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2009 — The Year In Review (October, November, December) |
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Written by Mike Ishman
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Thursday, 31 December 2009 |
October
• A White House-backed overhaul of the nation’s health care system weathered repeated challenges from Republican critics over taxes, abortion and more, and the bill’s architect claimed enough votes to push it through the Senate Finance Committee.
• After the company hired to administer area gift certificates went bankrupt in March, the Punxsutawney Area Chamber of Commerce unveiled its new gift certificate program that it hoped would keep money in the local economy.
• House Democrats in the Pennsylvania Legislature came up with a new tax proposal, backpedaling from the handshake state budget agreement their leaders made nearly two weeks prior.
• The Punxsutawney Area School District upped the ante on medical excuses for students who missed a day of school, in light of ongoing concerns about the H1N1 — or swine flu — virus. Superintendent Dr. J. Thomas Frantz explained that the district would begin sending students home with a standard excuse form.
• Tests indicated that Stephen Obbish, who was found dead while in custody of Punxsutawney Borough Police, died of combined drug and alcohol toxicity. The results of autopsy and toxicology reports on the body of Obbish came seven weeks after the initial incident. Punxsutawney-based Pennsylvania State Police said an investigation by its troopers and the state Attorney General’s office continued.
• Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell said legislative leaders were making progress again toward a budget agreement after the collapse of a previous deal.
• The Punxsutawney Area School District proceeded with the 21st Century Learning Initiative, saying it would provide all students in grades nine through 12 at the high school with laptop computers when classes resumed following Christmas vacation.
• State police took more than 20 alleged drug dealers into custody as part of a four-county warrant service detail following an 18-month investigation.
• During its a Punxsutawney Borough Council meeting, Borough Manager Ben White said the Punxsutawney Fire Department had voted to hold the annual Halloween parade at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28, despite Halloween falling on a Saturday.
• A Brookville man who police said killed his parents last spring to avoid going to rehab pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in Jefferson County Common Pleas Court. District Attorney Jeffrey Burkett said Richard Reed, 44, Brookville, was charged with two counts of criminal homicide and various other charges, and agreed to plead guilty to the two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of John M. Reed, 74, and Mary L. Reed, 74, sometime between March 20-26, 2008, at their home on Richards Street.
• Two critical budget bills passed the Pennsylvania House, but on the eve of the budget impasse’s 100th day, disputes remained over proposals to drill for gas on state land and tax table games at casinos.
• President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize, as the five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee said awarding Obama the peace prize could be seen as an early vote of confidence intended to build global support for the policies of his young administration.
• Gov. Ed Rendell and the Legislature finally signed off on a state budget, resolving a multibillion-dollar, recession-driven shortfall and ending Pennsylvania’s 101-day budget stalemate, the nation’s longest this year.
• The Jefferson County Department of Emergency Services executed a dry-run for a possible mass vaccination caused by the H1N1 virus. County employees were vaccinated for the regular flu in the process.
• Historic legislation to expand U.S. health care and control costs won its first Republican supporter and cleared a key Senate hurdle, a double-barreled triumph that propelled President Obama’s signature issue toward votes in both houses of Congress.
• The Borough of Brookville agreed to pay the First Apostles’ Doctrine Church $100,000 following a year-long case involving the housing of homeless that began August 2008.
• When the Dow Jones industrial average first passed 10,000, traders tossed commemorative caps and uncorked champagne. In October, the feeling was more like relief.
• Commissioners reported that state money had begun to flow to Jefferson County a week after the state legislature’s passing of its annual budget. The speed of the money’s arrival came as somewhat of a surprise to the commissioners, because a delay was expected due to heavy demands from the state’s 67 counties and other agencies.
• Pennsylvania Turnpike officials prepared to revive their application to impose tolls on Interstate 80. Meanwhile, opponents planned to release a study that finds I-80 tolls are unjustified and could lead to an increase in crashes.
• His parents — and everyone watching on live TV — thought six-year-old Falcon Heene was flying more than 50 miles in his dad’s homemade helium balloon, but guess what? Little Falcon was actually in a box in the garage the whole time, and his parents admitted it was a ploy to nab a reality TV show. Plus, it didn’t help when Falcon told his parents on CNN, “You guys said we did this for the show.”
• The Brookville Area School District experienced a sharp increase in absences following confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus within the school. Superintendent Sandy Craft said that at least two students had been identified with confirmed cases of swine flu, and that about 200 students missed school in one day because of illness.
• The federal budget deficit for 2009 hit $1.42 trillion, more than three times the most red ink ever amassed in a single year
• While his health had been declining for some time, E.S. (Ted) Swartz wasn’t sick when he passed away. He wasn’t bed-ridden. He wasn’t in the hospital. It was just his time.
“He’s the end of an era,” his daughter, Sally Baldus, said. Swartz died Sunday, Oct. 19, at the age of 104.
• After 13 years at the helm of IUP-Punxsutawney, Dr. Valarie Trimarchi left the position for the University of Baltimore.
Dr. Raymond Beisel was named to the position as interim dean.
