September 2023

The Potter County Education Council, Tri-Co Connections, the Potter County Human Services Area Agency on Aging, and our local school districts are continuing to team up to implement a county-wide program called Seniors 2 Seniors. This program teaches basic computer skills, digital literacy, and cybersecurity to senior citizens so that they have the skills and knowledge to utilize the many benefits of high-speed Internet. As a part of this program, local high school students volunteer to provide on-site support to each of the adults who participate in the course.

The Seniors 2 Seniors technology course is being offered at the following senior centers in Potter County on a six-week rotating schedule, meeting on Wednesdays (following the school districts’ calendars), throughout the 2023-2024 school year. The course is scheduled to meet at the Coudersport Senior Center on Wednesdays, November 1^st – December 13^th (no class on November 22^nd) from 12:45 – 2:15 p.m. Ulysses and Galeton Senior Centers will offer the classes in Spring 2024, dates to be determined.

The registration deadline for the Coudersport course is Wednesday, October 18^th. Register yourself, a parent, or a grandparent by calling (814) 274-4877 or by stopping by the Potter County Education Council office at 5 Water Street.

PUBLIC NOTICE

The McKean County Recycling Center Compactor on Route 6 in Smethport is currently non-operational. Parts have been replaced and we are currently waiting on further maintenance to resolve the issue. Once the situation has been resolved and the compactor is operational, we will inform the public immediately.

Coudersport Rotary Club was pleased to have Kelby Streich, an 8th grader at Coudersport High School as a speaker at our September 18th meeting. Coudersport Rotary Club sponsored him to attend the Potter County Conservation Camp. He described the wide variety of activities they did, and how much he learned and appreciated the experience. His favorite activity was elk management. One other activity, of many, during the weeklong camp, was the Game Warden trapped a bear, pulled a tooth, gave it a health exam and released it.

Kelby was given the Wayne Winick Spirit Award for honoring the practice of conservation and sharing that passion with his peers.

Kelby is also a member of the Black Forest Trap Team. Although this was his first year, his squad placed 1st in the State and 2nd in the National Competition. He thanked our club for

supporting the Team.

Thank you, Kelby, for speaking before the Coudersport Rotary Club!

Penn College spotlight on 5 esports

According to Pennsylvania College of Technology esports coach Joshua Young, “(This) week will kick off the start of our fourth year in the NACE Starleague Varsity + league for our Rocket League, Overwatch 2, Valorant and CS:GO teams. The regular season will span six weeks and conclude on Nov. 10, with the playoff starting Nov. 13-17 (round of 6), Nov. 27-Dec. 1 (round of 4) and the divisional championship the week of Dec. 4-8. 

“League of Legends will start on Oct. 10 and consist of matches every Tuesday and Thursday through Oct. 31. 

“We are very excited about the start of this season as we have all our team managers returning from last year to support our squads.

“They are:

Rocket League—junior Alex Nazarchuk, of Lebanon;

Overwatch 2—sophomore Frankie Gagliardi, of Pottstown;

Valorant—senior Drew Thomas, of State College;

CS:GO—sophomore Joe Hartland, of Pennsdale;

League of Legends Varsity—sophomore Zachary Rhodes, of Shippensburg;

iRacing—senior Austin DeLong, of Pittsburgh (which began a few weeks ago).

“We had major interest in League of Legends this year that we could start a development/junior varsity team. This team will be managed by one of our esports veterans, senior Jasaiah Capps, of Williamsport. He will work with the players to get them ready for the next level and will be the scrimmage partner for the varsity team. Our varsity team has four returning players from last year and has added transfer student Madison Cuckovic, of Mechanicsburg, to the roster. I am really looking forward to the future of this team with the talent we have on varsity and having the ability to develop new players into our system. This should allow us to create a strong team for the next couple of seasons. 

FIRST News Now

Fatal House Fire Claims 2 Lives

FNN Article © Monday, September 25, 2023.

WESTFIELD, PA – An early Sunday morning house fire is believed to have claimed the lives of a couple on September 24, 2023, in Chatham Township.

The two story home was already engulfed in flames when the Toga County 911 Center received a call from a neighbor about the fire and possible entrapment at the home on Mosher Road shortly after 3:00 AM.

Fire crews from Chatham Township Volunteer Fire Company, Middlebury Township Volunteer Fire Department, and Clymer Township Volunteer Hose Company and a Fire Coordinator were the fire units to respond to the house the fire.

Chatham fire personnel were first to arrive at the home around 3:17 AM and confirmed that the structure was fully involved. Tri-County Rural Electric was requested to turn power off on Mosher Road. Later UGI was contacted to respond and a request was made for the Fire Marshal to respond.

By 3:24 AM a second alarm was called for and fire units from Wellsboro Fire Department, Crary Hose Company from Westfield, Tioga Fire Department, as well as A RIT Team from Elkland and the Rehab unit from Blossburg Fire Department were requested for mutual aid.

