State briefs
Veterans protest GREENVILLE, Pa. (AP) – Veterans are protesting Greenville school district’s decision not to allow references to God to be used inside a high school auditorium during a planned Veterans Day ceremony.
Mayor Clifford H. Harriger and city veterans council chairman James Carlson planned to hold this year’s Veterans Day ceremony at the Greenville High School auditorium.
However, Superintendent Patricia M. Homer and principals John Snyder and Stephen K. Ross said references to God and prayers would not be allowed because of concerns about violating students’ civil liberties.
School officials said they were concerned the use of God would spark complaints from activist groups.
Greenville veteran Carmen A. Surano, who serves as an executive officer with the national board of the Italian American War Veterans, said he plans to protest the decision.
Carlson said the aim of the ceremony was to show young people the meaning of Veterans Day and to meet local veterans.
City cracks down
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) – A crackdown on parking tickets will help Johnstown recoup up to $30,000 in delinquent fines that usually go unpaid.
Since new parking Manager George Walters began in late July, the city has started locking down cars that have more than three unpaid tickets. In September alone, revenue from parking tickets was $12,880, up $7,700 from the same month last year, Walters said.
“Everyone’s been lulled into complacency by non-enforcement of outstanding parking,” city Manager Jeff Silka said. “We’re starting to see significant returns on our outstanding tickets.”
While some motorists don’t like the parking enforcement, they say it’s only fair.
“You have to pay one way or the other,” said George Haidar, 61, of Johnstown. “If you have a fine, you pay it. Why do some people think they’re above the law?”
Officials had estimated the city was losing an estimated $120,000 a year in unpaid tickets when Walters was hired. Officials now have readjusted that estimate to as little as $90,000 for the year.
Appeal refused
FRANKLIN, Pa. (AP) – The state Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal from the parents of a 19-year-old boy who say it’s unreasonable to make them pay for part of their son’s incarceration for killing their younger daughter.
The court last month upheld a ruling issued by a panel of state Superior Court judges in a case filed by Beatrice and Charles Norcross. The Norcrosses, who are divorced, sought for the right to stop paying $530 a month to keep their son behind bars until he’s 21.
Their son, Nathan, 20, is being held in a juvenile detention center for killing his 12-year-old sister Shauna in 1997. His mother pays $230 a month while his father pays another $300 a month toward their son’s imprisonment.
“It was a real slap in the face, for the Supreme Court to not even give a reason for ruling against us,” Bea Norcross said. “Now other families who’ve had tragedies will have to go through the same thing, and there’s no need for that.”
The Superior Court judges had noted that no provision exists in state law to consider emotional factors when determining child-support obligations.
120 support walk
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) – About 120 people participated in the annual America’s Walk for Diabetes on Sunday.
The walkers – accompanied by several dogs – covered six miles through State College.
A group of workers from the Cold Stream Dairy Queen in Philipsburg attended with a co-worker who has diabetes.
Shelley Chintella was part of the group from the Dairy Queen.
“I’ve seen what diabetes, left untreated, does in the later stages. It isn’t pretty,” said Chintella, who used to work in a hospital.
Another participant was Lori Francis, a Penn State graduate student and an obesity researcher.
“I know this is one of those diseases associated with overweight children, and it is rampant in the African-American community,” said Francis, whose grandmother has diabetes. “I’m just here to do what I can for a cure.”
Contract accepted
BLOOMSBURG, Pa. (AP) – Workers at the Kawneer aluminum plant accepted a contract Sunday after an unsuccessful strike vote.
Union leaders said they needed a two-thirds majority for a walkout and the final tally was 168 for striking and 148 against.
The vote means that the 350 unionized workers automatically accepted a new contract, said local president Dick Walters.
One of the complaints about the three-year contract was that it will mandate 12-hour shifts for some workers.
Kawneer officials could not be reached Sunday.
Shooting reported
GLENDON, Pa. (AP) – A Glendon resident apparently fought off someone trying to burglarize his house or car on Sunday and fired a rifle during the incident, police said.
The altercation occurred at about 1:45 a.m. on Sunday, police said. The resident and the prowler got into a fight that ended after the rifle was fired, police said.
Police said they didn’t think the man was trying to hit the prowler when he fired the rifle.
No one was injured. Police would not release the full name of the homeowner.
Election awaited
SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) – The Polish National Catholic Church will elect a new prime bishop this week, church leaders said.
The election will take place at the 21st General Synod in Pocono Township.
The current prime bishop, John Swantek of Scranton, has served since 1986, and must now step down because he has served two eight-year terms.
Swantek said any bishop under 67 may be considered for the church’s top position.
Three bishops are eligible: Thaddeus S. Peplowski of Buffalo, N.Y., Thomas Gnat of Manchester, N.H., and Robert Nemkovich of Chicago.
The Polish National Catholic Church of America was founded about a century ago when Polish Catholics resisted the assignment of non-Polish priests to their parishes.
A Synod is held every four years.
Pagoda opened
READING, Pa. (AP) – It was built in the early 1900s to serve as a lavish resort, but the Pagoda’s grand opening ceremony was delayed by about 100 years.
Hundreds of people attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony Sunday for the Pagoda, which sits atop Mount Penn. The Berks Arts Council and Pagoda-Skyline Inc. sponsored the ceremony, which included re-enactors dressed in early 20th-century garb.
“Fasten your seat belts, we’re going to take you on a trip back in time to December 1908,” said Michael Reinert, president of Pagoda-Skyline. “Can you feel the chill? Welcome to the brand new Pagoda.”
Then-mayoral candidate William Abbott Witman Sr. built the Pagoda to conceal his family’s quarry, Reinert said, and to attract tourists and generate money for the city.
Witman applied for a state liquor license when construction of the resort was complete, but was denied because of hazardous road conditions leading to the Pagoda. A bank foreclosed on the property in 1910, and the property was later donated to the city.
Witman unsuccessfully ran for mayor five times.