A2 The Meadville Tribune

Thursday, January 6, 2022 WEATHER, COUNTY & STATE

SEVEN-DAY FORECAST Funds available for building facade upgrades
From JET 24 MEADVILLE TRIBUNE  to, exterior paint, new signage, windows ough Office, Chamber Room, 124
and FOX 66 The PA Route 6 Alliance, alongside and canvas awning replacement. Meadville St.
partners Oil Region Alliance and Preser- The program will be funded through • Feb. 10 at 9 a.m. at Erie Center for
vation Erie, will hold a series of public a $103,000 award from the Pennsyl- Arts and Technology, 650 East Ave.
information meetings in Crawford and vania Department of Community and • Feb. 16 at 6 p.m., virtual meeting
Erie counties next month for the PA Economic Development’s Keystone (register for webinar link)
Route 6 Facade Program in the Great Program and with additional support Anyone interested in attending a
Lakes Region. from the Department of Conservation meeting can register at paroute6.com/
The program allows commercial and Natural Resources. The alliance ex- facade-meeting or by contacting Facade
building owners and businesses/non- pects to fund between 20 to 30 building Program Coordinator Vanessa Bill-
profits (with property owner approval) to improvement projects in the two-county ings-Seiler at facade@paroute6.com or
apply for up to $5,000 each toward up- region as part of a mission to promote by phone at (812) 774-7082.
Tom Atkins Tom DiVecchio Craig Flint grades and improvements of the build- economic development and cultural con- All applicants are required to attend
ing’s facade (front exterior visible from servation throughout the 11-county PA a meeting as well as connect with Bill-
National weather
FOLLOW THE WEATHER ATAccuWeather.com
YOURERIE.COM the road). Recipients will be required Route 6 Heritage Corridor. ings-Seiler to discuss their potential proj-
Forecast for Thursday, January 6, 2022 to provide 1:1 matching funds into the Scheduled meetings: ect before applying. Those who cannot
Bands separate high temperature zones for the day. project for a maximum project cost of no • Feb. 8 at 6 p.m. at Conneaut Lake attend a meeting should contact her for
more than $10,000. Borough Building, 395 High St. program information.
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0 Commercial buildings can be located • Feb. 9 at 9 a.m. at University of Pitts- • More information: Visit paroute6.
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anywhere in Crawford or Erie counties to burgh at Titusville Education and Train- com/facade-program-great-lakes, email
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be eligible. Improvements allowed under ing Hub, Boomers Hall, 504 E. Main St. info@paroute6.com or call (814) 435-
40s
40
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0ss the program include, but are not limited • Feb. 9 at 6 p.m. at Edinboro Bor- 7706.
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50s
0s Department of Health releases state’s COVID stats
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770 30s
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0 MEADVILLE TRIBUNE utive day at least 100 new pa- no new deaths reported in moderate or substantial.
50s
0s
60s
COVID-19 hospitaliza- tients have been in hospitals. Crawford County. Regionally, Erie Coun-
60s
60
-0s
-0 70s
70 70s
70 tions in Pennsylvania surged As of noon Wednesday, 6,187 Crawford County add- ty added 461 cases, Mercer
-10
<<-1
80s
0
80s
to more than 6,000 for the patients are in Pennsylvania ed 172 cases of COVID-19 County added 163, Venango
10s
0s
first time in nearly a year on hospitals, the first time since Wednesday, the third-largest County added 31 and Warren
20s Fronts
40s
30
0s 70s Wednesday and the state De- Jan. 9, 2021, more than 6,000 increase of the pandemic. The County added 82.
Cold Warm Stationary
partment of Health registered were in statewide facilities. Department of Health reported The number of people hospi-
Pressure a record number of new cases There have been more than 611 cases on Dec. 10, 2020, talized in the county was 39, an
H L
for the fifth time in eight days. 100,000 cases in the five days and 236 cases on Nov. 18, increase of three from the pre-
High Low Today’s
Showers Rain Forecast
T-storms Flurries Snow Ice
of 2022. With 111,058 cases 2021. The county’s seven-day vious report. There were eight
Pennsylvania health officials
NATIONAL SUMMARY: As a storm gathers moisture, an area of snow and rain with recorded 28,018 new cases so far, January 2022 already average of new cases is at 110 people in an intensive care
a narrow zone of ice will expand over the lower Mississippi and Tennessee valleys
on Wednesday, breaking the has the eighth-most cases in after being at 40 on Dec. 20. unit (ICU), a decrease of one,
today. A clipper storm will help enhance areas of lake-effect snow near the Great
Lakes. Snow will spread from Idaho and western Montana to Colorado as rain and record of 24,850 set Tuesday. a single month since the pan- All 67 Pennsylvania coun- and six people on ventilators,
snow ramp up over the Northwest. Pennsylvania has had at least demic began in early 2020. A ties continued to see high a decrease of four. There were
8 a.m. 1 p.m. 4 p.m. 9 p.m. 20,000 cases four times in the record 299,504 were recorded community transmission of four available ICU beds, an in-
Cloudy Cloudy Partly cloudy Light snow in Pennsylvania last month. the disease on Wednesday, crease of two.
19 21 22
©2022 AccuWeather,
21
Inc. last six days. The eight highest
one-day increases in cases of Statewide, there were also meaning at least 100 new cas- The state reported that the
the pandemic have been over 143 more deaths linked to the es per 100,000 residents over number of Pennsylvanians
Tomorrow’s Forecast the past eight days. coronavirus. It was the sec- the previous seven days, ac- fully vaccinated was 6.95
Hospitalizations for the ond day in a row with more cording to the Centers for Dis- million, including 38,157 (an
coronavirus continued to than 100 deaths statewide and ease Control and Prevention. increase of 25) in Crawford
surge with 211 more patients pushed the statewide total to Forest County, in northwest- County. A total of 15,943 (up
hospitalized with COVID more than 37,000 since the ern Pennsylvania, is reporting 84) people in the county have
symptoms across Pennsylva- first death was recorded on now reporting high transmis- had an additional dose of vac-
8 a.m. 1 p.m. 4 p.m. 9 p.m. nia. It was the fourth consec- March 18, 2020. There were sion rates after several days of cine since Aug. 13.
Cloudy/snow Cloudy/snow Mostly cloudy Mostly cloudy
19 21 22 20

