Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

A former teacher at Smethport Area Junior-Senior High posted on Facebook Thursday night and early Friday morning that he was going to kill himself, which led district officials to have “safety concerns” and call for a police presence at the schools. Former physics teacher Christopher Swanson was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the campus of Mercyhurst University at about 7:15 this morning. The Erie County coroner says he died sometime between 2 and 4 a.m. His last Facebook post was at about 3 a.m. Swanson had been fired near the end of the last school year for allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with a student. Police and school district officials say they took precautionary measures and had a police presence at the schools this morning, but believe there was no cause for alarm. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

UPDATE: The Facebook threats Swanson made were not actually against the school district. He had threatened to kill himself. But, I assume, because he had been fired from the school district, officials had what they said were "safety concerns." His last Facebook post was at about 3 a.m. ~~ Anne A former teacher at Smethport Area Junior-Senior High School caused safety concerns within the school district, but those concerns were alleviated well before students arrived at the schools this morning. Smethport Borough Police say they were contacted by Mercyhurst Police after the body of Chris Swanson was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the Mercyhurst University campus early this morning. The Erie County Coroner says Swanson killed himself between 2 and 4 a.m. Police say they did take precautionary measures, although they believed there was no cause for alarm in Smethport. School superintendent Charles Leasure tells us they did decide to have a police prese...

Father Raymond Gramata, Pastor of St. Bernard Parish and Kimberly Mooney, Principal of St. Bernard Elementary/Middle School has announced Kristen Tate Luther will join the organization serving as Advancement Director. As Advancement Director, Luther will manage fundraising, marketing, alumni and recruitment efforts for the school. The new position is funded through the generosity of the Bradford Central Christian Charitable Trust, established for the specific purpose of supporting Catholic Education in the Bradford community. Luther, an alumna of St. Bernard’s and Bradford Central Christian, is a graduate of Mercyhurst College earning a Bachelor Degree in Business Management. A native of Bradford and a lifelong supporter of Catholic Education, Luther and her husband, Rich are parishioners of St. Bernard Church. Their children attend St. Bernard Elementary/Middle School. Luther is a 10 year member of the St. Bernard School Advisory Committee, YWCA of Bradford Female Leadership Recipient...

A Syracuse-area man has pleaded guilty to strangling and suffocating a Mercyhurst College student in November. 21-year-old Steven Pieper of Liverpool admitted in court that he killed his former girlfriend – 20-year-old Jenni-Lynn Watson – while she was home for Thanksgiving break. He then dumped her body near a park outside of Syracuse, where it was found 8 days later.