Journalist with a love for new media and old-fashioned reporting
By Emily Babay
CORRY — Walls with dents and pink stains from tear gas need to be restored and painted. Shattered windows will be replaced. All the carpeting will eventually be removed.
And Justin Smith is doing it all.
Smith, 19, faces the task of cleaning up his family’s home, at 156 Wright St. in Corry, after his sister’s estranged husband committed suicide there during a police standoff on May 7.
Read more: crime, enterprise, Erie Times-News, writing
By Emily Babay
Even as summer — and mosquito season — approaches, the threat of humans catching West Nile virus has largely disappeared in Erie County.
Local health officials are beginning their annual campaign to fight the virus, a mosquito-borne disease that can cause potentially fatal swelling in the brain. Officials say the decline in West Nile cases that has occurred over the past several years is a trend that extends across Pennsylvania and is primarily due to measures aimed at lowering the mosquito population.
Read more: enterprise, Erie Times-News, writing
By Emily Babay
The Board of Trustees is the University’s highest governing body, but some trustees are still in the dark about the reasons behind the departure of former Dean of Admissions Lee Stetson.
About half of the trustees who spoke to The Daily Pennsylvanian said they had not been told why Stetson abruptly resigned in late August. Other trustees declined to comment and would not reveal if they knew why Stetson left.
University officials have refused to reveal the circumstances behind Stetson’s resignation, and Penn President Amy Gutmann has only said that his departure was in the “best interests” of Stetson and the University.
Gutmann may be pressed to elaborate on that statement when the Board of Trustees meets for its annual fall meeting at the Inn at Penn today.
Read more: Daily Pennsylvanian, enterprise, writing
Erie Times-News
By Emily Babay
Missy Twohig wanted a piercing studio to act as a second home, a place where she and her customers would feel content and at ease.
The desire to create this relaxed atmosphere inspired Twohig, 29, to open her own studio. Her shop, Sacred Piercing, will open June 1, at 253 W. Eighth St.
“You have this vision in your mind of the way you would like things to be, and the only way you can see if that’s possible is by trying,” she said. “It took me a couple years to realize that, but here I am.”
And young people increasingly share these entrepreneurial ideas.
Read more: enterprise, Erie Times-News, features, writing
By Emily Babay
Joseph Cho, the second-year Law student who allegedly tried to kill his downstairs neighbors, had enrolled at the New York University School of Law for several weeks in 2000 but left for reasons that the school would not disclose.
Penn Law officials knew about the previous enrollment prior to Cho’s acceptance at Penn, but they remain unaware of his cause for leave, Penn Law School Dean for Student Affairs Gary Clinton said yesterday.
NYU officials would not confirm exactly how many weeks Cho had attended their school but said that he did not finish the semester.
Cho has been declared incompetent to stand trial after he was arrested and charged with attempted murder and other related offenses.
Read more: crime, Daily Pennsylvanian, enterprise, writing