vol. 133 - no. 254 educational company interested flu...
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Vol. 133 - No. 254
Light snow likely. Snow accumulation up to 1 inch possible. Highs in the mid- 20s. Chance of snow 70 per-cent. Full report, A2
14 pagesClassified ......................... B5Comics ............................. B4Lifestyles ......................... A4Lottery ............................. A7Opinion ........................... A6Public Notices ............... B5Sports ............................... B1
75 Cents
• Ricky L. Frantz, 55• Edward A. Cebulskie, 48 • Herman S. Kougher, 95 • Robert Warnick, 70,• Anna R. Wheeler, 95
Flu season appears to be in full swing in Penn-sylvania, with health offi-cials reporting outbreaks in at least half the regions of the state. A3
Health careA December surge pro-
pelled health care sign-ups through the government’s rehabilitated website past the 1 million mark. A5
Out of playoffsThe Pittsburgh Steelers
beat the Cleveland Browns Sunday, 20-7, however, they will not be in the playoffs. B1
New YearsThe Courier-Express
office will be closed Wednesday due to the New Years Day holiday.
The newspaper will not be published Wednesday.
Normal business hours will resume Thursday.
Flu season
Online n This week’s question
asks, “Looking ahead to the new year, do you ex-pect your personal situa-tion to Improve? Stay the same? Get worse?
The poll is on the news-paper’s homepage at www.thecourierexpress.com
Tomorrow’s Forecast
Index
ObituariesA7
MORE INSIDE
Page B2
By Elaine Haskins
DuBOIS — DuBois Area School District Superinten-dent J. Mark Heckman said an educational company is interested in leasing the former Highland Street El-ementary School building.
The unnamed company outgrew its current space and is considering the for-mer school building, which was closed at the end of last school year, Heckman said
at the board’s recent meet-ing.
Heckman told directors he would like them to also start thinking about some uses for the district’s main-tenance building located be-hind Mansell Stadium.
Last school year, when the district talked about closing Highland, there was some discussion about using the building as a central lo-
cation to store supplies.“But we don’t want to
take room out of Highland where we can actually re-coup and make some income on it,” Heckman said. The district could possibly parti-tion the maintenance build-ing to use it as a supply hub as well as office space for the MIS Department.
Heckman said he’d like to get some direction from the board on that issue.
A possibility for bond re-financing in the district was
also brought up by Heck-man.
“We’ve talked to our in-vestment banker and we will be saving about $127,000 or maybe a little more if we re-finance a bond issue,” Heck-man said. He said he will set up a presentation by a rep-resentative of the bank for the board’s January meeting to provide board with more information on the potential savings.
New board President Pat-ty Fish appointed directors
to various committees. Lloyd McCreight, Scott Farrell and Larry Salone were ap-pointed to the negotiations committee. Tim Deluccia, Bev Kurts and McCreight were appointed to the labor management committee.
The following directors will serve as chairpersons of the following committees: Salone, administrative ser-vices and community ser-vices; Farrell, building and maintenance; Lee Mitchell,
Educational company interested in leasing Highland Street School
MONDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2013
By Randy Bartley
BROOKVILLE — There does not appear to be a cheap fix for the Jefferson County Jail.
Jail Inspection Board Chairman Paul Corbin said that the modular cells had been examined and found wanting.
“It is not economically feasible to fix the modular units,” Corbin. said. “My thinking on this is that we have to utilize the modular units until construction can be done.”
Corbin said the transfer of inmates to other counties during construction would add an-other $1 million to the project.
Jail board member Jim VanSteenberg sug-gested replacing the rotted flooring with ply-wood as a temporary measure.
Corbin said that has been done in the shower area but the support beams beneath the floor are rusted.
The county bought five portable jail cells in 2005 to ease overcrowding at the jail. The units were only meant to be a temporary solu-tion but have been in use for eight years. The problems that have developed with the mod-ular units include flooring in the rest room, shower area and the flooring in the rest room.
The unit is used for minimum security prisoners with a maximum of 56 inmates.
When the county was looking to use modu-lar units, the total projected cost was about $3 million, which would include office space, con-ference rooms and space for special programs that is not currently available. Construction would be on the footprint of the present modu-lar units.
The five temporary units were the first phase of a $2.5 million jail expansion project in 2005. The portable units, manufactured by the Downing Corporation of Ontario, N.Y., cost $359,000, which included construction of concrete piers for the units.
There was some good news. Revenue for 2013 is running at 135 percent of budget.
Warden Tom Elbel said the boost is due to an increase in out-of-county inmate housing, which added about $34,000 in revenue. Elbel said the additional inmates were from Elk and Cameron counties. The county charges $55 a day to board prisoners for other counties.
Elbel also noted an increase in telephone commissions. A change in phone companies allowed the county to realize about $45,000. Elbel said that money will not be available next year due to changes in the Federal Com-munications Commission regulations.
The jail was the subject of an independent evaluation several months ago, according to Corbin. Ted Shumaker, a consultant, exam-ined the jail operations and issued a report on his findngs. Corbin said he hopes to have a full report presented to the jail board in Janu-ary or February.
Sheriff Carl Gotwald told the board he had renovated four of the old jail cells in the base-ment of the courthouse to use as temporary cells during court sessions. Three of the cells are for male inmates and one for female in-mates.
Jail boarddiscussesoptions for modular cells
An LED Christmas light display lights up the night just off Pleasant Valley Road between Woodland and Shawville. The display contains everything from Santa and his reindeer to fire trucks and trains, a Nativity scene, penguins, rocket ships and just about all the sights of Christmas. The display is so bright and colorful, it can be seen from Interstate 80 near the 123 Exit. (Photo by Kimberly Finnigan)
DuFast Transit driver Chuck Young, left, helps DuBois resident Karen Johnson board his decorated bus in front of the DuBois Mall. Kim Clark, DuFast Transit operations director, said this is the third year the bus has been decorated for Christmas. (Photo by Paul A. Wilson)
By Judi Anthony
BROOKVILLE — The Borough of Brookville will be without some longtime public servants when 2014 begins; Mayor David “Chip” Wonderling and police Chief Ken Dworek, who are both retir-ing, and councilman Jim Sarvey, who was not re-elected.
While it’s been known for quite some time that
Dick Beck will be the new mayor and Clarinda Darr will be the new councilwoman, the name of who would replace Dworek was not decided until last week’s council meeting.
After a lengthy closed door session to discuss personnel, the council voted to hire Sgt. Jason Brown of the St. Clair Shores, Mic., Police Depart-ment.
Brown has worked nearly 25 years for St. Clair
Brookville hires new police chief
See Police, Page A7
DuBois
See School, Page A7
See Jail, Page A7
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