JULY
27 2021
McKean Co. Fair queen candidates perform for Smethport Rotary
Photo credit: Kate Day Sager
Photo provided State Rep. Martin Causer, R-Turtlepoint, is calling for an infusion of stimulus funds into broadband expansion in Pennsylvania.
Causer calling for $100M infusion into broadband Steps have been taken in the past few years to bring broadband to every household in Pennsylvania, but one lawmaker is saying federal stimulus funds could move the project forward by leaps and bounds. State Rep. Martin Causer, R-Turtlepoint, wrote a co-sponsor memo to the House of Representatives earlier this week about pending legislation for broadband funding. “Last session, we created the Unserved High-Speed Broadband Funding Program, which is administered by the Commonwealth Financing Authority to help connect communities that are underserved or unserved by high-speed broadband services,” he wrote. “Soon, I will be
introducing legislation to increase funding to this program and to kick-start broadband buildout in Pennsylvania by appropriating $100 million of federal stimulus dollars currently in the COVID-19 Response Restricted Account to this existing CFA program.” He continued, saying high-speed internet is a necessity. “Remote working, online education, and telehealth have become front and center in our lives with large swaths of Pennsylvanians being left behind,” Causer wrote. “While Pennsylvania has received, and hopefully will continue to receive, more federal funding for broadband buildout, I believe that it is time for us to put our money where our mouths are and this
legislation will help do that.” On Friday, he explained to The Era that the stimulus funds are restricted in how they are used, but broadband build-out is one of the allowable uses. “I think it would be a good use of it, to really move us forward,” Causer said. “The pandemic showed us how necessary broadband is.” Rural areas in Pennsylvania had to be creative with teaching online, when many households didn’t have internet at all. Some parents were taking their children to park in the lot at libraries to make use of the WiFi. “We’ve made progress in a lot of areas, but we’ve got much more to do,” the legislator said. McKean County did
a broadband project with stimulus money, and Causer said so much more could be done with federal and state help. “It has to be worked on on multiple fronts,” he said. On the federal level, Congress Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., has been working on broadband, too. “I think it’s a multi-faceted project and we’ve got to attack it from all the angles,” Causer said. He mentioned Tri County Rural Electric Cooperative, which brought fiber optic to homes in counties including Potter. “That wouldn’t happen without state and federal assistance. It just wouldn’t happen without the government being involved,” he added.
Madeline Emerson, Miss Bradford, is seated at the keyboard. Standing are Emma Barr of Smethport, the current queen; Celeste Austin, Miss Smethport; Corrine Wilcox, Miss Otto-Eldred; Jenny Crowley, Miss Kane; and Alliyah Penick, Miss Port Allegany. SMETHPORT — Smethport Rotarians hosted the 2021-22 McKean County Fair Queen candidates and the reigning fair queen at a noon meeting July 20 at Chico’s Cafe. The McKean County Fair is the only one in Pennsylvania that selects its queen candidates from the county’s high schools. This year’s candidates are Madeline Emerson, Miss Bradford; Jenny Crowley, Miss Kane; Corrine Wilcox, Miss Otto-Eldred; Alliyah Penick, Miss Port Allegany; and Celeste Austin, Miss Smethport. The reigning queen, Emma Barr who was Miss Smethport and finished in the top five contenders for the state fair queen title in Hershey in January, accompanied the candidates and introduced them as they presented the meeting’s program. Celeste, who plans to major in music education in college, played a tenor saxophone solo, “Old Friends.” Alliyah sang “Ours,” a Taylor Swift hit. She plans to major in nursing at Jamestown Community College. For her talent, Corrine used American Sign Language as she signed
“I Hope You Dance.” She plans to pursue a career in physical therapy or exercise science. Jenny sang an Adele number, “Make You Feel My Love.” She is currently undecided about her college major, considering pilot training at EmbryRiddle Aeronautical University or women’s leadership at Clemson University. For Madeline, it was a keyboard selection, “One Hundred Years On.” She has decided to major in biology in college. After introducing the candidates, it was Emma’s turn to take the microphone, and she sang “Part of Your World,” from the 1989 animated Disney film, “The Little Mermaid.” Emma, who graduated earlier this year, will attend Mansfield University of Pennsylvania to major in health care. She will relinquish her title to one of these candidates during the queen contest on Friday, August 20. The 115th edition of the fair is August 16-21. Rotary President Tony Alfieri announced that the club will meet weekly.
McKean County woman argues sovereign citizenship in Capitol riot case The Kane woman charged in the U.S. Capitol riot argued in a court hearing Monday that she is a sovereign citizen and the court has no power over her. Pauline Bauer appeared at a status conference Monday in federal court in Washington, D.C. She was one of the people who allegedly entered the east Rotunda door of the Capitol, disrupting the certification proceeding for the presidential election. Prosecutors said video footage shows Bauer calling for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to be hanged. Bauer is charged with entering any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct in restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building, obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting. NBC reporter Scott MacFarlane tweeted about Monday’s hearing, saying Bauer kept interrupting
Judge Trevor McFadden presidential election. footage of Bauer entering to stop the crowd from was a body-worn camer and that “she won’t let preAccording to court re- the Capitol building at 2:43 coming in. recording of Bauer de trial services come into her cords, there was video p.m. as police officers tried Court records state there manding that Speaker o home, won’t turn over her passport, calls the search File photo of her home ‘illegal’ — and refuses to let judge move Pauline Bauer argues with police officers who are trying to block the public in the U.S. Capitol’s Rotunda. forward & get her lawyer.” Bauer had filed a motion to dismiss the case, saying “inconsistencies with Due Process Protections Act and obligations not met under the Brady Rule” mean the charges should be dropped. The motion was denied. During the course of the proceedings to date, Bauer has objected to being called a person, saying she is “the Living Soul, A Creation of God, A Woman, As One of We the People,” and calls for “all charges against my VESSEL” to be dropped, according to court documents. Bauer is representing herself, with standby counsel of Carmen Hernandez. The next status conference in the case is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Sept. 17 before McFadden. The statement of facts alleged that Bauer organized a bus trip to Washington for the rally to support former President Donald Trump on Jan. 6 during the certification proceeding for the