Jan 3, 2015 7 min read

A look at some of the headlines gracing the pages of the Observer-Reporter and Waynesburg Republican this week in Greene County history:

Magazine honors

Waynesburg Central H.S.

Waynesburg Central High School is among the best in the country, according to U.S. News and World Report.

The magazine named the local high school as one of its bronze medal schools in the 2010 edition of its America’s Best High Schools report, which was published a few weeks ago. Three high schools in Washington County – Avella, Bethlehem-Center and California – also received bronze medals.

“It’s a very pleasant surprise,” said Dr. Jerome Bartley, Central Greene School District superintendent. “There were only five high schools in the intermediate unit that received this award, so we are very proud.”

Frazier High School in Fayette County is the other award winner in Intermediate Unit 1. Around the country, 1,189 schools earned the bronze ranking and 53 high schools in Pennsylvania were named to the list.

School districts do not apply for the award. Instead, U.S. News and World Report examined standardized test scores and other data that school districts regularly submit to the U.S. Department of Education and other sources. The magazine analyzed data from more than 21,000 high schools in the country.

High schools with the highest marks were given a gold medal and are recognized as the top 100 schools in the country. The magazine also recognized high schools in the silver, bronze and honorable mention categories.

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Surveying the salt

WAYNESBURG – Recent blasts of winter weather have kept snow plows busy in Greene County, causing municipalities to rack up overtime hours and use tons of anti-skid material.

It has snowed nearly every day since Christmas, so municipal road crews have been at work every day as well. However, all municipalities contacted Thursday said they have plenty of salt and cinders to deal with whatever Mother Nature has in store.

“We are using it faster than we have the last couple of winters but we have an adequate supply,” said John Higgins, Franklin Township supervisor.

The township uses salt primarily in the “town area” of the township and a 50-50 mix of salt and anti-skid in the outlying, rural areas.

Higgins said that several days ago he ordered another 200 tons of salt from the township’s supplier and was told the salt would be delivered within a week. He said he was not told there would be any problems filling the order.

The township has had some overtime but offers compensation time as opposed to overtime pay for employees in order to maintain its budget.

During a typical winter, Waynesburg Borough uses about 350 tons of salt on its roads but workers have already spread about 200 tons. The borough also has spent about $3,000 in overtime so far.

“And it’s only January,” said Borough Manager Bruce Wermlinger. “Supposedly, it’s not going to stop snowing until March, so this is going to be a rough year.”

Greene County hospital

may seek affiliation

Greene County Memorial Hospital may again seek an affiliation with another hospital as it struggles to overcome continuing financial difficulties, Raoul Walsh, GCMH’s chief executive officer, said Tuesday.

“We are evaluating all of our options,” Walsh said. A plan to affiliate with another hospital, however, “is purely at the discussion stages at this time,” he said.

The hospital has suffered financial troubles the last few years. Last year, the hospital lost about $1.4 million, Walsh said. It also saw losses of more than $1 million in each of the preceding two years.

Despite the losses, the hospital is not in danger of closing, at least as long as it continues to treat patients and receive reimbursements for care from private insurers, Medicare and Medicaid, Walsh said.

As reimbursements have declined during the last few years, however, the hospital has had to continue to reduce expenditures, which has become more and more difficult, he said.

The hospital last year had negotiated with West Virginia University Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va., regarding a possible affiliation. That affiliation was ruled out, however, because various insurance plans covering Greene County residents could not be accepted at the West Virginia hospital, he said.

Financial problems faced by the hospital also are similar to those experienced by most small hospitals in Pennsylvania, Walsh said.

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Generosity sparks dozens

of heartfelt thank yous

WAYNESBURG – “I’m writing you with teary eyes to thank you for the best Christmas gift – Patty’s home!” So begins the more than 100 hand-stamped thank you notes that Kim Stoll has fashioned for her friend Patty McGowan Lazear.

The notes were sent to those who offered support after learning of her battle to save her home from foreclosure after multiple sclerosis forced her to leave her job.

The note continued, “I am so awed by the generosity of individuals … from all over the state and across the country. Because of your help we are sending a check today to bring the mortgage back up to date … because of your help we have the extra money to pay the mortgage for the next several months until social security and disability are approved. Thank you for the gift of hope!”

Through donations, which are still coming in, the Patty Lazear Fund has raised nearly $10,000.

The home in question is a modest white farmhouse on Lance Street, Waynesburg, the pitcher pump still mounted beside the kitchen door, a testimony to the fact that this home was here when the surrounding acres were fields, not a mosaic of back yards. It was here when East Waynesburg was known as Morrisville and had a double covered bridge instead of a McDonalds.

For Lazear and her children Alicia, 13, and Michael, 11, it’s a place they can still call home, thanks to the kindness of strangers.

DeWeese eyes House

majority post

WAYNESBURG – When H. William DeWeese first went to Harrisburg in 1976 as the youthful representative from the 50th District, he said he hoped to make the House of Representatives his career and to rise to leadership status within the ranks of its Democratic leadership.

Now, almost 14 years later, the Waynesburg resident stands on hat threshold of achieving that goal.

The untimely death last week of House Speaker James Manderino of Monessen, and the expected election of House Majority Leader Robert O’Donnell of Philadelphia to be his successor, has set the stage for the majority leader spot.

DeWeese, as Democratic whip second to O’Donnell, is in a position to move up if he can muster or improve on the support he received last January, when he was elected majority whip by a 56-47 vote among the 103 Democratic House members.

Sugar, spice first to arrive

The first child born in Greene County Memorial Hospital on 1970 arrived at 12:20 p.m. Friday.

The little girl was born to Thomas and Linda DeMurray Bruno of Waynesburg R.D.4, and is ther first child.

Nurses at the hospital said she weighed six pounds, two ounces. The little girl will be named Michelle Ann.