Looking back
A look at some of the headlines gracing the pages of the Observer-Reporter and Waynesburg Republican this week in Greene County history:
Time coming for public input on road projects
Greene County residents will have an opportunity next month to comment on road and bridge projects included in a draft of the new four-year transportation plan.
A public meeting on the proposed 2009-2012 Transportation Improvement Program will be held at 6 p.m. June 9 in Stover Hall at Waynesburg University.
The draft of priority projects includes several projects that have appeared in previous TIPs but also several new projects involving the replacement or rehabilitation of bridges.
“We were told that bridges are to be the No. 1 priority,” said Jonna Knapik, a project manager for the county Department of Economic Development, who has worked on the plan.
That directive came from Gov. Ed Rendell, who has made repairing and replacing deteriorated infrastructure, bridges in particular, a state priority, she said.
The draft was prepared by Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, the region’s designated planning organization, in conjunction with the counties, SPC’s technical committees and state Department of Transportation.
Input also was provided by the county’s public participation panel, which held a public meeting on the plan last year.
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Clarksville residents angry over vandalism
CLARKSVILLE – Residents of Clarksville Borough are angry over the most recent act of vandalism that damaged a 30-year-old war memorial next to the fire hall.
A resident, who did not want to be identified for fear of reprisal, said the granite monument did not list veterans names, but said simply, “In Memory of All Wars.”
“First, we will find out who did this, and then we will put up another monument,” the resident said. “Things like this are happening all the time. Kids just don’t have anything else to do.”
The borough has no police force and must rely on the state police for coverage. “The response time is not very good.”
There have been incidents where car windows have been broken and cars damaged in other ways, but fortunately, the resident said, no one has been hurt.
There has been talk of forming a Neighborhood Watch, but council has not yet acted on that possibility.
“I am just a concerned citizen, and I am afraid things are going to get worse in the summer when the kids are out of school.”
Vo-tech panel still working on plans for renovation
WAYNESBURG – The joint operating committee of Greene County Vocational-Technical School continues to develop a school renovation plan though progress has slowed as options are considered to reduce project costs, Richard Ohler, director of the school, said Friday.
Because plans are still under review and none of the costs have been nailed down, it also became too late for districts to include money in next year’s budgets to cover the debt from bonds that were to be issued to cover part of the renovation costs, Ohler said.
“We’ve slowed everything down a bit and are looking at things very carefully. We want to keep costs to a minimum,” he said.
The committee earlier received renovation plans prepared by its architect that would have cost about $8 million. It decided to consider a scaled-down project after several school districts expressed concern the project would be too costly.
District superintendents were asked to review a breakdown of the costs for various facets of the plan and develop a list of priorities of work that needed to be done.
Ohler said the superintendents were able to pare down the project, removing work the vo-tech could possibly do itself.
They also suggested various proposed energy-saving improvements, such as lighting, be completed through a program used by many districts under which a company makes the improvements and is paid through the school’s energy savings.
Several options, in addition, continue to be discussed regarding the replacement of the roof, Ohler said.
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Students honored for perfect grades
WAYNESBURG – Margaret Bell Miller Middle School students who have maintained a 4.0 grade-point average for the entire school year were honored Wednesday at the eighth annual “4.0 and Go” recognition luncheon at Waynesburg College.
The speaker was Dr. Jerome Bartley, superintendent of Central Greene School District. In addition, Jack Majic, senior human resources representative at RAG Emerald Mine, addressed the audience.
This year marked a milestone for Waynesburg Central High School graduating senior Cory Walsh, who also spoke to the students. Walsh maintained a 4.0 average during his years at the middle and senior high schools. He will be among the valedictorians at the high school’s graduation Friday.
As part of the program, students who maintained a 4.0 average for the three years at the middle school received special recognition. They are Samantha Braga, Caitlyn Duer, Benjamin Phipps, Miatta Toothman, Maia Cole, Kaitlin Fox, Claire Throckmorton and Kristen Wilkinson.
Also honored were sixth, seventh and other eighth-grade students who achieved a 4.0 average for this school year.
Delegation fails to change site for memorial
WAYNESBURG – A delegation from a new historic preservation organization met with the Greene County commissioners May 19 in a last-ditch effort to prevent the erection of a veterans’ memorial on the courthouse lawn.
Following the meeting, all three members of the board said they would honor a commitment by the previous board of commissioners to permit erection of the monument on the lawn, It will be placed at the corner of High and Church streets, where it will face traffic driving west on High Street.
Constant rains create wet problems
Detours were common last Friday as rain-swollen streams slipped out of their banks and across highways in low-lying areas.
Fed by steady rains during the past two-days, Ten Mile Creek, Dunkard Creek, Muddy Creek and their tributaries began flooding Friday morning.
Most of the coal mining operations in the county were shut down Friday as the Monongahela River continued to rise, closing it to traffic.
The river was expected to crest at the Greensboro lock early Friday evening at 25 feet, which is two feet above flood stage.