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Austin • Coudersport • Crosby • Eldred • Gifford • Kane • Lewis Run • Mt. Jewett • Otto Eldred • Port Allegany Ridgway • Roulette • Smethport • Turtlepoint
Photo Provided Kinzua Bridge State Park
McKean County “Backyard Tour” coming in May The Allegheny National Forest Visitors Bureau, will host a “Backyard Tour” on May 6. Tourists, residents, business owners and staff, are invited to attend. This is the public’s chance to tour McKean County as a visitor via deluxe motorcoach. The tour group participants will meet at 8:30 a.m., Friday, May 6,
at the Allegheny National Forest Visitors Bureau Welcome Center located at 80 E. Corydon Street in Bradford. Guests will travel an informational itinerary via motorcoach throughout the county, returning to the Welcome Center at around 5 p.m. The tour will include the Penn Brad Oil Museum, Marilyn Horne Museum
& Exhibit Center, Zippo/ Case Museum, the Eldred World War II Museum, Old Town Smethport, and the Kinzua Sky Walk and Kinzua Bridge Visitors Center in Mount Jewett. A wine tasting will be included at Flickerwood Wine Cellars, followed by a tour of the new Wilds Sonshine Factory in Kane. A buffet lunch at the
Cottage House Restaurant & Winery in Smethport, which is located within Old Town Smethport. “Step Back in Time” explores the historic exhibits within Old Town Smethport, and then shop their general store for nostalgic gifts and hand-crafted, locally made treasures. On the return journey from Kane, tour participants will travel
Police: OV superintendent suggested he would have DUI incident covered up BY MARCIE SCHELLHAMMER More details have come to light from the April 15 arrest of Oswayo Valley Superintendent Jed Hamberger after an alleged DUI crash in Bradford, including that he was at a “high level of intoxication” and allegedly suggested to police he would have the incident covered up. Since the arrest, The Era has reached out several times to Hamberger, but received no response. He is on administrative leave from the district while the criminal case is proceeding. While no one from the Oswayo Valley School Board immediately responded to messages, solicitor Timothy Sennett said the district had no comment. Hamberger, 36, of Bradford, had a “high level of intoxication” and was uncooperative at the time of his arrest, court records stated. He could not understand directions for a field sobriety test, refused further testing and said he wanted to speak to an attorney. During his arraignment before District Judge Dom Cercone, Hamberger stated, “I was at an event raising money for the senior center, I then went to the Legion after the event. Yes, I had too much to drink and I should not have drove. I did not think it was a crime to raise money for charity,” read an affidavit of probable cause for a search warrant in the case. Cercone advised him not to speak about the case, the affidavit
read. While Cercone was advising Hamberger he could not threaten or intimidate witnesses in the case, Hamberger asked if arresting officers Deven Grandinetti and Eric Neiswonger were witnesses. When the judge said no, Hamberger allegedly looked at them and smiled, the affidavit read. The affidavit stated “Hamberger asked multiple times (for the officers) to drop the charges and to not make this public knowledge.” The officers said no. While Neiswonger was taking Hamberger home following arraignment, Hamberger asked if the charges would be dropped or “am I going to have to call the county commissioners to influence the judge to have these charges taken care of,” the affidavit stated. He also commented regarding the charges that “this is on the down low and I’ll be running Bradford schools in no time.” On Wednesday, McKean County Commissioner Chairman Tom Kreiner said
Hamberger had not reached out to the commissioners, nor would they entertain such a request to intervene in a criminal matter from anyone. According to Foster Township police, an officer was on patrol at approximately 10:20 p.m. April 15 on South Kendall Avenue in Bradford when a vehicle traveling in the opposite lane nearly struck the officer’s vehicle head-on. “The officer was able to make an evasive movement to avoid colliding with the suspect’s vehicle,” police stated. In the affidavit, Grandinetti said that if he hadn’t had proper training in evasive maneuvers in the police academy, he might not have been able to avoid being struck by Hamberger’s vehicle. That night, the officer made a U-turn and activated his emergency lights. “At that point, the same vehicle sped up and failed to come to a yield for the officer’s emergency lights,” the release stated. “The suspect vehicle was pursued into the city of Bradford.” Shortly after entering the city limits, the suspect’s vehicle left the roadway, struck a telephone pole and a large pile of rocks in front of a residence on South Kendall, where the vehicle came to rest. “Through sheer luck there was nobody walking along the road, sitting or standing in the driveway or in the general area,” Grandinetti wrote in the affidavit. Had someone
been in the immediate area, they likely would have been killed, he suggested. The night of the arrest, after the crash, while Grandinetti was calling additional officers to assist, Hamberger got out of his vehicle and began walking toward the police car. Grandinetti placed him in handcuffs at least until other units could arrive, the affidavit stated. Hamberger was identified, and police noted a strong odor of alcohol coming from his breath. He told police that they didn’t know who they were dealing with, the affidavit stated. Neiswonger noted that when he arrived on the scene, Hamberger’s words were slurred and he wasn’t making sense. Hamberger was charged with fleeing or attempting to elude an officer, a third-degree felony; DUIhighest rate of alcohol, and DUI-general impairment, both misdemeanors; and summary traffic offenses reckless driving, failing to keep right and not using low beam. Hamberger was arraigned at 1 a.m. Saturday by Cercone and released on $5,000 unsecured bail. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for June 1 before District Judge Rich Luther. He is represented in the criminal case by Edinboro attorney Grant Travis. The search warrant was for audio and video recordings from the American Legion in Shinglehouse, which showed Hamberger drinking earlier that night.
