KEYSTONE CLIPS Ice-cream sale: a treat that benefits

The Penn State Shenango Alumni is having its annual half-gallon ice cream sale, featuring nine flavors of Penn State Creamery ice cream and Grilled Stickies, a pastry from Ye Olde College Diner in State College, Pa.
Order forms are available at the Penn State Shenango Campus at 147 Shenango Ave., Sharon; Augustine's Pizza Shop at 833 E. Lutton St., New Castle; and Bucky Richards Barbershop in Westgate Plaza.
Flavors this year are Death By Chocolate, Butter Pecan, Peachy Paterno, Cookies-n-Cream, Vanilla, Mint Chocolate Chip, Wicked Caramel Sundae, Black Raspberry Frozen Yogurt and Peanut Butter Swirl.
April 30 is the order deadline and May 8 is the ice cream pickup date. Arrangements can be made to have the ice cream picked up at Sharon High School, Augustine's Pizza Shop or Canfield Middle School.
Proceeds benefit student scholarships and projects at Penn State Shenango.
Wet weather
Wetter-than-normal weather continues to be the norm in the Shenango Valley.
Statistics kept by the Shenango Valley Division of Aqua Pennsylvania Inc. showed that precipitation for March totaled 3.84 inches, well above the normal 2.97 inches for the month.
Precipitation for the first three months of the year totaled 8.25 inches as compared with the normal 7.38 inches for that period.
Precipitation for 2003 reached 50.67 inches, far more than the 40.64-inch annual average.
Surplus auction planned
State Rep. Chris Sainato of New Castle, D-9th, announced that Pennsylvania will have its first online auction for surplus heavy equipment and vehicles at the end of this month.
Sainato said the auction will allow local governments to purchase vehicles, trucks and heavy equipment from state surplus at prices lower than the cost of a new vehicle.
The online auction will reduce administrative costs so more municipalities can use the program.
The bidding period for the auction will run from April 26 to May 3. Onsite inspections are April 28.
Grant from state
Sainato also announced that Lawrence County is getting $73,338 from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to determine if West Nile virus is present.
The yearly grant pays for the county surveillance program.
XCONTRIBUTORS: Harold Gwin, Vindicator Sharon Bureau, and Laure Cioffi, New Castle Bureau.