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VOL. 135 — NO. 15

FUNBank

FUNBank

THURSDAY,AUGUST 8, 2013

[Photos by Ron Wilshire]

PROJECT MANAGER Jed Fiscus of Penn-sylvania American Water explains some of the major work being planned at its Clarion

wastewater treatment facility designed to in-crease the capacity of the plant and elimi-nate overflows.

LOCAL PHY-SICIAN Dr. Chad Shaf-fer has seen an increase in the num-ber of pa-tients with ticks that can lead to Lyme disease over the last three years. Treatment is available, but the most ef-fective solu-tion may be to avoid them in the first place or take some simple precautions.

[Photo by Ron Wilshire]

By RON WILSHIREL-V Correspondent

CLARION – $24 million may sound like a lot of money to pour down the drain, but Pennsylvania American Water Co. (PAWC) views it as an investment in the greater Clarion area.

“Improved service reliability and the elimination of sanitary sewage overflows (SSOs) require a long-term investment that will benefit our Clarion wastewater customers today and for generations to come,” said Project Manager Jed Fiscus of

Pennsylvania American Water.PAWC acquired the system in

October 2008 with the sale of the Clarion Area Municipal Authority by Clarion Borough, Clarion Town-ship and Monroe Township.

“When we acquired the system we came under the consent order and an agreement with the Penn-sylvania Department of Environ-mental Protection (DEP) that puts strict timelines and milestones on you,” said Fiscus.

“The first step we had to do was an Act 37 plan and we worked with each of the municipalities

to put together the plan,” he con-tinued. “What the Act 37 plan did was outline the improvements that were needed in the sewer system in order to meet the regulations. In the first place, the reason they were put under consent order was that during significant rain events, we have overflows and bypasses at different locations in the system and at the wastewater treatment plant.”

The long-standing DEP consent order put a limit of 20 new sewer taps per year until corrections

PAWC launches $24M project in Clarion area

[Continued on Page A-2]

By JOSH WALZAKL-V Editor

RIMERSBURG – Rimersburg’s Cookie Daze fes-tival, set for this weekend, will feature a combina-tion of fairy tale fantasy and Civil War recreations as three days of events are planned for the annual community festival.

“Our theme this year is ‘A Fairy Tale Cookie Daze,’” Rimersburg Chamber of Commerce president Bren-da Haws said of the Aug. 9-11 event. “That fairy tale theme will provide a lot of opportunities for kids to participate in the parade Friday night.”

The parade, which begins at 6:30 p.m., highlights the Friday schedule of events, which start earlier in the day with the Cookie Walk at the Eccles-Lesher Memorial Library and continue as the festival mid-

‘A Fairy Tale Cookie Daze’ begins Friday

[Continued on Page A-6]

By RON WILSHIREL-V Correspondent

SOUTH BETHLEHEM – A rise in the number of tick cases in west-ern Pennsylvania and related wor-ries about Lyme disease has also increased in the southern Clarion County and northern Armstrong County region.

However, one area doctor offers some simple advice to avoid ticks and some other suggestions.

“The number of Lyme cases has gone up exponentially over the past three years from a point when it was rarely seen a few years ago to now. At this time of the year we see at least one case a week,” said Dr. Chad Shaffer of Armstrong County Primary Care.

Lyme disease is a bacterial in-fection that occurs when an infect-ed blacklegged tick, also known as a deer tick, attaches to and bites a host, passing along the bacteria.

The disease is named for the town of Old Lyme in Connecticut where it was first discovered in 1975.

“There are different kinds of ticks, but the deer tick is the one that is most common in the area,” said Shaffer. “It can transmit Lyme disease, but not every tick neces-sarily is infected with it. The rates have increased in our area and they seem to just gradually mi-grate from east to west over the past few years.”

The best way to prevent Lyme disease is to try and prevent a tick bite itself.

“You can reduce your exposure by staying out of wooded areas,” said Shaffer. “But since this is im-practical for many people, we need to get in the habit of checking our-selves regularly when we’re in a wooded area or an area with tall grasses and check ourselves right after to see if there are any ticks on us. People in other areas have been accustomed to that because Lyme disease has been around there for many years. Now that we’re being infected in western Pennsylvania, we need to be more conscientious about that.”

Tick increase seen in last 3 years

[Continued on Page A-10]

The summertime fairs and festivals season con-tinues this week with two big events right here close to home.

In Rimersburg, the an-nual Cookie Daze festival opens Friday with a pa-rade and Civil War ball, followed by a host of races, contests, performances and more on Saturday, and the big car cruise on Sunday.[Continued on Page A-7]

By SUSAN L. KERRL-V Correspondent

NEW BETHLEHEM – Redbank Valley High School students will be greeted by their second new principal in two years when school starts later this month.

During its monthly meeting Monday night, the Redbank Val-ley school board voted to hire Jason Kerr to fill the vacancy

created by the departure of Jeffrey Long.

Kerr former-ly taught both U.S. history and world cul-tures at Red-bank Valley High School.

During sub-sequent dis-

cussion, board members decided not to rescind the so-called “pay to play” activity fee for the 2013-14 school year. Many students have already begun practicing for sports and other groups for the upcoming year, making a refund of current fees difficult, officials said.

The discussion was prompted by a debate over admission pric-es at athletic and other school

events. After several price points were presented, including offer-ing free admission to Redbank Valley students showing a cur-rent valid school identification card and a tiered admission pricing plan based on age, the board did not reach a consensus during the meeting.

The amounts paid to athletic event workers were also dis-cussed. Presently, ticket takers

earn $25 per event, while refer-ees and umpires earn fees that vary according to the sport and the miles they travel to work at a game.

During the public comment period, a guest remarked that ticket takers at Clarion-Lime-stone work as unpaid volunteers during athletic events, sav-ing pay-to-play funds for other

Redbank hires high school principal

[Continued on Page A-3]

CLARION – A Sligo man was convicted of aggravat-ed assault and simple as-sault, but a jury on Friday acquitted James Shim-mons of more serious third degree murder charges fol-lowing a two-day trial in Clarion.

Shimmons, 55, was found not guilty Aug. 2 of third degree murder and/or involuntary man-slaughter charges stem-ming from the death of his father, Cloyd Shimmons, in July 2012.

After deliberating near-ly four hours Friday after-

noon, the jury announced its split verdict at 3:40 p.m., finding Shimmons guilty of assaulting his father, but not of killing him.

The trial, which began Thursday, was presided over by Clarion County President Judge James Arner.

Prosecutors argued that Shimmons had caused the injuries which eventu-ally resulted in his father’s death following an alter-cation at the elder Shim-mons’ home in Sligo on

Jury finds Sligo man not guilty in murder caseShimmons guilty of assault

[Continued on Page A-3]

KERR

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