Local News 2-15-13

THON
A year of raising funds and awareness for the fight against pediatric cancer will culminate this weekend. 

THON Weekend 2013 begins at 6pm tonight at the BJC the 46 hour no sitting no sleeping dance marathon will conclude on Sunday afternoon at 4.   

THON raised a record breaking 10.68 million dollars in 2012.Since 1977, it has raised nearly 90 million dollars for the Four Diamonds Fund at Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital.  

Lottery
Attorney General Kathleen Kane has rejected the contract that would have turned over the management of the Pennsylvania Lottery to British firm Camelot Global Services LLC. 

Kane said Corbett overstepped his authority by signing the contract with the firm and the contract was unconstitutional.

Citing that the state could produce higher and more stable lottery profits, the Corbett administration signed the agreement with Camelot last month. He can challenge Kane's decision in court. 

Lottery Reaction

 Several political figures are responding to Attorney General Kathleen Kane’s decision to reject the contract Governor Corbett signed with Camelot Global Services to take over management of the Pennsylvania Lottery.

 House Majority Mike Turzai and Pennsylvania Speaker of the House Sam Smith expressed their disagreement with Kane’s decision in a joint statement hoping the attorney general’s decision doesn’t set the current operations back.

 State Treasurer Rob McCord applauded Kane’s decision. He had previously threatened not to pay bills to Camelot if the contract had been executed until he was convinced it was legal.

 Centre County Representative Scott Conklin also supported Kane’s rejection of the contract citing that the process executed by Corbett was faulty and was plagued with red flags from the get-go.   

Jay Paterno

 In a joint interview with the Centre Daily Times and WJAC-TV Jay Paterno not only continued to refute findings in the Louis Freeh Report, but he also says he is writing a book about his father which includes his relationship with him, the relationship Joe Paterno had with his players and the relationship he had with a lot of others.

 He also said state police interviewed the coaching staff at Penn State sometime between media reports in March 2011 about the grand jury investigation investigating Jerry Sandusky and when the grand jury presentment was released in 2011. Jay Paterno said his father encouraged his coaching staff to be truthful in talking to the police.

 As far as the book, Paterno says he has written more than 80 percent of the material and though no release date has been set, it may be available by the fall. 

Altoona Schools
Two schools in the Altoona Area School District will likely close at the end of the school year.

WTAJ-TV reports that officials say they plan to shut down Washington-Jefferson and Wright Elementary Schools due to declining enrollment. Administrators told WTAJ that they plan to save about a million dollars each year by closing the schools. 

The Altoona school system currently has 10 elementary schools and about 4500 elementary school students.

Nomination

 Assistant District Attorney General Kelley Gillette-Walker is seeking the nomination for Magisterial District Judge 49-3-02, which covers the boroughs of Bellefonte, Milesburg, Howard and Unionville.

 Prior to serving Centre County as an Assistant District Attorney, Gillette-Walker was a shareholder with the Mazza Law Group, P.C. in State College where she practiced criminal defense and family law.  

 She is a lifelong Centre County Resident and is seeking both the republican and democrat nominations. 

Penn State Scientist Honor

 A Penn State professor in the College of Agricultural Sciences is among nearly two dozen individuals honored by the Weed Science Society of America for outstanding contributions to the field of weed science.

 According to the University, Professor William Curran received the Outstanding Extension Award for his statewide weed-educational programs for agronomic crops. The award was presented during the society’s annual meeting.