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VOL. 19, NO. 31 SERVING CLARION, CLEARFIELD, ELK, FOREST AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES AUGUST 4, 2013
Classified ................................. D1Crossword .............................. C5Entertainment ...................... C6Finance .................................... D1Food ......................................... C1Health/Fitness ....................... C4Lottery ..................................... A2 Opinion ................................... A6Outdoors ................................ B4Public Notices ....................... D2Scoreboard ............................ B3Socials ...................................... C3Sports ....................................... B1Weather ................................... A8
• Annette Shuttleworth, 68• Mary Ruth Helman, 87• Catherine Graham, 95• Irene Munn Rhed, 85• Helen L. Smyers, 85• Pete Yonushonis, 67
INDEX24 pages
ObituariesPage A2
$1.50
By Julie Rae Rickard
CLEARFIELD — It took a jury approximately 30 minutes to find a Phila-delphia man guilty of sell-ing marijuana and cocaine in Clearfield County Court Friday.
Vernon Duncan, 26, 1526 W. Louden St., Phila-delphia, was found guilty of all 33 counts against him: seven counts each of crimi-nal conspiracy/delivery of a controlled substance, de-livery of a controlled sub-stance, criminal conspir-acy/intentional possession of a controlled substance, intentional possession of a controlled substance and four counts of criminal use of communication facility, criminal conspiracy/posses-sion of drug paraphernalia and possession of drug par-aphernalia.
The charges are the re-sult of an investigation by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office and the Clearfield County Drug
Task Force, which began in February. His co-defen-dant, Damon Seldon, 30, faces similar charges. His case is scheduled for jury selection next week.
Testimony in the three-day trial came from agents from the AG’s office and members of the Clearfield County Drug Task Force, who set up controlled buys from Ducan at a residence at 102 Quarry Ave. in Du-Bois on Feb. 5, Feb. 14 and March 4. A search warrant was served on the apart-ment March 5 where po-lice uncovered 54 grams of cocaine, 150 grams of marijuana, firearms and numerous items of drug paraphernalia.
In an interview after the verdict was read, District Attorney William A. Shaw Jr. said Duncan will serve a minimum of 13 years in prison as a result of previ-ous drug convictions, the amount of drugs found and the involvement of firearms.
Philly man guiltyon drug chargesfrom drug bustat DuBois location
AKRON, Ohio — On a rainy July 27, a 12-year-old Kersey girl saw her dreams come true as she became the first All-American champion from the Tri-County Area in the Soap Box Derby races.
Rosina Nero from Kersey placed sixth in the Rally Super Stock Division, not only making her the first Tri-County racer ever to place, but also to win three consecutive heats on the big hill in Akron, Ohio, accord-ing to her father Don Nero.
No one in the Tri-County Area can lay claim to plac-ing at the All-American
event that celebrated its 76th year of racing, accord-ing to Don Nero. She is the first contestant from this area to ever place in Akron, he said. A lot of locals can remember racing on North Michael Street in St. Marys in the early 1960s and 1970s or on Maple Avenue in DuBois during the 1950s or 1960s.
Nero now does most of her racing on West Long Avenue or Industrial Drive in DuBois. This was her fourth year in a row to the big race, twice as a DuBois
Kersey girl brings homeAll-American 6th placetrophy from Akron, Ohio
By Kimberly Finnigan
CLEARFIELD — Drunk drivers in Clearfield County should think twice before getting behind the wheel.
About 14 officers from five different police depart-ments participated in a Sobriety Checkpoint train-ing held Wednesday at the Clearfield County 911 Cen-ter.
Instructor Tom Winters, from the Institute for Law Enforcement Education, conducted the course that will provide more trained officers to help conduct DUI enforcement opera-tions through the Clearfield County DUI Strike Force. The course was made pos-sible through the PennDOT North Central Highway Safety Network.
The Strike Force has been operating for more than five years within the county. The strike force program was made possible through federal grants and has recently been expanded to include parts of Jeffer-son County. The program is administered through the Clearfield Borough Police Department and officers from Clearfield Borough, Curwensville, DuBois, and Lawrence and Sandy town-ships, Morris-Cooper Re-gional police, the Clearfield County Sheriff’s Depart-ment, the state police and also officers from municipal departments in Jefferson County are utilized to con-duct checkpoints and pa-trols.
Winters said Wednes-day’s class consisted of in-struction about the laws and regulations officers must adhere to when conduct-ing sobriety checkpoints or roving DUI patrols. He said the officers learn about the statutes that can be en-forced and are instructed on other violations to look for during the strike force operations, such as seatbelt violations, vehicle registra-
tion and driver’s license restrictions and other en-forceable incidents.
Winters said the class also contained a hands-on portion where officers used the strike force’s equipment to set up a mock sobriety checkpoint. The officers were able to experience the different duties they will be asked to fulfill when a checkpoint is actually being conducted.
Winters said by the time the officers take the check-point training, they have already learned skills such as Standardized Field So-briety Testing, Alcohol Breath Test Training, and other courses.
He said the ILEE offers a variety of courses at no cost to local police depart-
ments or to officers wishing to take the classes.
Wednesday’s training was particularly important because it means more offi-cers are trained and ready to participate in the en-forcement details.
Clearfield Borough Po-lice Officer and Strike Force Coordinator Nathan Curry said the additional trained officers will definitely be an asset.
Curry said it takes a minimum of eight officers to be able to conduct a so-briety checkpoint. He said the strike force uses crash statistics to determine where checkpoints and rov-ing patrols will be held.
“We try to do at least one
Drunk drivers bewarePolice officers trained on sobriety checkpoints
DuBois Junior Baseballopens EasternRegional play
n Page B 1
Brookville Borough Police Officer Justin Miller, left, conducts a Standardized Field Sobriety Test on Lawrence Township Police Officer Nathan Eckert during a mock DUI check point. The officers were part of a class of about 14 officers from five different municipalities. The officers learned how to set up and conduct DUI check points and will be instrumental in assisting the Clearfield County DUI Strike Force to crack down on drunk driving in the area. (Photo by Kimberly Finnigan)
Vehicles drive through a mock DUI check point during a Sobriety Checkpoint training class held Wednesday in Clearfield. The officers learned the ins and outs of setting up a check point, the importance of lighting, how to pack and unpack the equipment to make the operations more ef-ficient, and how to handle the drivers who enter the check-point. Officers from five different municipalities participat-ed in the training (Photo by Kimberly Finnigan)
See Drunk, A2
Rosina Nero of Kersey placed sixth at the All-American Soap Box Derby in Akron, Ohio, July 27. This made Nero the first contestant to ever place at the world championship from the Tri-County Area. Nero is being loaded in the gate for the All American Rally Challenge by her father and car handler, Don Nero. (Photo submitted)
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Page A8
CLEARFIELD — The new bridge in New Millport will be opened Tuesday.
The bridge spans Car-son Run on Route 2012 (Douglas Road/Old Sta-tion Road) in the village of New Millport, Clearfield County. PennDOT ex-pects to have the bridge open before noon.
Once the bridge is open, PennDOT will lift the detour that has been in place since mid-June. PennDOT is more than a month ahead of schedule in opening the bridge.
There will be some daylight traffic control for the remaining cleanup and landscaping work, which is expected to last through September.
M & B Services of Clarion is the contractor on this $350,000 project.
New Millport bridge to open
See Drug, A2
See Kersey, A8
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