McKean Potter Source 6-28-22

28 2022

community

JUNE

p o t t e r m c k e a n

county

Austin • Coudersport • Crosby • Eldred • Gifford • Kane • Lewis Run • Mt. Jewett • Otto Eldred • Port Allegany Ridgway • Roulette • Smethport • Turtlepoint

Photo Provided Fish and Boat Commission Executive Director Tim Schaeffer joined leaders from seven state agencies Friday highlighting the importance of protecting native species at a stream restoration site at PFBC headquarters.

Impact of invasive species noted on First Pennsylvania Native Species Day HARRISBURG (TNS) — The negative impact of non-native invasive species on the native species of Pennsylvania and biodiversity in the state was highlighted by leaders from seven state agencies, who gathered Friday at a stream restoration site at Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission headquarters in Harrisburg to highlight the first Pennsylvania Native Species Day. The agencies, along with 14 educational, environmental advocacy, agricultural and industry organizations, are members of the Governor’s Invasive Species Council, which created Pennsylvania Native Species Day. The agency representatives noted that a diverse native ecosystem provides a range of benefits to Pennsylvanians, including food sources, timber, climate

resilience, outdoor recreation and related economies.

“Municipal and state officials, business owners, community organizations, and local residents are realizing the need to conserve this essential part of Pennsylvania’s natural infrastructure,” said Tim Schaeffer, executive director of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission Executive Director.

“Biodiversity is important to the health of our water, land and air, and therefore important to our quality of life in Pennsylvania,” added Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Patrick McDonnell.

“We cannot take for granted the biodiversity we have here in Pennsylvania,” he cautioned, noting that some of the invasive species are “progressing with breathtaking speed.”

Matt Keefer, assistant state forester with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, noted, “Pennsylvania has 2.2 million acres of state forests, millions of acres of state park and game lands, and private forestlands that must be protected from invasive species. Protecting our native plants and forests is critical to keepingPennsylvania landscapes beautiful and productive for future generations.

“If you don’t take care of these invasives they’ll take over the forest.”

Survival of many native species is under increasing pressure from the proliferation of invasive nonnative species that has occurred as global commerce and travel have increased.

“Native species evolved to exist in a delicate balance, but invasive species disrupt

this balance,” explained Kristopher Abell, coordinator of the GISC for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, explained.

“When invasive species like the spotted lanternfly spread, they have detrimental effects on native species, and our environment, economy, and quality of life can be impacted.

That is why it’s so critical to create awareness on how to best manage invasive pests and support the commonwealth’s native species.”

“Public health is interconnected with our environment,” said Acting Secretary of Health and Physician General Denise Johnson. “The Department of Health supports efforts to combat the prevalence of invasive species because they directly affect our health in many ways.

From the mitigation of diseases such as Lyme

ANF seeks input on Dewdrop Campground facilities updates

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service is planning a project to update and modernize the facilities within the Dewdrop Recreation Area.

The Recreation Area was originally developed in the mid to late 1960s and includes several original structures that are now more than 50 years old. The Forest Service reviewed public comments submitted through the 2021 Allegheny National Forest Recreation Site Analysis and noted many comments requesting updated facilities and a desire for updated water utilities such as showers.

The recreation area is located along the Longhouse Scenic Drive (Forest Road 262), about four miles south of the junction with State Route

59, near Kinzua Point. It sits on the western shore of Kinzua Bay, which extends southwest from the main body of the Allegheny Reservoir.

Dewdrop Campground, the major asset in the recreation area, is split into two loops and has 74 family campsites, each containing a picnic table, fire ring, and tent pad.

The southern loop holds sites 1-25 and a toilet building. The northern loop holds sites 26-74, two toilet buildings, a bathhouse, and a boat launch.

The campground also has a fee station, a RV dump station, and one group site which is currently being used by the concessionaire as a facilities maintenance yard. The campground is connected to the Jakes Rocks Trail System

and has become a very popular overnight accommodation for mountain bikers traversing the Jakes Rocks Extreme Mountain Biking Trails.

