Pa. potters, 1660-1910

-Page 5

Sports, Pg. 9 NBC beats Tussey in Softball action

Census sign erected in

Bedford, Page 16

Bedford Gazette Bedford, Pa. 75(i

Pubiished Continuously Since 1805. One of America's Oldest Newspapers.

Vol- 205 No. 162 April 1, 2010 THURSDAY

Police: Shooting response to deadly force

Work will start on the Koute 30 Bedford Bypass rehabilitation project Monday.

Grannas Bros. Contracting Inc., of Hollidaysburg, will reduce traffic to a single lane in each direction using long-term traffic control. The $6.1 million project includes paving, shoulder upgrades and guiderail upgrades along 9.33 miles of roadway from Stony Lane (T-720) to just east of the Snake Spring Township line. All work will be complet-ed by mid-December. The proj-ect is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, according to the state transportation department. Within PennDOT's District 9, the state will invest approxi-mately $47 million of federal economic recovery fimds on 21 transportation projects, which include road and bridge improvements and signal upgrades, according to the transportation department's office in Hollidaysburg.

Graduating homeschool-ers and private school stu-dente are asked to call the Gazette.

Tb be included ip this year's Graduation Edition, each homeschooler and private school graduate will need to submit a graduation form and photo. Forms are available by caUing 623-1151, Ext. 120, or by sending an e-mail to gazettefeatures@embarq-mail.com. The deadline for submissions is May 7.

; The Everett library has announced new library hours. ; As of April 1, the Everett B^ ree Library will be open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Mondays, 1 to 8 p.m. on Tuesdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesdays, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Fridays and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays.

The Bedford County Conservation District has canceled its April meeting.

The district's board of direc-tors was scheduled to meet April 7. The board is sched-uled to meet again on May 5.

Deaths. (Obituaries on Page 16) FEATHER, Ivan K., 90, of

Claysburg, died Wednesday, March 31, 2010 at the Van-Zandt VA Medical Center, Altoona. Obituary in Friday's Gazette. Arrangements by Leslie-Miller Funeral Home, :Claysburg.

GUYTON, Chester L., 67, of Yellow Creek Drive, Hopewell.

KNISELY, Edgar E. Jr., 65, of Queen, died Wednesday, March 31,2010 at home. Obit-uary in later edition of the Gazette. Arrangements by Leslie-Miller Fimeral Home, Claysburg.

WELSH, Doris B. "Dolly," 79, of New Enterprise.

By Morgan Natl Gazette Staff Writer

State police said they shot and killed a Hopewell Town-ship man with one bullet to the chest after he pointed a gun at state troopers during a stand-off Tuesday afternoon.

The shot was fired at

Chester Guyton, 67, of Yellow Creek Drive after a trooper attemped to negotiate with him for nearly 90 minutes. Guyton was pronounced dead at the scene by Bedford County Coroner Sam Gordon.

"The initial report was that Chester Gujrton was outside of

his residence with a rifle and acting very distraught. Infor-mation was received that Mr. Guyton was going to kill him-self and anyone attempting to prevent himself from doing so," said Lt. Greg Bacher, Troop G Crime Section Commander, during a press conference on

Wednesday morning. Gu3d;on was inside his resi-

dence alone when troopers arrived at the scene. Police called Gu3i;on using the patrol vehicle PA system, but he did not respond. After troopers had established a perimeter around the area, Gu^on came out of

residence with a handgun, police said.

The Pennsylvania State Police Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) was called to the scene.

