Free Republic

Mugshot of Christopher Morelli provided by the Centre County Correctional Facility. Centre County Correctional Facility Mugshot of Christopher Morelli provided by the Centre County Correctional Facility. A Centre County journalist is back in jail for allegedly soliciting a minor for sex, less than two weeks after he was arrested for soliciting an undercover FBI agent posing as a 14-year-old. The new charges stem from a woman who came forward after hearing about that investigation. Christopher Z. Morelli, the suspended managing editor of the Centre County Gazette, was originally arrested on Dec. 20. He was released from the Centre County Correctional...

A year after the COVID-19 pandemic derailed plans for State College’s first Pride parade, hundreds of people joined together on Saturday afternoon for a decorated car caravan and a party in Sidney Friedman Park to celebrate the LGBTQA community. Sponsored by the borough and the Centre LGBTQA Support Network, it was the first official public Pride month celebration in State College and one of the first opportunities for the local community to gather in larger numbers since the onset of the pandemic. “We started working on it mid-March, because we had no idea what we would be allowed to do,”...

Authorities on Monday confirmed two suspects were arrested and charged for assaulting Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who reportedly died after the Jan. 6 Capitol breach, although his cause of death has not been disclosed.

State College police have cited 43 people with violating coronavirus safety measures since the borough approved an emergency ordinance last month. The ordinance, which went into effect Aug. 17, limits social gathering sizes and requires face masks in public, among other regulations. In a Thursday news release, State College officials said 43 citations have been issued to people who have broken the rules. Twenty-three violations reported to police between Sept. 7–13 resulted in seven citations, officials said. The consequence of disobeying the safety measures is a $300 fine and court costs. “The hope is to achieve compliance from everyone; however,...

Visitors, students and residents of State College will have to immediately take heed of a new borough law that requires mask-wearing and severely limits gathering size — or they’ll face $300 fines. In a bid to better fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the State College Borough Council unanimously voted Tuesday to pass an ordinance that would require a mask when in public, forbid long lines and cap indoor or outdoor gatherings at 10 people. Those who refuse to comply will be hit with a $300 fine by police (or other officials). The local law officially went into effect Tuesday night. “We’ve...

State police have released details on a four-vehicle crash that tied up traffic Thursday morning on Interstate 99 in Patton Township. According to the report, officers responded to the crash shortly before 9 a.m. to the 71.5 mile marker within the construction zone along the interstate. Troopers reported that James E. Bentz, 60, of Tampa, Fla., was traveling north into the construction zone when he struck a car driven by Christian L. Lamana, 25, of Milroy. Bentz allegedly stated he had been traveling faster than the posted speed and didn’t see traffic moving slower in the construction zone, police said....

Accusations that a State College psychologist had inappropriate sexual relationships with two patients could cost the local doctor his license and subject him to more than $1 million in civil penalties. The state Board of Psychology has filed a formal disciplinary action against Richard Scott Lenhart, accusing him of 111 counts of professional misconduct relating to two long-time patients. The charges stem from an investigation by the Pennsylvania Department of State, which began after the two patients came forward with accusations, according to press secretary Ron Ruman. Lenhart, whose office was on South Pugh Street in State College, had his...

Police in Centre County say a vandal may have smashed a window at the home of Jerry Sandusky. Friday morning, a front ground floor window was discovered broken with a white tarp covering it. Police say the window-smashing happened Thursday night while no one was home.

Mifflin and Centre Counties Fire and EMS Live Audio Feed 30 State Troopers moving in on the crowd from the North, University and local police from the South, trying to clear the streets. http://www.radioreference.com/apps/audio/?action=wp&feedId=1164

Thursday, Nov 10 6:00p to 7:00pat Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA

Something terrible happened on my street when I was kid, something that I had screened from my consciousness for many years until last weekend. My neighbor Scott Holderman and I were futzing about near the side of his house, setting up one of those epic Star Wars tête-à-têtes or digging for earthworms or doing whatever children do on nice days in quiet neighborhoods, and then there came a horrible screeching, the braking of an automobile that could not stop in time. The car had crested the steep hill of our street and slammed into a child who wandered into it....

