Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

Two men were trapped inside a vehicle that crashed in whiteout conditions in Chautauqua County Friday. Sheriff’s deputies say a vehicle driven by Tom Jusko of Hamburg, New York, went off the road and into a drainage ditch, where it hit an abutment and rolled onto its side. Jusko and Ken Kozlowski of Dunkirk were removed from the vehicle by members of Sheridan Fire and Rescue. They were taken to Brooks Memorial Hospital with various injuries.

Police are looking for the man who robbed an Emporium store at gunpoint this morning. They say at 5:03 a.m. a man entered the Fuel On Store on West 4th Street, brandished a handgun and demanded money from the cashier. The man then left the store with an undetermined amount of cash.

Late Thursday and on Friday police were called to four domestic disputes, according to the complaint report and request sheet faxed to WESB and The HERO by the police department. Officers also received reports of a disturbance on Mechanic Street and harassment on South Avenue. They were asked to remove an unwanted person from a Cole Avenue home, did a traffic stop at the intersection of East Main and Mill streets and got a couple of requests to speak with an officer.

A Salamanca man is facing charges after the resident of a home he allegedly broke into caught him in the act. Police say 35-year-old Terry Nichols was met by the West Avenue resident at about noon. Nichols was later arrested and identified by the resident, who said Nichols stole $29 in change. Police say as they were processing Nichols after his arrest, they found marijuana and a pipe. He’s charged with burglary, petit larceny and possession of marijuana and is in jail in lieu of $2,000 bail.

No one was hurt when an SUV hit a train early this morning on Valley Crossroad in Keating Township. State police say the SUV driven by 52-year-old Gregory Gee of Smethport hit the train as it was crossing the road at a slow rate of speed at just before 1 a.m. The train had only minor damage and was able to continue on its way. Police say Gee was driving under the influence of alcohol and charges are pending.

The first Amish person in Pennsylvania ever charged with homicide has been found dead of an apparent suicide. 45-year-old Ed Gingerich was found hanged inside a Crawford County barn on Friday at about noon. In 1993, Gingerich killed and disemboweled his wife, Katie, in their home. A year later, a jury found Gingerich guilty of involuntary manslaughter, but mentally ill. He was released from prison in 1998. In 2007, he took his daughter from her grandparents' home without permission. They were found 4 days later in Kushequa.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Field Operations announced the seizure of over 15 pounds of marijuana and the arrest of a Canadian citizen in the smuggling attempt. On January 13, CBP officers encountered Michael Mazza, a 40-year-old Canadian citizen from Fort Erie, Ontario as he applied for admission into the United States at the Peace Bridge border crossing. Mr. Mazza advised the primary CBP officer that he was en route to the Buffalo area to shop. Additional questioning raised the suspicion of the primary CBP officer and Mr. Mazza was referred for a secondary enforcement exam. During the course of the secondary inspection, CBP officers discovered an anomaly with the spare tire. A physical inspection yielded 15 vacuum-sealed bags of marijuana concealedin the spare tire. The bags had a total weight of approximately 15.4 pounds of marijuana andan estimated street value of $60,000. Mr. Mazza was arrested on charges of importation and possession with the intent to di...

A Galeton man is facing charges after being found passed out in his home from a heroin overdose. State police say they were called to 36-year-old Matthew Osgood’s home and found him unresponsive in the bathroom. He was stabilized and taken to Charles Cole Memorial Hospital for observation. At the home, police found 10 packets of heroin and various pieces of drug paraphernalia. Osgood will be charged with possession of a controlled substance and paraphernalia.

The 86-year-old Westfield, New York, woman hurt in an accident Thursday afternoon has died of her injuries. Sheriff’s deputies say Anita Jaquith died at ECMC in Buffalo, where she was taken after the crash. At about 1:40 Thursday afternoon on Route 20 in the Town of Portland, Jaquith’s car fishtailed when it hit slush on the side of the road. It then went off the road and hit a tree.