• In his remarks to fellow party members during the annual Jefferson County Republican Banquet, House Minority Leader Sam Smith suggested that the recent 101-day state budget impasse was not an accident.
“The [lack of a budget] was a conspiracy,” Smith told fellow Republicans gathered at the Bellamauro Social Hall in Reynoldsville. “It was a conspiracy by the governor and the House Democrats.”
• The mother of the six-year-old boy once feared missing inside a runaway helium balloon admitted the whole saga was a hoax, according to court documents.
• Health care legislation taking shape in the House carried a price tag of at least $1 trillion over a decade, significantly higher than the target President Obama had set, congressional officials said as they struggled to finish work on the measure for a vote.
November
• Top Obama administration officials pledged to work with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, despite continuing doubts about his credibility that could have been eased had he won a runoff election against his top challenger, who dropped out citing concerns of fraud.
• After struggling for months to avert bankruptcy, lender CIT Group filed for Chapter 11 protection in an attempt to restructure its debt while trying to keep badly needed loans flowing to thousands of mid-sized and small businesses.
• The health care bill headed for a vote in the House was projected to cost $1.2 trillion or more over a decade, according to numerous Democratic officials and figures contained in an analysis by congressional budget experts, far higher than the $900 billion cited by President Obama as a price tag for his reform plan.
• Punxsutawney Borough Council fired a police officer, but would not say who the officer was.
In a special meeting, council voted to discipline a borough police officer by terminating the position. In its vote, however, council did not name the officer, instead identifying the officer by a number. Following the meeting, Council President Susan Glessner said neither the officer’s name nor the reason his or her firing would be released, and that council would make no comments about the issue to the media.
A day later, as per a Right to Know request filed by The Punxsutawney Spirit, the borough named the officer, Brian Andrekovich.
• In November’s elections, four incumbent members of Punxsutawney Borough Council retained their seats, while Roberta M. Dinsmore and Lesa Conner won school board seats vacated by Kirby Starr and Ron Voris, both of whom were defeated in the spring primary and did not make it onto the fall ballot.
• During a Public Safety meeting, Mayor James Wehrle reported that the borough would continue to organize the Neighborhood Watch groups in Punxsy.
• In a coup for House Democrats, AARP said it would endorse sweeping health care overhaul legislation headed for a history-making floor vote, officials told The Associated Press.
• An Army psychiatrist set to be shipped overseas opened fire at the Fort Hood Army post, authorities said, a rampage that killed 12 people and left 31 wounded in the worst mass shooting ever at a military base in the United States.
• As part of its annual luncheon, the Punxsutawney Area Chamber of Commerce named Miller Brothers Furniture as the recipient of its sixth-annual Small Business of the Year Award.
• The economy relapsed with a return to double-digit unemployment for only the second time since World War II and warnings circulated that next year will be even worse than previously thought. The jobless rate rocketed to 10.2 percent in October, the highest since early 1983, dealing a psychological blow to Americans as they prepared holiday shopping lists.
• The glow from a health care triumph faded quickly for President Obama as Democrats realized the bill they fought so hard to pass in the House had nowhere to go in the Senate. Speaking from the Rose Garden about 14 hours after the late vote, Obama urged senators to be like runners on a relay team and “take the baton and bring this effort to the finish line on behalf of the American people.”
• John Allen Muhammad, the mastermind behind the October 2002 sniper attacks that left 10 dead, was executed.
• A rededication ceremony for the Jefferson County Courthouse was held, with county and judicial officials addressing the importance of providing a purposeful and aesthetically pleasing central county building.
• The Punxsutawney football team entered the 2009 season with one goal: To be a championship program.
Mission accomplished. The Chucks used an impressive fourth-quarter scoring drive and a season-saving defensive stand against Clearfield with seconds remaining on the clock inside their own 20-yard line to defeat the Bisons, 34-28, to claim the 2009 District IX Class AAA Championship for the second time in school history in DuBois.
• Attorney General Tom Corbett announced charges against former House Speaker John Perzel and nine other current or former employees of the House GOP or Perzel’s campaign. The nearly three-year investigation began in early 2007, prompted by the revelation by The Patriot-News of Harrisburg that secret bonuses were doled out by legislative leaders.
• House Minority Leader Sam Smith said that if prosecutors’ allegations were true in a widening political corruption investigation, then he was misled about the illegal use of millions of taxpayer dollars to boost Republican political campaigns. Smith made his first public comments since Attorney General Tom Corbett announced charges against former House Speaker John Perzel and nine others with connections to the state House GOP.
• Punxsutawney Area Hospital received 750 doses of the H1N1 vaccine. According to Mary Dinger, the hospital’s employee health nurse, many of those vaccines would be given to hospital employees, physicians and Jefferson County EMS personnel.
• Moderate Senate Democrats threatened to scuttle health-care legislation if their demands weren’t met, while more liberal members warned their party leaders not to bend. The dispute among Democrats foretold a rowdy floor debate on legislation that would extend health care coverage to roughly 31 million Americans. Republicans have already made it clear that they aren’t supporting the bill.
