September 2025

Clearfield, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad (BPRR) will close Route 4003 (Bingham Road) in Lafayette Township on Tuesday, September 23, to replace a railroad crossing. Replacing the crossing will improve rail infrastructure, ride quality, and enhance safety for motorists.

While the road is closed, traffic will follow a detour using Routes 646, 770, 219, and 59 around the closure. This is the same detour drivers followed in late August while PennDOT McKean County Maintenance crews replaced drainage pipes in the area.

Reps. Clint Owlett (R-Tioga/Bradford) and Tina Pickett (R-Bradford/Wyoming) responded today to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission’s (PUC) approval of a joint settlement for Verizon Communications to acquire Frontier Communications.

“Consumers in the Northern Tier deserve high-quality, reliable telephone and internet services, and we have been fighting together for that over the last several years,” Owlett said. “It won’t happen overnight, but I hope Verizon’s acquisition of Frontier will finally help us reach that goal.”

“Thanks in part to the feedback we provided at public input hearings earlier this year, the acquisition agreement includes requiring Verizon to fulfill the obligations of last year’s settlement with Frontier,” Pickett said. “That means Verizon must address system maintenance issues, boost staffing levels and improve customer service.”

The lawmakers emphasized: “We expect Verizon to deliver on its promises and will monitor the quality of services to our communities.”

The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford’s Financial Aid staff will be offering free financial aid information sessions for college-bound students.

The financial aid high school night in-person presentations will begin over the next several weeks and conclude in early November 2025. The schedule is as follows:

6 p.m.       Sept. 29                Kane Area High School

                6 p.m.       Oct. 8                     Pioneer (N.Y.) Central High School

             6:30 p.m.   Oct. 16                Coudersport Area Jr.-Sr. High School hosting Austin and Cameron          

                                                            County High Schools

             6:30 p.m.    Oct. 28                Bradford Area High School

5:30 p.m.    Nov. 5                 Oswayo Valley Area High School hosting Smethport, Port  Allegany, and Otto-Eldred High Schools

The information covered will include tips for completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. A counselor will also talk about the financial aid process and deadlines for both federal and state aid. Finally, the counselor will talk about different situations that can affect aid, such as income and whether a student is considered a dependent or independent student. There will be time for questions during or after the presentation.    

         The financial aid staff will offer a series of FAFSA completion events later this year.

                These sessions will enable families to complete the FAFSA online with some assistance from the staff. For more information, contact Deborah Soyke, Assistant Director of Financial Aid, at (814)362-7550 or d.soyke@pitt.edu.

District Attorney Stephanie Vettenburg-Shaffer announces that the father of the infant found deceased in Bradford is now charged with Criminal Homicide in the child’s death.  Tyler PRESCOTT is currently being held on $1 million bail for charges of Aggravated Assault after the child was found deceased in his care.  City of Bradford Police have continued the investigation which included interviews, receipt of autopsy, and other forensic evidence review.  PRESCOTT now faces the additional charges of: Criminal Homicide; Rape Of A Child; Rape Of A Child Resulting Serious Bodily Injury; Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse Of A Child; Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse Of Child Resulting Serious Bodily Injury; Aggravated Indecent Assault Of A Child; Indecent Assault; and Incest Of A Minor.  Following the filing of the new charges, a bail hearing was required to be held and Magisterial District Judge removed the possibility of bail and set no bail as Criminal Homicide is a non-bailable offense in Pennsylvania.  PRESCOTT remains incarcerated.  A preliminary hearing is scheduled for October 7.

The Port Allegany VMI (Veterans Memorial, Inc.) recently held a mortgage burning ceremony at their building located on Route 155 in Port Allegany.  The current VMI building opened in December of 2008, sixteen months after the original building was destroyed by fire  Guest speaker was former VMI president, Earl Stromberg.  He is pictured here with current VMI president, Wayne Thomas, who has served as president since Stromberg retired in 2012.  Stromberg thanked the American Legion Post 258 and their Auxiliary; the Veterans of Foreign Wars and their Auxiliary; the Sons of the Legion Post 258 and all the volunteers from the social membership for their hard work in making it a priority to pay the mortgage off early.  The mortgage was taken out in early 2008 in the amount of $360,000 for 25 years and was paid off in June of 2025.

