Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

Timothy Whitcomb has been sworn in as Cattaraugus County sheriff. Judge Larry Himelein administered the oath of office this afternoon. This is Whitcomb's first full term as sheriff. He replaces Dennis John, who died last summer. William Nichols has been appointed undersheriff.

Former Bills wide receiver Andre Reed has made the list of 17 finalists for induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Final voting will be held Super Bowl weekend. The bad news is, former Bills special teamer Steve Tasker did not make the final list of candidates.

Statement from Vice President Joe Biden: “My mother, Catherine Eugenia “Jean” Finnegan Biden, passed away peacefully today at our home in Wilmington, Delaware, surrounded by her children, her grandchildren, her great-grandchildren and many loved ones. At 92, she was the center of our family and taught all of her children that family is to be treasured, loyalty is paramount and faith will guide you through the tough times. She believed in us, and because of that, we believed in ourselves. Together with my father, her husband of 61 years who passed away in 2002, we learned the dignity of hard work and that you are defined by your sense of honor. Her strength, which was immeasurable, will live on in all of us.” ~~~ Catherine Eugenia “Jean” Finnegan Biden was born on July 17, 1917, the daughter of the late Ambrose J. Finnegan and the former Geraldine C. Blewitt of Scranton, Pennsylvania. In 1941, she married Joseph Robinette Biden. They were married for 61 years before Mr. Biden pa...

BUFFALO– U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Field Operations announced the apprehension of a United States citizen wanted in the State of Florida for unlawful sexual activity with a minor. On January 7, CBP officers encountered Ramon Ventura, a 45 year-old United States citizen from Land O’ Lakes, FL, as he applied for admission into the United States as a passenger in a taxi cab at the Peace Bridge border crossing in Buffalo, NY. Mr. Ventura had applied for entry into Canada on the same day and was being refused admission because of prior criminal convictions in the United States. Record checks by Canadian authorities also revealed the possibility of an active warrant in the United States. Mr. Ventura was escorted by CBP officers to a secondary inspection area for further questioning and inspection. Additional name and electronic fingerprint queries of Ventura by CBP officers verified that he was in fact the subject of an active nation-wide no bond warrant issued December 30, 20...

Frank Williams, who is on his way to Clearfield for the Owls/Bisons game, tells us that Route 219 is closed from Lantz Corners to Wilcox because of an accident between a passenger vehicle and a tractor trailer. One injury has been reported. Traffic is being re-routed. We'll have more information as it becomes available. ~~~ At 4:53 p.m. Frank called to say the broadcast crew had just gotten to Ridgway -- an hour and 40 minutes after leaving Bradford. He said the roads are slippery, adding "When the semis are crawling you know it's bad." ~~~~ Another Frank update: It took the broadcast crew 2 1/2 hours to get from Bradford to Clearfield -- a little more than half an hour longer than usual. Frank says Interstate 80 was snow-covered and he talked to a truck driver in Clearfield who said he's seen snow on I-80 before "but not like it is now." And, because Frank, Tom and Mike made it to Clearfield safely, you can hear the game online at WESB.com starting at...

The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford has won an award from CASE, the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, for an integrated marketing plan that was used to unveil the Crime Scene Investigation House in fall 2008. The university received a Silver Award in the 2010 CASE District II Accolades Awards Program in the Individual Special Public Relations Projects category, competing with entries from other colleges and universities in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, the District of Columbia, West Virginia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Ontario, Canada. District II is the largest of the eight CASE districts. The award will be presented at the CASE District Conference in Philadelphia on Feb. 7-9. The goal of the award-winning plan was to introduce the CSI House to the campus community, alumni, residents in the surrounding community and prospective students who may be interested in majoring in criminal justice. The plan included opening the ...

Tops Friendly Markets says it will buy all of bankrupt Penn Traffic's 79 supermarkets for $85 million in cash. Tops says Penn Traffic has accepted its bid and has recommended it to the U.S. bankruptcy court in Delaware for approval. The bid includes Tops forgiving about $100 million in unsecured claims against the Syracuse-based company. A ruling on the offer could come this afternoon or early next week. Penn Traffic filed for bankruptcy in November and moved to sell most or all of its assets. It operates 79 P&C, Quality Markets and BiLo stores in New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont and New Hampshire and employs more than 5,700 people.

