County weathers changes
Butler County experienced a number of changes and events in 2013, most of them positive.
Economic announcements and actions collectively were the most significant news of the year and are detailed in a story on Page 1.
But there were other events that caught the public's attention with educational issues a top subject that touched many people's lives and communities.
Here is a look at a number of the top events in the past year.
Personnel changes highlighted the year in education.The Butler School District was hit with the announced retirements of three top administrators.Superintendent Michael Strutt, Assistant Superintendent Carolyn Cornish and business manager Cathy Rodgers all announced their retirements in November, which will be effective at the end of this school year. The three administrators have a combined 50 years of experience in the district.There also are new leaders at the Mars and Slippery Rock school districts.In Mars, longtime Superintendent Bill Pettigrew retired after more than 20 years. He was replaced by James Budzilek.Slippery Rock Superintendent Kathy Nogay announced she will retire at the end of the 2013-14 school year.Longtime educational leader and county resident Robert Paserba declared his retirement.Paserba, 72, who previously served nine years as the superintendent for the Butler district, left his current position at the Diocese of Pittsburgh this year. He had been the superintendent for Pittsburgh's Catholic schools, and most recently was secretary for Catholic education.Grove City College also will get a new president next year after Richard Jewell said he will retire as president.There was other educational news, much of it related to finances.In May, the Slippery Rock School Board voted to close Har-Mer Elementary, effective this past fall.More school closures also may be under way in 2014.
The Butler School Board approved a 17-month feasibility study that will look into possible restructuring and consolidating of school buildings. The district is among the 25 largest in the state, with 11 elementary schools, a junior high, an intermediate high and a high school.Slippery Rock University will have tough financial years ahead. SRU had to close a $5.2 million deficit this year, and it is facing a projected $10 million deficit for the 2014-15 school year.Expansions are planned at Butler County Community College. The university approved $4.7 million in renovations at the main campus library, and $1.2 million in expansion and improvement at its Cranberry Township facility.BC3 also expanded with a new facility at Brockway in Jefferson County.The Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV in Grove City had personnel woes with its executive director.In April, Cecelia Yauger resigned after an audit found that she charged more than $110,000 on a Unit IV credit card since 2007. It's still unclear how much of the money went for her personal expenses.The MIU hired Wayde Killmeyer as her successor, who began work in September.
Two senior citizens died and nine other people — seniors and adults with special needs — were hurt April 26 when a freight train struck a Butler Area Rural Transit bus at Evans City's Maple Avenue crossing.Bus driver Frank Schaffner told a police officer after the crash that it was foggy and one of the passengers yelled to him, which momentarily distracted him.However, Schaffner is awaiting trial on charges including two counts each of homicide by vehicle and involuntary manslaughter.
Auto body shop owner Robert “Bob” Gaurrich was shot and killed Jan. 11 at his business on Route 68 in Forward Township.Police continue to search for the killer but say they have no suspects in their homicide investigation.James Sullivan, a 39-year-old military veteran from Donegal Township, died after he was punched, knocked to the ground and stomped as he lay in the street during a St. Patrick's holiday weekend melee outside of a Kittanning bar.Four men from Armstrong County were arrested in the March 17 incident.Trials are pending.Scott A. Black of Butler is facing the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder in the deaths of his one-time fiancee and her boyfriend.Black is accused of fatally stabbing Marcelle I. Edwards, 42, and Donald L. Shay, 43, of Leechburg, Armstrong County, on April 27 at Edwards' mobile home near Tionesta, Forest County.Black is in jail awaiting a trial next year.Lynn M. Tomlinson, 44, of Penn Township, a former secretary at Holy Sepulcher Catholic School in Middlesex Township, was arrested in March on charges she stole more than $315,000 in a scheme involving tuition and gift cards at the school.Tomlinson is awaiting trial on felony theft charges.
Longtime county Controller Jack McMillin announced Jan. 1 that he would retire at the end of the year. He took office in 1994.Republican Ben Holland will replace him, having run unopposed in November.Butler got a new mayor with Republican challenger Tom Donaldson easily defeating incumbent Democrat Maggie Stock, who was first elected in 2005.In January, a county judge overturned a referendum result to reduce the number of supervisors in Center Township from five to three.
In February, the Jackson Township supervisors approved plans for a second cryogenic natural gas processing plant.Clinton Township allowed PennEnergy to drill for Marcellus Shale natural gas on township property, and Buffalo Township approved a large well pad that would support five wells.The Slippery Rock School Board is considering a proposal to give XTO Energy permission to drill for natural gas on property near Moraine Elementary School. There is some community opposition to that plan.Several property owners in Center Township this year began negotiating with gas companies to drill wells on their properties.
Butler Township Police Chief Gary Garman retired Jan. 15, after nearly 40 years of police service.He had been chief of the police department for 27 years, overseeing a force that grew to 21 full-time officers.In March, John Hays, an officer with the township since 1979, was promoted to chief.Colin Abbott, 43, of New Jersey in February pleaded no contest to killing his wealthy father and stepmother at their Brady Township residence.However, Abbott is trying to get out of the plea deal that put him in state prison for 35 to 80 years.Prosecutors believe Abbott killed his parents in 2011 as part of a plan to erase $2 million in debt to his father and to inherit the couple's $4 million estate.A once prominent Butler doctor, David Evanko, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting two boys he had been contracted to treat medically while they were residents of Summit Academy.Evanko was sentenced in April to serve 5½ to 14½ years in prison. The sentence will run and expire concurrently with the 6- to 15-year sentence that Evanko already is serving for sexually assaulting a boy he'd met in the Boy Scouts in the 1990s.The Saxonburg Holiday Parade in November marked the first major event in the borough since more than $1.8 million in Main Street renovations were done.The historical revitalization project was meant to return Main Street to its appearance in the 1800s.
Three of Butler Township's five fire departments merged. Meridian, Lyndora and Greenwood Village volunteer departments became Butler Township Fire District No. 3.The merger brought a reduction in equipment and the projected sale of the Greenwood Village fire station by January.Equine Angels Rescue, a Cabot-based animal rescue group, confiscated horses from owners the group said had neglected the animals.The horse owners sued the group in federal court for the return of their horses, claiming the animals were taken under duress and threat of prosecution.After the neglect cases were dismissed by county prosecutors, the owners resolved the case in federal court.The settlement was sealed from public view.Eagle staff writers Jim Smith, Kim Paskorz, John Bojarski and Kate Malongowski contributed to this report.
