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VOLUME 131, No. 73
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MENTAL HEALTH ON CENTRE
‘A real failure in the community’
County officials, residents search for mental health solutions
Chris and Peggy Potalivo talk about the hurdles they’ve faced with the mental health system in Centre County as they’ve tried to help their
daughter, who was injured in a car crash as a young adult and also needed treatment for drug and alcohol abuse.
BY SARAH PAEZ
AND LAUREN MUTHLER
spaez@centredaily.com
lmuthler@centredaily.com
BOALSBURG
When Chris and Peg Potalivo’s
daughter suffered injuries from a
car crash as a young adult, they
Trump
temporarily
delays plan
to deport
‘millions’
BY CINDY CARCAMO,
ALEJANDRA REYES-VELARDE
AND RICHARD WINTON
Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES
President Donald Trump’s
warning Monday night that he
would start deporting “millions”
of migrants was suddenly put on
hold Saturday, according to a
tweet he sent Saturday after-
noon.
“At the request of Democrats,
I have delayed the Illegal Im-
migration Removal Process
(Deportation) for two weeks to
see if the Democrats and Re-
publicans can get together and
work out a solution to the Asy-
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didn’t know they would be
plunged into a more than a dec-
adelong ordeal trying to get her
mental health services that also
treated her drug and alcohol
abuse.
But they say Centre County’s
lack of in-patient psychiatric
facilities and drug treatment
On Oct. 22, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents escort
an immigrant to lockup. The anticipated sweeping immigration
enforcement that was planned for Sunday has been delayed.
lum and Loophole problems at
the Southern Border. If not,
Deportations start!” the tweet
said.
The anticipation of sweeping
immigration enforcement,
which was planned for Sunday,
stirred strong emotions for
many around the country.
When Trump first announced
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programs, combined with a coun-
terproductive psychiatric warrant
process have led to their daugh-
ter being unable to get the help
she needs.
“There is a real failure in the
community,” Chris Potalivo said.
“Our daughter, unlike the poor
gentleman that was shot by the
STEVE HELBER AP
news of the deportations earlier
this week, Robin Hvidston and
Maribel Cisneros weren’t sure
how seriously to take him.
The women, who don’t know
each other, are aware that
Trump is “prone to exagger-
ation,” as Hvidston puts it. Both
SEE DEPORTATIONS, 3A
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police ... by the time it got to
(police) to react, it was too late.
The damage had already been
done.”
The aftermath of the police
shooting of Osaze Osagie, a 29-
year-old State College resident
who was diagnosed with autism
and had a history of mental ill-
I-99, Potters Mills
construction work
continues this week
BY MARLEY PARISH
mparish@centredaily.com
Drivers should expect more
delays and lane closures as the
Pennsylvania Department of
Transportation continues work
on Interstate 99 and U.S. Route
322.
Starting 9 a.m. Monday, the
northbound right travel lane on
I-99 near the Atherton Street exit
will be closed. PennDOT said the
closure is expected to last until
Wednesday.
Between the Altoona/Port
Matilda exit and the I-99 in-
terchange, there will be a short-
term lane closure on Route 322
eastbound. PennDOT estimates
the closure will be in effect from
7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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‘‘
TO REQUIRE FAMILIES
TO WAIT UNTIL THAT
PERSON IS ACTUALLY IN
A MENTAL HEALTH
CRISIS, OFF THEIR
MEDICATION,
POTENTIALLY SUICIDAL
AND HOMICIDAL, PUTS
THEM AT RISK, PUTS
THEIR FAMILIES AT RISK
(AND) PUTS LAW
ENFORCEMENT AT RISK.
Centre County District Attorney
Bernie Cantorna in a May
interview
ness, has many county residents
calling for a review of the local
mental health system and how it
played a role in Osagie’s death.
During a community meeting
following Centre County District
Attorney Bernie Cantorna’s re-
lease of the investigative report
that determined police officers
were justified in their use of
deadly force on Osagie, Cantorna
and state police Sgt. William
Slaton blamed failures of the
mental health system for Osa-
gie’s death.
