Area News Briefs

Housing project coming ST. MARYS -- Information about the massive new housing project was recently unveiled to St. Marys City Council.

Susquehanna Development Corporation's $5.5 million Marienstadt Haus project will involve 23 two-story, threebedroom units; two one-story, two-bedroom units; 19 onestory commercial units and a 144-lot parking garage. Eleven of the apartments will be reserved for tenants whose income falls under 80 percent of the county's median.

About $500,000 will be provided by the city of St. Marys; $1.5 million will come from the Pa. Housing Finance Agency. A governmentsubsidized loan will cover much of the remaining cost.

Sprucing up downtown MT. JEWETT - Mt. Jewett Borough Council is working with a private contractor, Kane Lawn and Garden, for a downtown beautification project to be finished by Oct. 30.

Council President Dick Danielson has volunteered to manage the project. Work is being done along Main Street/U.S. Rt. 6, on a lot where the Commercial Hotel used once stood. That building was razed earlier this year.

Five more years

KANE - Kane Area School Board members extended the contract of School Superintendent Sandy Chlopecki for five more years, through the 2011-12 school year.

The terms include yearly increases in her annual salary, currently at $99,500.

Chlopecki joined the district as high school principal in 1997 and was appointed superintendent in April 2004. She previously served as a teacher and administrator in the Warren County School District.

Volunteers needed

COUDERSPORT -- McKean-Potter County Chapter of the American Red Cross is looking for volunteers for its Armed Forces Emergency Services program.

Staff and volunteers are available 24 hours a day to verify emergency messages and forward them to service members stationed around the country and around the world. Messages relating to a family members' illness or death; the birth of a child and other family news are verified and then relayed to the member's commanding officer.

The Red Cross will be conducting a training early next month. Interested persons are asked to call the Red Cross office at 368-6197.

TCB chief charged SMETHPORT - The former chief of the McKean County Tax Claim Office was recently arraigned on criminal charges by District Judge Bill Todd.

Colleen Jo Nobles, 44, of Smethport, is the second director of that office to lose her job over alleged inappropriate actions. She has been charged with embezzlement and tampering with records, as well as misapplication of entrusted property.

The activity was uncovered during an annual audit of the Tax Claim Office. The amount she is accused of misappropriating is $1,528.

Crowded courthouse

COUDERSPORT -- Potter County officials are examining their options to address a space shortage at the courthouse.

The county purchased a vacant lot across from the courthouse square and county jail as a potential site for a new county building. The commissioners appointed an 18-member steering committee to examine options.

If a new structure is built, it would be financed by a bond issue, county officials said. A portion of the bond payments would be covered by rent payments currently paid to landlords for county offices.

School may close

KANE -- A consultant studying building consolidation options in Kane Area School District believes the Mt. Jewett Elementary School should be shut down and sold. Dr. Daniel Dancu held a forum last week to gather public input on his study.

The Mt. Jewett School serves 51 students in grades two through five.

Dancu said the students would be better served by attending classes in a setting where they're exposed to broader educational options and social opportunities. Dancu will meet privately with the school board next week. His final report is due to be made public at the school board meeting Oct. 19.

Woman charge

BRADFORD -- A McKean County woman is charged with defrauding her mother, an Italian immigrant who speaks little English, of more than $200,000. Charges were filed recently by the Pa. Attorney General's office against Grace M. Telese, 41, of Bradford.

She's accused of bilking her mother over a period of nearly seven years while exercising power of attorney for the affairs of the victim, Maria Telese, 73.

The investigation was prompted by an anonymous tip to the Area Agency on Aging.

Employees cleared

SMETHPORT - Two former employees of Beacon Light Behavioral Health Systems, accused of child abuse in the 2004 drowning death of a child resident, have been cleared of any wrongdoing.

Administrative Law Judge Katrina Dunderdale has directed state officials to expunge any records assessing blame to employees Janel Roller Riel and Ryan Swanson in the May 2004 accidental death of 14-year-old Dustin Dembinski at Heffner Reservoir in Bradford.

Judge Dunderdale found that because Beacon Light had no written swimming policy, the two employees should not be penalized for failure to follow the policy.

Vo-tech delayed

PORT ALLEGANY -- Bids for renovations and additions to the Seneca Highlands Vocational-Technical School in Port Allegany came in at more than $6 million. They were much higher than administrators expected, prompting a delay in the multimillion dollar project.

An architect who drew up the plans has been asked to scale down the work and look for cost efficiencies.

A new round of bids will be solicited with a December deadline.