Top 10 stories of 2014
The Herald-Standard’s top 10 stories for 2014 run the gamut from medical marijuana to politics, and from the prison to the cold weather. However, it was the continued issues with drugs that permeated so many things throughout the region during the year.
1. Drug problems continue to plague Fayette County
For the first half of 2014, the Herald-Standard undertook a comprehensive exploration into the drug problem that continues to ravage Fayette County, opening the community’s eyes to the depth and breadth of the issue.
From cradle to grave, drug addiction — particularly abuse of prescription opiate painkillers like Vicodin and Percocet — impacts county residents, with a rippling effect through families and the broader community.
In January, Lea Walls, clinical director at Uniontown Hospital’s Family Beginnings Birthing Center, reported about 30 percent of babies born in the previous year were born addicted to drugs, a rate nearly double the national rate of 15.8 percent.
Those babies fight an uphill battle developmentally, and some will be raised by families in the throes of addiction, meaning their psychological and emotional development can be compromised as well.
Law enforcement officials reported seeing a rise in the use of heroin, a cheaper alternative to prescription painkillers. Police have said the drug culture is changing as a result. Opiate addicts wake up needing drugs, and to fill that need, they steal, police said, from businesses and unoccupied homes, and even from family.
Fatal drug overdoses are on the rise as well. According to statistics supplied by the Fayette County Coroner Dr. Phillip Reilly’s office, within the county, there were 41 fatal overdoses in 2011, 15 overdose deaths in 2012 and 29 lethal overdoses in 2013.
Reilly held an inquest in November into the death of a Belle Vernon man who had been given a lethal dose of heroin in 2013. The panel recommended charging the victim’s friend with drug delivery resulting in death, and also recommended conducting inquests more often into the manner of death in overdose cases to determine whether criminal charges are warranted against the suppliers.
2. Prison project halted
Plans for an estimated $30 million Fayette County Justice and Rehabilitation Center came to a screeching halt in August, when Commissioners Vincent Zapotosky and Angela M. Zimmerlink agreed to suspend the project and consider other options.
The project had been on the drawing table for nearly two years with representatives from jail administration, judicial, law enforcement, behavioral health, probation and other agencies working on a plan that would replace the 125-year-old prison and offer rehabilitative program for inmates.
While the prison project had been supported by the county prison board, the Court of Common Pleas, prison corrections officers and others, residents opposed to the project launched a petition drive to have the matter put on the primary election ballot so voters determine whether the county should undertake the project.
Although the referendum didn’t make it on the ballot, the 2-1 vote by Zimmerlink and Zapotosky stopped the project. After that vote, a visiting judge ruled that zoning-related rulings associated with the scuttled project were in error, and that Commissioner Al Ambrosini had no standing to ask the zoning hearing board for variances for the project.
3. Perryopolis police officer killed
A part-time Perryopolis police officer was killed Dec. 14 while he was trying to make a traffic stop.
Richard Champion, 35, of Ligonier, died following a two-vehicle crash just before 1:15 p.m. on Route 51 near Star Junction.
Champion’s cruiser had its emergency lights and siren activated when it collided with a sports-utility vehicle turning from a northbound lane into the Big Barn Country Store.
The driver of the SUV, Andrew V. Bohatch Jr., 59, of Uniontown, died less than a week after the crash.
Hundreds of police officers, firefighters, military personnel and others took part in a solemn farewell Dec. 19 at Champion’s funeral in Ligonier. A second memorial was held Sunday in Perryopolis.
Champion is survived by his wife, Dawn, and his 16-month-old son, Tanner.
4. Republicans gain foothold in state offices
The November election brought a change in political leadership in the region, with two Republican state senators and a Republican state representative elected.
The 32nd senate district race between Democrat Deberah Kula and Republican Pat Stefano, who were vying for the seat vacated by the retirement of Democrat Richard Kasunic, saw some of highest campaign spending ever seen in the area. Each candidate spent more than $1 million dollars on the race, with Stefano, a political newcomer, coming out on top.
While spending wasn’t as much of an issue in other area races, Republican Camera Bartolotta defeated Democratic incumbent Tim Solobay in the 46th senate district and Ryan Warner, also a Republican, defeated A.J. Boni to win the seat vacated by Kula in the 52nd house district.
5. Greene County well fire kills one
On Feb. 11, the explosion of a natural gas well in Greene County claimed the life of a well worker and ignited a fire that lasted five days.
