Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

Audubon Pennsylvania has joined with six other conservation organizations as part of the fledgling Pennsylvania Wilderness Coalition, which was formed earlier this year. The mission of the coalition is to support the Citizens’ Wilderness Proposal for Pennsylvania’s Allegheny National Forest. National Audubon Society opened its Pennsylvania State Office in 1997 as the organization’s tenth state office. Today, Audubon Pennsylvania has more than 24,000 members across the Commonwealth. Its mission is to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and biological diversity in Pennsylvania. “The Allegheny is located in the northwest corner of the state, but as Pennsylvania’s only national forest, it belongs to all of us,” said Phil Wallis, executive director for Audubon Pennsylvania. “Wilderness designation, under the Wilderness Act of 1964, for the most unbroken forest canopy tracts in the Allegheny will leave a p...

Zippo has cancelled its second and third shifts for Tuesday. Second and third shifts at Zippo do not have to report to work today.

These are just a few of the pictures our listeners have sent in. The middle one is from ARG, the second from Cole Avenue. To see more pictures, check out our Facebook photo album here . Send your own pictures to wesb@wesb.com

Lt. Gov. Joe Scarnati was in Bradford Monday, and stopped by WESB's studios to talk about what's in store for lawmakers in Harrisburg next year. Tune in at 12:35 p.m. on WESB and at WESB.com.

Foster Township supervisors Bob Slike and Chris Wolcott have resigned, along with longtime township secretary Jennifer Gorrell. At the end of Monday’s meeting Wolcott announced that his resignation would be effective Tuesday. Slike’s resignation is effective immediately. Slike, who had been supervisor chairman for many years, would have been entering his 20th year on the board. Wolcott has been a supervisor for 12 years. Both men said the meetings had gotten to be too much to deal with. Remaining supervisor Jim Connelly Jr. must work with the vacancy board to fill the positions. Gorrell tendered her resignation earlier in the day, and it was accepted during Monday’s supervisors meeting. It was effective Monday.

A former principal at an Olean school, who has served 18 months in a Florida prison for possession of child pornograpy, will be released after an appeals court overturned his conviction. The court ruled that the photos held by John Stelmack are not child pornography because they showed the nude bodies of adults. Photos of children’s faces, including two students from schools where Stelmack had worked, had been superimposed on the bodies, but none of the altered pictures showed naked children. A spokesman for the State Attorney’s Office in Florida said prosecutors can't bring any other charges against Stelmack.

A Buffalo man already in Allegany County Jai on a robbery charge has pleaded guilty to injuring a police officer on an unrelated case. Cattaraugus County District Attorney Lori Rieman says 22-year-old Zachary Barrett attempted to prevent a police officer from performing his duty on May 25, and injured the officer in the process. He’ll be sentenced on March 14. Barrett is currently in jail for robbing a pizzeria in Angelica and the Rushford Corner store at gunpoint.

A connector trail to the Allegheny Snowmobile Loop will be closed for the season because of a Marcellus Shale drilling operation in the area. US Forest Service officials say the closing of Connector 17 (Forest Road 186) near Lantz Corners affects about five miles of trail from the intersection of Route 6 near the Kane Drive-In to the intersection of ASL Connector 26. Connector 26 will remain open, allowing access from Lantz Corners to Forest Road 150 (ASL Connector 18). The forest services says roads in that area will be experiencing heavy traffic at all times of the day and night, so it is being closed to snowmobiles for safety reasons.

Alternate side of the street parking is still in effect in the City of Bradford so road crews can get both sides of the streets cleared. Road crews are out and working and people are asked to be patient.

Zippo has cancelled its 2nd & third shifts for today. Second and third shift workers at Zippo are not to report to work.

Bradford City Police Chief Chris Lucco is asking motorists to refrain from any unnecessary travel. He tells WESB and The HERO that road crews are out plowing, but the snow is coming down too fast for them to keep up. The advisory against unnecessary travel is in effect until further notice.

