Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

By ANNE HOLLIDAY WESB/WBRR News Director Monday marks the three-year anniversary of the house fire that led authorities to the remains of a 6-week-old boy and to the fact that his mother, Joey Lynn Offutt, was missing. In the early morning hours of July 12, 2007, firefighters went to a fire at Offutt’s Sykesville home. After the fire was put out, the baby’s remains were discovered, but Offutt and her car were missing. Police found Offutt’s car – a red Saturn with Virginia license plates – four days later in State College, parked at the Nittany Gardens apartment complex, where Offutt had previously lived. After three years and multiple airings on “America’s Most Wanted,” state police investigators still have had no substantial and credible leads. Her family has no idea where she could be, and they simply want closure. Family spokesman Jason Hungerford tells WESB and The HERO the family believes “she was a victim of some crime and we believe – it’s sad to say – in all likelihood she’s pr...

A Sheridan, New York, woman is facing charges for attacking her child’s father in a swimming pool. Sheriff’s deputies say 23-year-old Christine Harding jumped into a swimming pool with her clothes on and punched the man in the head and back while he was holding their four-year-old and, at one point, hit the boy in the face. She grabbed the child from his father’s arms, jumped out of the pool and left the arrear. When deputies found Harding, they charged her with endangering the welfare of a child and harassment. Deputies also contacted Child Protective Services.

A Franklinville high school student who used a barbell to attack another student has been sentenced in Cattaraugus County Court to serve up to three years in prison. 17-year-old Mario Castro pleaded guilty to attempted assault in connection with the attack on February 8. Police say the attack escalated from a disagreement between the students, and Castro got the barbell from the school’s weight room. The victim suffered head and neck injuries. http://1490newsblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/high-school-student-charged-with.html

Tuition at Penn State will be going up by more than $800 a year in the fall, as part of a new rate schedul approved Friday by the university’s board of trustees, which held a meeting at its DuBois campus. At University Park, where nearly half of Penn State's 94,000 students are enrolled, Friday's vote means in-state freshmen and sophomores will pay $14,412 annually, not counting room, board and other mandatory fees. Out-of-state students will now pay a base undergraduate tuition of $26,276 a year to attend University Park. The increase at the Erie and Altoona campuses will be $470 and year. DuBois tuition will be $450 a year for in-state students. The State System of Higher Education's board of governors plans to set rates for the 14 state-owned universities, including California, Clarion, Edinboro, Indiana and Slippery Rock later this month. The University of Pittsburgh hasn’t set a date yet to approve fall tuition.

The FBI is now offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for an act of vandalism on the CSX railroad tracks which run through the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation. Two railroad ties were placed across the tracks sometime before 8:45 Monday morning, about 200 yards from a bridge spanning Cattaraugus Creek. The Amtrak passenger train hit the ties, which flew up and damage its air lines. The train stayed on the tracks and no one was hurt. Authorities believe the incident may be linked to an ongoing dispute over the sale of mail order cigarettes because signs reading “No Mail – No Rail” were placed near the scene. The signs have since been removed by order of Seneca Nation President Barry Snyder, who issued a statement that said the Senecas would never condone putting innocent workers and passengers in danger as a result of differences of opinion over the PACT Act.

Seneca Nation of Indians President Barry E. Snyder, Sr., today expressed anger and disappointment over recent incident where railroad ties were purposely placed on CSX railroad tracks near the Cattaraugus Creek Railroad Bridge, resulting in damage to an Amtrak passenger train. “This was an extremely irresponsible and dangerous act that could have resulted in harm to Amtrak passengers and crew members, and other railroad personnel who utilize this rail corridor,” President Snyder said in a news release. “While the Seneca Nation is at odds with the federal government over the PACT Act and the State of New York regarding planned collection of sales tax on cigarettes, we would never condone putting innocent railroad workers and passengers in danger as a result of those differences of opinion.” On July 5, an Amtrak train sustained damage to its air lines when it struck railroad ties lying across the tracks approximately 200 yards east of the Cattaraugus Creek Bridge. There were no injuries ...

