Activists Free Hundreds Of Mink Now ‘Running Around All Over’ Cambria County

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Cambria County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For nearly 60 years, George Rykola has raised mink on this quiet, bucolic farm in rural Cambria County.

He and his wife, Anna, live next door to thousands of mink they keep and pelt for market. Their relatives live close, too, and help on the farm about 90 minutes east of Pittsburgh.

“We’ve always lived a peaceful life here,” Mr. Rykola, 92, said.

That is until early Wednesday morning, when he learned someone had come on his property overnight and released hundreds of mink from their cages, prompting a police investigation and sudden media attention.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/mc-animal-rights-free-mink-cambria-0927-20130927,0,952771.story#ixzz2g6qzRYGj 
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Thousands Still Without Power In Altoona And Surrounding Area

English: Undetailed map of Altoona, Pennsylvania and some surrounding areas From my talk page: :I drew the map of Altoona in xpaint from a map on the Internet and a Rand-McNally atlas. It’s in the public domain. — Djinn112 04:40, 28 Sep 2004 (UTC) –$ 02:38, 2 Oct 2004 (UTC) Category:Altoona (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Four buildings partially collapsed Monday night in Altoona, according to city police.

Emergency crews kept busy tonight with flooded basements, damaged structures and downed trees and power lines as now-post-tropical Sandy continues its march into the mid-Atlantic states.

The humongous storm also brought a wintry mix as far north as Johnstown.

Around 9:45 p.m. Monday, police said they would likely close Fifth and Sixth avenues near Union Avenue in Altoona for the entire night after winds blew a huge chunk of a brick building onto the roadway.

High winds whipped against nearby pedestrians as emergency vehicles blocked the roads.

Read more: http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/565627/-Updated-11-45-p-m—Thousands-still-without-power.html?nav=742

Bedford, Blair, Center And Huntington Counties Brace For Hurricane Sandy

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Blair County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As Hurricane Sandy continued to batter the East Coast and mid-Atlantic states, county officials in central Pennsylvania moved Monday to enact emergency disaster declarations ahead of the storm’s expected turn toward the area.

Bedford, Blair, Centre and Huntingdon counties issued emergency disaster declarations, and other Pennsylvania counties are expected to follow suit.

The declarations mean emergency management officials and first responders have greater access to resources necessary for relief efforts without the “red tape” of soliciting bids or other typical government procedures, Bedford County Director of Emergency Services Dave Cubbison said.

“We’re definitely going to have water,” Cubbison said.

Read more: http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/565622/Counties-brace-for-Hurricane-Sandy.html?nav=742

110-Year-Old Pa. Widow Gets WWI Benefits Boost

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Cambria County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

EBENSBURG, Pa. (AP) — A 110-year-old Pennsylvania widow is getting a benefits boost because of her husband’s World War I service.

Family members say Alda Collins is now getting about $1,000 a month to assist with her stay at a nursing home near Ebensburg. She had been getting $36 a month.

Her son tells the Daily American of Somerset (http://bit.ly/OURXLU) that Collins lived by herself in a trailer until she was 106.  She can use a walker, feeds herself and knows the Pirates are in second place.

Read more: http://hosted2.ap.org/PATOW/5715a04f327d44b9b9ab039463c2d9db/Article_2012-08-13-World%20War%20I-Benefits/id-949930100c08497dae95b1159d0873fb

Potter County Woman Among 2 Dead After Intense Storms

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Potter County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

PHILADELPHIA, PA (AP) — Authorities say a woman has been killed by a tree felled by powerful storms that left tens of thousands of customers without power, mostly in western and central Pennsylvania.

The Potter County coroner says 66-year-old Linda Button was killed Thursday evening in Genesee Township. That’s about 150 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, near the New York border.  State police in Coudersport expect to release more details later Friday.

First Energy Corp. reported about 70,000 customers without power on Friday morning, with the worst problems in Butler County, north of Pittsburgh, and Cambria County, east of the city.  Thousands more outages were reported by PPL Corp. in central Pennsylvania.

In New York City, the storm is blamed for killing a 61-year-old man who was struck by collapsing scaffolding outside a Brooklyn church.  Police say lighting brought bricks down onto the scaffolding.

Read more: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/07/storms_in_pennsylvania.html#incart_river_default

Son Of Former Johnstown City Councilman Has Mouth Taped By Judge – Won’t SHUT UP!

Editor’s note:  Never act as your own lawyer and learn to shut up!

EBENSBURG —  A Johnstown man who was scheduled to go on trial for assaulting a prison guard became so disruptive during jury selection on Thursday that the judge had the man’s mouth briefly taped shut and his hands handcuffed to a belt around his waist.

But Erik Britt continued to attempt to mouth words and interrupt proceedings.

Judge Timothy Creany finally called off any attempt to choose a jury. Creany continued the case until March and ordered a mental-health exam of the defendant.

While Britt continued to shout about his rights being violated, deputies took him out a rear door of the courtroom.

Read more:  http://tribune-democrat.com/local/x1818109318/Suspect-disrupts-court

Johnstown Fights Blight

Image via Wikipedia

The City of Johnstown, Cambria County, is a post-industrial community just like Pottstown.  Steel was king along with heavy manufacturing.  Those days are gone and communities have fallen on hard times. 

When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.  Johnstown is doing just that.  In an effort to clean up their community and attract middle-income residents, Johnstown has started a program to buy blighted properties, demo them and redevelop the property with a prefabricated home.  These are 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom homes that are Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified.  Meaning these homes are energy-efficient.

This program is a joint effort between the Cambria County Redevelopment Authority and the City of Johnstown.  Funding was obtained through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (federal).

They intend to transform the entire South Street neighborhood PLUS they are targeting business development and a business development strategy to bring in new business!

This initial project is only a small dent in Johnstown’s blighted housing stock; however, it’s one house at a time, one block at a time.  And that is just what Johnstown officials intend to do.