Hermitage district's funds will go to restore stream

Hermitage district's fundswill go to restore stream
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- The state will give the city school district $97,876 to restore a stream running through school property.
Sen. Robert Robbins of Greenville, R-50th, and Rep. Mike Gruitza of Hermitage, D-7th, said the money comes through the Environmental Stewardship and Watershed Protection Grant (Growing Greener) Program.
The Mercer County Conservation District also got $41,810 to enhance and restore 1,700 feet of an unnamed tributary to Powdermill Run, and Mercer County Regional Planning Commission received $30,000 to develop a Mercer County comprehensive plan, Robbins said.
The awards were three of the 220 watershed improvement grants totaling more than $37 million approved by the state.
Officials give residentsspecifics about raking
LEETONIA -- Village officials are reminding residents who are raking leaves and picking up branches to rake leaves to the curb and not into the street.
Tom Long, street department superintendent, said leaves can be raked in piles stretched out along the curb.
He said residents should not rake leaves into ditches as the leaves will clog culverts and catch basins and result in flooding.
Branches should be no longer than 6 feet and stacked all in one direction and away from leaf piles. Long warned that once the leaf pick-up schedule has been announced, street crews will not pick up leaves and branches if cars are parked in the street in front of the piles.
Railroad-crossing repairs
ROGERS -- State Route 7 in the village will be closed Monday for railroad crossing repairs.
Ohio Department of Transportation officials said the Central Columbiana and Pennsylvania Railway will close the road around 7 a.m., and all work is to be completed in one day.
Traffic will be detoured to state Route 154, state Route 170, state Route 46 and state Route 558.
Couple's donation helpsPenn State campus
HARBORCREEK, Pa. (AP) -- Penn State Behrend more than doubled the money it hoped to get during a seven-year fund-raising campaign, garnering $51.7 million, largely from a single donation.
The university campus just northeast of Erie was pushed past its original goal of $21 million with the help of a $20 million donation from Sam and Irene Black in 1998.
The Blacks had barred the school from spending the money until they died. Sam Black died in 2001 and his wife died last year.
The fund-raising campaign more than doubled endowed funds at the school to 113 and allowed the school to award more than $500,000 in scholarships, said spokeswoman Loretta Brandon.
Pickup truck crashes,leaving 2 men injured
CANFIELD -- Daniel Siskowic, 21, of Pheasant Run, was in critical condition this morning in St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown with a head injury after a one-vehicle crash at 11:25 p.m. Thursday in Canfield Township, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
Siskowic had been riding in the bed of a pickup truck driven by Jake W. Kasten, 21, of West Main Street, Canfield. Kasten was in stable condition today at the hospital.
Kasten, traveling northwest on Mercedes Place, just west of Seville Drive, lost control of the pickup, which struck a curb, went off the left side of the road and went airborne, the patrol said.
Siskowic was ejected when the pickup struck a rock as it landed and overturned, coming to rest on its side.
Conference for teachers
YOUNGSTOWN -- A "Reading Matters: Mastering the Art of Teaching While Meeting the Standards" conference for teachers will be from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday in the Chestnut Room of Kilcawley Center at Youngstown State University.
Featured are Jacqueline Woodson, author of young-adult novels, and Don Gallo, an editor of young-adult anthologies.
The event is sponsored by the YSU Center for Literature for Young Readers and the Western Reserve Teachers of English.
Call (330) 941-1648.