Blog Archives

Today's Online Front Page: Some News from Around Area Diamonds, A Promposal, Taking the Rough Road, A Church Modernizes, An Old Youth Group Sings, Road and Trail Work Stories of Note, and Thinking About a Friend On a Walk in the Park

4/16/2023

Franklin softball and baseball so far

Franklin softball is now 6-2 on the season and 4-1 in the conference. They ran into a buzzsaw against Armstrong earlier in the week losing 10-0. They rebounded by destroying Oil City in three innings. Then lost a tough one 7-6 in a conference matchup against Hickory. On the boys side they are struggling in the region thus far going 1-3, but have a .500 overall. Titusville coach Roy Schweitzer said he has so much respect for the Franklin program that their record means nothing thus far. Titusville did handle them with 10-0 six inning effort, but Schweitzer knows next go around they'll have to face the Knight's' ace Luke Guth.

A fun prom invite.

A plan was foiled by a dominating performance, but in the end it worked out for this young couple who will be heading to the prom together.

Click on this link for full story:
http://www.8and322.com/eight--322/she-said-yes

Thinking about Ronnie

With spring flowers popping the downtown parks in Franklin are showing off. Walking around taking a few pictures last week gave us some time to reflect and wonder about the future of these parks while remembering a friend who love these parks
Click on this link for full story:
http://www.8and322.com/eight--322/walking-in-the-park-thinking-about-ronnie

HOLeyJeans rolled along

HOLeY Jeans has been chugging along for 27 years. They recently held their annual show at the Barrow-Civic Theatre.

Click on this link for full story:
http://www.8and322.com/eight--322/holey-jeans-concert-takes-audience-to-the-movies-through-song

Church modernizing while preserving history

St. John's making improving to sanctuary hoping it allows them to do more for the community.

Click on this link for full story:
http://www.8and322.com/eight--322/historic-and-accessible-updates-underway-at-st-johns

Important bridge work will create some planning ahead for motorists through Hydetown

If you need to travel Route 408 through Hydedown this summer, you will want to plan ahead. A much needed bridge project will have the road closed for around six months.

Click on this link for full story:
http://www.8and322.com/news-from-you/route-408-bridge-replacement-to-begin-soon

Rocket's baseball has been rolling along so far in this early diamond season

We've been helping cover some sports for the new Titusville News-Journal. The baseball team is having quite a good season so far.

Click on this link for full story:
http://www.8and322.com/eight--27/rockets-rollin

Email [email protected] to ask about our new sponsorship ads today.
We'll be donating part of the funds back to the schools.

If you like ribbon cuttings and snacks while listening to speakers talk about the Erie to Pittsburgh trail system and its newest completed section, then this News From You article will be right up your alley. A bicyclists coming off the East Branch Trail said its really quite a nice addition to the trail.

The project was funded by a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and
Natural Resources with the support of several other agencies and grant programs.

To learn more about the celebration click on the link below.

Click on this link for full story:
http://www.8and322.com/news-from-you/east-branch-trail-segment-completion-celebration-april-22-2-pm

The Grove has a volleyball team

Long-time Rocky Grove girls volleyball coach Mike Stevenson, now in his second year as the boys coach, said he had to do some head scratching last year and really began to study the differences in girls and boys volleyball. He is sharing what he learned with his players who are playing at a much higher level this year.

Click on this link for full story:
http://www.8and322.com/sports/rg-volleyball-off-to-a-strong-start

The Nature of Things explores the rough road and soars high

The Nature of Things columnist Anna Applegate talks about Sherman's propensity for the rough road other astute observations about life.

Click on this link for full story:
http://www.8and322.com/the-nature-of-things/rough-road

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Today's Online Front Page: Easter flowers and celebrations; NHS Inductions; News from You: Taste of Talent Applications and Community Conversations; Softball Season Underway; Remembering Suzette

4/9/2023

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The beautiful holiday weekend weather ushered in a lot of blooming flowers across the region. Our Nature of Things columnist Anna Applegate grabbed these Easter daffodil pictures.

Easter in Franklin

On Tuesday Franklin held its rescheduled egg hunt in Fountain Park. Hundreds showed up for the popular event. See lots of pictures here.

Christians gathered Friday for the annual Cross Walk. We might have missed the beginning of the journey through the city, but we caught up with them in time to get several pictures, which can be seen by clicking here.

22 Knights Inducted in FHS

Franklin High School inducted 22 students into the National Honor Society last week. We captured several photos of the candle ceremony. Check them out by clicking here.

News from You

Community Conversations Series

The Franklin Public Library continues its series of Community Conversations from 6 to 7 p.m. most Thursdays in the second-floor community room.
In April the topics and speakers will be Autism Stands, Brandy Hinojosa; Community Gardens, Warren Thomas of Venango Area Community Gardens; and A Night at the Theater: John Wilkes Booth & Laura Keene in the Oil Region, Margo Mong. See a complete schedule of the upcoming months by clicking here.

Taste of Talent Needs Singers

Franklin is accepting applications for its annual Taste of Talent vocal competition. Applications are $25 (non-refundable) and should be submitted by May 15. Previous winners are not eligible to participate.

Click here for more information.

It's Softball Season

Last week we caught the action between Oil City and Titusville, and Franklin and Slippery Rock. The Venango squads were victorious in both games.

The Oilers came from behind to win 3-2 with a walk-off hit by Sophia Garmong.

Franklin had an easier time, defeating the Rockets 16-1 in three innings. On Saturday the Knights beat Sharpsville 4-0.

Remembering Suzette

The Oil City area community started the healing process following the homicide of Marcy "Suzette" Nellis in March. Her family and friends gathered Wednesday at the trail she loved and walked together in her memory.

