First of two parts.
Centre County rang in the New Year in 2016 with First Night activities in downtown State College. The celebration of art and music paved the way to a year full of ups and downs in the county.
Flooding ravaged the Bald Eagle Valley in October and events surrounding the Jerry Sandusky scandal continued to capture headlines throughout the year. But there were also joyous moments as well, such as the many fundraising efforts of the community and the ever-growing development in the Centre Region.
Here is a look at some highlights of the first half of 2016. The Gazette’s Thursday, Jan. 5, issue will take a look back at the second half of 2016.
JANUARY
The Centre County board of commissioners welcomed a new member, local businessman Mark Higgins.
Higgins knocked on thousands of doors leading up to his election. He ran his campaign based on the promise to increase business opportunities in Centre County. He was instrumental in the startup business incubator in Philipsburg, and continues to push to create a similar, albeit larger, incubator site in Bellefonte.
Higgins also paved the way for the county to partner with Penn State University to study the outlying areas of the county for the potential for agricultural business development.
The Gazette had the opportunity to follow up with some good news in wake of a tragedy in January. On Dec. 12, 2015, the Salvation Army Church in Huntingdon caught fire. The blaze gutted the building and destroyed hundreds of donated toys, all wrapped up and ready to be delivered to less fortunate children in the area. Thanks to the efforts of Amy Morder, an employee with McQuade-Blasko Law Offices, within three days, the workers of the firm ponied up $2,001 in cash, as well as toys, clothing and gift cards, to donate to the church to re-stock its lost gifts.
Criminal charges against former Penn State athletic director Tim Curley, former senior vice president for finance Gary Schultz and former university president Graham Spanier were dropped by the court. The ruling by a state Superior Court panel involved the grand jury testimony of former Penn State general counsel Cynthia Baldwin.
Developers of the now-open Fraser Center in downtown State College announced a handful of new stores would be coming to its 50,000-square-foot facility. Target, H&M and Federal Taphouse committed to entering into lease agreements. Target and H&M opened their doors in the fall.
The State College Area Senior Center also announced some changes. The facility is housed at the Nittany Mall, and in January, announced it was planning a move to a larger space just a few doors down. The move effectively increased the square footage of the facility and allowed it to better serve the seniors of the State College area.
January’s pages also reported the announcement by Gregory and Lynda Mussi concerning the closing of the state’s oldest motel — The Autoport. The facility was sold to South Atherton Real Estate for $2.1 million. Future plans have not been announced.
Centre Hall singer and songwriter Doug Irwin released his debut CD, “The Bridge That I Burn,” and held a book signing Jan. 10 at Webster’s Book Store Café. Ralph Gray, a retired Penns Valley High School math teacher put the finishing touches on his second book, “The School on the Hill.” Abraham Allebach, of Spring Mills, was inducted into the Pennsylvania Farm Show Draft Horse Hall of Fame during the 100th annual farm show in Harrisburg.
State College Mayor Elizabeth Gorham officially proclaimed January 2016 as Town & Gown Month. The Centre County Historical Society honored T&G with a Preservation Award for Excellence in Education and Advocacy. The magazine — the Gazette’s sister publication — celebrated 50 years in January.
FEBRUARY
The eyes of Happy Valley turned to fundraising in February, as the largest student-operated philanthropic organization in the world held its premier fundraising event at the Bryce Jordan Center on the Penn State University campus.
Hundreds of dancers shook and boogied for 46 straight hours at The Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, more commonly known as THON, in mid-month. When the dancing was over, a total of $9,770,332.32 was revealed to have been raised to battle childhood cancer.
The 68th annual Mount Nittany Medical Center Charity Ball was held Feb. 13 and raised more than $160,000 for tomosynthesis at Mount Nittany Health’s Breast Cancer Center. Nearly 500 attendees gathered at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel for the event, which featured the theme, “Encountering East Asia.”