By SANDRA RHODES This year may not be one that brings Halley’s Comet soaring through the air, but it is one that brings Mark Twain into town. Well, while it may not be the real Mark Twain, it will be a stellar impersonation by Mike Randall. Randall will grace the stage at Bromeley Theater in Blaisdell Hall at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford Saturday for Mark Twain Live! The show will begin at 7:30 p.m. Randall’s performance is part of this year’s One Book Bradford season. One Book Bradford is a community-wide reading initiative whose selection for 2010 is “Becky: The Life and Times of Becky Thatcher” by Lenore Hart. Hart herself will be coming to Bradford March 31 to discuss the book. Given the obvious connection between Twain and Hart, the One Book Bradford committee thought it only seemed right to bring “Twain” to Bradford, if only for a night. Randall, who has been doing his Mark Twain show in Western New York since 1972, first became interested back in high school when a f...

Dr. Terry Foust of Charles Cole Memorial Hospital's Champion Orthopedics and Sports Medicine was recognized for his research paper on spinal surgery at the American Osteopathic Academy of Orthopedics meeting in Boston. The paper, "Increasing Visualization and Ease of Decompression During Anterior Cervical Spine Surgery by Varying Angle and Laterality of Approach," earned a third place scientific paper award in general orthopedics among over 500 submissions nationwide. Dr. Foust, a Coudersport native, joined Champion Orthopedics and Sports Medicine in July 2008 and specializes in spinal surgery.

Area residents are encouraged to take a ‘snow day’ on Saturday and visit downtown Bradford for the first annual Snow Daze Tour. The tour will include business open houses, merchant specials, clearance sales, free refreshments and a snow flake scavenger hunt. “We really do have a lot going on in our historic business district,” said Main Street Manager, Anita Dolan. “If a person has set a goal of getting in shape for the New Year, trying a new hair style, getting organized, or doing some different decorating around the house, then this is the day to visit Downtown Bradford,” Dolan added. Participants include Roseart Company, Lisa’s Hairport, Main Street Mercantile, Main Street Fitness, Metamorphic Training, Curves, Tin Ceiling Gift Shoppe, Kimberly’s Cool Beans Café, LaBrozzi Insurance, Grandma’s House Tea and Gifts, and Paper to Pages. Businesses will be offering membership specials, discounted services and after holiday clearance sales. Refreshments will be available at many of the l...

Mayville, NY -- In an effort to improve efficiencies in Chautauqua County and manage County expenses more effectively, Executive Gregory J. Edwards has announced that the days of operation at the County's four Transfer Stations have changed. "As we have done in the past, we reviewed our operations to identify areas where we can become more efficient and spend less. One area we analyzed was the County owned landfill." Edwards said that one point of concern was the expenses the County was incurring for overtime. To combat that, Edwards said the decision was made to close the South County Transfer Station in Falconer on Wednesdays. The South County Transfer Station will remain open on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. "We made this change to reduce the overtime expense that we were incurring within the division, and Wednesday was the lowest volume day," Edwards explained. Edwards also noted that the North County Transfer Station, which was once available for ...

Washington, D.C.—U.S. Representative Glenn `GT’ Thompson, R-Howard, today has learned that Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has appointed Thompson’s nominee, Erick Coolidge of Wellsboro, to the Dairy Advisory Committee created this year within the U.S. Department of Agriculture, USDA. Thompson was joined by five other Pennsylvania Congressmen in making the nomination: Jim Gerlach, R-Chester Springs, Joe Pitts, R-Kennett Square, Bill Shuster, R-Hollidaysburg, Todd Platts, R-York County, and Charles Dent, R-Allentown. “This is truly great news that Pennsylvania’s dairy farmers will have a seat at the table when suggestions and ideas are presented to the Secretary of Agriculture on dairy issues,” said Thompson. “Dairy farmers are still not earning the profit they deserve and many small farms across the country are still struggling to stay in business.” “Erick Coolidge is a longtime dairy producer –a fourth generation dairy farmer with nearly 45 years of experience in the industry bo...