The proposal is to update or replace four buildings and the boat launch. The restroom building near campsite 54 in the northern loop will be updated to meet universal accessibility standards, replace fixtures, and other aesthetic updates. The restroom closest to the water view sites in the northern loop near site 36 will be demolished and replaced with a combined restroom and shower house building.

The current shower house building in the northern loop may be converted into a cabin or demolished.

The

restroom in the southern loop near site 14 will be demolished and replaced with a combined restroom and shower house. Accessible paths to all buildings will be constructed. In addition to these updates, the Forest Service proposes to repair or replace the boat launch and other miscellaneous features throughout the area.

Comments are most helpful if received by July 22, and may be submitted by email to comments-easternallegheny-bradford@ usda.gov.

For more information, or to submit comments by telephone, contact Supervisory Natural Resource Specialist-Recreation: Jamie Klebanski at 814-335-3140 or Jamie.

Klebanski@usda.gov.

disease, to decreasing allergic reactions and even playing a part in improving mental and physical health, this is a worthy goal that we’re proud to be a part of.”

Department of Transportation Acting Executive Deputy Secretary Melissa Batula said the DOT is “refining our roadside seed mixes to focus on native species and pollinators. Additionally, we’ve entered into a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant partnership with the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania to develop pollinator plots on PennDOT rights-of-way, with two sites selected for seeding.”

What’s worse than the spotted lanternfly?

Other destructive, invasive pests are lurking in Pa. “Our state’s diverse wildlife resources depend on our native ecosystems. Invasive

nonnative insects and plants can disrupt these delicately balanced systems and create difficult challenges to managing for healthy wildlife and healthy habitats.

Through partnership, we can share knowledge and resources to promote native species and ensure healthy habitat for wildlife for current and future generations of Pennsylvanians,” said Pennsylvania Game Commission Director of Wildlife Habitat Management David Gustafson.

In addition to the Harrisburg ceremony, several state parks and other organizations are celebrating the first Pennsylvania Native Species Day with local events, including talks, walks and volunteer activities, such as pulling nonnative invasive plants.

(Contact Marcus Schneck at mschneck@ pennlive.com.)

Possible cardiac arrest leads to ruling of natural death in Eldred Borough

LEWIS RUN— State Police were notified of a possible cardiac arrest in Eldred Borough, at approximately 6:36 a.m.

Tuesday, June 14, which led to the death of a 53 year old Eldred man.

According to the Lewis Run-based Crime Unit, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) were dispatched and attempted life saving measures, but were unsuccessful.

Pennsylvania State

Police were then notified the victim was deceased and were dispatched to the Eldred Borough location.

According to state police, the case is currently being investigated.

Assisting at the scene were the Otto Township Fire Department, Eldred Township Fire Department, Priority Care Ambulance services and Switzer Funeral Home.

2

JUNE 28, 2022

PA must modernize tax, Penelec doing inspections, regulatory structure to lower maintenance to ready costs, increase investment for summer usage and growth, Causer says

ERIE – With the hot, humid summer months expected to produce higher electric usage and potentially severe weather, Pennsylvania Electric Company (Penelec), a FirstEnergy Corp. subsidiary, is completing inspections and conducting proactive equipment maintenance across its 31-county western and central Pennsylvania service area to help enhance service reliability for customers.

“We proactively inspect and maintain our equipment to help ensure our system is prepared for increased electrical demand when temperatures soar,” said Scott Wyman, president of FirstEnergy’s Pennsylvania operations. “These important steps help to minimize the length and impact of service interruptions should summer storms cause

power outages.”

Penelec crews are wrapping up inspections of electrical equipment located along neighborhood power lines to ensure the equipment is ready to perform reliably with elevated summer electrical demand, typically due to air conditioning usage.

Substation electricians use thermovision cameras during summer-readiness inspections to capture infrared images, helping to detect potential problems within substations and on power lines that cannot be observed during regular visual inspections. These images can identify equipment issues such as loose connections, corrosion and load imbalances, and utility workers are able to make repairs to prevent potential power outages in the future.

In addition,

helicopter patrols have completed inspections of more than 2,500 miles of power lines owned by MidAtlantic Interstate Transmission, LLC (MAIT), a FirstEnergy transmission subsidiary, located in the Penelec area. The inspections are designed to look for damaged wire, broken cross arms and other hardware problems not visible from the ground. Any potential reliability issues identified during the inspections will be addressed.

