Top stories of 2016
Kelly Tunney | Herald-Standard
Maria Pitonyak of Connellsville photographs the contents of her flooded basement for insurance before throwing much of it away after the flooding that devastated the city in August.
Roberto M. Esquivel|Herald-Standard
In this photo from Aug. 28, Brian Seehoffer watches as floodwaters prevent him from reaching his home in the North Manor area of Connellsville.
Cars parked along Main Street, in front of the National Bank Building, remained covered in snow Monday. Officially 24-inches of snow was recorded in Uniontown following winter storm Jonas.
Mahoney
Roberto M. Esquivel|Herald-Standard
Deanna Vicites, 47, is escorted from the Fayette County Courthouse following her August preliminary hearing. Vicites allegedly shot her husband, Fayette County Commissioner Vincent Vicites, at their home in South Union Township.
Vicites
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
D. Ferd Swaney Elementary School, located in Georges Township, will be closed after this school year.
The year started out with a bang as Winter Storm Jonas dumped nearly 25 inches of snow in some places of the county. Mother Nature continued her onslaught later in the year, soaking Connellsville with five inches of rain in a short time causing heavy flooding in the area and millions of dollars of damage — our top story of the year.
Republicans punctuated a recent run at local and state offices with newcomer Matt Dowling unseating longtime state Rep. Tim Mahoney in Harrisburg. Commissioner Vince Vicites also had his troubles after being allegedly shot by his wife in the neck last summer. And finally, our local school districts continued to struggle in 2016 as several elementary schools were shuttered because of financial reasons.
Here are the top news stories that made headlines in 2016:
Connellsville rebuilding after flooding
After floodwaters tore through Dutch Bottom following a late-August downpour, leaving dozens of Connellsville-area residents displaced and more shoveling wreckage, support both local and abroad poured in.
About 5 inches of rain fell in a concentrated area Aug. 28, causing Mountz Creek to flood. About 160 homes in the city of Connellsville and Connellsville and Bullskin townships were damaged, and more than two dozen were slated for demolition. About 50 families were displaced, many moving in with family members or seeking temporary housing. Twelve residents were rescued in fishing boats.
Residents and first responders described the flood as a disaster they had never experienced before. Many recounted waking up to waist-high water, escaping through windows, or helplessly watching the levels rise and hoping for it to recede before it reached deadly heights.
The aftermath left residents shoveling through piles of mud to recover belongings and repair the damage. Among the suffering were the helpers, including organized volunteers and neighbors offering helping hands. One resident, Carol Kirk, did laundry for residents. Neighbors Salvia Leapline and Karen Snyder gathered their children to pass out sandwiches.
Singer and Connellsville native Scott Blasey held a benefit concert, raising more than $110,000 for victims. Local and regional businesses donated supplies and funds. A flood relief fund exceeded $630,000 in donations. The Greater Connellsville Area Flood Recovery Center organized to distribute funds, hiring case managers to help those in need. An additional $250,000 in state funding was also allocated for the flood recovery funds.
Federal and state hazard mitigation money is also available for those whose homes were destroyed and damaged in the flood. A Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency buyout option allowed residents whose homes were destroyed to apply in August. But homeowners will not receive that money until the spring.
Lots accepted into the buyout will become permanent greenspace and transfer to the responsibility of the city. If many homeowners participate in the buyout, the greenspace can become a park or other community asset within regulations. Depending on the number of lots accepted into the buyout, the damaged neighborhood could take on a “checkerboard effect,” with standing homes neighboring permanently vacant spaces.
Fayette County turns GOP red
The typical Democratic blue voting practices by the Fayette County electorate tilted Republican in November, ousting a longtime state representative.
State Rep. Tim Mahoney, D-South Union Township, became a victim to the Republican red wave that washed over the region, where voters elected Donald J. Trump as the 45th president, returned U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey and U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster to Congress. With the exception of one state legislative seat, voters gave the nod to only GOP candidates at the state legislative level.
Mahoney was seeking a sixth term as the 51st Legislative District representative in Harrisburg, but found himself being challenged by Republican political newcomer Matthew Dowling of Uniontown.
While Mahoney squeaked by with 150 votes more than Dowling in Fayette County, he was on the losing side in Somerset County where the district stretches to comprise the entire district.
State Rep. Ryan Warner, R-Perryopolis, overcame his Democratic challenger James Mari with ease in the 52nd Legislative District race while political Republican newcomer, attorney Justin Walsh, secured the 58th District seat over his Democratic challenger, West Newton Mayor Mary Popovich.
A tinge of blue remained in a small section of Fayette and Washington counties and Greene County as state Rep. Pam Snyder, D-Jefferson, retained her seat by edging out her Republican challenger Betsy Rohanna McClure.
Fayette County voters, like many in neighboring counties, generally turn out for presidential races, but this year saw an increase in the numbers, according to election bureau figures.
