Open house scheduled

Open house scheduled
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Dental Hygiene Program at Youngstown State University will sponsor an open house and tour for prospective students from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Wednesday in Room 1112 of Cushwa Hall on Lincoln Avenue.
Visitors will have an opportunity to meet faculty members, academic advisers, current students and staff from the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. There will also be a tour of the clinic.
The Dental Hygiene Program at YSU is a two-year program that leads to an associate in applied science degree. The track consists of five semesters of study, including one summer semester. Students in the program prepare for work in private dental practices, school dental programs, health agencies, hospitals, research programs or other public-health settings.
Additional information can be obtained by contacting Bonnie Winters, Department of Dental Hygiene, (330) 742-1767.
Winter coats needed
YOUNGSTOWN -- Local residents are being asked to donate coats as part of a program to benefit needy families and children.
The coats will be collected at local ALLTEL stores and given to the families. Those who donate coats will receive an ALLTEL long-distance calling card.
Death investigated
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Pennsylvania State Police are investigating the death of a 37-year-old Pulaski Township man.
Peter H. Despetorich of RD 1, Box 1031, was found dead in his car in a parking lot on state Route 551 in Mahoning Township, Lawrence County. He died sometime between 12:30 a.m. Monday and 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, police said.
Police said an autopsy is scheduled.
Jail demolition
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- The old Lawrence County Jail is coming down.
Final demolition started Wednesday on the 30-year-old vacant jail. Warden William Hall said the building demolition is expected to last about a week.
The jail, which was built in the 1960s, has been vacant for the past three years. A new jail was built in 1997 on Milton Street.
Warden Hall said the county grew out of the old facility. It was originally built to hold 43 inmates but was holding more than 100 people before it was closed, he said.
County commissioners decided to raze it earlier this year when they learned it would be too costly to remodel for any other use. Crews have been removing asbestos and windows from the building in the last few months.
County commissioners plan to convert the space to parking for the county government center.
Home decoration tour
EAST LIVERPOOL -- The East Liverpool YMCA is sponsoring a house tour from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 2. Eight decorated homes will be featured on the tour.
Price is $20 per person. Stop at the YMCA to pick up a map of home locations.
Violence awareness
YOUNGSTOWN -- Youngstown State University's Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity will sponsor an observance of Domestic Violence Awareness Week Monday through Nov. 30.
The event will be on the first floor of Kilcawley Center on the YSU campus. Donations are being accepted to support local charities in their fight against domestic violence.
The fraternity will present toys to a representative of the Sojourner House sometime during the month of December. Scott Minadeo, a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon and organizer of the Domestic Violence Awareness Week, says the fraternity wanted to do something to help people in need over the holidays.
Police secure warrant
MERCER, Pa. -- Pennsylvania State Police have secured a warrant for the arrest of a Lumberton, N.C., man accused of bilking an elderly Wilmington Township woman out of $38,840.
Charges of deceptive or fraudulent business practices and theft by deception were filed Wednesday before District Justice Ruth French against James Rush, 54.
French issued a warrant for his arrest, but he remained at large.
Police said Rush is accused of deceiving the Wilmington Township woman over a period of nearly three years, beginning in October 1997 and ending in January 2000, by getting her to pay for repair and construction work he never did.
Rush has a history of fraudulent business practices in several states and uses various names in his dealings, police said.