Gazette The Centre County
www.CentreCountyGazette.com
GRIDIRON CLASH
The Bellefonte football team is off to a hot start. The Red Raiders are carrying a 6-1 record into this week’s game at the 5-2 Central Dragons. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Martinsburg./Page 22
October 12-18, 2017
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Volume 9, Issue 41
County to induct inaugural HOF class
HONOR AND RESPECT
By G. KERRY WEBSTER editor@centrecountygazette.com
PATRICK MANSELL/Penn State University
THE BROOKS FAMILY traveled from Lock Haven to pay tribute to cousin Barry Frazier and find his name on the Traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall recently on display at Penn State’s Innovation Park. The event was held in conjunction with the WPSU project “The Vietnam War: Telling the Pennsylvania Story.” For more, see pages 8 and 9.
MPO backs grant for roadwork By SEAN YODER syoder@centrecountygazette.com
It’s been described as a once-in-a-generation chance to do major work to the intersection between Interstate 99 and Interstate 80. On Sept. 26, the Centre County Metropolitan Planning Organization voted in support of committing $8 million in funds to the project if it and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation can secure a $45 million federal grant. That $45 million ask from the federal govern-
ment is roughly equivalent to the cost of a local access interchange to Interstate 80 that would replace the current Bellefonte interchange. However, the grant application is not just for that one project, but improvements to Jacksonville Road/Route 26 that would tie into the local interchange. These projects pave the way for “the last mile” between I-99 and I-80. As of now, there is no highspeed interchange between the two interstates, which federal standards would not allow on new MPO, Page 5
STATE COLLEGE — Blair County has one. So does Clinton County. Huntingdon County has one, too. Now, it’s Centre County’s turn. Thirteen of the county’s most prominent sports figures will be inducted into the first class of the newly formed Centre County Hall of Fame on Sunday, Oct. 15, at the Inaugural Honors Banquet, scheduled to take place at the Ramada State College Hotel and Conference Center. It will be the newest chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. “This has been a long time coming, and we’re finally glad to get our first class in,” said chapter president Ronald Pifer. “We have had so many great athletes here, and they deserve the recognition. This is a great way to say good things about good people from Centre County.” Among those being inducted are former major league pitchers Myles Thomas and Monte Ward, grappling personas Thad Turner and Rich Lorenzo and gridiron star Bill Luther. “Centre County and Penn State have a rich tradition of sports,” said Pifer. “The individuals that will be inducted this weekend make up Hall of Fame, Page 7
INSIDE Thirteen of Centre County’s most prominent sports figures will be inducted into the first-ever class of the Centre County Sports Hall of fame. These inductees include Dave Adams (wrestling), Joe Hammaker (wrestling), Joe Humphreys (fishing), Denny Leathers (baseball), Rich Lorenzo (wrestling), Doug McDonald (media/press), Bruce Parkhill (basketball/soccer), Thad Turner (wrestling), Ward Whitehill (baseball), Bill Luther (football), Gene Wettstone (gymnastics), Myles Thomas (baseball) and Monte Ward (baseball). Read bios on pages 20 and 21.
Recycling center continues quest to improve tailgate waste By SEAN YODER syoder@centrecountygazette.com
STATE COLLEGE — Centre County Recycling and Refuse officials said they are working closely with Penn State to produce better results than the currently disastrous recycling efforts produced by football tailgates. The current plan calls for cans and bottles to all be bagged up separately from trash and left on the ground for crews from the physical plant to collect and transport to the Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority. It’s not working, because what some people are putting in the bags is contaminating the recyclable material at a rate far beyond the norm. Those blue bags that are handed out for free at tailgates are opened and sorted by human hands at the 253 Transfer Road recycling bay. Typically, there are five to 10 employees working the recycling conveyor belt, said Amy Schirf, education coordinator. Each is responsible for specific items that are picked out of everything that was put into the blue recycling bags. Police Blotter .......................... 2 Death Notices ........................ 6
The materials, once separated, are crushed and made into bales that are then transported to companies who will use them to make new materials. In practice, however, Centre County recycling has had a rough time working through the materials put into the recycling stream. After games, they’ve found foul items mixed in with recycling that should have just gone into regular clear trash bags, also provided at tailgates. Human hands don’t sort through the trash, or even touch it once it’s been loaded onto the truck and taken on the way to the center. That trash is compacted and eventually shipped to a landfill in Elk County. It might take two or three days to sort through the 28 tons of blue-bag material brought to the recycling center after each game. Schirf said the guys on the line have been dealing with dirty diapers, vomit, food, horse droppings and other materials that should never have been put in a blue bags. There’s always some waste with every recycling stream that needs to be sorted
Memorial Wall Photos ........... 8 Education ............................. 11
Health & Wellness ................ 12 Community .......................... 14
out. Schirf said ordinary recycling comes with about a 3 percent rate of contamination. Of course, that’s a different process, as the workers driving the recycling trucks sort at the curb and will avoid inappropriate materials and keep them from the line in the first place. But the materials brought from the tailgates for years have gone far beyond anything that even resembles normal. “There’s so much material up there,” Schirf said. “Every piece of trash also goes through. So even though our employees aren’t touching it ... it’s still going through. It’s on things. It’s on the bottles and it’s on the cans and it’s on everything.” Schirf has taken to Facebook to show the kinds of crazy things that find their way to the recycling stream. Those photos have garnered huge reactions, as have photos of trash-strewn fields outside of Beaver Stadium. She said she isn’t cherry-picking with those photos. She might only go down to the recycling conveyor belt for five Recycling, Page 4 Sports Hall of Fame ............. 20 Fall Home Improvement .... 29
Submitted photo
SHRIMP AND cigarette butts were among the items found in recycling bags from Penn State tailgating following the Akron game.
Sports .................................... 22 Fall Festivals ......................... 34
Business ................................ 37 Deeds .................................... 38