Recent Stories

Articles by Jonathan Cortez

March 9, 2016

EC Wrestling: Alberts Has Sights on a PIAA Medal

Tyler Alberts is on the road to Hershey with a medal on his mind. The Ellwood City junior will be competing in the PIAA wrestling championships on Thursday through Saturday and in a way, he’s been preparing most of his life for this. Alberts started wrestling in first grade through clubs. In the Ellwood junior high wrestling program, he advanced to the state competitions. Last year, as a sophomore, Alberts advanced to states but lost the preliminary round. He won the first consolation match but lost the second. Now, with a taste of states, he’s more prepared, knows what to…

March 9, 2016

Police: Man Discharges Pistol at Occupied Residence

Aggravated Assault A New Brighton man was accused of aggravated assault following an incident in Ellwood City last week. Prior to this, Justin M Bryant, 27, was charged with criminal mischief for an incident occurring on Feb. 25. The victim advised police that Bryant was in her apartment destroying items. Investigating officers observed a smashed girls’ play house, a damaged sweeper, a damaged bookshelf and two holes in the wall. The victim reported Byrant hadn’t hurt her today but had done so in the past. Police confiscated a glass marijuana pipe belonging to Bryant. The defendant agreed to pay for…

March 8, 2016

Riverside Relay Team Wins WPIAL, Two Individuals Qualify for PIAA Swimming

Spring sports season has officially started but for an elite few, winter sports goes on. At the WPIAL swimming competition last Thursday and Friday at the University of Pittsburgh, four Riverside girls and one boy qualified for the PIAA next week. The girls claimed one win in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:40.53. The team consists of junior Erica King, junior Alana Nulph, freshman Meghan Rosendale and senior Kelly Krechowski. It wasn’t an easy season. The team struggled with injuries and illnesses. Indeed, the qualifying relay team had only swam together as a unit once before. “We…

March 7, 2016

Ellwood, Riverside Athletes Advance to PIAA Competition

Although the winter sports season has largely concluded, local athletes are still experiencing the post-season in swimming and wrestling. Over the weekend, two Ellwood and five Riverside athletes qualified for the PIAA competition. Both schools are in Class AA. Correction: [Riverside sophomore Dean Kralic also qualified for the swimming PIAA.] Taylor Petrak- Ellwood City Swimming Ellwood City may not have a swimming pool or swimming team but that doesn’t slow down junior Taylor Petrak, who competes individually and practices at other schools’ pools. At the WPIAL competition last Thursday and Friday at the University of Pittsburgh, Petrak won the 50-yard…

March 3, 2016

Seussical the Musical: Q&A with Leads

The Riverside High School Theater will present the family musical, “Seussical” on March 3 through March 6 in the high school auditorium. A cast of over 100 students from the high school, middle school and elementary will participate in the production. This is the 53nd Anniversary of Theater at Riverside, so we hope you can join us for this landmark show. “Oh, the things you can think” when Dr. Seuss’s best-loved characters collide and cavort in an unforgettable musical caper. Now one of the most performed shows in America, Seussical is a fantastical, magical, musical extravaganza! Tony winners Lynn Ahrens…

March 3, 2016

Photos: St. Agatha is No More

Wednesday morning, a few walls of St. Agatha were standing but by 11 a.m., only rubble remained as the final upright structures were demolished. The gallery below shows the staircase still intact. Construction has begun on a pit, presumably for the foundation of CVS. According to the design plans, much of the land where St. Agatha was will be used for a parking lot while the pharmacy building itself will be where the apartment buildings were. Photos by Jonathan Cortez/EllwoodCity.org

February 26, 2016

Photos: St. Agatha Deconstruction

St. Agatha’s roof is half gone and the north wall has been demolished. It’s half-destroyed look combined with storm clouds made it a particularly haunting image today.       Photos by Jonathan Cortez/EllwoodCity.org

February 26, 2016

Opinion: Replacing St. Agatha with a CVS Was a Mistake

Every Friday, I walk down to Spring Avenue and snap a few pictures of the gradual deconstruction of St. Agatha. At this stage, the church looks as if it was hit by a World War II bomb run. I think it was a mistake to tear down the church and a mistake to replace it with a CVS. Earlier this week, EllwoodCity.org shared a column from Triblive on the negative effects of destroying local landmarks, and St. Agatha was used as an example. St. Agatha was one of Ellwood’s oldest buildings, had distinctive architecture and was culturally significant for the…

February 24, 2016

Riverside Loses Two Games, Still in Playoff Run

Riverside lost two playoff games on Friday and Monday against Greensburg Central Catholic and Burrell but is still in the running pending tomorrow’s game against Chartiers-Houston. Unfortunately, that run will be minus the team’s top scorer, senior Katie Stang, who averages 19 points per game. During the Greensburg game, Stang suffered a season-ending knee injury and watched the Burrell game from the sidelines on crutches. Riverside’s post-season got off to an excellent start with a comeback game against Brentwood on Feb. 18 where the Lady Panthers won 45-42 after trailing 25-15 in the first half. In Friday’s game against Greensburg,…

February 23, 2016

Four Ellwood Wrestlers Advance to WPIAL Championship

Four Ellwood City wrestlers advanced to the WPIAL championship by qualifying in the Section 1 Individual Championships on Saturday, Feb. 20. Tyler Alberts not only qualified but won his weight class of 113 pounds. In addition to Alberts, the following athletes qualified: Freshmen Donavon Chambers, 5th placed, 139 pound weight class Sophomore Tyler Baird, 5th, 113 Senior Carter MacMurdo, 3rd, 120 The top five in each weight class advance to the WPIAL championship next weekend on Friday and Saturday. “The competition will grow and we will be training hard this week in hopes of moving on to the SWR,” coach…