SECTION B
OCTOBER 13, 2016 | WAYNESBURG UNIVERSITY | THEYELLOWJACKET.ORG NEED FOR SPEED
Town hall meeting seeks to address heroin 'epidemic' By TEGHAN SIMONTON Managing Editor
Flashlight drags attract car fanatics
Annual car event permits legal off-road racing By RACHEL MANGAN
For the Yellow Jacket
The Greene County Airport hosted one of its iconic Flashlight Drag Races Sunday, Oct. 9. There were 171 cars participating in the event and over 550 spectators. The event ran all day and featured “grudge races” in which a participant could race whomever they wanted. At 6 p.m. four different classes of races began, with the “tuner class,” which consisted of cars that have been imported from other countries. The winner of the tuner class was Dave Englert. The next class was the “truck class.” This class was won by Ken Zeigler, who drove a Chevy S10. The class that followed was the “street class,” which was won by Andy Thorn, who drove an Eclipse. The final event of the drag race was the “big dogs class.” “These are the big, fast cars,” said Michael Schindel, who orchestrated the event. “Essentially they would be
Rachel Mangan, Yellow Jacket
Flashlight drags are an annual event held by the Greene County Airport. At this event, those in attendance are invited for a night of completely legal car racing. the cars on steroids if that was possible.” This class was won by Scott Walker, driver of a Ford Mustang. Dan Snyder was one of the drivers who came to the event to race. Snyder brought with him his 2015 Ford Mustang G7, which has approximately 1000 horsepower. The
car was originally a manual, but was altered after the transmission broke. “After a couple hundred miles we swapped it over to an automatic cause we were going to be drag racing it, so that makes it more consistent,” said Snyder. “It’s been turbo charged, has nitrous [oxide] on it, and now it has
a super charger on it.” Snyder and his family own a car body-shop. Therefore he is constantly building and working on cars and trucks. His business, Snyder Performance Engineering, Inc. located in Carmichaels, CARS >> B4
For Ashley Potts, who is employed with Southwestern Pennsylvania Human Services (SPHS) in the Crisis services department, heroin addiction is not simply something she sees at work. It is something she has lived through and overcome. At a town hall meeting in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, Thursday, Oct. 6, Potts gave her testimonial of how she struggled through addiction for years, experiencing homelessness, family turmoil. rehabilitation and relapse, as well as over 100 felony charges. Now she has both an undergraduate education and master’s degree, and has secured a successful job. “It is important for me to tell you that this is how my life was…” said Potts. “There are some of us that make it.” The meeting occurred at the Greene County Courthouse, in a courtroom that was packed to full capacity. A variety of speakers were present, giving speeches from different perspectives of the heroin issue wracking the area. The first speaker was David Ellis from the Office of the Attorney General, Narcotics Investigation. “Throughout my travels, I have never seen a room so packed to fight one common cause in their community,” said Ellis, on the mass of people rallying in the courtroom. Ellis provided insight to the law enforcement side of the issue. He also said that abuse of heroin and other opioids often begins with the abuse of prescription drugs like OxyContin or Vicodin. That alone has led to approximately 3,383 drug overdose deaths from heroin and other powerful opioids. While Ellis is concerned with the criminal problems that arise from drug traffick-
ing, he is more afraid of the glaring social ramifications. “We are not going to arrest our way out of it,” he said. Referring to the issue as an “epidemic,” Ellis called for a more proactive approach to educate potential users in the area. “We need to work together to fight this at the middle school/high school youth— because that’s when it starts, at that young age,” said Ellis. Next to speak was Fayette County Detective Supervisor Steven Kontaxes, who relat-
“Throughout my travels, I have never seen a room so packed to fight one common cause in their community.” DAVID ELLIS
Office of the Attorney General, Narcotics Investigation
ed his experiences shutting down a methadone clinic called Addiction Specialties, Inc., which he described as “the worst example of illegal drug distribution that I have seen in my law enforcement career.” Kontaxes told the story as an example of how many treatment centers fail, as Addiction Specialties, Inc. kept patients coming back for more substances. “I cannot think of a worse crime than to take advantage of people who are struggling with addiction,” he said. Kontaxes spoke further about the flaws of the system in place for treating addiction, as many clinics simply further the cycle by getting patients addicted to other opioids. HEROIN >> B4