the Longhouse Scenic Drive and learn about the forest from an Allegheny National Forest employee. A special treat from The Grocery Stretcher will be served. The tour fee, including lunch, wine tasting, and snacks is only $40 per person for members of the ANF Visitors Bureau, and $50 for non-members.
Door prizes will be given away during the tour to participants. For additional information and to register for this year’s McKean County Backyard Tour, contact the ANF Visitors Bureau at (800) 473-9370 or info@visitANF.com.
McKean Co. accepting blight grant applications SMETHPORT — McKean County is accepting applications for the second round of funding for the Act 152 blight grant. The county launched the Act 152 Blight Demolition Program in 2021. This program provides grants to demolish blighted structures and is funded through a fee collected by the Recorder of Deeds Office when deeds and mortgages are recorded. During the first year of the program, five buildings were demolished including one in the City of Bradford, two in Kane Borough, one in Port Allegany Borough, and one in Wetmore Township. The total cost of these projects was $67,675.93 including $42,064.95 in Act 152 grant funding and $25,610.98 in local match provided by the property owner or local municipality. Applications for the first round of 2022 Act 152 Blight Funding were recently reviewed by the McKean County Commissioners, who have awarded funding for five Act 152 grants.
Grants include two projects in the City of Bradford, one project in Lewis Run Borough, and two projects in Kane Borough. The total cost of these projects is $53,035 including $39,572.50 in Act 152 grant funding and $13,462.50 in match provided by the property owner or local municipality. The 2nd Round of 2022 Act 152 Blight Grant applications are currently being accepted for this grant and are due by 4 p.m. on May 20. These applications will be reviewed in early June with a goal of awarding grants in late June or early July. Grant guidelines and applications for both the municipal and private landowner programs are available at w w w. m c k e a n c o u n t y p a . org or by contacting: Robert Veilleux, economic development liaison, at 814887-3107 or at raveilleux@ mckeancountypa.org; or by contacting Rick Fry, director of planning, at 814-887-2754, or at rfry@ mckeancountypa.org.
Bradford Community Farmers Market to remain at Legion The Bradford Community Farmers Market will remain at the American Legion at 210 W. Washington St. in Bradford, and will open on May 28. The market will be every Saturday from May 28 to Oct. 1 from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Vendors items include Amish produce, baked goods, canned products,
puzzles, household items, wood crafts and dog biscuits, jewelry, handmade items and gnomes, eggs, honey, Watkins products, pies, cakes, fudge, sugar free and gluten free goodies and much more. Find the group on Facebook for vendor updates or to get information on how to be a vendor.
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MAY 3, 2022
Toomey, colleagues bill to ensure crime victims receive promised funds
Era photo by Daniella Langianese Bradford resident Fred Charlton has installed a few bat houses on his property on West Washington Street to provide area bats with a safe haven where they can sleep, before waking in the evening to feast on area insects.
