Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

State Rep. Matt Gabler (R-Clearfield/Elk) will host a Veterans Benefit and Resource Forum on Friday, June 12, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event will be held at the Penn State DuBois Campus, College Place, DuBois. "Everyone attending will get the latest news on veterans' benefits and the local, state and Federal agencies that administer programs for veterans," said Gabler, who is a 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve and Commander of the Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 424th Medical Logistics Battalion. "Information will also be available on the various local clubs and organizations that veterans can join." Veterans groups scheduled to attend include representatives from the DuBois Vet Center, Elk County Veterans Affairs Office, Governor's Veterans Outreach, Penn State DuBois Veterans Club and the James E. Van Zandt VA Medical Center. No pre-registration is required to attend the forum. For more information, contact Gabler's DuBois district o...

Members of Light the Shadow perform for the audience during Saturday's BYN Battle of the Bands. The event was hosted by the Bradford Youth Network and had over 60 students in attendance.

If you’re concerned about our public lands and natural resources, would like to share your skills and talents with others, and like to meet and work with people, you may be interested in work opportunities under the Corps of Engineers Volunteer Program at Kinzua Dam. All interested persons, especially retired seniors, high school, and college students are invited to apply. Several part-time volunteers will be needed to fill Visitor Center Host positions starting June 1, 2009. These positions involve staffing the Kinzua Visitor Center daily from 10:00am to 4:00pm. However, work schedules are flexible, with many part-time options available. This opportunity is open to persons of all ages, but persons under 18 years of age must have parental or legal guardian consent to participate. If you’re interested, please contact the Kinzua Dam Office at (814)726-0661, for additional information and Volunteer Application Forms.

A sidewalk improvement project began Monday at Bradford Regional Medical Center (BRMC) that’s along Interstate Parkway and across from Bradford Area High School. A 20-foot sidewalk section is shown being removed by Mike Gleason (left) and Matt Cleveland, both of the Bradford contracting firm Carl E. Swanson & Sons Inc. Jeff Gabel, BRMC’s Plant Services director, said the section will be replaced to make it compliant with the federal American Disabilities Act, handicap-accessible and also include a crosswalk ramp. Additionally, the sidewalk will be widened to provide extra room, Mr. Gabel noted.

Brittany Shelley, a senior at Smethport Area High School, is the first recipient of the Douglas F. Bowman, MD Memorial Scholarship. Shelley excelled in academics and was involved in numerous sports and activities while a student. She also served her community by volunteering her time as a mentor and tutor to fellow students, entertaining residents at Lakeview and Sena-Kean, picking up trash around town, and helping at benefit dinners. She plans to attend Gannon University in the fall to study nursing. Charles Cole Memorial Hospital established the scholarship fund following Dr. Bowman’s untimely death in November. Dr. Bowman served the hospital and the community in numerous roles including CCMH medical director and board member. In addition to seeing patients at his Smethport office, he cared for residents at Sena-Kean Manor and Lakeview Senior Care and Living Center and students at Smethport schools, and held positions within the McKean County Medical Society, Pennsylvania Medical Soc...

The trial has started for a retired New York State Trooper accused of driving drunk in an accident that killed a Bradford woman. 69-year-old David O'Brien is charged with vehicular homicide and criminally negligent homicide in connection to the accident that killed 38-year-old Wendy Karnes on April 26, 2008. O'Brien was driving south in the northbound lane of Route 219 near Interstate 86 when his vehicle collided head-on with Karnes' vehicle. She died at the scene. O'Brien was also charged with driving while intoxicated, but he wasn't given sobriety tests at the scene, and his blood wasn't tested until three hours after the accident. The trial is expected to last a week and a half.

A Bradford man is in jail after allegedly threatening an employee at a local doctor's office. 45-year-old Stephen Lockwood is accused of calling Dr. Michael Walt's office and telling an employee he would damage the office if he didn't get a prescription for pain medication. Lockwood has been charged with terroristic threats and disorderly conduct. His bail is set at $10,000.

