Oct 24, 2025 4 min read

Lori C. Padilla

Connellsville’s Jayden Mickens is pursued by Uniontown’s Gavin Radford during last Friday’s game at Connellsville Stadium. Mickens rushed for 200 yards and scored three touchdowns in the Falcons’ 56-12 victory to keep possession of the “Old Coal Bucket” trophy.

Cheers: Jayden Mickens of Connellsville saved his best performance of the football season for the Falcons’ rivalry game against Uniontown for the “Old Coal Bucket” trophy that is given annually to the winner of the local showdown. Mickens rushed for 200 yards with touchdown runs of 1, 45 and 11 yards to help Connellsville defeat the Red Raiders 56-12 and snap the Falcons’ seven-game losing streak in the process.

Courtesy of Joe Piszczor

Jen Pardini speaks at the Domestic Violence Services of Southwestern Pennsylvania fundraising dinner on Oct. 15.

Cheers: We can’t help but marvel at the resilience and strength demonstrated by Jen Pardini, whose life was forever altered two years ago at the hands of her ex-boyfriend, who brutally attacked her with a hammer, fracturing her skull and nearly ending her life. Rather than retreat from the public eye, the Bridgeville woman is using her experience to help other victims of domestic abuse. She spoke last week at the Peace Begins at Home dinner, a fundraiser for Domestic Violence Services of Southwestern Pennsylvania. She talked of hope and healing, and reminded those in attendance that survivors are not defined by their abuse. The advocacy has been fulfilling, she told the newspaper’s Jen Garofalo, with people in abusive situations reaching out to tell Pardini that her story helped give them the strength to leave. “I always say that I think everything happened to me for a reason,” she said, “and I want to help others in any way I can.” Domestic Violence Services of Southwestern Pennsylvania serves residents of Fayette, Washington and Greene counties. The agency’s helpline is available 24 hours a day and can be reached at 800-791-4000.

Cheers: The 2000 Turkeys fundraising campaign kicked off Oct. 2, and the need is even greater this year as more people have become food insecure. In its 41st year, campaign donations will help Food Helpers, the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, and City Mission Boxes of Love to provide Thanksgiving dinners to Washington County families in need. In Washington County, more than 18,820 people – about 1 in 8 – face food insecurity, according to Food Helpers. Of those, 20% are children and 30% are seniors. That is why donations to 2000 Turkeys are so important. “We are seeing a 20% to 25% increase since last year in people looking for support for food,” said Food Helpers President and CEO George Omiros. “There are many people, especially in the Mon Valley area, who have lost their jobs, and we have had an uptick in requests for food in Washington County. More people are coming to our monthly distributions.” To make a donation, send a check addressed to 2000 Turkeys, P.O Box 2000, Washington, Pa., 15301.

Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter

Fourth Street Foods is facing a lawsuit and is scheduled to close its food processing plant at the end of the month. The Speers plant is shown here.

Jeers: The hits keep coming for communities in the Mon Valley, with the latest announcement of the possible closing of Fourth Street Barbecue, putting 252 workers — many of them immigrants – out of work. According to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice filed with the state, two frozen food processing plants operated under the Fourth Street Foods name in the Charleroi area are scaling back and may close by month’s end. The move comes on the heels of the closures of the long-running Charleroi glass plant and Quality Pasta Co. factory. The Fourth Street Foods’ closing would create a “territorial disaster” for immigrants under the Temporary Protected Status humanitarian program, which expires in February, says Pittsburgh immigration attorney Joe Murphy said last week. “You’ve got the end of legal status and the end of the job. What are these people going to do? That will happen at the cruelest possible moment, February in Western Pennsylvania. Landlords will be evicting people into the minus-9-degree weather or whatever we get.”