Vol. 134 - No. 232 No tax increase in proposed county...
1
Vol. 134 - No. 232 Scattered snow showers. Cloudy, with a high near 34. Chance of precipitation is 40 percent. Full report, A2 20 pages Classified ......................... B7 Comics ............................. B4 Lifestyles ......................... A4 Lottery ............................. A9 Opinion ........................... A8 Public Notices ............... B7 Sports ............................... B1 $1.50 • Gloria D. Gasbarre, 85 • Lynda Martz, 66 • William L. Pontius, 84 • Robert Primm, 73 • Rev. James Reinard, 89 The Courier-Express will not publish a news- paper Thursday due to the Thanksgiving Day holi- day. Newspaper offices in DuBois will be closed Thursday. Normal business hours will resume Friday. Hunters shot Two hunters were shot in the woods near an eastern Pennsylvania high school. The two were flown to a hospital for treatment. A5 Best day to shop Thanksgiving could be the best day to shop all year. An analysis of sales data and store circulars by two research firms contra- dicts conventional wisdom that Black Friday is when shoppers can get the most and biggest sales of the year. A10 Wizard of Oz The Cowardly Lion cos- tume from the classic film “The Wizard of Oz” and the piano from the movie “Casablanca” each sold for over $3 million at a New York City auction. B6 No newspaper Thursday Tomorrow’s Forecast Index Obituaries A9 MORE INSIDE Page B1 Holiday Edition $1.50 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2014 Kim Shadduck hands Caroline Munn, left, her Courier-Express newspaper. Munn has known Shadduck since his days as a newspaper boy when he had a walking route in Penfield in 1972. Today, Shadduck will run his route for the last time, after 42 years of delivering the Courier-Express. (Photo submitted) By Kimberly Finnigan [email protected] CLEARFIELD — Although it’s still a work in progress, Clearfield County looks to hold the line on tax- es for 2015. At Tuesday’s meeting, the Clearfield County Commissioners voted to adopt the tentative bud- get, which holds taxes at 18.5 mills. This means the owner of a $50,000 property will pay $231.25 in taxes to the county. Residents must also pay taxes to the school district and mu- nicipality in which they live. Commissioner John Sobel said he wanted to point out three things about the budget. He said the first is that many people worked very hard to put the budget together. Second, is the county will not raise taxes for yet another year. Third, the budget is still a work in progress and will be on display for 20 days before final approval. “The commissioners are working with other people’s money and we need to be careful how you spend it,” Sobel said. He said he feels there are still areas in the budget that can be “tweaked” and he is hopeful the county can continue working with the different departments to bring those areas in line. Sobel said while the budget is not calling for a tax increase, the county is still using about $259,000 from the operating reserves to make the budget balanced. Commissioner Joan Robinson- McMillen also thanked all involved in the budget process. She said while the commissioners may have had their differences in opinion, they have always come up with a balanced budget. “We have very little debt com- pared to other counties,” Robinson- McMillen said. She said at a recent convention, she learned there are No tax increase in proposed county budget Clearfield County By Kimberly Finnigan [email protected] CLEARFIELD — An appeal by the Walmart has created an “unprecedented” situation in Clearfield County. At Tuesday’s Clearfield County Commissioners meeting, Solicitor Kim Kesner explained the situa- tion. Kesner said the county has retained attorney Peter Smith to represent them in their appeal of the appeal board’s decision. Kesner said as he represents both the commissioners and the tax assessment office, there is a potential conflict. He said he has met with the chief assessor’s office and he intends to meet with the appeals board to advise them how to handle the situation. Kesner said the potential con- flict can be waived if the parties believe the situation can be han- dled without adverse impact for either party. He said all parties would have to get a waiver. Kesner said the appeals board had no choice but to make the rul- ing they made. He said the board has to make their decision based on either the present level ratio of 25 percent or the common level ratio. If the ra- tio varies by 15 percent or more, the board has to use the common level ratio. Kesner said the ratio is based