During a trip to the Middle East, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs, met with Vice President Biden at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad to discuss the security situation in the country as well as the ongoing negotiations over the Iraqi government formation. He later met with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Iyad Allawi, the heads of the leading blocs. Earlier in the day, he traveled to a U.S. military base in Salah ad Din to discuss political and security developments in the Kurdish region of the country, where he met with U.S. troops, including Captain Philip Balliet from Allentown. Photos provided by Casey's office

ALBANY, NY -- The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) announced June 29 that Joe Chille of Lancaster and Margaret Van Etten of Wellsville are winners of a statewide contest to show how to save a lot of energy by switching light bulbs. The Shining Example contest, which invited New Yorkers to submit videos and essays describing how they cut their energy use by switching to ENERGY STAR® qualified compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), is part of a campaign to save more than one million megawatt hours of electricity - enough electricity to power more than 165,000 homes for a year - by installing 16.9 million light bulbs. "It is amazing to realize how dramatically we could cut our energy if every New Yorker switched to CFLs," said Francis J. Murray, president and CEO of NYSERDA. "The winners of this contest demonstrate how the simple act of switching to CFLs could save New Yorkers millions of dollars in energy costs while improving our environ...

A Cattaraugus County woman is facing charges after police found 22 cats in a house they say is uninhabitable. Police say they ran a driver’s license check on 39-year-old Jennifer Beck of the Village of Cattaraugus. While they were at her house on Washington Street, they noticed a number of cats in the yard and seven kittens in a cage. Police contacted the SPCA, the code enforcement officer and Beck’s landlord. The cats were removed and the building was deemed dangerous and uninhabitable until it’s cleaned up. Utilities had been off for several weeks. Beck will be in New Albion Court later this month to answer the charges.

Short version: No changes Long version: PennDOT issues the following travel update for the Route 219 Bradford Bypass project in McKean County. This update is for the week of July 12. All work is weather and schedule dependent. Glenn O. Hawbaker, Inc. of State College is the contractor on this $28 million job. · Work on the Route 219 southbound ON-ramp at Elm Street continues. Traffic is using the existing shoulder. Contractor crew will be working close to the roadway. Expect delays during work hours. · Northbound traffic is sharing a lane with southbound traffic, separated by temporary concrete barrier from Mill Street to north of Hillside Drive. · Contractor will continue to truck materials for sub-base and paving operations and will be pulling into the closed “dead lane” from the northbound “live lane”. Traffic may be slow moving on Route 219 as this work takes place. · Northbound ramps at Foster Brook Interchange are closed. Traffic is to follow the posted detours. · The Tuna Valley...

MAYVILLE, NY -- Chautauqua County Executive Gregory J. Edwards has announced that the first Household Hazardous Waste Drop-Off Day of 2010 will be held this Saturday, July 10th in the Village of Mayville. The event is being hosted by Chautauqua County's Division of Solid Waste, and will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Town of Chautauqua Highway Garage located on Patterson Street in Mayville. Edwards said thousands of pounds of hazardous materials have been dropped off by County residents over the years during prior events. Among some of the items that will be accepted are varnishes, pool chemicals, alkaline batteries, and obsolete or damaged household electronics. Waste motor oil will not be accepted, and should be disposed of at any facility performing oil changes. Also, latex paint will not be taken, and should be dried by mixing it with kitty litter or paint drying crystals and disposed of with household garbage. “Each year, this free disposal day has been an overwhelming s...

