Gas line rupture

Gas line rupture
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- City Fire Marshal Robert Goeltz said a work crew preparing a building site for a Greenville Savings Bank branch office at McConnell Road and state Route 18 ruptured a 4-inch natural gas line around 8:40 a.m. Monday.
National Fuel Gas directed police and firefighters to close that section of Route 18 for about 50 minutes while repairs were made. Traffic resumed around 9:30 a.m.
Mosquito monitoring
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Lawrence County will receive $23,000 and Butler County will get $13,000 to monitor mosquitoes and progress of the West Nile virus this year. The money comes from the state Department of Environmental Protection. Both grants will aid surveillance through June 30 of this year, the prime season for mosquito breeding.
Terroristic threats
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- Police arrested Dale Ravenscraft, 23, of Baldwin Avenue, Sharon, on charges of unlawful restraint, false imprisonment and making terroristic threats. Police said Ravenscraft's girlfriend told them he took her to the Kelly Road access area at Shenango River Lake around 7 p.m. Thursday and refused to let her leave. She slipped away and called police when he fell asleep on a picnic table, police said. Investigating officers found him sleeping on the table. He was arraigned before District Justice Ruth French, who ordered him held in Mercer County Jail on $10,000 bond.
Diagnostic tests offered
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. -- UPMC Horizon will provide diagnostic services such as routine X-rays and laboratory draws here. The office is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is next to the offices of the New Wilmington Family Medicine Associates at 565 W. Neshannock Road.
Blood shortages
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) -- A western Pennsylvania Red Cross chapter says its blood reserves are down to a two-day supply and even less than that for some blood types.
Officials with the Greater Alleghenies Region of the American Red Cross says patient demand is well ahead of availability.
Ted Mazza, senior director of donor services, said the agency is conducting drives to get high school and college donors.
The shortage is worst for type O negative, which is often used to help trauma victims, with the supply down to about one day's worth. Demand is also high for type O positive blood.
Hospital officials say they have enough to get by for now, but that the shortage is a concern because it is coming well before summer, when shortages are often felt.
Nature's art festival
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mill Creek MetroParks is looking for entries for its Art in the Park -- A Festival of Nature's Art.
The juried show is Sept. 22-23 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in visitors center in Fellows Riverside Gardens.
Deadline to apply is May 31. Those accepted will be notified by June 15.
Mediums are paintings, pottery, sculpture, wood carvings, natural landscapes and botanicals.
Call (330) 740-7107 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Performance at school
YOUNGSTOWN -- This week's 7th Ward Citizens Coalition meeting features a free performance by the Golden Age Follys at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in Jackson Elementary School, 1813 Windsor Ave.
The group, composed of senior citizens who sing, act and dance, will perform popular music from the 1930s, '40s and '50s.
Refreshments will be served.