Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

Gerald Paul Cummins, 78, of 8 Chelsea, Lane, Bradford, a prominent local labor leader, died on Christmas Eve (December 24, 2009) at his residence, after a long illness. Born March 7, 1931 in Bradford he was a son of Jerome and Hazel (Holmes) Cummins. Jerry, as everyone knew him, was a 1949 graduate of Bradford High School. He was drafted into the United States Army on July 2, 1952 and was deployed to Trieste as a medic, he was honorably discharged on June 11, 1954. On July 14, 1956 in Knapp Creek he married Billie Jean (Kockler) Cummins who survives. After being discharged from the Army, Jerry returned to work with his brother, Richard, at the Emery Hotel. In 1954, he joined the Laborer’s International Union of North America as an assistant business agent for Local 836. He remained a member of the Laborer’s Union for the remainder of his life. In 1973, Jerry went to work for the Prevailing Wage Division of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a post he held for 10 years. After retiring fr...

By ANNE HOLLIDAY WESB/WBRR News Director Federal stimulus money, the intermunicipal sewer agreement and education were among the issues tackled by lawmakers Friday at the second annual Bradford Area Chamber of Commerce Legislative Luncheon. As for the sewer agreement, Mayor Tom Riel said it's "finally being moved along – albeit because we were basically under the gun by the DEP that we had to do something or face some very large monetary penalties." "Unfortunately, it's going to cost a lot of money and everybody's going to have to foot the bill in some manner," he said. "Hopefully it won't be as bad as we thought it would be originally." But Bradford Township Supervisor Don Cummins said his board isn't ready to sign the agreement until language that could mean as much as a 70 percent increase in sewer rates is changed. He also said "DEP has held the Tuna Valley hostage for two years" by making the municipalities submit, and re...