A Rixford woman was seriously injured in a crash on West Eldred Road Saturday. Lisa Parris lost control after she dropped her cigarette lighter under her seat. Her vehicle then struck a ditch and a hill. Two passengers in the vehicle were injured as well.

State Representative Martin Causer reminds older and disabled Pennsylvanians to stop by his office to pick up an application for the state’s Property Tax/ Rent Rebate program for 2004. The program benefits area residents over 65, widows and widowers over 50, and disabled adults.

Residents can have all or a portion of their property tax paid last year rebated back. The deadline for applications is June 30.

No injuries were reported in a Saturday morning fire at the Temple Inland Plant. The plant called the fire department for the second time in just one week. The first time last week, several coals and sparks posed a fire hazard, this time, the plants dryer unit caught fire, and was put out by Kane and Hamlin Fire Departments. Crews were on scene about four hours. The fire was a result of equipment gone bad and worn out.

Allegany National Forest officials are working on a project to study hemlock trees in an effort to ward off a deadly insect. The Martin Run Project will thin out a stand of hemlocks to determine if a limited tree density will help reduce the tree’s mortality.

The invasion of the hemlock woolly adelgid is expected to wipe out Pennsylvania’s hemlocks in the next ten years.

282 acres out of 900 acres of hemlock in the Martin Run Project will be a part of this study.

PennDot has announced plans for road work scheduled for this week. Bridge and Curb Repairs will be done on Route 46 near Corwins Corners, Ditch Work will be done on Route 46 in Norwich on Route 446 from Farmers Valley to Coryville, and 346 near Willow Bay. Sullivan Road will get drainage work.. Guide Rail removal will take place along South Avenue near the Holiday House, and along Route 321 north of Kane.

Crews will seal cracks along West Washington Street, and mow grass along 219 near Bradford.

PennDot asks motorists to use extra caution in work areas, to ensure safety.

John Allen of Wellsboro, Pennsylvania reportedly lost control of his vehicle after swerving to miss a deer.  Allen’s car then crashed into an embankment causing it to overturn before coming to rest.  Pennsylvania State Police in Coudersport report that the accident occurred on State Route 144 approximately four miles south of Galeton Borough within West Branch Township, Potter County.  Allen Was not injured and was wearing his seatbelt.

State Police in Emporium report that Tyler Woods of Marion Center, PA was arrested and charged with the burglary of three establishments, Thursday. The Willows Restaurant and the Sinnemahoning Tavern reported the theft of loose coins. The Gloria and Dan’s Variety Store also reported a break-in but reported nothing stolen. Damage was reported on doors at all of the establishments. Woods was charged with Burglary, Theft, Receiving Stolen Property and Criminal Mischief and is being held in Elk County Prison in lieu of 25 thousand dollars bail.

A Liberty Township Burglary is under investigation. Police say someone broke into a building at a recycling plant in Liberty Township, and obtained keys to a front-end loader, and stole two loads of topsoil from the area before lodging the truck in the mud on the third load.

Tracks in the mud indicate the suspects used the loader to push the truck out of the mud, possibly damaging the truck bed.

Troopers say they think they may have a suspect.

A Smethport man was life-flighted to Hamot Medical Center in Erie. Eric Carlson was traveling Friday morning along Route 59 near Ormsby when he went off the roadway and struck a large rock, and then a concrete culvert. The vehicle rolled onto its roof and caught fire. Carlson was able to get out of the vehicle and crawl away from the wreckage.

Emergency radio reports indicated the victim suffered serious head wounds.

Police say Carlson was under the influence of alcohol.

Officials say he’s now in fair condition.

A Bradford Woman has been arrested after WalMart employees found a baby in a locked car Thursday evening. Foster Township Police Officer Todd McClain says he responded to the WalMart Parking lot and found a six-month-old infant locked in a car with the windows up at around 6:50 last night.

The temperature at that time was eighty-four degrees.

McClain says shortly after he arrived on scene, the mother came out of the store.

The infant was taken into protective custody after being examined at BRMC

23-year-old Jeanette Gillman told Police that her child was sleeping, and that she didn’t want to wake him, so she let him sleep while she shopped.

She’s been arrested on charges of Reckless Endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child.