The Centre County United Way announced its year-end results from 2015, and according to its reports, it was a year of collaboration, fundraising and volunteer efforts. Sponsored by PNC Bank, the organization saw 100 programs though 35 health and human service provider partner agencies raise more than $2 million.
Local development also grabbed several headlines in the Gazette in February, led by an announcement of $20 million in campus renovations by brass at Mount Nittany Medical Center. The upgrades were noted to “better meet the needs of the patients in the Centre Region,” and included the construction of a two-story parking garage to provide 300 additional parking spaces; replacement of four inefficient boilers, which were initially installed when the facility was constructed in 1972; the purchase of a linear accelerator for treatment of cancer patients; expansion of the cardiovascular suite; and improvements to the ground floor, particularly in the kitchen area.
State College Borough also announced a large chunk of funding would be put into its downtown parking garages. During a February meeting, council members voted unanimously to sink $6.25 million into the Fraser, Beaver and Pugh street parking garages. The renovations include elevator replacement, new parking and revenue control systems and sidewalk and streetscape updates.
A popular hangout in Rush Township that closed its doors on Feb. 7, 2015, had new life breathed into it just about a year later when it was purchased by Jake Genna, owner and general manager of Genna Ice in Philipsburg. The 25,000-square-foot building rests on a 3.5-acre lot in the Moshannon Valley Business Park. A Facebook contest launched soon after the announcement of the purchase of the building, as owners sought a new name for the Moshannon Valley Super Bowl. Several ideas were gathered, and when the pins fell, the owners selected Philipsburg Super Bowl. The bowling center offers public bowling, as well as a full bar and food menu.
Congratulatory celebrations were in order at St. John the Evangelist Catholic School in Bellefonte, when the education institution celebrated 125 years at a special event Feb. 4. Bellefonte Mayor Tom Wilson was in attendance to offer a proclamation.
The Juniata Valley Council of Boy Scouts in State College has presented the Good Scout Award to a Centre County resident who most embodies the service-oriented ideals and values of the organization for the past 40 years. However, in 2016, the Scouts decided to change the name of that special recognition in honor of the first person to ever win the award. In February, the Scouts presented J. Doyle Corman and his wife, Becky, with the Joseph and Sue Paterno Community Impact Award.
Fortune came the way of State College’s Tom Kase. Kase, while watching a Steelers’ football game on television, saw an advertisement for the 2015 Toughest Truck, Toughest Team sweepstakes. Kase said he had his laptop handy, and registered for the contest. In February, he was notified he won a 2015 Ford F-150 SuperCrew pickup truck, all decked out in a Steelers’ motif. The truck was presented to him at State College Ford-Lincoln.
The body of a woman was found along Plainfield Road in Ferguson Township on Feb. 14. Further investigation revealed 35-year-old Corrine Pena, from the Philadelphia area, had died of a drug overdose and her body was dumped there. Fifty-nine-year-old Robert Moir was later arrested in connection with the incident and in December he was sentenced to serve two years of county probation on a charge of abuse of a corpse.
MARCH
March’s pages in the Gazette opened with an announcement from Steven E. Brown that he was retiring as president and chief executive officer of Mount Nittany Health, effective Nov. 1. The popular administrator was hired in 2010 and put together a long list of accomplishments at the health care center.
In December, James B. Thomas, chairman of MNH’s board of directors, named Kathleen L. Rhine as the new president and CEO for the health system, effective Monday, Jan. 30.
The state-mandated project at Cold Stream Dam in Philipsburg was featured in the March pages of the Gazette. The project was in the works since 2009, as administrators of the partially state-funded $2.3 million project worked through mounds of paperwork.
The work, which was completed in December, included the replacement of the breast of the dam, regrading of slopes, construction of a new spillway and bridge and landscaping. The project closed the popular Cold Stream Dam Park and Recreation Area for the summer, and because of the equipment still in the area causing a safety hazard, the iconic 37-foot Santa Claus statue and its accompanying toy soldiers and toy sack was not erected this holiday season.
Dunham’s Sports store opened in the Nittany Mall. Just months before Dunham’s opening, mall anchor J.C. Penney decided to close its doors.