State Rep. Martin Causer (R-Turtlepoint) or one of his representatives will hold office hours on Thursday, January 7th, 2010, at the following locations: ● Emporium Borough Office – 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. ● Port Allegany Borough Office – 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Services available include assisting constituents with state-related issues or concerns, assistance with driver license and vehicle registration applications, and help in filling out applications for various state programs, such as the senior citizen Property Tax/Rent Rebate and PACE prescription drug assistance programs. People who cannot make the satellite sessions may call Causer’s offices in Bradford (1-866-437-8181) or Coudersport (814-274-9769) for assistance.

“It is heartening that Governor Paterson focused on ethics, fiscal responsibility and jobs. I was pleased to hear the Governor speak of a spending cap to get out-of-control spending in line. Albany has to rein in irresponsible behavior, and a spending cap is a good first step. My conference passed a spending cap before New York City took control of the Senate last year, and currently, I have a petition drive to contain reckless spending. We need to push the Assembly to pass it too, to finally help our hardworking, overburdened taxpayers. It was great that the Governor spoke about revitalizing the economy, with a focus on small businesses and manufacturing. The only way to solve the state budget deficit and help families is to grow more jobs so that we have more economic opportunities and our young people don’t have to leave. It’s going to be a tough year, and I will continue to stand up against tax hikes and bad fiscal policies that hurt Upstate. I hope tha...

Bradford Regional Medical Center today announced staff reductions of 59 employees to deal with the effects of a challenging healthcare environment and the financial condition of the hospital. According to Hospital President and CEO Timothy Finan, “The staff reductions are necessary to ensure improved financial stability of the hospital. Current patient volumes and activity levels cannot support existing hospital staffing levels. This is a very painful, but necessary, decision that will ensure that we retain the ability to provide care to the community we serve. To do otherwise would potentially prompt additional job losses and place the hospital’s mission in jeopardy.” Finan made it clear that the staff reductions will in no way impact patient care or safety. The staff reductions were made as a result of a comprehensive assessment of the hospital’s financial performance and is part of an overall hospital financial improvement plan. Bradford Regional Medical Center has lost approxima...

Bradford City Police have released more information about the stabbing Tuesday morning on Rochester Street. They say Stephen Summers was attacked by Grant Lewis while Summers was asleep in an upstairs bedroom at 56 Rochester Street. Police say Summers was on the porch and bleeding heavily when they arrived. Lewis allegedly stabbed Summers in the chest and arm. Lewis then left the scene and was picked by Olean City Police. A Bradford police officer went to Olean to interview Lewis and collect evidence. Lewis was charged with aggravated assault, arraigned by District Judge Dom Cercone and sent to McKean County Jail on $50,000 cash bail.

A number of people at Bradford Regional Medical Center have reportedly lost their jobs. A source tells WESB 69 people have been let go, but that number has not been confirmed yet. Calls to BRMC about the situation have not been returned yet.

SHELBURNE, Vt. -- John Andrew Douglas, 49, was called home to be with the Lord on Tuesday (Jan. 5, 2010) in the Vermont Respite House, following a valiant battle with ALS. Mr. Douglas was born Dec. 21, 1960, in Bradford, Pa., a son of John A. and Joan Higie Douglas. For the complete obituary go to Ready Funeral.com

While I believe that much has been accomplished over the past couple of years, there was an issue of great concern that needed to be corrected. Quite frankly, and more specifically, this issue needed resolved. Happily, and justifiably so, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rendered a decision that I have been requesting for some time. This past week they ruled that the state constitution does not forbid a governor from employing and paying our state employees during a budget impasse. This decision validates something that I have stated time and time again during the budget process. Unfortunately, for the past two years this governor has used these types of threats and tactics to garner additional pressure from state employees. While I am not satisfied with the timing of the completion of the final 2009-2010 budget, there was no need to jeopardize the livelihood of Pennsylvania families during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. It was simply a failure of the Govern...

23 Percent of Donors Were New The United Way of the Bradford Area has made great strides in recent weeks, announcing today that more than $317,000 has been raised for the local community. “We are so proud, and appreciative, to be able to say that our community has pledged such a great amount,” says Executive Director Kelly Case. “I don’t know how to properly express our gratitude.” “So much hard work and diligence has gone into every aspect of Campaign 2009,” says Mandi Wilton Davis, Assistant Director, “there have been so many ‘goals within the goal’ that have been achieved this year, especially the new contributors.” 23% of the donor base was considered a new donor to campaign 2009. “We often say ‘once you get them, you can keep them’”, says Davis, “so we’re ecstatic with this figure!” Other hopeful aspects of the appeal that were achieved included the resurrection of the Speaker’s Bureau, Business Blitz, and successful special events. “So much should be said about how resourc...

