Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

The City of Bradford Police are investigating an altercation that occurred in the 100 block of Main Street on October 7, 2011 at approximately 1:00 AM. Two individuals, both students at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, were injured in the altercation and were treated at Bradford Regional Medical Center with moderate to severe injuries. The altercation involved a number of individuals and a knife was reportedly used during the altercation. Bradford City Police are continuing their investigation and no charges have yet been filed. The McKean County District Attorney’s Office is also reviewing the incident and is working with the City of Bradford Police in the investigation. Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the City of Bradford Police at (814) 368-6133.

Thomas Edward Clark was born on April 15, 1939 in Emporium, Pennsylvania as the third son of the late Otto and Josephine Schager Clark. An avid hunter and fisherman, Tom enjoyed the outdoors. He was a star fullback at Cameron County High School, graduating with honors in 1957. After attending Penn State University for two years, Clark received an appointment to the Air Force Academy from which he graduated in 1963. The graduation ceremony included the first commencement address to the Academy from a sitting president, President John F. Kennedy. That same year Tom married his high school sweetheart, Kathleen Mottern of Emporium. The 1963 Air Force Academy Yearbook states that Tom's goals were to be a pilot and a politician. On February 8, 1969 Captain Clark was flying an F-100D Super Sabre, of 416th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 37th Tactical Fight Wing, in a flight of four mission over Laos. The flight controlled by an F-4 Forward Air Controller, engaged a 23mm Anti-Aircraft Artillery...

Steve Jobs, 1955 - 2011

The fall Spectrum series at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford will include a visit by a screenwriter, two classic dramas and music by flutist Sarah Tiedemann. The Spectrum series, which supports the arts curriculum at Pitt-Bradford, will open with a visit by screenwriter Brad Riddell at noon Oct. 11 in the Mukaiyama University Room. His talk is free. Riddell’s screenwriting credits include assignments from Universal, Paramount and MTV Films. He wrote the fourth film in the “American Pie” series, “Band Camp,” which remains the highest-grossing live action straight-to-DVD movie production to date, and has worked on sequels to franchise films such as “Josie and the Pussycats,” “Slap Shot” and “Road Trip.” Currently he is producing his own script, “Harmony” with director Stu Pollard. Spectrum theater begins Oct. 15 with a performance of John Steinbeck’s classic, “Of Mice and Men” at 7:30 p.m. in the Bromeley Family Theater. Cost for the public is $10 to $12; for all students, free. ...

Julie Briggs Cunningham has joined the Office of Advancement at St. Bonaventure University as the director of annual giving programs, the University announced today. Ms. Cunningham most recently served as executive director and chief professional officer of the Allegany County United Way. During her more than 13 years with United Way, Ms. Cunningham successfully transitioned the company from a traditional fundraising model to a community impact business model. She mobilized a network of more than 100 volunteers and increased United Way campaign donations by 300 percent. "Julie brings to St. Bonaventure vast expertise in the areas of fundraising, strategic planning and public relations," said Mary Driscoll, vice president of University Advancement. “She has hit the ground running and is a welcome addition to our staff.” An active volunteer in her community, Ms. Cunningham has been a board member of the Business and Education Community Coalition, vice president of the Liter...

OLEAN -- The final tallies from the ninth annual Rally in the Valley are in and organizers from Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce are very pleased with the outcome. With the success of the event, they will be able to gift $10,000.00 to local charities. Southern Tier Child Advocacy Center; the ReHabilitation Center; the Dempsey Club; Olean Airport Support Group; Mercy Flight; OHS Sports Boosters; South Olean Football; and Southern Tier Military Support Group are all recipients of the event’s proceeds. With this year’s donations, the Rally in the Valley has been able to give more than $160,000.00 to local charities. Rally in the Valley was introduced to the area by local business leaders who saw what other communities have done with similar events and wanted to bring that same type of experience to Olean. They knew the event would draw many people from outside the area and the longer they ran the event the larger it would grow. In addition, they knew there were many bikers in th...

By Kimberly Marcott Weinberg Assistant Director of Communications and Marketing A new program at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford is helping international students adjust to college life in the United States. Pitt-Bradford has more international students than ever – a record 23 this year. Dr. Ron Binder, associate dean of student affairs, developed the new VISA Mentor Program so that a fellow student could help them adjust to life on campus. Each international student is paired with a mentor for the course of the school year. After arriving a few days early for the start of the school year, mentors gave the new students tours of campus and its buildings and services and the city of Bradford. Students used the Area Transportation Authority to give the tours so that the international students would know how to use the available public transportation system. As part of the program, mentors also touch base with their students on a weekly basis, to check on their status throughout t...

