A new school board member and three returning members were sworn in last week.

The new member, Nancy Lee Crowder, was sworn in by District Judge David Barton.

She replaced Ed Moeller, who was elected to Baldwin Borough council.

The returning members sworn in by Common Pleas Judge Michael Marmo were John B. Schmotzer and George L. Pry.

Mr. Schmotzer is beginning his third four-year term, and Mr. Pry his second four-year term.

Also beginning her second four-year term is Nancy Sciulli DiNardo, who was sworn in by District Judge John Bova.

Martin Schmotzer was elected president of the board by a 6-3 vote. John Egger, Kevin A. Stiffey and Mrs. Crowder cast dissenting votes.

By 8-1 votes, Mr. Pry was elected first vice president and Kevin J. Fischer was elected second vice presidents.

Mr. Stiffey voted no on both.

Edward R. Lawrence Jr. was reappointed solicitor for 2010 by a unanimous vote. Mr. Lawrence, of Tucker Arensberg, has been district solicitor since 1975.

The board eliminated the monthly post-agenda meetings that were held on the third Wednesdays. The agenda meeting will remain on the first Wednesday and the voting meeting will remain on the second Wednesday.

The starting times remain 7:30 p.m.

The board also approved the separation agreement and release between the school district and James Barbour, the former assistant facilities manager.

Mr. Barbour's position was eliminated Oct. 15 in what Superintendent Lawrence C. Korchnak called at that time a "wholesale restructuring to strengthen our financial operations."

The vote on the separation agreement was 8-1, with Martin Schmotzer dissenting.

Bridgeville has a new police chief. Council on Monday voted 5-0 to appoint officer Chad King as the borough's new chief.

Mayor Don Dolde, who swore in Mr. King, said the search was fair and equitable, and a sense of unity kept the department together during the long search for a successor to former police chief Edward Bogats Jr.

Mr. Bogats resigned in May, citing health reasons. He was hired as chief in Bridgeville after serving 20 years in Carnegie.

Chief King said the decision to promote from within the department showed confidence in the officers.

University President Angelo Armenti Jr. will confer degrees upon 613 undergraduate and 594 graduate students during the 169th commencement at California University of Pennsylvania tomorrow and Saturday.

The School of Graduate Studies and Research will award master's degrees at 7 p.m. tomorrow.

Undergraduates in the College of Education and Human Services, the College of Liberal Arts and the Eberly College of Science and Technology will receive their diplomas at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Both ceremonies will he held in the Hamer Hall auditorium.

Alumnus Richard Sabo, Class of 1956, will speak to master's degree candidates, and Jerry Salandro, Class of 1970, will address the undergraduates. Both men are corporate leaders who have received the Cal U Alumni Association's W.S. Jackman Award of Distinction.

For more, visit www.calu.edu/ academic/commencement.

The staff of the Mutschler Orthopaedic Institute will offer a free informational session for people who are considering total knee or hip replacement surgery.

Sessions will be held Jan. 6, 9 and 20. To register and for times, call 724-873-5955.

• The Women's Auxiliary will hold a candy sale from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow in the hospital lobby.

• Free blood pressure screenings will be held from 8:45 to 10 a.m. Jan. 8 at the Peters Township Community Center.

Council this week adopted a $12.2 million budget for 2010 that contains no tax increase for the sixth consecutive year.

The vote Monday was unanimous.

The budget includes a general fund of $8.4 million; a sewer budget of $3.8 million; and a highway aid budget of $305,770.

The real estate tax rate is 5.63 mills, with 5.08 mills for the general fund, 0.45 mills for fire service and 0.10 mills for ambulance service. Each mill generates about $560,000.

The 2009 budget amount was $11.8 million.

Borough Manager Douglas Arndt said the new budget taps into about $200,000 of the borough's $2 million fund balance.

Budget highlights include the purchase of two trucks for the public works department for $228,000 and $435,000 for road paving.

Funding is included for the three new positions: an additional full-time police officer, a building inspector/code enforcement officer, and a planner/zoning officer.

Two musicians from Peters High School have been selected by audition to take part in Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Junior High District Band. Representing the school district will be freshmen Hannah Jacobs on clarinet and Jake Wilhelm on baritone sax. The Junior High District Band will perform in concert March 6 at Jefferson-Morgan Middle/Senior High School in Greene County.

The school district recently received grants for fitness equipment at the middle school and for bullying prevention programs at the elementary level.

A Highmark Healthy High 5 School Challenge Grant for $9,619 will allow the district to buy Dance Dance Revolution and Wii Fit systems to use during physical education classes at the middle school.

Middle school physical education teacher and department chairman Rick Dunmire and physical education teacher Chad Kanz wrote the grant proposal.

An $8,916 grant from the 2009-10 Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities program will be used to present the bullying programs in grades one through five.

The program is designed to help students manage anger and conflicts without aggression. It will be presented in 30-minute sessions, twice a week for grades one through three and three times a week for grades four and five.

Bullying sessions also will be conducted with small groups of students at the middle school.

Todd DePastino, a graduate and professional studies facilitator at Waynesburg University, was recently awarded Fordham University's Ann M. Sperber Prize for his book "Bill Mauldin: A Life Up Front," a biography of the two-time Pulitzer Prize winner.

The Sperber Prize is an annual award given to an author of a biography of a major media figure.

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