County eyes another round of free COVID testing

Extended Forecast
By Keith Gushard for COVID,” Chairman Eric Henry said private testing provider on its own, ac-
MEADVILLE TRIBUNE at Wednesday’s commissioner work ses- cording to Henry.
sion. “We know there are a lot of require- “We hoping to know more soon,” he
Though nothing is firm, Crawford
ments for people to go back to college, said.
County commissioners are working to
for people to go back to work based on Commissioners did ask for patience
Saturday Sunday Monday have another round of COVID-19 test- CDC (Centers for Disease Control and from those seeking coronavirus tests as
Partly cloudy Rain/mix Breezy/snow ing available for the public — possibly Prevention) guidelines.” demand is extremely high.
14-32 31-39 18-22 as soon as next week. “We’re asking people to be kind to
Free drive-up testing was held at the
The county is hoping to offer testing fairgrounds last January, November and the staff” at testing sites, Commission-
once again at the Crawford County Fair- December by the Pennsylvania Depart- er Christopher Soff said. “Testing sites
grounds through the Pennsylvania De- ment of Health and AMI Expeditionary have been inundated.”
partment of Health or another provider Healthcare, the department’s testing
Tuesday Wednesday as a way to ease the current testing bur- agency. Keith Gushard can be reached at (814)
Breezy/snow Partly sunny den on local providers. If the health department is unavailable, 724-6370 or by email at kgushard@
11-18 15-30 “We are working on a testing avenue the county may seek to contract with a meadvilletribune.com.

West Mead ratifies hiring of part-time police officer

By Mike Crowley
MEADVILLE TRIBUNE
WEST MEAD TOWN-
SHIP — Supervisors ratified
the hiring of a part-time po-
lice officer at their meeting
this week, a move that helped
bring West Mead Township
Police Department closer to
a normal level of service fol-
Junior Forecasters wanted: Submit drawings
from your kids or class by dropping them off lowing a November in which
or mailing them to 947 Federal Ct., Meadville staffing struggles limited the
department to just 38 hours of
work time.
The addition of Seth Wise
brings the staffing up to one
al full-time officer approved
at the supervisors’ February
meeting.
Last month, Brown told
the Board of Supervisors that
two resignations, one medical
leave and one COVID-relat-
ed issue left the department
understaffed throughout No-
vember.
But the worst of the staff-
ing challenges, the chief said
after Monday’s meeting, are
“hopefully behind us.”
Brown’s monthly report
reflected as much, though
the previous month. Officers
also put 2,198 miles on de-
partment vehicles.
In contrast, the department
in November conducted just
12 investigations and spent
only four hours on patrol. The
department’s vehicles were
driven a total of 156 miles.
A few years ago the ideal
staffing level was two full-
time officers and five or six
part-time officers, Brown has
told the Tribune in past discus-
sions of department staffing.
He has also cited compensa-
Brown, including in the hiring
of Wise.
“We had to tentatively put
him on our roster (on) Oct. 25
in order for him to go through
the hiring process and com-
plete a lot of the state paper-
work,” Brown said. “Once
he completed his paperwork
and everything got finalized
through the state, he started in
December.”
For the year, the depart-
ment spent 1,574 hours on
patrol and traffic watch and
conducted 466 investigations,

The Meadville Tribune full-time and three part-time

members, according to Chief
he said the statistics for De-
cember were still a bit lower
tion, competition from larger
departments, and negative
filing 132 charges and putting
21,069 miles on department
947 Federal Court Meadville, Pa. 16335 Chip Brown. The three part- than usual. For the month, the publicity regarding careers in vehicles.
Published Monday-Saturday except Christmas By CNHI, LLC. time officers include Brown department completed 31 in- policing as challenges in the
Main Switchboard: Mail in and out of County: himself. Wise will be paid vestigations, conducted 211 effort to hire new officers. Mike Crowley can be
(814) 724-6370 $31.95 - 1 month $15 per hour. hours of patrol and watch, The increasing demands reached at (814) 724-6370 or
Toll Free: (800) 879-0006 $94.95 - 3 months; Brown said he hopes to and worked a total of 382 of state regulations have also by email at mcrowley@mead-
$189.90 - 6 months; have the hiring of an addition- villetribune.com.
Subscriptions: hours — 10 times as many as been an obstacle, according to
$379.80 - 12 month
Single copy: $1.25 Monday
and Wednesday through We accept Master Card, Visa,
Friday, $2 Saturday

