Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

Three people died in an 18-vehicle pile-up on Interstate 80 in Clarion County. State police say two people were pronounced dead at the scene, and a third died on the way to the hospital. Two of them were hit after getting out of their vehicles. The list of injuries is in double digits. Nine trucks, including several tractor-trailers were involved in the crashes that happened during heavy snow and near-zero visibility. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

A Forest County woman is in jail for attempted homicide after a stabbing early Sunday morning. Police say 26-year-old Kayla Butler of Tionesta stabbed 25-year-old Derek Kirkpatrick of Leeper during a domestic dispute at a gas station parking lot in Farmington Township at around 1:30 a.m. Kirkpatrick was taken to UPMC Presbyterian in Pittsburgh. Butler is in Clarion County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bail. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

An argument over bottles and soda pop resulted in stitches for one man and charges against another. State police say 37-year-old Clyde Young Jr. of Sligo, PA, was arguing with another man in the Chautauqua County Town of Pomfret when Young assaulted the other man, put him in a headlock and obstructed his breathing. The victim suffered a laceration that required three stitches above his eye. Young is charged with criminal obstruction of breathing and is scheduled to appear in Town of Pomfret Court on Tuesday. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

A man has admitted to taking a 13-year-old girl from her Clarion County home and traveling to South Dakota with her. 33-year-old Joshua Baker, who was 31 when he took the girl across state lines, bragged about having a sexual relationship with the child. They met a year earlier at a family function. Baker’s cousin is the fiancé of the girl's mother. The FBI caught up with Baker and the girl in Rapid City after an employee at a store where they went to by eyeglasses for the girl was suspicious, got Baker’s license plate number, did an Internet search for him and saw the missing person’s report pertaining to him and the girl. She then called police. Sentencing is scheduled for December 2, and it’s possible Baker could spend the rest of his life in prison. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary E. Christopher Abruzzo announced today that John Guth, Environmental Program Manager for Air Quality, has been named regional director of the agency’s Northwest office effective today. “John’s strong background working with the regulated community, coordinating with local governments, directing and managing staff and serving with the region’s emergency response team has more than prepared him for his new role as regional director,” Abruzzo said. “His vast experience and dedication to the department’s important mission has earned him respect both inside and outside DEP. I am confident that he will continue to serve with diligence.” Guth began his career at DEP conducting field investigations for the Waste Management Program in 1985, and was promoted to Solid Waste Supervisor in 1993 to supervise employees conducting municipal, residual and hazardous waste inspections, compliance assistance and enforcement. Guth was again promoted ...

A Geneva, Ohio, man is charged with criminal homicide for killing his girlfriend’s 6-month-old nephew in Clarion County. 22-year-old Chad Chadwick allegedly injured the little boy while he and 23-year-old Kelly Hemminger, also of Geneva, were babysitting him at a camp in Washington Township back in August. Zeke Hamilton was in critical condition at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh until being moved to hospice shortly before his death on November 15. The Medical Examiner’s Report says Zeke sustained “non-accidental blunt force trauma to the head.” Hemminger is charged with conspiracy. Chadwick and Hemminger are expected to be extradited within the week. Photo of Zeke Hamilton from Guerriero Funeral Home, Ashtabula; photo of Hemminger and Chadwick from state police The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

A Clarion County man has been sentenced to 4 to 8 years in state prison for soliciting pictures of naked children. Attorney General Kathleen Kane says 26-year-old Shane Niederriter of Knox used social media to pose as a modeling scout in order to solicit the pictures. A search of his computer after his arrest in February revealed at least 25 photos and videos of minors engaged in sexually graphic activity. He pleaded guilty to 25 counts of possession of child pornography and one count of criminal use of a communication facility. He’ll be on parole for 5 years when he’s released from prison. http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/press.aspx?id=7354 The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

It was an unusual sight at Penn State DuBois on Wednesday as more than two dozen male students walked together around campus wearing red high heels. The walk also took them off campus, and down Liberty Boulevard, as women showing their support to the cause walked alongside the guys to cheer them on. The men were participating in 'Walk a Mile in Her Shoes', a men's march meant to raise awareness of the battle against rape, sexual assault, and gender violence. The event was organized by Passages of Clarion, Clearfield and Jefferson Counties, in conjunction with the Penn State DuBois Office of Student Life. The idea behind the march is to get men more involved in issues surrounding sex crimes. "Most of the time people think of sexual violence as a women's issue, but men are really the ones who can make a difference," said April Fleck, a prevention educator with Passages. "We want men to become aware of what they can do to step in and stop these th...

A Dunkirk man who already had a conviction on sex-related charges in Pennsylvania has pleaded guilty in federal court to distribution and possession of child pornography. 52-year-old Talbert Mount had nearly 1,000 videos and more than 13,000 images of child pornography on various computers and hard drives when federal agents searched his home in June of last year. They say some of the images depicted infants and toddlers. Mount was convicted of Corruption of a Minor of a Sexual Nature in Clarion County in 2010. The maximum penalty for the latest charges is 120 years in prison. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

A Venango County probation officer is accused of raping and sexually assaulting two women he was supervising. 39-year-old Marc Taylor of Knox in Clarion County allegedly raped the women while they were on house arrest in 2009 and 2010, according to papers filed in District Judge Douglas Dinberg’s office. Charges were filed Tuesday by Oil City Police following an eight-month investigation. Taylor is charged with felony counts of rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault, institutional sexual assault and bribery, along with misdemeanor counts of obstruction of administration of law and official oppression. Taylor is free on $40,000 bail and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Wednesday. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