on market values from 1989. Kesner said the representa- tives of Walmart presented an ap- praisal and the board had to apply the common level ratio. “There’s been some concern from the appeals board about what happened and I feel it’s im- portant to point out that the board did what was required by law,” Kesner said. He said the Walmart appeal has presented an unprecedented, complicated situation and the board will have decided if they want separate council or not. According to previously pub- lished Courier-Express articles, Walmart Real Estate Business Trust and Walmart Stores Inc. filed appeals on behalf of the Walmart stores in Sandy Town- ship and Lawrence Township. According to the article, in 2014, the market valuation of the Walmart appeal creates unprecedented situation for Clearfield County By Joy Norwood [email protected] DuBOIS — In the circulation de- partment of any newspaper, it’s service that can make or break a newspaper route. It doesn’t matter if it’s a walking route – think newspaper boys and girls – or a motor route. Service is key. For 42 years, Kim Shadduck, of Clearfield, has been providing service to Courier-Express subscribers. He be- gan working for the newspaper when he was 13 years old. In 1972, Shadduck lived in Penfield and delivered the newspaper Monday through Saturday. There was no Sun- day edition at that time. Shadduck says he thinks he ran a route for another kid when needed and when that boy quit he took over the newspaper delivery route. The route had 65 newspapers and covered about five miles or half of Penfield, he said. He walked it all and it usually took him a couple of hours each day after school. He also had to collect the money owed for the newspaper from his cus- tomers. At that time there was no pay in advance. Instead, newspaper carri- ers would collect each week from the customers and then turn that money into the office. At age 18, he took on a full-time job at Parker Dam State Park, near Pen- field. But that didn’t stop him from de- livering the newspaper. He continued to do that each day after work. The job at the park only lasted 13 months, he said, and when that was done, he took on an in-house job in the Courier-Express’ mail room. Again, he still continued delivering newspapers as well. In 1982, at age 21, he took on a mo- tor delivery route that went to Trea- sure Lake, Sabula and Penfield and became an independent contractor. All carriers, even the newspaper boys and girls, would eventually become inde- pendent contractors. “It was in Treasure Lake and I had all these Treasure Lake papers set up like in a post office system, so I like jumped on that route. I was the first independent,” Shadduck said. By this time, individuals prepaid their newspapers so Shadduck did not have to collect as he had as a newspa- per boy. However, he did service news- paper vending machines and had to collect the money from them and turn it into the office. ‘Now they have some- body who goes and collectors vendor money,” Shadduck said. At its highest, his route had 500 customers, including some of the peo- ple in Penfield who had been custom- ers on his original walking route. While it was a lot of customers, he says 200 of them were in Treasure Lake in the post office system and that only took him 20 minutes to complete. The entire route took about 4-5 hours to complete. “I can hit those boxes a lot quicker now than I could when I first started,” he said, talking about placing newspa- pers into the red newspaper tubes seen Newspaper delivery man ends 42 years of service Elk County Solid Waste Author- ity chairman Russ Braun, left, and Recycling/ Solid Waste coordinator Bekki Titchner discuss the sale agree- ment for 1.4 acres of land on Ceramic Street in St. Marys - the first step to potentially building a new recycling center. (Photo by Katie Wei- denboerner) See Budget, Page A9 See Newspaper, Page A9 By Katie Weidenboerner [email protected] RIDGWAY — Elk County Solid Waste Authority approved a sale agreement Tuesday for 1.4 acres of land on Ceramic Street which could serve as the future site of its new community recycling center. “This is the first step,” Recy- cling/Solid Waste Coordinator Bekki Titchner said. “We can’t ac- cess any funding for this building without owning the property.” After Tuesday’s approval, Titchner will send a letter to the Elk County Commissioners from the authority recommending the trio approve the sales agreement. Elk County Solid Waste Authority approves property purchase See Land, Page A9 See Walmart, Page A9
Transcript of Vol. 134 - No. 232 No tax increase in proposed county...