Renovations were also reported on the campus of Penn State University, as Berkey Creamery opened after being closed for more than two months. The doors shut at the popular creamery in late December 2015 and reopened with a fresh look — although that wasn’t the initial intention. The plan was to simply replace the floor, but once construction got started, it seemed to not stop.
A new concrete terrazzo stone floor was installed, and the shopping area was revamped to cause less obstruction. The entire store was painted, new cabinetry was installed. and there were several sanitation and cooler upgrades.
The county continued its fight against opioid abuse, addiction and overdoses after the district attorney’s office announced it was awarded grant funding to install a handful of medicine drop boxes in county public buildings. The boxes are used by law enforcement to collect unused, unwanted or expired prescription medication to keep these drugs off the streets, as well as keep them from entering local watersheds and habitats.
First Assistant District Attorney Mark Smith said the collection boxes are working, as they are filled and the contents are properly disposed of once every four to six weeks. In addition to the county-placed boxes, Bellefonte Borough has conducted a similar program at the municipal building.
State College resident Tom Yosca grabbed some time on television in March when he appeared on Country Music Television’s “Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Challenge.”
Several priests and religious leaders in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown were named in connection with the sexual abuse of hundreds of children over a period of 40 years. Seven of the priests named in the report spent time as leaders at the local churches, St. John the Evangelist and Our Lady of Victory.
APRIL
Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders traveled to State College in April to stump in front of Penn State students. He spoke to a crowd of nearly 7,000 people at Rec Hall. He addressed the need for a revolution against corruption in campaign spending and in the economy. Sanders ultimately fell short in his presidential bid.
The executive committee of the Penn State Class Gift Campaign announced a new partnership with the Penn State Alumni Association, which had committed up to $200,000 to match contributions from seniors to this year’s gift, the 2016 Counseling and Psychological Services endowment. The alumni association’s commitment was the largest in the history of Penn State’s Class Gift program.
A fire displaced dozens of Penn State students at The Park at State College. Nobody was harmed in the three-alarm fire at the Park’s Building 13, located along Blue Course Drive. Unfortunately, 48 students had to find new lodging after the blaze. A cause of the fire was never determined; however, firefighters said they believe the fire started on the exterior of the building.
A new record number for attendance was set in April at The Gala for Hope, held at General Potter Farm in Potters Mills. More than 250 tickets were sold for the event, which benefited the Penns Valley HOPE fund. The fund has dispersed $400,000 to more than 150 families in the Penns Valley area since 2008.
Members of the Mount Nittany Health staff raised the “Donate Life” flag in honor of National Donate Life Month, held each year in April. When the flag was raised on April 15, there were 124,000 men, women and children awaiting organ transplants in the United States.
Community members and leaders, state representatives and new business teams joined Penn State President Eric Barron for a ceremonial ribbon cutting at Happy Valley Launchbox, the new home of a business pre-accelerator program. It is the newest program of the Invent Penn State initiative, which was created in 2015 as a collaboration of students, faculty, businesses and community designed to foster the entrepreneurial spirit.
Park Forest Elementary School was named a U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School for its commitment to sustainable practices. The announcement was made on Earth Day, April 22. Honorees were feted at an awards ceremony at the U.S. Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C., in July.
Lewis Yaple, a State College Area School District senior, rode more than 500 miles on his bicycle to raise money for the American Diabetes Association. Yaple was diagnosed with type one juvenile diabetes at the age of 4. He set a goal to raise $1,000 on the ride, but when he finished the journey, he had raised $3,000 for the organization.
MAY
Jerry Sandusky returned to the Centre County Courthouse in early May with his attorney to make arguments to seek an evidentiary hearing to potentially grant the former Penn State football assistant coach a new trial. Defense attorney Al Lindsey claimed there were at least three dozen issues as to why a new trial is warranted.
Arguments were heard in the matter in late August, and although a ruling was to be made by Senior Judge John Cleland, of McKean County, the judge took himself off the Sandusky bench just a month later, concerned he could become part of the appellate case.