Carrier and Motor Route:

Discover, American Express.
JSPS 336-600
Park “A burn permit was also
issued to have small con-
trolled fires to burn the wood
$25.99 - 1 month; ISSN 0747-2412 Continued from Page A1
$77.31 - 3 months; as demolition continued. A
$154.62 - 6 months; • For subscription or billing mechanical issue occurred to
the demolition. However, that
$304.99 - 12 months; questions: Call the circulation the heavy equipment used to
dept. Mon. - Fri. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. didn’t explain how or why a
Publisher: signed demolition permit dat- assist in the control, causing
or go to meadvilletribune.com
Sharon Sorg: ext. 261
ed Jan. 4 was issued. the fire to spread to the front
e-mail: ssorg@meadvilletribune.com
Advertising: part of the loading dock,” the
“Don’t call me for noth-
Classified: Monday - Friday statement said.
Editor: ing,” Fyock said before hang-
Rick Green: ext. 267 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fax: 724-8757 While there were no inju-
ing up.
e-mail: rgreen@meadvilletribune.com Retail: Monday - Friday 8 a.m. ries in Tuesday’s fire, sever-
to 5 p.m. Fax: 724-5437 Tuesday’s fire is considered
al parts of the Blue Streak’s
General Manager Newsroom: accidental at this point due to a
track collapsed, as did a sec-
Heidi Gebhardt ext. 258 If you need information about controlled burn at the park that tion of the coaster launch
e-mail: hgebhardt@meadvilletribune.com getting news into The Meadville got out of control, according to
Tribune, or if you have questions point. While other parts of the
Director of Audience Summit Township Volunteer coaster remain standing, dem-
or comments, call the newsroom
Development between 9 a.m. and 11 p.m. After 5 Fire Department Chief Dan olition of the coaster is ex-
Devon Stout ext. 231 p.m. our automatic answering O’Meara. The department pected to continue this week.
e-mail:dstout@meadvilletribune.com
service is in operation. was aware of a controlled burn “Only after u (sic) retract,”
E-Mail: at the park Tuesday as part of
Classified Manager Todd Joseph of Keldon
tribune@meadvilletribune.com
Wendie A. Bergendahl: ext. 224 demolition work. Holdings LLC wrote via text
sports@meadvilletribune.com
e-mail: wendieb@meadvilletribune.com Keldon requested several Meadville Tribune file photo
advertising@meadvilletribune.com when contacted Wednesday
controlled burn permits for A Summit Township Volunteer Fire Department firefighter sprays
Production Director classdesk@meadvilletribune.com afternoon by the Tribune for
Fax for all departments: debris from the township in debris Tuesday in the wake of a controlled burn gone wrong at the
Allen Lyon ext. 243
site of Conneaut Lake Park’s Blue Streak roller coaster.
comment about Keldon Hold-
e-mail: alyon@meadvilletribune.com (814) 724-8755 early December. A recipient ings’s demolition permit for
fills out a burn permit and co- wood from the roller coaster’s from the second burning pile the Blue Streak.
Delivery service:
Email: circulation@meadvilletribune.com If your Tribune does not ordinates its use with Summit demolition. “They were doing were what reached the Blue Joseph was concerned over
arrive by 7 a.m. call our customer service center by 11 a.m. Mon-Fri Township Volunteer Fire De- it (burning) to help clean up,” Streak, according to the chief. Fyock’s comment published
for subscription extension or replacement, weather permitting. partment. Albaugh said Wednesday. New Conneaut Lake Park Wednesday regarding the
• Tribune newspaper boxes are the property of The Meadville Peter Albaugh, a fire mar- O’Meara said the fire got issued a statement via its Face- demolition permit not being
Tribune. Unauthorized use by others for circulation of shal with the township’s
non-Tribune items will result in distribution charges.
out of control due to shifting book page late Tuesday night issued. 
• Periodicals are postage paid at Meadville, Pa. Postmaster: fire department, told the winds. While one pile was saying damage to the Blue
Send address changes to: The Meadville Tribune, 947 Tribune that Keldon’s burn being burned, winds shifted Streak was not caused by fire Keith Gushard can be
Federal Court, Meadville, Pa. 16335 and demolition permits were and ignited an adjacent pile but from heavy equipment reached at (814) 724-6370 or
Vol. 138 No. 128 meadvilletribune.com in order. Keldon was using on fire without initially being used in the demolition of by email at kgushard@mead-
small burn piles to dispose of noticed by workers. Flames the historic coaster. villetribune.com.