Nearly 66 percent of Fayette County’s more than 80,000 registered voters — including the two major parties and other party affiliations — cast ballots in November, exceeding the expectation of officials.
In Fayette County, Trump bested his Democratic challenger, Hillary Clinton, by a 2-1 margin, while at the state level the margin was razor-thin, with Trump securing 48.83 percent of the vote and Clinton, 47.6 percent.
The wave of Republican red also garnered wins for Toomey who overcame a robust challenge from Democrat Katie McGinty, and Shuster, who was challenged by Art Halvorson of Manns Choice.
The Trump coattails were evident locally as the electorate voted for GOP candidates seeking the attorney general, auditor general and state treasurer posts. However, the Democratic candidates received more votes statewide and won the positions.
Commissioner Vicites shot by wife
During the early morning hours of July 17, first responders were dispatched to the South Union Township home of Fayette County Commissioner Vincent Vicites.
They found the county’s top government official bleeding from the neck and confirming that the near-fatal shot had been fired by his wife, Deanna Vicites.
As he was attended to by paramedics and then taken to Ruby Memorial Hospital in West Virginia, Vicites’ wife told investigators that she had fired the .38-caliber revolver the couple kept in the home, in an act of self-defense against her husband.
Over the course of 18 days, Vincent Vicites, 55, underwent four surgeries to remove the bullet that had lodged in his shoulder. He had a temporary tracheotomy tube inserted in his throat, and other surgeries were needed to repair the affected shooting areas.
Deanna Vicites, 47, was arrested and charged by police with attempted homicide, illegal possession of a firearm, simple assault, reckless endangerment and two counts of aggravated assault. A charge of resisting arrest was added prior to her August preliminary hearing.
Although she did not take the stand at the hearing, her attorney, Doug Sepic, alleged that his client had been physically abused by her husband during the couple’s marriage, and another encounter earlier in the evening culminated in the shooting.
County District Attorney Rich Bower has stated the shooting was an “intentional, knowing, reckless or negligent act,” and could have resulted in Vincent Vicites’ death.
Vincent Vicites returned to his commission duties in mid-August.
Deanna Vicites remains lodged in Greene County Prison on a $250,000 bond. A Jan. 9 tentative trial date has been scheduled by the court.
Schools closed or face closure
School districts in Fayette County tried to adjust to budget limitations and declining enrollment in 2016 by looking towards school consolidation to strengthen their operations.
Albert Gallatin Area School District closed one of its six elementary schools in February, citing financial struggles and falling enrollment.
The school board voted to close D. Ferd Swaney Elementary School in York Run and send its 240 students to three other district schools — primarily nearby A.L. Wilson Elementary in Fairchance — beginning this school year.
District officials said closing the underutilized school would save the district more than $740,000 over the course of a school year.
In Brownsville Area School District, two aged elementary schools closed their doors as a brand new one opened, uniting all of the district’s elementary students under one roof.
The new Brownsville Area Elementary School — a $14.1 million project that was completed in August — includes significant upgrades to technology, security and mechanical systems compared to its predecessors and puts all district students on a single campus in Hiller starting this school year.
Cox-Donahey Elementary in Redstone Township and Central Elementary in Luzerne Township, which housed students in grades K-2 and grades 3-5, respectively, were permanently shuttered.
The Connellsville Area School Board recently held formal hearings necessary for a school closure, as district officials cite educational, enrollment and financial reasons for possibly closing as many as four of the district’s eight elementary schools.
Administration hopes to “rightsize” the district in the wake of declining enrollment by closing Connellsville Township, Dunbar Borough, South Side and Clifford N. Pritts elementary schools and transferring students to the remaining four schools.
The board can vote on the possible closings as early as this upcoming March.
Winter Storm Jonas pounds the region
Area residents had to deal with a late January blizzard that dropped historically abundant bands of snow all throughout the northeast.
That blizzard, dubbed Winter Storm Jonas, began on Fri., Jan. 22 and left behind up to 30 inches of snow in some areas over that weekend.
According to unofficial snowfall reports at the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh, Mill Run reported the most accumulation with 30 inches of snow. By January 23, NWS had unofficially reported 24.5 inches in Farmington, and 24 inches in Uniontown and South Connellsville.
The NWS also reported 15 inches in Donora, 14 inches in Charleroi, 20 inches in Mount Pleasant, 28 inches in Champion, 16 inches in Scottdale and 10 inches in Waynesburg.
Local street crews were tasked with clearing out the accumulation, starting with main roads and then focusing on secondary roads and alleys.
Winter Storm Jonas’ record snowfall pummeled most of the eastern seaboard. At least 14 states received more than a foot of snow from the storm, according to Weather.com.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf declared a state of emergency in anticipation of the storm, which resulted in at least 49 deaths throughout the eastern United States, according to the Associated Press. The AP reported nine snowstorm-related deaths in Pennsylvania, none of which occurred in Fayette, Greene, Washington or Westmoreland counties.