the almanac S E P T E M B E R 7, 2025
SOUTH HILLS COMMUNITY NEWS
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‘We are better than this’ CASTLE SHANNON FIRE DEPARTMENT RECEIVES GRANT PAGE A3
COURTESY OF CHRIS MCANENY
Jesus Teran has been in ICE custody at Moshannon Valley Processing Center, Philipsburg, since early in July. Teran, left, is seen here with his wife, Liseth Carvajal, their two children, and members of St. Oscar Romero Parish, standing in front of the community garden at St. Patrick Church that Teran and his family helped to create.
Local family fears immigrant detained at Moshannon will be deported
MT. LEBANON TACKLES CENTRAL CATHOLIC IN CONFERENCE OPENER PAGE B1
By Karen Mansfield Staff writer
kmansfield@observer-reporter.com
CASES OF HAND, FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE ON THE RISE PAGE B3
More than seven weeks have passed since Jesus Teran, a 35-year-old church member of St. Oscar Romero Parish and asylum seeker, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement outside the agency’s Pittsburgh field house. Since his July 8 arrest, Teran, a Venezuelan immigrant, has been detained at Moshannon Valley Processing Center, a privately owned federal immigration detention center in Philipsburg, Clearfield County. Last month, Teran’s attorney filed a court order for his release from detention, but a new ICE policy – implemented on the day the father of two was picked up – prevents judges from granting bond to anyone held in detention who entered the
What’s happening, B3 Real estate transactions, A6 COURTESY OF LISETH CARVAJAL
Classifieds, B4-6
SEE FAMILY PAGE A2 Jesus Teran with his wife, Liseth Carvajal, and their two children
Rare Honus Wagner autograph donated to historical society By Brad Hundt Staff writer
bhundt@observer-reporter.com
CARNEGIE – On a Saturday morning, most likely in 1945, Jacob Schmitt was accompanying his father on a routine shopping expedition in downtown Carnegie when they saw an older man, about 70, walking down a street going about his own business. But the senior citizen wasn’t just any other retiree out for a stroll. It was Honus Wagner, the legendary player for the Pittsburgh Pirates who was then – and still is – considered to be one of the greatest players in baseball’s history. Wagner lived in Carnegie, the community where he was born, so it wasn’t all that unusual to see him at stores, at the Elks Club or any of the borough’s other establishments, and he was always friendly to anyone who wanted a handshake or an autograph. Schmitt’s father scrambled to find a piece of paper and pencil – ballpoint pens were still a couple of years away from being commonplace – and they approached Wagner and he wrote in careful cursive, “To Jake, with best wishes from Honus Wagner, Pirates 45.”
Dogs being fostered by Bridge to Home
COURTESY OF BRIDGE TO HOME ANIMAL RESCUE
‘Finding the right home’ Bridge to Home Animal Rescue celebrates helping 5,000 dogs By Jon Andreassi Staff writer BRAD HUNDT/OBSERVER-REPORTER
The Honus Wagner Museum is located in the Historical Society of Carnegie on West Main Street in Carnegie.
Schmitt held onto that precious scrap of paper as he grew into adulthood and became a dentist in Scott Township and a resident of Bethel Park. Before he died earlier this year, Schmitt said he wanted the autograph to be donated to the Historical Society of Carnegie, and in July
it found a permanent home in the historical society’s Honus Wagner Museum. Schmitt’s daughter, Kim Miller, said that her father didn’t talk a whole lot to her about the encounter with Wagner, but brought it up to SEE WAGNER PAGE A2
jandreassi@observer-reporter.com
When Bridge to Home Animal Rescue’s founders began the organization in 2017, they were content to help 50 dogs in a year. They ended up helping 100 within six months, and two weeks ago, they brought in their 5,000th dog – Todd the corgi mix. “We were at another rescue, and we just thought that we could do things bet-
ter,” said co-founder Tracey Crompton. Crompton and four other women decided to start the rescue while sitting around Crompton’s dining room table. Their focus has been on rescuing dogs at risk of being euthanized in West Virginia and Kentucky. “We help local dogs when they need it and when they fit into our program,” Crompton said. Today, Bridge to Home has 30 foster homes in Washing-
ton County and the Pittsburgh area, including Crompton’s South Strabane Township home. Fred Crompton, her husband, is also very involved in the rescue. Crompton said they took in Todd last week from a shelter in West Virginia. Todd had been in a bad situation, in what Crompton described as a “drug house.” Todd is still being fostered, and still available for adoption. SEE RESCUE PAGE A3