Police handle anthrax scares

New Castle authorities are still trying to identify white powder discovered in a plumbing parts box.
STAFF REPORT
Salem Police carefully handled a $20 bill and an out-of-town envelope over the weekend, taking precautionary measures due to the nationwide anthrax fear.
Lt. Donald Beeson said Ohio Department of Health officials have determined exposure from the items was minimal.
Beeson said FBI agents at the Youngstown office were contacted. He said the items remain at the police department, and police are making arrangements to have the items tested by state health officials.
What happened: Police responded to the Taco Bell restaurant at 1872 E. State St. about 8 p.m. Saturday after a manager reported a customer at the drive-up window acted suspiciously.
The manager told police that the customer, wearing latex gloves, paid for his order at the drive-up window with a $20 bill he removed from a sealed paper envelope. The manager placed the $20 bill in a plastic bag and called police.
Police directed any employees who handled the $20 bill to wash their faces and hands as a precautionary measure. Once at the station, police placed the plastic bag containing the $20 in a biohazard bag provided by Salem Community Hospital, police said.
Envelope: Police took similar action Friday evening after a resident in the 400 block of West Wilson reported a white powder substance on a 9-by-12 envelope he had received in the mail.
The man said the envelope was from an out-of-town corporation, and he was not expecting any mail from that company.
Police said they followed state and federal protocol in handling of possible biological agents. Police and firefighters responded, and placed the envelope in a sealed plastic bag, then in a biohazard container provided by SCH.
New Castle: In western Pennsylvania, a white powdery substance found by a repairman in New Castle was sent today to a laboratory in Allegheny County to be analyzed, said city Police Chief Victor Cubellis. He wouldn't say which laboratory.
Police said the repairman was taken to St. Francis Hospital as a precautionary measure after he opened a parts box Saturday afternoon and white powder fell out.
He notified city police, who summoned other emergency response units to the Highland Avenue home where he was working.
Lt. David Gramsky said police took action to be on the safe side because President Bush has asked safety forces to take all possible threats seriously.
Gramsky said the repairman had no symptoms and was released after examination in the hospital emergency room.
He bought the part for toilet repair at a store, then opened it in the house. Because the powder was contained, there is no risk to public safety or health, Gramsky said.
Police called in the Lawrence County Emergency Management Agency, the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the American Red Cross and Weavertown Environmental Group, a company from Houston, Pa., under contract with the county for environmental work.
Authorities cleared the home for habitation and there is no risk to public safety, police said.
Suspicious letter in Farrell: Southwest Regional Police said this morning that they were given a letter from Farrell Mayor William Morocco at about 5 p.m. Friday that appeared to contain a suspicious piece of paper, police said. It was postmarked Washington, D.C., police said.
Officers placed the letter in a biohazard container and contacted the FBI in Pittsburgh, who will examine the letter. They didn't say who the letter was from or where it was this morning.
UContributors: Nancy Tullis of The Vindicator Salem Bureau and Laure Cioffi of the New Castle Bureau.