A team of Penelec and FirstEnergy employees recently performed readiness exercises and drills to test the company’s restoration process used to repair storm-related power outages. Storm drills are becoming more common in the utility industry in the wake of severe weather over the last several years.

HARRISBURG — Lowering costs for consumers and growing the state’s economy will require significant changes to tax and regulatory policies in the Commonwealth, members of the House Majority Policy Committee were told on Tuesday.

In the final of four hearings focused on inflation, the committee heard from tax experts and employer advocates about long-term solutions to rising costs and how best to drive investment and create growth in the Commonwealth.

“Federal policies are largely to blame for historic inflation, but there are plenty of things we can do to lessen the impact on our families and employers here in Pennsylvania and to strengthen our economy for the long term,” said Rep. Martin Causer, R-Turtlepoint, chairman of the committee. “While some in state government prefer to do nothing but blame inflation on “corporate greed,” we are looking for real solutions to help today and well into our future.”

Specific suggestions repeated during the hearing included lowering the 9.99% Corporate Net Income Tax, which is the second highest in the nation; increasing the amount of operating losses that may be credited toward tax liabilities; reforming taxes impacting small businesses; addressing regulatory roadblocks, including tort reform, occupational licensing restrictions, civil liability reforms, partisan judicial elections and the state liquor monopoly; increasing domestic energy production; and expanding the labor force by improving education and workforce development training, Photo Submitted as well as eliminating policies that have Pictured from left to right, Ashley LaVerde, Therese Stock, Christina Smith, Brian McFadden discouraged many of the Ellicottville Chamber of Commerce, Susan Holmes and Carrie Barrett stand in front of a people from returning to M & T Bank location. work.

“Structural tax reforms will help the state’s economy respond to inflationary demand and continue to yield economic benefits after the inflationary period has waned,” said Timothy Vermeer, senior policy analyst with the Tax Foundation.

ELLICOTTVILLE, The Summer Music are able to provide “Structural reform is also

M & T Bank, Holiday Valley Resort sponsor Summer Music Festival

NY – The Ellicottville Chamber of Commerce is excited to announce that M &T Bank will join this year’s presenting sponsor Holiday Valley Resort, in continuing their multiyear sponsorship of the Summer Music Festival in 2022.

Festival is slated for Saturday, July 2 and Sunday, July 3.

Both M&T Bank and Holiday Valley Resort have been major partners of the chamber for many years, and it is with their generous sponsorships that they

outstanding family entertainment at an affordable price.

“This sponsorship assists us in allowing children 12 and under free admission,” stated Brian McFadden Executive Director of the Ellicottville Chamber.

Eliot Ness Fest Committee seeks volunteers C O U D E R S P O RT — The Eliot Ness Festival is currently seeking a variety of characters from the roaring twenties era to ply their acting talents on the streets of Coudersport and in and around local establishments during the three day Eliot Ness Festival — on July 15, 16 and 17.

ThE Eliot Ness Festival Committee is calling on all flappers, grifters (remember Newman and Redford in “The Sting”), local lawmen, deputies, constibles, moonshiners (yes, Potter County had a lot of them), gamblers, gun mawls, lively street urchins,

W.T.C.U. ladies (with signs) and newsies (to pass out the festival’s newsletter.)

The committee is also searching for 12 honest men to serve on the jury for the trial of Al Capone on Sunday afternoon.

There will be two brief workshops held at the Eliot Ness Museum, located next to the downtown red light in Coudersport, at 7 p.m. on Wednesday June 29 and July 6.

The first workshop will give instructions on street performances in character during the festival, in and around various establishments. The second workshop

will give examples of Prohibition era wardrobes. The committee will also cover legal and conduct guidelines for street performers — including, language, weapons, booze and more.

At the workshop’s conclusion, all those participating will be enrolled in the ENF Committee and given an official actor identification, to be worn during the events.

Interested individuals should call (814) 647-8508, visit https://eliotnessfest.com/ or reach out to the Eliot Ness Museum at 201 N. Main Street, by calling (814) 423-6902.

the preemptive measure necessary to insulate the Commonwealth against the negative effects of a recession.”

