State briefs
Security studied ERIE, Pa. (AP) – Officials at the Cambridge Springs minimum-security women’s prison are considering adding more razor wire to parts of the prison fence.
Many facilities, including prisons, have improved security in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, spokeswoman Michelle Wagner said. The recommendation to add more wire came from a vulnerability assessment that was conducted, she said.
“We want to keep in line with other institutions to enhance security, not only to protect the public, but also to protect ourselves from any threats,” Wagner told the Erie Times-News.
Susan McNaughton, a state corrections spokeswoman, said the addition of the wire wouldn’t mean the prison would be changing its minimum-security status.
State Rep. Teresa Forcier, however, said she would be concerned if more razor wire is added. She said the community welcomed the prison because officials promised that it wouldn’t look like one.
“When they first came to town in 1990 … the promise was that they were not going to put up a fence – no fence at all,” FOrcier said. “Then as time went on, they felt a fence was needed. … This (new proposal) would take it to a new level with more razor wire.”
The state’s female prison population has been increasing. As of Friday, 1,748 women were housed at the state’s two women’s prisons, up from 680 five years ago.
Defibrillator purchased
ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) – The manager of the Saxton Foodliner wondered whether having an automatic external defibrillator would have helped save a customer who had a massive heart attack in the checkout line.
Now, the grocery store is one of 44 businesses and groups in several western Pennsylvania counties that have the devices on hand, thanks to a federal grant. It’s the same grant that allowed 22 AEDs to be distributed in Blair, Bedford, Cambria, Fulton, Huntingdon and Somerset counties in 2003.
Sandra Jablonski, executive director of the Southern Alleghenies Council, said if a defibrillator is used on someone in cardiac arrest within five minutes of the event, they have a greater chance of surviving. The chance of survival drops 10 percent for every minute that passes without being defibrillated.
David Fisher, the Saxton Foodliner’s manager, said it’s worth having a defibrillator at the store. He said employees will be trained by emergency medical technicians to use the device, which uses lighted buttons and voice prompts to guide the operator through the process.
“It will be worth its weight in gold,” Fisher said.
Correspondent recalled
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) – Frank Hayostek was a young man in 1945 when he put a note in a bottle and tossed it into the Atlantic from aboard the SS James Ford Rhodes.
That bottle was found by Breda O’Sullivan eight months later when she was walking her dog along the beach in Ireland. Now, the 79-year-old Hayostek, of Stoneycreek Township, wonders whatever happened to O’Sullivan.
The two met in 1952 in Ireland and continued to correspond for years.
“I saved the 70 letters she sent me when we started writing in 1946,” Hayostek. “I will leave the letters, the newspaper clippings and pictures to my grandchildren. Maybe one of them can write a book. I think it would make a good story.”
Hayostek was a 21-year-old Army corporal when he put the note in an aspirin bottle and threw it overboard. The note asked anyone who found it to write to him.
Hayostek went on to get married and raise a family, including one son and five children from his wife’s previous marriage. The last contact he had with O’Sullivan was in 1959.
“I sent a final letter, but never got a reply,” he said. “I heard she got married, too, and we just lost touch over the years. I often wonder if she is still alive.”
Deal awaited
CRANBERRY, Pa (AP) – The Seneca Valley School District, the town of Cranberry and Butler County are expected to approve a deal with a retirement village that will cut its tax bill in half.
The Sherwood Oaks retirement village paid about $397,000 in taxes last year, with most of that going to the school district. Under the new agreement, the village’s bill will be about $212,000.
Katherine Vojtko, Sherwood Oaks’ vice president, said they don’t evict residents who can’t pay their rent, so they should be exempt from taxes. The village charges an entrance fee of $65,000 to $258,000 and monthly rents up to $3,100.
“We feel that all parties will benefit if this proposed agreement is adopted,” said Mark D. Bondi, Sherwood Oaks’ president and chief executive.
AP-ES-05-02-04 0052EDT