Penn State Wilkes-Barre Grant Will Help Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber Expand Business Services

LEHMAN, PA — Penn State Wilkes-Barre will provide a $50,000 block grant to the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce to expand business services in the Innovation Center.

The grant is the first step in acquiring funding to renovate a portion of the Innovation Center for the development of the Innovation Squared Project, including an entrepreneurial and business training lab.

Downtown Wilkes-Barre has become a hub for entrepreneurs, with the Innovation Center housing 14 businesses, Wilkes University’s Small Business Development Center and Wilkes University’s Allen P. Kirby Center for Free Enterprise.

The Innovation Squared Project will continue to fuel local entrepreneurship with a multi-faceted program designed to create high-wage e-commerce jobs, revitalization of downtown and workshop, according to the press release.

Read more:

http://www.timesleader.com/news/business-local-news/153616357/PSU-grant-helps-chamber-expand-business-services

Wolf Maintains Large Lead Over Corbett With Month Left In Governor’s Campaign

The latest sample of voter opinions in the Pennsylvania governor’s race tested for lingering effects of Gov. Tom Corbett’s handling of the Jerry Sandusky child molestation investigation.

It shows the struggling Republican incumbent still trailing Democratic challenger Tom Wolf by double digits.

Robert Morris University Polling Institute found 54.6 percent of voters say the Sandusky case would not affect their vote, according to an online survey sponsored by Trib Total Media. Almost 27 percent say Corbett’s handling of the investigation makes them less likely to support his re-election, and 12 percent say it makes them more likely to vote for Corbett.

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/6892975-74/voters-percent-corbett#ixzz3F6TB4qOv
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Proactive Policing Prevents Problems At Arts Fest

Counties constituting the Happy Valley Region of Pennsylvania (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  Being proactive is always better than reactive. Especially in law enforcement.  A certain borough in Western Montgomery County springs to mind for always taking a reactive approach to crime.  Maybe a field trip to State College is in order. Apparently, they got the memo up there.

STATE COLLEGE, PA — The crime numbers over the weekend of the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts show a dip in some areas but an increase in others.

State College police Lt. Chris Fishel compared the activity to a football weekend as he unveiled the numbers to members of the media Monday.

“This is actually a good thing,” he said. Fishel said it could point to more proactive involvement of officers making self-initiated stops rather than constantly responding to dispatched calls.

The total number of police calls in 2014 came in at 235, up from 171 in 2013.

Read more here: http://www.centredaily.com/2014/07/14/4265555/proactive-policing-prevents-problems.html?sp=/99/116/#storylink=cpy

Program Helps Centre County Residents Get Green Thumb

Counties constituting the Happy Valley Region of Pennsylvania (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

STATE COLLEGE, PA — The area behind the Food Bank of State College on South Atherton Street looked more like a miniature farm Friday than a parking lot.

It was full of broccoli, cabbage, eggplant, lettuce, tomato, squash and herb plants for food bank clients to plant in their own gardens.

Members of Penn State Master Gardeners, Centre County Office of Adult Services and Nutrition Links teamed up with the food bank for the annual Home Grown Project.

For the past five years, the event has helped a few hundred local families better understand the food they consume, master gardener Norman Knaub said.

Read more here: http://www.centredaily.com/2014/05/30/4201771/program-helps-locals-get-green.html?sp=/99/116/#storylink=cpy

Thousands Share In American Indian Culture At Final Powwow

Counties constituting the Happy Valley Region of Pennsylvania (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

COLLEGE TOWNSHIP, PA — To his knowledge, John Sanchez is the only American Indian faculty member at Penn State and when his kids were in the elementary and high school system, they were the only American Indian students.

Though he loves his job, Sanchez uses the annual traditional American Indian powwow as a way to recharge his batteries and interact with other Indians.

After this year, he will have to have to find another way to do that.

The 11th annual event took place at Mount Nittany Middle School on Saturday and Sunday, but Sanchez, the event coordinator, said it will be the last. Moving closer to retirement, Sanchez said the event planning takes too much time on top of his job teaching media ethics in the College of Communications and his distinguished professorship with the Schreyer Honors College.