Bradford homeowner provides homes for area bats BY DANIELLA LANGIANESE He may not be the Gotham superhero, Batman, but to bats in the McKean County area, he is the man. Bradford resident Fred Charlton of West Washington Street has decided to make a retirement hobby out of providing homes, or roosts for the area bat population. “Some bats are endangered, so when I retired I had the spare time to find or make these bat houses and it gave me something to do. Plus, they are really neat,” said Charlton. Although some individuals may feel that bats leaving the roost in the early evening hours may not be the most desirable lawn decoration, bats are an important part of a functioning ecosystem. There are actually several essential roles bats have in the environment that make the night-time winged creatures a desirable tenant on an individual’s property, including pest control, pollination and seed dispersal. Not to mention, if a household has children or adults who enjoy a touch of whimsy, the bats’ nightly displays of aerial acrobatics are simply fascinating to observe. Since Charlton installed his bat houses, the largest number of bats he has homed for a day, at least to his knowledge, is four. “My property is not the ideal location for bats — ideally, they like a marsh or swamp type setting. Really anywhere with a lot of insects,” explained Charlton. According to the Penn State Extension, bats live in a variety of habitats, including wetlands, fields, forests, cities and suburbs. The eight common species of bats in Pennsylvania eat insects and capture their prey in flight. “They usually feed in open areas where insects swarm, such as over open water, in forest clearings or farm fields and around street lights. Bats are beneficial because they are efficient predators of
insects. A single bat, for instance, may consume as many as 2,000 insects every night.” A bat can consume up to 25 percent of its weight at a single feeding, with the smaller, hibernating species estimated to consume nearly a million insects per bat per year, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission. “Bats are so good at consuming insects, a great place for large bat houses in the area would be out near Marilla and Gilbert reservoirs,” suggested Charlton. “Wouldn’t it be neat if the high school shop classes or boy scout troops worked together with the city or National Forest to make something like that happen?” Charlton said. According to Bat Conservation International, installing a bat house is meaningful and a great way to connect to the world of bat conservation. For those who might be interested in providing a safe haven for area bats, the choice belongs to the individual to build or buy. Bat Conservation International offers three
downloadable designs for bat houses, bat boxes or bat roosts — the designs include a four chamber design and rocket boxes. To view or download these designs visit http://www. batcon.org/about-bats/ bat-houses/. Once an individual has bought or built a bat home, the Penn State Extension recommends that all bat boxes in Pennsylvania face southeast or southwest, so that they receive at least seven hours of direct sunlight per day during the spring and summer months. Also, whether on a building, pole or tree, bat boxes should always be placed at least 10 to 15 feet above the ground. Bat boxes can also be utilized to move an invading bat population out a place where they should not be roosting, such as in a garage or shed. As far as the most appropriate time of the year to install the bat’s new home, the Penn State Extension recommends installing the bat box in a location where it receives seven hours of sunlight between the months of
You can make a difference in a child’s life CONCERN has a need for foster homes in Potter County. Thanks to the guidance, love and support of foster families, children are experiencing a healthy, happy childhood. Learn how you can make a difference. For more information visit www.concern4kids.org 570-523-1297
January and April. Between May and August allow bats to remain in the building from which individuals wish to have them expelled and watch them exit at dusk to identify potential openings, which may still need to be blocked off. Between September and April, make sure to seal any openings the bats utilized to exit, and then hang a new bat home near the building they were using as a home previously.
WASHINGTON — During National Crime Victims’ week, Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., with the support of nine Senate colleagues, introduced the Fairness for Crime Victims Act to ensure that crime victims receive the funding promised to them through the Crime Victims Fund. “The money in the Crime Victims Fund belongs to those harmed by child abuse, sexual assault, domestic violence, and other crimes, but congressional appropriators instead have withheld this money as a budget gimmick to fund other projects. To stop this injustice, I along with nine Senate colleagues introduced the Fairness for Crime Victims Act, which would require a minimum annual distribution of CVF funds to the rightful recipients,” said Toomey. The CVF was created to provide crime victims with the money the federal government collected through fines and penalties from convicted criminals as a result of their crimes. Taxpayer dollars do not contribute to this fund. For years, billions from the CVF have not been allocated in an intentional attempt by Congressional appropriators to create a façade of savings. No money leaves the CVF, but
it creates the appearance that this money is saved, which allows Congress to appropriate funds towards other projects instead of distributing the CVF where it belongs — to victims. Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) joined Toomey in introducing the Fairness for Crime Victims Act. “CHILD USA is delighted to see Senator Toomey pushing for justice and service provision for survivors of violent crime with The Fairness for Crime Victims Act. Ensuring adequate funding to assist child advocacy centers, rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters, and compensation to survivors is essential to assist survivors in escaping and overcoming their abusers,” said CEO and Founder of CHILD USA Marci Hamilton. Heritage Action, FreedomWorks, the R Street Group, and the Pennsylvania chapter of Child Advocacy Centers have also voiced support for the legislation.
