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.
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
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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:
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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