Charges in death

Charges in death
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- Police have charged a Pleasant Drive man with vehicular homicide in the death of William Shannon, 72, of Buhl Farm Drive.
Charges of vehicular homicide while driving under the influence, homicide by vehicle, driving under the influence of alcohol and driving left of center were filed Monday against Seth A. Mikulin, 23. He was expected to turn himself in today. Police said Mikulin was intoxicated when he drove his vehicle across the center line on Highland Road around 11 p.m. May 31 and slammed into a westbound pickup truck driven by Shannon. Shannon died June 11 in St. Elizabeth Health Center.
Art in the Park
SALEM -- Area artists and craftsmen will be showing and selling their work this weekend.
Art in the Park, which is being sponsored by the Salem Area Arts Guild, will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Centennial Park on East Pershing Street.
Admission and parking is free. Entertainment and refreshments will be available.
Fire destroys home
LEETONIA -- Police and fire officials are awaiting the outcome of a state fire marshal's report about the cause of a fire that destroyed a Beeson Mill Road home.
Police Chief John Soldano said the double-wide mobile home at 1329 Beeson Mill Road was vacant. The owners, Michael and Roxanne Kerr, had recently moved and were in the process of selling the home. Soldano said it is unclear whether someone else had purchased the home. The fire was reported around 7:30 a.m. Saturday.
Cash stolen
SALEM -- A thief stole about $786 in cash between 6:45 a.m. and 12:05 p.m. Monday from a home on the 300 block of West Pershing Street, police said. There was no sign of forced entry.
Business damaged
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Authorities believe a tractor-trailer crashed into a Cascade Street business and then took off.
City police said workers found a hole in the southwest corner of the Kennedy Tubular building when they reported for work Monday. The business had been closed since Friday.
Police said the building's roof was sagging from the crash. Tractor-trailer tire marks were found leading up to the building, they said.
Wreck kills man
MERCER, Pa. -- Pennsylvania State Police said Ronald P. Watazychyn, 48, of Clairton, Pa., was killed when the truck he was driving veered into a bridge overpass along Interstate 80 in East Lackawannock Township.
Police said Watazychyn was westbound around 1 p.m. Monday when he apparently fell asleep at the wheel.
After hitting the bridge, his truck ran into the median, struck an embankment and rolled over. Watazychyn wasn't wearing a seat belt and was trapped in the wreckage.
Panel to study planfor malpractice laws
HARRISBURG (AP) -- A five-member panel appointed by Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chief Justice Ralph J. Cappy will review Gov. Ed Rendell's proposal to reform medical malpractice liability laws. Allegheny County Judge R. Stanton Wettick was named to chair the panel, which also includes four other lawyers.
The panel, or "think tank," as it was described by the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts, will review the reforms Rendell proposed earlier this month and make recommendations to the Supreme Court on those that affect or require action by the judicial branch.
Some proposals, such as limits on how much attorneys are paid in winning malpractice cases, require rule changes by the state's high court.
Cappy also directed Justice William H. Lamb to develop a voluntary medical malpractice mediation program and instructed court officials to help other state agencies collect medical malpractice statistics.