Rockview land hearing, Penn State Professionals United organizing and more top stories
Top Centre County news stories for June 25 include a federal indictment in a child sex abuse case, the transfer of a historic ironworks site back to local hands and more. Below is a quick look at the top stories.
Here are key takeaways:
- A federal grand jury indicted Morris W. Reese, 65, of Blair County, on a conspiracy to produce child pornography charge, about seven months after he and three others were charged in a long-running Centre County child sexual abuse case involving teenage girls in a Taylor Township basement.
- The Roland Curtin Foundation officially acquired Eagle Iron Works and Curtin Village from the commonwealth in December, and a Sunday event in Boggs Township will commemorate the return of the longest-operating charcoal ironworks in Pennsylvania to local ownership.
- More than 50 community members gathered at Schlow Library on Wednesday evening for a Spring Creek Watershed Commission hearing on the future of roughly 5,700 acres at Rockview state prison, which closed in March, with environmentalists urging conservation of the watershed and farmland.
- Penn State Professionals United is organizing about 6,000 non-faculty professional staff across 880 job titles, with backing from AFSCME, following the recent unionization of Penn State faculty.
- Mountain Top Area Pool in Snow Shoe will use a $30,000 Happy Valley Adventure Bureau grant to hire a food truck, build pavilions, expand concessions and work toward installing a well to reduce reliance on Mountaintop Regional Water Authority.
- The Chamber of Business & Industry of Centre County has opened nominations for the 2026 Centre County Business Awards, with submissions accepted at cbicc.org/awards until 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 21, and a ceremony set for Wednesday, Oct. 21, at the Nittany Lion Inn.
The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.