PennDOT places speed display board in Ulysses Borough CLEARFIELD — The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation placed a radar-controlled speed display board on Loucks Mills Road in Ulysses Borough, Potter County, to remind drivers to obey the posted speed limit. The sign, placed Tuesday, will aid in curbing speeding, a common type of aggressive driving behavior. The board faces northbound traffic between Fox Hill Road and Center Street. The board utilizes radar to determine the speeds of oncoming traffic and posts them to the lighted section of the sign. The speed limit on
Loucks Mills Road at this location is 25 miles per hour. The board will remain in this location for two to four weeks before being repositioned to face southbound traffic. Speeding and other aggressive driving behaviors are among the leading causes of crashes and fatalities in Pennsylvania. Other aggressive driving behaviors include running stop signs or red lights, passing illegally and tailgating. Aggressive driving behaviors were a contributing factor in 46 percent of Potter County crashes in 2020.
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MAY 3, 2022
ARC seeks leaders for training opportunities
WASHINGTON — The Appalachian Regional Commission is accepting applications for the fourth class of the Appalachian Leadership Institute, a free leadership and economic development training opportunity for individuals currently living and/or working in one of ARC’s 13 Appalachian states. The Appalachian Leadership Institute is an all-inclusive, nine-month program focusing on skill-building, seminars, best practice reviews, mentoring, and networking to equip passionate Appalachian leaders with the skills, vision, and connections needed to help their communities thrive. The curriculum is anchored by six multiday seminars across the Appalachian region focusing on each of ARC’s 2022-2026 strategic investment priorities, which aim to strengthen economic and community growth in Appalachia. The fourth class will run from October 2022 through July 2023 and prepare fellows to: •Design effective economic development project proposals •Integrate community assets into long-term economic development strategies •Identify resources available to spark economic and community development •Locate and access investment capital from a variety of public and private sources •Prepare competitive applications for public grant opportunities •Use expanded connections and leadership skills to create strong regional coalitions “The Appalachian Leadership Institute further
equips our region’s leaders to make positive impacts in their communities, and I look forward to welcoming the next class of Leadership fellows into the ARC family,” said ARC Federal Co-Chair Gayle Manchin. “I encourage leaders from across our 13 Appalachian states to apply for the Appalachian Leadership Institute, and to continue to brainstorm ways to work together, beyond county and state lines, to set big goals that will make our entire region stronger.” The Appalachian Leadership Institute is limited to 40 fellows annually, drawn from a variety of Appalachia’s public, private, and nonprofit industry sectors. Each class includes a diverse network of leaders to reflect the Appalachian region’s wide diversity of economic development challenges, opportunities, and strategies. Travel, inperson sessions, and other associated participation costs are covered by the Appalachian Regional Commission. Upon completion of the program, fellows are automatically part of the Appalachian Leadership Institute Alumni Network, a peer-to-peer working group of experts committed to helping foster collaborative solutions that will build a stronger future for Appalachia. Applications for the 2022-2023 class are open through June 1, 2022. To learn more about the program and apply, visit: www.arc.gov/leadership. To meet the 2021-2022 class of fellows and learn more about how they are working to transform their Appalachian communities, visit: arc.gov/appalachianleadership-institute-class/.
Port Allegany library undergoing renovations PORT ALLEGANY — The S.W. Smith Memorial Public Library in Port Allegany announced temporary parking and entrance closures due to renovation. The front entrance of the library that meets the parking lot will be under renovation. Until further notice, park on the street and use the library
entrances at the corner of Maple and Pine Streets. The library is adding on a new outdoor patio with picnic tables and is also replacing the outdoor lighting. Funds were obtained through an American Rescue Plan for Libraries grant, a donation from Rotary Club of Port Allegany, and the estate of James Niles.
ELBA, N.Y. (AP) — A medical helicopter pilot and flight instructor were killed in a crash Tuesday during a training flight in Western New York, according to state police and the transport company. The Mercy Flight helicopter went down at around 1 p.m. near the Genesee County town of Elba, which is located about halfway between Buffalo and Rochester, said Maj. Eugene Staniszewski at a news conference. No patients were on board, authorities said. Mercy Flight said the cause of the accident had not been determined, and that the crash occurred during an annual Bell Helicopter factory training. Buffalo-based Mercy Flight identified the pilot as James Sauer, a retired New York state police pilot. The flight instructor, who worked for the helicopter manufacturer, was identified by state police as Stewart Dietrick of Texas. A photo from the website of the The Daily News in nearby Batavia showed smoke rising from wreckage in a field. Staniszewski, of the state police, said the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board would
investigate the cause of the accident. Weather did not appear to be a factor. Downed power lines were visible near the wreckage but are not believed to have contributed, Staniszewski said. “I don’t believe the lines caused the crash but the aircraft may have struck the lines on the way down,” he said. Mercy Flight transports patients to area hospitals in a Bell 429 helicopter, according to the not-forprofit company’s website. The twin-engine aircraft was housed at the Genesee County Airport, which is a little less than 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the crash site. The company called it an “unspeakable tragedy.” “This is a very dark day for the Mercy Flight family, we are so grateful for the expressions of love, concern and support expressed by many,” said company president Margaret Ferrentino. Mercy Flight said it temporarily suspended operations to let their employees grieve and ensure other helicopters could be safely operated. The company said any requests it receives in the meantime will be routed to other local resources.