When Ann Kessel of Bradford wanted to get her husband, Dick, an extra special birthday gift, it didn’t take long for her to come up with a solution – a scholarship at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. “We’re very interested in education and want to help students pay for a quality education,” Ann Kessel said. It turned out to be the perfect present. When Dick Kessel needed a present for his wife’s birthday, he added her name to the scholarship. The Kessels gift was matched by the Agnes L. and Lewis Lyle Thomas Scholarship Challenge. This fall, the first Ann and Dick Kessel Scholarship was awarded to Grace Chuhinka, a sophomore nursing major from Marysville. Preference for the scholarship goes to students enrolled in the business management, sports medicine, nursing and pre-medicine programs. Ann Kessel said those programs reflect the family’s interests. The Kessels are the owners of Kessel Construction Inc., a respected Brad...

State Senator Joe Scarnati (R-Jefferson) was sworn in to serve his fourth year as Senate President Pro Tempore during ceremonies held today at the State Capitol. Scarnati was unanimously elected to the post by his Senate colleagues and sworn in by Commonwealth Court Judge Johnny J. Butler. As President Pro Tempore, Scarnati will be responsible for appointing the chairpersons and members of the standing committees of the Senate. Scarnati will preside over the Senate during session as well as play a significant role in negotiations with the Administration and House of Representatives. Scarnati will also continue to serve as Pennsylvania's Lieutenant Governor. He will fill out the remainder of the late Lieutenant Governor Catherine Baker Knoll's term, which ends January 18, 2011. Pennsylvania's Constitution requires him to hold both, Lieutenant Governor and President Pro Tempore, positions simultaneously. "Looking forward, we have many challenges and issues ahead of u...

Cattaraugus County Sheriff Timothy Whitcomb will take the oath of office at 2 p.m. Friday in Little Valley. After being sworn in, Whitcomb is expected to appoint William Nichols as undersheriff. Whitcomb has been acting sheriff since the death of Dennis John last summer, and was elected to the post in November.

An Olean man has pleaded guilty to attempting to have sex with a child. Clayton Griffis is charged with attempted course of sexual conduct against a child. Cattaraugus County District Attorney Lori Rieman says between November 20, 2004, and December 30, 2008, in Olean, Griffis attempted to have sex with a child younger than 13. He will be sentenced on March 29.

An Olean man has been sentenced to one to three years in prison on an attempted burglary charge. On March 18, 2009, James Hovey attempted to enter the Nafco Quick Stop in the Town of Great Valley with intent to commit a crime. Hovey and his co-defendants also intentionally damaged Nafco property.

One of the Bradford men involved in the October 9, 2008, attempted robbery of Domino's Pizza in Allegany has been sentenced to a year in Cattaraugus County Jail. Douglas Carnahan was charged with conspiracy for his part in the crime. http://1490newsblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/bradford-eldred-men-sentenced.html

A Mayville, New York, man has been charged with snowmobiling while intoxicated following an accident early Saturday morning on a snowmobile trail in Chautauqua. Sheriff’s deputies say 55-year-old Robert Kent lost control of the snowmobile at around 4:30 a.m. and crashed into a tree. Later that morning, a trail groomer found Kent at the site. He was taken to WCA Hospital in Jamestown for treatment. Deputies say further charges are pending the results of a blood test.

Police have released the names of the people involved in a car vs. tractor-trailer accident Monday afternoon on Route 219 in Lafayette Township. They say a car driven by 21-year-old Brittany Vandervoort of Kane went out of control on the icy road, crossed the centerline and hit the front of the rig driven by 52-year-old Brian Spencer of Falls Creek. The car spun and hit the trailer, then spun again before coming to rest on the east berm. The truck came to rest blocking the southbound lane of the road. Police say Vandervoort was not wearing a seatbelt and suffered moderate injuries. Both vehicles had to be towed from the scene.

I'm having problems with "my" computer in the newsroom ... so please bear with me as posts will probably be infrequent until the problems are resolved.

This week's show is with Gayle Rogers, author of Nakoa's Woman, which was orginally published as The Second Kiss in 1972. Listen here . For more information, go here .