Absentee ballots

Absentee ballots
LISBON -- The Columbiana County Board of Elections reminds voters who wish to vote by absentee ballot in the Feb. 5 special election that they must obtain a ballot by Feb. 1. Requests in writing must be made to the board of elections at 41 N. Park Ave., Lisbon, Ohio 44432.
John Payne, board of elections director, said the request must include the name and residence address of the voter along with the address where the ballot is to be mailed. A voter must sign his or her request and no one else can sign a request for another voter, he said. Payne said power of attorney does not apply under voting laws.
The Columbiana Village Board of Education has a 1.6-mill permanent improvement replacement levy on the ballot. Treasurer Lori Posey said the expiring levy annually generates about $123,000 that is used for capital improvements and to purchase textbooks.
Prose-writing festival
EAST PALESTINE -- East Palestine Memorial Public Library is accepting entries through March 15 for its sixth annual prose-writing festival to be 6:30 p.m. March 27. Fiction and nonfiction prose of three to 10 pages will be accepted. All ages can participate. Send entries to the library at 309 N. Market St., East Palestine, Ohio 44413. For more information, call the library at (330) 426-3778.
Drug found in teens
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- Police are investigating the source of a drug that sent three teen-agers to the hospital. Hermitage police said a 14-year-old was taken to the hospital Sunday, and doctors discovered the drug Haldol in the teen-ager's system.
Police said Haldol is a drug often administered to psychiatric patients and can cause muscular seizures and shut down the nervous system if taken when not prescribed by a physician. Police said two 15-year-old students at Hickory High School were rushed to a hospital Tuesday after suffering seizures and doctors later determined they had also taken Haldol.
Officers chosen
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- City Commissioner William Scanlon will serve another term as president of the board of city commissioners. He was re-elected to the post during an organizational meeting Monday.
Commissioner Sylvia Stull retained her seat as vice president of the board. Stull, Commissioners Joseph Augustine and Larry Gurrera and city Treasurer Joanne Chestnut Moore also took their oaths of office. All were-re-elected in November to new terms.
Pneumonia vaccine
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Nurses from St. Francis Hospital will offer pneumonia vaccines from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 3 p.m. Thursdays during January at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1111 S. Cascade Street. Cost for the vaccine is $25 and it is covered by Medicare. It is recommended people receive the vaccine every five years.
Help to do study
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- The Lawrence County Government Study Commission has agreed to solicit help from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and Westminster College. Both have offered interns and consultants at no cost to the study commission.
The study commission was elected in November to study the structure of county government and recommend any changes to voters in the next general election. Speakers from the Pennsylvania Center for Local Government outlined a suggested timeline and gave details about the state law governing the commission's powers and duties at Wednesday's meeting. The group's next meeting will be Jan. 22 in the county government center.
Tracks lead to suspect
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Footprints in some fresh snow helped police track down a suspect. Michael Glidden, 29, of East Grant Street faces charges of criminal trespass, criminal attempt to commit burglary and loitering and prowling at night. Police said nothing was taken from the Moose Lodge at 35 S. Mercer St., but a window was broken early Monday.
Authorities think that an alarm scared off the would-be burglar. Officers followed footprints in the snow, which led them to Glidden, police said. He's in Lawrence County Jail in lieu of $5,000 bond.