GAZETTE THE CENTRE COUNTY
www.CentreCountyGazette.com
Remembering a legend
Golfing great Arnold Palmer, who died Sunday at age 87, brought his grace to Centre County on many occasions, from PIAA state golf championships on the Penn State White Course to Beaver Stadium. John Dixon takes a look back./Page 24
September 29-October 5, 2016
Volume 8, Issue 39
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Board vote saves Corl Street school By GEOFF RUSHTON Statecollege.com
STATE COLLEGE — After months of concern from neighborhood families, Corl Street Elementary School will remain open as State College Area School District plans for the future of several elementary schools. The State College Area School Board on Sept. 26 voted to eliminate project options for the District-Wide Facilities Master Plan that would have closed the school that serves the Greentree and Holmes-Foster neighborhoods. “This process has thus far provided a great opportunity for some really substantive discussions with our community in regard to the priorities for our elementary model, and I am appreciative of everyone who has engaged with us in this process, whether by participating in meetings or sending us letters,” board president Amber Concepcion said in a written statement. “Ultimately, our goal is to provide an excellent elementary program across our district, in schools that can offer some consistency of student experiences.” District administration recommended
earlier this month eliminating four potential project options that would have closed Corl Street based on enrollment projections and a recommended elementary capacity of 3,500, with school sizes of 400 to 550 students each. The eliminated project options would not have met those criteria. Under the remaining project options, Corl Street, Houserville and Radio Park elementary schools would have some combination of renovations and new construction. Each calls for Lemont Elementary to merge with Houserville to form a single K-5 school and for the Lemont building to be repurposed. Final project options are expected to be presented to the board Monday, Oct. 10, with project selection Monday, Nov. 14. The board also authorized a Section 780 hearing, as required under the Pennsylvania School Code, to begin the process of closing and repurposing Lemont Elementary. The process includes a scheduling and holding of a hearing and a threemonth wait period before voting to close the school. If the district opts to sell or
TIM WEIGHT/For the Gazette
SCHOOL SAVED: The State College Area School Board on Sept. 26 took a vote that will keep the Corl Street Elementary School open.
Corl Street, Page 5
HOCKEY VALLEY WELCOMES NHL
Man gets life in prison for wife’s murder By G. KERRY WEBSTER kerry.ccgazette@gmail.com
HEATHER WEIKEL/For the Gazette
APPRECIATIVE FANS celebrated as Penn State and the Pegula Ice Arena hosted their first National Hockey League preseason game Sept. 26, with the Buffalo Sabres taking on the Minnesota Wild. For more on the game, see Page 28.
Three Philipsburg firms make list By G. KERRY WEBSTER kerry.ccgazete@gmail.com
PHILIPSBURG — Three Philipsburg-based companies have landed on Inc. Magazine’s 2016 list of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the country. TMMData (ranked 1,775), Advanced Powder Products (3,919) and Diamond Back Truck Covers (4,095) all made the annual list, which is compiled according to the percentage of revenue growth from Police Blotter .................... 2 Opinion ............................ 9
2012 to 2015. AE Works, a B-Corp with offices in State College and Pittsburgh, also made the list and ranked 3,985. TMMData is a top provider of flexible data integration software, and according to a press release from the company, TMMData more than tripled its revenue and expanded into 11 industries. The company was founded in 2008 and has offices in Philadelphia, Baltimore and Seattle. The company’s List, Page 5
Health and Wellness ...... 10 Education ....................... 13
Community ............... 14-18 Gazette Gameday ...... 19-22
BELLEFONTE — A 64-yearold College Township resident was found guilty by a Centre County jury Sept. 27 of firstdegree murder, third-degree murder, aggravated assault and possession of an instrument of crime. The jury deliberated for about two hours before returning the guilty verdicts against Vladimir Podnebennyy. Immediately after the verdict was read, presiding Judge Thomas King Kistler sentenced Podnebennyy to serve the rest of his life behind bars at a state correctional institution. The charges stem from an incident that occurred in October 2015 near Podnebennyy’s home. It was there authorities said he stabbed his wife, Natalya Podnebennaya, twice in the chest, which caused the fatal injuries. Testimony opened in the case Sept. 23, with accounts from first responders, as well as testimony from Dr. Harry Kamerow, who performed the autopsy on Natalya Podnebennaya’s body. On Sept. 26, when testimony resumed, Podnebennyy’s daughters, who wished to remain unidentified during trial, took the stand. Both offered testimony to the court concerning the events leading up to the stabbing.
Sports ......................... 23-29 Fall Home Improvement 31
One daughter said her father contacted her several times in hopes she could convince her mother to return to him from her refuge at the Centre County Women’s Resource Center. She said he met with her before the incident and phoned her the day of the incident to let her know what happened. She said she contacted police about the events. The other daughter said after her parents separated, he continued to contact her in an attempt to have her persuade her mother to return to him. “This was the most compelling evidence in the trial,” Centre County District Attorney Stacy Park Miller told the Centre County Gazette. “It was very emotional and heartbreaking. Too many times in domestic violence cases like this, the children suffer the most because they just didn’t lose their mother, but they are also losing their dad.” The State College Police Department also provided electronic evidence from cellphone conversations between the couple, which showed nearly 150 messages from Podnebennyy to his wife in the seven days leading up to the killing. “He showed absolutely no remorse the entire time, from Prison, Page 5
Around & In Town .... 32-34 What’s Happening .......... 35
Puzzles ............................ 36 Business ..................... 37-38