Alex Halper, director of government affairs for the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, agreed. “For both small businesses and larger corporations, lowering employer tax burdens can bolster economic growth, increase wages and create family-sustaining jobs. It allows for greater reinvestment in equipment, production, materials and people; in other words, increasing supply and easing inflation,” he said.

Warren Hudak, president of Hudak and Company, a central Pennsylvaniabased small-business accounting firm, lamented the impact of current tax policies on his clients and other small employers across the state.

“State tax policy is a critical tool that can be used to attract growth, inspire innovation and encourage businesses to invest in a future with more economic opportunities across the state.

Unfortunately, the Commonwealth’s onerous system of taxation continues to impede the competitiveness of businesses located here,” he said. “Let me be clear.

Small businesses are not asking for and do not want a handout. They want a level playing field and the ability to operate and grow their business with minimal governmental interference.”

Joseph BishopHenchman, executive vice president of the National Taxpayers Union Foundation and adjunct scholar for the Cato Institute, encouraged lawmakers to see the opportunity they have to make a difference in charting the future of the Commonwealth.

“Pennsylvania’s future growth will come from homegrown small businesses growing into large ones, innovation beating out established competitors in other states and other countries and doing things better or cheaper than anyone else in the world,” he said. “The creative and enterprising people who

T i v f will make that a reality e are here, now, in the t state. They are in your o districts and your towns. i The question is: will e they stay? Will they get t investment when they need to grow? Will they F hit a wall of obstacles and a regulations and taxes, or will they overcome C them and be able to o expand? Will they pass ( their businesses onto R their kids, or will they l move with them out of c state? And when similar ( enterprising people in other places think where a will they go to grow, g what will have them s choose Pennsylvania?”

Testifiers also indicated they did not support the Wolf administration’s proposal to send $2,000 checks to most Pennsylvania taxpayers.

David N. Taylor, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association, noted, “Payments of that type will only make the inflation problem worse, as inflation is fed by too many dollars chasing too few goods.” He also stressed the importance of government staying out of the wage market and instead helping workers gain the skills needed to fill the thousands of highpaying, family-sustaining manufacturing jobs that are open.

“Building out the workforce and helping people achieve employment would lessen the inflationary pressures that are worsened by our current labor shortage,” he said.

Taylor also emphasized the need for domestic energy production and withdrawing the Commonwealth from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).

“Wolf’s long standing threat to impose a new, additional tax on natural gas production has rendered our investment environment uncertain, which has discouraged new investment.

Pennsylvania needs to adopt a pro-growth, pro-production, prodeployment agenda for domestic energy that will benefit employers, workers and consumers.”

Testimony and video of all four hearings is available online at www.

PAGOPPolicy.com.

Work begins Monday on U.S. Route 219 Bradford Bypass The Bradford Bypass of U.S. Route 219 will be undergoing a facelift this summer.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation said that starting Monday, crews will be working on the northbound lane of the highway from just south of Owens Way to Bolivar Drive.

Northbound lane restrictions will be necessary.

When work starts on Monday, motorists will encounter lane closures for northbound traffic — limiting northbound travel to one lane. The lane restrictions will be in effect 24-hours-aday, seven-days-a-week.

Motorists will need to be alert for signage and traffic devices related to the lane closures.

As northbound work progresses and concludes over the summer, work activity will switch to the southbound lanes.

PennDOT will issue a project update prior to that change.

Overall work on this project includes resurfacing, restoration,

and rehabilitation across more than four miles of roadway.

Other work includes guide rail updates, pavement markings, and miscellaneous items. Structure repairs/ rehabilitation work will also take place on the bridge over Tunungwant Creek. That bridge is

357-feet long and carries an average of more than 6,700 vehicles each day.

Glenn O. Hawbaker Inc. of State College is the contractor on this $5.8 million job. All work is weather dependent.

Work on this project is expected to be completed by early November.

