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Articles by Jonathan Cortez

December 17, 2015

Photos: Riverside Defeats Ellwood City by Two Points in Last Two Seconds

Riverside and Ellwood City clashed in a high-scoring game last night at Riverside High School. Both teams were locked in an evenly-matched struggle which remained undecided until the last two seconds with a steal and two point shot by Riverside. The game ended 71-69 with the Wolverines returning home in dismay. The second quarter ended 35-34, with Riverside leading. The second half of the game saw Ellwood take the lead only to gradually lose it. Ellwood scored 18 to Riverside’s 12 in the third quarter. However, the Panthers counterattacked in the fourth quarter. Led by junior guard Dylan Speicher, who…

December 16, 2015

Council Discusses Reimbursement for Police Responding to Calls Outside Borough

Council discussed the possibility of seeking reimbursement for police services to other municipalities during Monday’s agenda setting meeting, The discussion began with a measure, proposed by council members Ralph Chiappetta and John Todorich, that would define when Ellwood City police officers are permitted to respond to calls from other municipalities and attempt to get reimbursement from other municipalities for police services. Currently, the Ellwood City Police Department responds to all calls from neighboring municipalities, such as Wayne and Perry Township. The measure, as initially proposed, would restrict responses unless the borough has a contract with the municipality or Ellwood officers…

December 11, 2015

Winter Sports Preview 3: With an Experienced Lineup, Lady Panthers Looking to Successful Season

Experience is one thing the Lady Panthers have in abundance. Going into the 2015-16 season, the girls have six seniors fresh from a 19-4 season last year. Having finished 9-3 in their class AA section and advanced to the first round of playoffs, the Riverside girls basketball team is of course aiming for those goals again. However, teamwork and daily practice take precedent to earned titles. “We would like to compete for a section title and the playoffs but we never talk about it in that manner,” head coach John Wolf said. “We simply take our next opponent and work…

December 9, 2015

Winter Sports Preview 2: Lady Wolverines Shooting for a Second Playoff Run

Last year was an exciting year for the Lady Wolverines. For the first time in 17 years, the Ellwood girls basketball team, under coach Jolene Krupa, advanced to the playoffs. The elation of the playoff season was short lived with a loss in the first game against Ford City. The season ended with total record of 12-11 overall and 5-7 in conference. This year, the team has its sites raised higher: top three in section and to advance at least one stage farther in the playoffs. With a loss of only two seniors, the core of the squad is returning,…

December 9, 2015

Abundance of Half Days this Fall Helped Students and Local Restaurants

If you work downtown, you may have noticed that every other Friday, there were groups of high school students flocking Lawrence Avenue. Of the 15 Fridays this year, students had a half day on eight of them. However, that pattern has concluded. For the Ellwood City Area School District, this school year has no more than usual half days, but they were grouped into the first three months. The next half day won’t be until May. While for students, half days mean less school, for teachers, they mean Act 80 days with several hours of training. According to Superintendent Joe…

December 8, 2015

Winter Sports Preview 1: Ellwood City Wrestling

As a sophomore, Tyler Albers won the wrestling MAC tournament, placed third in the WPIAL and advanced to the PIAA state tournament. This year, as a junior, he’s hoping to improve that performance. In addition, six other Ellwood City wrestlers qualified for the WPIAL championships last season. For Craig Alberts, now on his third year as head coach, this season is promising for both individual achievement and team performance. Although the team lost three seniors, including WPIAL medalist Mike Sinclair, six returning starters and an influx of freshmen invigorate the lineup. “We would like to advance as many of our…

December 8, 2015

Riverside Girls Get the Best of Ellwood at Tip Off Tournament

The Lady Panthers and Lady Wolverines both have an exciting season to look forward to. Both teams are returning the core of their members and both teams advanced to playoffs last season but lost the first game. Ellwood City, Class AAA, is returning five seniors, including lead scorer Karrington Ketterer. Riverside, class AA, returns six seniors. The two teams started the season against each other in a clash Friday night at Lincoln High School. Riverside was ultimately victorious. The game started off stalemated with the second quarter ending 19-18, in favor of Riverside. Many of the points came from free…

December 7, 2015

Ellwood Wolverine Wrestlers Warm Up for Season at Hampton Team Duels

The Ellwood City Wolverine wrestlers had a fine individual showing at the Hampton Team Duels with 25 match wins. The competition, held at Hampton High School on Saturday, Dec. 5, pitched five teams against each other in a tournament series and inaugurates the varsity wrestling season. The teams competing were Ellwood City, Fox Chapel, Hampton, Mount Lebanon, Mount Pleasant and Riverview Although the Wolverines only won as a team against Riverview, Coach Craig Alberts was pleased with the individual results. “It was one of our best showings at this tournament,” Alberts said. “We usually struggle as a team here because…

December 4, 2015

Morella Allies with New Members to Elect Pitrelli School Board President

With the support of three new members, Renee Pitrelli was elected President of the Ellwood City Area School Board at Thursday’s reorganization meeting. It was a contested vote. At the start of yesterday’s meeting, Mike Nuepauer sat in the president’s chair and LeRoy Cortez served as vice-president. Both favored keeping things as is and were supported by Anthony Buzzelli and Kathy Pansera. Each of the four has served at least two terms. However, board members Renee Pitrelli and Matt Morella had different plans. Backed by the three new members, Erica Gray, Jennifer Tomon and Danielle Woodhead, Pitrelli ended the meeting…

December 3, 2015

New Ellwood City Borough Website Launched

The new Ellwood City Borough website launched yesterday, providing residents with a more engaging and informative online resource. Currently, the old website is still functional, though the homepage should soon have a redirect link to the new website. A quick comparison between the old and new reveals why it was time for change. The old borough website was designed primarily for desktop use. The new website is mobile friendly and features more contemporary aesthetics, such as bigger pictures, drop down menus and a more user friendly layout. Most importantly, the website provides a far more informative resource for residents and…