A 16-year-old Turtlepoint boy was hurt when his car collided head-on with a Mack truck at 7:30 this morning on Route 155 about half a mile north of Port Allegany. Police say the boy, who they didn't identify, was traveling south when his car went into the opposite lane and hit the truck. He was taken to Olean General Hospital for treatment of moderate injuries. The driver of the truck, 36-year-old Ronald Holly of Hinsdale, wasn't hurt.

An Amish man has been charged with fleeing from police. 20-year-old Jonas Hershberger allegedly failed to stop for Cattaraugus County Sheriff's Deputies after they attempted to stop his horse and buggy for a traffic violation at 3 a.m. Monday. Deputies say Hershberger led them on a chase through fields and into a wooded area, where he escaped. He was later apprehended and sent to jail on $250 bail.

The second Roseart Zippo Lighter Show will be held on July 17th and 18th in Bradford, PA. Participants must be a member of one of the Zippo Lighter Collector Clubs to exhibit. Collectors interested in participating in this show are asked to contact the Roseart Company for information at 814-362-3030 or email: roseartlightersusa@verizon.net. The cost of a table to exhibit your collection is $35.00 for one and $50.00 for two tables. Table reservations are due by June 26th. The show, which is a part of the Summer Daze events downtown, will be located at the St. Bernard Gymnasium on Festival Way (formerly Webster Street). The public is welcome to come to buy, sell or swap their Zippo lighters. The hours on Friday, July 17th are 9:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m. and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. There are collectors coming from as far away as Germany and Italy as well as domestic distributors from New Mexico, Canada, etc. There will be an admission fee to the show of $3.00 to the...

HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe today praised the House Game and Fisheries Committee and its chairmen, Rep. Edward G. Staback (D-Lackawanna) and Rep. Craig Dally (R-Northampton), for its near unanimous approval of House Bill 97, which would increase penalties and fines for poaching. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Staback. “Increasing penalties for serious violations is one of the operational objectives within the Pennsylvania Game Commission's Strategic Plan, and we welcome this first-step in the process taken by the Committee today,” Roe said. “Enactment of this bill will mark the first comprehensive piece of legislation to increase Game and Wildlife Code Penalties since 1987, and we believe it will significantly enhance wildlife protection in the Commonwealth. “We also believe that there will be widespread public support for this legislation as indicated by surveys that showed 96 percent of Pennsylvania’s citizens feel that wildlife pro...

The Marienville Ranger District will be hosting living history programs on Saturday, June 13, 2009, at the Ranger Station on State Route 66, two miles north of Marienville. Programs will begin at 9:00 a.m. and continue until 4:00 p.m. with time between programs for questions from attendees. Programs will be held outdoors. In the event of rain, the programs will be offered indoors. Programs will cover both French and Indian histories of the Allegheny River region during the mid-18th century. United States National Park Service Interpreter, Brian Reedy of Fort Necessity National Battlefield, will present programs on French travel in the Allegheny River region. U.S. Forest Service Interpretive Specialist Herb Clevenger will present programs on Native American culture. These two natural resource interpreters have a combined experience of 40+ years in sharing our history with the public. Every program will close with a unique demonstration of firing of muskets. Program schedules ...

Three area men are facing rape charges in connection with separate incidents. A Bradford man is accused of having sex with a 12-year-old girl he met on the Internet. 21-year-old Colby Kraft is free on $25,000 bail. 23-year-old Robert Butler of Roulette is accused of having sex with a 20-year-old Port Allegany woman during a party at his home. The woman tells police she passed out and, when she woke up, Butler was raping her. Butler is jailed on $10,000 bail. A Kane man is charged with raping two girls from the time they were seven and eight until they were 12. 39-year-old Joseph Frontera is jailed on $100,000 bail.

