1 car stolen, 2 damaged

1 car stolen, 2 damaged
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Tom Fee has three cars but can't drive any of them. City police say one was stolen and two were damaged by the thief.
Fee, a former county commissioner and state representative, reported his 2003 Lincoln Town Car stolen around 9 a.m. Sunday from his Highland Avenue home. Police said someone likely used the garage door opener in an unlocked 2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser, parked in the driveway, to open the garage and gain access to Fee's Lincoln.
Police said it appears the car thief tried to turn the car around inside the garage, hitting a 1964 Ford Mustang Convertible and then backing into the PT Cruiser, pushing it about 10 feet. The car was taken sometime from 2 to 9 a.m. Sunday.
Police said they found the Lincoln on Monday morning on Winter Avenue but did not have any other details.
Absentee ballots
LISBON -- Columbiana County Board of Elections, 41 N. Park Ave., will be open from 8:30 a.m. until noon Saturday to take applications for absentee ballots for people living in the Beaver Local School District. The school district has placed a bond issue and levy before voters on Aug. 3. Polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Absentee ballots must be returned to the elections board by the time the polls close.
Grants for conservation
MERCER, Pa. -- The state is giving Mercer County money to hire a watershed specialist and to support ongoing recycling efforts.
Sen. Robert Robbins of Greenville, R-50th, said a $42,000 grant will go to the Mercer County Conservation District to hire a watershed specialist to provide technical assistance in overseeing watershed assessment, procurement of funding and the creation of work plans to restore and protect groundwater and surface water in Mercer County.
Another $42,000 Recycling Performance Grant will go to the county's Solid Waste Authority to help finance recycling efforts across the county. The latter program provides incentives to Pennsylvania communities to increase recycling rates.
Both grants came from the Department of Environmental Protection.
Burglar vandalizes home
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Someone smeared peanut butter on the walls and ceiling of a Beckford Street home during a burglary.
Police said the homeowner has been in Florida for the last few months and a neighbor discovered the damage Monday.
Police said it appears the burglar spent time in the house, eating food and going through items. There were dirty dishes in the sink and items smashed throughout.
Pharmacy robbed
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- A man wanting prescription drugs threatened the pharmacist at Rite Aid on East Washington Street with a gun, police said.
Police said the robber handed an illegible note to the pharmacist at 4:30 p.m. Sunday. The man then told the pharmacist he wanted OxyContin and other narcotics and waived a gun at him, police said. The pharmacist gave the man drugs, but said he had no OxyContin.
A clerk saw the white man with a medium build leave the store in a maroon-colored, four-door car.
Police said the robber was in his 30s or 40s, had a mustache and stood just under 6 feet tall. Anyone knowing his whereabouts is asked to call New Castle police.
Trust fund honors donor
CANFIELD -- A trust fund has been established in honor of Daniel Gromada Jr., the 19-year-old Canfield resident who donated five organs after being killed in a motorcycle accident June 27.
Donations can be placed at any First Place Bank, and checks should be made out to Daniel Leo Gromada Jr. Memorial Trust.
China House burglarized
YOUNGSTOWN -- A rear door at China House, 3363 Mahoning Ave., was pried open to gain entry sometime after 9 p.m. Sunday and before the owner arrived late Monday morning. Taken during the break-in was a mixer worth $1,500, a meat slicer worth $600 and two rolls of plastic wrap worth $15 each, reports show. Police were told that the mixer was large and likely required two people to remove it.