Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

UPDATE (Friday morning): The fire is being considered suspicious, and Agosti says they are still investigating. City Fire Department Assistant Chief Rich Zmuda tells WESB that firefighters and four state police fire marshals -- three from PA and one from NY -- left the scene of the South Avenue fire at about 9 p.m. The cause is still under investigation and he expects PSP Cpl. Greg Agosti to issue a news release either later tonight or tomorrow. The New York fire marshal was called in because he has a fire-investigating dog whose services were needed. More than 40 firefighters from the city, Bradford Township and Derrick City battled the blaze at 103 South Avenue, starting at about 7:45 a.m. Neighbors heard an explosion shortly before that. The fire spread to 105 South Avenue, where it melted the siding and did other damage. No one was hurt. We'll pass along more information when we get it.

A vehicle crashed into the Rew Post Office on Summitt Road at just before 12:30 this morning. A parked car was also hit. Rew Fire Department and Bradford Ambulance were called to the scene, but we don’t have a police report with any further details yet. This afternoon a car crashed near the Route 219 Forman Street on/off ramps in Bradford. City police are still investigating. Image from Google Earth © The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

The man accused of driving the getaway car after a burglary at TJ’s Corner Store last month, and trying to run over a person who was trying to stop his accomplice, waived his preliminary hearing this morning in McKean County Central Court. 49-year-old Jonathon Reck of Rew is accused of driving to the store on Route 59 in the early morning hours of April 14, dropping off a passenger – who has not been identified yet – and then waiting for the man at Tack’s Inn. When his accomplice came out of the store with two cartons of cigarettes and a crow bar he tried to use to break into the cash register, neighbor Dillon Pennel saw him and tried to stop him. Court papers say Reck then sped across the road toward Pennel and almost hit him. Reck is charged with felony counts of aggravated assault, conspiracy to commit burglary and conspiracy to commit criminal trespass, as well as several misdemeanors and summary offenses. He remains in McKean County Jail on $50,000 bail. The news leader of th...

Elizabeth Ruth Irons, 91, of Rew, passed away Thursday, February 7, 2013 at Lakeview Senior Care & Living Center, Smethport. Born on August 25, 1921 in Bradford, she was a daughter of the late Clifford Paul and Nellie (Griffin) Armstrong. On July 12, 1943 in the 1st United Methodist Church she married Gordon J. Irons, who died October 28, 2010. She was a 1939 graduate of Bradford High School and furthered her education and graduated from the Olean Business Institute. She was employed as a Post Mistress in Rew retiring in 1986 and had previously worked at Dresser Manufacturing from 1941-1965. Mrs. Irons was a member of the Rew United Methodist Church, the Duke Center Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star and the Ladies Auxiliary of the Rew Volunteer Fire Department. Surviving is a daughter, Diana L. Irons, of Martha's Vinyard, Mass., a son, Gordon D. Irons, of Smethport, three grandchildren, Jeremiah Armstrong Brown, Naomi Elizabeth Brown, Reuben Fitzgerald Brown, th...

Fire heavily damaged a house in Rew early this morning. The fire was reported at the South Kendall Avenue home of Dennis Moore at around 1 a.m. Moore went across the street to a neighbor’s house to call 9-1-1. Firefighters from six departments were on the scene until after 4 a.m. A state police fire marshal is investigating.

A Rew woman accused of using someone else’s gas card while she was an employee at Kwik Fill on East Main Street waived her preliminary hearing today. Sarah Ambuske is charged with identity theft, receiving stolen property and access device fraud. She said she found a gas card outside the store after a customer left, and picked it up. After that, when she got cash from customers or the people who pump gas, she kept the cash and used the card to ring up the purchases, according to papers filed in District Judge Dominic Cercone’s office. Ambuske allegedly racked up more than $400 worth of purchases, which the card-owners noticed when they got their bill. They contacted United Refining, who investigated, then contacted Bradford Police. Ambuske is free on her own recognizance.

Crews from McKean County PennDOT Maintenance have completed work on Route 46 in Foster Township and the road is again open to traffic. Box culvert work closed Route 46 northwest of the village of Rew in McKean County for about two weeks. As a result of the road opening, the detour has been lifted.

Box culvert work will close Route 46 in Foster Township, starting Monday, September 20. Crews from McKean County PennDOT Maintenance will be working to replace a box culvert on Route 46, northwest of the village of Rew in McKean County. Work is expected to take about two weeks, weather permitting. The work will require a closure of Route 46 and a detour will be in place. The detour will direct drivers to Route 646 in Rew and Route 246 (Looker Mountain Trail Road). Drivers are reminded to obey posted speed limits, follow detour signs, and always buckle up. PennDOT reminds motorists they can log on to 511pa.com or call 511 from any phone to check traffic conditions before heading out.

A Bradford man was hurt in an accident Monday morning at the intersection of routes 770 and 59. State police say a motorcycle operated 52-year-old Ralph Carr of Bradford was at a stop sign on 770 when a pickup truck driven by 47-year-old Jeffrey Switzer of Rew was turning onto 770 and hit the motorcycle, throwing Carr to the ground. Police described Carr’s injuries as moderate.

When the Workshop Trailblazers ATV Club won a contest to ride with ATV enthusiast Brian Fisher at their favorite location, they had just one spot in mind – Majestic Kamp & Lost Trails in Coleville, just outside of Rew. That ride will be aired on Fisher’s ATV World on the Outdoor Channel on Monday at 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. and Tuesday at 12:30 a.m. It will also air in September. Brenda Fitch, owner of Majestic Trails, located on Route 46, explained that Fisher’s ATV World is a show that promotes new ATVs, equipment and riding areas. The Workshop Trailblazers, out of York, won a “Ride with Brian” by coming in first place in the Club Contest for having the most club members present at the 2009 Fisher’s ATV Reunion in Patton, Pa. “They toured our place here and did a lot of interviews,” Fitch said of the television crew. “We were very pleased and excited that a club from York chose Majestic Trails here in Rew as their favorite riding park.” The crew was on site May 6-May 8. Fitch said...

Two men are hospitalized after their car hit a snowplow head-on this morning on Route 46 in Keating Township. Police say a car driven by 24-year-old Randy McCaslin of Rew hit the PennDOT plow. He and his passenger, 21-year-old Jacob Niklas of Kane, were both seriously injured and were flown to Hamot Medical Center in Erie. The snowplow driver, 57-year-old Joseph Irons of Smethport, was not hurt.

Fire damaged part of Randy and Joan Connor's Derrick City house Friday afternoon. Derrick City Volunteer Fire Department Chief Jim Kelley says at about 2:15 p.m. they got a report of a structure fire at 651 Derrick Road. Heavy smoke was coming from a second story window when they arrived on the scene. Kelley says firefighters knocked down the blaze "rather quickly," and fire damage was contained to the kitchen area. There was smoke and water damage on the first floor. Kelley says one person was home at the time of the fire. He made it out safely and went to a neighbor's house to call 9-1-1. There were no injuries. About 40 firefighters were on the scene for about 2 hours. Besides Derrick City, the departments responding to the scene were Bradford City, Bradford Township, Otto Township and Limestone. Rew firefighters were on standby at Derrick City. Kelly says the cause of the fire hasn't been determined yet, but a state police fire marshal has been called in to i...

The boil water advistory for Rew has been lifted. The advisory had been in effect since Saturday because of a water main break.

Due to a water main break, water customers in Rew are adivised to boil water for the next 72 hours, or until further notice.