Fire department grants

Fire department grants
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency has awarded more than $40,000 in grants to two Lawrence County fire departments for fire operations and safety programs.
The Pulaski Township Fire Company got $12,240 while the Union Township Volunteer Fire Department received $31,050, said U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart of Bradford Woods, Pa., R-4th.
Fall foliage nature walk
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- Jennings Environmental Education Center is sponsoring a nature walk at 2 p.m. Oct. 13 for participants to look at the fall foliage along the center's trails. Center guides will lead the 90-minute walk.
The center is at 2951 Prospect Road. For more information, call Will Taylor, program coordinator, at (724) 794-6011.
Airport authority post
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Lawrence County commissioners said they plan to vote on appointing Dr. Arthur V. Lombardi, a New Castle dentist, to a five-year term on the airport authority. They'll take up the matter at their meeting at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
Use of force challenged
ERIE, Pa. (AP) -- Erie's police chief acted appropriately and any force he used was justified when he arrested a teenager, who contends the chief broke his nose, after being sprayed in the eye with a squirt gun, the chief's attorney said.
"It was an extremely dangerous situation. It was dark, and the chief had no awareness of who the individuals were, whether they were armed," said Leonard Ambrose, the lawyer for Chief Charles Bowers.
According to court records, Bowers was off-duty when a group of teenagers drove by and squirted him in the face. The chief got in his car and gave chase, calling for backup. The teens were arrested several blocks away.
One of the teens, 18-year-old John D. Wilson II, filed a criminal complaint Thursday alleging that Bowers punched him, breaking his nose, and threw the teen onto the roof of a vehicle.
City officials are reviewing the arrest a second time. A previous investigation found Bowers did not use excessive force. Prosecutors are investigating the teen's claim.
McDonald's franchises
MEADVILLE, Pa. (AP) -- A man who ran a chain of a dozen McDonald's restaurants in northwestern Pennsylvania announced that he will sell the eateries back to the company.
"It was a difficult decision, but Jimmy [his son] and I decided it was time," said John McCarney, 62, who opened his first store 30 years ago in Meadville and grew his holdings to 12 restaurants in Crawford and Erie counties.
Kerry Ford, a spokeswoman for McDonald's, said no employees would lose their jobs and the restaurants would likely remain under corporate ownership rather than be franchised after they change hands Nov. 1.