Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

These kids enjoyed the rides and games during the final day of Festa Italiana, and I was happy to learn that I could kinda see the fireworks from St. Francis Drive.

The people in the bottom photo got a bird's eye view of the Srongman Competition on Festival Way, when the woman pulled a pickup truck and the men pulled a Bradford City firetruck.

Due to a water main break, water customers in Rew are adivised to boil water for the next 72 hours, or until further notice.

And ... the winner is ... Kevin McNamara! Kevin gets a thumbs up -- and the keys to a brand new 4-wheeler -- from Dusty Krepp of Charlie's Cycle Center. Kevin's son Kevin looks pretty happy about the grand prize, too. Competing with Kevin in the kayak race were Joe Whitney and Jeff Hardy. The rest of the top 10 finishers were Bob Baker, Eric Ezzolo, Brent Raabe, Nikki Cutlip, Troy Bailey, Pete Hardy and Kevin Parkhurst.

An annual tradition: The Donut Purge, made possible by John Williams European Pastry Shop. Brent Raabe won this event by eating 11 (count 'em; 11) donuts in 3 minutes. And, yes, Scott Douglas got a video of the whole thing.

Brent Raabe, above, tries his hand at Farmer's Golf while Joe Whitney, below does the Car Search. Tim Benner, Chelsea Wontsettler and Kevin Parkhurst compete in the Water Run, and Igor relaxes as his team competes.

During a break in the action Frank Williams chats with Diane Sheeley, executive director of the Bradford Area Chamber of Commerce. Summer Hannold from Maryland was visiting her grandfather Bob and, it seems, she's practicing for when she's old enough to compete. Considering the sweltering heat, she was also smart enough to get a drink of water from Grandpa. WESB/WBRR Sales Rep Jessica Gilbert introduced her little one to Scott Douglas, Don Fredeen and Igor.

The fun and craziness starts in just a few hours at Mystic Waters Resort in Limestone. Come out and see it all for yourself! For more info, including who's competing, click HERE Check back later for pictures!

New York State has decided to hold off on a plan to collect taxes on sales of cigarettes by Indian retailers. According to the budget earlier this year, the state had expected to collect $65 million from taxing cigarettes sold to non-Indians in smoke shops, though the mail and over the Internet. But the Paterson administration has now eliminated the $65 million from the budget. Seneca Nation of Indians retailers lead the country in the sales of untaxed cigarettes. NYS Division of the Budget

A Hamburg, New York, woman was hurt in a motorcycle accident Friday night in the Town of Hanover. Sheriff's deputies say 21-year-old Alicia Zygmunt was on Versailles Road at about 8:45 p.m. when the bike hit some loose gravel on the shoulder of the road and went out of control. She layed the motorcycle down and suffered minor injuries to her left leg and left hand. She was taken by ambulance to Lake Shore Hospital for treatment. emailed by the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Department

Two people were hurt in an accident at 2:50 this morning on Route 120 near Meadowbrook Road in Ridgway Township. Police say a car driven by 52-year-old Charles McQuone of St. Marys went out of control while going around a curve, left the road and hit a utility pole. McQuone and his passenger, 33-year-old Tammy Ziegler of St. Marys, suffered moderate injuries. Police say the accident was caused by driving at an unsafe speed. fax from Ridgway-based state police

See? I told you I was growing some. Remember, if you have questions about tomatoes, or anything else lawn and garden related, you can call 1490 WESB's "Around the Home with Bob Harris" at 8:30 a.m. today. If you don't want to be on the air, you can also leave your question here, or send us an instant message from WESB.com . Bob answers questions about tomato blight HERE .

Festa Italiana Chef John Coder took me behind the scenes Friday evening to show me where they make the gallons and gallons of pasta e fagioli festival-goers eat throughout the weekend. Below, are people at the food court enjoying other offerings -- including meatball sandwiches, wedding soup and Italian sausage sandwiches. Others stopped by the pastry table for Yolanda cookies and pizzelles. Rides and, of course, enjoying time with family and old friends are parts of the festa, too. The festivities continue today on Festival Way and include a fireworks show at around 10 p.m.