Bradford Regional Medical Center (BRMC) and Olean General Hospital (OGH), Kaleida Health facilities, are proud to have presented the second bi-annual 2025 Golden Stethoscope Award to Tahir Chaudhry, DO, FACOG. Dr. Chaudhry is a women’s health physician specializing in obstetrics and gynecology at the Olean Medical Group (OMG).

The Golden Stethoscope Award is a result of nominations from employees and presented semi-annually to a physician who exhibits an exceptional level of professionalism, integrity and teamwork in caring for patients and families, as well as interacting with hospital staff members and fellow physicians. The award is presented to one physician throughout BRMC, OGH and physician practices who meets the standard of providing high quality patient care.

Betty Zinz

Betty Deane Walters Zinz, of Brookdale Retirement Community, Lakewood, N.Y. and formerly of Clarendon, PA., died unexpectedly Saturday, September 13, 2025, at UPMC Chautauqua, Jamestown, N.Y.

She was born in Newmansville, PA., she was the daughter of Francis M. and Grace I. Carbaugh Walters. Betty has been a Warren area resident for the past 10 years, and was formerly of Cooperstown, PA.

Carl Hughes, a loving and deeply loved family man passed over Sunday, September 14, 2025. He was born June 29, 1940, at home in Tioga to Howard and Lola (Henninger) Hughes.  Carl graduated from Williamson High School and 10 days after graduation, he married Ellen Bell with whom he shared sixty-seven years of marriage. 

Carl was a retired building contractor. He was a master of his craft and mentored many builders along the way. Carl took great pride in everything that he did. His work was impeccable. Carl also carried on the traditions of his own father and raised plentiful volumes of produce for the community. Carl still maintained a beautiful garden for his friends and family. He made many memories of outdoor adventures with his brothers, sons-in-law, grandchildren and nephews, hunting and fishing over the years.

(NOTE: You are receiving this sports information release because one or more athletes from your coverage area compete on a team at Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.)

Penn College Athletics at a Glance

Last week in review: Two wins upped the regular-season unbeaten streak for the Pennsylvania College of Technology women’s soccer team to 30. The Wildcats’ last regular-season loss came on Sept. 30, 2023, at Penn State Harrisburg. Since then, during regular-season matches, they have gone 23-0-7 under coach Ian Scheller.

Pastor B.J. Knefley

The lies we believe, have you ever thought that we all hold beliefs that might be false? Is it possible that some things we assume are true are actually false? Where do these beliefs originate, and how can we identify what’s untrue? 

There was a time in my life when I believed that country music was bad, even evil. I taught this belief to my children and reprimanded them whenever I caught them listening to it. One day, my oldest challenged my faith. She wanted to understand why I thought it was bad and why I considered it evil. I tried to give her every reason I could think of to justify my stance, but none of them held up. Eventually, I discovered the true reason I held this belief. So, where did I get it from? From my mother. Yes, when I was a child, my mother told me it was evil and that I would go to hell if I listened to it. That was all the truth I needed, and I accepted it as my own. Sadly, I was only repeating what I had been taught. It had no basis in truth, only opinion.

Quality Poultry & Seafood, Inc. Recalls Various Catfish Fillet Products Produced Without Benefit of Inspection

Quality Poultry & Seafood, Inc., a Biloxi, Miss., establishment, is recalling approximately 98,916 pounds of catfish fillet products that were produced without the benefit of federal inspection, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

FSIS Issues Public Health Alert for Raw Sirloin Beef Tip Product Due to Misbranding and Undeclared Allergens

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is issuing a public health alert for raw sirloin beef tip product due to misbranding and undeclared allergens. The product contains sesame and wheat, known allergens, which are not declared on the product label. FSIS is issuing this public health alert to ensure that consumers with allergies to sesame and wheat are aware that these products should not be consumed. A recall was not requested because the affected products are no longer available for purchase.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (September 15) – The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) today announced several upcoming committee meetings to be held virtually.  These meetings will be held online with Commissioners and PFBC staff participating remotely.

Agendas for all public meetings can be found on the PFBC website (Fishandboat.com).  Dates, times, information on submitting public comment, and links for viewing these meetings can be found below: