Worker reinstated

Worker reinstated
WARREN -- A union leader working for the city got his job back this week after being accused of misusing sick time.
Lee DeJacimo, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 74, was reinstated before a grievance hearing, after admitting a reduced charge of unauthorized use of sick time. He returned to work Wednesday.
DeJacimo, a laborer in the water department, was fired recently after he left work sick in September and showed up later that night on the sidelines of a Harding High School football game. He contends complications from diabetes sent him home but that he felt better after taking medicine and sleeping awhile.
DeJacimo maintains he was ill but admitted the lesser charge because it was best for his family. He says he was also fired in April when the city told him there was no work available to accommodate an injury he had. He was later reinstated.
Land for mall sold
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- City council agreed Thursday to sell a plot downtown to a developer working on a Hollywood-themed mall.
Cascade Riverplex, LP, which is owned by developers Tom George, Bob Bruce and their families, bought the land that once housed the B & amp;O Federal Credit Union at 217 S. Mill St. for $150,000. The former credit union building will be demolished and a new entrance to the Neisner Building, directly behind it, will be constructed, according to the developers.
The Neisner Building was the home of the first theater opened by the Warner brothers, who later became Hollywood movie moguls. The Hollywood-themed mall is expected to re-create the theater and have several related shops and restaurants.
Dairy Mart robbery
WEST MIDDLESEX, Pa. -- Southwest Mercer County Regional Police are reviewing surveillance tapes to identify the man who robbed the Dairy Mart store at 3108 Main St. around 4:15 a.m. Thursday.
A store clerk told police a man entered the store and demanded money, indicating he had a gun.
The clerk saw no gun but complied, handing over an undisclosed amount of cash, police said.
Hearing on Verizon
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- The Public Utility Commission has scheduled a hearing for public comments on whether local calling for Verizon's 924 exchange should be extended to include 752 and 758 exchanges.
The hearing is set for 6 p.m. Thursday at New Castle Municipal Building, 230 N. Jefferson St. Customer testimony will be part of the record on which the PUC will base its decision in the case. Administrative Law Judge John H. Corbett Jr. will determine if there is enough evidence to require Verizon to conduct a poll of all calls from 924.
If enough calls are made during the poll, the company will then be required to extend the local calling area for the 924 exchange. Residents living in the 924 exchange, mainly in Slippery Rock Township, border the 752 and 758 calling area, but must pay toll charges to call neighbors.
Juvenile burglary
SHARON, Pa. -- Police said they will file juvenile court petitions for burglary against two 13-year-old girls who broke into an apartment in the 100 block of Fourth Avenue.
A neighbor saw the girls crawling through a window around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday and called police, who found them inside. They were released to their parents pending the filing of charges.
Cemetery vandalism
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Four youths are being blamed for desecrating one of Pittsburgh's largest and oldest Jewish cemeteries by damaging more than 100 headstones and burning at least a dozen U.S. flags.
Allegheny County police say two boys and two girls vandalized Beth Hamedrash Hagodol-Beth Jacob cemetery in McKees Rocks either late Monday or early Tuesday by toppling, shattering and damaging grave markers. They also put the flags in a pile and set them ablaze.
One of the suspects, a 12-year-old boy from McKees Rocks, was arraigned on a charge of institutional vandalism and was being held at Shuman Juvenile Detention Center on Thursday, said county police Sgt. Bob Downey.