The Clarion doctor who had an office in Kane has been arrested, and state attorney general Kathleen Kane says he was the largest buyer and distributor of Subutex in the country during the first five months of 2012. 67-year-old Thomas Radecki has been under investigation for about a year and surrendered his medical license in September. He is accused of over prescribing medications as well as trading drugs for sex. Radecki is a psychiatrist who specializes in treating patients who are addicted to heroin and highly addictive pain pills through the use of the controversial prescription medication Suboxone. Radecki is free on $25,000 bail and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for September 3. Read more here . The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

A former Clarion shop teacher has been sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison for having sex with an 11-year-old boy back in 2006, as well as other children in the 1970s and 1980s. 62-year-old Gary Weckerly had been facing hundreds of charges related to the incidents but pleaded guilty in January to one count of rape and two counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a person younger than 16, which were the most serious charges. Besides the 11-year-old old, he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old inside Clarion Area High School in 1985 and sexually assaulted another boy a number of times between 1976 and 1987 when the victim was between 3 and 14 years old. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

The man who injected a Brookville girl with a lethal dose of heroin will spend the next eight to 16 years in state prison. During sentencing for 30-year-old Shawn Ryan Carr of Kittanning the judge said he wanted to reject the deal Carr made with prosecutors because he thought it was too lenient. But he imposed the sentence because the family of 19-year-old Devan Knapp wanted the ordeal to end. After being injected with the heroin Devan stopped breathing. That’s when Carr moved her body to her car, drove her to Clarion County and put her in the driver’s seat with a syringe on her lap to make it look as if she overdosed there. Her family reported her missing on January 13. Her body was found two days later. Carr had pleaded guilty to drug delivery resulting in death and other charges in July. Pictured, Devan Knapp The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

A former Clarion County man who was stationed at a US Army base in Missouri is dead following an ATV crash Thursday morning. 25-year-old Timothy Panzar, who was from Leeper, PA, was riding the ATV a few miles north of Fort Leonard Wood when it went airborne, hit a tree, flipped over and landed in the Big Piney River. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Panzar was assigned to the 4th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade. Facebook photo The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

A California truck driver is jailed Clarion County after state police found 91 pounds of marijuana in his trailer. State police say 41-year-old Duane Willis of Carson was at a weigh station on Interstate 80 when they executed a search warrant and found the marijuana. Willis is charged with a felony count of possession with intent to deliver and as well as two misdemeanors. He’s jailed on $100,000 bail and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for tomorrow. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

Pennsylvania is going to do something this spring it has not done since 2009: spray for gypsy moths. The pests have stripped trees in at least 8 counties. Gypsy moth numbers are high enough in parts of Cameron, Clarion, Forest, Jefferson, Lycoming, Potter, Tioga and Venango Counties to warrant the spraying of more than 43 thousand acres of state forest, park and game lands, along with some private property. For more on this story go to PA Matters.com The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

A man who allegedly witnessed the lethal overdose of a Brookville teenager is now charged with helping moving the dead body. 32-year-old Joel Stark of Rimersburg is charged with conspiracy in connection to the death of 19-year-old Devan Knapp. He is free on $25,000 unsecured bail. Knapp went missing on January 11, and her body was found January 15 inside her car on a road in Clarion County. 29-year-old Shawn Ryan Carr of Kittanning allegedly injected Knapp with heroin, and when she stopped breathing, drove her car to the place it was found, put her in the driver’s seat and put a syringe on her lap. He is charged with third-degree murder, abuse of a corpse and a number of other offenses. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

A 29-year-old Kittanning man has been charged with murder and manslaughter in the death of a Jefferson County teenager. Shawn Ryan Carr is accused of injecting 19-year-old Devan Knapp with a syringe of heroin. Police say Knapp had trouble breathing, so Carr and another person took her clothes off and put her in a cold shower. She was then moved to a couch, where she appeared to stop breathing. Carr then carried Knapp to her car and drove off. When he got to Summerville Drive in Clarion County, he allegedly put Knapp in the driver’s seat and put a syringe in her lap to make it look as if she overdosed there. Knapp disappeared on January 11, and her body was found four days later. Carr is also charged with drug delivery resulting in death and abuse of a corpse and 11 other counts. Pictured, Devan Knapp The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

Clarion University sophomore Rakeeah Megan Sabazz Merritt accepts $500 checks from Susan Bornak, dean of student development, on behalf of Student and University Affairs, and Josh Domitrovich, vice president of Student Senate, to help with expenses incurred after she was shot in the leg during a drive-by shooting Feb. 2 in Clarion. Merritt suffered broken tibia and fibula bones. She has returned to Clarion University and is recovering. Also pictured is Reginald Merritt, Rakeeah’s father. Kevin “Deuce” Austin of Farrell is charged with attempted homicide and for being a convicted felon with a firearm, and a number of other charges in connection to the shooting. He is in Clarion County Jail on half a million dollars bail. Photo provided by Clarion University The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

Several cows had to be euthanized after a trailer they were riding in tipped over during a weather-related crash on Interstate 80 in Clarion County this morning. State police closed the road between routes 66 and 322 following the crash at just after 2 a.m. One westbound lane reopened at about 6 a.m. and the other opened at about 8:30 a.m. Troopers didn’t say how many cows were in the trailer or exactly how many were hurt and had to be put down. They also haven’t said yet if other vehicles were involved. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947