Divers who drowned trying to save kayaker had no oxygen tanks

Divers who drownedtrying to save kayakerhad no oxygen tanks
PORTERSVILLE, Pa. (AP) -- Two volunteer firefighters were not wearing oxygen tanks when they drowned while trying to find a kayaker in McConnell's Mill State Park.
Anthony Murdick and Scott Wilson, both 25, were killed Sunday night after entering Slippery Rock Creek to recover a man whose kayak had flipped. The divers' bodies were found about a half-mile downstream.
The kayaker, Neil Balcer, 23, of Ambridge, drowned in the accident.
State police Trooper Kevin Hughes said Wilson and Murdick were attempting a swift-water recovery. They went into the water without oxygen tanks and tried to find Balcer's body without going underwater, Hughes said.
"There are different techniques with swift-water rescues," Hughes said. "They were both experienced divers."
Police said Balcer's kayak struck a submerged log, which flipped the kayak and trapped him underwater in a strong current.
With a line tethered between them and a longer rope connecting them to shore, Murdick and Wilson entered the water. But the rope either snapped or was cut by the firefighters because the water was dragging them under, Hughes said.
Probing burglary
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- Police are investigating a burglary Monday night at Cottage Gardens Landscaping at 4945 E. State St. Someone broke a window in a front door to get into the business and police think the intruder then used a set of bolt cutters owned by Cottage Gardens to cut a padlock off the office safe.
A small amount of cash was taken, along with the bolt cutters, police said.
Police arrest man
WEST MIDDLESEX, Pa. -- Pennsylvania State Police said they arrested an employee of the Olde Country Feed & amp; Supply store on Mercer-New Wilmington Road on charges of theft and possession of a controlled substance.
Police said Mark D. Gentsy, 19, of New Castle, is accused of falsifying returns to the business and pocketing the money.
He was arrested at 7:30 p.m. Monday and police said he had suspected Oxycontin tablets, a prescription painkiller, in his possession but had no prescription for the drug.
He was arraigned before District Justice Ruth French of Mercer who freed him on a unsecured bond pending a preliminary hearing at a later date.
New jury duty system
LISBON -- Hoping to encourage people to serve as jurors, Columbiana County officials are instituting a new jury duty system.
Beginning July 1, those called for jury duty will be seated for a particular week. If seated for a trial during that time, they will serve until the trial concludes.
If not seated during their week of service, jurors will be excused for a year.
Jurors are on call for a month and must telephone the court weekly during that time for instructions.
The county jury commission and judges David Tobin and C. Ashley Pike, both of common pleas court, say the system that's used is inconvenient and that a shorter service period will allow people more flexibility to serve on juries.
Nurses, officials reachtentative agreement
BUTLER, Pa. (AP) -- The nurses and administrators at Butler Memorial Hospital have reached a tentative contract agreement and the two parties should vote Wednesday on a wage agreement.
Representatives of the nurses union, Pennsylvania Independent Nurses and hospital officials would not release details of the contract, which the parties tentatively agreed to Tuesday.
Nurses at the hospital are in the final year of a three-year contract. The contract allows nurses to renegotiate their wages in the last year of the agreement.
The nurses received a 3-percent pay increase in the first year and a 2-percent pay increase in the second year. The nurses would have received a 1-percent pay increase in the third year, but they argued their pay is below the average pay for nurses in the region.
At one point during contract negotiations, nurses were asking for a 19-percent pay increase, while hospital officials offered a 3.9-percent pay increase.