2 killed when Mercy Flight copter crashes in Genesee County
Brush control and invasive shrub program set The North Central Forest Landowners Association will be holding a program about Brush Control- Identification and Management of Non-native Invasive Shrubs on May 7 from 1 to 3 p.m. This field program will include information on identification tips, management options and strategies, and herbicide treatment information. Dress for a field walk and the weather. This is free
and open to the public by RSVP. To attend you must call 814-887-5121 or email ncfla2@gmail.com by May 3. This will be hosted at an NCFLA member’s property near Roulette. Leave your phone number and you will receive a call back with an address and directions to the property. Details can also be found on the NCFLA Facebook page – North Central PA Forest Landowners.
Photo by Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection A natural gas well pad in Clinton County.
Pa. landowners have dealt with coal, oil and gas rights. Now, there are pore rights PITTSBURGH (TNS) — The next iteration of energy production in Pennsylvania is likely to lead where its predecessors began: to landowners’ doors. Do you know your pore rights? Landmen have come around for coal rights. They’ve leased oil and gas — first in the earth’s shallow layers and then in deep, tight rocks like the Marcellus and Utica shales. They’ve gotten easements for pipelines and transmission lines, solar panels and salt caverns. To achieve the new vision for Western Pennsylvania — a vast hub for hydrogen production and carbon sequestration — natural gas would be used to make hydrogen, and then the resulting carbon dioxide emissions, along with those from other industries, would be captured and pumped deep underground into the pores of reservoirs that landowners may not even know they own. Pore leases might be the first blocks of a vast infrastructure needed to realize this vision, which has great support from the region’s power players. States interested in advancing the concept of a hydrogen production and carbon storage hub — and vying for $8 billion in federal funding allocated to these efforts — are attempting to put in place some of that administrative scaffolding. In Pennsylvania, a bill that would address pore ownership and liability for stored carbon, is expected to be introduced in the coming weeks by state Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Lycoming. It is modeled after a similar law enacted in Nebraska last year but may also draw on recent legislation that passed in West Virginia, said Yaw’s chief of staff, Nick Troutman. Such laws already exist in Wyoming, North Dakota and Montana. ”These issues came up earlier out West than they did here,” Jesse Richardson, a professor of law at West Virginia University and its lead land use attorney, said last week. “East of the Mississippi, this is all kind of new. We’re just dipping our toe into it, and we don’t have it figured out.” THE BIG IDEA Within the past year, hydrogen production and carbon sequestration have replaced Pennsylvania’s previous attempts to make the most of its natural gas reserves.
