Call us, please

Call us, please
The Vindicator is asking people hired as extras for the filming of the television show "West Wing" in Volant, Pa., to call us today or Thursday. We would like to write about their experiences on the show.
Please call reporter Laure Cioffi of our New Castle Bureau at (724) 654-5361 or Regional Editor Carl Basic at (330) 747-1471 Ext. 306 or (800) 686-5199 Ext. 306.
Bat with rabies found
LISBON -- A bat found outside a Salem business has tested positive for rabies, the Columbiana County Health Department reports.
The live bat was discovered Friday on the sidewalk near a business in the 1700 block of E. State St., Dantan Hutton, county health department inspector, said today. Hutton trapped the bat and had it sent to the state for testing.
The bat had no contact with any humans, as far as health officials could determine, Hutton said.
The bat is the second animal to test positive for rabies in the county in 2002. Earlier this year, a rabid bat was discovered in East Liverpool.
Wreck injures couple
MERCER, Pa. -- A New Castle couple was seriously injured when the motorcycle they were riding collided with a car on U.S. Route 62 at Cottage Road in Jackson Township.
Pennsylvania State Police said Jay Fray, 42, and Kathryn Fray, 36, were eastbound on Route 62 around 7:10 p.m. Tuesday when a vehicle pulled into their path from Cottage Road. The motorcycle hit the car, throwing the Frays to the ground. Both were in critical condition today in UPMC Hospital in Pittsburgh.
Neither the driver of the other vehicle, Jonathan M. Hill, 19, of Sandy Lake, nor his three passengers were injured.
School district fills post
SHARPSVILLE, Pa. -- The assistant special education director in the Sharon City School District is now the special education supervisor for the Sharpsville Area School District.
The Sharpsville Area School Board voted Monday to hire Chris Smith to fill the post vacated by the resignation of Toni Mild, who has joined the Laurel School District in Lawrence County. Smith's starting salary was set at $52,000 a year.
Lawsuit over firing
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- The Shenango Area School District has filed a lawsuit asking Lawrence County Common Pleas Court to uphold its decision to fire a teacher.
The teacher's termination was overturned in July by an arbitrator brought in by the teachers union, according to the lawsuit.
Art teacher James Lutz was fired earlier this year after nine female students in the eighth and ninth grades complained of sexual harassment, court papers said.
The lawsuit contends that the arbitrator exceeded his power when he did not uphold the district's termination of Lutz. He was given a 30-day suspension from teaching by the arbitrator, the lawsuit said.
Woman charged
SHARON, Pa. -- Marcia L. Fisher, 48, of 300 Russell St., was in Mercer County Jail today on $25,000 bond, charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person in an attack that injured a neighbor.
Police said Fisher intervened in a domestic dispute between William E. Flint, 43, and a woman who lives in the same apartment building around 10 a.m. Tuesday. Police said Fisher is accused of cutting Flint on the face, neck and right temple with a utility knife. Flint was treated at Sharon Regional Health System.
Mail carrier sentenced
PITTSBURGH -- A former Mercer County mail carrier was sentenced to six months of home detention followed by five years' probation after being convicted of mail fraud and making false statements to get worker's compensation benefits.
Senior U.S. District Judge Gustave Diamond also ordered Tuesday that John L. McDonald, 61, of Fredonia Road, Hadley, never again enter the Greenville Post Office where he had worked.
McDonald was injured by a car while delivering mail in Greenville in July 1999 and said he was unable to work for an extended period.
He secured $18,856 in worker's compensation benefits but was also running a business buying and selling antiques and collectibles at the same time, authorities said.