SUN-GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
The City of Williamsport’s controller acknowledged Monday that she was aware of an investigation taking place into River Valley Transit’s handling of federal and state grants between 2009 and 2019.
“It is still being investigated, but that is all I know,” Controller Margaret Woodring said Monday after reports of the investigation surfaced late last week. “I’ve not been contacted by the state at all.”
Attempts to reach the offices of Attorney General Josh Shapiro were not successful.
City employees said Shapiro agents are focused on grant use and lumping together of grant resources and improper accounting.
SUN-GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
City employees are alleging a financial probe is under way by state Attorney General Josh Shapiro into use of grants by River Valley Transit.
Forensic auditors have been at the transit headquarters looking at spending of grants between 2009 and 2019, a city employee told the Sun-Gazette Friday. WNEP reported Friday that two employees at City Hall say Shapiro investigators are looking into possible misuse of grant funds from the state Department of Transportation and Federal Transit Administration.
During that time, the bus system was lumping its finances into one pot and not keeping accurate records of where each dollar came from or what it was supposed to be used for, the city employees said. River Valley Transit mainly operates on state and federal grant money and the grant money may have been used for other city projects not related to transit. The state Department of Transportation provides several million dollars in grants to River Valley Transit, as
Who, in their right mind, saw it coming?
After a relatively quiet, rather “normal” first quarter, we all learned of a “new normal” that would reshape just about every aspect of daily life for those lucky enough survive the global pandemic known as COVID-19.
But first a little happiness arrived before the sorrow.
Following the New Year’s celebrations and promise to commit to resolutions, the first baby of the year was born at UPMC Susquehanna.
The baby arrived shortly before 5 a.m. Jan. 2. The story, aptly written by veteran newspaper man Philip A. Holmes, the lead police and fire reporter for the Sun-Gazette, described how Dusty Harkey was 37 weeks pregnant when she walked into the Williamsport Regional Medical Center’s Birthplace.