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Incumbents’ defeat, railroad job losses stand out in 2019

The changing of the guard at the Blair County Courthouse and on local school boards and the decline of local railroad jobs were among the top local stories of 2019.

The Mirror’s news staff voted in mid-December on the top stories from a ballot that contained 31 prominent local news items. The following is a look at the top stories, as chosen by the Mirror news staff:

1. Changing of the guard

Voters shook up the county commissioners office and two school boards as incumbents lost. While Republican Bruce Erb managed to win re-election, fellow Republican Amy Webster was the big winner, riding on objections to the recent reassessment. Incumbent Ted Beam Jr. lost when Laura Burke finished third to secure the third seat.

Webster finished at the top of the ticket with 14,920 votes with Erb coming in second with 14,287 votes.

Beam of Altoona, a Democrat and commissioner for eight years, finished last with 6,185 votes — 1,019 votes behind Burke’s 7,139 votes.

Webster, an attorney and real estate broker, identified reassessment as a key reason for her success.

She helped numerous clients appeal the new values assigned to their properties, then she opted to run for office.

Webster also garnered support from the Citizens Tax Policy Group, represented in election documents by treasurer Richard Latker of Hollidaysburg.

That organization initiated a prominent billboard and television advertising campaign about the “botched reassessment,” using contributions from the Blair County Taxpayers’ Alliance totaling $85,000, based on campaign expense reports filed in June.

Burke, an attorney, had worked as a law clerk for Judge Elizabeth Doyle and in January 2019 resigned to help open Family Services, Inc. FSI Justice Project where she provided legal services pro bono to low-income victims of domestic abuse.

Backlash over the Altoona Area School District’s $88 million high school building project left two incumbents out in the cold.

Board President Dutch Brennan and Bill Ceglar, who had favored the building project, were defeated in the May primary election. Vice President Wayne Hippo had decided not to seek re-election.

In November, voters re-elected Ron Johnston and Sharon Bream, who had been against the project and elected former assistant superintendent Frank Meloy, Michael Baker and Eric Haugh to the board.

Meanwhile, in Hollidaysburg, Lois Kaneshiki who had drawn criticism for some comments in the past, lost in a nine-person race for five seats on the Hollidaysburg Area School Board.

Kaneshiki, a former leader in the Blair County Republican Party, had served on the school board for the past four years.

2. Railroad decline

Railroading took big hits in 2019 as Norfolk Southern laid off 50 in May, then 100 in September and 95 in November at the Juniata Locomotive Shop as the railroad cut the number of locomotives in service.

The latest layoffs brought employment at the shop down to about 555. In the 1920s, the Altoona shops employed about 17,000.

The furloughs were part of the railroad’s organizational realignment announced earlier this year, the company said in a statement.

“Consistent with our strategic plan and current business levels, our ability to streamline operations and use fewer locomotives has required the difficult but necessary decision to reduce our locomotive mechanical forces due to the decreased demand for locomotive maintenance and repair.

Norfolk Southern will continue to evaluate staffing needs as our business evolves,” the statement read.

Meanwhile, in July, WATCO officials announced plans to close its Hollidaysburg railcar repair shop, the former Berwind White plant. That closure impacted 72 local workers.

A transportation company, WATCO Companies LLC is headquartered in Pittsburg, Kansas, and provides transportation, terminal and port, mechanical and supply chain services to customers throughout North America and Australia.

3. NAC closes its doors

In May, North American Communications Inc., a direct mail print production company headquartered in Duncansville, suddenly closed its doors. At the time of the closing, the plant employed about 270 workers. NAC had reached a peak employment of about 700 in 2000.

NAC struggled to regain its footing as a profitable direct mail manufacturing business, after several setbacks in the past few years drastically impacted its viability. These included a prolonged contraction of client mail volumes and challenges with the viability of its Mexico manufacturing location, according to a company press release.

North American Communications was founded in 1979 and became one of the leading vertically integrated direct mail and fulfillment companies in its industry.

Meanwhile, employees of North American Communications Inc. reacted to the sudden closing of their plant by filing a class action lawsuit charging the company had violated federal law by not giving them 60 days’ advance written notice of termination.

