Tourist numbers were a bit down in 2003. More than 38 million dollars in tourism money rolled in to McKean County though, according to figures presented by the Allegany National Forest Vacation Bureau. The 2003 figures are down nine percent from the year 2002. Linda Devlin credits the drop to the demise of the Kinzua Viaduct.

The bridge used to receive 140 thousand people annually. No only 32 thousand visit the park each year.
Devlin says the Kinzua Bridge Park, the Allegany National Forest, and the Zippo Case Visitors center are the largest tourist draws in the county. She hopes to work with Southern Tier New York tourist hotspots and the Pennsylvania Wilds brand to encourage more tourists to check out McKean County.

A Safe-cracking was reported in Kersey. State Police report an unknown suspect broke into J W Martell Salvage, and stole cash, rare coins, jewelry and diamonds from a safe belonging to 52-year-old Clayton Bennet. Bennet estimates the value of the stolen items at around $200,000 dollars.

State Police in Potter County responded to a disturbance in Genesee township. Troopers say 41-year-old Carol Kibbe verbally assaulted 40-year-old Penny Potter in front of Potter’s home. Kibbe was cited with disorderly conduct, a summary offense.

Smethport Fire department was called to help ambulance crews with an injured man after a riding mower caught fire. Gary Howes was operating the mower when it rolled over and pinned him to the ground before catching fire. A Neighbor used a garden hose to put out the flames.

A Wellsboro man will appear in Potter County Court for altering a doctor’s prescription. Prosecutors say 24-year-old Dustin Patt forged a prescription written for 15 muscle relaxers, changing the number to 45, and tried to pass it off in a Galeton drug store. Patt was released on his own recognizance.

Sunday night will be a treat for area fans of CBs Survivor contestant Wanda Shirk. The singing Northern Potter High School teacher will re-appear on TV Sunday night for a three hour special. The season finale will reveal the million dollar prizewinner, and will reunite all the cast.

Sizerville State Park's Campground is not quite ready yet this year. Park officials say the park should be open soon. The following is from the Sizervilel Website.


Sizerville State Park's campground will open late this year due to campsite rehabilitation projects that will be occuring. We plan to re-open the campground on May 20, 2005. You will not be able to camp or make reservations to camp until that date. Thank you.

State Police in Emporium have released a lengthy list of incidents they've been investigating recently.

• Sometime between May 1 and May 6, unknown actors stole a wood splitting maul and hamburgers from under a canopy attatched to a camp on Mix Run road in Gibson Township. The camp is owned by 51 year old Richard Henry Jr. of State College.

• Sometime in the earlyhours of May 3, unkown theives broke into the concession stand at the Cameron County Little League Fields in Shippen Township. Police say the burglars made of with food and other items. A review of security cameras will hopefully turn up a few leads.

• Another camp was broken into sometime within the last year. Police say someone forced their way into a window in a camp on Lick Island Forest Road in Grove Township. The camp, owned by Rhett Parham of Woodland Park Colorado was then rummaged through. Parham has not confirmed any stolen items.

• Locks and windows were broken on a camp in Gibson Township owned by Rosanne Smoller of Thompsontown, PA. Suspects apparently broke into the Wycoff Run camp. Only the locks were reported missing.

• A bag of turke calls was stolen from another Wycoff Run camp belonging to 53 year old Gary Simpson Finch sometime between April 24 and May 5. Theives made off with the calls in an unknown direction.

• And Police say unknown suspects entered into the home of 46 year old Rick Cool in Emporium at the beginning of April, stealing $350 dollars in cash.

Potter County Officials are in need of help to work during the May 17 Primaries. Clerks, election judges, and inspectors are all needed. Contact the county elections office at 814-274-8290 for more information.

State Police are investigating burglaries and thefts reported recently in Potter County. Someone broke into a camp on Trout Brook Road in Roulette belonging to Mike and Barbara Bowman of Middletown, and stole five radiators from parked vehicles and other items.

A Hector township camp owner reported a tarp stolen sometime between April 23 and Saturday.

Flower planters were stolen from the Ole Bull Museum Saturday. State Police responded to Carter Camp along Route 44 to investigate the theft. Anyone with information is asked to contact State Police at 274-8690

Cameron County Blogger Steve Harris sent in this photo of a camp burned out by fire.

There's more on his blog at http://endlessmountains.blogspot.com/

A weekend gust of wind blew the roof of an outlet store in Galeton. The 80 x 30 foot section of roof tore up electrical lines as it crashed into the street. The interior discount grocery store and thrift store in the building were not damaged.

Coudersport telecommunications company Telcove was honored as the Coudersport Chamber of Commerce Business of the year. The business formerly known a Adelphia Business Solutions changed its name and expanded business after it’s parent companies corporate scandal. The company recently renewed a contract with the State of Pennsylvania to provide telephony services.

Senator Rick Santorum will visit Bradford Friday. The Senator is scheduled to make an announcement at Zippo at 1 on Friday.

180 gallons of off-road diesel fuel was stolen from a farm in Ulysses, PA. Guy Willow, manager at Caravelle farms told police someone made off with the fuel sometime in the last week. Police continue to investigate.

Smethport residents have been asked to lock their car doors after three vehicles were broken into Monday night. Police Chief Ryan Yingling says the cars were parked at different spots in town, and all the doors were unlocked.