The next day, suspect David Allen Bosley of Oil City, was arrested and charged with perpetrating the crime.

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This Week's Online Front Page: Thank you Ronnie, Construction season starts, Knights back to their winning way, Wicked weather, The Nature of water and light, Never too late to make a stage debut... more

4/2/2023

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Community mourns loss Franklin's biggest cheerleader

Sunday local social media was flooded with tributes to Veronice "Ronnie" Beith, who passed away Saturday, and the lasting legacy she left in the events she built in her beloved Franklin. People expressed their sadness but also remembered why she was such a positive force.

Among those was the city's events/marketing page that posted "The Franklin City staff joins the Beith family, alongside the entire Franklin community, in mourning the passing of our long-time Events Coordinator and dear friend Ronnie Beith. This tireless champion of Franklin always graciously gave 110% to any effort she joined. We are so fortunate that she left us a legacy of love and accomplishment, and a solid foundation of committed volunteers and employees to help carry us forward. To Ronnie we say, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. We will forever be in your debt; you will always be in our hearts.'"

We wrote a little from our perspective. Read our story, "Thank you Ronnie!" here.

Liberty Street lights project in Franklin taking shape

Workers have started putting up the new poles and light fixtures along Liberty Street. The supplies were back ordered for several months, delaying the finish of the project until this spring.
If you have been downtown lately, you might have noticed already how much brighter it is. M&B Services expects the work to be done, weather permitting in a few weeks.

New traffic signals hope to improve safety up on the hill

Another project from last year is also wrapping up on Route 8 in Sandcreek Township. New traffic lights, including a dedicated left turn light for southbound traffic at Pone Lane, should be turned on in mid-April. The project also includes a new blinking light system at Polk Cutoff. This work is part of a project that included paving Route 8 from the Route 62 turnoff to Polk Cutoff.

It'll be easier to walk to Giant Eagle soon

One more big project is getting set to get underway, the multi-use pedestrian trail from Elk Street at Washington Crossing in Franklin to Front Street in Sugarcreek. This project is a collaboration between Venango County and PennDOT to make it safer for walkers and bicyclists to get to the Giant Eagle area. Worn paths have existed for years and this should make it safer for everyone.

Work is slated to start at the Elk Street intersection with new ADA sidewalk curb ramps on April 3. The crew will skip over the sidewalks on the bridge and move north from the bridge toward Giant Eagle to construct a multi-use trail.

Pedestrian access to the section of trail north of the bridge will be limited throughout the project, therefore Venango County has arranged for a daytime shuttle service through Crawford Area Transportation Authority (CATA). Riders will need to board the transit shuttle at Sanders Market/Transfer Hub on Buffalo Street in Franklin and will be driven to the stop at Giant Eagle in Sugarcreek Borough and back. Additional information on the shuttle can be found through the CATA website and app at www.catabus.org.

Oil City cancels program, looks to move forward

Last week the Oil City Area School board voted to cancel the final two lessons in the "We Care Elementary" and "Sexual Abuse Free Environment for Teens" after a handful of parents objected to the content of the lessons as well as the handling of the materials and communications with parents by the administration. Read the full story here.

Franklin softball is off to a solid start once again

The Knights softabll team picked right back up with their dominations over their opponents. They won against Titusville and Grove City last week.

We posted two stories on the team this week, one a game story and one about how the season didn't end they way they wanted last year, but they're ready to take on this season.

Rockets are 1-1

We also got a chance to look at the Titusville Rocket softball team and chat with their coach Megan Green, who is taking over the helm after 16 years as an assistant. She said the team is young, but has a lot of potential.

Mr. Bennett was first acting role for retiree

Dan Twombly saw an opportunity to do something new and spend a little quality time with his granddaughter who is getting ready to head off to college in the fall.

He tried out for a role in the Barrow-Civic production of "Pride and Prejudice" and got it. "For the first time in my 66 years, I'm wearing tights," he said.
Click here for the story.

OP/Ed: seeking a solution to school gun violence

So let's not concentrate so much on the guns for a moment and focus in on the use of our wits to solve the problem of school violence.
This is the first in a series of opinion columns that we hope will engage proactive discussion.

Water and Light

The Nature of Things columnist Anna Applegate explored the shapes of light on water.
She also found an early butterfly in her travels. Visit The Nature of Things blog here.

Mother Nature through everything she has at us this week

Two weekends in a row, heavy storms rolled through the area, knocking power out to many residents. Saturday Titusville was hit hard with several trees and branches down all over the city.
According to FirstEnergy, they had more than 637,000 customers affected by the weather this past weekend. They concentrated their effort on Venango and Crawford counties which they said were the hardest hit, according to an email sent to customers on Sunday.

Here's how to report an outage and stay informed:

Report your outage here. Log into your online account to view the status of a reported outage, or view our outage map.
Text OUT to 544487 (LIGHTS). Text STAT to 544487 to receive an update for your reported outage. If you’re not enrolled in text messaging, text REG to 544487 to get started. Call 1-888-LIGHTSS (1-888-544-4877).
Customers with a communication disability can report an outage using the appropriate TTY/TDD relay service, our online form or text messaging.

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Today's Online Front Page: Some News from Around Area Diamonds, A Promposal, Taking the Rough Road, A Church Modernizes, An Old Youth Group Sings, Road and Trail Work Stories of Note, and Thinking About a Friend On a Walk in the Park

Today's Online Front Page: Easter flowers and celebrations; NHS Inductions; News from You: Taste of Talent Applications and Community Conversations; Softball Season Underway; Remembering Suzette

This Week's Online Front Page: Thank you Ronnie, Construction season starts, Knights back to their winning way, Wicked weather, The Nature of water and light, Never too late to make a stage debut... more

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