Pittsburgh attorney Charles H. Saul of the law firm of Margolis Edelstein has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Johnstown asking that the company, because of its sudden mass layoff, be responsible for 60 days of unpaid wages, accrued holidays and vacation pay, 401(k) contributions and other pension and retirement benefits.

That lawsuit was referred to the U.S. District Court’s Alternative Dispute Resolution program. In June, the lawsuit was transferred to the United States Bankruptcy Court for Western Pennsylvania where NAC filed a petition to liquidate its assets.

4. CWD furor

A plan by the Pennsylvania Game Commission to use sharpshooters to kill deer in hopes of stemming the spread of chronic wasting disease came under fire by hunters, landowners and politicians.

The game commission in January announced a plan to drop a local population of deer by about a couple thousand from February through April.

The commission hired USDA wildlife professionals to bait and shoot deer with quiet suppressed rifles at night. The sharpshooting of deer in Southern Blair County was for a pilot study to see if lower deer populations can control chronic wasting disease.

The fatal and highly contagious brain disease was reportedly endemic in Blair County, and the commission believed the future of the whole state’s deer population is at stake if nothing is done.

The commission’s study area comprises an area of about 100 square miles, including municipalities in Blair and Bedford counties. In 2018, in that area there were 4,000 to 5,000 deer after the hunting season. Through targeted removal process, the objective was to leave 2,500 deer.

In September, a draft of a new Chronic Wasting Disease Response Plan by the PGC suggested creation of a CWD-Established Area centered in Blair, Bedford and Fulton counties, possibly with expanded seasons, removal of antler-point restrictions and higher antlerless allocations.

Easily identifiable boundaries such as roads or rivers would be used to delineate the boundaries, the draft plan states. The plan was drafted to guide the agency’s management of CWD.

The draft suggested three hunting seasons open to all license holders and using all arms and ammunition from Oct. 17-26, 2020, (traditionally muzzleloader season); Nov. 28-Dec. 12 (traditional rifle season); and Dec. 26, 2020 to Jan, 30, 2021.

In November, the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank said it would not accept venison donations this year because of concerns over chronic wasting disease. The donations came from Hunters Sharing the Harvest and amounted to 20,000 pounds of meat last year.

The food bank is a hub for distributing food products to more than 1,000 local agencies in 27 counties in central Pennsylvania, including Blair, Bedford, Huntingdon, Centre and Clearfield counties. Cambria County is served by the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.

5. School fight builds

Controversy over the Altoona Area School District’s $88 million high school building project continued to divide the school board throughout the year.

In the November election, construction opponents took control over the board.

In December, the new board slashed 15 percent from the cost of renovating what will be its administration building.

The former board had purchased the Investment Savings Bank building on Eighth Avenue for $700,000 with plans to renovate it into a new administrative building.

Board members agreed, for better or worse, that they were stuck with the ISB building. But where they did find cost reductions was in the $1 million cost of renovating the building so at a special meeting board members approved a $150,000 reduction to the plans and inform contractors of the change.

The board shaved $150,000 from the project by foregoing demolition of the ATM outside of the building as well as foregoing renovation of the basement, which was planned to be a training room and storage.

6. Hackney case

Two defendants took plea deals, while a third was convicted of third-degree murder for the 2013 shooting death of Steven L. Hackney.

Kashif Omar Ellis, 32, a Philadelphia native, was found guilty by a jury of first-, second- and third-degree homicide in February, then sentenced in April to life in prison.

Qasim L. Shariff Green, 24, pleaded guilty in Blair County Court in January to third-degree murder, robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery.

In June, Taylor A. Griffith, 29, of Hollidaysburg, who previously accepted a plea deal for her role and actions leading up to the shooting death of Hackney inside his Altoona residence, was sentenced to 15 to 30 years in prison.

Griffith had testified against Ellis, her former boyfriend and drug-trafficking partner.

Hackney was found dead of gunshot wounds on July 13, 2013, at his residence on the 100 block of Walnut Avenue.

In 2017, police arrested Green, Ellis and Griffith and charged them with homicide, robbery and related charges in connection with Hackney’s death.