Tickets are now on sale in Bradford and at new outlets throughout the county for Bradford Little Theatre’s production of “Charlotte’s Web” to be performed at Otto-Eldred Junior-Senior High School Oct. 21-23. Joseph Robinette’s adaptation of the tale about a friendship between Wilbur the pig and Charlotte the spider remains “true to the spirit and intent of the original,” said author E.B. White. Director Nanci K. Garris says the family-friendly children’s classic will be shown to great advantage in the Duke Center school’s new lobby and art deco style auditorium. “This is our first production outside Bradford proper in years,” said Garris, BLT president. “We hope it will draw audiences from all over the county, and that Bradford patrons will make the short 12-mile drive.” “Our cast is drawn from Smethport, Duke Center, Eldred and Bradford in Pennsylvania, and from Allegany, N.Y.,” she noted. Tickets for “Charlotte’s Web” are av...

A man who told police he was the devil after walking drunk down Main Street and threatening people last week has waived his preliminary hearing. 42-year-old Harold Kithcart of Gillett, PA, was flexing his arms and yelling, “bring it on,” while staggering to the point that he almost fell over, according to papers filed in District Judge Dominic Cercone’s office. After police put him in their car he was smashing his head and body against the cage and yelling, “I’ll kill you.” He did the same thing at the police station and, when police told him to calm down he told them he was the devil. Police added that he “screamed for hours” while at the station. Kithcart is free on bail.

Two men waived hearings today on charges related to domestic disputes. Timothy Curtis is accused of going to the house where his girlfriend was staying to get away from him and slapping her, which knocked her glasses off her face. Police told him to stay away from her but the next day he was walking around the house and was found standing on the front porch, according to papers filed in District Judge Dominic Cercone’s office. He’s charged with stalking, loitering and prowling and night, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness. Richard Schoonover is accused of calling a woman and saying he “would beat her to death.” According to papers filed in Cercone’s office, in the past Schoonover has said, “the only way she would leave him is in a body bag.” When he was arrested for terroristic threats and harassment, police also discovered that he had 10 hydrocodone pills. Both men are free on bail.

A section of Route 59 between the villages of Ormsby and Mt. Alton in McKean County, will be closed from Oct. 17 through 21. PennDOT needs to close this section of Route 59 so that crews from McKean County Maintenance can replace a large pipe in this area. The work zone is located near the intersection of Route 4003 and 59 in Lafayette Township. All work is weather dependent. Motorists are advised to use alternate routes around the closure. PennDOT’s official detour will make use of Route 4003 and Route 646. Drivers are reminded to obey posted speed limits, follow detour signs, and always buckle up. Follow PennDOT on Twitter at www.twitter.com/511PAStateCOLL .

A Bradford man has been indicted by a West Virginia grand jury for having inappropriate contact with a 4-year-old girl. A Marion County grand jury handed up the indictment today against 25-year-old Tony Ford. He is charged with sexual assault and sexual abuse. The alleged incident happened in 2009. US Marshals picked him up as a fugitive from justice in March near Towanda and brought him to McKean County to answer charges that he was riding a bicycle on a Main Street sidewalk in Bradford after police told him not to. When police stopped him again, he gave them a false name, address and phone number. In July he was sentenced to 18 months’ probation on those charges. His bail in West Virginia is $100,000.

A Kane man who allegedly showed up at the state police barracks in Mount Jewett under the influence of drugs and alcohol is facing a number of charges. State police say at around 11:45 Friday night 18-year-old Bryan Waigand went to the station to pick up his mother who was there after being stopped for DUI. Troopers determined that Waigand was under the influence and, when they told him he was being arrested, he started to fight and resist arrest. He’s was charged with DUI, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and a summary traffic violation, arraigned by District Judge Dominic Cercone and sent to jail in lieu of $5,000 cash bail.

Five people are homeless and two firemen are hurt following a blaze in St. Marys Tuesday night. Firefighters were called to the Walker Road home at around 7:50 p.m. and found heavy flames coming from the backside of the house. The fire did major damage to the kitchen, dining room and living room. The second floor of the house had major smoke and water damage. The family of five and their dog all managed to get out safely. The Red Cross is helping them because the home is uninhabitable. One fireman slipped on the front porch and suffered minor injuries. Another suffered heat exhaustion. The investigation into the cause of the blaze is continuing but firefighters say they don’t believe it’s suspicious.