HUTCH’S CHIMNEY & STOVE SERVICE 814-274-8899 585-466-7962

■ Custom Fireplace Glass Doors/Screens ■ Reline or Liner Repair ■ Waterproofing and Flash Seals ■ Dampers and Spark Arrestors ■ Chimney Removal/Reconstruction ■ Sweeping and Repairs ■ Video Inspections ■ Repointing and Crowns ■ Stucco

WWW.HUTCHSCHIMNEYSTOVE.COM We accept

Certified/Insured

3

JUNE 28, 2022

Eliot Ness Fest Committee seeks volunteers

COUDERSPORT — The Eliot Ness Festival is currently seeking a variety of characters from the roaring twenties era to ply their acting talents on the streets of Coudersport and in and around local establishments during the three day Eliot Ness Festival — on July 15, 16 and 17.

ThE Eliot Ness Festival Committee is calling on all flappers, grifters (remember Newman and Redford in “The Sting”), local lawmen, deputies, constibles, moonshiners (yes, Potter County had a lot of them), gamblers, gun mawls, lively street urchins, W.T.C.U.

ladies (with signs) and newsies (to pass out the festival’s newsletter.)

The committee is also searching for 12 honest men to serve on the jury for the trial of Al Capone on Sunday afternoon.

There will be two brief workshops held at the Eliot Ness Museum, located next to the downtown red light in Coudersport, at 7 p.m. on Wednesday June 29 and July 6.

The first workshop will give instructions on street performances in character during the festival, in and around various establishments.

The second workshop will give examples

of Prohibition era wardrobes.

The committee will also cover legal and conduct guidelines for street performers — including, language, weapons, booze and more.

At the workshop’s conclusion, all those participating will be enrolled in the ENF Committee and given an official actor identification, to be worn during the events.

Interested individuals should call (814) 6478508, visit https:// eliotnessfest.com/ or reach out to the Eliot Ness Museum at 201 N. Main Street, by calling (814) 423-6902.

Road and trail update for Marienville Ranger District

MARIENVILLE — After the recent heavy winds, many of the roads and trails on the Allegheny National Forest were blocked by downed trees. Motorists and other travelers should use caution and be wary of trees that may be hung up and fall unexpectedly.

Forest Road 237 has been cleared and is open to traffic. Forest Road 143 (between Forest Road 297 and Forest Road 237) will remain inaccessible

and closed for several days. Forest Road 339 (west of Forest Road 237) will remain inaccessible and closed for several days.

Forest Service staff have continued to patrol and clear roads of downed trees in the area west and northwest of Ridgway and the area around Kelletville. These two areas had the most reports of downed trees following the Thursday storms that passed through the Allegheny

National Forest. Crews have also been working to clear trees from the Timberline and Marienville ATV Trails.

“Darin Frye of DJ’s Russell City Store has provided critical assistance to the efforts to identify and remove downed trees on the trails and to alert riders on the trails to the hazardous conditions and the need to operate with caution,” noted Marienville District Ranger Rob Fallon.

GOP lawmakers block assault-style gun ban for those under 21 HARRISBURG — State House Republicans blocked a proposal to prevent those ages 18 to 21 from possessing assault-style rifles on Tuesday by completely changing the bill into a constitutional amendment to allow anyone to carry concealed guns.

It was the second week in a row that Republicans in the Judiciary Committee used their majority to defeat Democratic proposals to address the country’s gun violence plague.

The bill would have prevented those under age 21 from purchasing, possessing or transporting the types of weapons that have often been used to kill and wound people in the mass shootings that have become an epidemic in the United States.

So-called “constitutional carry” has wide support among the Legislature’s Republicans, but a bill to allow it was vetoed by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf in December.

Rep. Joe H o h e n s t e i n , D-Philadelphia, called the unfettered right

to bear arms a myth that leads to the type of violence seen in the Wild West.

“We can say all we want about how guns will make certain people safer, they also make a whole lot of other people less safe,” he said during the brief hearing in the Capitol. Violence is occurring with legally purchased guns, he noted. “It’s legal purchases of firearms that are turning into the mass shootings that we see.”

The vote was nearly on party lines, with only one Republican — from the Philadelphia suburbs — crossing lines to vote against it.

Democrats have turned to discharge resolutions, a parliamentary maneuver, in an effort to get gun violence bills out of Judiciary, where Chairman Rob Kauffman, R-Franklin, has prevented them from advancing.

