Thursday’s high, 45; Overnight low, 32; .19” of rain topped off with a coating of snow
FRI-SNOW SHOWERS, HIGH 32
FRI NIGHT-SHOWERS TAPER OFF,LOW 24
SAT-PARTLY CLOUDY, WINDY HIGH 36
SAT NIGHT-SNOW SHOWERS, LOW 24
SUN-SNOW SHOWERS, HIGH 38
SUN NIGHT-MOSTLY CLOUDY, LOW 25
More copper stolen in Tioga County……Electrical short cause $200,000 in damage to Bradford home…Eldred woman scammed out of $4700 in Apple Gift Cards….Pennsylvania’s deer season opens Saturday… https://soundcloud.com/gerri-miller-611294886/black-forest-broadcasting-podcast-november-26-2021
Tioga County
The theft of some cooper ground straps in Sullivan Township Tioga County is being investigated by state police at Mansfield. Thieves took the items from two different locations last weekend, totaling $7600 in value. The copper was taken from gas well pads on Route 6 and Seymour Hill Road belonging to Seneca Resources of Houston, Texas. Earlier this month, thieves took 1000 feet of copper wire from a gas well pad in Westfield Township belonging to Southwest Energy of Spring, Texas.
McKean County
The state police fire marshal has found a blaze which damaged a home on Interstate Parkway last Saturday night was due to an electrical short. The home is owned by Jeffrey Bender of Bradford and damage is estimated to be $200.000. Apparently there were no injuries.
Cyber thieves scammed a 53 year old Eldred woman out of $4700 in Apple Gift Cards between November 13 and 20 according to state police at Lewis Run. The investigation is continuing.
A Port Allegany woman escaped injury in a minor mishap Monday evening in Ceres Township. According to Lewis Run state police, Sasha Fischer was going south on Route 44 when a northbound gray sedan crossed the center line and side swiped her Ford Fusion, damaging the driver’s side mirror.
A criminal mischief Tuesday afternoon on Main Street in Hamlin Township, McKean County is being investigated by state police at Lewis Run. Vandals slashed tires on a 2018 Chevrolet owned by a 55 year old Hazel Hurst man while it was parked along the road.
Troopers at Lewis Run have charged two Cuba, NY residents for DUI and drug possession. Authorities say when they stopped a 2001 Chevrolet Silverado on Route 155 in Eldred Township early Sunday morning they found the driver, James Bowker, 23 was driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs and his passenger, 20 year old Nikie Burdick was in possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.
DUI charges are being filed against two Olean, NY women by troopers at Lewis Run. Police claim when they stopped a 2010 Chrysler on Route 155 in Liberty Township early Saturday morning, the found the driver was driving under the influence and was in possession of a controlled substance. A passenger was found in possession of a controlled substance and related drug paraphernalia. Cops did not say which one was driving and which one was the passenger but they were identified as 28 year old Holly Pasinski and 31 year old Gina Paoletto.
Brad Benjamin, 37 of Rew is also being charged with drug possession. Troopers allege when they stopped his 2007 vehicle on Route 155 early Saturday morning, they found he was in possession of a controlled substance and related drug paraphernalia.
Elk County
A 43 year old Ridgway woman, whose name was not released, has been arrested for DUI. Troopers claim when they stopped her 1998 Nissan Sentra on Brandy Camp Road in Fox Township Monday evening, they found she had been drinking before driving. Charges are pending blood test results.
Statewide
Pennsylvania’s upcoming firearms deer season which starts Saturday is always the most popular on the hunting calendar – features abundant whitetails and increased flexibility in when and where hunters can harvest them. First, the opportunity.Hunters harvested an estimated 435,180 deer in the 2020-21 seasons. That was 12 percent higher than the 2019-20 harvest of 389,431 and the highest harvest in 15 years.
Antlered deer were a large part of that. Hunters took 174,780 bucks last year. That was up from 163,240 in 2019-20 and 147,750 in 2018-19, and the most ever in the antler restrictions era.
