Niles firefighters probe fire on Liberty Street

Niles firefighters probefire on Liberty Street
NILES -- Firefighters are investigating a fire that started about 7 p.m. Monday at 171 Liberty St. No one was injured, and the cause and damage estimate remain under investigation. No further information was available from the fire department this morning.
Meeting change
MECCA -- The time for Mecca Township trustees' meeting Thursday has changed from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The reason for the change is that Maplewood Soccer League sign-ups will be at 7 p.m. at the township hall.
Route 11 lane closings
GREENE -- Temporary lane closures will take place in either or both directions on state Route 11 just north of the Trumbull County line between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. daily through Friday, the Ohio Department of Transportation said. The closures, which began today, are for the installation of traffic counters.
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.
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.
Weathersfield hearing
MINERAL RIDGE -- Weathersfield Township trustees will conduct a public hearing at 7 p.m. today at the township administration building on a proposed form to allow residents to suggest changes to zoning regulations.
Sherri Craver, assistant township zoning inspector, said the form makes it easier for residents to suggest revisions. She said that there has been no opposition to the form and that she expects none.
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 the 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.
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 say 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 that 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.