BALD EAGLE — Last Friday morning, many commuters on their way to State College observed a strange event. During the thundershower on Feb. 27, some unseen force knocked a flock of Canada geese from the air near the Bald Eagle exit of Interstate 99 in Blair County. Richard Bishop of Tyrone witnessed the last few geese fall. “I was just coming under the underpass after exiting from I-99,” Bishop said. “We were on our way to Ohio when I saw this blur of something dropping from the sky. When we got closer, there were dead geese all over the road...

Penn State coach Joe Paterno, who turned 81 last week, jokingly dismissed the comments of a Texas A&M yell leader Thursday night that Paterno was “on his death bed” and “someone needs to find him a casket.” But it’s no joking matter to the Aggies, who sent the yell leader home and have issued numerous apologies to various Penn State officials. The remark came at an Alamo Bowl-sponsored pep rally for fans of both schools. Penn State fans booed loudly after the remark from the yell leader, one of five A&M upperclassmen who fill the high-profile spirit role at the...

Anti-war protests have returned to the Port of Olympia with the unloading of a military ship bearing Army gear from a Stryker Brigade that recently returned to nearby Fort Lewis from Iraq. According to an initial news release Sunday from Olympia Port Militarization Resistance, the group at first did not plan to try to block cargo from being sent from the port to the Army post ... Late Monday, however, after the arrival of 950-foot roll-on, roll-off cargo vessel, group leaders said a series of votes and discussions resulted in a change in strategy. "As long as the war in...

THE Bush administration revealed today that some of the September 11, 2001, hijackers booked their tickets on the internet using a computer in a college library in New Jersey. The disclosure by Ken Wainstein, US attorney for the District of Columbia in testimony to the House of Representatives subcommittee on crime, terrorism and homeland security, was intended to bolster the government's argument that Congress should renew a law allowing it to seize library and bookstore records. "Investigators tracing the activities of the hijackers determined that, on four occasions in August of 2001, individuals using internet accounts registered to Nawaf Al...

Gallagher says he's 'definitely coming' to Penn State By Gisela Garcia ggarcia@centredaily.com THE CHALLENGE HAS BEEN called, the date has been set. Now, all conservative radio talk show host Mike Gallagher needs is a venue. Gallagher, angered that a potential visit to the Bryce Jordan Center by film director Michael Moore is being funded partly by Penn State student fees, said he's "about 80 percent sure" he's clinched a deal for a location to hold his own event, possibly on campus, the same day Moore is tentatively scheduled to speak. "We're on. We're definitely coming on October 22nd," Gallagher said....

The Lion in Late, Late Autumn By PAT JORDAN Published: August 29, 2004 Zack Mills, a 22-year-old quarterback at Penn State University, and Graham Spanier, the elegantly dressed 56-year-old president of the school, are separated by a generation, but both are equally amazed by the youthful vigor of someone who is from another generation altogether, Joseph Vincent Paterno, Penn State's 77-year-old football coach. Mills says that Paterno can still drop to the floor and perform 20 push-ups and that the coach often takes part in drills with his linemen that result in a bloody nose. ''Nobody tries to hit him,''...

Editor's File | Decision to 'fire' Coulter gets worldwide attention rungerI stumbled into a skirmish line of our national culture war on a lazy Labor Day morning. It happened during my first cup of coffee about 9 a.m. That's when I signed onto my e-mail account and opened the first of the 364 e-mails that awaited me. The subject line read: "A letter to Ann Coulter." The message, written by a Judith Brewer, said only, "Mr. Unger, I think I love you." The second came from Joe Filko, one of this newspaper's community columnists and a staunch, thoughtful conservative. "You...