Firefighters had to do an exterior attack on the blaze, as the 123-year-old house was fully involved in flames.

Westfield firefighters set up a water supply so tankers could be refilled as fire crews worked hard to bring the fire under control.

The fire was reported under control around 3:50 AM.

It was said that two Fire Marshals arrived at the house fire around 5:30 AM.

An excavator was brought in from Owlett’s Logging and Firewood to assist fire crews at the scene.

By 9:07 AM the fire was reported out, however, firefighters were still taking care of putting out hot spots

The coroner arrived at the scene of the fire as it was confirmed that two individuals had perished in the devastating fire. (It was indicated to FNN that the couple who owned the home were the ones that passed away). The home which was a total loss was owned by Leland and Laura Rouse.

Firefighters were on scene for over 6 hours. All remaining fire units were cleared from the fire location shortly after 10:00 AM.

A cause of the fire has not been provided and with the extreme damage done, the cause may not be able to be determined.

A number of other fire departments were on standby at other stations. Mansfield Hose Company covered Middlebury, Lawrenceville covered for Tioga and Galeton was requested to standby for Wellsboro. Woodhull was also on standby but unsure which department they covered for.

FNN staff extends our condolences to the Rouse family.

UPDATE: Funeral Services Announced:

For some unknown reason, Solomon’s words Facebook page is temporarily unavailable. Bookmark our solomonswords.net page so you don’t miss anything.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission has announced that 30 to 40 deer found dead in the vicinity of State Game Lands 214 in North Shenango and Sadsbury townships, Crawford County, the week of Sept. 8, succumbed to hemorrhagic disease.

Hemorrhagic disease (HD) affects wild cervids and is caused by viruses — either epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus or bluetongue virus — that are spread by biting midges.

Clearfield, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced the following schedule of maintenance activities in McKean County the week of September 22. PennDOT performs year-round maintenance in its mission to provide a safe, efficient transportation system, and the scope of work in McKean County for the coming week is as follows:

Bridge Maintenance & Cleaning

• Route 346 in Bradford Township. Monday, September 25, through Friday, September 29. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control during daylight hours.

Pennsylvania has some of the oldest bridges in the country, with an age of more than 50 years on average. Preventive maintenance is vital in extending the life of the structures. As such, PennDOT maintenance crews perform some bridge deck patching and structural repairs.

Manual Patching

• Route 6 in Hamlin and Wetmore township and Kane Borough. Monday, September 25, through Friday, September 29. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control.
• Route 46 in Foster, Keating and Otto townships. Monday, September 25, through Friday, September 29. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control.
• Route 546 in Otto Township. Wednesday, September 25, through Friday, September 29. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control.

Most permanent pothole patching is completed in the spring/summer when temperatures stay consistently above freezing. If maintenance crews were not repairing potholes, the road surface would break up further and require more expensive corrective measures.

Pipe Replacing & Cleaning

• Route 770 in Bradford and Lafayette townships. Thursday, September 28, and Friday, September 29. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control.

Pipe replacement and cleaning are essential in maintaining water flow around state roadways. Controlling water flow is one of the most important aspects of maintaining pavements. Uncontrolled water flow will damage both the pavement surface and the area under the pavement, which causes deterioration across the length of the pipe.

Shoulder Maintenance

• Route 2004 (Christian Hollow Road) in Norwich Township. Monday, September 25, through Wednesday, September 27. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control.

Shoulder cutting removes excess material and debris from unpaved shoulder areas. Shoulder grading involves the shaping and stabilizing of those same areas. Both operations improve drainage, allow water to leave the roadway, and eliminate shoulder drop-offs. These are crucial highway maintenance operations because when drainage systems do not function properly, water collects on the road, weakens pavement, accelerates the formation of potholes, and creates the potential for icing conditions in the winter months.

Side Dozing

• Route 6 in Liberty Township. Monday, September 25, through Thursday, September 28. Flaggers in the roadway will provide traffic control during daylight hours.

Side dozing removes excess material from beneath guide rail areas, which improves drainage and allows water to sheet flow off the roadway. Side dozing is a crucial highway maintenance operation because when drainage systems do not function properly, water collects on the road, weakens pavement, accelerates the formation of potholes, and creates the potential for icing conditions in the winter months.

PennDOT urges motorists to exercise caution in these and all work zones to ensure their safety and the safety of county maintenance staff.

This schedule is subject to change due to weather conditions, emergencies, or other unforeseen interruptions.

Customers can report road concerns by calling 1-800-FIX-ROAD. If calling after hours, please leave a name and phone number.

For more information on PennDOT’s maintenance activities, visit www.PennDOT.pa.gov/about-us/maintenanceactivities.