Last week, the committee voted to ask the speaker to send four other gun bills to another committee, effectively stopping action on proposals regarding safe gun storage, an assault

weapons ban, a red flag bill and a measure to give local governments power to enact their own protections.

“This isn’t the way to legislate,” Rep. Tim Briggs of Montgomery County, the ranking Democrat on Judiciary, said Tuesday.

“We shouldn’t have to do discharge resolutions on bills that are 70, 80% popular across the commonwealth.”

All Republicans but one on the committee also voted for a proposal to amend the state constitution to give the General Assembly the power to decide the rules about where civil lawsuits can be filed.

Rep. Emily K i n k e a d , D-Allegheny, said lawmakers “should not be controlling the judiciary through constitutional amendment when it comes to them setting their own rules about how cases proceed.”

An effort by Briggs to require a public hearing on the measure was also defeated by committee Republicans, who had virtually nothing to say about either bill.

Slight drop seen in gas prices this week Gas prices in Western Pennsylvania have fallen by two cents this week to $5.007 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.

Average gasoline prices in the rest of the state have fallen 4.2 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $5.01/g as of Monday, according to GasBuddy’s survey of 5,269 stations in Pennsylvania.

Prices in Pennsylvania are 25.0 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and stand $1.84/g higher than a year ago. The price of diesel has risen 2.6 cents nationally in the past week and stands at $5.80 per gallon.

According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Pennsylvania was priced at $4.50/g on Monday while the most expensive was $6.29/g, a difference of $1.79/g.

The national average price of gasoline has fallen 4.2 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $4.97/g on Monday. The national average is up 37.3 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands $1.92/g higher than a year ago, according to GasBuddy

data compiled from more than 11 million weekly price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country.

As of Monday, the average price in Bradford was $4.996; in Brookville, $5.016; in DuBois, $5.003; in Erie, $4.984; and in Warren, $4.999.

“Finally some relief!

For the first time in nine weeks, gasoline prices have fallen, following a broad sell-off in oil markets last week, pushing the national average back under the $5 level with most states seeing relief at the pump,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

“I’m hopeful the trend may continue this week, especially as concerns appear to be mounting that we may be on the cusp of an economic slowdown, putting downward pressure on oil. But the coast isn’t yet entirely clear. We could see the national average fall another 15 to 30 cents, if we’re lucky, by the time fireworks are flying, barring any unexpected shutdowns at a time when the market is extremely sensitive to such.”

According to AAA,

the primary cause for the falling price is the tumbling cost of oil, which fell from $122 to around $110 per barrel due to fears of a global recession and its associated economic slowdown. As a result, the national average for a gallon of gas is $4.96, a nickel less than a week ago, 37 cents more than a month ago, and $1.89 more than a year ago.

The recent high prices may have led to a small drop in domestic gasoline demand as fewer drivers fueled up last week. This dip, coupled with less costly oil, has taken some steam out of surging pump prices. And this is happening right before drivers gas up for what AAA forecasts will be a busy July 4th travel weekend.

McKean & Elk Divide Trail Association announces new website

BY DANIELLA LANGIANESE

KANE — The Trail Association of the McKean and Elk Divide (TAMED) Trail Club announced Wednesday that the website developed by Alex Bond is now live and can be found online via https://www.tamedkkrt. org/.

The new website features extremely useful local trail information, including a downloadable map, free to the public.

The TAMED webpage was linked to the Trail Link site during the Wednesday meeting, for which Judi Cook and Debra Miller were thanked by the organization for sparing their minimal free time to volunteer.

In other club news, the Trail Club plans to have a table set up at the Hamlin Bank & Trust Company drive-thru on Fraley Street, upon receiving approval from Hamlin, during Alumni Weekend with merchandise and free, updated information about the Knox & Kane Rail Trail.

The trail counter on the Borough Line had a count of 1,309 for the month of May and the trail counter at the Elk County Line had a count of 779 for the month of May. The TAMED Trail Club, McKean County Commissioners, members of Headwaters Charitable Trust (Janie French), and many others met with Carly Manino, director and corporate communications for National Fuel, who presented a $20,000 check, as a grant, to the TAMED Trail Club on Tuesday, May 31.

