Monthly Archives: February 2018

Get Your Gloves Ready

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Courtesy of the DuBois Little League

DuBois is proudly the hosting city for the 2018 Small College World Series for both baseball and softball. Starting last fall, a completely new renovation went underway to design and complete a brand new softball field located at the City Park in DuBois. This is an all-turf field that includes a complete brick backstop as well as a striped outfield for an appealing look. This field will completely turn around the quality of the softball fields in the area as it will be the main field for every game over the spring, summer, as well as the fall.
The baseball field in DuBois, Shower’s Field, is also experiencing a renovation that included the placing of artificial turf in the outfield to replace the sod that was laid a couple years prior. This will complete any needs of the field and put it in pristine condition. The field will now be all turf with brick backstop, storage garages, grandstands, and an outfield luxury box. This initial rebuilding began a few years ago, but is finally being topped off this spring.
City Manager John “Herm” Suplizio has said that the field progress was coming along nicely over the fall, but has experienced a slight obstacle with these extended winter conditions. The extra snow and sloppy conditions have made it difficult to advance with the work and stay on schedule while trying to not create a muddy mess. It appears as though the construction crews are just going to have to give in to the nasty weather conditions and hope to be able to work soon.

Courtesy of wjactv.com

Business’s of the town are excited for the World Series to come as the 10 baseball and 10 softball teams will be bringing plenty of business to the local hotels and restaurants with them.The local restaurants are sure to see tremendous increases in business and customers as these teams will need to eat dinner every night that they are here for the tournament, which should be close to a week. This is poised to be an overall great revenue booster for the town and uplifting for all of the local business’s that have been in need of support. 
The Penn State DuBois Baseball team is looking to once again make an appearance in this tournament, as they have the last couple of year. Head Coach Tom Calliari has done an outstanding job in starting the team and recruiting solid local players to develop and play together to form a strong team. I have been fortunate enough to personally know Coach Calliari as he coached a travel baseball team that my brother, Clayton played on. He is not only a great baseball mind, but a person as well. His number 1 goal is not to build the best team possible, it is to build the best men possible. He teaches such important values, ethics, and morals to all of his players that greatly forms them into good people. Upon graduation, they are ready to go into the world and become leaders and nice people. It’s more than just baseball.
As for the Penn State DuBois Softball team, this will be the 1st year they are competing with a team. Local girls have been recruited to play on the team and have been participating in winter workouts to prepare for the upcoming season. This year appears as though it will be a building year as the roster total is low, and the girls have never played together before. Every team can relate to this is it is very tough to come out of the gates as a newly formed team and be able to compete with other teams that have been playing together for years. The girls will just have to work to build upon each game and hope to be able to put it all together at the end of the year for a possible post season run.
The both of the World Series tournaments taking place in DuBois this upcoming May is a great opportunity for the entire town to come together to enjoy the local area’s favorite pastime. Baseball has always been loved by the people of DuBois, all the way up from Little League to the high school teams and the college team at Penn State DuBois. People are able to get away from their worries for the night and just sit back, relax, and enjoy the entertainment. I know that I personally find watching baseball to be one of the most enjoyable and appealing things to do. Much like others in the area, I love seeing the defense, the offense, the field, atmosphere, and the food. All of this comes together to create an overall scene that cannot be topped. The spring season cannot come soon enough for me; I want nothing more that to smell the fresh air and enjoy the show.

To Build or Not to Build

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In recent news for Treasure Lake and Sandy Township, Aqua PA, the supplier and regulator of the water system for the area, has proposed a new water project that would include a building that would contain pumps and equipment located in the Barbary Coast are of Treasure Lake. This project would require the consolidation of four residential lots around it. This has greatly concerned those who are currently living in that area as they have taken their discomfort to city officials in order to seek a solution.

Courtesy of treasurelakeinfopics.com

The citizens voiced their concerns stating that their property values would greatly decrease due to the building being so close to their lots. They believe that Aqua Pa is not completely sure about their promise of how the building would be structured. They fear there would be a metal fence as well that was not previously put in the plans for the new building. Their solution would include the building going to a more remote area in Treasure Lake’s thousands of acres of wooded property.
One individual voiced his concerns being that he had just established his home to retire in, and if this building was put on this lot he would be forced to move. He made the claim that because Aqua PA is a $7 billion company they should have the ability to put the building on any other lot in Treasure Lake.