Read more here: http://www.centredaily.com/2014/04/06/4122749/thousands-share-in-american-indian.html?sp=/99/264/&ihp=1#storylink=cpy

Penn State Football: Assistant Coach Larry Johnson To Oversee Nittany Lions During Search For Bill O’Brien’s Replacement

Counties constituting the Happy Valley Region of Pennsylvania (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State assistant coach Larry Johnson has agreed to oversee the team as the university searches for Bill O’Brien’s successor, the Centre Daily Times has learned.

A Penn State source said Johnson, who coaches defensive linemen, will work with the players currently on the roster and will maintain contact with recruits, and said the university will move quickly to name the next Nittany Lions head coach.

Read more here: http://www.centredaily.com/2014/01/01/3966060/penn-state-football-assistant.html#storylink=cpy

Penn State Reports 16-Percent Increase In Applications From Prospective Students

Counties constituting the Happy Valley Region of Pennsylvania (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Penn State is seeing a boom in the number of undergraduate applications for admission in the next academic year.

As of Monday, the university had received almost 46,000 applications from prospective baccalaureate students, a figure that is more than 7,500 ahead of the number of applications received at this time last year. The count is more in line with the number of applications received at this time in 2010 and 2011.

From this applicant pool, the university has made 11,000 offers.

Read more here: http://www.centredaily.com/2013/12/11/3937867/number-of-students-applying-to.html#storylink=cpy

Nearly 5,000 Pennsylvania State Workers Paid $100,000-Plus

HARRISBURG – Nearly 5,000 Pennsylvania state employees earned at least $100,000 last year, and more than one-third worked for one of the 14 state-owned universities or the system that oversees them, a newspaper reported Monday.

The number of employees with six-figure earnings has more than quadrupled since 2002, when 1,176 people fell into that category, The Patriot-News said in stories posted on its website.

“What you see is pretty much how recession-proof that (state government) sector may be,” said Lonnie Golden, a professor of economics and labor studies at Penn State University‘s Abington campus.

In the newspaper’s analysis of data from the state-government transparency website PennWATCH and the state courts, payouts for severance and unused leave time as well as job-related, non-salary income were counted as part of employees’ earnings.

Read more:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=458306

Voters Saddle Governor Corbett With Dismal Midterm Grade

Standard of the Governor of Pennsylvania http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-pa.html#gov (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Since a 1968 constitutional revision allowed Pennsylvania governors to seek a second term, every one of them has, and all five have been successful.

Gov. Tom Corbett has said he intends to keep the two-term tradition alive, but poll numbers released last week underscore the possibility that he could break that winning streak.

A Public Policy Polling survey noted that voters gave him some of the lowest approval numbers of any incumbent the organization has tested across the country.  Although his decision to sue the National Collegiate Athletic Association over the draconian sanctions it imposed on Penn State University has proved popular with the state’s voters (despite widespread condemnation by editorial boards), the support for his legal decision has not translated to a boost in his personal popularity.  According to the archives of the Franklin & Marshall College Poll, his midterm job performance numbers were the lowest approval of any recent Pennsylvania governor.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/state/voters-saddle-gov-corbett-with-dismal-midterm-grade-670203/#ixzz2Huxy3OZJ

Former PSU President Spanier Lands Job In National Security

Editor’s note:  Anybody else find this ironic?

Former Penn State University President Graham Spanier, who was forced from office in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal, is working in Washington on a national security project.

A Penn State spokeswoman confirmed on Wednesday that Spanier, who is listed in the university’s online directory as president emeritus, took on the project during a year-long sabbatical from his post as a tenured professor in Penn State’s College of Health and Human Development.

“The project is an effort to continue to bridge the gap between our nation’s national security agencies and other entities,” said Penn State spokeswoman Lisa Powers.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-psu-graham-spanier-new-job-20120412,0,5217661.story

Joe Pa Near Death

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Former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno is near death, a source close to the Paterno family told The Citizens’ Voice.

On Saturday afternoon, Paterno’s wife, Sue, called close friends of the former coach to the State College hospital where Paterno has been undergoing treatment since Jan. 13 for complications from his fight against cancer.

 

Paterno, 85, wanted to say a final goodbye, Sue said, according to the source.

 

Those close friends included his longtime secretary. Members of Paterno’s extended family were also summoned to the hospital.