At the conclusion of his report,
Cantorna called for a task force
SEE MENTAL HEALTH, 5A
MORE INSIDE
Join the discussion about mental health in
Centre County, 6A
The construction zone runs 13
miles of I-99, stretching across
Taylor, Worth and Patton town-
ships. The Grays Woods and
Atherton interchanges, near State
College, will be impacted by
roadwork.
This $1.9 million project is
being completed by Swank Con-
struction Company and is esti-
mated to be done by mid-July,
weather permitting.
As construction on the Route
322/Potters Mills Gap project
continues, PennDOT warns driv-
ers to expect delays as flagging
continues from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
until Friday.
Safety Press Officer Timothy
Nebgen said delays were origi-
nally anticipated to be one to two
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FROM PAGE 1A
MENTAL HEALTH
to be created to examine treat both her addiction
potential improvements for and underlying mental
the county and state men- health problems.
tal health systems, includ- But they were surprised
ing the mental health war- to find that, after officers
rant process. escorted their at times
In response to these noncompliant daughter
demands, Centre County is into a police car, she was
hosting a community con- transported to Mount Nit-
versation on mental health tany Medical Center’s
from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Emergency Department,
Thursday on the third floor waited for a few hours, was
of the Courthouse Annex in seen by a medical doctor
Bellefonte, which will in- and released early the next
clude presentations from morning.
state and local officials, as All people who comply
well as an opportunity for with the 302 warrant pro-
the public to ask questions. cess are escorted to an
WHAT IS A 302
WARRANT?
emergency room, Henry
said, where they can stay
up to five days. If the emer-
In his report, Cantorna
cited a 433% increase in
mental health, or “302,”
gency room doctor deter-
mines that the individual’s
symptoms do not require
warrants from fiscal year an involuntary commit-
2017 to 2018. Although the ment, and the person
reasons for the increase are chooses not to voluntarily
still unclear, Commissioner commit, they are free to go.
Mike Pipe said the county The Potalivos said they
is working on collecting feel their daughter should
data to specifically look at not have been let go, and
302s. that, given the intense
A warrant for a 302, process they participated in
which is an involuntary to initiate a 302 warrant,
commitment, can be initi- they should have received
ated by any petitioner who a call from the hospital that
believes that a person is a she was being discharged.
danger to themselves, a Cantorna told the CDT
danger to others or is un- in May that Pennsylvania
able to properly care for has some of the strictest
themselves, according to mental health laws in the
the county’s mental health country. While other states
services guidebook. A dele- allow prediction of future
gate from Centre County dangerousness based on
Can Help then decides recent behavior, Penn-
whether a warrant should sylvania requires danger-
be issued, then does so ousness to be proven
through the local police through acts that occurred
department, explained within the previous 30
Michelle Henry, Centre days, according to an email
County assistant adminis- from a mental health pro-
trator for Mental Health fessional Cantorna cited.
Services. “To require families to
wait until that person is
‘A LIFE-CHANGING actually in a mental health
EVENT’ crisis, off their medication,
For the Potalivos’ daugh- potentially suicidal and
ter, the car crash she expe- homicidal, puts them at
rienced as a young adult risk, puts their families at
“was a life-changing risk (and) puts law enforce-
event,” Chris Potalivo said. ment at risk,” Cantorna
A bright student studying said in May.
pre-med at Penn State, she Whether a person is
suffered a blow to her aca- committed voluntarily or
demics following the acci- involuntarily, the 302 pro-
dent. She experienced cess does not stop after
short-term memory loss hospitalization, Henry said.
and had to relearn basic “We know this person
skills, Peg Potalivo said. just went through this pro-
Later, she turned to alcohol cess, whether they’re there
and partying to cope with on a voluntary or involun-
unhealthy relationships tary, it doesn’t matter to
and loss of a sense of pur- us,” she said. “We’re going
pose — but the substance back and trying to engage
abuse always masked men- them in services as an
tal health problems, her outpatient.”
mom said. But for people who don’t
While the Potalivos’ quite meet the threshold
daughter was living out of for an in-patient commit-
state, her mental health ment, services can often-
deteriorated to the point times seem harder to come
where an old college room- by.