The administrative office of the Pennsylvania Courts is now seeking another judge to take over the Sandusky appeal. Sandusky remains incarcerated.
Members of the Centre County law enforcement community gathered on the steps of Old Main on May 18 as part of National Police Week. The group paid tribute to the dozens of men and women law enforcement members who were killed in the line of duty in 2015. The names of the 132 men and women killed were read aloud.
A Milesburg businessman kept local racing alive in May when he decided to pick up a lease on a local race track that was not going to be renewed. Sam Ray, who has owned a repair and towing shop in Milesburg for three decades, was born into a racing family. When he heard the Clinton County Speedway didn’t have a promoter for racing in 2016, he immediately picked up the rent. Ray spent several thousand dollars reconfiguring the track layout and widening the raceway. He also installed new lighting at the track and updated concession and restroom areas. “I didn’t want to see the track just sit there and not be used,” he said.
The eighth annual Dog Jog 5K Run/Walk was held at the Grange Fairgrounds in Centre Hall. The event is a major fundraiser for Pets Come First, a no-kill shelter in Patton Township that finds homes for 400 pets each year and spays and neuters about 600 animals annually. More than 100 humans and canines participated in the event.
A local volunteer was recognized in May for her efforts at Schlow Library in State College. Natalie Urban was honored for 30 years of volunteer work. She began her volunteer work in the children’s department, and since then, has worn many hats. She has worked at the front desk and is now working in the circulation department.
Town & Gown was awarded the Arnold Addison Award at the Borough of State College’s annual Appreciation Dinner in May. The award was presented by Catherine Dauler, a State College borough councilwoman. Arnold Addison was mayor of State College from 1978 to 1997. He passed away in June 2000.
JUNE
A former Pennsylvania beauty queen was back in front of a judge in the Centre County Court of Common Pleas in June to enter guilty pleas to charges of theft by deception and receiving stolen property. Brandi Lee Weaver-Gates, 24, admitted she faked having cancer to first gain more attention from her parents; however, the situation grew out of control when she began making trips to area hospitals claiming she was being treated for her affliction and accepting cash donations to help. Authorities said she secured about $20,000 in this fashion.
Weaver-Gates was sentenced in July to serve two to four years in a state correctional institution, pay restitution and complete five years of county-monitored probation.
A small plane crash near University Park Airport on June 16 claimed the lives of two men. Centre County Coroner Scott Sayers identified the pilot as Gary Orner, of White Oak. The passenger was identified as Dr. Robert C. Arffa, of Pittsburgh. Arffa was a Lasik eye surgeon who regularly traveled to State College to perform surgery for Nittany Eye Associates.
A once-popular Patton Township recreation hot spot reopened in June after being closed by the state for several years. Colyer Lake was formally reopened in a lakeside ceremony. The lake was filled to its design level after having been completely drained for nearly two years.
The trouble at the lake began in 2002 when the state Department of Environmental Protection deemed it unsafe. The water level was lowered; however, more sanctions came down in 2013 and the water was completely drained. After proper renovations were made, the lake was once again deemed safe and opened to visitors.
The Bald Eagle Area School District promoted healthy lifestyles and placed first in the National Health Council’s school program. BEASD won a $500 donation to the school’s wellness committee, a traveling banner to display and two copies of “FUN-damentals of Fitness,” a fitness-based physical education curriculum co-written by local authors Ryan Burke, of One Fitness in State College, and Penn State professor Allison Weimer.
The owners of The Greek restaurant and University Wine Company paired up to launch a new wine bar inside the restaurant, located on Clinton Avenue. The bar offers a variety of wines produced at University Wine Company’s Centre County facility.
The month of June wrapped up with more than 20,000 people in Bellefonte for the 28th annual Historic Bellefonte Cruise. Hundreds of shiny and souped-up vehicles lined the streets. For two days, all eyes were on the vehicles, the food and the entertainment in Bellefonte Borough.