 

His son, former assistant coach Jay Paterno, cancelled an appearance in Reading, Pa., telling organizers 15 minutes before the scheduled start that he would not be able to make it because “his wife” was sick.

 

Read more: http://thetimes-tribune.com/source-paterno-in-grave-condition-1.1260839#ixzz1k8oscUrL

More Penn State News

Joe Paterno is having a bad month.  Not only has he been fired after 60+ years, but now PSU is taking down a 900-pound statue of JoePa that stands outside Beaver Stadium over Thanksgiving break.  It’s being done to avoid riots.  Hmmmmm.

In addition, the Big Ten will be removing JoePa’s name from the conference championship trophy.

Mr. McQueary’s statement that he notified the police about witnessing Jerry Sandusky sexually molesting a 10-year-old boy in the PSU showers has gotten the attention of local police.  State College Police Chief Tom King is sayin’ that ain’t so, Joe Mike.  There is no record on file that McQueary reported Sandusky to the State College popo. 

The Pennsylvania State Police are not commenting if McQueary spoke with them because of the ongoing investigation into the 2002 incident.  Guessing the answer is “no”.

Centre County Rabies Cases Climbing

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First rabid beavers in Philly, now drooling raccoons in State College???  Looks like 2011 is the year of the rabid animal.

Rocky Raccoon was tooling around the main campus at Penn State University on June 30^th when authorities shot the animal because it was drooling, running into things and falling down (guess only coeds are allowed to do that).  The raccoon tested positive for rabies (it hadn’t crashed a frat party).  This is rather alarming as there are tens of thousands of students at PSU’s main campus and a rabid raccoon throw into the mix could have been very dangerous.

So far this year there have been 8 diagnosed cases of rabies in Centre County.  In all of 2010 there were only 5 cases of rabies.  The next most recent rabies incident prior to last Thursday happened in nearby Gregg Township.  On June 27^th a dog and rabid raccoon fought.  The dog was vaccinated but is being quarantined.

4-H Helps Urban Areas Go Green – Harrisburg’s Allison Hill Neighborhood

This project is a 4-H educational outreach program of Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. The program was initiated by Dauphin County cooperative extension to address the specific needs of urban and inner-city youth.

Beaver Stadium Turns 50!

Growing up in North Central Pennsylvania, you can’t help but be a Penn State fan.  Question: Why is the sky is blue and white?  Answer: God is a Penn State fan.

My Dad was a Penn State alumni and Joe Pa’s name was said with reverence.  A big thrill for me was when our high school band participated in Band Day at Beaver Stadium.  Standing on that field, in front of that many people, was a rush!  I can’t drive by Beaver Stadium without looking at it.  It certainly stands out but even after all these years, it still makes me look.

So happy birthday Beaver Stadium.  Hopefully the Nittany Lions will have a banner season to commemorate your big 50.  After all, it is Happy Valley!

Two Penn State Students Charged In Freshman’s Alcohol Related Death

The investigation into the death of Latrobe native Joe Dado, who was found dead at the bottom of a stairwell on the Penn State University main campus in State College, has come to a conclusion. 

Two 21 year old Penn State students were charged with giving the underage freshman the alcohol that contributed to his death.  Jennifer Clifford, 21, from the Johnstown area and John Townsend, 21, from the Latrobe area are being charged with misdemeanors.  Townsend and Dado were friends from high school.

Two Penn State Fraternities, Alpha Tau Omego and Phi Gamma Delta, were both charged with one count of selling or furnishing alcohol to minors and one count of unlawful acts relative to alcohol.

Both University and State College police have determined that drinking excessive amounts of alcohol was the contributing factor in Joe Dado’s death.  Dado’s blood alcohol level was .169, more than twice the legal limit to operate a motor vehicle!

Mr. Townsend expressed deep regret over the incident.  Joe Dado’s father declined to comment.

A very sad conclusion to a very tragic event. 

A preliminary hearing is being scheduled for December 2nd.

Follow Up On Penn State Main Campus Student Death

Here is some follow-up information regarding the 18 year old Latrobe freshman who fell to his death after attending several Penn State Fraternity parties on September 20th.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09274/1002294-59.stm