Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

Hope will be the message from a mental health professional – and former state hospital patient – who will be speaking in Bradford next week. Gina Calhoun is the national director of Wellness and Recovery Education at the Copeland Center for Wellness and Recovery and she says she’s going to try to be a stigma-buster during her talk. She says even some mental health workers need to abandon their way of thinking about people with mental illnesses. “We don’t know how far people are going to go. We don’t have a crystal ball, so our job is not to categorize those who are going to make it and those who are not,” she said. “Our job is to believe all people can learn and grow, and all people can be active community citizens.” Calhoun will be speaking at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Harriet B. Wick Chapel at Pitt-Bradford as part of a program presented by Rays of Hope. It’s free and open to the public. You can hear my conversation with Gina by going to WESB.com/listen , going to the ...

An Allegany native and graduate of St. Bonaventure University was one of 16 people injured in a shooting at Fort Hood in Texas on Wednesday that left four people dead, including the gunman. US Army Major Patrick Miller, a two-time combat veteran had surgery Wednesday night. During a news conference late this morning, doctors at the hospital where the injured people are being treated said three are in critical condition; five are in fair condition; the rest are in good condition and some may be released today. They didn't give the names of the people when talking about their conditions. Miller was in the ROTC at St. Bonaventure and graduated in 2003. He graduated from Allegany-Limestone High School in 1999. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

HARRISBURG — Rep. Kathy Rapp (R-Warren/Forest/McKean) voted in support of a resolution directing the Joint State Government Commission to conduct a study of all aspects of Pennsylvania’s mental health system and associated laws. The Pennsylvania House unanimously adopted House Resolution 226 on Tuesday. “Conducting this study is long overdue, especially considering that Pennsylvania’s current Mental Health Procedures Act which governs the state’s regulations and procedures relating to the mental health treatment of inmates is more than 35 years old,” said Rapp. “With such antiquated and inadequate regulations, it is little wonder that our state and county correctional facilities are extremely overcrowded and the state is incarcerating tens of thousands inmates with a mental health diagnosis. I will continue to work in a bipartisan manner with my legislative colleagues, Pennsylvania Public Welfare Secretary Beverly Mackereth and Corrections Secretary John Wetzel to protect Penns...