The Potter County District Attorney has filed a petition against his chief contender in the May Primaries. DA Jeff Leber says that Challenger Dawn Fink has not lived in Potter County for more than one year. Fink told WFRM Radio this morning she moved to Coudersport October 31 2004. By the time of the general election in November, she will have satisfied the residency requirements.

The Rigas Trial Redux will not go down as hoped. Judge Leonard Sands announced that John and Timothy Rigas would not get a new trial. The Rigas’s claimed that prosecutors in the case knew that a witness lied to the jury. Sentencing for the former Adelphia Cable moguls is set for April 18th.

CBS Survivor contestant Wanda Shirk will make a special public appearance tomorrow night in Coudersport. Shirk will speak at the Coudersport High School Auditorium at 7PM. Shirk is a longtime teacher at Northern High School in Northern Potter.
She was kicked off the show before the first episode was completed, but spent weeks with the castaways as they were each booted off the island.

Her Website can be see at http://www.wackywanda.com

Karl Renner, of Port Allegany, was sentenced to 90 days in jail Thursday at the McKean County Courthouse. After the time in incarceration, he will have 1 year of probation, in which he must pay a $500 fine, along with a DNA sample which must be taken prior to his release from incarceration. The charges stemmed from a 2004 incident. Renner ran his ATV into a STate Police Cruiser while attemptint to elude capture.

In the wake of a recent courthouse shooting in Georgia, McKean County Courthouse has instituted new procedures to create a more secure environment. Access to the third floor courtroom is limited to one staircase. Visitors, and employees must pass through a metal detector before even setting foot on the stairs leading to the thir floor. County Commissioners have talked about making the courthouse more secure for quite some time now. President Judge John Cleland says the move was not related to the Georgia incident.

Outdoor talk radio host Jim Slinsky will speak in Coudersport Next Month. Slinsky is set to appear at the Coudersport Fire Department April 3 at 7PM. He will talk about deer management, and will take questions about wildlife management and forestry practice.

I did not know Michael Franklin. I know his mother, Tina. But as I downloaded and watch the Channel 7 news coverage of his funeral yesterday, I cried.

This was one of our own. A soldier worth fifty other soldiers, because he was one of ours. In fact, several soldiers have died since Michael Franklin’s death last week. And though each of them have names, and families, and a story, and just as many people grieving their death, I can’t help to think that Franklin’s death is more important, because he was one of “ours”.

I know our country is at each others throats about this war. I know that half of us are in support of what we are doing, and half of us are not.

The bottom line is, no matter what our position, we have soldiers fighting, and dying and coming home in flag draped caskets, making moms and news reporters and everyone else cry, and grieve and hurt.

Let’s honor Private First Class Michael Franklin by supporting his fellow soldiers. If you don’t think this war is just, it does not mean our soldiers are not just.

They are brave. They are strong. They are real men and women, with a heart and a passion for patriotism… A heart and a passion for freedom… A heart and a passion for their moms and dads, and wives and kids back home.

Thanks Michael Franklin for sacrificing your life for the cause of freedom. Thanks Tina Franklin for raising that boy to be a man of honor.

A six-year-old boy from Tioga County was killed by a school bus Wednesday morning. Nicholas Blackwell of Elkland was taken to Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hospital in Wellsboro, and then airlifted to Geisinger Medical Center. Apparently, the boy stopped to pick up something he dropped as he crossed the street after exiting the bus before school. The bus driver did not realize he was directly in front of the school bus, and continued forward on her route, and struck him. Witnesses say he was unresponsive on the scene, with blood coming from his ears. The boy died at Geisigner later Wednesday. No charges have been filed yet against the driver.

A Coudersport woman was not injured in a crash in Hebron Township over the weekend. 28-year-old Yi Li lost control of her Nissan Altima along Route 44 in Hebron Township, spinning the car and striking an embankment.

A Roulette Man was pulled over for speeding early on the morning of February 28. 21-year-old Jesse Cimino was determined to be under the influence of marijuana, police noticed a small plastic container in his car containing marijuana, and found more in his bib overalls. Cimino was charged in the inicident He was previously charged last year for an incident on Sartwell Creek Road, when he ran his truck into the corner of a house.

The body of a Coudersport man slain in Iraq has returned to the US, and is on its way to Potter County for a funeral. The body of 22 year old Private First Class Michael Franklin came off the plane Monday night, to be saluted by relatives. Franklin died when a bomb went off at a checkpoint in Ramadi. Visitation is scheduled for Wednesday from 11 to 9 at Fickinger Funeral Home. The funeral will be held Thursday at 10:30 at the Christian Missionary Alliance Church in Coudersport.

