(BFB News Headlines (Thursday January 27, 2021) Ridgway driver hurt in one-vehicle accident Saturday….ID theft in Elk County investigated….Mansfield woman cited for failing to obey stop sign after collision in Sullivan Township….French Creek in Venango County named River of the year….Bill to help area hospitals and forgive nursing loans sent to the governor…..
Wednesday’s high, 21; Overnight low, -18
THU-MOSTLY SUNNY, HIGH 27
THU NIGHT-CLOUDY, LOW 9
FRI-LINGERING SNOW SHOWERS, HIGH 28
FRI NIGHT-OVERCAST, LOW 19
SAT-MOSTLY SUNNY, DANGEROUS WIND CHILL HIGH 24
Tioga County
Both Mansfield women escaped injury Tuesday afternoon when their vehicles collided at the intersection of Bungy Road and Ashley Hill Road in Sullivan Township, Tioga County. According to Mansfield state police the
collision happened when Jessica Slaymaker failed to stop at the posted sign an drove her 2012 Nissan X-Terra into the front driver’s tire on Emily Tice’s 2020 Chevrolet Blazer.
Elk County
State police at Ridgway are probing yet another ID theft. Someone used personal information of a 53 year old Kersey man on November 20, 2021 illegally.
A Ridgway driver was hurt early Saturday morning in a one-vehicle crash on the Ridgway/Johnsonburg Road in Ridgway Township. State police report Erik Szymanski was going south on Route 219 when his 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee crossed the road and collided with a snow bank before coming to rest on its side. Szymanski was taken to Penn Highlands Elk for treatment of unknown injuries.
Statewide
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn and Janet Sweeney of the Pennsylvania Organization for Waterways and Rivers (POWR) today jointly announced that French Creek in northwestern Pennsylvania had been selected as the state’s 2022 River of the Year.
French Creek is one of the most biologically diverse waterways of its size in the United States, meandering 117 miles from its headwaters in southern New York through four Pennsylvania counties to the Allegheny River. The creek is home to 27 species of freshwater mussels, more than 80 species of fish, and numerous waterfowl and songbird species, including bald eagles and four Audubon-designated Important Bird Areas (IBAs). French Creek is also home to the Eastern Hellbender, the largest species of salamander in North America, which was recently named the official amphibian of Pennsylvania.
The public was invited to vote online, choosing from among four waterways nominated across the state. A total of 13,972 votes were cast, with French Creek receiving 6,604; the Monongahela River, 3,311, Catawissa Creek, 3,188, Connoquenessing Creek, 869.
The French Creek Valley Conservancy (FCVC) will receive a $10,000 Leadership Grant to help fund a slate of year-long 2022 River of the Year activities. DCNR and POWR will work with FCVC to create a free, commemorative poster celebrating the French Creek River as the 2022 Pennsylvania River of the Year.
FCVC is an accredited land trust dedicated to protecting the French Creek Watershed. FCVC currently protects more than 3,000 acres of land throughout the watershed, helping to conserve French Creek, its tributaries, critical riparian areas, and providing recreational access. FCVC manages French Creek as on official Pennsylvania Water Trail and will be celebrating its 40th Anniversary in 2022.
In cooperation with DCNR, selection of public voting choices was overseen by the POWR, an affiliate of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC).
A commemorative River of the Year sojourn is among many paddling trips supported by DCNR and POWR each year. An independent program, the Pennsylvania Sojourn Program, is a unique series of a dozen such trips on the state’s rivers. These water-based journeys for canoeists, kayakers and others raise awareness of the environmental, recreational, tourism and heritage values of rivers.
The Allegheny River itself was River of the year in 2017.
In recognition of ongoing challenges facing health care facilities across the Commonwealth, the General Assembly has approved and sent to the governor’s desk legislation that would provide $210 million to support health care workers, as well as $15 million in nurse student loan forgiveness, according to Rep. Clint Owlett (R-Tioga/Bradford/Potter).House Bill 253 would direct $100 million in funding to be shared among all hospitals and $110 million to be directed at critical access hospitals, high Medicaid-use hospitals and behavioral health providers. The breakdown of funding for area hospitals is as follows:
Region
UPMC Wellsboro (Tioga County): $281,880.
Troy Community Hospital (Bradford County): $180,692.
UPMC Cole (Potter County): $354,157.
The bill also allocates $15 million in nurse student loan forgiveness.
The state Health Department reports the number of deaths in Pennsylvania now totals 39,952. Deaths in the Black Forest Broadcasting Service area to date are mostly holding steady.
Cameron 18
Elk 83
McKean 123
Potter 84
Tioga 182
Cattaraugus County in NY state has 200 total deaths reported. Allegany County has held steady at 140 total deaths.