Harrisburg – In one of his final acts as governor, Governor Edward G. Rendell today wrote to the General Assembly to urge legislators to review the effectiveness of Pennsylvania’s death penalty. Earlier today, the Governor signed six execution warrants, bringing to 119 the number of warrants he has signed during his eight years in office. No executions were carried out during his time as governor. The text of the Governor’s letter follows: Jan. 14, 2011 To Members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly: As of this date, I have signed 119 execution warrants since taking office in January 2003, and not one execution has been carried out during the last eight years. In fact, none are even close to having a final date set. The only executions carried out since the death penalty was reinstated in Pennsylvania in the late 1970s were two in 1995 and one in 1999, and those three men – Keith Zettlemoyer, Leon Moser, and Gary Heidnik – had waived their appeals and asked that their sentence be ca...

A 20-year-old Harborcreek Township man is one of three U.S. Army soldiers killed Wednesday in Afghanistan by a roadside bomb. The U.S. Department of Defense late Thursday night confirmed the death of Jarrid King. King was stationed at Fort Drum, New York. http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=14199

Note: I know this is 2 weeks old. I was on vacation when it happened, and I'm posting it now for archive purposes. A Bradford woman is charged with attempted homicide for allegedly stabbing a man on Cole Avenue on New Year’s Eve. 41-year-old Romaine McGraw is accused of stabbing James Hannon several times in the neck and left side of his body. He was taken to Bradford Regional Medical Center for treatment of serious injuries. McGraw is also charged with aggravated assault, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person. McGraw is jailed on $250,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for January 26.

BRMC has announced the addition of Mary Ann Porter, RN, as the new Manager of the Surgical Services Department. Porter is a licensed registered nurse in the states of New York and Pennsylvania. She is a certified operating room nurse and a member of the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) organization. Prior to coming to BRMC, Mary Ann worked at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NY. In 2008, she was the Surgical Services Nurse Manager at Bradford Regional Medical Center. Porter holds an Associate in Applied Science degree in Nursing from Jamestown Community College.

You can also read the story at CNN.com .

Thomas Haggie has been sentenced to two life terms in prison without the possibility of parole for killing Megan Konopka and her unborn son in September of 2009. The 31-year-old pleaded guilty last month in exchange for having the death penalty taken off the table. His co-defendant, Greggory Theobald, received the same sentence in July and is serving his time at the state correctional institution at Fayette.

Police have made an arrest in connection to the October 10 hit-and-run that killed a 17-year-old in Randolph, New York. 22-year-old Benjamin Goon of Jamestown has been charged with felony leaving the scene of a fatal accident as well as vehicle and traffic violations in connection with the death of Federico Flores. Flores was hit near the intersection of Route 394 and School House Road while he was walking home from work at a local dairy farm at 1:30 a.m. Goon has pleaded not guilty, and is expected to post $2,500 cash bail. He says he pulled over to check his vehicle for damage, but didn’t see anyone in the area so he left the scene. Flores’ body was found about 8 hours later by a passing motorist.

Bradford City Police on Thursday investigated a theft on Summer Street, a disturbance on Mechanic Street and a motor vehicle accident on North Center Street, according to the complaint report and request sheet faxed to WESB and The HERO by the police department. Officers also got reports of Harassment on North Center and East Main streets, noise on Kiwanis Court, a parking problem on State Street and a disabled vehicle on Route 219. Police also received a number of requests to speak with an officer and served subpoenas and protection from abuse orders.

An 86-year-old Westfield, New York, woman is hospitalized after an accident this afternoon in the Town of Portland. Sheriff’s deputies say the woman, who they did not name, was on Route 20 when the car went off the road and hit a tree at around 1:40 p.m. She was taken to Westfield Memorial Hospital, and later flown to ECMC in Buffalo. Deputies are continuing their investigation.

The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford will observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day Monday as a holiday, and students will observe the leader’s birthday helping to clean the YWCA women’s shelter. In addition, a celebration featuring music, poetry and readings will be held from 7 to 8 p.m. Monday in the Harriett B. Wick Chapel on campus. The celebration is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided. The event is being sponsored by Pitt-Bradford’s new Office of Community Engagement, Residential Life and Housing, and the African-American Student Union. Pitt-Bradford will close its administrative offices, and there will be no classes Monday, Jan. 17, in observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. Offices will reopen and classes will resume Tuesday, Jan. 18. The service project will use donated cleaning supplies to help clean the shelter. Supplies not used will be donated to the shelter. The YWCA Homeless Shelter is in need of various cleaning and household supplies, s...