"Mr. Guyton refused to sur-render his weapon or to comply Continued on Page 3

Middle school project starts early

^^ ^ , ^ M -l -

Expansion and renovation of Bedford Middle School is starting earlier than planned. Instead of the original proposal to renovate starting this summer, then begin a gymnasium addition on the east side of the building, school officials decided to start the addition first. In this view looking west, heavy equip-ment has been moved in to begin tearing up the ballfield visible here for the gym footers, as well as drilling for the geothermal heating system. Pictured below, pallets of brick for the exterior were deliv-ered this week and some unused furnishings were removed already. C l o s e s will continue in the school to the end of the term; th e^ nuddle .school w m be closed nt^jp&lii^

Gazette photos/Sharyn Maust

State fines Steckman $22,000 for oily mist

By Elizabeth Coyle Gazette Associate Editor

The state levied a $22,000 fine against Steckman Ridge, the natural gas storage company that operates a natural gas compressor station south of Clearville, for two incidents in which "blow downs" sprayed an oily mist over the neighborhood.

The state Department of Environ-mental Protection's Southcentral Region office, announced the fine on Wednesday.

Steckman Ridge's compressor station violated the state's Clean Streams Law and its Air Pollution Control Act for the unauthorized release oi' gear lubricant during "blow downs" on Aug. 23 and again on Oct. 2(5. The company not. ozily released the oil in both incidents but also failed to properly notify the DEP as required.

On the afternoon of Aug. 23, a 1-inch diameter pipe nipple cracked and caused a natural gas leak. In a safety measure, the station automatically shut down and the system set off an alarm that lasted 20 to 30 minutes. The system automatically vented about 967,000 standard cubic feet of natural gas. It also sent a mist of about 20 gal-lons of gear lubricant that was in the pipe, but wasn't supposed to be, over the neighborhood. Area residents dis-covered homes, vehicles and other items that were outside sprayed with oil droplets over the next several days.

The company didn't inform the state Continued on Page 5

Lawmaker: State deficit may reach $1Bby July

HAERISBURG, Pa. (AP) Pennsylvania's budget situa-tion worsened in March, as lagging tax collections prompt-ed a senior Republican law-maker to warn Wednesday that the state could be staring at a $1 billion deficit soon.

However, the administra-tion of Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell responded that it is too early to predict such a shortfall, and that the state is in a position to avoid further spending cuts before the June 30 end of the fiscal year.

The Rendell administration also insisted that its projection of 3.2 percent growth in next fiscal year's tax receipts is sound, despite this year's lack-luster revenues.

The volley came on the last day of a disappointing March, one of the two biggest tax col-lection months for the state government. The results were expected to be more than $200

million short for the month as the recession continues to take a toll on Pennsylvania and other state governments.

As a result, the state is fac-ing a $700 million-plus short-fall to date about 2.5 per-cent after budget negotia-tors reached a deal in October to wipe out a two-year, $6 bil-lion-plus budget deficit by cut-ting programs, raising some business tax rates, drawing down reserves and plugging holes with federal budget aid.

"I think it's very reasonable to estimate that the deficit could push a billion by the end of the year," said Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Jake Corman, R-Centre.

The deepening deficit tears a hole in the $29 billion, no-tax-increase budget proposed by Rendell and passed last week by the Democratic-led Continued on Page 16

Obama expands offshore drilling WASHINGTON (AP)

Shaking up years of energy policy and his own environ-mental backers, President Barack Obama threw open a huge swath of East Coast waters and other protected areas in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico to drilling Wednesday, widening the politically explo-sive hunt for more homegrown oil and gas.

Obama's move allows drilling from Delaware to cen-tral Florida, plus the northern waters of Alaska, and explo-ration could begin 50 miles off the coast of Virginia by 2012. He also wants Congress to lift a drilling ban in the oil-rich eastern Gulf of Mexico, 125 miles from Florida beaches.

Still off limits: the entire Pacific seaboard. And in a nod to conservation, Obama can-celed oil exploration in Alas-ka's Bristol Bay, deeming the area a national treasure.

