MERCER COUNTY Lawyer eyes court seat

The Farrell native is the first to throw his hat into the ring to fill a vacant court seat next year.
SHARON, Pa. -- Atty. Stephen J. Mirizio will run for the Mercer County Common Pleas Court seat being vacated by Judge Michael J. Wherry.
Wherry, 66, announced in September that he wouldn't seek retention for another 10-year term, prompting speculation about which local attorneys might seek to fill that post.
Mirizio, 55, a Democrat from Farrell, is the first to announce his plans, saying he plans to cross-file on both the Democratic and Republican tickets in the May 2003 primary.
Pennsylvania law allows judicial hopefuls to file as a candidate on both major party tickets.
Mirizio, a 1965 graduate of Farrell High School, earned an accounting degree from Youngstown State University in 1971 and his law degree from Cleveland State University's Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1974.
He opened his practice in Sharon in October of that year and has remained as a sole practitioner here, running a diversified practice that serves both public and private entities.
He has tried civil and criminal cases in the courts and administratively and has argued cases before the state's appellate courts.
He is also the Farrell city solicitor and previously served as the Farrell Redevelopment Authority's solicitor.
Running for judge is something Mirizio said he has thought about for a long time.
He said he's happy with his practice but feels a call to public service.
"It's a goal that I want to achieve," he said, noting that his nearly 30 years of practice will bring experience, both technical and hands-on, to the role of a common pleas judge.
Mirizio is the son of Mary L. Mirizio and the late Stephen A. Mirizio.
He and his wife, the former Carisse Joseph, live in Farrell with their two sons, Damian and Nathan.