Hey Folks!
Remember, we update our news as close to daily as possible. Sometimes I do get busy, and can't get to it every day, but some days, if we have lot of stories, it pushes others to the "Archives Section".

For those of you who check the site weekly, you may be missing news! Just remember to keep your eye on the archived stories you might not have seen!


Thanks for visiting. We had close to two thousand visitors in January, and I think we can continue to grow!

-Josh-

The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford will honor three area high school students as “Women of Promise” for their achievements in athletics, community service, and the creative and performing arts. Mallory Marx of Bradford is honored for athletics; Natalie Hamilton of Port Allegany for community service; and Kimberly Romanelli of Bradford for creative and performing arts. This is the ninth year that the Staff Association and the Women’s History Month Committee have recognized area “Women of Promise.” The students will be honored at a luncheon on Friday, March 18 at Pitt-Bradford.

An Olean man pleaded guilty to charges in the stabbing death of another man. 19 year old Damon Maul pleaded guilty to second degree manslaughter and petty larceny charges in the death of 35 year old Frederick Garris. Garris was stabbed in the chest with a pocketknife after he started a fight with Maull.

The 19 year old also admitted to stealing a necklace from Garris’s girlfriend. Maull will be sentenced May 23rd.

State Police out of Kane report a gas drive off at Wimpy’s Place in Eldred. Someone in a light-colored mini-van drove away from Wimpy’s at 1:42 p.m. Monday without paying for $10 in gas. Anyone with information should contact State Police.

State Police in Potter County are investigating a cell phone theft from Genesee Township. Police say 22-year-old Wellsville man Bradley Clark is accused of stealing a cell phone in January belonging to 24 year old Sean Procuri. Clark then allegedly racked u p a 1700-dollar phone bill. Charges have been filed.

A Shinglehouse woman received minor injuries in a Route 6 crash Monday in front of Charles Cole Memorial Hospital. 53-year-old Ulysses woman Wanda Long was headed eastbound when in her Jeep Cherokee when she rear ended a stopped Dodge Stratus driven by 22 year old Leslie Helfrich. Helfrich was transported by a worker to the hospital, Long was not injured.

A Genesee man was injured as he was struck by a Pontiac Monday morning. 57-year-old Thomas Truax was walking along a sidewalk, and was struck by a vehicle driven by 29 year old Elizabeth Bristol as she backed out of her driveway.

June is the target date for the sale of the McKean County Landfill. Rustick LLC and the McKean County SWA are working on the final steps of closing the deal, with plans to have the sale and transfer complete by June. The contract states the sale must be complete by June 22.

The full article can be read here:

http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/s_313453.html

A Coudersport man pleaded guilty to homicide in Potter County Court on Wednesday. 26-Year-old James Monroe was driving his vehicle under the influence in August of last year in Keating Township. His vehicle turned over, and his passenger, Chad Nichols, died at the scene. Monroe’s sentencing will be on May 18th.

Two Port Allegany sisters were involved in a crash on Route 155 Saturday. 22-year-old Amy Barnard lost control of her 96 Ford Windstar and struck a guardrail. Neither Barnard, nor her passenger, 21 year old Sarah Angell were injured in the crash.

A Roulette man was arrested for underage consumption Early Saturday morning. 19-year-old David Darush was pulled over at the Hub in Smethport by Smethport Boro Police after leaving the scene of a reported fight at the Escape Club. He admitted to officers several times that he had been drinking. Charges were filed.

Cold temperatures so far this month have put a damper on maple production. Many area maple makers find that the start of sap collecting season could be pushed back several more weeks.

With information from the Erie County Coroner and State Fire Marshall, State Police in Warren released details this afternoon about a double homicide and suicide that occurred in Russell, PA Friday morning. Police say 53 year old Michael Gray Sr. started a fire in his home with a propane torch, and then walked up the stairs to his sons apartment, and shot 30 year old Michael Gray Jr, and 18 year old Samantha Lewis in the head with a small caliber pistol. Gray Senior then shot himself in the head, and the scene was engulfed in flames moments later.

State Police have released the name of the man killed along Sartwell Creek Road in Potter County. 41 year old Scott McClelland of Level Green crashed his 97 Chevy Truck into a highway sign, and rolled it over an embankment just before 2 o’clock Saturday Morning.

A driver was killed in an accident on Sartwell Creek Road this weekend. State Police say the driver a 97 Chevy Truck was traveling North on Sartwell toward Route 6 when it struck a traffic sign, and rolled down an embankment. the truck caught fire, and the driver died from injuries sustained in the crash. State Police have not yet released the name of the victim.