Courtesy of PA Game Commission/HDonTap
Mother bear and cub as seen on PA Game Commission’s bear webcam in 2019.
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The Pennsylvania Game Commission launched a live webcam on a bear den under a porch in Monroe County this week.
It’s the same den where the commission installed a webcam two years ago. The adult bear hibernating there currently could be the same one, the commission said in a press release.
Female black bears typically breed and have cubs every two years. The commission believes there’s at least one cub in the den.
Nate Smallman | Tribune-Review
Christine Dymkoski, owner of Hole in the Wall Gallery, poses in the Lower Burrell store with her children, Casey and Carson, and dog Zoie.
Nate Smallman | Tribune-Review
Nate Smallman | Tribune-Review
Christine Dymkoski, owner of Hole in the Wall Gallery, picks items for a customer Thursday in her store in Lower Burrell.
Nate Smallman | Tribune-Review
Nate Smallman | Tribune-Review
Chocolate and biscotti are seen inside of a case at Hole in the Wall Gallery in Lower Burrell on Feb. 4, 2021.
Nate Smallman | Tribune-Review
Christine Dymkoski, owner of Hole in the Wall Gallery, readies items for a costumer inside of her store in Lower Burrell on Feb. 4, 2021.
Louis B. Ruediger | Tribune-Review
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While the VALarena roller rink in North Apollo paused their reopening this month, some loyal customers have raised more than $3,200 to help the cash-strapped, nostalgic icon reopen.
For more than 70 years, generations have laced up for skating sessions in the cozy rink with the same snack bar that still draws a crowd.
Pandemic restrictions closed the rink’s doors about 10 months ago.
Working on building repairs and improvements at the rink, owners Fred and Debra Knepshield of Kiski Township didn’t reopen in January as they had planned.
Courtesy of South Hills Cooperative Animal Control
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Pennsylvania had the sixth best black bear harvest in 2020, taking 3,608 bears. However, last year’s harvest was 20% lower from 2019 statewide and 24% lower in the southwestern part of the state.
In 2019, hunters set a record in harvesting 4,653 bears.
The annual average has been running 3,675 bears during the past five years, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
A big year of bear harvests is usually followed by a not-so-big year the next season, according to the commission. After a then-record harvest of 4,311 in 2011, bear kills declined to 3,632 in 2012. Following 2005’s then-record harvest of 4,164, the harvest slipped to 3,124 the next year.
Courtesy of Dave Brooke | Audubon Society of Western PA
Buffalo Creek in Armstrong and Butler counties came in third place for the 2021 Pennsylvania River of the Year.
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Although the 82-mile-long Shenango River in Northwestern Pennsylvania earned recognition as Pennsylvania’s 2021 River of the Year, promoters of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s Buffalo and Loyalhanna creeks said they were happy to see their waterways finish in the Top 5.
Sponsored by the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the River of the Year is determined by residents’ online voting. After a waterway is chosen for the honor, the nonprofit that nominated the waterway receives a $10,000 grant and serves up a year-round slate of activities and events to celebrate the state designation.