mate contacted them to
come get their daughter ‘IMPROVEMENTS TO BE
because she needed help, MADE’
they said. The lack of mid-level
But their daughter, who care — for people needing
lived with the couple on- more than a weekly ther-
and-off, eventually needed apy appointment but not to
a more serious interven- the point of committal —
tion. Last summer, the was a gap brought to the
Potalivos had to call the commissioners’ attention
police five times over the at their June 11 meeting by
span of two weeks due to Geoff Landers-Nolan, a
escalating psychological state-licensed professional
and behavioral problems. counselor living in Fergu-
They decided to initiate son Township.
the “302” warrant process, “Centre County is
which they thought would blessed to have a very high
get their daughter into an level of therapy practices
inpatient psychiatric facil- and therapy practitioners,”
ity that would be able to he said. “On the other end
The Rev. Dr. Virginia Rae
(Roland) Rye
December 24, 1939—June 21, 2019
The Rev. Dr. Virginia ter and Eden. She
Rae served UCC churches in
(Roland) St. Louis, Missouri, and a
Rye, died long term pastorate in
at home Aaronsburg, Pennsylva-
on 21 nia. She was a Board
June Certified Chaplain and
2019. had served at St. Antho-
Born 24 ny’s Hospital in St. Louis
Decem- and Memorial Hospital
ber 1939 in Cumberland, and the Thomas B. Finan
Maryland, a daughter of Center in Cumberland. Af-
the late Herbert and Vir- ter her retirement, she
ginia (Bush) Roland. She served as a Supply Pas-
is survived by two sons, tor at Salem United
Joseph Niland and Church of Christ in Frost-
James Niland; and, a sis- burg for a number of
ter Joan Beavens. In ad- years.
dition to her parents, she She enjoyed people,
was predeceased by her cats, and gardening.
husband, the Rev. Dr. In accordance with her
William A. Rye. wishes, there will be no
Virginia was a graduate visitation or services. In-
of Fort Hill (’57), Palm terment will be with her
Beach Atlantic University, husband at Arlington Na-
and the seminaries of St. tional Cemetery.
Vincent DePaul, Lancas-
of the spectrum, we have
in-patient mental health
care — psychiatric hospital-
ization, 24/7 supervision,
care, medication monitor-
ing, all that. In between
those things I think there’s
a lot of improvements to be
made.”
The Potalivos said it was
hard for their daughter to
find a psychiatrist who took
Medicare, and those who
did were so overbooked
that she couldn’t be seen as
frequently as she needed.
For his daughter, Chris
Potalivo felt she needed an
in-patient “dual diagnosis”
treatment program that
transitions the individual
back into the community
while still providing struc-
ture and services. So far,
there are no inpatient pro-
grams in Centre County
that also treat substance
use disorders.
“The correct right treat-
ment from everything I’ve
researched is a weaning-off
process, which is typically
30-60 days, immediately
into a transition program,
where they’re living in the
community but in a con-
trolled environment. That
works. That’s not here,” he
said.
When people need in-
patient services, they can
stay one of two different
ways in Centre County —
Mount Nittany Medical
Center or The Meadows
Psychiatric Center, said
Natalie Corman, Centre
County Human Services
administrator. Mount Nit-
tany has 12 beds in its psy-
chiatric unit, while The
Meadows has 119. Those
beds, however, are not just
for Centre County resi-
dents.
“Those are the beds that
we operate out of, and we
are like all other 67 coun-
ties who do this every day
who are looking for hospi-
talization beds,” Corman
said. “As we talk about
treatment and services,
having individuals be here
is huge for us. Sometimes it
doesn’t always happen, and
they have to go elsewhere.”
The Potalivos sent their
daughter to a treatment
program in Altoona called
Pyramid, which has a tran-
sition program set up, but
she wouldn’t finish the
program because it wasn’t
close to home, they said.
COUNTY SEEKS
SOLUTIONS
The gap in mid-level
mental health care services
is also something the coun-
ty has identified as an area
of needed improvement.
“Police talk about want-
ing to be able to have the
opportunity to, when they
engage with people who
might not necessarily reach
that 302 medical-type of
procedure that has to hap-
pen ... they just really want
to be able to give them
some help and engage
them in a way that provides
for them, knowing that
they have assisted them
with meeting somebody
who can meet their needs,”
Corman said.
To determine the best
solution to fill those gaps,
Henry led a team that has
spent more than four years
traveling to other counties,
researching the best solu-
tion for Centre County.
