GAZETTE THE CENTRE COUNTY
www.CentreCountyGazette.com
Hitting a high note
Music will fill the air during the JazzPA Festival, which runs through Sunday at various locations in Bellefonte and State College. The event will delight fans young and old./Page 16
July 23-29, 2015
Volume 7, Issue 29
FREE COPY
Zero-waste movement attracting attention By ALEXA LEWIS news@centrecountygazette.com
ALEXA LEWIS/The Gazette
GOING GREEN: At the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, recycling and composting was highly encouraged as festival organizers aim for zero waste.
STATE COLLEGE — Don’t have a garbage disposal? Many residents don’t blink an eye or think about what happens to the food scraps they toss into their trash cans, nor do many realize that these items are compostable. In recent years, though, State College has positioned itself at the forefront of a zero-waste movement making recycling of organic matter more accessible and feasible to its residents. Now, the rest of the Centre Region is considering stepping on board. State College is the only borough in Pennsylvania that recycles food waste and is also the only borough with a fully implemented residential organic waste curbside collection program. “We want to be on a leading edge of this,” said Ed Holmes, State College’s public services manager. When organic waste — including food scraps, napkins and tissues, newspapers, garden waste, grass clippings, and brush and leaves — is sent to landfills, it decomposes quickly, releasing methane into the atmosphere.
Methane is a greenhouse gas 23 times more efficient at trapping heat than carbon dioxide, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. About 32 percent of what is thrown out in the trash is actually recyclable organic material, with the average single-family household throwing away about 45 pounds of food scraps and food-soiled paper every month, said Joanne Shafer, deputy director and recycling coordinator at the Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority. Centre County disposes of about 93,000 tons of trash each year, Shafer said. So, that would mean residents may actually be able to divert 28,000 tons of that material by composting it. Shafer said after developing a residential and commercial curbside organic recycling program — where trucks pick up organic material from the curb each week and bring it to the recycling center in Patton Township — State College now diverts about 5,000 tons of this type of waste away from landfills each year. “Adding the addition of food waste has been a relatively new phenomenon,” Shafer said. Recycling, Page 6
CATA tests new bus
Fundraising event will honor Benner
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STATE COLLEGE — The Centre Area Transportation Authority is expanding its maintenance facility, and it could support longer buses once it is completed. CATA has been interested in purchasing longer buses for some time and tested its first articulated bus about 10 years ago. Toward the end of June, CATA employees tested another articulated bus. The manufacturer, Nova Bus Incorporated, was delivering the 62-foot diesel-electric hybrid to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority that serves the Philadelphia area when it stopped for two days in State College. During part of its visit, the bus ran as part of the Blue Loop, picking up and discharging passengers. “It was exciting,” said Jacqueline Sheader, a spokesperson for CATA. “There are a lot of advantages to using those types of buses and it seemed to be well received.” Some routes could benefit from longer buses, Sheader added, referring particularly to the loop-and-link bus routes. Most CATA buses are about 40 feet with about 30 seats. The 62-foot bus that CATA tried had 62 seats and can accommodate 112 passengers. “There would be a lot of efficiency in using the articulated buses,” Sheader said. While CATA is expanding its maintenance facility, there is currently no funding in place to purchase new buses. The buses that CATA has now cost more than $450,000 and articulated buses are even more expensive. But, Sheader said, longer buses are something that could happen in a few years.
BELLEFONTE — What a summer it has been for Noah Benner. First and foremost, he recently recently returned from Hershey, where he got a clean bill of health. Once diagnosed with choroid plexus papilloma, Benner is now tumor free. According to his mother, Tiffany, he doesn’t have to return for an exam until 2016. Now, there is an event taking place to honor Benner. From 5 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 25, “Tumble for Noah” will be held at the Pittsburgh Superstars All-Star Gym, located at 268 N. Main St. in Pleasant Gap. There is a $5 charge for those who want to participate. All proceeds will be donated to the Four Diamonds Fund in honor of Benner. “We’ve never had anyone do this type of event for us before,” explained Noah’s mom, Tiffany Benner. “It just seemed like a great idea. You don’t have to belong to
By CHRIS MORELLI
By ALEXA LEWIS
Opinion ............................ 7 Health & Wellness ......... 8, 9
TIM WEIGHT/For the Gazette
SAFETY CONCERNS: A pair of fatal accidents have occurred at the intersection of Park Avenue and Atherton Street in the past year. State College Borough Council recently discussed some different traffic options at the intersection.
Officials seek solution to deadly intersection By ALEXA LEWIS news@centrecountygazette.com
STATE COLLEGE — State College Borough council members readdressed the ongoing discussion around the Park Avenue and Atherton Street intersection during their meeting on July 20. Two fatal accidents have occurred in the past year at the intersection. In July 2014, Penn State freshman Eva O’Brian was struck by a pickup truck as she was crossing Atherton Street. Another fatality occurred in late June after a scooter and a car collided, which prompted the College Heights Neighborhood Association to endorse some kind of action.
Education ....................... 10 Community ............... 11-15
“The problem is there is no time for pedestrians,” said William Taylor, the chairman of the borough’s Board of Health, to council members. “People are dashing across the street because there is no time ... 30 seconds every time the lights change would really help.” Council members also addressed other solutions that staff, council and the public have brought to the table, including adding a traffic circle at the intersection and extending Allen Street to relieve the congestion on Atherton Street and Park Avenue. The Centre Region Planning Commission, the State College Police Department and the Pennsylvania Intersection, Page 4
Centre Spread ........... 16, 17 Sports ......................... 18-23
Women’s Corner ............ 24 Arts & Entertainment .... 25
Benner, Page 5
Photo courtesy Benner family
THUMBS UP: Noah Benner, who recently returned from Hershey with a clean bill of health, will be part of a “Tumble for Noah” event on Saturday, July 25. What’s Happening ......... 26 Puzzles ............................ 27
Business ..................... 28-30 Classified ........................ 31