KEYSTONE CLIPS A concrete effort for vocal HOF

Arranging for musical artists inducted in to the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in Sharon to put their footprints and handprints in concrete in front of the Columbia Theatre on West State Street was truly a community effort.
The list of business and other volunteers who handled the preparation and concrete work is long. It includes the O'Brien, Rien, Combine and Henlen construction companies. R.W. Sidley provided the concrete, and work crews from the state Department of Corrections Community Treatment Center helped clean up the site. Euclid Chemical Co. and Gealy Memorials had a hand in the effort as well.
Finally, Reyers donated all of the shoes worn by the artists who participated in the Sept. 16 event.
State tuition grants
The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency provided more than $9 million in state tuition grants to college students in the 50th state Senatorial District in the 2002-03 school year.
More than 4,400 students, including 110 military veterans, in the district, which includes all of Mercer and Crawford counties and parts of Lawrence and Butler counties, received those grants, said state Sen. Robert Robbins of Greenville, R-50th.
Those awards represented about 75 percent of the students applying for state aid and enrolled at least half-time, he said. Robbins said an additional 9,923 Federal Stafford Loans totaling more than $31 million also were awarded in his district.
Fraternity cleans up
Westminster College students swept their way through New Wilmington Borough this weekend. Theta Chi fraternity's "Greek Sweep" promised more than 120 fraternity and sorority members sweeping sidewalks, picking up trash and pulling weeds.
They then went back to the Theta Chi house for a picnic. Supplies for the work were donated by 10 local businesses.
Support for amendment
Lawrence County District Attorney Matt Mangino came out last week in support of a November ballot question that would allow children to testify in court by video or closed- circuit television.
The ballot question is an amendment to the state constitution. If passed, Pennsylvania would be the 36th state to enact such legislation. Mangino said in a press release that criminals go free because parents refuse to allow children to testify because of the additional trauma.
XCONTRIBUTORS: Harold Gwin of the Sharon Bureau and Laure Cioffi of the New Castle Bureau.