Local roller rink to Annual fair held to inform senior citizens start 2016 season at end of October By RACHEL MANGAN
For the Yellow Jacket
By TIFFANY MORGAN For the Yellow Jacket
In the past century, rollerskating has been a community tradition, but the tradition of roller-skating has substantially declined over the past few decades across the country. However, Greene County’s Mon View Roller Rink still manages to bring in approximately 150 skaters every Friday night. Mon View Roller Rink has been in business since 2008. The roller rink is located just past Carmichaels in Greensboro, Pennsylvania. The rink has a view of the Monongahela River, which is how the skating rink got its name. Although they may be busy on Friday nights, the rink is only open for two days out of the week, which are Friday and Saturday nights. According to Pam Blaker, parks and recreation manager for Greene County, they are also closed in the summer months due to a lack of air conditioning. With the competition of football games and other
fall programming this season, Blaker said Mon View Roller Rink will struggle to stay busy when they kick off their first skating event. Their busiest times are in the months of November, February and March. This year’s kick-off event for the season begins on Oct. 28, from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. The first 100 guests dressed in a costume on this special night will receive an insulated lunch bag sponsored by I-79 Mazda and the Greene County Commissioners. Fridays at Mon View Roller Rink are “Skate and Dance” nights from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. In the first two hours skaters have the opportunity to skate around the rink and then, at 9 p.m., the dancing begins—skates still strapped on. Admission for the night is $8 and all ages may attend. Other nights open to the public are Saturday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. According to Blaker, these events are usually aimed to-
SKATE >> B4
The Greene County Senior Fair took place on Friday, Oct. 7, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Greene County Fair Grounds. The Southwestern Pennsylvania Area Agency on Aging (SWPA) was one of the main sponsors along with State Representative Pam Snyder, State Senator Camera Bartolotta, and the Greene County Board of Commissioners, including Chairman Blair Zimmerman, Dave Coder and Archie Trader – although no campaigning took place. This event happens at least once a year at the Gre e n e C ou nt y Fai rgrounds and is designed to be a “one stop shop” for the older residents and the families of Greene county to provide health and wellness opportunities and learn about what options a person has as they approach retirement and senior citizen benefits and what steps can be taken for those in declining health. The event had more than 75 vendors and over 500 people showed up. Each vendor provided a door prize on top of the grand prize, which was a
Robin Youger, Director of Operations SWPA AAA
At the Senior Fair, hosted by the Greene County Fairgrounds, senior citizens of the area were invited to learn about health, homecare providers and local companies. flat screen television that was donated by the Greene County Walmart. The crowd came early and stayed late, so the event was a success. Among the vendors, people in attendance could have health screenings done, get their flu shot and learn about retirement plans and nursing homes along with many local companies. “This event was geared towards the wants and need of older residents of Greene County,” said Riggle.
The health and well being of those in attendance had a big emphasis at the event with the presence of many health care agencies and clinics. Some other vendors were various home care and hospice providers, Washington Health System Greene, and drug and alcohol support groups and companies. Local banks and insurance companies also made an appearance, reaching out to residents for business and to offer them information.
The United Mine Workers of America Health and Retirement Funds was another one of the notable vendors present at the event. “ T h e S o u t hw e s t e r n Pennsylvania Area Agency on Aging was one of the vendors, along with being a pivotal sponsor,” said Riggle. “We provided information about our agency such as legal services, aging waiver, nursing home transition, and all the other services our agency provides and offers.”