Vol. 134 - No. 232
Scattered snow showers. Cloudy, with a high near 34. Chance of precipitation is 40 percent.
Full report, A2
20 pagesClassi� ed ......................... B7Comics ............................. B4Lifestyles ......................... A4Lottery ............................. A9Opinion ........................... A8Public Notices ............... B7 Sports ............................... B1
$1.50
• Gloria D. Gasbarre, 85• Lynda Martz, 66• William L. Pontius, 84• Robert Primm, 73• Rev. James Reinard, 89
The Courier-Express will not publish a news-paper Thursday due to the Thanksgiving Day holi-day.
Newspaper offi ces in DuBois will be closed Thursday.
Normal business hours will resume Friday.
Hunters shotTwo hunters were
shot in the woods near an eastern Pennsylvania high school. The two were flown to a hospital for treatment. A5
Best day to shopThanksgiving could
be the best day to shop all year. An analysis of sales data and store circulars by two research firms contra-dicts conventional wisdom that Black Friday is when shoppers can get the most and biggest sales of the year. A10
Wizard of OzThe Cowardly Lion cos-
tume from the classic film “The Wizard of Oz” and the piano from the movie “Casablanca” each sold for over $3 million at a New York City auction. B6
No newspaperThursday
Tomorrow’s Forecast
Index
ObituariesA9
MORE INSIDE
Page B1
Holiday Edition$1.50
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2014
Kim Shadduck hands Caroline Munn, left, her Courier-Express newspaper. Munn has known Shadduck since his days as a newspaper boy when he had a walking route in Penfield in 1972. Today, Shadduck will run his route for the last time, after 42 years of delivering the Courier-Express. (Photo submitted)
By Kimberly Finnigan
CLEARFIELD — Although it’s still a work in progress, Clearfi eld County looks to hold the line on tax-es for 2015.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the Clearfi eld County Commissioners voted to adopt the tentative bud-get, which holds taxes at 18.5 mills. This means the owner of a $50,000 property will pay $231.25 in taxes to the county. Residents must also pay
taxes to the school district and mu-nicipality in which they live.
Commissioner John Sobel said he wanted to point out three things about the budget. He said the fi rst is that many people worked very hard to put the budget together. Second, is the county will not raise taxes for yet another year. Third, the budget is still a work in progress and will be on display for 20 days before fi nal
approval.“The commissioners are working
with other people’s money and we need to be careful how you spend it,” Sobel said.
He said he feels there are still areas in the budget that can be “tweaked” and he is hopeful the county can continue working with the different departments to bring those areas in line.
Sobel said while the budget is not calling for a tax increase, the county is still using about $259,000 from
the operating reserves to make the budget balanced.
Commissioner Joan Robinson-McMillen also thanked all involved in the budget process. She said while the commissioners may have had their differences in opinion, they have always come up with a balanced budget.
“We have very little debt com-pared to other counties,” Robinson-McMillen said. She said at a recent convention, she learned there are
No tax increase in proposed county budgetClearfield County
By Kimberly Finnigan
CLEARFIELD — An appeal by the Walmart has created an “unprecedented” situation in Clearfi eld County.
At Tuesday’s Clearfi eld County Commissioners meeting, Solicitor Kim Kesner explained the situa-tion.
Kesner said the county has retained attorney Peter Smith to represent them in their appeal of the appeal board’s decision.
Kesner said as he represents both the commissioners and the tax assessment offi ce, there is a potential confl ict. He said he has met with the chief assessor’s offi ce and he intends to meet with the appeals board to advise them how to handle the situation.
Kesner said the potential con-fl ict can be waived if the parties believe the situation can be han-dled without adverse impact for either party. He said all parties would have to get a waiver.
Kesner said the appeals board had no choice but to make the rul-ing they made.
He said the board has to make
their decision based on either the present level ratio of 25 percent or the common level ratio. If the ra-tio varies by 15 percent or more, the board has to use the common level ratio. Kesner said the ratio is based on market values from 1989.