Smethport has opted in to Act 72. The School board approved a resolution adopting the property tax relief legislation. The measure was approved conditionally, though, with a tenth of a percent earned income tax added to the rolls when the property tax relief comes available.

The vacant seat on the Otto-Eldred board of Education was filled Monday. Russell Hartzell was selected to fill the vacancy, which occurred last month when Christine Splain turned in her resignation. Hartzell ran against Splain in the last election.

The Roulette man seriously injured when his log truck was struck by a Train in Liberty Township is home with his family. Nicole Skinner says her husband Daniel is on his road to recovery. She offered her thanks to the community for stepping up to help support her family through the experience.

Three juveniles are charged with arson after a fire Monday afternoon at Kane Decorating. The blaze caused about $15,000 in building damage, and destroyed about $50,0000 in contents. The Fraley Street storefront was set on fire by a 10 year old male, an 11-year-old male, and a 12-year-old male. Kane Borough PD says the three have been charged. A Neighboring Flower shop also received smoke damage. No injuries were reported.

Smethport firefighters were called out to fight three separate fires Sunday. All three fires occurred along Route 446 near King Street. The first call, at 10:33 a.m. was for a fire that burned less than an acre of land. The second fire, around 4 p.m. burned a small section of land near a home and was caused by a spark from a burn barrel. Firefighters were called back to the scene of that fire at 8:25 p.m. as the fire rekindled. Firefighters were on scene around 30 minutes for each fire.

The empty McKean county commissioner seat has been filled. Bruce C. Burdick of Mount Jewett was appointed Monday to replace Thomas Causer, who resigned last week. Burdick has been an active member of the county since returning in 1994 after a stint in the Air Force and attending college at Ohio Wesleyan University. According to Judge John Cleland, he and Judge John Yoder chose Burdick for his professional qualifications and experience in local government, and also a willingness to work closely with the other two members of the New Directions team.

Hunting season in 2004 was the safest in the more than 90 years Pennsylvania has been keeping records. The Pa Game Commission announced Monday that there were 56-hunting related shooting incidents last year, including four fatalities. The incident rate, at 5.56 per 100,000 participants was the lowest on record as well. Of the 56 incidents, there were 14 incidents self-inflicted, including one fatal self-inflicted injury. The breakdown of incidents by species hunted shows all four fatalities occurred in deer season, with 23 total incidents, while 14 incidents occurred while hunting wild turkey, 13 in small game and four in waterfowl hunts. Two were labeled other.

PennDot has announced a new online construction map for travelers during the summer months. The map is located on the PennDot website at www.dot.state.pa.us under the link statewide construction map. The site identifies work zones on interstates and major routes across the state and includes information on the length of restrictions and duration of the work at each site.

A Bag of onions led to a crash that injured two on Route 219 Sunday morning. Two Maryland residents were injured in the accident. 42-year-old truck driver Julius Toth told police that he stepped on his brakes when a bag of onions struck the trailer of his 2005 Kenworth.
A Ford F150 driven by Glenard Hodges traveling behind Toth slammed into the rear of the truck. Hodges’ passengers, Fred Ware, and James Millard both received minor injuries.

Zark Parks and Julie Queen were named as royalty at Smethport High's Prom Friday Night.

The Prom's theme was "A Night in Paris"

A Pubic hearing will be held May 25 to discuss a second strip mining permit in Cameron County.

Cameron County residents were set ablaze last year when Allegany Enterprises applied for a permit to reclaim abandoned mines on Huston Hill.

Allegany Enterprises first application was approved by the Department of Environmental Protection.
The companies second permit application requests permission to pull coal out of a nearby hillside.

100 acres of Potter County woods were damaged Friday. An air tanker was called in to fight the woodland fire, dropping thousands of gallons of water. Galeton Fire fighters say the air tanker was a big advantage in fighting the fire, which started just north of Gaines, probably by a carelessly discarded cigarette, tossed by a turkey hunter.
60 firefighters from Galeton, Wellsboro, Coudersport, Middlebury, Chatham Township, Clymer Township and Westfield responded.

The Olean City Fire Investigation team has determined the cause of a fatal fire Friday morning on West Oak Street. The fire was caused by discarded smoking material in the front apartment, where 37-year old Bruce McElheney lived. McElheney was killed in the blaze, while all five occupants of the other two apartments in the home escaped without injury. The house is not habitable and damages are estimated at $20,000 or more.

The location of Emporium resident Josh Hanson, who was a no-show in McKean County court Thursday, has been discovered. Hanson, who had a warrant issued for his arrest following his failure to appear for escape charges, is currently being held in Tioga County prison. When informed of Hanson’s location, the McKean County sheriff’s department said they would follow up.

A turkey caused minor damage in an accident in Elk County Friday morning. At 6:15 a.m., 23-year old Wendell Brooks was traveling south on Route 255 in Jay Township when a turkey flew into the path of his vehicle and struck the windshield. Brooks’ 2003 Infinity sedan sustained minor damage. Brooks sustained minor injuries.

The Potter-Tioga Maple Festival named it’s Sweethearts Saturday.Megan Oxley, a student at Elkland High, and Northern Potter student Emily Martin were crowned as a part of the maple festival in the Coudersport Square.

A Fire in Kane Sunday caused the evacuation of Central Towers. The building, owned by McKean County Housing and Redevelopment Authority had to be evacuated.

80 people were temporarily located to two local churches while firefighters made quick work of the blaze.
The fire was kept at bay in the apartment it in which it originated.