Courtesy of the Courier Express

From the city officials, their concern is in what they can legally do regarding the negotiations for a different location. There are many laws and regulations regarding who can legally inspect the land and who has to be present to do so. A notice has to be given regarding the proposal for an inspection, and every party must have the opportunity to be present in doing so. The only way to quietly view the property was to be driving by and not stop the vehicle while doing so. However, even while doing this it is a slippery slope taking the chance to be seen scouting, putting yourself in a risky situation for future negotiations regarding the placement of the building.
The head of the city officials claimed that he wished to do more research regarding the subject and the legality of the matter, and have another meeting on the 15th of February. This would allow everyone to gather more useful information in order to build a better proposal for the establishment of the building of Aqua PA.  Additionally, Sandy Township has accepted the award of two grants for the funding of repairs to the water and sewer systems for the area. The grants, totaling near $765,000 require a 15% match from the area, equating to roughly $115,000. This is a big number coming from Sandy Township, but the repairs are much needed as the system in place now has been in need of updates for the last couple of years. This money will most likely be borrowed and paid back over the following years through budget savings and scale-backs on other pending projects.
Regarding the pending project of Aqua Pa building a new structure in Treasure Lake, I feel that it should be in a Treasure Lake bylaw that it would require the approval of the board to build a commercial structure on a residential lot. This would give the upper hand to Treasure Lake and Sandy Township regarding where the building should be placed. If this would happen to not be the case, it would be in Treasure Lake’s best interest to propose an offer to Aqua PA that would allow the building to be build in a better area while offering a cheaper price for the purchase of the land. This would keep the good relationship between Sandy Township and Aqua PA while greatly benefiting those who live in the residential area that was originally planned to be the location of the building. All members of the situation would benefit.
If I were to put myself in the shoes of the city officials for Sandy Township, I would work to propose a deal that would offer the free sale of land to build the new structure in exchange for the maintenance work on the existing water and sewage lines that is a part of the grant deal that was previously mentioned. This would clearly be a tough sell, but by starting high with a proposal such as this, it could lead to the mutual agreement in the middle, such as the relocation to a new site for a slightly cheaper sale cost. Either deal that Aqua PA would accept would greatly benefit Sandy Township and Treasure Lake, as well as the residents. The Barbary Coast residents would no longer have to worry about the building, and the entire area would better from new water and sewer lines. This would allow for cleaner water and an overall better Treasure Lake, Pennsylvania.

Sweaters & Steaks No More

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In recent news for the city of DuBois, a few local stores and businesses are closing their doors due to low profits over the last couple of years. The first, the Bon-Ton clothing and households store will be shutting its doors for good in the upcoming weeks. The store’s chief executive officer, Bill Tracy, cites the reason of the closing to be the decrease in corporate profit over the last few quarters. The franchise has been hit hard by the rise of online shopping and growth in diversity of Walmart and is no longer able to operate under its “old school” marketing and sales strategies. The store was known locally for having blockbuster sales around the times of holidays, especially Black Friday. During this time almost all items in the store were at least in the area of 20% off of the market suggested price.

Courtesy of USA Today

It is unknown how many local employees will be out of a job due to this closing. Bon-Ton has not released a plan regarding the relocation of managers or other workers to ensure positions. It is almost certain that some will be let go, but the number is yet to be determined.
The second business that will be closing its doors in the DuBois area is Ponderosa Steakhouse. The steaks will stop being served at 8:30 p.m. this coming Saturday, February 3. The owner, Sam Mollica, claims that the reason for the closing is because he is retiring. The sale of the building is pending, and he will officially be walking away from the restaurant. Ponderosa has been in business for 39 years, so this will be a sad sight when the doors are locked up for good.
I personally was never a fan of Ponderosa. I felt as though it wasn’t a true steakhouse. I mean, it had a buffet on the inside too. It is hard to claim that you are a professional and serious steakhouse while also having a half put together buffet out there. Don’t get me wrong, at my hungriest I would not be turning down some of their food. This just would not be my first choice to go grab a bit to eat any day of the week.
The closing of Ponderosa may possibly open up more business for other local restaurants who have long been competing with eachother, as well as Ponderosa, for business. This will put Ponderosa’s customers back into the pool of other restaurants to redistribute their money. This would help boost the status of their restaurants and overall improve the economy of the local area.

Courtesy of Foursquare

For the closing of this restaurant it is looking as though there is going to be some job loss for those who were under Sam Mollica. With the closing date being so soon and no alternate operation released or planned, those workers appear to be out of work as of Saturday.
A positive of the Ponderosa closing compared to the Bon-Ton closing is the reasoning. Having Ponderosa close due to Mr. Mollica retiring is not a sad or depressing story, it is great that the store is going out on a happy note and not being forced to close its doors due to low income. This however is the unfortunate story for Bon-Ton. Although, this is a corporate company we are dealing with here. The company has seen extreme success in the past years and is not hurting for capital. Even if the company sold all of its assets and cashed out, their would be extreme success by the individuals who won it. The closing of a few stores does not equate to corporate being in dire need of money, they are going to be just fine.
Overall, the city of DuBois is just experiencing the effects of capitalism. Many stores are competing in the area to sell the same products at the lowest prices possible in order to increase their market. Bon-Ton has felt the effects of being out bid and played regarding the accessibility to the consumer by companies such as Amazon, Walmart, and Macy’s. They were no longer able to compete with the low prices that these other companies were able to offer and had no other choice than to close their doors for good.
As for Ponderosa Steakhouse, this is the classic diner story of a small town. The long-time owner has finally decided to hang up the tongs and hold the steaks. The business will just be sold and he will cash out and retire happy and pleased with the overall success of his business.
The two overall aspects of business can distinctly be compared and contrasted across the entire country of the United States, and other places across the world. It often appears as a struggle to keep going and stay on top, very much like life itself.