A new scholarship at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford will benefit business students from Elk County. Ward and Lori Garner of Cranberry, a suburb of Pittsburgh, have pledged $5,000 for the creation of the Ward and Lori Garner/PBAA Scholarship. The Garners’ gift will be matched by the Agnes L. and Lewis Lyle Thomas Scholarship Challenge. Ward Garner graduated in 1989 from Pitt-Bradford, where he majored in business management. “I believe that much of my success is due to the education I received at Pitt-Bradford, and I want to give back and help one or two others achieve some success, as I have,” Garner said. “The key to solving social problems is education, and that’s what drives me.” He graduated from St. Marys Area High School and served five years in the U.S. Air Force before enrolling at Pitt-Bradford. Garner dabbled in entrepreneurship as a disc jockey from 1985 until 1998. Last fall, Garner received the Pitt-Bradford Alumni Association Distinguished Volunteer Award for h...

A possible violation of the drug act on Bushnell Street, an assault on Congress Street and a motor vehicle accident on Main Street were among the incidents Bradford City Police responded to Wednesday and Thursday, according to the complaint report and request sheet faxed to WESB and The HERO by the police department. Officers also received reports of harassment on East Main and Rochester streets, and threats on East Main Street. They looked into a report of an erratic driver on Barbour Street and a neighbor dispute on South Avenue. They also assisted code enforcement on Walker Avenue.

An Amtrak passenger train hit railroad ties that had been placed on the tracks on the Seneca Nation’s Cattaraugus Reservation in Irving. State police say there are signs on the reservation saying "No Mail-No Rail," in reference to the PACT Act, that prohibits cigarette sellers from shipping tobacco products through the mail. A federal judge is allowing 140 Seneca Indian-owned businesses to ignore the law until at least the end of the month as they challenge it in federal court. As for Monday's incident on the railroad tracks, troopers say no one was hurt when the train splintered the ties, but the train’s air lines were damaged.

A prominent Jefferson County doctor is dead after his bicycle collided with a car Thursday morning in Sandy Township. Police say Dr. Albert Varacallo, Jr. of DuBois was wearing a helmet when his bike was hit by a car driven by 28-year-old Scott Sago of Kersey. Varacallo was thrown from the bike. He was flown to Altoona Hospital, where he later died. He operated a family practice in Reynoldsville for many years. Police say they aren't sure whether charges will be filed. Photo from DuBois Regional Medical Center

Mike Cejka says we get some relief from the heat today. Listen to his forecast here .

A New Jersey woman is hospitalized after a crash early this morning in Frewsburg. Sheriff’s deputies say at just before 4 a.m. a car driven by 25-year-old Catherine Uram of Red Bank was speeding on Main Street, failed to negotiate a curve and hit a concrete wall. Uram is being treated at Hamot Medical Center for serious but not life-threatening injuries. A passenger, 28-year-old Patrick Smith of Redbank, sustained minor injuries but refused medical treatment. Two dogs in the car were not hurt. Uram was ticketed for driving at a speed not reasonable and prudent and for moving from a lane unsafely. She’s scheduled to appear in Town of Carroll Court later this month.

A former Gowanda police officer accused of fixing a traffic ticket in exchange for free pizza will wait three more months before learning whether he will be sent to jail. 36-year-old Jason Miller was scheduled to be sentenced Thursday, but that’s been moved to October 13 to give the Erie County Probation Department time to conduct a pre-sentencing investigation and issue a report. Miller admitted in June that he lied two years ago when he said he was shot by a gunman when he actually hung his bulletproof vest from a tree at shot at it himself. He didn’t say why he did that. He pleaded guilty to official misconduct in the pizza case.

Sheriff’s deputies responded to couple of incidents at Sunset Bay over the last couple of days. At about 9:30 last night they received a report saying a man was lying in the road with a knife that he displayed when he was being removed from a bar. Police did find 29-year-old Jesse Graser of East Otto in the road and took him into custody. He’s in jail in lieu of bail. At 2:45 Thursday afternoon deputies were called to Sunset Bay Beach for a report that a 16-year-old girl grabbed another female by the back of the head and repeatedly dunked her head under the water. The 16-year-old is scheduled to appear in court at a later date.

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.