For this oil-dependent nation, the decision could start to reshape far-reaching eco-

nomic and national security heating and energy-gulping policies, affecting where the industry. U.S. gets the fuel for its cars, Continued on Page 16

New policy expands offshore drilling President Barack Obama reversed a ban on oil drilling off most U.S. sfiores that could allow new oil and natural gas operations in waters along the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and part of Alaska.

f Newly approved for exploration and development Open for exploration, study and development

i New protected areas

Boston Chnkchi Hc'ai(f(iri

St'ii

Ocen Oify

Virginia Beacte F

^ I Charleston \ -- 5 f

^ Jacksonville'^ " Houston j New Q/lns ^

230 miles from the coast

[ Cook Inlet

Bristol Bay (Alaska is on a different scale)

288 miles from the coast NOTE: Areas are for planning purposes and may not reflect the full extent of boundaries. Federal waters start nine miles from the coast along the Gulf of Mexico and three miles on the Eastern shoreline.

SOURCE: Department of the Interior

Bedford Gazette 424 W. Penn St. 814-623-1151

35 hp. 'down payment & good credit 4 Yr. Warranty & Financing Available

BENCE'S FARM

Weather Today The Forecast Sunny. Unseason-

ably warm with highs in the upper 70s. West winds 5 to 10 mph. Tonight: Most-ly clear. Unsea-sonably mild with lows in the upper 40s. South-west winds around 5 mph.

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TOMORROW Sunny. Continued unsea-sonably warm with highs around 80. South-west winds 5 to 10 mph. Friday night: Mostly clear. Unseasonably mild with lows in the upper 40s.

THE OUTLOOK Saturday: Sunny. Con-tinued unseasonably warm with highs in the lower 80s. Saturday night: Partly cloudy. Unseasonably mild with lows in the upper 40s. Sunday: Mostly sunny. Continued unseason-ably warm with highs in the lower 70s.

Whisker pens book on potters Thursday, April 1, 2010 Bedford Gazette, Bedford, Pa. - 5

By Elizabeth Coyle Gazette Associate Editor Following up on his recent

volume on gunsmiths of Ten-nessee, local author and histori-an James Whisker of Everett has released a 144-page volume on potters of Pennsylvania.

The 144-page book t i t led "Potters and Potteries in the Commonwealth of Pennsylva-nia c. 1660 to c. 1910," is an encyclopedia of potters from across the state.

Whisker said the book came about as part of his series on occupations of the country's colonial and post-Revolutionaiy War eras. Pottery making was a popular profession, especially in parts of the state where the clay was kiln-worthy, because it was relatively inexpensive as a start-up business, he said.

The volume lists member of the well-known Pfaltzgraff fam-ily of York County that is sold in department stores today.

It also lists many potters who had operations, however large or small, in Bedford County. Peter Schell, son of Schellsburg founder John Schell Sr., is among them.

Whisker said two of the more notable po t te rs in Bedford County operated in Fishertown. One of those was William Kirk who arrived in Fishertown with his father, Herman Kirk Sr. in 1829. Whisker's book notes, "In 1864, the tax collector noted, 'good pottery.'" The book goes on to say Kirk became a partner of Jacob Fisher until the opera-tion burned in 1855. Kirk rebuilt the pottery business and la ter became a deputy U.S. marshal, and a member of the 149th Pennsylvania Volunteers during the Civil War.

Bedford County was not known for its potters. "The real centers were in Chester County, and in Himtingdon County and in Greene County," Whisker said.

Unlike the gunsmith and sil-versmiths tha t Whisker cov-ered in previous books, starting a kiln took re la t ive ly l i t t le investment.

"It was the cheapest of all professions to be into in the 18th and 19th centur ies ," Whisker said. "The immigrant did better over here (in the new country) than if they were over here as a farmer" and had to purchase land. While a gun-smith needed at least several

POTTERS ANI IN THE

COMMONWEAIT PENNSVLVANI

c. 1660 i o c . 19 Ml

fh. .hnin-s H. tl hisker

Dr. J a m e s Whisker of Everett has published this vol-ume on the potters of Pennsylvania. \ ^ i s k e r , a local his-torian and retired West Virginia University political sci-ence professor, has penned 35 books. The book is avail-able at Ickes Drug store in Bedford and on Amazon.com.

hundred dollars to start a busi-ness, a po t t e r needed much less.

