Packard band workers receive pay raises

Packard band workersreceive pay raises
WARREN -- Conductors and employees of the W.B. Packard Concert Hall Band have been granted hefty pay increases by the board of trustees. The annual salary of executive director Adone Calderone has been increased from $5,880 to $9,800; associate director Thomas Groth, who was previously paid $10 a concert, has been given a salary of $4,800 a year; and the stipend for conductors was increased from $290 a concert to $500. The pay increase for band administrators reflects increased responsibilities, said Linda Metzendorf, board vice president. The band had previously paid city employees who ran the music hall to take care of administrative tasks, which include payroll matters and the organization of rehearsals, sheet music and programs, she said. The band can easily absorb the $9,800 increase to its annual expenses, Metzendorf said; it is projected to end the year $115,000 in the black.
Report of assault
WARREN -- A 43-year-old Hazelwood S.E. man told police he was assaulted early today.
The man said he was in his driveway around 12:20 a.m. when a silver-colored vehicle drove by; one of the occupants threw an unidentified object, hitting him in the face and causing a deep cut.
Veterans viaduct?
SHARON, Pa. -- Should the new Oakland Avenue Viaduct get a new name? It's a county bridge that is being rebuilt with $3.6 million in state and federal funds, and Councilman Lou Rotunno thinks the structure should get a new name. He proposed that the county call it the World War II Veterans Memorial Bridge. Fred Hoffman, council president, said the county is apparently taking a dim view of the change. He said at a council workshop Thursday that the county sent a letter to the city thanking officials for the suggestion but contending that county bridges don't get named. Hoffman said he doesn't think that to be the case. The county bridge at Silver Street over the Shenango River in downtown Sharon has a name plaque on it, designating it as Veterans Memorial Bridge, he said. He suggested that the city write back to the county noting that fact and again suggesting that the viaduct be named.
Woman is sentencedfor stealing funds
CLEVELAND -- A Lowellville woman has been sentenced to 17 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to obtaining bank funds under false pretenses.
U.S. District Judge Lesley Wells also ordered Vicki L. Harris, 51, of List Lane, to make restitution.
Harris admitted taking $293,220 from Conti Corp., where she worked between 1994 and 1999.
She stole Conti Corp. checks at least monthly and used them to obtain cashier's checks or to make direct payments against her credit card accounts, the U.S. attorney said.
Gunfire wounds boy
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 16-year-old Sherwood Avenue boy was wounded in the shoulder Thursday on the South Side by two men wearing ski masks.
The teen's mother told police the assailants approached the Choffin Career Center sophomore about 10:30 p.m. on La Clede Avenue near Glenwood Avenue and fired more than 20 shots from two handguns.
Drug abuse charges
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 27-year-old South Side man was arrested Thursday on the East Side on a charge of drug abuse.
Police said they stopped a car in a South Pearl Street driveway about 7:30 p.m. The passenger, a West Judson Avenue man, got out and placed his hands on its hood.
As they searched him, police found two plastic sandwich bags containing suspected cocaine at the man's feet.
'My Fair Lady' onstage
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. -- A large-scale production of "My Fair Lady" is coming to Westminster College at 8 p.m. today in Orr Auditorium, as the second show in the 2001-02 Westminster College Celebrity Series.
The musical is fashioned closely after George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion." In it, Professor Henry Higgins tries to teach a Covent Garden flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, how to speak like a lady and grow from a raucous guttersnipe to a lady of grace and splendor.
Seats are still available. For reservations, call the Celebrity Series Box Office, (724) 946-7354.