An energy vision released by the Allegheny Conference on Community Development last week includes the pursuit of hydrogen production and carbon storage alongside building efficiency and electrification. During numerous conferences over the past few weeks, advocates of hydrogen and carbon storage also sought to tie them to the production of rare earth elements, blending hydrogen into utility pipelines and making carbon black, a material used in tires. If it seems like a kitchen-sink approach to decarbonization, it’s because that’s what proponents say is needed to tackle the scale of the problem of climate change. The vision is still somewhat amorphous. There is exactly one company — U.S. Steel — that has publicly said it would buy higher-priced hydrogen fuel, and no company has even begun to test CO2 sequestration in Pennsylvania. Still, the idea has broad and bipartisan support. ”We’re all in,” Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald declared before a crowd at the Energy Innovation Center earlier this month. “Gov. [Tom] Wolf is all in. All the candidates that will be replacing Wolf, on both sides of the aisle, they’re all in, too.” The hydrogen production and carbon storage hub is a conceptual behemoth. On to it, stakeholders project their own hopes and fears. Some see billions of dollars in investment, a buildup of industry, a future for natural gas in this region. While the focus is on decarbonization, “the areas that have profited to date from the natural gas will continue to do so, because it’s very much part of this energy transition we’re trying to make,” said Shell’s Hilary Mercer, senior vice president of the Pennsylvania Chemicals Project, during a Zoom event last week. Others see a new cycle of hype that will grip and paralyze the region for years before fizzling out. Such was the case when Appalachia was almost certainly going to attract a handful of cracker plants in addition to the one Shell has built in Beaver County but didn’t. Or when the region seemed poised to become an ethane trading hub,
which never materialized. The hydrogen production and carbon storage hub idea overwhelms the others in scale and ambition. It also overwhelms them in a way that’s harder to conjure: the enormity of the legal and regulatory infrastructure that doesn’t exist but would need to be created to permit, regulate and oversee this idea. ”We’re going to need regulatory agencies, clear statutes, clear laws — just like with minerals, with oil and gas,” said Rob Wingo, executive vice president of corporate ventures at EQT. “You need to understand how liabilities are going to work.” OWNING TO CENTER OF THE EARTH While hydrogen is the new spice in the soup, the backbone of this plan is carbon capture and storage, an idea that has been around for decades. Legal issues such as pore ownership and liability for carbon sequestration were being discussed more than a decade ago — the last time that carbon capture and sequestration was a hot topic — when it looked reasonably likely that thenPresident Barack Obama would push through legislation that caps carbon emissions. The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources commissioned a study from TetraTech exploring the geological and legal feasibility of carbon sequestration on state lands. The West Virginia Legislature ordered that a carbon dioxide working group be assembled to explore what future laws and policies are needed to encourage the development of carbon capture and sequestration. When the working group presented its report in 2010, it concluded that pore ownership was a thorny and costly issue. Common law, a colonial inheritance from Britain, generally holds that a landowner has the title to the surface, all the way to the center of the earth and above the property to the atmosphere. The 1926 Air Commerce Act established the concept of public airspace; the expansion of aviation wouldn’t have been possible if commercial airlines had to pay each landowner for passing through a column of air above their land. The West Virginia carbon
dioxide working group imagined a similar dynamic if developers of carbon sequestration projects had to identify and get leases from each landowner above the desired reservoir. They calculated that simply doing the title work required for a project the size of the state’s Mason County — with its 20,000 surface owners and 1,000 mineral owners — would cost $100 million. Instead, the West Virginia group proposed that the state Legislature designate pore space below 2,500 feet as public space if it wasn’t being used for oil and gas extraction. The idea was being promoted at the time by the Midwest Governors Association, which favored eminent domain rights for carbon sequestration projects. But the argument did not survive through the decade, when shale gas development dominated the attention of lawmakers and property rights attorneys. When West Virginia passed new carbon storage legislation last month, it said project developers had to make agreements with landowners for pore space. But if they couldn’t get all of them to sign leases, the project could still go forward if they had the consent of 75% of them. The rest would be forced into the pool and compensated. Yaw’s draft bill for Pennsylvania has similar language but puts that consent threshold at 60%. The bills don’t establish a standard for who decides what would be a fair price for pore space. While the pore space belongs to the landowner, the carbon dioxide stored within the reservoir belongs to whoever is sequestering it. The whole point of carbon storage is to ensure it stays underground for as close as possible to forever — a timetable that isn’t part of most business plans. Carbon storage developers looking at West Virginia can transfer liability for the stored carbon to the state 10 years after injections stop. The Pennsylvania bill also provides for a transfer of ownership to the state after the project is done pumping CO2 into the ground, but it doesn’t specify a waiting period. CO2 storage project owners would pay into a fund that the states would use to care for stored CO2 in perpetuity when they inherit it.
Avian influenza detected in poultry at fourth farm in Pa. HARRISBURG (TNS) — A fourth farm in Lancaster County has been impacted by the highly-contagious strain of avian influenza, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. About 50,300 birds at an unnamed commercial boiler production operation in the county were destroyed as a result of the virus or related depopulation, according to the USDA website.
Lancaster County is the only county in the state to report avian influenza cases. A total of about 3.5 million birds in the state have been affected. The state’s first positive case in poultry was detected on April 15 at a farm in East Donegal Township, which is home to nearly 1,700 of Pennsylvania’s more than 10,300 poultry operations. The farm euthanized 1.4 million chickens in response
to the detection. An additional two farms in the county had to destroy poultry last week after avian influenza was detected. While avian influenza poses no risk to the public, state Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said Monday thaty the need to stay vigilant is a priority not only for the poultry farmers but for food supply issues as well. The Pennsylvania
Game Commission in late March reported the first detection of the disease in Pennsylvania, in a wild bald eagle found dead in East Marlborough Township, Chester County. Despite the spread of the avian flu at poultry farm, the state Department of Agriculture has said chicken and other poultry products remain safe to eat.
