OCTOBER
8 2021
Photo provided John Rigas in June 2005.
John Rigas, founder of fallen Adelphia, dies at 96 BY MARCIE SCHELLHAMMER John Rigas, founder of the former cable television giant Adelphia Communications Corp. and former owner of the Buffalo Sabres, who went to prison in a federal fraud case after the collapse of his empire, died Thursday in Coudersport, Pa. He was 96. Rigas, a son of Greek immigrants and who built Adelphia from the ground up, was granted compassionate release from a federal prison sentence in 2016 due to declining health, as he had bladder cancer that had spread to his lungs. At the time, attorneys said Rigas had approximately 6 months to live. Rigas and his son, Timothy, were both indicted for bank, wire and securities fraud in 2002, convicted in 2004, and sentenced to 15 years in federal prison in
2005. After an appeal was rejected in 2007, Rigas and his son were ordered to report to prison and, a year later, their final appeal was struck down in federal court. The family has maintained that the Rigases are innocent. Rigas founded Adelphia in Coudersport, building it into what was once the nation’s fifth-largest cable company, with more than 5 million customers in 31 states and Puerto Rico. It was a business that he built from nothing, explained Donald Gilliland, contributing editor of The Hill and former editor of the Potter Leader Enterprise newspaper in Coudersport. Gilliland spent six months in New York City covering the Rigas trial for The Era and other area newspapers.
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Photo provided Friends Improving Allegany County Trails Inc. gathers for a trail cleanup at the Phillips Creek Preserve on Sept. 25, as more than 40 people turned out to help.
Making an IMPACT: Trails group gets active in Allegany County BY KATHRYN ROSS ALFRED — A new group wants to bring trails throughout Allegany County to the attention of the public. Friends Improving Allegany County Trails Inc. held a trail cleanup at the Phillips Creek State Forest on Sept. 25 and more than 40 people turned out to help. “We want people to know that the trails are out here,” Glenn Gebhard, president of IMPACT: Friends Improving Allegany County Trails, Inc., said. “They are a wonderful resource for Allegany
County. They are beautiful and the fall colors are breathtaking.” Gebhard lives only a few feet from the Phillips Creek Trail System off Route 244 — west of Alfred — and routinely hikes there. “We always wondered why they never maintained the trails, then we realized there was no ‘they,’” he said. In February the group formed to be the “they” and not only maintain the trails, but also to bring awareness to them, improve use and encourage
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This season the group has groomed 7 miles of trail and five people are being trained to operate the equipment needed to prepare the trails for cross country skiing and snowshoeing. The trails are open yearround for hiking, snowshoeing and cross country skiing. Horses are allowed on the trails from June 1 to Sept. 30, only. Snowmobiling is not allowed on most of the trails. On the Sept. 25 work
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improvements. The trail system is under the jurisdiction of the state Department of Environmental Conservation. “(The DEC) can go out and bring in people and equipment to remove a downed tree, but they don’t have the people who can go out and groom the trails,” Gebhard said. “We can muster the volunteers.” The group encourages high school students in need of community service to help out on the trails by contacting IMPACT on Facebook.
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