Come join us at Sizerville State Park as we explore the outdoors. The following programs will be offered this week:
Friday, August 18, 2006 8:30 PM SHADOW OF MISUNDERSTANDING - Join the park naturalist as we identify Pennsylvanias native snakes, ways to distinguish non-venomous and venomous snakes from each other, the benefit of having snakes, and the vital role they play in our environment.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
3:30 PM WILDTHINGS - Come out and visit Sizerville State Park. Relax, cool off and take a dip in the pool. At 3:30 p.m., during the adult swim, ages 18 and up, meet the Park Naturalist at the Environmental Education Building, across the parking lot from the pool, and investigate what animals live right here in the Park. We will be searching for salamanders, frogs, toads, butterflies and more! If you are interested in participating in the program, bring shoes, bug spray, sunscreen lotion and water. We will be hiking through sunny fields, or in the woods.
8:30 PM EXPLORING THE PLANETS Do you know which planet is home to the largest mountain in the entire solar system? Or which planet revolves around the sun faster than other planet in the solar system? Answer these questions and so much more as we explore the planets.
Sunday, August 20, 2006 11:00 AM TRACKS AND TRACES, MORNING HIKE - Many times the only signs of wildlife we ever see are the traces they leave behind tracks, scat, etc. Join the park naturalist for a short hike and learn how to identify some common tracks, traces and discuss outdoor ethics. Meet the naturalist at the Campground Amphitheater. Mosquitoes and other biting bugs are abundant, so remember to bring your bug spray. Additionally, we suggest that you would wear long pants.
If the weather is NOT cooperating, evening programs will be held in the Environmental Education Building (across the road from the park office). Dress accordingly for the weather; Sizerville can be damp and chilly, even through the duration of the summer. Insect repellant is also recommended.
Causer Says Grant Program Available to Help Senior Centers
RepHARRISBURG - Rep. Marty Causer (R-Turtlepoint) encourages local senior centers to apply for $4 million worth of grants now available to help senior centers improve their facilities and services. The Senior Community Center Grant Program is administered by the Department of Aging and is designed to support and enhance the role of senior community centers in the continuum of aging services.
Grant applications will be accepted until Sept. 22, 2006. To expedite the awards, money will be granted to centers on a rolling basis.
Grants awarded to senior centers will be divided into two categories: capital assistance projects and the capacity building projects. Assistance projects will receive up to $200,000 toward renovations, repairs, equipment, furnishings or acquisition of land or facilities and construction, while building projects will receive up to $10,000 to help pay for administration, fundraising or help in growing the programs and services offered at senior centers.
Last year's state budget, for 2005-06, included $3 million in funding for senior centers. These funds though were later vetoed by the governor. Since the governor's 2006-07 budget proposal did not include the needed funding for senior centers, the legislature fought to appropriate the $4 million in the current state budget. As some senior centers closed for lack of funding last year, these grants will help support senior centers located throughout Pennsylvania that provide major benefits to the state's older residents.
Senior centers that want to apply can visit Causer's Web site at www.RepCauser.com for more information and to download a grant application.
Senior centers with questions about the grant process should contact the Department of Aging at 717-783-6207 and ask to speak with someone from the Division of Consumer Community Support Services.
Fish & Boat Commission Announces Grants To Cooperative Nurseries
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) has granted $60,000 in funding to organizations involved in its Cooperative Nursery Program.
The program is collaborative between the PFBC and private, non-profit organizations. The PFBC provides individual cooperative nurseries (co-ops) with adolescent fish. The co-ops then voluntarily raise the fish at their own cost prior to stocking them for public angling. In 2005, 171 nurseries stocked 1,056,706 trout statewide, along with a million yellow perch, one million walleye and 126,300 steelhead into Lake Erie and its tributaries.
In addition to supplying fish for the program, the Commission also provides guidance and support. In 1996, the PFBC created the co-op grant program to aid nurseries with new construction, equipment to improve water quality, structures to enhance facilities, etc. Co-op sponsors may apply for up to $3,000 annually. This year, 31 applicants were selected for funding.
Grants were approved for the Wycoff Run Fish Nursery, Inc., CameronCounty: $3,000. Grant monies will be used to rebuild a nursery damaged during Hurricane Ivan. Wycoff Run Fish Nursery has participated in the program since 1987 and rears 5,500 trout annually
Cameron County School District will be without a superintendent come Aug. 25 when Stephen Bugaj retires.
Cameron County School Board accepted his request, with regret, at its committee meeting on August 7.
Bugaj has held the job for about five years.
Asked if Bugaj's retirement would affect the beginning of the school year, school board president Robert "Speedy" Lininger said, "hopefully nothing will change until we get a new superintendent."
"Everything should be place for this school year," Lininger said.
School board will continue to look for a new superintendent, Lininger said.
Governor Edward G. Rendell announced last week an additional $2.7 million in Growing Greener II investments to clean state waterways and reclaim mine-scarred lands. Some of that money is coming local:
CAMERON COUNTY Allegheny Enterprises Inc. - $32,078 to address ongoing abandoned mine discharges that are currently degrading the Sinnemahoning Creek.
