Steel mill catches fire

Steel mill catches fire
FARRELL, Pa. -- Sparks from a burning torch were blamed for a fire at Duferco Farrell Corp.
Fire Chief Joseph Santell said firefighters were called to the hot mill in the steel processing plant about 1:15 p.m. Sunday when workers were unable to contain the blaze.
Santell said sparks ignited grease in a pit in the mill and two Duferco employees suffered some smoke inhalation.
"It looked worse than it was," Santell said, noting that the smoke was visible from the fire station about three blocks from the plant.
Exhaust fans in the building blew the smoke into the air, making the fire appear worse than it was, he said.
Fire crews were quickly able to knock down the flames and the fire was extinguished with about 20 gallons of foam, Santell said.
Crews from Sharon and Hermitage were called in to support Farrell firefighters.
Burglars still on the loose
MERCER, Pa. -- State police are investigating two burglaries, one of which netted thieves about $700.
Someone pried open a door to get into Grantham's Landing Restaurant on Georgetown Road in New Lebanon sometime early Thursday. The intruder took about $700 in cash and coins from the office, police said.
Beer was the target of burglars who broke into the golf pro shop at Pleasant Acres Golf Course on Tower Road in Greene Township early Thursday, police said. Two cases of beer were the only things reported missing.
Purse snatcher gets away
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- State police are looking for a man who robbed an elderly woman in a grocery store parking lot.
Police said the 69-year-old woman was robbed as she put groceries in her car trunk at 10:25 p.m. Saturday at the Shop N Save in the Westgate Plaza.
The woman struggled with the robber as he grabbed her purse from her left arm, police said. The man then ran off with the purse and got into a car, described as an older burgundy colored sedan.
The robber was a black man, possibly in his teens, 5 feet 10 inches tall with a thin build, police said.
Anyone with information is asked to call state police at (724) 598-2211.
Aggravated assault
SHARON, Pa. -- Police arrested Gordon E. Bair, 74, of French Street Extension after he was accused of driving onto a Third Avenue sidewalk to hit a man with his car.
Arthur Burns, 47, of Third Avenue suffered a broken collarbone when he was struck by a car around 3:15 a.m. Sunday, police said.
Witnesses told police that Burns and Bair got into an argument and that Bair got into his car, drove onto the sidewalk and hit Burns. He left the scene but came back a short time later and was arrested.
He was arraigned on charges of aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person and lodged in Mercer County Jail on $8,000 bond pending a preliminary hearing.
Storms leave some dry
MEADVILLE, Pa. (AP) -- Thunderstorms sweeping across the state have left some residents in this town wanting, of all things, water.
The storms, which dumped about 3 inches of water in an hour and a half, on Saturday washed away part of a street in Meadville, opening up a sinkhole 40 feet long, 35 feet wide and 30 feet deep and breaking two water mains.
About 1,000 people in Meadville, about 80 miles north of Pittsburgh, were left dry from the breaks, including residents in two nursing homes.
"It's more of an inconvenience than anything else for the residents," said Jim Beers, spokesman for the 400-resident Wesbury United Methodist Retirement Community. "We've purchased water and we have water to treat residents for drinking."
Salem pub robbed
SALEM -- Someone entered a downtown business and stole an undisclosed amount of money from the cash register, police reported.
The theft occurred at Rickey's English Pub, 151 E. State Street.
The crime was reported about 12:44 a.m. today. It's believed the money was taken after 10 p.m. Sunday, police said.