KEYSTONE CLIPS Grove City College boasts largest class
Grove City College officials said one of the largest freshman classes in its history, 589 students, began its college career on campus Saturday.
The class is evenly divided with 296 men and 293 women coming from 34 states and three foreign countries -- Brazil, Japan and Korea. It boasts 90 high school valedictorians, 28 salutatorians and 17 National Merit Scholarship winners.
The students were greeted with a weekend of activities including receptions, dances, a parade, a carnival and ice cream socials.
Grove City has been ranked second as the "Best Value" among U.S. northern regional liberal arts colleges by U.S. News & amp; World Report and fifth in its category in America's Best Colleges rankings.
Candidates on the Web: Mercer County residents seeking a nonpartisan look at political candidates can now find that information on the Internet.
The League of Women Voters of Mercer County has launched an online Web site designed to provide nonpartisan information about the political process. The address is http://home.neo.rr.com/lwvmc and includes details on voting procedures, addresses of government officials and links to other useful Web sites as well as candidate information. It also offers an interactive question and answer section.
Workforce grant: Butler County Community College will receive a $289,479 state Community College Workforce Development Challenges Grant and $335,532 in private work force development contributions.
The funding is part of a $2 million state investment and $3.4 million in private contributions donated by corporate and community partners. The money will be used to prepare students for the ever-changing work force.
ATV rider rules: Beginning Oct. 23, recreational all-terrain vehicle riders and snowmobilers will have to follow a new set of rules, said state Rep. Chris Sainato of New Castle, D-9th.
A new state law is designed to prevent ATV use in unauthorized areas, such as private property and state forest lands, while encouraging the creation of trails for ATV use.
Pennsylvania now has 188 designated ATV trail miles, but they are located in only 11 counties in the central and eastern parts of the state. Sainato said the new law established a grant program within the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to assist municipalities and nonprofit organizations in developing trails and facilities on municipal or privately held land.
It also increases fines for people riding in authorized areas from $20 to $100 to $50 to $200 for a first offense and up to $300 for subsequent offenses.
XCONTRIBUTORS: Harold Gwin, Vindicator Sharon Bureau, and Laure Cioffi, New Castle Bureau.