Saturday, June 19, 2004
Flushing main lines
CAMPBELL -- The water department will begin flushing main lines Monday.
Flushing will remove sediment and may discolor water. The discoloration is harmless but residents should avoid washing clothes from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday in the 1st Ward, Tuesday and Wednesday in the 2nd Ward, Wednesday and Thursday in the 3rd Ward, Thursday and Friday in the 4th Ward.
The flushing of all main lines should be completed by Friday afternoon.
To clear discolored water from lines running to homes, residents may need to run cold water for a few minutes.
For more information, call George Ginnis, superintendent, at (330) 755-4822.
Gains to be on show
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul Gains will be featured on a segment of "The Kristal Hart Show," a half-hour cable program broadcast throughout New York City, New Jersey and Massachusetts.
Hart is a native of Warren and plans to interview Gains about the attempt by local mob leaders to kill him before he took office in December 1996. The program will be taped June 26 at a site in the Mahoning Valley to be announced later.
Austintown fame
AUSTINTOWN -- Nominations are being accepted for the Austintown Growth Foundation's Hall of Fame.
The hall of fame is designed to honor township residents who have demonstrated exemplary services to their community.
The nomination deadline is midnight Aug. 2. For more information, call (330) 792-1129.
Violence prevention
BOARDMAN -- The Help Hotline Crisis Center will have a tri-county family violence prevention coalition summit at 8:30 a.m. June 24 at the Holiday Inn on South Avenue.
The event will include guest speakers discussing ways to reduce family violence.
Road closing in park
YOUNGSTOWN -- West Drive by the Wall Garden in Mill Creek Park will be closed from West Glacier Drive to the drive to Birch Hill Cabin for storm damage repairs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, Wednesday through June 25, officials announced.
Firearms charge
CLEVELAND -- A federal grand jury has indicted a 24-year-old Austintown man on a firearms charge.
Christopher Hunter, of Ardenwood Place, is charged with unlawfully possessing a firearm after having been convicted of a crime punishable by more than a year in prison.
A news release from the U.S. Attorney's office did not specify the offense for which Hunter was previously convicted.
Pretrial set for woman
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mary L. Graffius, 24, of Williamson Avenue will appear for a pretrial in municipal court here July 30 on charges of failing to properly restrain three small children in a motor vehicle, leaving the scene of an accident, and improperly operating a motor vehicle on a temporary permit.
Graffius pleaded innocent to all charges at her arraignment Friday.
Police said she was arrested Thursday afternoon after driving into another vehicle and fleeing the scene. Graffius told police she couldn't stop because the brakes on her van needed to be replaced.
Summer garden tour
EAST PALESTINE -- The East Palestine Garden Club will sponsor a summer garden tour from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 26.
Tickets are $5 and may be purchased at any of the gardens on tour and at these businesses: Flowers Straight From the Heart and Mona's Floral Design, East Palestine; Town-n-Country, New Springfield; Vivian's Antiques and Wellman's Florist, Columbiana; and Gump's Nursery, Chippewa, Pa.
Syrup production
HARRISBURG (AP) -- Pennsylvania maple producers made 60,000 gallons of syrup this year, a 15 percent increase over last year's harvest.
The state Agricultural Statistics Service reported Friday that Pennsylvania producers tapped more trees and got more sap from each tree this year, more than making up for a slight decline in sugar content.
Producers utilized an estimated 404,000 taps in 2004, with each tap producing 0.15 gallons of syrup. Last year, 383,000 taps produced about 0.14 gallons each.
It took about 42 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of syrup this year, compared with 41 gallons last year.