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MAY 3, 2022
Rapp: $3.7 Million ER grant for Warren hospital WARREN — Pennsylvania House Health Committee Majority Chair Rep. Kathy Rapp, R-Warren, and Sen. Scott Hutchinson, R-Oil City, announced on Friday that a $3.7 million grant from the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) has been awarded to Warren General Hospital for the modernization and expansion of the facility’s emergency room. “As the chair of the House Health Committee, I was honored to offer my support for this extremely necessary ER expansion project that will significantly increase access to the
already top-notch patient care that Warren General Hospital continues to deliver to the rural communities I represent,” said Rapp. “Securing this highlycompetitive funding is another outstanding example of hospital administrators taking extraordinary steps to recruit, maintain and support our irreplaceable nurses, doctors and other essential frontline health care professionals.” Specifically, the project will improve patient care by renovating and moving the MedSurg unit closer to the ER. The ER will also be expanded to include larger treatment spaces that are
equipped to accommodate behavioral health patients and patients with airborne infectious disease. General construction includes exterior shell, roofing, walls, ceilings and roofing, mechanical, plumbing/medical gas, electrical and fire protection. “I’m so pleased that Warren General Hospital has been selected to receive funding for these vital improvements to its Emergency Department,” said Hutchinson. “Providing the highest quality emergency care to the citizens of Warren and the surrounding rural communities is a top priority of
Warren General Hospital’s administration and I’m so glad to partner with them to achieve that goal.” RACP is administered by the Office of the Budget for the acquisition and construction of regional economic, cultural, civic, recreational and historical improvement projects. RACP projects must have a regional or multi-jurisdictional impact and generate substantial increases or maintain current levels of employment, tax revenues or other measures of economic activity. Photo Provided
Bradford man arraigned for alleged assault at BRMC A Bradford man was arraigned Monday on allegations that he was involved in an altercation with two staff members at the emergency room at Bradford Regional Medical Center. Raymond Allen, 20, of 2 Bushnell St. Apt. 425., is charged with simple assault, a second-degree misdemeanor, and
two counts of disorderly conduct, third-degree misdemeanors. According to the criminal complaint, at 6:25 p.m. April 2, Bradford City Police were dispatched to BRMC for an unruly patient. When officers arrived, staff members were blocking the door to the ER. Officers went in the room,
where Allen was in the corner. They attempted to restrain him, but he resisted. BRMC staff and police had to hold him down until he could be restrained, the complaint stated. Nurses said that Allen had been yelling and attempting to leave the emergency room, causing the ER to go on lockdown.
Two nurses said Allen had shoved them, one into a wall and the other into a wall and a sharps container, the complaint stated. He was arraigned before District Judge Dom Cercone and released on $10,000 unsecured bail. A preliminary hearing in the case is set for May 4.
COVID vaccinations in Elk, Cameron at more than 50% BY MARCIE SCHELLHAMMER While COVID vaccine numbers seem to have hit a plateau in McKean and Potter counties, both Elk and Cameron counties are showing more than half of adults are fully covered. According to the state Department of Health, in this region, Elk County has the highest rate of fully covered residents at 58.1%, followed by Cameron County at 57.4%. McKean County was at 46.4% vaccinated, and Potter County was at 38.7%. In the ranking of
counties by percent of residents with at least one vaccine dose, Potter County is at 63 out of 67. McKean County is at 44. Cameron County is at 37, and Elk County is at 33. The number one county is Chester, with 90.7% of its residents having at least one vaccine. A total of 73.6% of residents are fully covered. Philadelphia County is at the bottom, with 24% having at least one dose and 16% fully covered, the health department reported. When compared by
legislative district, the 25 Legislative District of Sen. Cris Dush, R-Brookville, is tied for second from last with the district of Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Williamsport, with 45.1%. For Rep. Marty Causer, R-Turtlepoint, the 67th District House of Representatives is tied for fifth from last with Rep. Brian Smith, R-Punxsutawney, at 40.8%. For the 15th District of U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., the rank was third from last at 48.8%. As for active cases of COVID, as of Friday,
McKean County didn’t have any. However, there were 10 in the past week, and 64 in the past month, for a total of 8,212. Elk County had one active case as of Friday, for a total of 7,136. Potter County had no active cases as of Friday, but there were 9 in the past week. In the past month, there were 51 new cases for a total of 3,209. In Cameron County, the last active case was on April 10, and the one before that was on March 15. There have been a total of 815 cases.
