School board session

School board session
HANOVERTON -- The United Board of Education will have a special work session at 7 p.m. Thursday in the high school library. The regular meeting will follow at 7:30.
Car stolen from lot
SALEM -- A car was stolen from a parking lot in the 200 block of Pennsylvania Avenue, police said. The 2001 white Dodge Intrepid was last seen around 10 p.m. Tuesday. It was reported stolen around 2:10 a.m. today. The car is owned by a Jefferson Avenue man.
Damage closes highway
WINONA -- Water from this week's storms damaged a culvert near state Route 172 in Hanover Township, forcing that section of the highway to be closed, the Ohio Department of Transportation said. Crews will replace the culvert as soon as possible. The road is expected to be reopened later this week. Until then, traffic will be detoured using U.S. Route 30 and state Route 9.
Ramp resurfacing
MERCER, Pa. -- The off and on ramps at the Interstate 79-Route 62 Interchange, Exit 121, were to be closed for resurfacing today. Weather conditions prevented the ramps from being resurfaced as planned Tuesday. The work was to begin after 7 a.m. and continue to about 7 p.m. The ramps will be alternately closed, resurfaced and reopened. Motorists should be alert for detour signs and message boards, expect possible congestion and delays and seek alternate routes.
Proficiency classes
EAST PALESTINE -- The East Palestine School District will offer proficiency intervention classes for fourth-grade reading and the ninth-grade proficiency test Monday through July 18. The high school classes are 8 to 11 a.m. at the high school. The fourth-grade classes are 9 to 11 a.m. at the middle school. After a week of classes, the fourth-grade reading test and portions of the ninth-grade proficiency test will be given July 18. There is no tuition charge. For more information, call Joann Knight, director of curriculum and instruction, at (330) 426-2625.
Planners OK rezoning
COLUMBIANA -- The Columbiana City Planning Commission will recommend to city council that property along state Route 14 across from the Dutch Village Inn be rezoned from residential to light commercial. Mayor Lowell Schloneger said Joyce Conn, Doris Warner and Gary Bailey and officers of the Columbiana Church of Christ are seeking to have their properties rezoned. Neighbors are concerned the area is already too busy, and don't want businesses in their back yards. Schloneger said offices and small retail stores would be permitted. He said the people requesting the change have been trying to sell their homes for more than 10 years and the only interest has been from commercial buyers. The planning commission approved site plans for a Curves women's workout center in the Columbiana Plaza and for Ken Crane to sell the primitive furniture he makes from a storefront at 217 S. Main St.
Auditor makes a visit
LISBON -- State Auditor Betty Montgomery was in town Tuesday as part of an effort to visit each of Ohio's 88 counties. Columbiana County officials characterized the largely unpublicized visit as routine and aimed at enabling local officials to get acquainted with Montgomery. County Auditor Nancy Milliken said today she expressed concern to Montgomery about the county being unable to afford the nearly $50,000 cost to convert to a new accounting method, as required by the state. Montgomery said she understands the difficulty some counties are having in making the conversion but the state cannot relax that standard, Milliken related.
$1.4M for cancer fight
CANFIELD -- The Mahoning Area American Cancer Society, representing Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties, has netted about $1.4 million so far in 2003 from 12 Relay For Life fund-raising events, said Jo-Ann Crank, executive director of the local ARC. One more Relay For Life is scheduled for Aug. 29-30 at Lordstown High School. Proceeds are used by ARC for research, education, advocacy and services to patients and families, said Al Stabilito, ARC communications and advocacy director.