1. Look Inside for Entry Form
Courtesy of
C Harper
ENTER TO WIN 2015
PITTSBURGH BASEBALL
SATURDAY PLUS
SEASON TICKETS!
S E R V I N G FA Y E T T E & G R E E N E C O U N T I E S
Sundayinside
Obituaries
Baroni,Francis,Illinois
Barton,Anthony,Uniontown
Bowers,Edgar,Vanderbilt
Casper,Randy,McClellandtown
Cordwell-Porter,Patty,PointMarion
David,Elsie,Uniontown
Graham,Clarence,LakeLynn
Hollingworth,Steven,Uniontown
Hostetler,Samuel,Uniontown
Jaworski,CharlesSr.,Ohio
Molinaro,Henry,Vanderbilt
Novonglosky,Ronald,DunbarTwp.
Nutt,Fanchon,Grindstone
Oldland,Sheila,Uniontown
Savage,John,Confluence
Schaum,Edward,Masontown
Sealy,Jody,Spraggs
Smallwood,William,Uniontown
Stofcheck,Thomas,Carmichaels
Swaney,Philip,NewGeneva
Tunney,Walter,Blainesburg
Young,Thomas,Florida
SeedetailsonC2.
Index
Calendar . . . .C7
Classified H1-L4
Community . .C1
Law & Order . A6
Obituaries . . .C2
Opinion . . . A4-5
Puzzles . . . . .D5
Sports . . . . B1-8
Today
High: 71
Low: 49
See C8.
SUNDAY, APRIL 12, 2015 71,000 READERS EACH WEEK VOL. 34 NO. 215 $2.00
www.heraldstandard.com
BY NATALIE BRUZDA
nbruzda@heraldstandard.com
Y
ears from now, people will
remember Dr. Charles Ma-
chesky as the million-dollar
superintendent.
For a decade, he oversaw the
workings of the Uniontown Area
School District in a paid capacity.
But in April 2012, on the cusp of re-
tirement, he did something that many
people wouldn’t understand.
He decided to keep working in the
same role, for free.
“Chuck is not one to sit home and
be idle,” said his wife, Mary Ma-
chesky. “Being as he doesn’t have
hobbies as golfing, fishing, hunting,
he needs to work. It’s his passion. He
loves what he was doing. He thought
he was ready to retire, but I knew
in his heart that he wasn’t ready to
retire.”
It’s three years later, and he’s still
not ready to retire from his life as an
education administrator.
On Monday, his years of free
service were extended for an ad-
ditional five years as the Uniontown
Area School Board approved a new,
salary-free contract with him.
“He is good at his job. He’s also
one of the smartest people I’ve ever
met,” said Pamela Cantalamessa,
retired home and school visitor for
UASD. “He knows education, and
believe me when I tell you, they’re
getting a great bargain, because he’s
done everything in that district.”
Charles Machesky said his salary
and benefits from the time he started
working for free on April 1, 2012,
‘A great bargain’
ROBERTO M. ESQUIVEL|Herald-Standard
Dr. Charles Machesky, superintendent for the Uniontown Area School District, poses for a photograph in the main lobby of the
Uniontown Area Senior High School.
Uniontownsuperintendentworksforfree
BY CHRISTINE HAINES
chaines@heraldstandard.com
Public safety issues, particu-
larly the police department, fall
directly under the duties of the
mayor and were discussed re-
cently with the Democratic candi-
dates for mayor of Uniontown.
Crime sta-
tistics show that
Uniontown has
a crime index of
9, with 100 being
the safest, and
that Uniontown
residents have a
1 in 217 chance of
being the victim
of a violent crime.
The two mayoral
candidates, in-
cumbent Ed Fike
and challenger
Bernie Kasievich
addressed the
city’s crime rate
when asked re-
cently by the
Herald-Standard’s
editorial board.
“When I took
over as mayor we had 13 po-
licemen; we now have 23,” Fike
said. “We have the visibility.
We have the city police running
around, they’re on the job and
they are doing a good job. We’re
trying to do the best we can in
the city of Uniontown, but don’t
forget, you have to take in the
median income of the city of
Uniontown. You’re naturally going
to have more crime where people
have less to live on. That’s just the
Candidates
discuss cost
of public
safety
Fike
Kasievich
UNIONTOWN MAYOR
PANAMA CITY (AP) —
President Barack Obama and
Cuba’s Raul Castro sat down
together Saturday in the first
formal meeting of the two
country’s leaders in a half-
century, pledging to reach
for the kind of peaceful rela-
tionship that has eluded their
nations for generations.
In a small conference
room in a Panama City con-
vention center, the two sat
side by side in a bid to inject
fresh momentum into their
months-old effort to restore
diplomatic ties. Reflecting
on the historic nature of the
meeting, Obama said he felt
it was time to try something
new and to engage with both
Cuba’s government and its
people.
“What we have both con-
cluded is that we can disagree
with a spirit of respect and
civility,” Obama said. “And
over time, it is possible for us
to turn the page and develop a
new relationship between our
two countries.”