Pa. doesn’t make top 10 of best camping states HARRISBURG (TNS) — Pennsylvania is the 15th best state for camping, according to a ranking system developed by LawnLove. com, an online lawn care service. While Pennsylvania was No. 1 in some of the metrics used in the rankings, such as variety of activities available in campgrounds, it ranked much lower in others, including No. 28 in the average price for a campsite fee and No. 18 in the number of camping supply stores in the state. “With fresh air, nature’s music and fire-roasted food, few things are more relaxing than a camping
trip with your favorite folks,” explained Sav Maive, a Lawn Love writer and director based in San Antonio, Texas. “Many states offer a variety of camping environments, from mountains to deserts to waterfront views. But where you pitch your tent, or park your RV, can make or break your night under the stars. “We looked for states with plenty of high-quality campgrounds and easy access to state parks, national parks and trails. Safety and affordability levels also influenced the ranking.” The top five states in the ranking are California, with a score of 63.09; Washington,
51.51; Minnesota, 49.91; Michigan, 49.48; and Florida, 48.66. Pennsylvania scored 43.43. The least impressive states for camping, from No. 50 through 46, are Nevada, with a score of 22.91; Alabama, 27.28; Mississippi, 27.96; Delaware, 29.90; and Rhode Island, 31.21. The measures used in the rankings were: Access: number of campsites, acreage of state and national parks, percentage of state covered by parks, number of camping trail, number of hiking trails, variety of campsite activities, and number of
attractions. Costs: average price for camping rental and average RV rental cost. Quality: median consumer rating for campsites in the state, number of campsites with toilets and number of campsites with water. Supplies: number of camping supply stores and number of RV rental offers. Safety: number of deaths in park, natural hazard index and phone coverage. Pennsylvania ranked No. 10 in access, 33 in costs, 14 in quality, 22 in supplies and 29 in safety.
Marcie Schellhammer
Schellhammer named a Quill finalist The Era’s Assistant Managing Editor Marcie Schellhammer has been named a finalist in the 2022 Golden Quill competition. The annual contest, held by the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania, recognizes professional and student excellence in written, photographic, illustration, broadcast, audio, video and digital journalism in Western Pennsylvania and nearby counties in Ohio and West Virginia. Schellhammer is a finalist for Excellence in Written Journalism for “DA censures Bartlett in wake of Confer arrest — How the
process worked.” Winners will be announced at the Golden Quill Awards presentation on May 24, at the Rivers Casino Event Center in Pittsburgh. A graduate of OttoEldred High School and the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, she has been with The Era since 2001. She has been honored by the Pennsylvania News Media Association and Pennsylvania Associated Press Media Editors with nine professional awards, three for columns and six for reporting. She and her daughter, Emily, live in Bradford.
Reedus-Gilyard sent to state prison for Bradford stabbing in 2020 SMETHPORT — Jamie Reedus-Gilyard has been sentenced to a term in state prison for stabbing two people at the Lighter Side bar in Bradford in January 2020. Reedus-Gilyard, 30, was sentenced Thursday in McKean County Court to 24 to 48 months in state prison on charges aggravated assault, causing bodily injury with extreme indifference to human life, a first-degree felony; aggravated assault, causing bodily injury with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony; two counts of simple assault, first-degree misdemeanors; disorderly conduct, a thirddegree misdemeanor; and two summary counts of harassment. According to District Attorney Stephanie L. Vettenburg-Shaffer, ReedusGilyard was charged after City of Bradford Police responded to the Lighter Side bar in Bradford on January 24, 2020 for a report of a stabbing. Paramedics treated the victims on scene and both were later treated
at hospitals after suffering non-life-threatening injuries. One of the victims was taken to an out-of-area hospital due to the location of his injury. One victim suffered injury to his torso and another victim, who was an employee, suffered injury to his hand while trying to stop the initial assault. Prior to police arrival, Reedus-Gilyard fled the scene and was unable to be located. ReedusGilyard was ultimately apprehended by New York authorities and was extradited back to Pennsylvania to face the charges. Shaffer said both victims had recovered. As part of the sentence, Reedus-Gilyard was also ordered to have no contact with the victims, not be on the premises of the Lighter Side bar, pay restitution, and undergo drug and alcohol and mental health assessments. Sgt. Jason Daugherty of the City of Bradford Police investigated the case.