Politics

September 30, 2015

Borough Issues Mass Property Citations

The Ellwood City Borough filed 16 property citations on Friday, Sept. 26 with District Judge Jerry G. Cartwright. This is part of an ongoing campaign by the borough to enforce property codes on rental and business properties. According to Borough Manager Robert Villella, the concerned properties have had prolonged code violations, and the owners have repeatedly neglected to correct the infractions. Villella said that it was more appropriate for the borough to act by filing citations through the magistrate rather than placing a lien on the property. The 16 citations were for five properties, with one of the properties, 335…

September 24, 2015

Council Approves Drug Clinic 4-2

In a 4 to 2 vote, the Ellwood City Borough Council approved Freedom Health Care Services, a drug and alcohol addiction clinic, to be located on 773 Pershing St. About a dozen visitors arrived to protest the clinic, focusing their opposition on the location, which is near a residential area and a bus stop. Hunter Farmer, the owner of Freedom Health Care Services, spoke to explain the purpose of the clinic. Freedom Health Care is a counseling service for those with drug and alcohol addiction problems. It has one office in Bridgeville. The clinic has normal, Monday through Friday, morning…

September 23, 2015

State Ethics Commission Report on Mayor’s Use of Borough Equipment

At Monday’s council meeting, council member David DeCaria read a letter from the State Ethics Commission regarding Mayor Anthony J. Court’s use of borough equipment for private property. According to the report, last October council was informed that Mayor Court had used borough paving trucks for a gravel lot he owns. DeCaria said the complaint stemmed from at least one council member. The State Ethics Commission sent their letter to court on Feb. 2 of this year. DeCaria said he read the letter “in the interest of transparency.” In response, Court said the involved property is an apartment he owns…

September 21, 2015

Council to Vote Today on Addiction Treatment Clinic

Ellwood City Borough Council will vote today on a proposal by Freedom Health Care Services to open a drug addiction clinic on 773 Pershing St. in Walnut Ridge. Contrary to information in a video report, Freedom Health Care Services is not a methadone clinic. The facility will not have any methadone. It is a counseling treatment facility for those with addictions. Freedom Health Care Services is a drug and alcohol addiction treatment facility located in Bridgeville. Ellwood City will be their second location. The company provides individualized, outpatient counseling for drug and alcohol addictions. Patients are by appointment only and…

September 16, 2015

Council to Vote on Proposed Addiction Treatment Clinic

At its regular meeting on Monday, Sept. 21, Borough Council will vote on a proposal to establish a medical clinic/outpatient addiction treatment facility. Council held a public hearing on Monday, Sept. 14 regarding the request by Freedom Healthcare Services. The proposed facility will be on 773 Pershing St. in Walnut Ridge. The building used to be an orthopedic doctor’s office. Following the public hearing, Council held its agenda setting meeting at which Hunter Farmer, a representative of Freedom Health Care Services, spoke. Farmer said the company won a contract through the Lawrence County Drug and Alcohol Commission to provide addiction…

August 26, 2015

Meet the Wolverine Workshop Facilitator

[This is Part 3 in a series on the Ellwood City Area School District’s Makerspace program. The previous articles can be read here and here.] At the beginning of August, everything was set for Perry School’s Wolverine Workshop to be fully operational for the 2015-16 school year. The room’s construction was almost complete, and the technology ordered. The one thing missing was the faculty member. The position was filled at the school board meeting on Aug. 13 when the board hired Scott Setzenfand, of Economy. Unlike the equipment, which is a one time cost paid for by an innovation grant,…

August 17, 2015

Medical Cannabis Round Table Discussion, Part 2

“I want to take the Wild West out of cannabis and bring it into a controlled, medical environment,” State Senator Mike Folmer said repeatedly during the medical marijuana round table last Thursday, an event sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce. Folmer’s journey to become a co-sponsor of Senate Bill 3 was of a personal and educational nature. “I’m from a very conservative area,” Folmer said. “I’m a Bible-thumping Presbyterian, but when I learned about the research, I realized we’ve been lied to for 70 years about the cannabis plant.” The main purpose of the round table was to present the…

August 14, 2015

Medical Cannabis Round Table Discussion, Part 1

Five guest speakers addressed a crowded room in the Ellwood City Municipal Building’s auditorium yesterday. They were there for a medical cannabis round table discussion sponsored by the Ellwood City Chamber of Commerce. The audience included citizens from Ellwood and surrounding areas, Borough Council President Brad Ovial, two school board members, and Leah and Olivia McGurk, two wheelchair-bound children with Dravet Syndrome, a rare and catastrophic form of intractable epilepsy that begins in infancy- a disease that medical cannabis has proven effective against where other pharmaceuticals have failed. A crew from Armstrong cable was also present to film the discussion….

August 7, 2015

Ellwood City School District Plans K-12 Hands-On Technology Workshops

[This is Part 2 in a series on the Ellwood City Area School District’s Makerspace program. Parts 1 and 3 can be read here and here.] Perry Lower Intermediate School will be equipped with a Wolverine Workshop for the 2015-16 school year. The workshop will have high-tech equipment such as a 3D printer and robotics. However, the Wolverine Workshop is one of several planned Makerspaces in the Ellwood City Area School District. The administration plans to create one at Lincoln High School. An old computer lab next to the library will be renovated and the wall between the room and…

July 22, 2015

Borough Council Almost Creates Illegal Parking Lot

At Monday’s Borough Council meeting, council members unanimously rejected a motion that would advertise an ordinance establishing two parking lots, one of which would have been illegal. The lots in question are on Sixth Street and Bell Avenue and in the 600 block of Lawrence Avenue, west of Burger King. The borough had previously demolished the buildings on the property and now own the lots. The motion, as it appeared in the agenda, was the following:“A motion would be in order to advertise an ordinance establishing an umetered parking lot at the corner of Sixth Street and Bell Avenue for…

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