Local news from StateCollege.com and Centre County Partners. Read about Headstone Preservation Gets a Lift at Bellefonte’s Union Cemetery and more from the State College, PA region
Local news from StateCollege.com and Centre County Partners. Read about Bellefonte Borough Plans to Buy Original Armory Building for Police Department Headquarters and more from the State College, PA region
This story appears in the April 22-28 edition of The Centre County Gazette.
BELLEFONTE As many other Centre County summer festivals have announced plans to sit out another year because of concerns about COVID-19, the Historic Bellefonte Cruise is moving forward with safety in mind.
The popular event has been a Bellefonte Father’s Day weekend tradition since 1988 and features a car show, Friday night Sock Hop, music, food and a marketplace. This year it is scheduled for June 18-19.
Cruise Director Pat McCool said he has met with the borough to discuss how the event would be held safely. During an April 5 meeting, the borough council gave conditional approval for the event to move forward as long as all current COVID-19 protocols are in place, including social distancing, event capacity limits and the wearing of masks.
BELLEFONTE Bellefonte Borough Council has an open seat.
At Monday night’s borough council meeting, council accepted the resignation of member Gina Thompson. Thompson, who represented the south ward, recently accepted a part-time position in the borough as HARB’s Zoning and Planning administrator.
Borough manager Ralph Stewart explained Thompson’s resignation letter.
“Gina is taking a position in the borough,” Stewart said. “We did advertise, just like we do with all of our positions that go to the outside. We had one applicant and it turned out to be Gina … she has some very good experience.”
Because the position with HARB represents a conflict of interest, Thompson was forced to give up her seat on council.
CHRIS MORELLI cmorelli@lockhaven.com
BELLEFONTE The vandalism that took place on the second weekend of 2021 at Jake’s Cards and Games in Bellefonte continues to send shock waves through the community.
The mural was vandalized on Jan. 8 with messages of hate from the same white supremacist group that left stickers throughout downtown State College recently.
The vandalism occurred in the wake of the Capitol riot that occurred in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6. Someone used stencils and spray paint to deface Bellefonte’s Pride wall mural with the website of the white supremacist group Patriot Front in numerous places as well as an image of the United States with one of the group’s slogans, “Not stolen, conquered.”