Whisker compiled biogra-phies through U.S. Census, tax records, t h e U.S. Census of Industry, local directories, and newspaper accoimts and other sources.

The vo lume will provide insight to researchers and antique collectors who are look-ing for some background. The book will he lp someone who says, "I have a piece of pottery, what can you tell me about it,"

Whisker said. He expects to publish a vol-

ume of pre-1800 archival mate-rial t ha t re fe rs to Bedford County from the Pennsylvania Packett , a newspaper of the 1700s and the Pennsylvania Gazette, in the near future.

"Potters and Potteries in the Commonwealth of. Pennsylva-nia c. 1660 to c. 1910" can be purchased for $20 at Ickes Drug Store, 122 S. Juliana St., Bedford, and th rough Amazon.com. The publisher is Closson Press of Apollo, Pa.

Gubernatorial candidates find common ground HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP)

The six candidates for Penn-sylvania governor found as much common ground as dif-ferences during a freewheeling discussion about the need for reforms in Pennsylvania state gpyemfn,er>t5.,, ;

. The. four Democrats and two Repub l i cans all men r>

fielded questions from mem-bers of the audience and Har-risburg Area Community Col-lege s t u d e n t s du r ing a 90-minu te forum Wednesday night. Most not only answered the ques t ions bu t t r ied to squeeze in a mini- speech in the 60 seconds a l lo t ted for answers.

State fines Steckman Ridge . . . Continued from Page 1 until neighbors called the DEP inquiring about the incident. According to state regulations, the company must notify the d e p a r t m e n t via t e lephone report within two hours of the station malfunction and off-property release and a written report within three days.

The company didn't inform the state until neighbors called DEP inquiring about that inci-dent. The DEP then contacted Steckman Ridge on Aug. 25.

"While both incidents were accidental, the discharges vio-lated environmental law," said DEP Southcentra l Regional Director Rachel Diamond. "By waiting for up to two days to report the incidents to DEP, the company failed to act in a responsible manner protective of the public's health and safe-ty and the environment."

While DEP was considering the f i rs t notice of violation, another off-property release occurred on the morning of Oct. 26. This time, about 6,000 cubic feet of natural gas and and unknown amount of lubri-cant were vented. The oil mist th is t ime didn't impact any neighboring property, accord-ing to the company, but it did leave the company's property.

S t eckman Ridge officials didn't inform DEP until Oct. 27, again violating the streams and a i r pol lut ion laws and notification requirement.

The DEP issued two viola-tions each of the Clean Air and Clean Water acts for each of the two incidents.

Neighbors were not totally satisfied with the penalty.

"It seems to me it was sort of a s lap on the wr is t , " Lee Glover, one of the nearby resi-dents, said. "I don't know how

(DEP f ines and pena l t i e s ) operate," but he said a $22,000 fine for the gas company "was not much to them."

Neighbor Angel Smith, an outspoken opponent of the gas company and pla in t i f f in a l awsu i t aga ins t S teckman Ridge and pa ren t company Spec t ra Energy, said the pena l ty is "wrong, very wrong."

"It affected water, it affected soil, it was on people's proper-ty," she said, even on children's p-ay equipment.

"it's a joke," she said. J o h n Repetz, DEP

spokesman, said the amount was derived from a matrix the department's staff uses, weigh-ing the length and severity of each incident. He didn't know what a maximum or minimum penalty would be for Steckman Ridge's violations. Whether $22,000 was appro-priate "depends on your per-spective," Repetz said.

