KEYSTONE CLIPS Cell block? Officials ask about ban

During a discussion of problems with the installation of a new telephone system in the Sharon City School District, School Director Kathy Hall suggested that teachers be allowed to bring their own cellular telephones to school until the new system is fully in place.
That prompted some debate among school officials over whether there is any policy banning cell phones belonging to teachers and staff. A few minutes later, Hall's own cell phone rang in her purse, prompting School Director Linda Valentino to quip, "Do we have a policy on board cell phones?"
Remembering professor: Grove City College community will remember longtime English professor Dr. Hilda Kring in a memorial service at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in Harbison Chapel on the college campus.
Kring died Jan. 11 at Grove Manor Nursing Home after a long illness. She was an English teacher at Slippery Rock High School when she was named Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year just before joining the Grove City College faculty in 1967.
She was founder of the Children's Theatre on campus, a sorority mother for Phi Sigma Chi, founder of the Orchesis Dance Troupe and volunteered in the community at nursing homes, United Community Hospital and Meals on Wheels.
She also was the first recipient of the college's Florence E. MacKenzie Campus-Community Award in 1983.
She and her late husband, Dr. Frederick S. Kring, were an institution in the Grove City community. He served at Grove City College in a variety of capacities for 29 years. In 1988, the Krings received the Benjamin Rush Award, which is presented by Mercer County Medical Society to those who make outstanding contributions of effort and funds benefiting the health of county residents.
Defibrillator program: A new state program will make automatic external defibrillators available to schools, said state Rep. Frank LaGrotta of Ellwood City, D-10th.
LaGrotta said school districts qualify for two free defibrillators, while vocational-technical schools and intermediate units qualify for one free AED.
Others can be purchased from the state for $1,445. At least two employees must be trained to use the machines, he noted.
A helping hand: Lawrence County Social Services Inc. is getting a $118,260 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development for a program that helps low-income families save money for household, education and child-care needs, said state Rep. Chris Sainato of New Castle, D-9th.
The grant will provide a one-to-one savings match for 80 people, Sainato said. Part of the grant will be used for a 50-percent savings match program for 20 people, which provides state matching funds of up to $600 for two years.
Those in the program can use the savings to make home repairs, pay for education or pay to start a business, Sainato added.
XCONTRIBUTORS: Harold Gwin, Vindicator Sharon Bureau, and Laure Cioffi, New Castle Bureau.