7. Old is new

A new Lakemont Park reopened Memorial Day weekend after being closed for two years.

The park underwent renovations to move away from a typical amusement park and become a recreation and attraction venue.

The park featured two mini-golf courses with the redesigned Rabbit Hole 18-hole mini-golf course and the new Keystone Falls course.

Guests were able to revisit some old favorites, including the Skyliner Roller Coaster, Tin Lizzy Antique Autos, C.P. Huntington Train, 4×4 Mini Monster Trucks, and the Lil’ Leaper Kiddie Coaster.

They were also able to enjoy a selection of newly improved attractions, including new go-karts, LakeMonster paddle boats, and the Treehouse Activity Pool and Splash Pool.

Four batting cages were added for opening day, while four full-size basketball courts and two regulation-size sand volleyball courts opened in June. The former popular Mansion Park Summer Basketball League, operated by the Central Blair Recreation Commission, moved to the new Lakemont courts after new tennis courts replaced the basketball courts at Mansion Park.

The waterslides, Leap the Dips, United Way & Begin With Us Born Learning Trail, C2 Trolleyhouse selling beer, wine and spirits and a new parking area within the park also opened this summer.

The park featured many food and drink options, including Jack’s Grubb Shack, Dippy’s Sweet & Salty, Treehouse TakeOut and Motorway Cool Off.

8. Child sexual abuse laws

State Reps. Jim Gregory, R-Blair, and Mark Rozzi. D-Berks, shepherded through a pair of bills to change the statue of limitations in child sexual abuse cases and take the first step toward a state referendum that could open a two-year window for former victims to file civil suits.

Gov. Tom Wolf signed the legislation in November.

Rozzi’s bill eliminated the statute of limitations for most sexual abuse crimes. Gregory’s bill would amend the state constitution and allow a two-year window for otherwise outdated civil lawsuits against alleged sexual offenders.

Both bills extended the age of victims who can file charges up to age 55 from the current age of 30. Gregory said that is the age estimated by experts in the field of sexual abuse research that is the oldest at which victims recall their abuse.

9. Geist dies

Former state Rep. Rick Geist, 74, died in August of a heart attack while on a trip to Russia with his wife.

Geist graduated from Penn State University in 1965 with an associate’s degree in design technology, joined the EADS Group in Altoona as a consulting engineer and draftsman and was elected as a state representative in 1978.

Geist spent 34 years in representing the 79th District drafting bills to fund, rather than blueprints to design, local infrastructure.

Before his defeat to John McGinnis in the 2012 Republican primary — the victim of a conservative backlash against free spending government — Geist, for many years chairman of the House Transportation Committee, cooperated with other lawmakers in the area and throughout the state, both Republicans and Democrats, to help bring money here for bridges, roads like the 10th Avenue and Chestnut Avenue expressways, for school districts and in particular, for projects at the Railroaders Memorial Museum.

Bicycling was one of his special causes.

He helped create and run the International Tour de ‘Toona, a race that ran between 1987 and 2011, including 1992, when the Olympic road racing trials were held alongside it here, featuring eventual seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong — who was later stripped of those Tour de France titles for doping.

10. Justified shooting

The July fatal shooting of a Huntingdon County man by a Roaring Spring police officer was justified, according to Blair County District Attorney Richard Consiglio.

On July 26 Roaring Spring police Cpl. Lance Morris shot and killed 49-year-old Todd Eric Messner, of Three Springs, outside the Roaring Spring True Value store, 7565 Woodbury Pike, after Morris was dispatched to the area for a disturbance.

“Based upon my review of the evidence obtained during the investigation, it was reasonable for Officer Morris to use deadly force as Messner refused to comply with Officer Morris’ commands, stated he had a firearm and then turned his fully loaded firearm on Officer Morris,” Consiglio said in a statement.

Consiglio pointed to nine materials gathered and compiled by state police in the investigation into the shooting that he used to make his decision.

Those included a 118-page homicide investigation report and a forensic investigation report prepared by state police, victim and witness statement forms and interviews, Messner’s autopsy and toxicology reports and 911 audio recording.

He said his “exhaustive review” of the information left him satisfied the use of deadly force was legally justified and reasonable.

Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 946-7467.

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