Local News
Same-sex custody fights not extra-complicated
MERCER COUNTY — While same-sex custody cases are rare in Mercer County, Lisa Lewis is not the first non-biological parent in the county to seek custody of a child she helped raise.
Former longtime Common Pleas Judge Michael J. Wherry said he never had a same-sex custody case since he began his legal career in the county as a public defender in 1967.
He has, however, seen a number of cases where non-biological parents seek an “in loco parentis” status for visitation or custody reasons. He said those cases came up maybe five times every seven or eight years.
He said a same-sex case is handled the same: If someone has in loco parentis standing and it’s in the interests of the child, they get some measure of custody.
He said it’s not necessarily a complex or difficult case once in loco parentis is established. After that, it just becomes a case of what is best for the child.
Wherry did say the two years that Ms. Lewis’ custody battle has stretched is unusual. Five out of 100 cases might go longer than six months, he said. Most are settled before or after just one custody hearing.
But the case has stretched out mostly due to mandatory limits on how long a custody case can proceed. The hearings have consistently been pushed back further than the 180-day maximum under law, causing Ms. Lewis to refile her case twice. Each time, she has had to re-establish in loco parentis standing.
Ms. Lewis believes if she were a man, she’d have access to the child’s medical records and her status at school. She also thinks the case wouldn’t have dragged on so long without her getting to see the child.
“You don’t hear about this, but I’m sure there are other gay and lesbian people who are going through this,” Ms. Lewis said.
Pennsylvania does not provide for gay marriage or civil unions, but Ms. Lewis said she didn’t know if they would have gone that route if she and Jeannette Rowan had the opportunity.
Ellen Kahn, spokeswoman for the gay rights group Human Rights Campaign, said there is a patchwork of state laws that allow non-biological parents to legally adopt their partner’s child.
“It is in the best interest of the child, and the family as a whole, for the non-bio mom to do a second-parent adoption,” Ms. Kahn said.
Such adoptions provide the non-biological parent legal rights. Some couples do not seek these because of limited finances, a lack of knowledge or because they don’t think it’s required, Ms. Kahn said.
Pennsylvania allows for such adoptions and does not explicitly limit gay couples from adopting children, according to the HRC’s Web site.
Ms. Kahn also said parents shouldn’t “play the bio card” when relationships dissolve, using their legal status to keep an ex from the child.
“It is not in the best interest of the child, and only in a case where the parent has done something to hurt a child should this ever be undertaken,” she said.
“Because we do not have legal marriage –- which provides framework for legal divorce –- and because we may not have access to second-parent adoption, individuals take some liberty outside of what is legal and fair, and ultimately the children pay the price,” she said.
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Court nixes ruling man is sexually violent predator
State Superior Court has denied a local judge’s request to issue a precedential opinion in a rape case.
Mercer County Common Pleas Court Judge John C. Reed had ruled that Chad S. Thompson, 24, formerly of Stoneboro, is a sexually violent predator, but Superior Court said in a 2-1 decision July 8 that an expert’s testimony was insufficient to back that declaration.
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Stacey wants to continue fight over razed home
Raymond Stacey has requests pending in three courts as he presses his long-running attempt to prosecute the city of Hermitage and those he believes are responsible for illegally demolishing his parents’ house.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Philadelphia, on April 29 quashed an appeal because Stacey did not file his argument brief and appendix of supporting documents.
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Burglars strike while residents sleep
Several Shenango Valley residents’ homes were broken into overnight Tuesday and Wednesday while they slept.
Two burglaries in Sharon involved people entering open windows.
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Commissioners formally move to raise sewer fees
Hermitage commissioners introduced an ordinance Wednesday to increase sanitary user fees.
Residents tapped into the Hermitage Municipal Authority lines now pay $95 a quarter. That rate will bump up to $105 a quarter on Jan. 1, under the proposed rate hike.
Two more hikes on Jan. 1, 2012, and Jan. 1, 2013, will result in the rates increasing 50 percent from the current fee. -
Water is on at Forrest Brooke
Water service has been restored at Forrest Brooke Manufactured Home Community after well problems left the 165-unit complex dry Tuesday.
A boil and conserve water advisory has been issued by the DEP and will remain in place until tests confirm the water is safe to drink, Forrest Brooke’s manager Pete Havens said.
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Storm damages trees, wires
Thunderstorms ripped through parts of Mercer and neighboring counties Wednesday night, downing trees and wires and keeping rescue workers on their toes.
A Mercer County 911 dispatcher shortly after 8 p.m. said they were busy with calls across the northern part of the county. He said there had been a few reports of trees falling on homes.
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City leaders open to talks
Sharon officials aren’t opposed to sitting down with their counterparts in Farrell to revisit the idea of combining the two struggling cities.
“It never costs a penny to talk and there’s no (idea) that’s not worth looking at,” Sharon councilman Ed Palanski said. “I think it would be foolish to oppose looking at the idea.”
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Murphy’s Law doesn’t faze regional planners
A complicated, two-day public meeting blitz in 32 counties ran headlong into Murphy’s Law in Mercer County on Tuesday.
The group Power of 32 are looking to re-write the regional map and create a grand, 15-year strategic economic plan for the 32 counties in four states that make up the Ohio River basin and greater Pittsburgh area.
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Forrest Brooke copes with water outage
Residents of Forrest Brooke Mobile Home Community in Jefferson and Lackawannock Townships woke up Tuesday morning to find they didn’t have any water.
Managers of the park could not be reached for comment, but residents said they were told they won’t get water service back for at least another month.
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City facing bleak financial reality
LaVon Saternow has been Farrell’s city manager since 1992. Shortly after she took the job, Sharon Steel, the city’s economic engine, officially closed down.
Since, the city has struggled to remain solvent and Mrs. Saternow said it is facing its worst financial crisis in her tenure.
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Court nixes ruling man is sexually violent predator