The result was a proposal
N. Korea: Trump
has sent Kim
‘excellent’ letter
President Donald
Trump sent North Korean
leader Kim Jong Un a
letter, a government-
controlled news agency
reported Sunday.
Kim “said with satis-
faction that the letter is of
excellent content,” the
Korean Central News
Agency reported.
“Appreciating the polit-
ical judging faculty and
extraordinary courage of
President Trump, Kim
Jong Un said that he
would seriously con-
template the interesting
content,” the agency said.
Nuclear talks between
the U.S. and North Korea
broke down after the
failed summit between
Kim and Trump in Febru-
ary in Vietnam.
— ASSOCIATED PRESS
for a crisis diversion pro-
gram — which included
both a residential and a
crisis assessment piece.
However, when the county
asked for bids, no one
applied. So they decided to
try the proposal again, but
this time with just the crisis
assessment piece.
“It would basically just
be another site for an as-
sessment, and that’s ulti-
mately what we’re looking
for, just another option
outside of the Emergency
Department,” Henry said.
“And it would be a holistic
assessment. That would be
ideal for us, that they’re
looking at the whole person
and all the parts, and po-
tentially be linking services
and support in the commu-
nity.”
At the June 11 board of
commissioners meeting,
Corman announced that
the county received three
bids from organizations
willing to provide the crisis
assessment service. Cor-
man explained at the meet-
ings the proposal was for a
site-based program that
would allow individuals in
a mental health crisis to be
seen on location by mental
health professionals.
The services would be
available for people of all
ages, and funded through a
Human Services block
grant from the state, she
said.
“That would be a game
changer in terms of having
another opportunity for
diverting people from the
ED and going into serv-
ices,” Pipe said.
Recognizing that the
residential need still exists
in the county, Henry said
they’ll keep working to-
ward finding a solution.
“We’ll still strive to get
there, and I think we are
pretty good at adapting to
what we need to based on
what we’re responding to,”
she said.
Part of what Pipe said he
hopes the community
meeting achieves is open-
ing the conversation up to
the community, and hear-
ing suggestions about the
kinds of service needs that
exists and what the county
can do to better meet those
needs within its system.
“People are very in-
terested in this right now,
so we want to include peo-
ple in the process and real-
ly have a very strong dia-
logue, answering ques-
tions,” he said at the meet-
ing.
However, as evidenced
by the four-year process
just to get to the bidding
stage for the crisis assess-
ment services, Pipe ac-
knowledged that change
doesn’t always happen
quickly. With about 90% of
its mental health funding
coming from the state, the
county is bound by the
parameters of what the
state allows and the state’s
processes for acquiring
more funding and new
services.
But for families like the
Potalivos, four years of
waiting is a luxury they
can’t afford.
“Our daughter is still out
there, still desperately
needs someone,” Chris
Potalivo said. “It’s not just
going to fade into the back-
ground.”
‘I have no idea
who this woman
is,’ Trump says
President Donald
Trump says a New York-
based advice columnist
who claims he sexually
assaulted her in a Man-
hattan department store
dressing room in the
mid-1990s made a “to-
tally false accusation”
against him.
“I have no idea who
this woman is,” Trump
said Saturday.
He scoffed when asked
about a photo of himself
with his accuser, E. Jean
Carroll, which New York
magazine published on its
website along with Car-
roll’s description of the
alleged assault. Also in
the photo were Trump’s
then-wife, Ivana Trump,
and Carroll’s then-hus-
band, John Johnson.
— ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tim Horting drives Dec. 13 near Placerville, Idaho, where
many roads have closed since billionaires started snapping
up land.
Billionaire
landowners
redraw Western
boundaries
BY JULIE TURKEWITZ
New York Times
IDAHO CITY, IDAHO
The Wilks brothers grew
up in a goat shed, never
finished high school and
built a billion-dollar frack-
ing business from scratch.
So when the brothers,
Dan and Farris, bought a
vast stretch of mountain-
studded land in southwest
Idaho, it was not just an
investment, but a sign of
their good fortune.
“Through hard work and
determination – and they
didn’t have a lot of privi-
lege – they’ve reached
success,” said Dan Wilks’
son, Justin.