A Clearfield County man has denied being a member of an anti-government militia, but has pleaded guilty to selling blasting caps to an undercover agent. 62-year-old Perry Landis was charged last June as part of investigation into alleged militia activity that the FBI and state police were conducting Landis says he did sell the caps for $2 each, but denied being a member of the Brookville Tigers Militia or hosting the group's meetings. He says his cabin near Brookville is just a hunting camp where he meets with friends and drinks beer. He'll be sentenced September 11.

By Senator Cathy Young Albany is creating an unprecedented crisis for our farmers that will be the final straw for the Upstate economy. Two bills have been voted out of the Labor Committee and are headed to the Senate floor that will drive up labor costs so high that farmers will be forced to go out of business. The impact will be devastating. Thousands of farms statewide will go under, and countless jobs at farms, processing plants, and farm supply businesses will be lost. Crops will rot in the fields because farmers will have no money to harvest them, and dairy cows will be taken to the slaughterhouse because farmers won’t be able to afford to milk them. Weeds will overrun our vineyards; orchards; and corn, alfalfa and vegetable fields. Families will suffer, livelihoods will be taken away, and life savings will be depleted. I had the wonderful experience of growing up on a dairy farm, and I worked side by side with our farm workers, milking cows, ...

A 25-year-oldl man is hospitalized in serious condition after being thrown from his car in a crash in Warren County last night. Police say Eric Turner was driving on Route 426 at about 11:25 p.m. when his car left the road, went into a ditch, hit an embankment and rolled several times, He was found about 100 feet from the car. Police say he was speeding and wasn't wearing a seatbelt. Turner is in Hamot Medical Center in Erie.

A Clarendon man accused of pulling his vehicle out in front of a state police car then fleeing from police is facing several charges. 42-year-old Scott Fitzgerald allegedly pulled onto Route 6 in the Allegheny National Forest in front of the police car at just after midnight on Sunday. The trooper says he had to brake hard to avoid a crash. Fitzgerald then fled, trying to turn onto Six Mile Road, but hit a stop sign and swerved back onto Route 6 before parking in a nearby driveway. Fitzgerald and his passenger, a 48-year-old Clarendon man, then fled on foot. Fitzgerald is now charged with a number of traffic violations, including leaving the scene of an accident, and possession of marijuana, after police found a plastic bag in the car containing what they believe is marijuana.

The US Secret Service is still investigating the case of a classified ad placed in the Warren Times Observer newspaper last week linking President Obama to four presidents who were assassinated. The Secret Service has asked the media not to release the name of the person who bought the ad, and had no comment on the status of the case other than to say it's an ongoing investigation. The US Attorney's office will release any further information on the case, and will prosecute if charges are filed.

By ANNE HOLLIDAY WESB/WBRR News Director Some Foster Township residents seem to be having a problem Hedgehog Lane residents have been dealing with for months – oil and gas drilling affecting their water wells. Interstate Parkway resident Joe Piganelli told Foster Township Supervisors Monday night that the water in his neighbor's well turned brown, but DEP told him his well had gone bad. However, it went bad the day fracking was done in the area. Piganelli asked that the supervisors contact the drilling company. "If the three of you got a hold of US Energy and said 'Hey, what the heck's going on?' … We had pristine water and now it's garbage. Pretty soon you'll be able to drink out of your sewer better than you can your water." Jim Connelly suggested the supervisors attend the next Bradford Township Supervisors meeting because DEP has been attending those meetings to deal with residents concerns about how drilling has affected water on Hedgehog Lane. Pi...

A barbecue-loving bear kept Bradford City Police busy for a bit Monday night. At around 9 o'clock they received a report of a bear in the lower Congress Street area. As they went to find the bear, police learned that someone was cooking out and figured that's why the bear was in the neighborhood. Later, they found a hole in a fence in a Tibbitts Avenue yard, and assumed he used that to get out of that neighborhood and closer to the woods. The bear was last seen entering the woods above South Avenue at about 9:45.