No other state in the Northeast can match those numbers, not even when taking land mass into account according to the Game Commission.
According to the National Deer Association, in 2019 – the most recent year for which full statistics are available – Pennsylvania ranked second in the nation in buck harvest per square mile, trailing only Michigan. It produced almost three times as many bucks per square mile as any other state in the Northeast.
Two-thirds of those bucks were mature animals at least 2.5 years old, too.
Hunters likewise did well on antlerless deer. Pennsylvania ranked second nationally in 2019 in doe harvest per square mile, behind only Delaware. It produced two times as many does per square mile as any other Northeast state.
Yet, for all that, deer populations remain stable across most of the state’s 23 Wildlife Management Units (WMUs).
Now, the convenience.
The 14-day 2021 statewide firearms season is designed to maximize flexibility, in three ways.
First, it begins on Saturday, Nov. 27, and continues on Sunday, Nov. 28, providing hunters – many off work or school – a full weekend to be afield. Deer season then runs through Dec. 11, closing only on Sunday, Dec. 5.
Second, hunters with the proper licenses can harvest either an antlered or antlerless deer at any time throughout the season anywhere in the state. That’s a change from last year, when just 10 WMUs allowed concurrent buck and doe hunting.
That won’t necessarily lead to more antlerless deer taken overall.
The number of antlerless tags available this season was reduced in many WMUs compared to last to account for the additional days of antlerless hunting. Even where tag numbers are up – in WMUs included in CWD Disease Management Areas or where the goal is to stabilize deer numbers – the increase in tags is smaller than it would have been had seven days of concurrent hunting remained in place.
And third, the Game Commission this year made it possible for hunters willing to use antlerless tags to get more of them if the allocation hasn’t been sold out. It adopted a regulation change allowing hunters to hold up to six antlerless licenses at a time. That’s up from three previously.
That’s designed to give hunters desiring to take deer the opportunity to do so, and maybe even let last-minute license buyers get in on the action.
The firearms(Antlered and Antlerless) Statewide: Nov. 27; Sunday, Nov. 28; and Nov. 29-Dec. 11. One antlered deer per hunting license year. An antlerless deer with each required antlerless license.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health today confirmed that as of 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 23, there were 7,569 additional positive cases of COVID-19, bringing the statewide cumulative total cases to CAMERON 385
ELK-2504
McKEAN-4538
POTTER-1963
TIOGA-4056
ALLEGANY (NY)- 5867
CATTARAUGUS (NY) 9777
Due to the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the next update to the Department of Health’s COVID-19 dashboards will occur on Monday, Nov. 29.
There are 3,349 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19. Of that number, 763 patients are in the intensive care unit with COVID-19.
The trend in the 14-day moving average number of hospitalized patients has increased. The full 14-day moving average since the start of the pandemic can be found here.
Statewide percent positivity for the week of Nov. 12 – Nov. 18 stood at 11.7%.
As of 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 23, there were 98 new deaths identified by the Pennsylvania death registry, reported for a total of 33,101 deaths attributed to COVID-19. County-specific information and a statewide map are available on the COVID-19 Data Dashboard.
According to the CDC, as of Tuesday, Nov. 23, 68.8% of Pennsylvanians age 18 and older are fully vaccinated.
On Nov. 23, the CDC began to rectify their data to match Pennsylvania COVID-19 vaccine data and we anticipate the CDC to go through a similar process with other states across the country.
137,174 total pediatric vaccines doses (ages 5-11) have been administered.
6,589,002 people are fully vaccinated; with 69,581 vaccinations administered since yesterday and a seven-day moving average of more than 50,000 people per day receiving vaccinations.
In licensed nursing and personal care homes, there have been a total of 67,729 resident cases of COVID-19 to date, and 49,520 cases among employees, for a total of 117,249 at 1,667 distinct facilities in all 67 counties