Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

A Youngsville woman will spend up to 40 months in prison for having sex with an underage boy. 23-year-old Sable Kolstee was sentenced to two terms of 10 to 20 months in prison on statutory sexual assault charges. Her relationship with the boy went from January to March of this year in the area of the Pleasant Valley Trailer Park. The pair also communicated through text message several times during the relationship, which was revealed through forensic analysis of the boy’s cell phone. http://1490newsblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/woman-facing-two-dozen-sex-charges.html

A Shinglehouse man is facing charges following an incident Thursday afternoon at the Sheetz store in Port Allegany. Police say they got a report of a man passed out in front of the store and when they got there found 34-year-old David Slater. When they woke him up, Slater said he had fallen asleep while waiting for a friend to pick him up. Police say Slater became aggressive and went into the store after being told he should leave. Slater allegedly yelled and screamed and struggled with police when he was told he was under arrest. Police later found that Slater had suspected marijuana and a pipe. He was charged with disorderly conduct, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, and sent to McKean County Jail on $2,500 bail.

A Mayville man is facing charges for stealing cases of beer from the walk-in cooler at Piper’s Alley Bar early this morning. Sheriff’s deputies say 23-year-old Andrew Mayer took two cases of beer out a side door of the building. He was seen in the parking lot of a neighboring business. The bar owner confronted him and, after a brief conversation, Mayer fled the scene. Deputies caught up with him and charged him with petit larceny and criminal possession of stolen property. He will appear in Chautauqua Town Court at a later date.

Four juveniles are facing arson charges following investigations into fires in Little Valley and Olean. The Cattaraugus County Fire Investigation Team says that on May 15 three juveniles started afire at Salamanca Area Beverage Company in Little Valley using cardboard, spray paint, gasoline and a sweatshirt. Two structures behind Salamanca Beverage were destroyed. A 16-year-old was arrested on Thursday., and will appear in Town of Little Valley Court at a later date. The other two juveniles will appear in Family Court. On July 27, a juvenile started a couch on fire that was leaning on a shed at 1700 Olean Portville Road. The shed was heavily damaged by fire. The juvenile was arrested on Friday and will appear in Family Court at a later date. All four are charged with arson and criminal mischief.

The Seneca Nation of Indians is asking for federal court protection from New York State’s plans to start taxing sales of tobacco on their land. In papers filed this afternoon, the Nation is asking the Court to issue an order restraining the State's tax plan which is scheduled to go into effect on September 1. Earlier this week the Nation filed a lawsuit challenging the amendments to the state’s tax law, saying they violate federal law. You can read more here .

An Olean man has been indicted for raping a child younger than 11. 53-year-old Scott Harris is charged with rape and endangering the welfare of a child. The alleged incidents happened on June 13 and June 15 in Olean.

A Westfield, New York, man is in jail after a break-in at Hogan’s Hut in North Harmony. Sheriff’s deputies say 21-year-old Justin Ressler got into the business by breaking a window. He was charged with burglary and jailed on $5,000 bail.

Three Dunkirk residents are facing charges after a drug bust in the village. 32-year-old Kristina Harvey, 19-year-old Luis Cardona and 20-year-old Luis Hyatt are all charged with criminal possession and criminal sale of a controlled substance. They are also charged with criminal possession of a weapon. Police say more arrests are coming.

A Frewsburg man accused of having sexual contact with a young girl now faces another charge. 43-year-old James Cole has been arrested for violating an order of protection by using “electronic communications.” He’s now facing an additional charge of criminal contempt. This arrest came a week after Cole was accused of having sexual contact with the girl between March of 2008 and last December in his home. He’s free on $7,500 bond.

One million dollars worth of marijuana was seized, and a South Dayton man is in jail after a state police helicopter found hundreds of marijuana plants growing on his property. Police found 439 plants with an average height of 7 feet. The plants were protected by electrified fences and had irrigation systems nearby. Inside the house, police found 67 more plants, and garbage bags full of dried pot, plus hydrocodone and methadone pills, hashish, loaded guns, drug paraphernalia and $10,000 in cash. 54-year-old Ronald Jolls is in the Erie County Holding Center awaiting arraignment on charges of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana.

The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford has appointed Dr. Ronald Binder, who has a national reputation as a leader in Greek affairs and risk management, as its new associate dean of student affairs and director of judicial affairs. Binder joins Pitt-Bradford from the University of South Carolina, where he was the director of Greek life and special projects. Binder speaks nationally on risk management and alcohol and substance abuse and has been cited in Newsweek, NBC Nightly News, National Public Radio’s Talk of the Nation and Court TV. Binder has extensive experience in Greek affairs, speaking around the country at Sigma Phi Epsilon leadership programs and traveling to Greece last year with 17 students from the national fraternity to study Greek philosophy. He is involved with the National Collaborative for Hazing Research and Prevention and founded the Hazing Hotline at USC. Before going to USC, Binder was associate director of residence life at B...