In celebration of the trail and the grant, Congressman Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., attended and spoke about the hard work that all of the trail clubs have done together. He also praised the trail clubs who have completed miles of trail in what he considered a “short amount of time,” according to an article published recently in The Ridgway Record.

Thompson also

announced that the Headwaters Charitable Trust was one of the projects to receive $322.435, meant specifically to construct eight state highway pedestrian safety crossings in Clarion, Elk, Forest and McKean Counties, along the Knox & Kane Rail Trail.

PA Environmental Council is preparing another Appalachian Regional Commission Power Grant application

as a Phase II Knox & Kane Rail Trail project to continue to help fund the TAMED section of the trail.

For more information about TAMED Trail Club, their new website, upcoming events and charitable works (or to volunteer) visit the new website at https://www. tamedkkrt.org/ or their Facebook page at https:// w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m / tamed2017/.

4

JUNE 28, 2022

Pa. bills on poll watchers, earlier presidential primary advance

Photo Provided Boating through the neighborhood in Eldred in the aftermath of Hurricane Agnes in 1972.

Memories of the Eldred flood What Charlotte S t o u g h t o n remembered most about the 1972 Eldred Flood was how quiet it got after ten feet of water inundated the downtown area. “We could hear the waves lapping, and people talked in whispers in total awe of nature’s fury,” she explained.

Rain began falling at 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 20 and continued nonstop for five more days as Hurricane Agnes ravaged Eldred. Pennsylvania Governor Milton Shapp soon began calling the storm “Hurricane Agony.”

Todd Motors was one of the Eldred businesses that was decimated. Bill Todd was 12 years old at the time. He vividly recalled hearing the muddy flood water lap at the door while his father moved their fleet of Ford vehicles from harm’s way.

John Todd, 19, was attending automotive school in Michigan. He immediately boarded a plane and flew to Bradford Regional Airport where his girlfriend drove him to the Devil’s Elbow on Route 346. From there, he was whisked to town in Gordy Freer’s motorboat.

What awaited John

were two months of cleanup after the flood water receded. Not only was there the usual silt to mop from the family’s auto shop but also a coat of oil and grease from burst containers. According to Bill Todd, the nasty smell of flood debris could still be smelled forty years later in secluded corners of the garage.

When the Market Basket and Tower Supermarket realized they would lose their entire inventories, they took them to Eldred Elementary School to be distributed to town residents. Dave Southard remembered how he and his wife rowed a boat down Main Street to go get some of this free food.

C h a r l o t t e Stoughton also recalled the kindness of John Biggins who owned a dairy farm up Barden Brook. When the truck couldn’t get through to take his milk to market, he gave it to the children of Eldred.

Jim Pransky cited the generosity of his own family who took in a dozen of his mom’s stranded Viko coworkers. The Pranskys lived in a safe zone a quarter mile past the furniture factory. Their guests

stayed on for 3 days in the small 3-bedroom, 1-bathroom house.

Luckily, the family had a freezer full of meat to feed their friends and a finished basement where they could sleep.

Pranksters also ran amok during the Eldred Flood. One resident zoomed up and down Main Street in his speedboat until ordered to leave by the town police. In anger, the man roared away full throttle, creating a wake that smashed plate glass windows in the halfsubmerged buildings.

This created another problem when bottles floated out the broken liquor store window.

Teens soon arrived in canoes to snag the free liquor, only to be “discouraged” by the visiting Coast Guard.

On a lighter note, Fran Petruzzi remembered how she needed some stitches removed.

When she couldn’t drive to her doctor in Olean, N.Y., she asked Mrs. Harrington, a local nurse, to take them out. Instead, Mr. Harrington arrived at her door to successfully perform the operation. Ed was qualified, because he had done a similar procedure on his dog.

Tips to manage rising temperatures, energy costs

With the summer storm season also comes higher-thanusual temperatures and rising energy costs. Customers can take steps to beat the heat while also managing their electricity bill this summer.

The following tips can help customers use electricity wisely during this period of high demand: • Set thermostats as high as comfort will allow. Every degree a customer can increase the temperature in their home will result in using about 3 percent less energy during the summer.