A Mexican man who helped his brother operate La Herradura in Bradford, Don Lorenzo’s in Allegany and several other restaurants has been sentenced to a year in federal prison. 38 year-old Javier Banda-Mireles, who was in the U. S. illegally, was arrested in April 2008 with his brother, Simon and nine other restaurant managers. Simon Banda-Mireles owned the restaurants that employed illegal aliens between 2006 and 2008. He pleaded guilty in March to harboring illegal aliens.

A Fredonia man is facing charges of allegedly throwing a dog down a flight of stairs. Sheriff’s deputies say 34-year-old Jermaine Batten threw a miniature pincher down the stairs at a home in Pomfret. The dog was taken to a vet for treatment of its injuries. Batten was charges with animal cruelty and sent to jail on $1,000 bail.

A Perrysburg man is dead after crashing his SUV into a stand of trees Tuesday evening. Sheriff’s deputies say 44-year-old Victor Morley was on Townline Road when the SUV went out of control, hit the trees and caught on fire. Morley was pronounced dead at the scene.

US Senator Pat Toomey has announced that his staff will hold a casework day in the city of Bradford from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Oct. 13. During the casework event at State Representative Martin Causer’s office, Toomey’s staff will be available to help constituents who are having problems with federal agencies and programs. Constituents are encouraged to bring documents they have received from federal agencies related to their issues. Rebecca Sorenson, staff assistant in the senator’s Erie office, will be on hand to help area residents at the casework day.

J. Gary Rhodes, Vice President of UPMC Hamot and CEO of Kane Community Hospital (KCH) presented the annual state of the hospital at the weekly meeting of Kane Rotary last week. At the conclusion of the 2011 fiscal year, that ended June 30, 2011, the bottom line was a net income of $1,353,181, a turn-around of $1.56 million from the previous fiscal year that ended with a loss of $209K. “This is the best year our hospital has ever had since I’ve been here,” stated Rhodes, who came to KCH in 1987 and become its CEO in 1996. In November of 2009 KCH became the first controlled affiliate of the Hamot Health Foundation. In February of this year, KCH became affiliated with UPMC by virtue of Hamot’s integration with the UPMC Health System. UPMC, with home base in Pittsburgh, is the largest employer in Western Pennsylvania. Hamot is the largest medical facility to link with UPMC. Regarding KCH Rhodes stated, “We’re a UPMC hospital like any other UPMC hospital. The only difference is that we ke...

A Bradford man has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for trying to seduce a 14-year-old girl he met on MySpace. 33-year-old Michael Begin pleaded guilty last October to attempting to encourage the girl to have sex and attempting to transfer obscene material to her. The girl’s mother saw messages he sent and contacted the FBI, who had an agent use the girl’s cell phone and MySpace account to keep in touch with Begin. He arranged to meet the girl at a Bradford restaurant in February 2010, and had a a pair of handcuffs he intended to use during sex.

Several people appeared in Cattaraugus County Court Monday on drug charges. Dale Redeye of Salamanca was sentenced to two years in prison for selling crack cocaine on September 2, 2009, in Salamanca. Shauna Lewis of Perrysburg was sentenced to 5 years’ probation for selling cocaine on October 9, 2008, in Perrysburg. Samantha Vantuil of Olean was sentenced to 5 years’ probation for selling hydrocodone pills on December 16 in Olean. Daniel “Brick” Price of Olean pleaded guilty to attempting to sell cocaine on October 22, in Olean. Lavelle “Hawk” Sotero pleaded guilty to selling a controlled substance in Olean on July 23, 2010. Jesse Conner pleaded not guilty to possession and sale of a controlled substance near school grounds on March 23, in Olean. Ernest Walters III of Olean pleaded not guilty to possessing a narcotic preparation with intent to sell on February 9, in Olean.

I had the pleasure of welcoming best-selling author Emilie Richards back to the show recently to talk about her book "Sunset Bridge." You can listen here . Something you may not know about Emilie is that Chautauqua County is one of her favorite places and you can often find her there in the summertime. For more information about Emilie and her books you can go to EmilieRichards.com You can also go to the Bradford Area Public Library to find Emilie's books or anything else that might interest you. Next week: Carla Neggers