When Chevron Appalachia’s Lanco 7H gas well in Dunkard Township exploded, the fire spread to nearby Lanco 6H. The wells were capped about two weeks after the blaze subsided.
Ian McKee, 27, of Morgantown, W.Va., died in the explosion. McKee, a subcontractor with Cameron International of Houston, was working with a crew at the site to prepare it for production.
On Feb. 16, Chevron sent about 100 gift certificates for pizza and soda to local residents. The gesture of appreciation made national headlines, with some outlets criticizing the effort.
The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued several citations to Chevron, including one for restricting state emergency response officials’ access at the scene the day of the explosion. The agency later determined “possible human error and a failed screw and nut assembly” were factors in the blaze.
6. Prison plans released
Commissioner Vincent Zapotosky said he did nothing wrong in late July when he turned over prison construction documents to a West Virginia man before the plans had been publicly advertised.
Zapotosky said he permitted the plans to be turned over to the man, Mitch Brozik, so that Brozik could turn them over to a developer.
While a long supporter of the construction of a new prison, Zapotosky said that he became concerned of the cost of the estimated $30 million project and engaged the developer to review the plans at no cost to the county.
Commissioner Al Ambrosini notified the state Ethics Commission and the county district attorney’s office to determine whether any wrong-doing had taken place. The commission has yet to issue a ruling.
7. Same-sex marriage legal
Same sex couples in Pennsylvania won the freedom to marry following a decision handed down in federal court in May.
Pennsylvania officially became the 19th state, plus the District of Columbia, where gay and lesbian couples can legally marry after Gov. Tom Corbett announced he would not appeal the federal decision on May 21.
Uniontown residents Paul Vlosich and Kyle Loewy became Fayette County’s first couple to take advantage of the ruling, appearing at the courthouse on May 22 to fill out an application for a license. The happy couple tied the knot in July.
In June 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act and a California state law defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman, signaling the end of the federal government’s prohibition of same sex marriages and paving the way for individual states to address the issue. Same sex marriage is now legal in 35 states.
8. Connellsville woman fights for medical marijuana
The Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Act received a historic showing of support in the Pennsylvania Senate in September 2014.
The Senate voted 43-7 in favor of the bill, which would have given a state resident who possesses an access card from the Health Department, the ability to use medical marijuana to treat his or her condition. A handful of drug delivery methods that do not involve smoking it would be permitted under the bill, including extracted oil, edible products, ointments and tinctures.
Julie Michaels, of Connellsville, whose daughter suffers from Dravet Syndrome — a rare and intractable form of epilepsy that begins in infancy — was a driving force behind the passage of this bill. She worked in concert with a group of other moms, whose children also suffer from epilepsy, throughout 2014, lobbying lawmakers.
Sen. Daylin Leach, co-sponsor of the bill, referred to Michaels and the other moms as the most effective lobbying firm he has ever seen.
While the vote on the Senate floor was historic, the act did not become law, as it did not reach the floor of the state House.
Michaels has vowed to keep fighting, and hopes to see the bill’s passage in 2015.
9. Investigation questions health risks at state prison
Two civil rights groups in September raised health safety questions about the State Correctional Institution at Fayette site, launching further investigation by the Herald-Standard.
The report, “No Escape: Exposure to Toxic Coal Waste at State Correctional Institution Fayette,” was released by the Abolitionist Law Center and the Human Rights Coalition. The report notes that the Luzerne Township prison is surrounded by “about 40 million tons of waste, two coal slurry ponds and a million cubic yards of coal combustion waste,” calling that site a “massive toxic waste site.” The groups are calling for the prison to be closed.
The Herald-Standard learned that the water supplied to the prison and surrounding community may also contain harmful chemicals and currently has a Right-to-Know request for information about illnesses contracted by inmates and staff members at the prison.
LaBelle residents meanwhile continue to meet regularly, looking for ways to protect their health and their homes from pollution from the coal fly ash dust coming from the Matt Canestrale Contracting site that overshadows the community.
10. Cold weather seizes the region
Last winter, a “Frozen” princess wowed little girls with icy weather superpowers that had adults begging her to just let it go, let it go!
So did the people of the region feel as winter rolled on for months. Phrases like “polar vortex” and “subzero” temperatures were as familiar as Elsa the Snow Queen costumes at Halloween.
As the inches of snow piled up, the temperatures continued to drop, providing the region with some of the coldest days on record.
The cold and snow caused students in some districts to miss more than a dozen days of school, pushing back grading periods and leading to a struggle for districts to get in the time.