid common problems, scams and fraud. “The holidays can be a busy and exciting time, filled with many distractions, so it is extremely important for consumers to think before they spend,” Corbett said. "The pleasure of the holiday season can quickly be spoiled by crimes like identity theft or disputes involving gift purchases.” Corbett said that consumers should review a number of important details before making a purchase at a store: - Check the exchange and return policy for restrictions or exceptions. - When shopping for a gift card or gift certificate, check for fees and expiration dates (You may also want to consider the financial health of the store you are dealing with, or consider a gift card that is not attached to one particular business). - Keep all records and receipts in case you need to return an item or as proof-of-pu...

~~ Adam, Alex and Aaryn – the three best nephews any aunt could hope for ~~ The rest of my family ~~ A job I love, love, love. (I'd say more but it's never good to let your boss know you're that happy. So don't tell him, ok? And don't tell Scott, Frank, Dan, Stefan, Peg and Clara either.) ~~Tom Riel, who I'm proud to call my friend (and whose wife created the best salad in the world. Thanks Janel!) ~~ City Council meetings or, as I think of them, my twice-a-month night of entertainment ~~ A state government with a plethora of entertaining figures ~~ Friends who appreciate the use of the word "plethora" ~~Drivers who use turn signals ~~People who tell me they appreciate the work I do (This means you, Bob Onuffer) ~~The United Way ~~The Kiwanis Club ~~Mike Walter ~~Mike Cejka ~~Diane, Becky and Maria ~~Everybody who appreciates community theater (I hope that includes everyone I may inadvertently leave off this list.) ~~Joe Scarnati for trusting me and sa...