School board to foot bill of special election

School board to foot bill of special election
COLUMBIANA -- The village board of education will pay the $3,702 cost of the Aug. 6 special election. John Payne, Columbiana County Board of Elections director, said the school district foots the bill because its 1.6-mill permanent improvement levy was the only item on the ballot. The cost is based on the number of precincts open -- in this case eight, he said.
Schools Superintendent Patricia Hura said there is money set aside in the general fund to pay for elections. The district will lose $123,000 annually beginning next year because the levy failed.
Hura said paying for a special election is necessary because the $3,702 "doesn't look like a lot when you're at risk of losing $123,000."
Local conjoined twinscannot be separated
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Conjoined twin girls from Trumbull County, Ohio, who share a heart and a liver cannot be separated.
After examining the girls' last week, doctors at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh determined the girls' heart would make a separation impossible, hospital spokeswoman Melanie Finnigan said Tuesday.
The daughters of Misty and Keith Berry of Bristolville were discharged to a hospice Saturday. They were in serious but stable condition Tuesday.
The girls were born Aug. 16 in Pittsburgh's Magee-Women's Hospital.
Conjoined twins occur when a fertilized egg that would have become identical twins fails to split apart. This occurs once in every 50,000 to 60,000 births. In three out of four cases, the twins are stillborn or die within 24 hours.
Ruling on liquor option
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Mahoning County Board of Elections ruled that a liquor option sought by a New Middletown grocery store cannot be on the Nov. 5 ballot.
Frattaroli Sparkle at 11045 Main St. in New Middletown had submitted a petition to place an option on the November ballot asking residents of the village's Precinct 2 to permit the store to sell beer and wine Sundays.
The store was required to submit a petition with 96 valid signatures, but the petition submitted had only 91 valid signatures.
Vehicular homicide case
WARREN -- A Hermitage, Pa., woman has been sentenced to six months in prison after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor count of vehicular homicide.
Catherine Settlemire, 41, was sentenced Tuesday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court by Judge Andrew Logan.
Prosecutors said Settlemire was driving on Standard Road near U.S. Route 62 in Brookfield on Jan. 26 when her vehicle crossed the median and struck a car.
A passenger in that car, Yvonne Edwards, 71, also of Hermitage, was killed.
Infected mosquito
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. -- The first mosquito carrying the West Nile virus in Lawrence County has been found in New Wilmington Borough. Only dead birds had previously tested positive for the virus here.
West Nile can be deadly to the elderly or those with weakened immune systems. The disease is spread to humans through mosquitoes.
Janice Alberico, coordinator of Lawrence County's West Nile virus surveillance program, said more traps will be set to determine if there are more infected mosquitoes. They are waiting for state officials to approve spraying the area, she said.
Facing drug charges
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Danelle M. Whetzel, 19, of West Grant Street has been arrested and charged with three counts each of possession of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance with the intent to deliver and delivery of crack cocaine.
Lawrence County District Attorney Matthew Mangino said the charges stem from drug sales March 27, 2000; April 7, 2000; and Oct. 18, 2001. Whetzel was also charged with criminal use of a communication facility.
Whetzel faces a maximum sentence of 52 years in jail and $112,500 in fines, Mangino said.