Gazette The Centre County
www.CentreCountyGazette.com
Class of 2015
As Centre County schools prepare for graduation, the Gazette honors area graduates with our annual “Senior Spotlights.” This week, students from Bellefonte, St. Joe’s and State College are recognized for their outstanding achievements./Page 16
May 28-June 3, 2015
Volume 7, Issue 21
YMCA plans new facility
Front and Centre
By ALEXA LEWIS
CURTAIN CALL: State College Area High School’s Robert Drafall is retiring after 19 years of teaching music at State High. He’s been a teacher for 36 years. Gazette correspondent Allison Lightner takes a look back at his career. Page 10
correspondent@centrecountygazette.com
SPRING MILLS — The Centre County YMCA will break ground on a new facility in the Penns Valley community of Spring Mills this summer, after identifying the need for another facility back in 2007. “This has been a part of the YMCA’s strategic plan for years,” said Howard Long, CEO and president of the organization. After two prior attempts to develop a new facility, the county’s YMCA is now planning to begin repurposing a building in Penns Valley starting in early July. The facility is set to open to members by January, Long said. It will occupy a 13,400-square-foot space offering a variety of programs including aerobic classes, spinning classes, senior and teen programs, preschool classes and summer day camps. The facility also will feature an aerobic studio, a child watch area, a community room, men’s and women’s locker rooms, a fitness room, a multipurpose room, a play area and office space. “This is a very small start, but a good start for us,” Long said. “It is a good first step.” He said the YMCA will consider the facility a program center, which is a facility that does not include a pool and a gymnasium as many YMCA’s offer. “We aren’t saying that it isn’t possible,” Long added. “It is something we could do down the road.”
FREEDOM ISN’T FREE: The Penns Valley Area paused to remember those who gave everything as Centre County celebrated Memorial Day on May 25. The Gazette’s Sam Stitzer covered the emotional day. Page 11 POETRY TIME: Abby Minor has helped a poetry writing group at the Salem Hill Assisted Living Facility. The project is funded by a grant from the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts. Page 14 GOLDEN GIRL: State College Area High School’s Veronika Karpenko captured first place in the Class AAA Triple Jump during the PIAA Track and Field Championships. Page 19
CHRIS MORELLI/The Gazette
EYE ON THE FUTURE: This site will be the new location of the YMCA in Spring Mills, expected to open in January 2016. Long said YMCAs are constantly evolving to better serve the community’s needs. Both Long and Mary DeArmitt, the YMCA of Centre County’s marking and communications director, said the community has sup-
CENTRE COUNTY SPOTLIGHT
CHRIS MORELLI/The Gazette
HEAD OF THE CLASS: Mary Miltenberger is a sixth-grade language arts teacher at Bellefonte Area Middle School. The mother of four has been a teacher for 15 years. By CHRIS MORELLI editor@centrecountygazette.com
BELLEFONTE — When students at Bellefonte Area Middle School need some inspiration, they need
to look no further than sixth-grade teacher Mary Miltenberger. Her career path was certainly not a smooth one. It had its share of bumps, twists and turns. As the wife of a former U.S. serviceman, she’s
Health & Wellness ............. 8 Penns Valley Spotlight ...... 9
ported the decision to build a facility in Penns Valley. Currently, the Penns Valley Area School YMCA, Page 6
Affidavit alleges judge texted DA during trial
For Miltenberger, nothing beats inspiring young minds in school
Police ................................. 2 Opinion ............................. 7
FREE COPY
By MICHAEL MARTIN GARRETT
lived in more states — and countries — than she cares to remember. And while she always wanted to teach, she wound up in the classroom as a result of years and years of schooling. “I actually went back to school as a non-traditional student,” Miltenberger explained. “I went to high school and my dad was a steelworker. Girls didn’t go to college.” Miltenberger, 60, is originally from Bethlehem, Pa. She met her husband, Dan, in high school. As a military wife, she never knew where the next stop was. “We really traveled the world,” Miltenberger said. And when Miltenberger says world, she means it. She and her husband did two tours in Germany. In the United States, she lived in Alabama, Colorado, Louisiana, Maryland and Pennsylvania. All
BELLEFONTE — A conflict embroiling local lawyers, judges and the district attorney is growing even more heated because of a new appeal in the Pennsylvania Superior Court. As part of that appeal, a courthouse employee is now alleging that Court of Common Pleas Judge Bradley Lunsford and Centre County District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller texted each other in the courtroom about an ongoing trial in 2012. “During one of the recesses ... Judge Lunsford told me that he and the District Attorney were texting to each other during the four day trial,” reads an affidavit signed by former court reporter Maggie Miller. “Then (Lunsford) complained that through texts, Stacy Parks Miller was ‘bitching to him’ about the way Judges Lunsford handled some objections and how he was handling the trial.” Defense attorney Bernard Cantorna is now using that affidavit as part of an attempt to secure a new trial for Jalene McClure, who was convicted of aggravated assault of a minor last year. Cantorna unsuccessfully attempted to have Lunsford removed from the McClure case before her conviction, arguing that phone records showed Lunsford had texted Parks Miller many times over the course of the trial. He claimed this frequent contact biased the court against McClure.
Miltenberger, Page 5
Affidavit, Page 6
Education ........................ 10 Community ................ 11-15
StateCollege.com
Centre Spread ............ 16, 17 Sports .......................... 19-24
Arts & Entertainment .26, 27 Puzzles ............................. 28
Business ...................... 29, 30 Classified ......................... 31