Steckman Ridge agreed to the fine and will pay $17,000 to the state's Clean Air Fund and ano the r $5,000 to the Clean Water fund. The compa-ny, on s igning a Consent Assessment of Civil Penalty, waived a right to challenge the content of the civil penal ty signed March 24.

Steckman Ridge conducted cleanups of some area proper-t ies following the August event. According to the consent assessment, cleanup activities included collection of "stained soil" from the compressor site for disposal, hiring of an envi-r o n m e n t a l c leanup f i rm to aba t e neighbor ing s i tes , cleanup of a pond along Rock Hill Church Road where an oil sheen was noted and testing of a drinking water well to deter-

mine if there was contamina-tion. Those tests showed the oil didn't reach the water of the particular well tested.

The company also said it would improve its procedures by providing for a "more local-ized shutdown of the system." The shutdowns or blow offs that the company said are rou-tine in most instances, result in a loud roar, similar to a jet engine, local residents have said. Steckman also said it would reduce it lubricat ion rate for the compressor.

Repetz said the investiga-tion and final consent agree-ment occurred relatively fast, according to what DEP staff told him. "With some of the staffing issues we have, there was some backlog. Considering it took place just a few months ago, this actually moved for-ward rather quickly."

In a prepared s t a t emen t . Spectra Energy said it has taken a number of s teps to minimize the potent ia l for shutdowns and releases.

"We continue to invest in improvements to ensure the station meets the highest envi-ronmental and opera t ional s tandards. We've ins t i tu ted new reporting procedures to ensure timely and accurate communication with PA DEP and other regula tors . We understand and appreciate our neighbors' concerns and are committed to demonstrating the high performance levels that the community expects," the s ta tement from Spectra read.

The Steckman Ridge natural gas reservoir has the capacity to store 12 billion cubic feet of na tu ra l gas in a depleted underground gas field in Mon-roe Township.

Court ruling puts Everglades deal in jeopardy WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.

(AP) Gov. Charlie Crist 's grand plan to revive the dying Florida Everglades by buying back the land is in jeopardy after a federal judge Wednes-day ordered the s t a t e to resume construction on a mul-t imil l ion-dollar res tora t ion project.

Work on the 25-square-mile reservoir th,e. largest of its kind in the world was halt-ed in 2008 af ter water man-

agers said a lawsuit from envi-ronmenta l i s t s could h inder their ability to complete the project.

The decision to stop work came just a month before Crist announced a plan to spend $1.75 billion to buy all of U.S. Sugar Corp.'s 180,000 acres and assets in the Everglades.

Crist's plan has since been scaled down, because of the economy; to $536 million for 78,000 acres from U.S. Sugar,

the nation's largest cane sugar producer.

U.S District Judge Federico Moreno's ruling on Wednesday could now end it all.

Moreno granted a motion from the Miccosukee Indians, who live in the Everglades, to force the South Florida Water Management Dis t r ic t to resume construct ion of the massive reservoir with an esti-mated cost of up to $800 mil-lion.

THE BEDFORD GAZETTE'S

Somewhere in the Bedford Gazette circulation area, the Gazette Bunny has hidden a specially-marked

Easter Egg. Every day a new clue will be published in the Bedford Gazette to help you find where the

egg is hiding, until someone finds the egg. So get your detective hat on and good luck!

I found my location on 26 South, Congressman Bill Shuster

has many fond memories of this place.

RULES: 1. Employees, independent contractors and affiliates of the sponsors or the

Bedford Gazette and their immediate families are ineligible to participate. 2. The Easter Egg WILL be located on public property. Please do not

trespass on private property to look for it. 3. DO NOT DESTROY PROPERTY! The Gazette Egg can be located with-

out destruction of property, and you may be held accountable for any property damage.

4. The Gazette Egg, when found, must be turned in to the Bedford Gazette office, 424 West Penn Street, Bedford Monday thru Friday 7 am to 5 pm for verification.

5. Contestants must be 18 years of age or older, and have valid identi-fication.

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