The purchase also placed
the Wilkses high on the list
of well-heeled landowners
who are buying huge par-
cels of America. In the last
decade, private land in the
United States has become
increasingly concentrated
in the hands of a few. To-
day, just 100 families own
about 42 million acres
across the country, a
65,000-mile expanse,
according to the Land Re-
port, a magazine that
tracks large purchases.
Researchers at the maga-
zine have found that the
amount of land owned by
those 100 families has
jumped 50% since 2007.
Much of that land
stretches from the Rocky
Mountains down into Tex-
as, where, for some, com-
mercial forests and retired
ranches have become an
increasingly attractive
investment.
Battles over private and
public land have been a
defining part of the West
since the 1800s, when the
federal government began
doling out free acres to
encourage expansion. For
years, fights have played
out between private indi-
viduals and the federal
government, which owns
more than half of the re-
gion.
But now, with even
wealthier buyers purchas-
ing even larger parcels, the
battle lines have shifted.
Many local residents see
these new owners as a
threat to a way of life be-
loved for its easy access to
the outdoors, and they
complain that property that
they once saw as public is
being taken away from
them.
The Wilkses, who now
own some 700,000 acres
across several states, have
become a symbol of the
out-of-touch owner. In
Idaho, as their property has
expanded, the brothers
have shuttered trails and
hired armed guards to
patrol their acres, blocking
and stymying access not
only to their private proper-
ty but also to some publicly
owned areas. This has
drawn ire from everyday
Idahoans who have hiked
and hunted in those hills
for generations.
The Wilks brothers see
what they are doing as a
duty. God had given them
much, Justin said. In re-
turn, he said, “we feel that
we have a responsibility to
the land.”
News 5A
MAX WHITTAKER NYT
Some of the new owners
have been welcomed. The
cable magnate John Malo-
ne, for instance, has been
praised by the Nature Con-
servancy for his family’s
conservation efforts, and
other buyers have helped
to clean up trails and re-
store pristine acres.
Among the nation’s top
landowners are Malone,
with 2.2 million acres in
New Mexico, Colorado and
other states; media mogul
Ted Turner, with 2 million
acres in Montana, Nebras-
ka and elsewhere; Peter
Buck, a founder of Subway;
Charles and David Koch,
who run cattle outside of
Lubbock, Texas; and Jeff
Bezos, who operates his
space company from a
West Texas outpost. Wil-
liam Bruce Harrison, the
scion to an oil fortune, now
owns 19 mountains in Col-
orado.
The arrival of this new
class of landholders comes
as the region is experi-
encing the fastest pop-
ulation boom in the coun-
try, which is driving up
housing prices and the cost
of living and leaving many
residents fearful of losing
their culture and economic
stability.
In Idaho, Rocky Barker, a
retired columnist for The
Idaho Statesman, has
called the conflict a “clash
between two American
dreams,” pitting the na-
tion’s respect for private
property rights against the
notion of a beauty-rich
public estate that has been
set aside for the enjoyment
of all.
The clash, he said, is part
of a larger transformation
of the region – from an
economy rooted in extrac-
tion to one based on recre-
ation; from a working class
culture to more moneyed
one. “Big landowners,” he
said, “are just another new
force.”
Tim Horting is among
the people caught up in the
debate. Horting, 58, a
heavy-equipment sales-
man, grew up hiking in the
woods north of Boise, a
forest threaded by dirt
routes that offer bird’s-eye
views of the state’s cele-
brated peaks. He learned
the terrain from his father,
who taught him to chop
wood, gut deer and haul
game home for dinner.
Horting and his wife,
Kim, built a cabin in those
woods in 2006, right by
Boise Ridge Road, which
led to a popular recreation
area built mostly on public
land. The Hortings said
they wanted their grand-
children to grow up with a
feel for rural life. “This is
the whole reason I moved
here,” Horting said. For
years, he assumed the road
was public, and he would
guide his ATV up its steep
ascent, his grandchildren in
tow.
A generation of hikers,
hunters and snowmobilers
had done the same.
Then, in 2016, the Wilks-
es purchased 172,000
acres at the edge of Hort-
ing’s home. Soon, a gate
went up on the road, and a
“No Trespassing” sign was
tacked to a nearby tree.