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November 17, 2015

Ellwood Borough Council November Meeting Brief

The following is a brief summary of the council meeting on held on Monday, Nov. 16: Announcements There will be a public hearing today at 2 p.m. to discuss storm water management systems. Visitors Three visitors spoke regarding the Inmetco fire on Sunday and Monday, Nov. 8 and 9. Overall, residents wanted to know if the borough has any system in place to the community of an emergency and expressed concerns about the environmental effect. On Nov. 9, the Ellwoodcity.org staff spoke to Fire Chief Rick Myers who stated that the DEP officer on the scene advised nearby residents to…

November 16, 2015

Students Make Case for Increased Technology Education to Board

Students from Perry Lower Intermediate School presented their work in the Wolverine Makerspace Workshop to the board last Thursday. If the seven 4th-graders are representative of their entire grade, then enthusiasm for the workshop is near unanimous. The Wolverine Workshop, which allows students to work with 3-d printers, CAD and robotics, was added this year at Perry. Currently, students spend about one or two hours once or twice a week tinkering, experimenting, and building under the direction of instructor Scott Setzenfand, who was hired in the summer. However, if the students had their say, most of the school day would…

November 16, 2015

Police: Shoplifting, Marijuana and DUI

Shoplifting at Dollar General According to the criminal complain, on Oct. 21 around 1:45 p.m., officers responded to a reported shoplifting at Dollar General on 1221 Lawrence Ave. An employee informed officers that two females had shoplifted a white t-shirt, gray in color baseball cap and a bra with a total value of approximately $23. Investigating officers reviewed a surveillance video and identified the suspects as Rebecca Irwin, 30, and Melissa Sabo, 34, both of Ellwood City. Irwin and Sabo each have three prior convictions for retail theft. They were both charged with two counts of retail theft. Marijuana, Public…

November 13, 2015

EllwoodCity.org 2015 Reader Survey

To our valued readers, we will soon be launching a new site that will be more reader and technology friendly. To create the best possible Ellwood news site, we are looking for feedback. From now until November 25, we will be running an end of the year survey. We welcome both technical and content related suggestions to steer our course into 2016. We encourage everyone to take the 10 question survey and an additional five question demographic survey. Please feel free to be specific and elaborate in any of the open-ended questions. We appreciate your time and feedback, and we…

November 13, 2015

November School Board Meeting Brief

The following is a brief summary of the Ellwood City school board meeting held on Thursday, Nov. 12. This was the last board meeting with board members Jennifer Grossman, Bob Stevenson and George Garda, who did not run for re-election. In December, Erica Gray-Sutkowski, Danielle Woodhead and Jennifer Tomon will be sworn in the reorganization meeting. Revenue/Finance The Board approved the final expense report for board member Renee Pitrelli’s attendance at the PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference. Personnel/Education Matt Walley was approved as a wrestling coach, and Darin Morella was approved as the 9th grade basketball coach. Board member Matt Morella…

November 12, 2015

Photos: Lincoln High School Presents “Into the Woods”

This weekend, the students of Lincoln High School will present the musical “Into the Woods.” It’s an unusual and challenging production for several reasons. First, the students selected it. Director Laura Adams said the directorial staff, comprised of high school faculty, almost always chooses the musical. However, this year the students were especially excited about “Into the Woods” and convinced Adams to give it a try. The students had to perform in a workshop to demonstrate they could pull off some of the difficult numbers required. The students were inspired to do the musical after seeing the 2014 Disney film…

November 11, 2015

Into the Woods: Q&A with Cast Members

This year’s Lincoln High School Musical presented a certain challenge for a conventional Ellwoodcity.org Q&A. The musical, “Into the Woods,” a Brother’s Grimm fairy tale medley, has no defined leads but instead features an extensive ensemble cast. Accordingly, the Q&A is presented in collective responses rather than individual sessions. Overall, the cast loved the diverse emotions the musical portrays. “It’s quirky and funny and the audience will love both the comic side and the serious parts,” junior Joey Cortez, who portrays the titular character in “Jack and the Bean Stalk,” said. Cortez is one of the veterans players, having participating in…

November 11, 2015

Council: Questions Remain Regarding Civil Service Regulations

At Monday’s agenda setting meeting on November 9, the Ellwood City borough council discussed adopting amended civil service regulations at its regular meeting next Monday, Nov. 16. Borough solicitor Ed Leymarie mentioned that a specific requirement in the regulations could cause legal issues. The regulations, as they stand to be adopted, require prospective police officers to live within 25 miles of the borough. Leymarie said that council does not have authority to unilaterally make that a requirement and must first negotiate with the police union. He said there is substantial case law supporting a negotiation. Council responded by asking Leymarie…

November 10, 2015

Ellwood Chamber of Commerce Director Resigns

Lori Hilliard, the Ellwood City Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, submitted her letter of resignation to the Chamber’s board on November 5. Hilliard cited spending more time with her parents and grandparents and having a job that will have a more flexible work schedule as reasons for her resignation. Her letter also served as her two weeks notice. “I regret having to leave the Chamber as the Executive Director, but my father suffers from health issues, and I need to be able to offer my parents more support on a regular basis,” Hilliard said. “In order to do that, I…

November 10, 2015

Katy’s Baked Goods Brings Cookies, Cakes, Fudge and More to Downtown

Although it was a summer in arriving, Katy’s Baked Goods is open for business at 429 Lawrence Ave. The establishment adds a bakery to the growing list of downtown businesses. Katy’s celebrated it’s grand opening with an Ellwood City Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting ceremony on Saturday, October 31. Katy Mook-McGrath, an Ellwood resident, has sold baked goods for years at the Farmer’s Market and at the urging of her customers, she decided to open a bakery. McGrath emphasizes small batch, home-style baking and makes nothing in mass quantity. She uses real ingredients, such as vanilla beans, real butter, and…