Recent Stories

Articles by Jonathan Cortez

March 22, 2016

Wampum Native Stephen Johns Debuts in NHL and Scores First Goal

Ellwood City now boasts a National Hockey League Player. Stephen Johns made his NHL debut with the Dallas Stars on March 11 and has since played four more games. On March 17, he scored his first goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Johns is a native of Wampum and a Class of 2010 Lincoln High School graduate. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2014. The 6’4″, 213 pound defenseman signed a two year contract with the Stars with an $800,000 annual salary. Johns’ talent and dedication were noticed by Ellwood residents while he was still a Lincoln…

March 21, 2016

Opinion: Food Service Policy is Okay

The Lincoln High School food service policy is okay. Not great. Not bad. It’s just okay. The brief summary of the food service policy is that students in grades 7-12 with a delinquent account of $6.75, which is about three meals, can’t eat lunch. This, as I understand, doesn’t apply to free or reduced lunches. Those students’ meals are funded by the Federal government, so the district gets reimbursed. On one side, people feel that all students should get a meal and hungry students is a tragedy. On the other end, people say it’s a matter of responsibility for parents…

March 21, 2016

PIAA Swimming: Ellwood’s Petrak Wins Silver and Bronze

Ellwood City’s Taylor Petrak earned a silver and bronze at the PIAA swimming championship at Bucknell University over the weekend. Petrak, a junior, claimed second in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 23.19 seconds, a .14 improvement from her WPIAL performance. In the 100-yard freestyle, Petrak finished in 50.70 seconds, .37 seconds slower than her WPIAL performance. Prior to the state championship, Petrak said her primary goal was to improve her times. With the USA YMCA Nationals approaching in April, she’s shooting for times of 22.89 and 49.89. As a sophomore, Petrak won the 50 and placed second in…

March 17, 2016

Council Divides over Fate of Building

A building on Lawrence Avenue caused disagreement during Monday’s borough agenda meeting. The building in question is on 509 Lawrence Ave., which the borough owns. The building used to house the Ellwood City Newsstand and has been deemed unfeasible for repair. Since the building can’t easily be put to use, President Connie MacDonald felt the building should be torn down. At best, a developer may buy it and at worse, it can be used as a parking lot. Vice President David DeCaria disagreed and backed himself with advice from Town Center Associates, a Beaver-based consulting firm advising Ellwood City on…

March 17, 2016

Ellwood’s Petrak Travels to Swimming PIAA as Defending State Champion

As a sophomore, Ellwood City’s Taylor Petrak did what few other Ellwood athletes ever accomplished: win a PIAA individual championship. Petrak, a swimmer from a school with no team and no pool, claimed the gold in the 50-yard freestyle and the silver in the 100-yard freestyle. As a junior, she’s returning to the PIAA at Bucknell University as a defending state champion. Two weeks ago, she won the WPIAL 50-yard with a time of 23.33 seconds and placed second in the 100-yard with a time of 50.33 seconds. In both races, she beat her PIAA times from last year. Between…

March 16, 2016

Borough Considering Applying for more than $100,000 in State Grants for Parks

At its voting meeting next week, the Ellwood City Borough Council is poised to approve an application process for a state grant for upgrades to Ewing and Stiefel Park. The grants could total more than $100,000. The Ellwood City Parks and Recreation Committee, chaired by council member David DeCaria, has been working on a parks master plan, and with this grant, the borough will have money to implement some of the ideas. The grant would come from the state Department of Economic and Community Development. Ellwood City qualifies because of its participation in Lawrence County’s recreation plan. The state provides…

March 14, 2016

School Board May Be Done Discussing Food Service Policy But Visitors Aren’t

Following a discussion regarding the food service policy that prevents students with a deficit of $6.75 from eating lunch, the Ellwood City Area school board decided to leave the policy as is after all members except President Renee Pitrelli and Vice President Matt Morella agreed. At Thursday’s regular meeting, Carmelia Fury, director of Holy Redeemer Social Services, presented a written statement to the board in which she criticized this decision. The statement said the board shouldn’t base such policies on financial concerns and that all students should be able to eat. She added that the board should find out why…

March 11, 2016

Ellwood City Has Opening for Boys and Girls Basketball Coaches

At the school board meeting on Thursday, the board accepted the resignation of the girls basket coach and declared that the boys basketball coach position was open and is taking applicants. Both the girls coach, Jolene Krupa, and the boys coach, James Kosior, had been in their positions for two years and competed in Class AAA conferences. Krupa’s record was 21-24 and her team advanced to the first round of the playoffs in 2014-15, the first time a girls team has done so since 1997-98. In addition, Krupa had coached the team’s five seniors since 8th grade. Her sister, Dena…

March 10, 2016

Board Discusses Lunch Program but Keeps Policy the Same

Revision: Students on free or reduced lunch plans always receive a lunch. This was known by the Ellwoodcity.org staff but overlooked when the article was written. Following a lengthy discussion Monday, the Ellwood City Area School Board decided not to change the food service policy which had been questioned in February by members of the Kitchen Cabinet, an Ellwood City volunteer group. As is, the cafeteria staff takes lunch from students whose meal account is $6.75 overdrawn. Excepting packaged items, the food is then thrown out for health and safety reasons. In grades K-12, students subsequently receive a meal of…

March 10, 2016

Ellwood Board Members Mention Potential Merger but not with Riverside

At the Ellwood City area school board agenda meeting on Monday, board members mentioned a potential merger suitor, sort of. Board President Renee Pitrelli mentioned that an official from another school district said that representatives from the district might be interested in a merger. Pitrelli would only say that the district is close, is not Riverside and that Ellwood is not currently engaged in any official merger discussions. However, Pitrelli said that drastic action may need to be taken due to the uncertainty in Harrisburg. The Pennsylvania legislature still has not yet passed a budget for 2016. Meanwhile, the school…