Commissioners OK hirings for Keyes home

Commissioners OKhirings for Keyes home
LISBON -- Columbiana County commissioners approved hiring two youth leaders in preparation for the reopening of the Keyes group home formerly operated by county Job and Family Services.
Commissioners also scheduled a special meeting for 10 a.m. Monday to hire at least one other youth leader for the Keyes home.
Eileen Dray-Bardon, director of JFS, said Wednesday that Suzanne Cuevas of Negley and Kristen Berg of Salem will work 30 hours a week at $8.49 per hour and receive insurance benefits.
The group home is to reopen Sept. 19 after being closed since last year due to county budget cuts. The home serves juvenile females in the custody of the county children services agency.
Man robbed of $700 after accepting car ride
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- A man who thought he was getting a ride to a relative's home was robbed.
Police said a 67-year-old man walking on South Jefferson Street at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday was offered a ride for $5 by a man in his 20s in a blue car. The victim asked to go to a relative's home on Center Church Road, but instead was taken to an area he did not recognize and robbed of about $700, police said. The older man was later dropped off on Center Church Road, police said.
Two men remainin serious condition
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Two men injured in a natural gas fire at Shenango Refractory remained in serious condition this morning at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh.
Anthony Conti, 73, had second-degree burns to his face, hands, arms and back, according to a hospital spokeswoman. John Krcysic, 50, had burns on 1 percent of his body, she said. Both were awake and alert in their hospital beds this morning, she noted.
The men, who live in New Castle, were injured Wednesday morning when a natural gas line caught fire as they were trying to fix a broken gas meter at the McCleary Avenue plant.
Firefighters said the blaze was extinguished before they arrived at 7:30 a.m. A plant manager had turned off the gas supply.
Man faces DUI charges
GREENVILLE, Pa. -- A city man has been charged with driving under the influence, hit and run and careless driving. He's accused of crashing his vehicle into the front steps of a Carlisle Road home in West Salem Township and then driving off.
Greenville-West Salem police said Alan Endicott, 47, of Quarry Road was arrested not long after crashing into the steps at 1:12 a.m. today. Police said blood tests showed his blood-alcohol level was 1 1/2 times over the Pennsylvania's legal limit of 0.10 percent.
Tests will continueon pipe bomb remains
NORTH JACKSON -- Tests on the remains of a pipe bomb that exploded here this weekend most likely won't be complete until next week, according to Jackson Township Police Chief Orrin Hill.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is running the tests to determine what type of explosives were used in the bomb. Hill said an ATF agent told him that the test results could be available next week.
The bomb exploded at the base of a door to the hall of United Auto Workers Local 1112 late Friday or early Saturday, Hill said. The explosion destroyed two large windows and damaged glass doors and the concrete structure around the entrance. There were no injuries.
Board eyes abatement
CAMPBELL -- An eight-year 57 percent tax abatement could bring in 11 jobs and add to the city's tax base if approved by Mahoning County commissioners during their meeting today.
City council approved the abatement during their regular meeting Wednesday to allow Malmer & amp; Frangopoulos Ltd. to add an estimated $600,000 medical practice building onto a current office on McCartney Road.
Despite the abatement, Mayor John Dill said the city will benefit from income taxes and the additional property tax the expansion will bring in.
"We'll do anything we can for new jobs," he said.