State College has taken new legal action in a renewed attempt to shut down a former Penn State fraternity that has long been a source of concern for borough and university officials.
The rental property at 329 E. Prospect Ave. was home to the former Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity chapter, which
charter revoked from its national organization in 2019. The borough contends the house continues to operate as if it were a fraternity in violation of the zoning code.
The State College Zoning Hearing Board previously ruled that the house was in violation because the zoning code requires an occupying fraternity to have university recognition to operate as a fraternity house. When a fraternity loses recognition, the board concluded, it loses its claim to operate as a fraternity house.
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The State College/Centre County Task Force on Mental Health Crisis Services completed more than a year of work in November when it delivered its final report. Now the borough and county are taking the next steps to oversee implementation of its recommendations.
A progress review committee will be charged with monitoring progress and providing feedback as agencies and staff address the report’s 19 recommendations for changes in the county’s mental health crisis services. State College Borough Council approved the committee’s creation on Monday night, and county commissioners gave their endorsement on Tuesday.
Formed in the fall of 2019 following the fatal police shooting of Osaze Osagie and subsequent community conversations, the 30-member task force conducted a comprehensive review of services in the county. The final report identified strengths and weaknesses of the current system and made recommendations for improvements to mobile and delegate crisis services, involuntary c
About a dozen members of the advocacy group formed in the aftermath of the fatal police shooting of Osaze Osagie lay on the plaza outside the State College Municipal Building Friday afternoon as part of a “die-in” protest that called for the resignation of three borough officials.
It marked the start of what the 3/20 Coalition says will be “10 Days of Action,” leading up to the second anniversary of Osagie’s death.
On March 20, 2019, one of three State College officers who responded to Osagie’s Old Boalsburg Road apartment to serve a mental health warrant shot and killed the 29-year-old after he charged at them with a knife in a basement narrow hallway.
State College’s 3/20 Coalition, a local advocacy group, is hosting 10
“days of action” to honor the two-year anniversary of Osaze Osagie’s death. The event will take place beginning Friday, March 12 through Sunday, March 21.
The first event of the series is a peaceful “die-in” at 1 p.m. on Friday, March 12 at the State College Municipal Building. The purpose of the die-in is to demand the resignation of three borough officials, Mayor Ron Filippelli, Borough Manager Tom Fountaine, and Police Chief John Gardner.
“In the two years since Osaze’s murder, these three officials have used their positions of public trust to hide key information about the facts of the investigation, including the identity of the officers involved and details regarding their fitness for duty,” 3/20 Coalition said in a release. “Public demands for transparency and accountability have been met with either hostility or obstinate silence.”