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County Officials Sworn into Office

Posted on: Saturday, 31 December 2005, 15:00 CST

By Pete Bosak, The Centre Daily Times, State College, Pa., The Centre Daily Times, State College, Pa.

Dec. 31--BELLEFONTE --- Centre County officially has a new top prosecutor to replace still-missing District Attorney Ray Gricar.

At a standing-room-only swearing-in ceremony Friday morning at the new Centre County Courthouse Annex, Michael Madeira was sworn in as the county's district attorney, and newly elected Court of Common Pleas Judge Bradley P. Lunsford took the new, fourth seat on the bench.

"I feel optimism and a slight amount of fear," said Lunsford, 40, who was sworn in by President Judge Charles C. Brown Jr., with his wife and two children at his side.

"It's a great deal of responsibility," Lunsford said after donning his robes.

Madeira, 41, took the oath of office with his wife and four children by his side.

"I've been looking forward to this," Madeira said while greeting a steady stream of well-wishers after the ceremony.

As he dives into the job next week, Madeira said a priority will be to meet with all police officers and investigators working on Gricar's disappearance in the hope of finding the proverbial stone left unturned.

"(Gricar) deserves that because he's been our district attorney for 20 years," he said. "And he's been a friend. I just want to make sure we've done everything that we can."

Prior to his mysterious disappearance April 15, Gricar had announced his plans to retire at the end of this year. He vanished during a drive on state Route 192 in Brush Valley. His car was found in Lewisburg the day after he disappeared.

Also sworn in Friday were Magisterial District Judges Daniel Hoffman and Allen Sinclair.

While presiding over what he said will be his last such ceremony as the president judge, Brown kept the audience of more than 200 people laughing at his one-liners throughout the service.

As jury commissioners Ruth Luse and Anna Lose were sworn in, Brown joked that this will be the sixth or seventh congratulatory kiss on the cheek he has given Lose after swearing her in multiple times during her eight terms as a jury commissioner.

"I don't know if that's something to aspire to," Brown said to laughter.

When Lose received pecks on the cheek from three county judges after taking her oath, Brown quipped, "Everybody wants in on the act."

Bellefonte Mayor Stanley Goldman turned the tables on Brown when he took his oath of office.

"This will be the second time the judge will kiss -- I mean swear -- me in," Goldman joked.

"And his sense of humor hasn't gotten any better," the veteran judge replied.

Also taking the oath of office Friday were Bellefonte Council President Joseph P. Heidt Jr. and new Bellefonte Police Chief Shawn Weaver.

Weaver, previously a police officer in Ferguson Township, was hired to replace Duane Dixon, who retired in August and now serves with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Department in Arizona.

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Pete Bosak can be reached at 235-3928.

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Centre Daily Times, State College, Pa.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Centre Daily Times (State College, Pa.)

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