Sexual assault charges

Sexual assault charges
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- A 15-year-old city boy faces charges in juvenile court on two separate sexual assaults. Matthew Mangino, Lawrence County district attorney, said the first charge stems from August 2002. The boy is accused of rape and involuntary sexual deviant intercourse with a 12-year-old girl in a wooded area near Britain Hill public housing complex in New Castle. The second set of charges, involuntary sexual intercourse and indecent assault, involve a 16-year-old girl. Mangino said the boy is accused of assaulting the girl on a back stairwell near the cafeteria of New Castle High School in late November. The district attorney said authorities became aware of both matters in late November. The boy has been released to his family.
LaGrotta's offices
ELLWOOD CITY, Pa. -- The Ellwood City and Slippery Rock offices of state Rep. Frank LaGrotta of Ellwood City, D-10th, will be closed on Christmas Day and Thursday and Jan. 1, in observance of the holiday season. In addition, the offices will close at 2 p.m. on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.
Troopers on alert
HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Col. Paul J. Evanko, state police commissioner, said troopers patrolling Pennsylvania highways will be watching for speeders, aggressive drivers and drunken drivers during both the Christmas and New Year's holiday driving periods.
The official driving periods for both the Christmas and New Year's holidays will be two days. The Christmas period runs Tuesday through Wednesday and New Year's driving period is Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.
During the Christmas 2001 driving period, seven people were killed and 151 were injured in 350 crashes investigated by state police. During last year's New Year's driving period, 10 people died and 129 were injured in 321 crashes to which troopers responded, Evanko said.
Child abduction program
HUBBARD -- Escape School, a program about child abduction, will be presented at 7 p.m. Jan. 7 at the Hubbard Public Library, 438 W. Liberty St. The free program for preschool to middle-school pupils and their parents will be the third offered at the library. Areas that will be covered include being smart, not scared; skills to avoid and escape abduction; how to differentiate between good and bad strangers; common lures used by abductors; and how to get away, escape from a car and get help. The program is sponsored by the library, National City Bank, Wood-Kortright Funeral Homes Inc. and Brookfield Head Start. The presentation is limited to about 75 parents and children. To register, call (330) 534-3512. There will be a parent committee meeting of Brookfield Head Start at 6:30 p.m. before Escape School at the library. For information about the committee, contact Mindy Metzger, (330) 448-0145.