• Use fans – moving air cools skin faster, resulting in greater comfort on hot days.

• During sunny weather, close drapes or blinds on windows facing the sun to prevent direct radiant heating from impacting interior temperatures.

• Use a programmable or smart

thermostat to keep temperatures higher when no one is home and to reduce the temperature before arrival back home.

• Seal any leaks with caulk or weather stripping to prevent hot air from sneaking into your home.

• Check air conditioner and furnace fan filters. Clogged

filters waste energy and money by forcing HVAC systems to work harder than necessary.

• Avoid using heat-producing appliances during the hottest hours of the day. The less heat produced at home, the less work the air conditioner must do.

HARRISBURG — Proposals to hold Pennsylvania’s presidential primaries in March rather than April and to permit poll watchers to operate outside the counties where they live were advanced Wednesday by a divided House State Government Committee.

Both bills had already passed the state Senate and were approved for consideration by the full House.

The state’s primary during presidential election years would be moved from the fourth Tuesday in April to the third Tuesday in March.

Supporters say the change would position the state to have more of an impact on the parties’ choice of presidential candidates.

“Right now Pennsylvania’s primary really doesn’t matter in the scheme of national politics,” said committee chair Seth Grove, R-York, noting a recent exception was the Barack ObamaHillary Rodham Clinton primary in 2008.

The vote was 16-8, with two Democrats joining all Republicans in favor.

Grove and the committee’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Scott Conklin of Centre County, both said the bill may need to be altered so that the period of signature gathering does not start around

Christmas.

The third Tuesday in March is expected to also be the 2024 presidential primary dayin Arizona, Florida and Illinois. In 2020, Pennsylvania’s primary was the same day as votes in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maryland and Delaware.

Lisa Schaefer, executive director of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, the group that represents county governments that run the nuts-andbolts of state elections, said election workers in December can still be finishing work from the previous month’s election.

If the “third Tuesday in March” schedule had been used this year, it would have meant a March 15 primary with petition circulation Dec. 13-Jan. 4, Schaefer said.

“You’re really looking at a very short window of time for counties to turn around and get those petition packets ready and get ready for the primary,” Schaefer said. Her organization has not taken positions on either elections bill.

The poll watchers’ bill, sponsored by the current GOP gubernatorial nominee, Sen. Doug Mastriano of Franklin County, would give candidates the right to have an additional observer and post them inside, close enough to see any canvassing and

precanvassing.

“There’s no reason to have poll watchers if they aren’t able to be in the line of sight and clearly see what’s happening,” said Republican Rep. Paul Schemel of Franklin County.

Rep. Eric Nelson, R - We s t m o r e l a n d , called the bill “a clear opportunity to allow voters to have enhanced confidence and belief that we’re achieving election integrity.”

But Rep. Joe Webster, D-Montgomery, called the proposal “an atrocity of a bill” that feeds mistaken suspicion and distrust of the state’s elections.

“What is really happening around bills like this is we’re intimidating enough poll workers that they’re not going to be there,” Webster said.

Conklin warned the bill was “looking for trouble” and could require additional law enforcement monitoring at all voting precincts.

Grove said that although the bill would allow candidates three poll watchers at voting places, in reality “you’re lucky to get one.”

“What this bill does is allow for the checks and balances provisions within our elections that stem back to 1937 to continue,” updated for modern needs, Grove said. The party-lines vote to advance the measure was 14-10.

Emporium library hosts used book sale

EMPORIUM — The Barbara Moscato Brown Memorial library will be holding another Used Book Sale during the Weekend in the Wilds event on Thursday, June 30, Friday, July 1 and Saturday, July 2 during regular library hours.

The sale will be held in front of the library and also in the back room. The

library has vast amounts of paperbacks, DVDs, children’s and antique books, and more. All purchases are on a donation basis — the library personnel recommend that individuals purchasing simply donate what they are able.

Please note, that at this time the library will not be accepting anymore used book

donations. The only exception to this is children’s books.

For more information about the book sale or further information on the library and other upcoming events stop in at 27 West 4th Street, call (814) 486-8011 or email librarian@barbaramoscatobrownlibrary.org.