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VOL. 21, NO. 6 SERVING CLARION, CLEARFIELD, ELK, FOREST AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES FEB. 8, 2015 Classified ............................... D1 Crossword ............................ C5 Entertainment .................... C6 Finance .................................. D1 Food ....................................... C1 Health/Fitness ..................... C4 Lottery ................................... A8 Opinion ................................. A6 Outdoors .............................. B5 Public Notices ..................... D2 Scoreboard .......................... B4 Socials .................................... C3 Sports ..................................... B1 • Ronald Swope Jr., 76 • Joseph DeLullo Sr., 66 • Russell Swackhammer, 80 • Florenna Harvey, 92 INDEX 28 pages Obituaries Page A2 $1.50 By Jessica Welsh [email protected] BROOKVILLE — A local animal shelter is seeking more ‘animal cops’ to help protect the welfare of animals in Jefferson County. During a recent cold snap, the Willow Run Sanctuary for Animals, Inc. in Coolspring re- ceived numerous calls from citizens concerned for the welfare of ani- mals left outdoors. With Jefferson County hu- mane society police of- icer Debbie McAndrew out of the area for a few days, Willow Run, with which she is associated, was on call as a resource for aid in her absence. Most calls regarded dogs without proper shel- ter, sanctuary founder and president Margo Stefanic said. “We are a last-ditch effort before police are called,” Stefanic said. As a nonproit organi- zation, the sanctuary has no power to enforce the law, but could make “Good Samaritan” visits to check on the animals and leave straw and dog- ‘Animal police’ volunteers needed By Katie Weidenboerner [email protected] DuBois Vet Center Outreach Specialist Zachariah Pearson’s job is to connect veter- ans with the resources they need to thrive upon returning from combat. When he saw Chunk, a beloved prison trained pit bull, he knew the training pro- gram was one he wanted to connect vets to. Being severely malnourished before be- ing rescued by the Elk County Humane Society, he was brought back to health be- fore being sent to prison at SCI – Forest in Marienville. In the prison’s dog program, Pups As- sisting Wounded Soliders (PAWS), dogs like Chunk are socialized and trained by in- mates for 12 weeks. They are also used as an adjunct to psychotherapy at the facility. “There are dogs that are here that peo- ple overlook until they get the training they need,” the no-kill shelter’s operation man- ager Karen Cappiello said. Pearson was a irst-hand witness to Chunk being put through his paces. When his handler said “cell,” the muscular dog went over and sat obediently by the closed Chunk inspires others to get involved By Elaine Haskins [email protected] DuBOIS — DuBois resi- dent Jaynelle Horchen of DuBois saw a story on tele- vision about a 5-year-old Nevada girl who collects gifts for cancer patients, and, in turn, was inspired to give back to her commu- nity through Abby’s Purple Bag Project. Abby’s Purple Bag Proj- ect started a little over a year ago when Abby’s grandmother was receiv- ing cancer treatment. For her birthday, Abby’s grand- mother requested that in- stead of birthday gifts, they could give care packages to people at their local hospi- tal’s cancer center. Abby just loved that idea and asked her parents if they could send one purple bag care package to a person re- ceiving cancer treatments in every state. Abby’s proj- ect to deliver gift bags of snacks, books and home- made get well cards turned into a mission as the 5 year old had a goal of delivering 1,000 chemotherapy care packages to cancer patients in all 50 states. Abby’s parents turned to Facebook for help with Abby’s wish and created a page for Abby’s Purple Bag Project to spread the word from their home, complete with a suggested shopping list so other groups can make their own gift bags for cancer patients in their satate. Purple was chosen because it’s her grandmoth- Purple Bag Project gets help DuBois woman, Juniata Elem. students helping others Brockway wrestlers defeat Clarion n Page B 1 By Julie Benamati [email protected] CURWENSVILLE — An initiative to improve the borough and surrounding area has brought nine com- munity leaders together who will inish their irst step of training next month. Curwensville and Gram- pian boroughs, together with Pike, Bloom and Penn townships, applied to the 2014 Blueprint Commu- nities program, and was selected along with seven other communities in the state. The program is an intensive training program that provides volunteer leaders with the tools re- quired to create a personal- ized community vision and fund projects that will help achieve the community’s improvement goals. Blueprint Communi- ties was irst launched in Pennsylvania in 2005 by Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh and its part- ners, and 12 communities were selected that year for the program. The initiative was renewed last year. The Blueprint Commu- nities initiative focuses on revitalizing older communi- ties and neighborhoods by fostering strong local lead- ership, developing strong local and regional planning that includes a clear vision for the community and a comprehensive implementa- tion strategy, and encour- aging coordinated invest- ments in the community by public and private funders. Nine members of the community were selected to the team: Erin Ammer- man of Northwest Sav- ings Bank, John Wright of Curwensville Development Corporation, Shelia Wil- liams of Central PA Com- munity Action, Kathy Gil- lespie of Clearield County Center on Aging, Hildred E. Rowles II of Curwens- ville Merchants Associa- tion, David L. Rose, Mem- ber of Council Curwensville Borough, Cynthia Rus- sell of Curwensville-Pike Township Historical Soci- Blueprint Committee leaders’ training on track DuBOIS — United States District Judge Lou- ise W. Flannagan Thursday sentenced Joseph Grecco, 52, of DuBois, to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Grecco previously plead- ed guilty to the charge on March 12, 2014, according to a press release from the ofice of United States At- torney Thomas G. Walker, Eastern District of North Carolina. On Aug. 8, 2014, Flan- nagan sentenced Grecco’s co-defendant, Edward A. Yates, 50, of Wilmington, N. C., to 12 months and one day in prison and three years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit bank fraud. On Jan. 8, an- other co-defendant Ronald Doerrer, 67 of Kure Beach, N.C., was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment fol- lowed by three years of supervised release for the same charge, conspiracy to commit bank fraud. A fourth co-defendant, and the leader of the conspiracy to commit bank fraud, Ron- ald Hayden Kotler, remains at large. These criminal charges grew out of the activities of Kotler, Doerrer, Grecco, and Yates in connection with a company in Wilmington, N.C., known as Commercial Loan Solutions, which oper- ated from 2006 until 2009. CLS, which was run by Kotler and Doerrer, offered its services as a broker who could provide bank inanc- DuBois man gets 2 1/2 years in bank fraud case H: 39 L: 33 Page A2 Juniata Elementary School first-grader Brady Kiskadden presented purple bags to Jaynelle Horchen of DuBois to kick off the school’s Relay Recess celebration Friday. The purple bags are part of the nationwide Abby’s Purple Bag Project to deliver gift bags of snacks, books and homemade get well cards to cancer patients in all 50 states. Horchen heard about Abby’s wish and decided to give the purple bags to cancer patients at Hahne Regional Cancer Center, a service of Penn Highlands Healthcare, and Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC in Pittsburgh. (Photo by Elaine Haskins) Sunday Savings Year to date savings: $1,080 $180 00 See Blueprint, A4 See Purple, A4 “T he response was amazing. The people in this town that are willing to help give back and donate was overwhelming. So I defi- nitely don’t do it on my own. I have a lot of help from a lot of people that are willing to donate.” – Jaynelle Horchen See Chunk, A5 Four-year-old pit bull ter- rier Chunk was taken from a cruelty case, nursed back to health and sent to SCI - Forest where he took part in a train- ing program that got him adopted. (Photo submitted) See Animal, A8 See DuBois, A2