McKEAN COUNTY Bouquin Property, Foster Township - $537,311 to plug 90 abandoned oil wells some of which are leaking oil, eliminating environmental, health and safety problems.
Wow. You think consolidating local/county governments is a good idea? Or you think it might be a tough sell? Well check out these guys. Because they mean business:
News Advisory WHAT: Area seniors will have the opportunity to gather a variety of useful information on programs and services at Causer's fourth annual senior expo.
WHO: Rep. Marty Causer, representatives of various state and local agencies and organizations.
WHEN: Aug. 18, 2006.
TIME: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
WHERE: University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, Sports and Fitness Building gymnasium.
The Department of Environmental Protection has issued a notice of violation to Norfolk Southern in the aftermath of a June 30 McKean County train derailment and sodium hydroxide spill that caused severe pollution of Sinnemahoning-Portage Creek. This citation reflects the reality that the waters of Sinnemahoning-Portage Creek and the aquatic life that existed there were devastated as a consequence of the spill, DEP Northwest Regional Director Kelly Burch said. Pennsylvanias tough environmental laws give us the ability we need to hold parties accountable when there are incidents such as this, and we do plan to hold Norfolk Southern accountable.
An NOV is a formal notice to the company that its actions violated numerous state environmental regulations. Under state law, the company could be subject to penalties of up to $35,000 per day, starting from the date of the original spill and continuing until the violations cease.
The NOV cites the railroad for the ongoing discharge of pollution and encroachments into commonwealth waters, the unpermitted disposal of wastes, and release of hazardous substances.
About 44,000 gallons of sodium hydroxide, also known as caustic soda or lye, spilled when 28 Norfolk Southern railroad cars derailed. Some of the sodium hydroxide entered Sinnemahoning-Portage Creek and wiped out aquatic life and fish from the accident site near the McKean County village of Gardeau to a point 7.5 miles downstream at the mouth of Fourmile Run near Emporium in Cameron County.
Assessments of the Driftwood Branch, below its confluence with Sinnemahoning-Portage Creek, showed a lesser impact to the number of aquatic insects.
An unknown amount of sodium hydroxide also soaked into the ground in and around the derailment site, and this residual material must be addressed to ensure a complete recovery of Sinnemahoning-Portage Creek.
Norfolk Southern consultants began work last week to install monitoring wells for groundwater sampling and borings for soil sampling as part of the site assessment plan to determine the depth and breadth of contamination. More equipment will be brought on site this week to continue that work.
The sodium hydroxide raised the pH of the water in Sinnemahoning-Portage Creek to a level that devastated aquatic life and fish. The pH is a measurement for determining levels of acidity and alkalinity, with higher levels signaling alkalinity.
As a temporary measure, Norfolk Southern is applying a citric acid solution at the spill site to neutralize the pH of the sodium hydroxide still leaching from the soil into the stream. This effort has resulted in normal pH readings in Sinnemahoning-Portage Creek. As a result, DEP advises avoiding the section of the creek from the mouth of Big Fill Run to a point 1,000 feet downstream.
We continue to review other sections of the Norfolk Southern site assessment plan, including those dealing with schedule of work and conceptual site restoration, Burch said. We have advised Norfolk Southern that the department will soon set an enforceable schedule for implementing the actions described in the assessment plan and ultimate final restoration plan.
DEP has made its public files relating to the train derailment available for review at the Cameron County Courthouse for the convenience of residents living in McKean and Cameron counties.
The Cameron County Conservation District is housing the document repository at its office in Room 105 of the courthouse, 20 E. Fifth St., Emporium. Residents should contact Jan Hampton at 814-486-9353 or via e-mail at ccconservation@cameroncountypa.com to arrange an appointment for a file review.
Dave Ellenburger is facing harassment after an argument with Monica Ellenburger last Sunday. State Troopers say the incident occured at the couple's home in Driftwood.
An accident last week on Monday in near Sterling Run on Route 120. ACcording to Police, 75 year old Betty Ellenburger was operating her 2001 Chevrolet Malibu when she hell asleep, crossed both lanes and ran into a culvert before landing in a swamp.
One man is in jail after a garage break in in June. George Singer was jailed in lieu of 50 thousand dollars bail on burglary, tresspassing, and theft charges. The charges are in relation to a break in into the Pit Stop Garage on 155.
The incident occured on June 29, the same night that Cool's Garage was broken into. Police did not indicate that Singer was charged in relation to that burglary attempt.
An Emporium Woman recieved minor injuries August 10. State Troopers say Lori Thomas crashed her Geo Tracker on Route 120. Her right tires slipped off the berm, and she lost control while trying to get back on the road.
The car went over an embankment and rolled. Police say she was wearing a seatbelt.
Name: Josh Hatcher Home: Roulette, PA, Bradford, PA About Me: I love music, graphic design, and of course NEWS. I'm a father of four beautiful kids, and husband to the prettiest woman in the world. See my complete profile