Kesner said the representa-tives of Walmart presented an ap-praisal and the board had to apply the common level ratio.
“There’s been some concern from the appeals board about what happened and I feel it’s im-portant to point out that the board did what was required by law,” Kesner said.
He said the Walmart appeal has presented an unprecedented, complicated situation and the board will have decided if they want separate council or not.
According to previously pub-lished Courier-Express articles, Walmart Real Estate Business Trust and Walmart Stores Inc. fi led appeals on behalf of the Walmart stores in Sandy Town-ship and Lawrence Township.
According to the article, in 2014, the market valuation of the
Walmart appeal createsunprecedented situationfor Clearfield County
By Joy Norwood
DuBOIS — In the circulation de-partment of any newspaper, it’s service that can make or break a newspaper route.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a walking route – think newspaper boys and girls – or a motor route. Service is key.
For 42 years, Kim Shadduck, of Clearfield, has been providing service to Courier-Express subscribers. He be-gan working for the newspaper when he was 13 years old.
In 1972, Shadduck lived in Penfield and delivered the newspaper Monday through Saturday. There was no Sun-day edition at that time.
Shadduck says he thinks he ran a route for another kid when needed and when that boy quit he took over the newspaper delivery route.
The route had 65 newspapers and covered about five miles or half of Penfield, he said. He walked it all and it usually took him a couple of hours each day after school.
He also had to collect the money owed for the newspaper from his cus-tomers. At that time there was no pay in advance. Instead, newspaper carri-ers would collect each week from the customers and then turn that money into the office.
At age 18, he took on a full-time job at Parker Dam State Park, near Pen-field. But that didn’t stop him from de-livering the newspaper. He continued to do that each day after work.
The job at the park only lasted 13
months, he said, and when that was done, he took on an in-house job in the Courier-Express’ mail room. Again, he still continued delivering newspapers as well.
In 1982, at age 21, he took on a mo-tor delivery route that went to Trea-sure Lake, Sabula and Penfield and became an independent contractor. All carriers, even the newspaper boys and girls, would eventually become inde-pendent contractors.
“It was in Treasure Lake and I had all these Treasure Lake papers set up like in a post office system, so I like jumped on that route. I was the first independent,” Shadduck said.
By this time, individuals prepaid their newspapers so Shadduck did not have to collect as he had as a newspa-per boy. However, he did service news-paper vending machines and had to collect the money from them and turn it into the office. ‘Now they have some-body who goes and collectors vendor money,” Shadduck said.
At its highest, his route had 500 customers, including some of the peo-ple in Penfield who had been custom-ers on his original walking route.
While it was a lot of customers, he says 200 of them were in Treasure Lake in the post office system and that only took him 20 minutes to complete. The entire route took about 4-5 hours to complete.
“I can hit those boxes a lot quicker now than I could when I first started,” he said, talking about placing newspa-pers into the red newspaper tubes seen
Newspaper delivery man ends 42 years of service
Elk County Solid Waste Author-ity chairman Russ Braun, left, and Recycling/Solid Waste coordinator Bekki Titchner discuss the sale agree-ment for 1.4 acres of land on Ceramic Street in St. Marys - the first step to potentially building a new recycling center. (Photo by Katie Wei-denboerner)
See Budget, Page A9
See Newspaper, Page A9
By Katie Weidenboerner
RIDGWAY — Elk County Solid Waste Authority approved a sale agreement Tuesday for 1.4 acres of land on Ceramic Street which could serve as the future site of its new community recycling center.
“This is the fi rst step,” Recy-
cling/Solid Waste Coordinator Bekki Titchner said. “We can’t ac-cess any funding for this building without owning the property.”
After Tuesday’s approval, Titchner will send a letter to the Elk County Commissioners from the authority recommending the trio approve the sales agreement.
Elk County Solid Waste Authority approves property purchase
See Land, Page A9
See Walmart, Page A9
A1 Front Page
