Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

One of Tom Riel's campaign promises when he was running for mayor was that he would make positive changes to the City of Bradford Police Department. In a speech Tuesday afternoon during a joint meeting of the Kiwanis and Rotary clubs, Riel said one of the first things he did after being sworn in as mayor was to make good on that pledge. He said when he named Mike Close as the new chief "reforming the City of Bradford Police Department began." "The publicly requested beat cop was walking the streets the next day," Riel said. "Chief Close dove in head first and was hard at work making the changes the city and police department needed." The department now has the Emergency Response Team and Street Crimes Unit, which were equipped, armed, trained and have specialized vehicles all at no cost to the city. Riel said Microtech, American Refining Group and Zippo were "more than generous" in their support. "The officers themselves were very giving...

At the start of Tuesday's Bradford City Council meeting, Mayor Tom Riel commented on the passing of Joe "Spider" Warner. "He truly did care about our community and wanted to help make it a better place," Riel said. "I considered him a friend and I'll miss the guy." "I hope that his legacy of Bradford-Online and ( Talk About Bradford ) goes on. God bless Joe Warner," Riel said.

The debate is still on about the problems of abandoned shopping carts and graffiti in Bradford. For pictures, check out Talk About Bradford and Bradford Today .

03/05/06 - Bradford Master Plan Team Holds Forum The Bradford Master Plan team held a public form Wednesday, and Albert Filoni told people that the team is not trying to bring Bradford back to its glory days, but they are trying to bring about a resurgence. Among the issues discussed were housing, zoning and economic development. Another issue was the attitude of people in the area – which the team says needs to improve because Bradford isn't as bad as some people perceive it to be. Also, Joe Warner of Bradford Online said getting people back to downtown Bradford could be as simple as putting up a sign. Everyone at the meeting seemed to agree that a sign coming out of Wal-Mart, directing people downtown is a great idea. ( Pictured is Albert Filoni of MacLachlan, Cornelius & Filoni Architects ) For more information on the Master Plan, visit Bradford Regional Strategy . For video from the meeting, you can go to Bradford Online . Thanks Spider! 03/07/08 - Aide Quits over 'Mon...

Mike Cejka was right. The sky stayed clear enough last night that we could see the lunar eclipse. Unfortunately, I left my camera at work and was too cold to come back and get it, so I didn't get a picture. But Spider from Bradford Online did get a picture. You can see it HERE . Thanks Spider!

Bradford rang in the new year with fireworks shooting out of an oil derrick in Veterans Square. The fireworks -- and the countdown to 2008 with Scott Douglas -- capped off the 10th First Night Bradford celebration. Spider from Bradford Online put this First Night video together: Jackson Edward Flowers became the New Year’s baby for 2008 at Bradford Regional Medical Center when he was born at 8:22 a.m. Wednesday, weighing 6 pounds, 7 ounces. Jackson is the son of Leslie and Jason Flowers of Bradford. His maternal grandparents are John and Theresa Carson of Bradford. His paternal grandparents are Mike and Marsha Flowers, also of Bradford. Congressman John Peterson has decided not to seek re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives. Peterson says he made the decision after a great deal of consideration and discussion with his family over the Christmas holiday. He says it was not an easy decision, but there is some comfort in knowing that his work in Washington on such issues as...