Boy dies in accident

Boy dies in accident
JAMESTOWN, Pa. -- State police said a 12-year-old Barberton, Ohio, boy was killed when he rode a motorcycle into the path of a pickup truck on Westford Road in South Shenango Township, Crawford County, around 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Robert J. Lilly was pronounced dead of blunt force trauma at 6:06 p.m. at UPMC Horizon, Greenville. Cris Loutzenhiser, Mercer County deputy coroner, ruled the death an accident.
Police said Lilly was riding a Yamaha dirt motorcycle north on an abandoned railroad bed and failed to stop when he came to the intersection with Westford Road. He was hit by a westbound pickup driven by Justin Doeberiener, 30, of Jamestown. The impact threw Lilly onto the hood of the truck, police said. Doeberiener wasn't injured, police said.
Board vacancy filled
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- The former superintendent of Neshannock Area School District has been named a member of the school board. Joseph Scungio, who retired nearly two years ago, is replacing Russell "Hank" Forney, who resigned from the board last month.
Scungio, who was appointed during a special meeting Tuesday, was one of 10 candidates the board considered. The term expires in December, when a new board member will have been elected during November's general election. There are 10 people running for four positions on the school board. Scungio is not a candidate.
Forgery, theft charges
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- A city man arrested March 19 after a stolen car chase from Brookfield into Shenango Township was arraigned Wednesday on charges of forgery and theft filed by Hermitage police.
John T. Reeher II, 33, of Todd Avenue, already faces charges in Trumbull County Eastern District Court of receiving stolen property and fleeing and eluding in connection with the car chase, and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle in a separate case.
Hermitage police have accused Reeher of taking some checks from a car that belonged to a Brookfield woman and cashing two of them at two Hermitage grocery stores March 17 for a total of $150. He was charged with two counts each of forgery and theft from a motor vehicle and was arraigned before District Justice Henry Russo, who ordered him held in Mercer County Jail on a parole detainer from a previous offense.
Tag Day for pets
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- Saturday is National Tag Day for pets, and Ginny Steese Richardson, Mercer County treasurer, will be at the Shenango Valley Mall from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to hand out name tags and name tag order forms to pet owners.
A 1996 study by the National Council on Pet Population said about 1 million dogs and nearly 600,000 cats were taken in as strays that year but only 17 percent of the dogs and 2 percent of the cats were reunited with their owners. Adding a name tag to a pet's collar makes it easier to return lost animals to their owners, according to Animal Appeal of Sharpsville, organizer of Tag Day.
Electrical fire at plant
WHEATLAND, Pa. -- An electrical fire filled the American Cap Co. plant at 15 Church St. with smoke around 8 a.m. Wednesday. An electrical malfunction sparked a paint dust fire, but employees were able to extinguish most of the blaze before firefighters reached the scene. Damage was minor, and firefighters cleared the scene an hour later.
Turkey rescue
EASTON, Pa. (AP) -- A wild turkey wandered up to the second floor of the city's parking garage, then crashed through a plate glass window and fell to the street Wednesday morning, city officials said. The 31/2-foot-tall bird escaped injury and was released into city-owned Hackett Park in Palmer Township, Easton Police Lt. Steven Parkansky said.
"He seemed fine when he was being released," Easton's public services director, Kristie J. Miers, said. "He ran away from everyone very, very quickly when the box was opened."
Miers said maintenance worker Tom Pinkerton saw the turkey at about 8 a.m. in one of the stair towers and a supervisor rounded up police officers. The officers approached it, but it wandered into another stair tower, then flew through the window, breaking through wire meshing, Miers said. The bird landed, and city parks workers from a passing truck trapped it in a foam blanket and a box for transport.