Archive - Feb 2011
February 9th
BROOKVILLE â In a plea bargain negotiated by her attorney and the district attorney, a former Brookville Junior-Senior High School math teacher and coach pleaded guilty to three charges of aggravated indecent assault Monday.
Karin Hetrick, Summerville, submitted her resignation to the school board after the mother of the then-15-year-old girl Hetrick was allegedly molesting went to police March 25, 2010.
PUNXSUTAWNEY â Punxsutawney Philâs forecast of an early spring has brought hope that winter is almost over. Another sign is the discussion of which roads should to be paved when spring does arrive.
Tuesday, Roger Steele, chairman of Punxsy Borough Councilâs Public Works Committee, said until the snow and ice is gone, it will be difficult to determine the condition of many borough streets.
February 8th
PUNXSUTAWNEY â St. Marys' full-court pressure affected the Punxsy girls' basketball team early, and the Lady Chucks couldn't overcome their early mistakes during a 63-48 loss on Senior Night Tuesday.
Punxsy trailed 20-6 after one quarter due to 10 turnovers and was behind 36-17 by halftime after seven more second-quarter turnovers. The Lady Chucks (4-14, 1-7 District IX League) outscored the Lady Dutch 31-27 during the second half, but their first-half deficit was too large.
BROOKVILLE â Elk County Catholic wanted to challenge Brookville's defense on the perimeter Tuesday night at Brookville High School. The Raiders, to their credit, answered the Crusaders' challenge by limiting them to 4-of-26 (13 percent) from behind the three-point line en route to a 53-44 win.
Brookville head coach Bud Baughman was happy with how his team played on defense.
"I was definitely pleased with the way the guys played," Baughman said. "We had a couple guys who were sick, and they sucked it up and played well."
PUNXSUTAWNEY â
Visitors may have departed until next Groundhog Day, but everyone will continue to be reminded that Punxsutawney remains the Weather Capital of the World, thanks to Punxsy Phil and the post office.
As Groundhog Day arrived this year, so did a new groundhog postmark. In a contest seeking submissions last year, the winner is Sandy Zambory, who submitted two drawings to the Punxsutawney Area Chamber of Commerce, which were then forwarded to the post office.
PUNXSUTAWNEY â During Tuesdayâs Public Safety meeting, Borough Manager Ben White reminded residents and property owners of an ordinance about clearing sidewalks.
The ordinance says that within 24 hours of a snow event, people are required to remove snow and ice from their sidewalks. If the ice is too thick to break, residents and business owners must put something down for traction.
White said Code Enforcement Officer Mary McHenry will be looking for safety hazards throughout winter.
Indiana DPW director: Snow can be âbudget busterâ
By Larry McGuire
Of The Spirit
INDIANA â The Borough of Punxsutawney isn't the only municipality that struggles with downtown snow removal.
The director of Public Works for the Borough of Indiana, Dave Fairman, said the borough typically doesn't remove snow from the downtown district on a regular basis.
Due to a snow emergency last winter, Indiana's eight-man Public Works crew did remove snow from the downtown district with the assistance from sub-contractors and a large snow blower from PennDOT.
Kathryn L. Mills, 92, Punxsutawney (Fairview), died Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011, at Laurelbrooke Landing, Brookville.
She was born Feb. 4, 1919, in Tylersburg, a daughter of the late Frank and Ruth Fraizer.
Aug. 8, 1936, she married James Robert Mills, who preceded her in death Sept. 4, 1993.
Mrs. Mills was a former employee of Loree Footwear, Grantâs and worked at the family fruit stand.
She was a member of the First United Methodist Church, and enjoyed playing the piano and listening to people sing.
February 7th
OLIVER TOWNSHIP â Both drivers and a passenger were injured following a two-vehicle accident that occurred around 5:41 p.m. on Route 36 just north of Aber Road Monday in Oliver Township.
According to Punxsutawney-based Pennsylvania State Police, the accident occurred when a 2000 Chevrolet Cavalier driven by Justin T. August, 22, slid on the snow-covered roadway and crossed over into the southbound lane where it struck head on a 1999 Ford F-150 pickup truck driven by Mickey I. Harris, which was traveling in the southbound lane.
PUNXSUTAWNEY â
The physical crowd may have appeared a bit smaller for Groundhog Day this year, but millions of people elsewhere logged on to the Groundhog Club's Web site â Groundhog.org â to check out Punxsy Phil and happenings around town.
Jeff Grube, the Inner Circle's "Sky Painter" who monitors the site's activity, said the site has about 900,000 individuals visitors, as well as 2.5 million page views. During only Feb. 1 and 2, the hits numbered 895,000.
"We saw a big increase," he said. "We've seen double about every year on the Web site."
.jpg "Rescue workers had to extricate one of the victims of this two-vehicle accident that occurred at approximately 5:41 p.m. on Route 36 just north of Aber Road in Oliver Township Monday. The accident occurred when a 2000 Chevrolet Cavalier driven by Justin T. August, 22, slid on the snow-covered road and struck a Ford F-150 pickup truck driven by Mickey I. Harris head-on.
Larry McGuire/The Punxsutawney Spirit")