Castro, for his part, said
he agreed with everything
Obama had said — a stunning
statement in and of itself for
the Cuban leader. But he
added the caveat that they
had “agreed to disagee” at
times. Castro said he had told
the Americans that Cuba was
willing to discuss issues such
as human rights and freedom
of the press, maintaining that
“everything can be on the
table.”
“We are disposed to talk
about everything — with
patience,” Castro said in
Spanish. “Some things we will
Inhistoricfacetoface,Obama,Castrovowtoturnthepage
President
Barack
Obama (right)
and Cuban
President
Raul Castro
shake
hands at
the Summit
of the
Americas in
Panama City,
Panama,
Saturday.
Associated Press
SUMMIT, Page A3
BARGAIN, Page A3 SAFETY, Page A7
Small-town life
Markleysburg a
friendly place where
neighbor helps
neighbor. C1

2. HERALDSTANDARD.COM | SUNDAY, APRIL 12, 2015 A3
G A B L E R ’ S C O R N E R
Compare & Save with our low prices...EVERY DAY!
What Are
You Paying?
*250 S. Mt. Vernon Ave. (at Easy St.) Uniontown, PA 15401
724-437-9700
106 S. Market St., Carmichaels, PA 15320
724-966-2020
Free Rx Delivery
Open 7 Days AWeek
Easy Parking
*Drive Thru
Rx Service
*
While Supplies Last
$
149
QUALITY CHOICE
LOW DOSE
ENTERIC
COATED
ASPIRIN
81mg 120s
TWO DAYS ONLY
SUN. 4/12/15 &
MON. 4/13/15
VISIT US AT: WWW.GABLERSONLINE.COM
Compare to Bayer
Low Dose Aspirin
STOP IN EVERY DAYFOR GREAT SAVINGS!
view our
full circular @ADRIANSMARKET.NET
Look for our sales ad
in today’s paper on
page D8 and
every Thursday in the
Food Section.MARKETFRESH
MONEYSMART
agree with, and others
we won’t.”
Not since 1958 have a
U.S. and Cuban leader
convened a substantial
meeting; at the time,
Dwight Eisenhower
was in the White House
and Fulgencio Batista
in charge in Cuba. But
relations quickly en-
tered into a deep freeze
amid the Cold War, and
the U.S. spent decades
trying to either isolate or
actively overthrow the
Cuban government.
In a stroke of coin-
cidence, Eisenhower’s
meeting with Batista in
1958 also took place in
Panama, imbuing Sat-
urday’s session between
Obama and Castro with
a sense of having come
full circle.
The historic gathering
played out on the side-
lines of the Summit of
the Americas, which this
year included Cuba for
the first time. Although
the meeting wasn’t
publicly announced in
advance, White House
aides had suggested the
two leaders were looking
for an opportunity to
meet while in Panama
and to discuss the on-
going efforts to open
embassies in Havana
and Washington, among
other issues.
In his brief remarks to
reporters at the start of
their hour-long meeting,
Obama acknowledged
that Cuba, too, would
continue raising con-
cerns about U.S. policies
— earning a friendly
smirk from Castro.
“We are now in a po-
sition to move on a path
toward the future, and
leave behind some of
the circumstances of the
past that have made it
so difficult for our coun-
tries to communicate,”
Obama said.
Even still, raw pas-
sions were on vivid
display earlier in the
day when Castro, in
a meandering, nearly
hour-long speech to the
summit, ran through an
exhaustive history of
perceived Cuban griev-
ances against the U.S.
dating back more than a
century.
Then, in an abrupt
about face, he apolo-
gized for letting his
emotions get the best of
him. He said many U.S.
presidents were at fault
for that troubled history
— but
that
Obama
isn’t one of
them.
“I have told
President Obama
that I get very emo-
tional talking about the
revolution,” Castro said
through a translator,
noting that Obama
wasn’t even born when
the U.S. began sanc-
tioning the island nation.
“I apologize to him be-
cause President Obama
had no responsibility for
this.”
Obama agreed.
“The Cold War has
been over for a long
time,” he said. “And
I’m not interested in
having battles frankly
that started before I was
born.”
The flurry of di-
plomacy kicked off
Wednesday when Obama
and Castro spoke by
phone — only the second
known call between U.S.
and Cuban presidents
in decades. It continued
Friday evening when
Obama and Castro
traded
handshakes
and small talk
at the summit’s
opening ceremonies,
setting social media
abuzz with photos and
cellphone video.
The goal of their presi-
dential engagement: to
inject fresh momentum
into their delicate plan
to restore normal rela-
tions between their
countries.
Obama and Castro
sent shockwaves
throughout the hemi-
sphere in December
when they announced
the plan for rap-
prochement, and their
envoys have spent the
ensuing months working
through thorny issues
such as sanctions, the
re-opening
of embassies
and the island
nation’s place on
the U.S. list of state
sponsors of terrorism.
Although earlier in the
week Obama suggested a
decision to remove Cuba
from the list was im-
minent, a senior Obama
administration official
who briefed reporters
after the president’s
meeting with Castro
said Obama would not
announce
a decision
Saturday.