Area roads are still treacherous, and accidents have been reported throughout the Twins Tiers all day. At various times throughout the day tractor-trailers were stuck on West Eldred Road, Route 6 in Keating Township, Route 219 and Minard Run Road to name just a few places. Cars are in ditches just about everywhere in the Bradford area and in Cattaraugus County. Motorists are urged to use caution if they have to be on the roads. One of the tractor-trailers was being driven by 53-year-old David Jeffries of DuBois on Route 219 in Lafayette Township, just north of Westline Road. Police say Jeffries lost control of the rig at just before 10 a.m., causing it to jackknife. The truck was pulled out of a ditch by Boylan’s Trucking, then driven from the scene. Jeffries wasn’t hurt, but was cited for driving at an unsafe speed. ~~ A Coudersport woman and her 13-year-old passenger suffered minor injuries at 7:30 this morning on Route 120 in Cameron County. Police say 35-yea-rold Amanda Eddins lost...

With only 9 days left the United Way needs your help. “We are currently at 70% of our $325,000 goal” and “it’s the best news I’ve heard in a long time”, says Megan Mangini, Community Relations and Marketing Specialist. The 2010 campaign, “A Lifetime of Gratitude”, officially closes on December 15th, but the organization’s staff will continue to accept donations until January 5, 2011. “We started off the campaign with a wonderful pacesetting drive – but things tend to slow down after employee presentations are conducted and pledges have been received,” says Kelly Case, Executive Director. ”We shift into overdrive in December and rely heavily on community members to help close our campaign and reach goal.” As always, the United Way of the Bradford Area, Inc. is stressing to the entire community the policy and practice of keeping 100% of the donations local. The mission of the UWBA is and always has been to raise and distribute funds locally in the Bradford community. “That belief is the ...

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing popular children's book author Dr. Maitland DeLand (for the third time) about her new "Baby Santa" series of books. You can listen here . For more information, go to DeLand Books.com .

State Representative Marty Causer is encouraging flood victims to contact municipal officals. "If you experienced, or are still experiencing, flood damage due to heavy rains on Tuesday, Nov. 30, and Wednesday, Dec. 1, please be sure to report it to your local municipality as soon as possible," he said. If you have additional questions, contact your county emergency management agency: McKean County: 814-887-5070 Cameron County: 814-486-1137 Potter County: 814-274-8900

A flood warning is still in effect until this afternoon, when the Allegheny River at Olean and Salamanca is expected to drop below flood stage. In Olean, the river crested at 15.7 feet Thursday night. Flood stage is 10 feet. In Salamanca, the river crested at 15.2 feet at noon Thursday. The flood stage there is 12 feet. Most roads in the area closed by flooding remain closed.

We did see some sunshine today. Here, it's shining on Foster Brook. Don't expect a lot of sunshine this weekend, though. News 4 Meteorologist Mike Cejka says we could see an inch of snow tonight, and then light snow showers on Saturday. Sunday and Monday, expect more snow and whipping winds that will cause a nasty wind chill and could cause whiteouts.

The Cattaraugus County Office of Emergency Services, along with representatives of the county departments of Social Services, Aging, Health and Community Services, will be available at the newly opened Disaster Assistance Center from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the county office building in Olean (1 Leo Moss Drive). In order to assit the Office of Emergency Services with damage assessments, residents affected by flooding are encouraged to send photographs, documentation and any other materials related to expenses associated with the repair of damages to eoc@cattco.org or to 303 Court Street, Little Valley, New York, 14655. Materials will be accepted at the Disaster Assistance Center as well. For shelter assistance, contact the American Red Cross at 716-372-5800.

Joe Scarnati, because of the strong arm of the Just for Jesus Ministry, amended SB 1161 – known as the Scarnati Amendment. This bill is now signed into law. It states that when a murderer or someone with a similar offense is released by the Department of Corrections to a facility in the community, the municipal officials may hold a public hearing to give the community an opportunity to express itself and ask questions. Then, Mr. Scarnati had the audacity to violate the law, one that he is taking public credit for and sent a letter, along with four other people to Judge Creany in Cambria County, trying to influence the judge to remove Ernie Simmons from the Just for Jesus facility in Brockway, when the law now says that Ernie and the community has a right to a public hearing. Mr. Scarnati’s arrogant ways and actions are showing him to be so comfortable in his position that he can blatantly violate his own amended law, oath of office and ignore the Constitutional rights of a human being....