• The faculty union at Indiana University of Pennsylvania authorized a vote of no-confidence against President Dr. Tony Atwater, citing “excessive turnover” in his senior level managers, an “imperialistic” leadership style and concern about his spending habits, among other concerns.
• A man was dead, and another was transported to the hospital in serious condition following a shootout sparked by an argument about four or five bear hunters trespassing on a landowner’s property.
Frank N. Shaffer, 63, of Red Lion, was killed after he apparently confronted a group of bear hunters about trespassing or walking across the land he owned with family members. Police said at least four shots were fired.
Paul H. Plyler, 23, Summerville, was shot once and taken via private vehicle to Brookville Hospital.
December
• Driven by partisanship, the Senate plunged into a widely anticipated debate over sweeping health care legislation that President Obama and congressional Democrats vowed to approve and Republicans swore to block.
• Tiger Woods’ accident, alleged mistresses, etc. Enough said.
• President Obama ordered an additional 30,000 U.S. troops into Afghanistan, but balanced the build-up with a pledge to impatient Americans to begin withdrawing U.S. forces in 18 months.
• With a Senate showdown looming, the politically-potent AARP rode to the rescue of Democrats, supporting $460 billion in Medicare cuts to help pay for landmark health care legislation. As Republicans pressed to restore the cuts, AARP said Democrats merely were recommending elimination of waste and inefficiency within the giant health care program for seniors.
• The Punxsutawney Area School District received 1,300 doses of the H1N1 vaccine from the state Department of Health, and administered the vaccine to Punxsy, SS.C.D. and Punxsy Christian School students over three days.
• The Punxsutawney Area School Board held its reorganization meeting with newly-elected members Lesa Conner and Roberta M. Dinsmore, and re-elected school board members Francis J. Molinaro, Robert Pascuzzo and Gary L. Conrad were sworn into office by District Judge Douglas Chambers.
• Senate Democrats tentatively agreed to drop a government-run insurance option from sweeping health care legislation, several officials said, a concession to party moderates whose votes were critical to passage of President Obama’s top domestic priority.
• Former state Rep. Sean Ramaley was cleared of all charges in the first trial spawned by Pennsylvania’s legislative corruption investigation. The former two-term Democrat from Beaver County had been accused of using a state job to run his first campaign out of a western Pennsylvania legislative office in 2004.
• The Senate passed a $1.1 trillion spending bill with increased budgets for vast areas of the federal government, including health, education, law enforcement and veterans’ programs. The more-than-1,000-page package, one of the last essential chores of Congress this year, passed 57-35.
• Punxsutawney borough officials met with Sandy McGuire, executive director of the Jefferson County Housing Authority, to discuss the widening of Torrence Street and the impact it would have on the authority’s parking spaces that are adjacent to the street.
• Punxsutawney Borough Council approved the 2010 borough budget with no tax increase. The total expenditures and revenues were projected at $2,135,425.
• Forest L. Maurer, who served as mayor of Worthville for almost 60 years, died Dec. 11 at the age of 92.
• A shooting incident that claimed the life of a Clymer woman ended with the alleged gunman apparently taking his own life, police said.
• State prosecutors added more defendants to their expanding legislative corruption case, accusing a longtime House Democratic leader and a former legislator serving in the governor’s cabinet of illegally using taxpayer-paid employees to perform campaign work. State Rep. Bill DeWeese, the former House speaker, and former Rep. Stephen Stetler, who resigned as Pennsylvania’s secretary of revenue hours before the charges were announced, faced four counts of theft and one count each of conspiracy and conflict of interest. A district office aide to DeWeese, Sharon Rodavich, also was charged.
• Almost a after year a person hiking in the woods in North Mahoning Township found a human bone protruding through the ground, investigators determined that the person — a female — was a homicide victim, and was dismembered after she was killed.
• After Ty announced earlier in the year that it would not produce a new Phil Beanie Baby, the Groundhog Club released Plush Phil, a new alternative.
• Penn State and several other Pennsylvania universities receieved their state subsidies nearly six months overdue, but hundreds of state government employees could lose their jobs if a casino-expansion measure continues to flounder in the Legislature. Gov. Ed Rendell approved more than $700 million in university subsidies to avoid losing nearly $2 billion in federal stimulus aid for Pennsylvania that is contingent on the state maintaining its financial support for education.
• Two people were killed as a result of a deadly fire that chased residents from their apartments at 5 South Jared St. in DuBois.
• Just when one thought the economy would stall the Make-A-Wish Foundation’s annual “Light Up a Child’s Life” campaign, Punxsy area donors proved the doubters wrong — again. Make-A-Wish officials and volunteers reported that this year’s campaign collected $72,075.86 — or the equivalent of about 22 wishes, based on a cost of $3,400 for the average wish — surpassing the 2008 total of $71,564.79.
• The faculty union at IUP overwhelmingly supported a vote of no-confidence in university President Tony Atwater, while Atwater himself said given the economic climate, he wasn’t surprised.
• The majority leader of the Pennsylvania House directed campaign activities by legislative employees and raised campaign funds from inside the Capitol, according to witness testimony in transcripts obtained by The Associated Press.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 02 January 2010 )
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