The official was
granted anonymity to
discuss the president’s
private meeting.
SUMMIT
Continued from A1
through June 30 this
year would have cost the
district $504,547 if he
were being paid. That
amount would reach
more than $1.3 million at
the end of his new con-
tract, which commenced
on April 6.
“That’s 2 mills of
taxes,” Charles Ma-
chesky said. “It’s not
about me. It’s about
a service to this com-
munity. Every dollar
in savings we generate
would go back to the stu-
dents, which it does.”
The district would owe
him nothing, he said, if
the board terminates
him before the end of
the contract.
For the 2011-12 school
year, Charles Machesky
only received $99,772
of his $126,665 annual
salary before he an-
nounced his retirement
and offered to work for
free. That saved the
district $26,893 for that
year. The district saved
an additional $4,383 in
retirement and social
security benefits, for a
total savings of $31,276.
In each subsequent
full school year, his
salary would have been
$126,665. His retirement
benefits would have
been $15,655 in 2012-13,
$21,444 in 2013-14 and
$27,106 this year. His
social security benefits
would have been $9,689
in each of those years.
His compensation for
this year would have
been $163,461, ac-
cording to the document.
“I don’t want this to be
about me,” Charles Ma-
chesky said. “The reason
I’m doing this is because
the district benefits. If I
succeed in this, than the
eight years with the non-
salary would equal or be
greater than what I was
paid for 10 years. I’d like
to make it a wash before
I leave here.”
Place-bound
While savings to the
district and taxpayers is
the main impetus behind
his decision, there’s also
a love for his community
that drives him.
Since Nov. 8, 1953,
Charles Machesky has
lived within the city of
Uniontown.
He, his father, his
wife, and his three
daughters all graduated
from Uniontown Area
High School.
He served as a school
director in the 1980s,
and as mayor of the city
of Uniontown in the
1990s.
In the summer of
1992, he began his
career with UASD as
the principal of the dis-
trict’s three mountain
schools. From there he
served as the district’s
first director of special
education, and then was
hired as the superin-
tendent in 2002.
“In my studies for
my doctoral program,
they said there’s two
kinds of superintendents
— career-bound and
place-bound,” Charles
Machesky said. “One
of the professors at the
time, Dr. Sue Goodwin,
shouted out and pointed
me out in class and
said, Chuck Machesky
is place bound. Dr.
Goodwin said Chuck Ma-
chesky is at Uniontown
and Chuck Machesky
will stay at Uniontown.”
His wife echoed Dr.
Goodwin’s sentiments.
“He loves the school
district,” Mary Ma-
chesky said. “He knows
the community, he
knows the people, they
know him. When you’re
from a small-town com-
munity, I think it gives
a better insight into the
workings of it. … We’re
Red Raiders, true and
true.”
Services for students
As a resident of Fayette
County, Charles Ma-
chesky is hopeful the neg-
ative image that seems to
plague it would be lifted,
and that he has a part in
that over the next five
years.
“This is something
good,” he said. “Some-
thing good is happening
in the Uniontown com-
munity, and I believe it’s
going to take efforts from
a multitude of people in
this community. It’s time
that this negative image
of Fayette County ceases,
and we move forward
— we work together and
move forward.”
Looking ahead, he re-
alizes that the road will
not be easy.
“We continue to, as
other school districts
do, to struggle with cuts
being made from the
state, and it affecting pro-
grams,” he said.
According to Charles
Machesky, his main
goals are to continue to
strengthen the academic
achievement of students,
to meet the needs that
some students have
beyond academics and
live up to the fiscal re-
sponsibility the district
has for the students.
Charles Machesky
said however, that it will
be difficult to add to the
current academic of-
ferings in the next few
years considering in-
creasing pension costs.
While the board has
built up its fund balance
from a negative number
in 2010 to $5.7 million
to the good in 2014, he
said part of the account
has been designated for
future pension costs.
“It’s affecting all of
us — some more than
others,” he said. “For
every dollar that’s spent
on a salary, 28 cents ad-
ditionally goes to pension.
What I’m doing is about
putting that money (the
superintendent’s salary),
back into services for
students.”
For anyone who would
question Charles Ma-
chesky’s motives for
doing what he has set out
to do, his wife would ask
them to walk a day in his
shoes.
“I would tell them they
would have to walk in
his shoes and actually
understand who he is and
see what he does,” she
said. “They don’t see the
drive, the passion, what
he does, how he works at
his job, what he’s done for
the teachers, the students,
the community. He’s
for the education of the
Uniontown School Dis-
trict. He’s for them and
there’s a passion there.”
Chuck believes that the
three years of dedicated,
free service he has given
to the community, should
prove that his intentions
for the next five years are
motive-free.
“There’s a lot of good
that comes out of this
community and our sur-
rounding communities,
and I want to be a part of
it,” he said. “I cannot see
myself doing anything
else than what I’m doing
now.”
BARGAIN
Continued from A1
ROBERTO M. ESQUIVEL|Herald-Standard
Dr. Charles Machesky, superintendent for the Uniontown Area School District, poses for a
photograph at the main entrance of the high school.