Seniors in Cameron, Elk and McKean County might be eligible to receive benefits form the Farmer’s Market Nutrition program. Residents over 60 with a total income under 17 thousand for singles and 23 thousand for married could be eligible to receive 20 dollars worth of free locally grown fruits and vegetables.

Interested seniors need to contact local senior centers for more information.

The Pennsylvania farm bureau has spoken out against the move to open Sundays to hunting. The Farm Bureau says it strongly opposes Sunday hinting for many reasons. PFV State Government Relations Director Joel Rotz says farmers want at least one day a week when they can enjoy privacy, without trespassing hunters, and gunfire.

State Police are investigating the theft of 30 cord of firewood.  Zelma Brendlinger of Coudersport says the wood was stolen from a Cobb Hill Road property. Because of the amount of wood stolen, the thieves would have had to make several trips. Anyone with information is asked to contact the State Police in Coudersport.

U.S. Congressman John Peterson has announced the U.S. House of Representatives has approved funding for a number of tourism and recreation projects in the region, including improvements to campgrounds and facilities in the Allegheny National Forest. Five hundred thousand was approved for modernization of Wolf Run Marina, one million for expansion of Kiasutha campground, one hundred thousand to improve signs in the forest and one million dollars has been approved for the Bradford Ranger Station’s administrative site to be used to construct a maintenance warehouse and shop as well as additional storage facilities.

PennDOT has announced they will begin work on the Union Street bridge in Galeton Monday. The project will replace the current bridge with a two span, 100 food structure and is expected to last into Mid-November. While work is being done, Route 1020 in Potter County will be closed and a less than one mile detour will be in place, onto Route 144 and Route 6, to Route 2002 and back to Route 1020. The project will cost around two million dollars.

Judge John Yoder sentenced Zachary Anaya Thursday in McKean County Court to 2 ½ to 5 years at SCI Albion with 276 days credit for time served and Anaya is to have no contact with the victim. There are five cases and 34 counts against him consisting of escape, burglary, violations of the drug act, trespassing, vandalism and firearms not to be carried without a license.

A Roulette woman called police to report a forgery. Crystal Kelly says someone wrote a check from her checkbook, for 125 dollars at a Coudersport Grocery store. Police have not named any suspects.

State Police report that a Genesee man broke a protection from abuse order Tuesday. 37-year-old Mark Buffington verbally assaulted a female victim, and busted out a kitchen window. He’s been arraigned on 1,000 bail, and released after posting a percentage of that bail.

Hunting on Sundays could be a real possibility. Game Commission Executive Director Vern Ross spoke before the House Game and Fisheries Committee in a Hearing. Ross says the Game Commission is split on the matter of Sunday hunting. A growing number of hunters are in favor of allowing hunting on Sundays.

If passed, the legislation would provide more power to the Game Commission to regulate what species would be hunted on Sundays.

May was drier than normal, and as a result the Allegheny River is low. HydroMetoroligist Russel Demaris studied the Allegany in the Oil City region, and says the river is typically a foot higher.

Demaris says that a lot of the water levels depend on how much is let out of the Kinzua Dam.

Springtime runoff and snowmelt usually have the northern Allegheny dam spewing between 2,500 and 5,000 cubic feet of water each second to lower its pool for summer.

The dam’s resource manager Bob Hoskin says it's abnormal to have this low a flow for this long a time,

It was announced at last week’s Otto Township Supervisor’s meeting that 81 people have signed up for spring cleanup that is to be held the week of June 13^th.

The $13,000 from ATV dice run that was recently held at Otto Township Firehall

benefited the restroom project at the Township park. There was 40 members of the Otto-Eldred High School senior class that helped paint, cleaned the park and bathhouse on May 31^st.

A three-vehicle crash in Ceres Township Wednesday afternoon led to charges of following too closely for one driver. Vehicles driven by 22-year old Melissa Blanchard of Shinglehouse and 46-year old Bonnie Black were stopped on State Route 44 in front of Ram Forest Products waiting for a truck to turn left when a vehicle driven by 22-year old Brian Clower of Wellsville was unable to stop in time and struck Blanchard’s vehicle from behind, driving it into Black’s vehicle. Clower was cited for driving too closely. No injuries were reported.