On her Facebook page, State Senator Cathy Young posted pictures of some of the devastation the flooding caused in Gowanda, and she's allowing us to re-post them here. Young toured Gowanda with Governor David Paterson on Wednesday. She'll be touring Gowanda and Silver Creek again this weekend.

Tuition grants for Pennsylvania college students are on hold because of the 6-week old state budget impasse. About 172,000 college students don't know exactly how much money, if any, they'll be receiving from the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency. Officials with the University of Pittsburgh and Penn State have indicated that they will front the grant money to students if the budget isn't passed on time. The Chronicle of Higher Education

A federal judge has scheduled a hearing for October on New York's so-called Bigger Better Bottle Bill. The hearing will concentrate on whether a law imposing 5-cent deposits on bottled water should continue to be delayed until April. Amendments to the law were supposed to take effect in June, but bottlers got an injunction after arguing that they needed more time. The judge is allowing provisions to take effect that raise the existing handling fee for beer and soda bottles from 2 cents to 3.5 cents to redemption centers, and allowing the state to collect 80 percent of unclaimed deposits. Read Governor Paterson's statement on the developments HERE .

People driving drunk with children in the vehicle in New York will see increased penalties, according to legislation submitted today by Governor David Paterson. The Child Passenger Protection Act would make it a felony for people to drive while drunk or under the influence of drugs with passengers under the age of 16. Currently, the offense is considered a misdemeanor and may be treated as a traffic infraction. Under the governor’s proposed legislation, aggravated vehicle homicide in which a child under the age of 16 is killed would be punishable by up to 25 years in state prison. People convicted of driving while impaired with a child in the vehicle would automatically lose their license for a year. Paterson says in 2007 there were 9,480 DWI accidents in New York and 200 of the 344 people killed were under the age of 14. You can find more information on the governor's web site .

A Jamestown woman has been charged with welfare fraud and other offenses for allowing the employed father of her child to live in her house while she collected welfare benefits. Sheriff's deputies say 30-year-old Danielle Rapp failed to notify the Department of Social Services that the man was living with her, which resulted in the state paying her $12,462 in benefits from February of 2006 to December of 2008. She's scheduled to appear in court at a later date. ~~~ Salamanca police are looking for two men who smashed out a window at Movie World on Broad Street with an aluminum baseball bat. A witness said the two suspects drove away in a white Ford Taurus on Iroquois Drive toward Front Avenue at about 2:30 a.m. Tuesday. Damage is estimated at $1,500. ~~~ An Angola man is in jail after allegedly punching a woman in the parking lot of a Salamanca bar. 46-year-old Jeffrey Smith is charged with third-degree assault for punching the woman in the face, causing two cuts, bruising and ...

Former 5th District Congressional candidate Bill Cahir has been killed in Afghanistan. The 40-year-old US Marine sergeant had been serving in Afghanistan's Helmand Province. He enlisted in the Marine Corps after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and served two tours in Iraq. After returning from Iraq he resumed his career in journalism and worked for the Express-Times of Easton. He later decided to run for Congress when longtime US Representative John Peterson announced his retirement. He ran on the Democratic ticket against Clearfield County commissioner Mark McCracken, who won the Democratic primary but was defeated in the general election by Republican Glenn Thompson. From the Defense Department and previous WESB/WBRR news reports

It didn't take long for the food court to fill up, as people enjoyed Italian cucina on the first day of Festa Italiana '09. The games were also popular with the younger festival-goers. The 4 Jays entertained the crowd and serenaded longtime Festa entertainment chairman Annette Huff (seated second from right in the photo below) with "The Way You Look Tonight." I Tre Amici : Father Leo Gallina, Fran "Tubby" Colella and Stan Pecora officially opened the festival with an invocation, the singing of the Italian and United States national anthems and remarks about Bradford's heritage -- Italian and others. Pecora noted that the Festa has become Bradford's "Old Home Days" for all ethnic groups, and that all ethnic groups helped to build Bradford. Pecora also pointed out that Kim Benjamin and the Bradford Water Authority got in the Festa spirit by painting fire hydrants red, white and green -- the colors of the Italian flag. The Festa continues Fr...