Targeting siding theft

Targeting siding theft
YOUNGSTOWN -- The city is looking at ways to curb theft of aluminum siding from homes. Councilman Richard Atkinson, R-3rd, suggests city law be researched to see if police can arrest aluminum thieves based on witness accounts. If so, officers should be reminded they have the authority, he said. If not, council should give police such authority, he said. Also, authorities should prosecute scrap yards that accept stolen aluminum, Atkinson said. Clarence Boles, D-6th, said he saw someone strip siding from a neighbor's house recently. But police said they couldn't charge the man because only homeowners could file complaints, he said. Boles suggested $10 licenses for those selling to scrap yards or a half-percent to 1-percent surcharge on total tonnage a scrap yard takes in annually to help pay for enforcement.
Police identify woman
HANOVERTON -- Teresa Balasz of 5357 Woodsdale Road was the 43-year-old village woman killed early Tuesday when her vehicle slid off a slick road and smashed into a tree. The Ohio State Highway Patrol's Lisbon post released Balasz's name today. Her identity was withheld Tuesday, pending notification of her family. Balasz was fatally injured about 12:05 a.m. Tuesday on Whinnery Road near Lakeview Road in Hanover Township, the patrol said. An accident report noted without elaborating that the vehicle was traveling at an unsafe speed when the crash occurred. Balasz was taken to Salem Community Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Trailer blaze probed
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Police and firefighters were still investigating the cause of an early-morning blaze that destroyed a trailer off of U.S. Route 422 in Mahoning Township. Fire Chief Poncho Exposito said they were called to the home at 4:20 a.m. A man who was inside the trailer got out safely, Exposito said. The fire chief would not identify the man and said authorities were still trying to determine who owned the trailer. Pennsylvania State Police said they were questioning the man this morning, but would not release any details. Firefighters from Union and Neshannock townships assisted with the blaze. It was out by 7:40 a.m.
Fire damages house
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- A family was displaced from its home after an electric clothes dryer caught fire. Firefighters said they were called to 221 N. Crawford Avenue at 4:58 p.m. Tuesday. The fire was contained in the basement, but there was smoke and water damage in the rest of the house. Fire officials said homeowner Lori Haines was not home, but her 12-year-old son and a baby sitter noticed the smoke and called for help. No one was hurt, they said. The American Red Cross was called to help Haines and her son find temporary housing, firefighters said.
Family's home burns
SHEAKLEYVILLE, Pa. -- An overheated chimney is the suspected cause of a fire that did between $5,000 and $10,000 damage to an Amish family's home in Perry Township. Township fire officials said Melvin D. Yoder and his wife and children were at their 23 Mornewick Road home when the fire broke out in a utility room next to the chimney around 6:20 a.m. Tuesday. They were able to get out safely and call for help. Flames were contained in the utility room.
Power outage probed
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- The cause of a brief power outage that left about 3,000 people without electricity in Lawrence County was still being investigated Tuesday afternoon. Penn Power spokesman Bart Spagnola said a transmission line that feeds substations in Neshannock Township and portions of New Castle, including the north hill, east side and Cascade Street, went down at 10:25 a.m. Tuesday. They were able to restore electricity by 10:47 a.m. The outage affected the Lawrence County Courthouse. County commissioners had to move their regular meeting to the first-floor lunch area because there are no outside windows in their meeting room. County workers also had to free one man trapped on the elevator during the outage.