Sara Furlong

The opening of the Area Transportation Authority’s new Bradford Transit Center has been pushed back to October as remaining construction items and nearby paving work await completion. ATA CEO Mark Head told The Era this spring that the facility was on track to open in mid-May. He now says the authority is finalizing several construction punch-list items, including some awaiting delivery. The city is also preparing to pave the section...

Area students are returning to classrooms as McKean County school districts prepare for a new academic year and officials remind drivers to use extra caution around schools and buses. Bradford, Port Allegany and Kane students return Wednesday, while Smethport and Otto-Eldred students return Thursday. Bradford Area School District Superintendent Erin Waugaman welcomed families to the 2026-27 school year and outlined several events and operational changes, including the method for families...

SMETHPORT — McKean County commissioners approved more than $42,000 in county aid for six municipalities Tuesday, including a previously tabled request from the City of Bradford. Bradford will receive $21,094.42 for project 26-42301-001. The request was tabled at the commissioners’ Aug. 11 meeting because the county had not yet received the city’s completed application form. Officials said the form has since been returned. Commissioners also approved $2,120.03 for Eldred Borough,...

KANE — The fourth annual PA State Sunflower Festival will return to the Wilds Sonshine Factory this weekend, offering three days of live music, food, vendors and fields of sunflowers. The festival will be held Friday through Sunday at the Wilds Sonshine Factory, 3480 Route 6. The event began in 2023 as part of the Wilds Sonshine Factory’s grand opening and has grown significantly each year. Approximately 2,000 people attended...

Bradford City Water Authority will recognize employees for their response to the July 28 storm, which sent turbidity in the Heffner Reservoir to the highest level in its recorded history and forced the water treatment plant to shut down twice. Executive Director Steve Disney reported Wednesday that turbidity in the reservoir rose from 2.93 Nephelometric Turbidity Units before the storm to a peak of 247 NTU. Turbidity refers to cloudiness...

PORT ALLEGANY — Mischievous ghosts, eccentric paranormal investigators and a small town gripped by... The Bradford Era More by this Author

PORT ALLEGANY — Mischievous ghosts, eccentric paranormal investigators and a small town gripped by supernatural chaos come together in “Ghosted,” a locally produced short film directed by Port Allegany native Elizabeth Valentine. Valentine wrote the screenplay, based on a story by Valentine and Kathryn Sanchez. The 17-minute family-friendly comedy will be shown from 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 29 at the Coudersport Theatre. Admission is free, but themed gift baskets...

The hills, creeks and family stories of the Bradford-Olean, N.Y., region provide the setting and inspiration for Robert Patrick Strickler’s new novel, “The Storyteller from Alder Creek.” Strickler, who was born at the former St. Francis Hospital in Olean and spent much of his boyhood in Eldred, Allegany and Bolivar, describes the area surrounding Bradford and Olean as his “hills of home.” “I spent the formative years of my boyhood...

Seventy-five years after 11-year-old Bernard “Butch” Feiro was fatally injured on the golf course, the Pennhills Club and his family gathered Saturday to dedicate a bench ensuring his story will be remembered. Funds were raised for the memorial bench, which has been placed on the course where Bernard and his brother, Hugh, once worked as caddies. Bernard died in 1951 after being struck in the head by a golf ball...

SMETHPORT — McKean County residents offered competing warnings Monday as commissioners heard publi... The Bradford Era Local & Social