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UPDATE: Reynolds coach investigated in child porn case, police seize computers
SHARPSVILLE — The former head coach of Reynolds High School girls’ basketball team is under investigation for allegedly possessing child pornography.
Robert Chamberlain, of 621 S. Second St., Sharpsville, was served with a search warrant at 6:30 a.m. Thursday at home, according to a news release issued Monday by Cpl. Robert Erdely of the Pennsylvania State Police Computer Crime Unit.
State police troopers and Sharpsville patrolmen seized three computers and other storage media, said Erdely, who works out of Harrisburg.
Charges are pending against Chamberlain and could be filed in a few weeks, Erdely said.
Chamberlain, who did not return messages left on his home and cell phones, has since turned in his letter of resignation to school officials, said acting Superintendent Karen Ionta. She refused to comment or answer questions except to confirm he longer works for the school district and board members will act on his letter at their next meeting.
Police said they conducted an undercover investigation Dec. 6 on the Internet and found a computer that was sharing hundreds of files, some of which contained child pornography.
That computer’s Internet address was recorded, and the Internet service provider identified Chamberlain as the customer to whom that address was issued.
According to Herald files, Chamberlain worked for Reynolds as an assistant basketball coach in 1999 and 2000. He returned in 2004, when he was hired as head coach. His teams compiled a record of 83 wins and 59 losses over more than five seasons.
He previously coached basketball in Sharpsville Area School District.
An Internet search of his name shows he’s the director of Mercer County Consumer Network. The company’s Web site says it assists business owners who provide products and services in Mercer County, and offers services including consulting, marketing, graphic design and Web hosting.
Steve Waleff, athletic director for Reynolds Area School District, wouldn’t comment on the investigation or on Chamberlain’s coaching.
Messages left Monday for current and former players on the basketball team, school board President John Lowry and longtime board members Jeffrey Colson and Barry Nelson weren’t returned.
The board has a work session at 8 p.m. Jan. 13 and a regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 20, both in the conference room at the high school.
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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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Near-complete addition to let man come home
Although the weather delayed the start of Penny and Paul Strechansky’s construction project by about three weeks, the end of the sawing, hammering and stapling is in sight.
“It should be done by the middle of next week,” Strechansky said of the 15-by-20 foot addition being built onto the back of his garage in Hermitage, which will be the new home of his grandson, David Johnson.
Johnson was critically injured in a car crash June 19, 2009, on what is now Interstate 376 in Lawrence County. The crash rendered Johnson, who just turned 21, blind and brain damaged. He is unable to care for himself.
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Man prison-bound for role in drug buy shooting
It may never be known for certain who fired the two fatal shots that killed a Sharon teen on Nov. 6 on Wallis Avenue during a botched drug deal, prosecutors have said.
But Christopher Swogger, 24, Sharon, was fingered by at least one other suspect as the one whose bullets killed John B. Hosey III, 18, of 422 Meek St. Swogger was sentenced Monday.
Swogger was sent to prison for 1 1/2 to 3 years for having a firearm without a license, ending his role in the criminal prosecutions of the drug deal turned shooting.
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Farrell, Sharon to revisit merger
Times are tough.
In Farrell Monday night, city council heard a grim financial report from City Manager LaVon Saternow.
“It’s not a pretty picture,” Mrs. Saternow said. “We could conceivably run out of cash by the end of the year. I don’t know how to put it more bluntly.”
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Commissioners formally move to raise sewer fees
