PITTSBURGH - WTAE News Director Bob Longo announced that members of Weather Watch Four would begin making visits to correctional facilities around the area this summer until school resumes in the fall. WTAE meteorologist Stephen Cropper is scheduled to visit the State Correctional Institute in Fayette County this Friday. Mr. Cropper says he’s looking forward to the trip. “ I did a stretch in Folsom Prison a while back, so this is going to be like old times for me.” Mr. Cropper was convicted of criminal homicide after he shot a man in Reno , in his words, “just to watch him die.” His sentence was later commuted by Governor Gray Davis.
“I’ll have my maps, some charts, and of course, my shiv,” said Cropper. “I plan on talking about weather to the inmates in a way that they’ll find relevant.” Cropper said that included providing information on how barometric pressure may affect a person’s ability to dig a tunnel, or what type of front would produce the optimum amount of fog needed to make a successful escape. Following his visit to SCI Fayette, Cropper plans to make stops at SCI Albion, SCI Graterford, and the newly reopened Western Penitentiary on Pittsburgh ’s North Side. “It’s going to be a great summer,” said Cropper. “Hanging out with hardened criminals and vicious sociopaths, talking weather and having fun.”
