On Topic

When the Rev. Jeremy Richards was looking for a new ministry last year, the University Baptist and Brethren Church in State College stood out. But there was an obstacle. A 2,700-mile-wide obstacle. Richards and his family were living in Oregon and love the Pacific Northwest. “I came across the church’s profile in February of 2024,”…

Christy Shields turned a childhood fear of thunderstorms into a passion for understanding the science behind the weather. Now she works to spark that excitement in other young people. “I was afraid of thunderstorms growing up as a kid to the point where I annoyed my parents because all I watched was the Weather Channel.…

Rick Jacobs was taking a walk in Bellefonte’s Talleyrand Park during the COVID lockdown of 2020 when he bumped into an old buddy, then-mayor Tom Wilson. “He stopped me and said, ‘I need your help.’ He is a musician and he loves live music. … So, he said, ‘I have a friend [Tom Bathgate], I…

In eighth grade, David Crowley set his sights on going to law school and becoming Perry Mason. Decades later, the career path Crowley envisioned as a youth has worked out — mostly — according to plan. “I kind of am [TV defense attorney Perry Mason] a little bit, other than he won all his cases…

Addressing transportation needs in a rural area with one of the nation’s largest universities smack in the middle presents some unique challenges — and opportunities. “There is a background level of economic activity that comes with” being home to Penn State University, says James Saylor, principal transportation planner for theCentre Regional Planning Agency. “One of…

Gary Abdullah keeps a box of tissues and a bowl of chocolates in his Carnegie Building office at Penn State’s Bellisario College of Communications. The items are simple offerings of comfort for students who may be going through a difficult time. But mostly, it’s Abdullah’s listening ear that makes all the difference. Students in need…

As founder of Centre Markets and the Centre Kitchen Collective, and as a flower farmer, Sabine Carey is used to being busy. But Saturdays are … something else. “Saturdays are long days,” she says. “I leave the house at 9 and I usually get home just before 8.” In between those hours, Carey and three…

Chris Woods’ road to becoming the founder of a cannabis business with a growing presence in Central Pennsylvania had roots at Penn State. But it was hardly a grand plan. “I was a good student. I studied engineering,” says Woods, who graduated in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in bioengineering. “I was in the Ph.D.…

Penn State professor S. Shyam Sundar says he loves sitting down with coffee and a newspaper in the morning, getting his “news fix” for the day. “I usually end up spending 20, 30, 40 minutes reading The New York Times, Centre Daily Times, and other newspapers,” he says. “Even if it’s online, I have a…

Tom Range traces his love of comic books to a playground mishap that left his younger brother with two broken wrists. “I was in fifth grade. [Vince] was in third grade. He broke both his wrists trying to swing all the way around on a swing set at recess,” Range says. “Aunt Sue sent him…