Fifteen airports across Pennsylvania, including Bradford Regional, are sharing in $1.9 million in mostly state money to upgrade equipment and facilities. The Bradford airport is getting $131,250 to buy an airport security vehicle and airfield maintenance equipment. The money comes from the state’s jet fuel tax and takes advantage of more than $700,000 in matching funds. An additional $270,000 is coming from the Federal Aviation Administration.

By Kimberly Marcott Weinberg Assistant Director of Communications and Marketing It’s not surprising that a former schoolteacher should have a scholarship at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. Thanks to her family, now Dorothea Fesenmyer will have two. Fesenmyer’s husband, Howard, and children have established the Basil and Harriett Gildersleeve Memorial Scholarship in memory of Dorothea Fesenmyer’s parents. The scholarship is a gift to Dorothea Fesenmyer in honor of the Fesenmyers 60th wedding anniversary. An earlier scholarship, given by the Fesenmyer children, honors Howard and Dorothea Fesenmyer. In addition to Howard Fesenmyer, donors for the $5,000 scholarship gift are the couple’s children and their spouses, R. Michael and Susan Carlson of Georgetown, Texas, David and Cindy Fesenmyer of Imperial and Judy and Jon Kirk of Olean, N.Y. The Gildersleeves were lifelong Bradford residents and attended school in the building on campus that would later become the Roman Villa resta...

The Southern Tier Regional Drug Task Force made a "substantial seizure of marijuana" in the Town of Dayton Thursday. The task force will be holding a news conference later this morning at the State Police Station in Olean.

At least one person is dead after a tractor-trailer and a car collided on Route 16 in Southern Erie County this afternoon. Sheriff’s deputies say the accident happened at around 2 p.m. between South Protection and Dutchtown roads. A HAZMAT crew was on the scene trying to contain a diesel fuel leak, and the road was closed. No further information has been released yet.

Gary Hoy President of Street Dreams Car Club meets with Jennifer Taylor of Brad Penn Lubricants to discuss plans for the upcoming Autumn Daze Car Show to be held in downtown Bradford, PA on September 12th. The Autumn Daze Car Show has become the premier car show in the area. The car show will feature historic and classic vehicles, as well as muscle cars from the past, along with live entertainment featuring local talent. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Taylor

Harrisburg – Governor Edward G. Rendell today announced a plan to put $212 million into budgetary reserve because Pennsylvania did not receive as much federal funding as it had anticipated when the state budget was finalized in July. The Governor also wrote to legislative leaders, the chief justice of the state Supreme Court and the heads of independent state agencies and row offices, asking them to follow his lead by putting 1.9 percent of their funding into reserve. Governor Rendell said that in spite of the budget cuts, the state’s basic education subsidy to school districts will still increase by $200 million -- $50 million less than originally planned when the budget was enacted. With these cuts –$50 million in education and 1.9 percent across the board– state expenditures will be reduced by $212 million, the Governor added. The Governor said his budget-balancing effort assumes that legislators will live up to their commitment to enact a severance tax on natural gas extraction no ...

Washington, D.C.—U.S. Representative Glenn `GT’ Thompson, R-Howard today announced October 1, 2010, is the deadline for high school seniors to apply for nomination through the Bellefonte District Office for acceptance into one of the four military academies for the year 2011. “If you are interested, it is time to circle that date on your calendar and start putting together the required materials,” Thompson explained. Thompson’s website: www.thompson.house.gov has all the information on the application process under the title of “services,” including an on-line application. The basic requirements for applying for a nomination are: the candidate must be at least 17 years old but not have passed his or her 23rd birthday; must be a U.S. citizen; must be unmarried, not pregnant, and without legal obligation to support children or other dependents; must reside within the boundaries of the 5th Congressional District of Pennsylvania; and must be able to meet the medical, physical and academic...

Dresser-Rand will invest $9.6 million in its research and development operation in Olean. The investment is expected to retain 787 jobs at the manufacturing plant, and add another 50 jobs by early 2014. Dennis Mullen, chairman and chief executive officer of Empire State Development, says the project is important because commercialization of products often occurs where R&D is located. http://www.empire.state.ny.us/

Accused kidnapper and rapist Mike Beaulieu is scheduled to appear in court in Canada next month. Beaulieu was scheduled for a hearing on Tuesday to answer charges of illegally crossing the border, illegal possession of a firearm, and possession of marijuana. The hearing didn’t take place because he is undergoing physical and mental evaluations. Authorities in the United States are building their case in connection to the August 3 rape and kidnapping in the Allegheny National Forest. They are also trying to determine if Beaulieu can be linked to unsolved crimes between the Kinzua Dam area and Maine, where Beaulieu lives. While Beaulieu remains jailed in Canada, the U.S. Marshals Service is acting as a liaison between Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Pennsylvania State Police and other law enforcement agencies involved in the case.